Chapter 540,
Chapter 145. Foreshadowing (9)
* * *
Kingelo plenary.
Agjak Zephyrin bit the cookie. It looked similar to a Ritra cookie, but the taste was so terrible that it is difficult to describe it with words. Torture of the tongue with a pharynx seemed to do better than this.
‘The princesses of Caligo made such a terrible snack.’
Next to her, Sister Caligo, who made the cookies herself, was waiting for evaluation with her eyes shining.
Zephyrin nodded slightly and smiled awkwardly, and the sisters jumped up and showed their joy as if that alone was an honor.
“also! Our cookies beat their cookies, sister!”
“Thank you so much… for eating… Grand Duke.”
Beyond just running, he joined Bouvard and ran around the meeting room like a playground and sang a strange song.
‘Ever since the demons came, there hasn’t been a day when the main assembly is quiet… I can’t say anything because of the Grand Duke.’
‘Berakt obviously doesn’t want to see them. If you help one, you tear my mouth again, what are you going to say? I didn’t even know that I was talking out of my heart!’
‘Bouvard and… woman Bouvard… both are… so disgusting. The female bouvard side still has a funny side sometimes, but no. shit! What am I thinking? They are both intolerant people. How could Bianca hang out with those things?’
Berakt and Joe Bishkel clicked their tongues inwardly while Zephyrin stared blankly out the window.
“Zephyrin.”
Margiela pulled a wheelchair and came to Zephyrin’s side.
“Miss Margiela.”
“What do you think? It looks like you’ve got a boss disease. Should I say it’s the feeling of sadness in your eyes? Even if it’s a lover hidden in the demon realm…? Oh my, it is so romantic.”
It was strange.
Zephyrin used honorific words for everyone when she was rational and seemed kind, but she was truly merciless towards those who crossed the line even a little.
This was especially true for demons and dragons, especially those who were not superior. At least the head of the Demon Realm Duke’s family or the next head would be able to cautiously throw jokes at her. Except for an idiot like Inas.
But for some reason, Zephyrin was never offended by Margiela’s jokes.
‘Well, considering the existence that dwells in you, it shouldn’t be that strange.’
Zephyrin got Margiela up and sat next to him.
“It’s not a sergeant, but there are similarities in that you keep thinking about it. It’s not love, but resentment… Anyway, I was thinking about the sad thing Miss Margiela told me the other day.”
– Shall I tell you a funny story for the depressed Zephyrin?
– Is it something?
-Maybe something sad will happen to Jinkyung sooner or later, Mr. Zephyrin.
-A sad thing…?
“You were thinking of Jin.”
“I didn’t know that the sad thing Miss Margiela was talking about was about that stone.”
“Ah, you weren’t disappointed because I didn’t tell you beforehand, right?”
“I’d be lying if it wasn’t, but it’s probably because my master, who was lying there and spewing blood like a weakling, had something on his mind.”
“Um but! It was Zephyrin-sama who made the captain vomit blood.”
When Margiela brought up the story, the other executives in the conference room pricked up their ears and looked up.
Recently, the captain’s health has been the biggest problem for Kingelo. It was because while I was in the middle of getting better, problems continued to arise.
It was the leader’s own will to use his power at the time of the Geomwangseong attack last year, but the problems after that, so to speak, the Black King incident and the accident that occurred during the visit to Tican in the Sota Desert were all Zephyrin’s responsibility.
However, no one dared to question or scold Zephyrin. The only punishment she received was that Bishkel asked her to work as a spy for Ziple.
‘Oh, as expected, the vice-captain’s younger brother! It’s cool to scratch an itchy place! Hmmm, Zephyrin-sama wouldn’t intimidate Margiela?’
‘No matter how much Margiela you are, if you stab me with a bamboo spear like this… will it be okay? Even if I recall some of the stories I heard from Bianca-sama about the Pandemonium, Zephyrin-sama has a bit more shit than Berakt.’
‘Margiela! Good job! No, why would you say such a thing!’
Zephyrin nodded her head obediently enough to put Berakt and Joe Bishkel’s concerns to shame.
“That’s right, it was my fault. I tried to be as careful as possible, but you know… Gene Runkandel. Isn’t that devil-like person so unanswerable?”
“Sure, I know. It’s really not a normal bet, is it? When we think of the trouble Jin -Kyung played
with us…”
“Of course you are right! Actually, I still want Jinkyung to become our person.”
“I have seen that kind of thing often in my long life. A person who will never associate with people of different convictions.”
“You speak as if you are admitting the truth.”
Zephyrin didn’t answer and turned his head out the window.
“Our Kingelo is always open, so an opportunity might come someday. Although it seems that Mr. Zephyrin and Mr. Berakt will run out of patience first.”
“You have a little bit of an odd corner, Margiela.”
“Haha, I hear stories like that sometimes.”
“Gene Runkandel, if you really wanted him to be on our side. First of all, we should have informed him of the stone’s identity and urged him not to get involved in this matter as much as possible.”
“It’s not that I haven’t thought of that either. However, even if the identity of the stone is notified in advance, wouldn’t it be possible to prevent the predestined fate?”
predetermined destiny.
Margiela’s expression meant the death of Dante Hyran.
“Your friend will surely die, and the white stone is a dangerous thing, so you should never go there. No one will listen to me even if I say that, Jin-kyung. As Zephyrin-nim said, Jin-kyung is that kind of person.”
At Margiela’s words, Zephyrin nodded.
“Hee hee hee fools! They don’t even know that stone is a bomb… oops!”
When Bouvard intervened, Bishkel quickly covered his mouth. It was intended that his disgusting voice would not further offend Zephyrin.
In Bishkel’s view, the white stone was something that the likes of Bouvard shouldn’t carelessly put in their mouths.
“…Anyway, I’ll be more careful about using the master’s power from now on. For now, while eating snacks (Zephyrin throws the cookies they made out of the window while the Caligo sisters aren’t looking), let’s do crippling. I hope that after the incident is over, Lord Jin will rationally choose the date for the meeting.”
* * *
April 4, 1800.
Everyone in Geomwangseong spent the night with open eyes. A huge enemy that could never be dealt with was approaching the Geomwangseong, and the white stone seal surrounding Dante was revealing a darker color of chaos than yesterday.
The knights gathered in the Imperial Palace still showed no signs of leaving Dante behind.
It wasn’t because he believed in the power of the Bamal Union. It wasn’t because he gained any hope from the big win in Game 1. It wasn’t because he believed that Jin could display his miraculous powers again.
The knights knew very well that if Ziple’s real main force came, they could not help it with the Bamal Alliance and themselves alone.
It was a matter of loyalty, faith, and efficiency that the knights of Hiran did not leave.
“If we have to leave, it must be Jin, not us.”
Shuras Helter said. Due to an internal injury suffered in the first game, his complexion was not good. Jin met his eyes without answering his words.
“Jin and the Bamal Alliance have fought enough for us. I can’t express my gratitude in words… But if things go on like this, you and your people will be swept away by the fire of Ziple.”
“Lord Shuras, I am Runcandel. Runkandel and Ziple’s original job is to kill each other.”
“That wouldn’t be the reason Jinkyung could die on this earth. Jin Kyung. Sir, don’t you have the following? Wouldn’t it be right to plan for the future rather than die fighting with us here? The enemy will arrive at dawn after midnight.”
“I will not die in this land, Lord Shuras. And the story that planning for the future is right… The same goes for the knights of Highlan.”
“No, it is different. We don’t have next. You must have plans to evacuate us and promote safety by incorporating us into the Barmal Alliance or Runkandel. But if we do, we will be burdened with the guilt of abandoning Hylan for the rest of our lives.”
While Jin was choosing his words, Shuras kept his eyes on Dante’s seal and continued his conversation.
“Jin Kyung. To put it bluntly, we are worthless. Force Wisdom Money Influence within the Empire. It’s all insignificantly small. The role of most of the knights gathered for Hiran in this war is like new blood.”
“Oh yeah. why do you say that uh? Thanks to you, the refugees also saved their lives, and Dante too? I gained courage, and in a war like this, it doesn’t look good when the numbers are small. it was cool you guys Why are you cutting yourself off?”
“Since the Black Dragon said that, I don’t know what to do. But even after all that, we’re in this war, but we’re mana-only beings.”
“Ah, so it doesn’t matter if you die, so you’re going to sit still and die?”
“We should rather die on this land so that we can deal damage to our enemies. Ziffle and the Empire trample on the insignificant knights who fought until the end to keep the faith… The enemies will lose their honor by killing us. Isn’t Sir Jin-kyung the one who has lost their honor more often than anyone else?”
“I have never risked my life to discredit my enemies.”
“I never abandoned it, but I would have walked it every time. We too risk our lives. to tarnish their reputation. This is the most meaningful counterattack that ordinary knights like us can reach out to the great forces.”
As Shuras put it, if you look at it calmly, his words were not wrong.
Jin also knew it well. The fact that he only wanted to save the knights he had gathered for Hiran was because he did not want to see their deaths.
“If you continue to come out like that, I will save you even by force.”
“kyung.”
Shuras held Jin’s hand and lowered his head.
“Sir Jin… Please respect us. As a comrade who fought together as a soldier.”
“Don’t you think it’s too much for me, Sir Shuras? It’s a story that doesn’t mean that you have to watch the kings die.”
“It’s because there’s no one to tell us to respect us other than you. I’m sorry, it’s just ugly people who abandon grace like this.”
Shuras held Jin’s hand for a while, then turned around and trudged away.
“Murakan.”
“uh.”
“Before midnight today, Sir Balkas, together with the brother and sister Prochi, stun all the knights except for the direct line of Hiran and send them to Tikan.”
“All?”
The moment everyone tries to answer like that.
Quikantel sighed as he grabbed Jin’s shoulder.
“Quikantel.”
“Even if that person named Shuras did that… He visited and persuaded all the families who had gathered for Hiran all night long. They said that it was too harsh for you to endure, and told you to leave only yourself and the old knights, and leave the rest to lighten the load.”
“Whoa.”
“It looked like something I was doing not because I wanted to survive, but because I knew it was a judgment for you. And even I could feel his pain inside.”
“Anyway, too many lives were at stake. You mean to tell our little ones to just let them die? Are you farting?”
“…Also, the knights haven’t lost their hopes for Ron yet. If anything, imagining them without them when Ron wakes up is more terrifying than death.”
It is obviously painful for Jin that the knights do not leave the castle, prepared for death.
But for the knights, the significance of their existence was at stake.
“That’s why I want to respect you. It’s painful for Jin, too, but for them, the very meaning of their existence is at stake.”
For a long time, Jin couldn’t take his eyes off the door that Shuras had left.
