Chapter 233,
Chapter 75. Rani Salome (2)
December 14, 1797.
Jin and Murakan arrived in the Kingdom to meet Lani Salome.
The Kingdom of Vankella was in the midst of celebrating the festival called “Gangrimje,” which commemorated the day when the divine presence, Ayla, first arrived in the Kingdom. It was a grand festival that lasted for a whole week.
Every corner of the streets was filled with colorful flags depicting the symbol of Ayla, the “Hwahwasan.”
“Hwahwasan, every time I see it, I can’t help but admire how well humans choose their symbols.”
Ayla, the deity of peace, was highly revered in the Kingdom of Vankella. She was a being whom people adored when they were in need of compassion, but her wrath could burn anything to ashes when angered.
“It is said that no matter which deity causes excessive chaos among mortals, Ayla would threaten them with a meeting. There have been times when she even annihilated one. Perhaps the one she confronted was a deity of blessings.”
“Oh, really?”
“The story circulated for a while that she might have been responsible for the disappearance of Numeurus, the deity of hope, among the dragons. Anyway, she’s quite a force to be reckoned with.”
The air was filled with pleasant melodies, laughter, and cheers. Both the Kingdom’s citizens and tourists enjoyed the festivities, and even journalists found plenty of things to cover.
The crowd gathered at the heart of the capital, the Grand Plaza. There stood an elderly man with a dignified appearance, waving his hand towards the people.
With a golden staff, a crown adorned with Hwahwasan, a divine aura shimmering around him, and a friendly smile revealing well-arranged teeth, the impressive man was none other than King Mikran.
“Hail to King Mikran!”
“Hail to King Mikran!”
The love from the citizens towards King Mikran was unwavering. He was a king who distributed the privileges of the elite to the common people, and his deeds were so remarkable that it was hard to find such a history in the Kingdom.
Instead of accepting the credit for becoming the king, he chose to grant more favors to the officials who had put him on the throne. Such was his nature.
Both Jin and Murakan observed him for a while.
“That man is King Mikran, Lani’s father, right?”
In their past lives, they had never seen Mikran from such a close distance.
“That man is currently the king?”
“Keep your voice down, Murakan. If anyone hears us, it’ll be big trouble.”
“Hmm, he seems quite ordinary, doesn’t he?”
“Really? Ordinary?”
Jin felt a similar vibe from him.
“I don’t know, but the kings I’ve seen before had quite an extraordinary presence, not just strong, but a divine aura that made them hard to approach. But with him… I’m not so sure. It’s like he might have an aura, or maybe not.”
Lani’s trial had been postponed due to the current king.
However, it was not because the king used his power to prevent her punishment, but because of the Gangrimje festival.
During the Gangrimje period, there was a tradition in the Kingdom not to judge criminals. However, Lani had played an important role in the festival every year.
The Coronation of the King.
As the name implied, it was a ceremony where the king personally blessed each citizen. It was considered the highlight of Gangrimje, and since the age of fifteen, Lani had never missed reading the blessing on behalf of the king.
-Therefore, to ensure that Lani Salome doesn’t suddenly disappear and ruin everything, the Dawn Society’s execution unit temporarily released her. They might have a chance to meet her before the trial is over.
For Jin and Murakan, it was a stroke of luck. If the trial didn’t go well, meeting her could have been very difficult.
“Hmm, I just can’t wrap my head around it.”
Sighing, Jin popped a Hwahwasan-shaped candy he bought from a vendor into his mouth, while both of them disguised themselves as tourists with their hair dyed a reddish hue using the Golden Scalp Dye.
“What’s wrong?”
“Lani caused a scene at the temple during the blessing ceremony performed by the king not long ago. But now, they’re using her for the Coronation of the King, which is such an important event. It just doesn’t add up.”
“Maybe it’s just to save face? After all, she has been reading the blessing on behalf of the king every year.”
“I can’t help but feel uneasy about that explanation. If by any chance she causes a scene during the coronation, it will be a major incident. It’s not something that can be hidden like the last incident. It was a level of accident that could disrupt everything.”
The incident at the temple involved only the citizens of the Kingdom, so it went completely unnoticed by the outside world. Unless someone like Kassimir planted high-level spies, it would have been difficult for anyone else to know about it.
However, this time, there were far more onlookers, and if Lani caused any trouble, it would unquestionably tarnish the king and the Kingdom’s reputation.
“Well, perhaps they’ve taken precautions? Or maybe Lani was temporarily out of her mind during the last incident, and she still maintains a good relationship with the king.”
“We’ll find out once we meet her.”
Lani’s residence was a small house right next to the Ayla Grand Temple, but it was mostly unused due to the constant visits from her devoted followers.
The place where Lani truly resided was the “Ayla East Temple” in the eastern part of the capital. However, it was currently undergoing renovations, so except for those involved, access was restricted.
Of course, Jin and Murakan didn’t care about such things.
“Let’s head to the East Temple.”
They stepped onto the teleportation gate to the east.
“Whoa!”
“Haven’t you gotten used to it by now?”
As soon as they arrived, Murakan started to vomit. He was still vulnerable to teleportation gates.
“Damn it, even though I’ve regained about 40% of my strength, I still can’t fly freely.”
“Hold on a little longer. Once I become a rider, we’ll be able to fly freely in the sky with Hufeister.”
There was no need to search for the Ayla East Temple; as soon as they stepped out of the teleportation gate, the tallest building they saw was the East Temple.
Compared to the lively atmosphere in the central area due to the festival, the east side was relatively quiet. During Gangrimje, even the merchants would leave for the central area to set up their stalls, so it was only natural.
They climbed up the hill and arrived at the East Temple. Unlike the heavily armored knights guarding the city at Sintel, the guards protecting the East Temple were ordinary soldiers who were yawning and slouching.
There were no visible workers for the temple’s renovations. They had also left to enjoy the festival.
Within the Kingdom, no one dared to enter the temple without permission. From a tourist’s perspective, there was nothing to see at the East Temple, and all the important relics had been moved to the central temple. Therefore, there was no need for strict security.
Jin took a small vial from his pocket and opened the lid. It contained a sleeping potion made by Kuzan.
“Sorry, but this isn’t a dangerous poison.”
Jin looked at Murakan.
Murakan, who initially looked like he was questioning why Jin was doing this, transformed into a cat with a sigh.
“Meow.”
Murakan approached the guards with the vial in his mouth.
Naturally, the guards’ attention was drawn to the vial Murakan was carrying before they could examine it closely. Murakan spilled the sleeping potion in front of them.
“What’s this? Uh, m-m-my body…?”
Thump, thump.
“Sorry about that.”
After slipping a few gold coins, the two of them smoothly passed through the main gate and entered the temple. Lani’s room was located at the end of the third-floor corridor.
As they approached, a strong smell of alcohol wafted towards them.
Fortunately, there were no other guards inside, so they were able to reach Lani without any trouble.
“Lani Salome. I didn’t know you liked alcohol this much.”
When Jin closed the door to the room and spoke, Lani finally looked at him. Even though they had approached without hiding their presence, she hadn’t paid any attention to them until then.
It was as if she had given up on everything.
“…Jin Runkandel?”
The intense determination and pride that were present in her eyes at Sintel were nowhere to be seen. Instead, her eyes were filled with despair.
For a moment, Lani stared at Jin as if she couldn’t believe he had found her so quickly.
“How…?”
“We made a promise, remember? I came to fulfill my debt.”
Bang!
Murakan transformed back into a human and stood before Lani. Seeing him in good shape, she put down the bottle and widened her eyes.
“Long time no see, religious fanatic. Thanks to you, I’m alive and well. I came to repay the favor. And since I’m the great black dragon Murakan, I’ll have a drink too, just like old times.”
With a smile, Murakan naturally snatched the glass from her to prevent her from drinking any more.
Lani blinked her eyes, seemingly lost in thought for a moment, and then burst into tears. She held her mouth with both hands, trying to keep the sound of her crying from leaking out.
The two of them waited for her to stop crying for a moment.
“Alright, stop crying and tell us what happened.”
“Father… my father…”
“Your father? King Mikran?”
“They’ve captured him.”
Jin and Murakan looked at each other and then back at Lani.
“What are you talking about? We just saw King Mikran in the central square on our way here. He was standing there just fine…”
“Those guys… They’ve created a fake. It’s not real. They’ve taken my father hostage.”
“What?”
“King Mikran… kidnapped?”
Fake.
The moment they heard that word, a certain person immediately came to mind.
Kinzelo, the sculptor of Bubar Gaston.
In that moment, Jin understood why Lani had been assigned to read the blessing at the Coronation of the King, just like every year.
“She must have been threatened.”
The current King Mikran was being held hostage, and the captors were blackmailing Lani. If they didn’t want to witness the real Mikran’s death, she had to act as she always did.
However, while suppressing her emotions, she couldn’t hold back during the blessing ceremony, and that led her to the current situation, waiting for her trial.
“Lani Salome, do you know who kidnapped King Mikran?”
Kinzelo.
It would have been the most likely suspect, given his expertise in Bubar’s transformation magic.
But the name Lani mentioned was not Kinzelo.
“It’s Zephil. They… they’ve kidnapped my father.”
“Zephil? Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. There may be other forces involved, but… sigh, I’m not sure. I could do so little…”
Lani held her head in her hands, shaking.
“It’s okay, Lani. Have some water and calm down. We need to hear the whole story to figure out what to do.”
As they were trying to console her, thumping footsteps could be heard from outside the door. They were unmistakably the footsteps of someone who had become aware of Jin and Murakan’s intrusion, but somehow, they didn’t sound like human footsteps.
