Chapter 768
Episode 189: Blessings Rolling In (Part 2)
At Jin’s subtle nod, the knights who had been roughly holding the boy released their grip and stepped back.
“Wow! You’re really going to let me meet Lord Jin! It’s an honor to meet you, Lord Jin! My name’s Luce Pibrizo! I’m from Kol Village in the southern district of Bakel Autonomous Region, and I’m sixteen years old. Also, I’m an official—and unofficial—top member of the combined Jin Runcandel fan clubs…”
Luce paused briefly, then proudly pulled out the official membership badges from the fan clubs run by Enya and Sandra.
Despite his overall scruffy appearance, those badges gleamed as if meticulously polished.
‘…Enya and Sandra said those badges aren’t handed out to just anyone,’ Jin thought.
Luce grinned broadly, holding out both badges until Jin gave a slight nod.
Watching this, Telrot rubbed his forehead in frustration.
He hadn’t expected Luce to be so brazen—not only had he been cheeky with him before, but now he was acting this recklessly in front of the Runcandel’s lord.
“Among the fan clubs, he’s known as ‘Luce the Tenacious,’ a true Jin fanatic,” Telrot muttered.
“Hm… Well, first things first—let’s shake hands. I appreciate that much admiration,” Jin said.
“Oh, what an honor! A handshake with Lord Jin? This is insane! Lord Telrot, could you please hand me a handkerchief?”
“Ha, this is almost laughable. What kind of fool has lost all sense of caution?” Telrot shook his head but handed over a handkerchief.
Luce rubbed his hands together vigorously, quickly dirtying the handkerchief, then grasped Jin’s hand firmly.
He then handed the soiled handkerchief back to Telrot, leaving him utterly dumbfounded.
Luce held onto Jin’s hand for a while longer, making Jin feel a bit awkward, but Luce just burst into gleeful laughter.
“You’re the Contracted One of the God of Architecture?”
“Yes! Lord Jin, I only found out recently. Suddenly, a voice echoed in my head, saying, ‘I am Barbobo, the God of Architecture. Would you like to make a contract with me?’”
Barbobo was indeed known as the God of Architecture—a name only those with some knowledge of the gods would recognize.
“So you came to me because you want to use Barbobo’s power as his contractor?”
“Of course! I’ve dreamed of joining the Balmel Union since forever. I’ve always wanted to do something great alongside Lord Jin. And now that dream might come true! It feels like the heavens have heard my wish. I’m no good at magic or swordsmanship, so I thought meeting you through those paths was impossible.”
“Calm down a bit and let’s talk this through, Luce.”
“Understood!”
“First, the Balmel Union doesn’t require any special abilities to join. Broadly speaking, anyone living on Union land is part of it. So, from the moment you fled here, you’ve already been a member.”
“That’s even better! Now I’m not just a regular member—I could be working directly with Lord Jin!”
Even if Luce truly was Barbobo’s prospective contractor, he knew nothing about the shipyards in the Sword Emperor’s territory.
He had simply come to Jin, hoping that once he completed the contract and gained his powers, he could be of some help to the Balmel Union.
“If that’s possible, I’d be glad too. But what does ‘prospective contractor’ mean? I heard you need to pass some kind of trial to complete the contract.”
“Ah, well…”
For the first time, Luce hesitated at Jin’s question.
Jin didn’t scold him but watched patiently.
“Actually, before that, I should ask how someone from the southern Bakel Autonomous Region ended up here. Bakel is one of the wealthier areas in the Ruteiro Federation, isn’t it?”
Since Bakel was close to the federation’s capital, most residents—even commoners—were relatively affluent.
Luce’s boldness in front of Telrot was partly due to his naturally brash personality, but also because he’d grown up in a place where he rarely had to bow down to anyone.
More importantly, Jin had a hunch about why Luce had come here.
“My family went bankrupt.”
“…Was it when the four Generals of the Evil God attacked Bakel Autonomous Region before the Evil God died?”
—While requesting support from Tikan’s side, there was another attack.
—Did that mean there was another large-scale troop movement?
—No. Dipus Runcandel, accompanied by two Black Knights, struck Bakel Autonomous Region. The civilians were mostly prepared, so casualties were minimal… but the Phantom General was seriously injured. Kadun Nimgo, still recovering, fought back and suffered internal injuries.
Jin recalled this conversation with Ronil during Dipus’s assault on the Ruteiro Federation.
“Yes, when Dipus attacked, I lost everything—my home and property.”
Luce’s family had been caught in that disaster.
Seeing Luce say his family was ruined by his own brother’s actions made Jin’s chest tighten painfully.
Jin’s expression darkened, but Luce waved it off as if it was nothing.
“But Lord Jin, you don’t need to worry! You didn’t order that attack—in fact, you came to support the Ruteiro Federation at that time! And though we lost our home and property, no one in my family died. We were all out when it happened, so it was a huge relief.”
“That’s a small mercy. I’ll do my best to help you recover what you lost.”
“That’s not really your responsibility, though. We were supposed to get insurance payouts, but those damn Ziplers never paid up. There were about fifteen affected households, and none of us got a dime. They said it was hard to pay during wartime. I even went to complain to Fire Dragon Kadun and almost got killed!”
Telrot clicked his tongue again at that.
If Kadun had actually met with Luce, Luce probably wouldn’t be alive to tell the tale.
“Anyway, after that, my whole family lost faith in the Ziplers. There were strange rumors going around, so we decided to immigrate to Huepester.”
“Strange rumors?”
“They say the Ziplers are conducting biological golem experiments on residents again. Lord Jin exposed this when you were a prospective General, and even after that disgrace, they haven’t stopped. There’s no proof yet, but they’re the kind of people who’d do it!”
Jin had suspected the Ziplers were still experimenting with biological golems.
The living golems he’d seen in the Holy Land’s swordmaster corps couldn’t have just appeared out of nowhere.
“Well, losing our home and money hurts, but my family’s mostly optimistic like me. We’re determined to make a good life in Huepester. I’ll rise through the Union’s ranks and support them all…”
Jin smiled and patted Luce’s shoulder.
“I still owe you an apology for not stopping the four Generals earlier.”
“That’s okay. Is there anyone in this world who doesn’t owe you, Lord Jin? Without you, we’d all be dead by the Evil God’s hand. Let’s call it even.”
“First, I need to verify something about you. We have to officially confirm you’re really Barbobo’s contractor.”
“How do we do that? As a prospective contractor, I can’t show you my powers yet…”
“You just need to stay still. It’ll only take a moment, steward.”
“Yes, Lord Runcandel.”
Ruet placed her hand on Luce’s forehead and activated her power.
“Luce, you said you heard Barbobo’s voice recently. When exactly was that?”
“About fifteen days ago, around four in the morning.”
“Don’t be alarmed. I’m going to review your records from that time.”
No sooner had Ruet finished speaking than a video began playing above the record window.
It was the day Luce heard Barbobo’s voice, fifteen days ago.
Unfortunately, Luce had been engrossed in a risqué picture book he’d found by chance while fleeing.
He scratched the back of his head awkwardly at the scene, and Jin chuckled, reminded of Murakan.
“Oh… how on earth did I end up with this? Maybe it’s a rare collector’s item. I heard Lord Jin’s guardian dragon Murakan collects these kinds of books. Maybe I should bring it to him sometime. Wait, who just spoke? Someone called Barbobo?”
Since Barbobo’s voice was only heard inside Luce’s mind, it didn’t appear in the video.
But the chance of it being faked or staged was slim.
There was no reason for Luce to pretend to hear Barbobo’s voice while secretly reading a risqué book alone in a shelter at four in the morning.
“So the divine contract proposal finally came to me! Great! What do I have to do? What? You want me to do it right now? Wait, Barbobo! God of Architecture! At least give me some advice!”
Ruet stopped the video there.
“Ha, ha! I never thought my private life would be exposed like this. It’s a bit embarrassing. By the way, do you think Murakan would like this book?”
“Hm, Murakan tends to read anything he can get his claws on. Looks like the verification is complete. Now, can you tell me what this trial Barbobo mentioned is all about?”
Given Luce’s earlier hesitation and his protests in the video, it seemed the trial was something impossible for him to accomplish.
“Well, about that trial…”
“Don’t hold back—just speak freely.”
“If I tell you, you’ll help me, right?”
“As long as it’s something I can help with.”
“Good. Then I’ll trust you and tell you. The trial Barboobo demanded was this: find a construction site that would even spark the interest of Barboobo himself, and become its manager.”
A construction site so impressive that even the god of architecture would envy it…
The moment Jin heard that, the Sword Emperor’s Domain came to mind.
Luet and Telrot were thinking the same thing.
“If this is true, then there’s no need to risk checking the compass and poking around the Barkl Autonomous District.”
Jin grinned and replied to Luce, “Luce, come with me somewhere.”