Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
The flurry of black mist twisted then disappeared without a trace, along with Manteco’s body, dead or alive. Aside from the startling pool of blood left on the ground, there was no sign of anything from the clash.
Majordomo Gail suddenly started to cough violently – so violently in fact, that he was gasping for air. His voice turned raspy, and the imposing momentum he had displayed faded as well. At the moment, he simply looked like an elderly man with a severe illness who was nearing his death.
“Uncle Gail!” Yalina hurriedly approached Majordomo Gail and patted his back.
Majordomo Gail waved his hand and stood up with difficulty, then looked at Han Jin, Gibran, and the rest of the people. “Young… cough cough… young people these days…” He wanted to say that Han Jin and the rest of the group were too careless, but it wasn’t really his place to chide them for their mistake; it would make it seem like he was relying on his seniority, and besides, they weren’t even under his command.
It was actually fortunate that Majordomo Gail hadn’t said anything, or else it would have been a slap in his own face as magic fluctuated within the inn, followed by Hallister’s painful scream.
Nildac and Myran, who stood beside the hole in the wall, instantly reacted and charged back in. At that point, half of Hallister’s body was charred black, and he himself had fainted. Eva, who was supposed to be unconscious, had disappeared without a trace.
Han Jin quickly appeared beside Hallister and grabbed his wrist. Luckily, although it was hectic, there was a clear pulse. He then checked Hallister’s burn which wasn’t severe either. Even though Eva hated Hallister with all her guts, she only had enough time to cast an instant spell with limited power before escaping. Besides, Hallister himself was a beginner-grade swordsman and had some power to defend himself.
Manteco was the one they had to eliminate, while Eva was merely a bonus. That had caused everyone to focus their attention on Manteco, and when he suddenly charged out into the street, everyone had frantically tried to intercept him, forgetting all about Eva. Now that they saw Hallister’s startling wound in the room, everyone was both shocked and angered.
“What happened here??” Reg asked furiously.
Nildac briefly recounted the situation, focusing on the glass of wine, Majordomo Gail’s attack that decapitated Eva, as well as how they went after Manteco. Majordomo Gail’s face was livid; had he put more power behind his attack, he could have easily killed Eva, but just this one time, he had decided to be merciful.
Reg approached the table, which had been flipped during the fight, along with the glasses on it. However, none of them were shattered, and some even had traces of rum left on it. Reg picked one up and tasted it with the tip of his tongue; it tasted like pure rum, how had Manteco noticed something was wrong?!
Chipango felt uneasy. In reality, even if they had no plan and had simply surrounded Manteco, there was little chance of him escaping, but he just had to show off his capability and convince Han Jin to use the potion; now that the potion had proved to be a mistake, he had to bear full responsibility.
“Chipango.” Han Jin stood up.
“My Lord!” Chipango almost reflectively straightened his chest to await Han Jin’s decision. Or, in other words, punishment.
“Bring Hallister back; his wounds must be taken care of immediately.” Han Jin looked around, then smiled. “What? Judging by your faces, if I didn’t know any better, I would think we were just defeated by someone.”
“What’s the difference?” Reg smiled bitterly. “They still escaped after so much planning, ha… We don’t even know if Manteco is alive or dead. Eva too; she’s bound to come back and cause trouble eventually.”
“A stray dog at this point. So what if she returns?” Han Jin said flatly. “She got lucky this time; it won’t be the same case if she comes back.”
“But…”
“No buts. She would be smart to not push her luck, but if she decides to return, we will kill her. Simple as that,” Han Jin said as he bent down to pick up Manteco’s sword to carefully examine it.
The whole of the sword’s blade was pure black which was strange. Even a sword forged from black steel would have some reflection, but this sword’s color was as deep as the night and made anyone who looked at it feel oppressed.
“Huh…” Han Jin frowned.
“What’s the matter?” Reg asked hurriedly.
“Nothing.” Han Jin causally stored the sword in his space ring. “Let’s go. We should go back and rest. Oh, and about this incident…”
“I’ll take care of it,” Gibran answered. It wouldn’t be proper for them to just leave after wreaking havoc in the inn. They were reasonable people after all.
* * *
The all but failed operation caused quite a stir in the Isolated Cliff City, especially in the circle of powerful leaders of the city. Captain Dwightsteel of the Dragon Singer Mercenary Corps and other captains, were especially surprised by the result. How had the ambush on Manteco failed when a dragon slayer was involved? It was simply absurd! However, they still believed in Winston’s character and knew he had no reason to lie. Besides, Edwina’s new longbow was strong proof. Even though dragon sinews weren’t as rare as dragon crystals, they weren’t something that you could get off the street. Besides, Yalina had even rented a magic laboratory for the sole purpose of crafting enchanted dragon scale leather armor.
Hence why they still didn’t doubt Han Jin’s identity. However, their evaluation of Han Jin drastically lowered. The consensus seemed to be that he was similar to Yalina: powerful, but lacked experience.
Han Jin’s mind was in a scramble as he returned to their base. Everything he had said back at the inn was to comfort his friends. It would be a lie if he said he didn’t feel any regret or didn’t worry about Eva’s revenge at all.
Han Jin had never been a very independent or strong-minded person, whether it be in this world or the last. Maybe because of his upbringing, but he had a strong tendency to rely on others. He came from an ordinary family that didn’t go through much violent change and relied on the care of his parents when he was little, then relied on his master when he became a cultivator, and hence rarely had the chance to face the world by himself. When he had finally opened a detective agency by himself, the troubles he had encountered were never too big to handle, neither did he think to challenge his limit. All of that was because his master had told him before, that all he needed was time! Even if he did run into something that he couldn’t handle, he would instantly seek help from his master, who would take care of everything after.
Han Jin was calm but easily affected by the situation around him; Han Jin was decisive but nowhere near resolute. In other words, he had the potential to become powerful, but that wasn’t enough; he needed confidence. If this were a peaceful world, he wouldn’t have even become active until he had achieved the ultimate goal of an immortal body. Unfortunately, the cruel reality did not afford him that luxury.
All of the above listed reasons, combined, shaped Han Jin’s manner. For example, during Manteco’s first attack, he had placed his hopes on Yalina, and had only arranged the Eight Gates Heaven Lock Matrix after Manteco had nearly succeeded. Had Yalina been able to fend off the mercenaries’ attack by herself, he would still be hiding behind the scenes, all because he still remembered his master’s words: all he needed was time.
If you thought you could lead and make life and death decisions without the ability to do so, it was arrogance, but if you still placed your hope on others when you had the ability to lead, it was a lack of confidence.
However, people could change, or at least Han Jin did. After ‘losing the Jin Province'(*) twice, he wasn’t dumb enough to repeat his mistake!
The first thing they took care of once they returned was to heal Hallister. When his wounds stabilized, Han Jin carried him back to his room and told Moxinke to get Yalina and Sunier. Yalina was needed because of her magic, and as for Sunier… he didn’t really need her to help; it was just so she wouldn’t get jealous.
With a magic barrier, Han Jin’s room became an independent reality. He then took out the black sword and handed it to Yalina.
It was honestly very pitiful that he only had a low grade flying sword. If he returned to his original world, people would laugh their teeth off. In reality, flying swords and other equipment were similar to magic scrolls as they both required a massive amount of effort to make outside of battle, but would drastically increase one’s power during one. However, magic scrolls couldn’t be reused, while his flying sword could. It should be quite obvious which one was superior.
Yalina stared excitedly at Han Jin and waited for him to cast his spell with the Eighth Element. When she saw him handing the sword to her, she knew he wanted her to see something. After a moment of inspecting the sword, Yalina slowly expanded her psychic force to explore the secret of the sword.
After a moment, a wavelike pattern rippled across the blade. Yalina’s face turned ugly and she retreated two steps back, as if she were trying to dodge something, while also throwing the sword onto the ground.
“You noticed too?” Han Jin smiled.
“How did you… how did you sense it?!” Yalina stared at Han Jin in disbelief. She recalled that Han Jin had noticed something the instant he had picked up the sword; far faster than how long it had taken her.
“You will know soon enough.” Han Jin thought a little. “Sunier, do you have a crystal ball? Or jewels? Or anything really; as long as it’s some kind of gem.”
“I do.” Yalina answered first and took out a crystal ball.
Han Jin took it, weighed it in his hand, then checked the quality of the crystal. However, he soon realized that he was wasting time; the fact that Yalina thought it was good enough for her collection meant that its quality was flawless.
Han Jin took a deep breath, released his grip, and the crystal ball floated up as if it were being held by an invisible hand. His hands immediately started to form different signs, and charms appeared in the air before slamming into the crystal ball and slowly sinking in.
The crystal ball was clear to begin with, but as more and more charms sunk in, the crystal started to turn into a pure white. Rays of light started to circle inside, and it became so bright that it made the candles look dim by comparison.
After a while, Han Jin was still releasing charms. The thousands of charms combined had turned the crystal into a bright full moon – one without any shadow. Yalina and Sunier, in the meanwhile, watched with interest on the side.
