Chapter 582
Episode 151: Situation Report (2)
“Who are they? The other forces searching for Temar’s tomb?”
“Who do you think?”
“Zipl.”
“Correct! But that’s not all. The Bimant royal family is also searching for the tomb of the first head of Runcandel. Your movements have already been exposed to them once.”
Back when Kinzello came to Runcandel to recruit Jin, he had a conversation with Margiela. It was then that Jin first learned that Bimant was after Temar’s tomb.
Unless one is blessed by the Shadow’s grace, the legacies left in Solderet’s tomb cannot be used. Moreover, all the legacies discovered so far were arranged by Solderet a thousand years ago.
Therefore, Zipl must prevent Jin and Runcandel from using those legacies. But in truth, Bimant has no real reason to pursue Temar’s tomb.
At that time, Margiela revealed more than just Bimant’s pursuit of Temar’s tomb—they were after the corpse itself, not the legacy.
Jin didn’t know what they intended to do with Temar’s body. Only later, after experiencing the ‘Mine’ in the Wantaramo Forest, did he suspect they might be seeking it for ‘Mine-ification.’
That grim and horrifying suspicion turned out to be true.
“I can’t tell exactly when Bimant obtained Temar Runcandel’s corpse. It might be too far back for my record magic to detect, or Zipl’s power to manipulate Temar’s history might be too strong.”
Valeria’s prediction was spot on.
When she first acquired the Mine corpse and used her record magic, almost no information was visible. Zipl’s manipulation magic erased Temar Runcandel’s history so thoroughly that even the location of unrelated research facilities was hidden.
But thanks to Gliek weakening Zipl’s ‘power of the story,’ the situation changed. Records previously invisible even on the Mine corpse began to appear.
Still, the story’s power hasn’t vanished completely. Also, Bimant only obtained part of Temar’s body a thousand years after his death. Valeria’s current abilities can’t confirm details that far back.
“…I think they only used part of the body. If they had the whole thing, the Mine would already be complete, and Bimant wouldn’t still be searching his tomb.”
Jin clenched his teeth, his eyes darkening.
‘Those lunatics… Did they not fear the consequences? Or did they decide that completing the Mine was worth the risk, even if Runcandel found out?’
Either way, it made Jin’s blood boil.
‘Even Zipl didn’t seem to know the royal family had part of Temar’s corpse. They must have been absolutely sure it wouldn’t be discovered.’
If not for Valeria, Jin would never have uncovered this. The royal family’s slip-up came from underestimating the connection between her and Jin, and the survivors of the Hister family.
“Are you planning to strike the royal family directly?”
Valeria asked calmly, but Jin sensed how deeply she was troubled by the issue.
It had only been a little over a month since the Sword Emperor War and the Gliek subjugation ended. If Jin informed the family of the royal family’s atrocities and attacked the empire, this land would face disaster once again.
Valeria worried about the countless innocent people who would die for no reason. Seeing this side of her after so long was both heartening and painful for Jin.
‘Jin Runcandel… You’re looking at me like you’re peering into my soul again.’
Valeria thought, while Jin shook his head.
“No. This land was so hard-fought and protected by Lord Ron and Hailan. We can’t just plunge the empire back into war immediately.”
“I see.”
“Besides, it’s not the right time for Runcandel to wage war. Attacking the empire without justification is unthinkable. The family must disclose information about Temar to the public, which means Zipl will find out too. Then the family will have to deal with both the empire and Zipl simultaneously.”
Even if he wanted to tear the entire royal family apart, the circumstances didn’t allow it. Even Dante had little way to help if Runcandel attacked the empire—the Sword Emperor’s role was to protect the empire.
“Right now, my people and I must monopolize the information and prevent the royal family from further desecrating Temar.”
“A wise choice.”
“You know how to compliment me now?”
“Sometimes. I was secretly worried you’d be a fool and share the information you painstakingly uncovered with the family. Once Runcandel knows, matters concerning Temar’s body will be your family’s responsibility, and it’ll be harder for me to study the Mine corpse records.”
“Not worried about innocent people dying in the war?”
Valeria didn’t answer, instead taking a sip from her teacup.
“Anyway, a lot has changed since the Chaos King was defeated. Not just with the Mine corpse, but we’re also starting to unravel the records from Solderet’s devices you gave me. And your Runcandel family has regained some of the power of the Demon Sword.”
“Yes. Zipl’s curse on Runcandel is weakening.”
“The curse on my ancestors is the same. Even the erased history of Hister is showing slight changes.”
Suddenly, Valeria stood and bowed to Jin.
“I think I owe you my thanks.”
Jin barely hid his surprise.
“I think it’s more appropriate to thank Lord Ron.”
“Before I leave, I plan to stop by near the Sword Emperor’s territory to do just that.”
“You sound like you’re going right now.”
“We’ll be seeing each other much more often from now on, so no need to be sad. There’s more to share and more ways to help each other. I plan to use Tikan as a refuge when evading Zipl’s pursuit.”
“You decided that without asking me.”
Valeria smiled. Ever since their previous lives, Jin had always felt good when she smiled like that.
Since the Sword Emperor War, Runcandel’s knights have been stationed near Tikan. Now, Runcandel can no longer ignore what happens there—for Jin’s sake and the family’s.
Aside from the ancestral grounds, nowhere was safer for Valeria than Tikan. Especially now, with Zipl’s pursuit growing more relentless, most of her hideouts had been discovered or destroyed.
“If you treat me like an unwelcome guest, I’ll find somewhere else.”
“Come often. Even when you have nothing to do.”
“I’ll try.”
“But I probably won’t see you for a while. I have some matters to resolve, and then I plan to be away for a bit.”
“Chaos. Is that why?”
At Valeria’s words, Jin instinctively covered the back of his right hand.
There remained a black spot—the mark of chaos—from the depths of Gliek. Even after Gliek’s death, the traces of chaos that had consumed Jin hadn’t vanished.
Though the intense spiritual pressure wasn’t as strong as before, he still occasionally felt a faint demonic aura.
And that aura was slowly growing. If left unchecked, it might one day become as overwhelming as when he faced Gliek’s abyss.
He had already met the Holy King Rani. Even she couldn’t heal the marks on his body, meaning there was currently no solution.
But Jin recalled how the blood of the possessed warriors had resisted the chaos’s spread.
‘Maybe the brothers of Laprarosa, especially the possessed ones, can teach me a way.’
Jin planned to seek a way to halt the demonic transformation in Laprarosa.
He wasn’t the only one affected. Rosa, Keliak, and some key figures from the two great families who fought in the Gliek subjugation were experiencing the same phenomenon.
While Jin was in Laprarosa, they would search for a way to stop the demonic transformation.
“That’s part of it, but now is the perfect time. I can train in the brothers’ land. I was going anyway, but with both great families weakened and the family now actively protecting Tikan, I can go with a lighter heart.”
Jin had already shared details about Laprarosa with Valeria.
When the time came to bring the brothers out of that dead world into the living world, her abilities would be essential.
The punishment the Meiwang tribe suffered was linked to Zipl’s historical manipulations.
“I’ll also look into ways to heal your chaos.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
“Don’t get your hopes up. Studying chaos records is extremely difficult. Oh, and before I go, show me that thing you mentioned earlier.”
Valeria referred to the mysterious mechanical device Jin had obtained in the Sota Desert. Jin pulled it from his pocket and handed it to her, along with part of the ship’s blueprints.
“You want the ship’s blueprints too? You’re really pushing me.”
“Is it impossible to complete the blueprints with record magic?”
“Record magic isn’t omnipotent. It might help if the designer is present and his memories are intact, but it’s impossible to reconstruct the entire blueprint from just a fragment using record magic alone.”
“Even if your record magic reached perfection?”
“Maybe if it were our family at its peak.”
A translucent blue magical window appeared before Valeria. The magic radiating from her seeped into the device and blueprints, then withdrew, inscribing characters on the window.
As she watched the window where the ship’s blueprint was being recorded, Valeria’s expression remained unchanged.
“…As expected, the blueprint restoration didn’t work. But it did reveal the year of creation and the name of the maker—1775, and someone named Tingen Bauer was the lead.”
“Tingen Bauer?”
It was a name I’d never heard before. The other contributors listed were all magical engineers affiliated with Ziphl.
Then Valeria, who had been examining the mechanical records, suddenly flinched.
“What’s wrong?”
“This is the core component of the teleportation device you first saw in the Gaipa Archipelago. It was also made by Tingen Bauer… Wait, you’re saying that’s not his real name?”
Records magic doesn’t usually fail to reveal a person’s true name or alias.
But Valeria sensed a strange resistance blocking the revelation of Tingen Bauer’s real identity.
That meant history itself had been tampered with regarding this Tingen Bauer, suggesting he might be connected to Hister in some way.
Valeria refocused, driven by the feeling that if she could just push past this resistance a little more, the real name would surface.
Her intuition was right. About five minutes later, drenched in sweat, Valeria finally uncovered Tingen Bauer’s true name.
<Creator: Qaul Ganesto (aka Tingen Bauer)>
The moment I heard that name, my eyes widened.
I’d seen someone with the surname ‘Ganesto’ before—in the records device from Solderet.