C540

Kinzelo Headquarters.

Zephyrin bit into a cookie.

It looked like Latrie"s cookies...

But the taste was...

So terrible that it was hard to describe.

"How the h.e.l.l do you manage to make such a dreadful snack, Kaligo princesses."

Beside him, the Kaligo sisters, who had made the cookies themselves, awaited his evaluation with bright eyes.

Zephyrin nodded awkwardly and forced a smile, and the sisters jumped for joy, taking that as a sign of honor.

"As expected! Our cookies beat yours, sister."

"Oh, thank you... for eating... delightfully... Grand Duke."

Beyond just running, they joined with Bouvard and sang a strange song while running around the meeting room as if it were a playground.

Since the demonesses arrived, there hasn"t been a single quiet day at the headquarters...

I can"t say anything because of the Grand Duke.

"Berakt obviously doesn"t want to see them either. But if I say something, he"ll tell me, "Shut up, or I"ll break your mouth." He doesn"t even know I"m on his side!"

"Bouvard... and that woman who looks like Bouvard... both are so repulsive. The Bouvard woman is still funny sometimes, but no. d.a.m.n it! What am I thinking? Both are intolerable beings. How can Bianca-nim a.s.sociate with such things?"

Berakt, Joe, and Bishkel clicked their tongues inwardly, while Zephyrin looked out the window without understanding...

"Zephyrin-nim."

Margiella wheeled her wheelchair next to Zephyrin.

"Miss Margiella."

"What are you thinking about so much? It seems like you have a lovesickness. There"s a subtle sorrow in your gaze. Perhaps a secret lover in the demon world...? How romantic."

It was strange.

Zephyrin, when in a rational state, used honorifics for everyone and seemed friendly, but she was truly ruthless with those who crossed the line even a bit.

She was like that with demons and dragons, especially those who were not superior to her.

To tease her, one had to be at least the leader or the next in line among the dukes of the demon world.

Or at least be a fool like Ainas.

But for some reason, Zephyrin had never felt uncomfortable with Margiella"s jokes.

"Well, considering the ent.i.ty residing in her, it"s not so surprising after all."

Zephyrin lifted Margiella and sat her beside her.

"I"m not in love, but there are similarities in some aspects, in the sense that I can"t stop thinking about it. It"s not love but rather resentment... Anyway, I was thinking about how sad Miss Margiella said the other day."

-Can I tell you a funny story for the depressed Zephyrin-nim?

-What"s it about?

-Something sad might happen to Jin-nim soon, Zephyrin-nim.

-Something sad...?

"You were thinking about Jin-nim."

"I didn"t know that what Miss Margiella was talking about as sad was that stone."

"Ah, are you disappointed I didn"t mention it earlier?"

"I would be lying if I said no, but I suppose I had something on my mind about my lord, who was lying there bleeding like a weakling."

"But...! It was Zephyrin-nim who made the leader vomit blood."

When Margiella brought up the topic, the other executives in the meeting room were startled and watched.

Lately, the leader"s health has been the biggest issue in Kinzelo.

He kept having troubles as he improved.

It was the leader"s will to use his power during the Sword Emperor"s attack last year, but the subsequent issues—namely, the Black King incident, the Sota Desert, and the accidents during the visit to Tikan this time—were all Zephyrin"s responsibility.

However, no one dared to question or scold Zephyrin.

The only punishment she received was Bishkel asking her once to work as a spy in Zipple.

Oh, as expected of the vice-leader"s younger sister!

She knows how to scratch the itch! Well, I hope Zephyrin-nim doesn"t intimidate Margiella, right?"

Even if it"s Margiella, if she speaks so bluntly... Is it okay?

Even if I recall some of the stories I heard from Bianca-nim about the demon world, Zephyrin-nim is a bit more ominous than Berakt.

"Margiella! Good job! No, why would you say that!"

Zephyrin nodded gently, dismissing the concerns of Berakt, Joe, and Bishkel.

"That"s true, it was my fault. I tried to be as careful as possible, but as you know... Jin Runcandel. That b.a.s.t.a.r.d is simply inscrutable, you know?"

"Of course, I know him well. He really isn"t ordinary, is he? Thinking about how we"ve been defeated by Jin-nim all this time..."

"Killing him a hundred times wouldn"t be satisfying."

"Of course, that"s a reasonable claim! Actually, I still want Jin-nim to come to our side."

"I"ve seen that kind of people often in my long life. Humans like him will never a.s.sociate with those who have different beliefs."

"You talk as if you recognize Jin-nim."

Zephyrin didn"t answer and turned her head to the window.

"Our Kinzelo is always open, so someday an opportunity might arise. But before that, I think Zephyrin-nim"s and Uncle Berakt"s patience might run out."

"You have a bit of a strange side, Miss Margiella."

"Haha, I hear that from time to time."

"If you really wanted Jin Runcandel on our side, you should have informed him first of the true nature of the stone and persuaded him not to get involved in this matter as much as possible."

"I"ve also considered that. However, even if we revealed the true nature of the stone, we couldn"t avoid the fated outcome, right?"

Fate...

As Margiella said, it meant Dante Hairan"s death.

"Your friend will surely die, and the white stone is a dangerous object, so you must never go there. Jin-nim is not the type of person who would listen if we told him to stop. As Zephyrin-nim said, Jin-nim is that kind of person."

In response to Margiella"s words, Zephyrin nodded.

"Hehejjee, fools! They don"t even know that the stone is a bomb...!"

When Bouvard intervened, Bishkel quickly covered his mouth.

She intended to prevent Bouvard"s repugnant voice from being heard to avoid offending Zephyrin further.

In Bishkel"s opinion, the White Stone was something people like Bouvard shouldn"t speak of carelessly.

"... Anyway, I"ll be more careful when using the master"s power from now on. First of all, let"s have a snack while watching the fire (while the Kaligo sisters weren"t looking, Zephyrin threw the cookies they had made out the window). I hope that when the incident is over, Jin will choose the meeting date rationally."

-----------------------

April 4, 1800.

Everyone in the Sword Emperor Castle spent the night with wide-open eyes.

A ma.s.sive enemy approached the castle, and the white stone seal surrounding Dante revealed a chaos color darker than yesterday.

The knights gathered in the castle still showed no signs of leaving Dante behind.

It wasn"t because they believed in the power of the Vamel Alliance.

It wasn"t because they gained any hope from the overwhelming victory in the first battle.

It wasn"t because they believed Jin could deploy another miraculous power.

The knights knew very well that when Zipple"s true main force arrived, the Vamel Alliance and themselves couldn"t stand against it.

The reason the Hairan Knights didn"t leave was a matter of loyalty, belief, and efficiency.

"If someone has to leave, it should be Jin-nim, not us," said Shuras Helter.

He didn"t look good due to the injuries suffered in the first battle. Jin looked into his eyes without responding.

"Jin-nim and the Vamel Alliance have already fought enough for us. I can"t express my grat.i.tude in words:... But Jin-nim, you and your people will be swept away by Zipple"s fire at this rate."

"Shuras-nim, I am Runcandel. Runcandel and Zipple are originally enemies from long ago."

"That"s not a reason for you to die on this land, Jin-nim. Don"t you have a whole life ahead of you? Wouldn"t it be right to plan for the future instead of dying fighting with us here? The enemies will come when midnight pa.s.ses and dawn breaks."

"I won"t die on this land, Shuras-nim. And it is right to plan for the future... The same goes for the Hairan Knights."

"No, it"s different. We don"t have a future. You may have plans to evacuate and incorporate us into the Vamel or Runcandel for our safety. But if you do, we will bear the guilt of abandoning Hairan for the rest of our lives."

While Jin chose his words, Shuras looked at Dante"s seal and continued.

"Jin-nim. To put it bluntly, we are worthless. Strength, wisdom, wealth, and influence within the empire. Everything is insignificantly small. The role of most knights gathered by Hairan in this war is like cannon fodder."

"Oh, come on. Why are you talking like that? Thanks to you, refugees have saved their lives, and Dante too, right? He gained courage, and it doesn"t look good when you belittle yourselves. You were great. Why underestimate yourselves?"

"Since the Black Dragon said that, I don"t know what to say. But even after all that, we are insignificant beings in this war."

"Oh, are you saying that it doesn"t matter if you die, so you"ll just stand still and die?"

"Rather, we can strike a blow to the enemies by dying on this land. Zipple and the Empire trampling on the insignificant knights who fought to the end to uphold their faith... Our enemies will lose their honor by killing us. Jin-nim, haven"t you defamed them often more than anyone?"

"I"ve never sacrificed my life to tarnish the honor of the enemies."

"Although you may not have sacrificed it, you must have risked it all the time. We also risk our lives for that. To tarnish their honor. This is the most meaningful counterattack that ordinary knights like us can make against a great force."

From Shuras"s perspective, his words were not wrong.

Jin knew it well too.

The reason he wanted to save the knights gathered by Hairan was simply that he didn"t want to witness their deaths.

"If you continue like this, I will save you even if I have to force it."

"Sir."

Shuras grabbed Jin"s hand and bowed his head.

"Jin-nim... Please, respect us. As fellow Warriors, as companions who fought together."

"Isn"t that too much for me, Shuras-nim? It"s like you"re asking me to watch you die."

"There is no other place to ask for respect than you. I"m sorry, it seems that only miserable beings are left who throw away their grace."

Shuras held Jin"s hand for a while, then turned around and walked away with firm steps.

"Murakan."

"Yes."

"Before midnight tonight, stun all the knights except Hairan"s front line with Valkas-nim, and the Proch brothers, and send them to Tikan."

"All of them?"

Just as he was about to answer "all of them."

Quikantel sighed as he grabbed Jin"s shoulder.

"Quikantel-nim."

"That man, Shuras, even though he said that... He spent the night going around trying to convince all the clans and families gathered for Hairan. He said it was too hard for them to bear, and he told them to leave and lighten the burden on the rest, leaving only himself and the old knights."

"Wow."

"It seemed like something he did not because he wanted to survive, but because he knew it was a trial for you. And even I could feel his inner pain."

"Still, there are too many lives at stake. Are you telling the brat to let them die? Are you kidding me?"

"...Besides, the knights still haven"t lost hope for Ron. Imagining being absent when Ron wakes up is even more horrible than death for them."

Obviously, it"s painful for Jin that the Knights don"t leave the castle and prepare for death.

But for the knights, the meaning of their existence was at stake.

"That"s why respecting them might be a good idea. Jin, it"s painful for you too. But for them, it"s a matter of their own existence."

For a while, Jin couldn"t take his eyes off the door through which Shuras had left.

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