The Young Son Swordmaster
eps 16's
"I mean, why didn't you tell me about the side effects of the previous transformation?"
An hour has passed since the formation of the informal group of three Runcandels.
Outside the inn, the Black King's Pay Soldier was busily preparing to depart. Meanwhile, the three new group members were sitting in a circle in Jin's room, chatting amiably.
“Nak, try sleeping alone for a thousand years. When you finally wake up, your mind is not functioning properly, OK? Anyways, I completely forgot to tell you about it. Not only that, it has been so long that it is difficult to maintain the transformation.”
“You crazy dragon. You almost ended up in a cat form for good!”
A special privilege given only to dragons: transformation.
Although it was a privilege, it was not at all an ability that could be called 'blessing'. In fact, there are some important and fatal limitations to this ability.
First, the dragon in a state of being turned extremely weak.
If one turned into a cat, they only had the fighting power of a cat. The same thing will happen if a person turns into a lion, fish, bird, or other animal.
Second, if the transformation exceeds the time limit, the dragon becomes unable to return to its own original form.
Once they reached that point, the dragon began to lose its ego and consciousness as a mighty beast, and would eventually gain the mind of the beast they had changed.
"Almost. Too close. I'm panicking. In the past, I had seen a dragon turn into a fish and enjoy a relaxed life, but they ended up being caught by a fisherman. I laughed for about 200 years because it was~ But shit, I almost ended up with the same fate..”.
"Ha ha ha! I can't believe there's actually such a stupid dragon in—ups.”
After accidentally letting his inner thoughts out, Gilly immediately corrected his expression and attitude.
"Sorry, Young Master, Mr. Murakan."
"Why are you sorry, Strawberry Pie?"
“It is impolite for me to laugh out loud while on duty.”
“Yeah, are you some kind of golem, Strawberry Pie? Every human being should be allowed to laugh, right? Oi, kid! Didn't you even let your Nanny laugh so far? ”
“Tu-Tuan Murakan, young master is innocent. He treats me very well all the time.”
“If he treats you badly from now on, feel free to tell me. I'll teach him a lesson."
'They got along pretty well ...'
Jin laughed at himself. He hadn't seen Gilly so excited in a long time.
“By the way, Murakan, did the ban not apply when you turned into a human?”
"Yes. There is no big limit when it comes to turning into a human being. In fact, being human is more comfortable. As we are in our original form, we continue to consume mana. It takes a lot of energy to maintain a body that big.”
"Why is there no limit to human transformation?"
“The gods are watching us dragons. When we're born, we look just like humans, you know? In our dragon form, it is difficult to breed as a species and satisfy our various desires, so..”.
"Yes, that's too much information."
For some reason, Murakan laughed to himself as if he had heard a funny joke. Surprisingly, the corner of Gilly's mouth trembled as he tried his hardest to hold back his laughter.
"I'm done with them."
Although that thought came to Jin's mind, he didn't really mean it. Although the team was formed out of the blue, Jin disliked their interaction and strange atmosphere.
In fact, he quite enjoyed being with them. Having a trustworthy companion that he can share his secrets with is convenient and fun.
“By the way, we'll be leaving soon. Turned into a cat again.”
Murakan grumbled as he became an adorable black cat again. He must continue to do this until Jin becomes strong enough.
For the next two days, the Black King's Pay Soldier well escorted Jin and his friends to the capital of the Mitel Kingdom. It was no exaggeration to compare mercenaries with actual knights because of their shocking dignity and the courtesy they showed to their clients.
However, they never understood why their client took a black cat in the middle of their trip.
The Black King's Paying Army had just come to the conclusion that the little yet merciless master named Jin also had a childish aspect to him.
“Thank you for your work, Vice-Captain Murka of the 3rd Corps of the Black King's Charge Army. The main house of the Runcandel Clan will give you a worthy gift for escorting us—which is not part of the initial commission—at a later date.”
“This mission is also a good experience for us, Gilly. I can't wait to see the future of the young Runcandel you serve.”
Gilly and Murka exchange farewell greetings while Jin watches from a distance with a cat on his shoulder.
"By the way, Gilly McRolan."
"What's up, Wrath?"
“I may overstep my limits, but I've come to admire you after seeing you in battle. Therefore, as a warrior who makes a living by fighting, I have to ask you. Why would the McRolan Clan do such a thing to you—”
Gilly's expression immediately darkened. Murka quickly shook her hand and coughed loudly.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't. If only I could punch myself from 10 seconds ago.”
"It's okay. In that case, I wish you all the best.”
As soon as the Black King's Pay Soldier left, Gilly sighed deeply. After he improved his appearance, he joined Jin and Murakan, and they went to the administrative office of the Mitel Kingdom transfer gate.
“Welcome to Mitel Transfer Gate. Do you have an identity? ”
Gilly presented the dagger with the Runcandel emblem, 'Black Sword', engraved on it.
"Oh! So you belong to the Runcandel Clan. It is an honor to meet you. Are you heading to Karlon City Huphester Alliance? ”
Karlon is the town where Runcandel's main house, 'Swar Park', is located. In addition, the Huphester Alliance was a group of states under the rule of Runcandels.
"Indeed."
“Please pass here. I'll take you to the first class seat.”
Since the Mitel Kingdom was part of the Huphester Alliance, it was basically part of the region of the Runcandel Clan. The transfer gate manager guided Jin and his friends with beaming smiles, as if it was the biggest thing that happened in his life.
“We will leave in two hours and arrive in the blink of an eye. Hope you have a comfortable journey. ”
The Mitel Special Transfer Gate had a waiting room as luxurious as the living room of a wealthy noble. No other client uses a first-class waiting room.
Jin jumped onto the cushioned sofa and took out his notebook as his body sunk inside. He has become accustomed to using his free time to learn from his days as a magician in his past life.
“Huh, Young Master.”
"What?"
“If I have to be honest, I am quite worried. We could somehow find a way to explain your contract with the god and Lord Murakan's real identity if the clan wanted to know about it, but.”.
"My magic is the problem, right?"
"Yes. That's one thing that Runcandels.” will never tolerate and agree on
Suddenly, the door of the first-class waiting room opened.
It was a boy who seemed to come from a noble family. He had a light brown skin, and looked taller than Jin by 20 centimeters. He was accompanied by two companions.
As soon as they stepped into the room, the atmosphere changed. Tension rose in the air as Gilly and the noble boy's bodyguards glared at each other.
This situation was inevitable, as Runcandels and Zipfels had come face to face.
'Members of the Zippel Clan? Who exactly is this bastard?’
Jin calmly observed the Zippfel boy's face and pondered. His face looked somewhat familiar, but Jin could not remember who it was. He had never seen many Zipfels up close in his past life.
“No wonder I don't want to come to Huphester. My instincts warned me that I would find this bastard. ”
The Zippel boy, who was still near the entrance and away from Jin's position, muttered softly. His retinue now also quietly observed Jin as soon as they finished observing Gilly.
It was just a childish provocation.
Blood vessels in Gilly's neck started popping up, but as Jin remained silent and observed the situation, he did not step forward.
“Meong~”
Murakan walked around in circles among the opposing groups, meowing as if he found the situation comforting.
“Oh, at least the cat they keep is cute. Those cowards don't deserve to keep cute pets. Come here, cat~”
"Meow!"
The little murmur jumped into the arms of the Zippel boy. He let the boy pet her for a moment, until…
“Kyaa!”
The cat brandished its claws and scratched the boy's nose before quickly escaping from his grasp.
Pfft!
Seeing this spectacle, Jin could not help but laugh.
“Ugh!”
"Young Master 8th!"
As the bodyguards tried to draw the sword at their waist, the boy raised his hand to stop them.
“I'm fine, I'm fine. It's just a light scratch. No need to overreact because of cats. I think I deserve it for provoking them.”
(T/N: Good, I like this kid. No one can hurt a pet, especially a cat. Cats are the best~~!)
As he wiped the blood at the base of his nose, the boy continued to speak.
“...And most importantly, unsheathing your sword in front of Runcandels is a foolish act.”
The boy shrugged his shoulders and directed his gaze at Jin.
'I was wrong. He's not a coward, he's calmly watching us. No, maybe he doesn't care about us?’
The boy deliberately provoked Jin as soon as he entered the waiting room to check on Jin's reaction.
He wanted to know if the youngest child from Runcandels— who had just left Storm Castle— promised and showed potential or not. The boy immediately thought of Runcandel before him.
“Well, aren't you an interesting person, Jin Runcandel?”
The boy approached Jin and extended his hand.
“I Beradin Zippel. I'm just provoking you to test you, but allow me to properly apologize. ”
Zippel!
Upon hearing the name, Jin finally remembered why the boy before him looked so familiar.
In his past life, Beradin became a 9-star magician at the age of 30, and was almost unanimously elected to become the next patriarch of Zippel. As a famous and influential figure, Jin has often seen his face in newspapers along with news of his achievements.
Possessing equally great skills and personality, she is very popular and idolized by young magicians all over the world.
Jin—who had just become a 5— star magicianalso looked at Beradin and thought of him as a goal he would never be able to achieve.
"Is that so? I'm also secretly observing you to see what kind of person you are, so it's a relief to see you're not a moron. ”
"Oho, why are you making such a judgment?"
“Even if it's just a joke, if you allow your subordinates to unsheathe their swords, you should go around Huphester without helpers. You will also lose a few fingers. ”
"Haha, what an entertaining joke."
"Did I sound like I was joking?"
As Beradin received Jin's cold gaze in front, he gasped and pursed his lips.
“...Well, fine. You are a confident person. But let me give you some advice as someone who is in the same situation as you. The next time you meet a rude Zippel who does something offensive, don't carelessly cut off their fingers. That would cause trouble in both of our clans, wouldn't it?”
Beradin warns Jin not to recklessly start a war between the two clans.
It was a serious piece of advice that actually came from an enemy clan member.
“Well, that's the real joke, Beradin Zippel.”
“Hm? Why do you say that? If Zipfels and Runcandels fought to the death for every trivial problem we face, the world would not be able to withstand a bloody battle. I'm telling you to remember the potential disasters and chaos that innocent civilians will face because of us.”
"My father, Cyron Runcandel, and your father, Kelliark Zippel."
Jin smirked before continuing his words.
"Do you really think they will mobilize their entire clan due to the trivial quarrel between the children?"
Beradin's eyes opened wide, as if he had nothing to say to Jin's words.
“Even if I cut off your finger today, Runcandels and Zipfels will not fight. We only need to pay a few thousand gold bars or something.”
Beradin stared dumbfoundedly and blinked a few times before nodding his head.
“It was very enlightening and informative. I'll definitely pay this debt to you in the future. ”
“Forget the future. Pay now.”
"How's it?"
“Just wait quietly until the transfer gate is activated. Don't disturb my tenure time.”
