The first thing that provisional flag-bearers had to do in order to gain honour and reputation when departing the Garden of Swords was to leave the Huphester Alliance.
Jin and Gilly erased all traces of their affiliation with the Runcandels. The robes covering their clothes didn’t have the Black Sword emblem on it, and the bag containing their belongings had no label either.
Details of Jin’s face had yet to spread to the public, so there was no need for him to wear a disguise. Nevertheless, he still tweaked his appearance a little bit.
He cut the black hair that came down to his shoulders. However, his appearance didn’t matter much. In fact, the martial artist known as ‘Gilly McRolan’ was far more famous than Jin to the public. Fortunately, her active years were short, so she wasn’t extremely well-known either.
The names written on their identification were aliases; Jin Grey and Gilly Piten.
Although they had fake names on their papers, those were still elaborate passports that even allowed them to leave and enter Vermont’s capital city as they pleased.
Be that as it may, anyone in the Huphester Alliance would be able to guess that they were provisional flag-bearers of the Runcandel Clan. Huphester was no different from the Runcandels’ main headquarters, so it wasn’t surprising that the people would see through their lies.
Therefore, Jin and his companions had to go to a land where the Runcandels’ influence didn’t reach—somewhere beyond the sea.
“Lady Luna will be quite saddened by your departure. The same goes for the cadets in your faction, Young Master. Will you really leave without telling them goodbye?”
“Yeah. Elder Sister Luna is also quite free-spirited herself, and the cadets are probably going to overreact. It’s not like I’m going to die or something.”
However, as they were about to pass through the Garden of Swords’ main gate, Jin came face to face with nine cadets.
“Geez, hasn’t training started already? Uncle Zed won’t forgive you so easily for skipping.”
“““Please stay safe during your travels!”””
The cadets raised their swords in unison. Jin silently stared at them for a moment, but before long, a small smile drew on his face.
“I expect everyone to be far stronger than my expectations by the time I’m back. I don’t want any deaths or dropouts while I’m away. Good luck enduring the disciplinary punishment for skipping class to come see me.”
Jin fist-bumped everyone before continuing his way to leave the Garden.
‘How curious. It’s a completely different feeling compared to back then.’
In his past life, Jin was banished from the clan at the age of 25. He had to leave the Garden of Swords in a similar fashion as today. However, the atmosphere of leaving as a 15-year-old provisional flag-bearer was poles apart from the atmosphere back then.
Fifteen years.
It had taken Jin fifteen long years to finally get five years of freedom. Those fifteen years felt like an eternity to the boy, since he had a fully conscious mind since his rebirth.
Jin felt so giddy that he couldn’t stop himself from humming a cute little melody.
Generally speaking, Cyron never gave a five-year timespan to a provisional flag-bearer; it usually spanned between six months to two years maximum. Within that time, the provisional flag-bearers have to gain honour and reputation before returning to the clan.
‘There’s only one reason Father gave me five long years. It’s for me to reach the pinnacle of spiritual power before coming back.’
Needless to say, Jin wasn’t a goody two shoes who listened to his father’s every word. He didn’t plan on reaching the pinnacle of spiritual power only, but also that of magic
***
Cyron—who had remained in the mausoleum—quietly thought to himself.
‘I wonder… Will the youngest gain the power to liberate the Runcandels from the Zipfels? I can’t wait to see.’
Even though Cyron had reached the demigod realm by wielding a single sword, he still couldn’t destroy the pact his ancestors had made with the Zipfels.
The Runcandel Clan’s only hope was Solderet’s contractor, his youngest son. Of course, this hope was merely a candle in the wind at the moment.
***
One day went by. Two people were walking down a path in the forest.
Most Runcandel provisional flag-bearers head to the Mamit Lawless Zone first in order to gain honour. Mamit was an area where countless criminals and outlaws crawled around like cockroaches, which made it the perfect place for provisional flag-bearers to beat up villains and gain a decent reputation.
Jin had also considered choosing Mamit as his first destination.
But his reasoning was different from the others. He didn’t want to go to Mamit to beat up criminals, but to find someone who went by the name ‘Hister’. Hister was Jin’s magic teacher in his past life, and he couldn’t wait to see them again.
However, Jin couldn’t allow himself to waste time just because he missed his master.
‘It’s not like Master will recognize me in this life anyway.’
Jin could always go find his Master whenever he wanted in the future.
Thus, Jin renounced Mamit as his first destination and decided to head to the ‘Akin Kingdom’.
‘The land where I died in my past life.’
Jin had died in his sleep when three 9-star knights attacked the city he was in. Fortunately, that death ended up being a blessing in disguise, as Jin gained a second chance at life.
“Why the Akin Kingdom specifically, Young Master?”
“Have you been to Akin before, Gilly?”
“No.”
“When I was out on my mission at the Kollon Ruins, I overheard a conversation between some magicians there. Apparently, many unregistered magicians have been messing around in the Akin Kingdom recently.”
“Unregistered magicians?”
Just as the name implied, unregistered magicians are magicians who didn’t register their names at the Magic Association. Most of them are either criminals or evil mercenaries.
“Right. It seems they’ve been collaborating with martial artist mercenaries and terrorizing the Akin citizens. I plan on heading there and beating them to a pulp.”
It goes without saying that Jin hadn’t overheard any of this at the Kollon Ruins; it was merely the information he knew from his past life. Anyone who has been in the Akin Kingdom knows that unregistered magicians and mercenaries have been wreaking havoc.
The small number of unregistered magicians and mercenaries in Akin were all pawns and henchmen of the evil ‘Tesing’ Clan of the Akin underworld.
Jin’s true business lay with that clan. The underground auction house the Tesings hosted contained countless items—items whose true values were yet to be known around the world.
‘I absolutely need to buy a few magic tomes and a certain ring.’
Although most books are written in archaic language or in a secret code, the ancient magic tomes contain some interesting spells. Many of them can’t compare to modern magic spells that have been improved over decades and centuries, but some rare ones are still exceptional spells that transcend time and era.
Thanks to his excellent master, Jin also knows how to distinguish the good magic tomes from the bad ones.
Moreover, in five to six years, a certain item’s true value will spread around the world, and the artifact in question would receive a proper name. It was a helmet artifact in the shape of a ring, and it was an item that every martial artist in his past life dreamed of having.
“A great idea, Young Master. I very much adored beating up villains back when I was still active as well. I’m feeling excited already!”
Gilly spoke as she did a fist pump.
Although her skills as a 7-star knight had been sealed, Gilly’s heart couldn’t help but beat in excitement at the thought of travelling the world with Jin and Murakan.
However, there was one big problem…
“Young Master, I don’t think we can use the transfer gate to go to the Akin Kingdom. We will have to buy the cheapest ticket and go by ship…”
The trio were broke.
Back at the Garden of Swords, none of them had to worry about money, but currently, they only had ten gold coins in their pockets.
With these funds, they couldn’t pay for the transfer gate, let alone buy a single high-class ship ticket. Jin’s life as the rich son of a wealthy family that could use 3000 to 5000 coins per day without hesitation had come to an end.
Poof!
The black cat inside Gilly’s basket transformed back into a human.
“Strawberry Pie! I knew this would happen, so I secretly brought a few of my limited edition magazines with me. Fufu, we could easily buy a high-class ship ticket by selling one of these.”
“When did you even pack those up, Lord Murakan? Hm… Won’t it be a bit embarrassing when we sell them?”
“Put those away, Murakan. We’re not cold-hearted people that’d make you sell your treasured collection.”
“Young Master, I do believe that I’d be able to earn a few hundred coins by enduring the shame and selling them to a peddler in a city.”
“Hundred?! I bought this one for 2000 coins. You can’t sell this at that price.”
Gilly and Murakan squabbled with each other for a short while about the erotic magazines’ prices, and Jin found them adorable. Soon enough, he shook his head and spoke up.
“Enough, both of you. I have an idea for our funds. Before heading to Akin, let’s stop by the Zhan Kingdom tonight. There’s someone I can make good use of over there.”
“The Zhan Kingdom? But how will we get there without money in the first place?”
“We can just ride Murakan. What are you doing? Transform into your original form already.”
Although a day had passed since they had left the Garden of Swords, it was still broad daylight. It wasn’t the appropriate time for the legendary Black Dragon to suddenly appear in the skies.
“Oh, can I really do that, kid?”
“N-Nonsense! We cannot do that, Young Master! What if someone sees us? We haven’t exited the Runcandel territory yet.”
“C’mon, it’s fine. We should enjoy ourselves for once. A single time wouldn’t hurt. Transform already, Murakan. We’ve got a long journey ahead of us.”
Gilly didn’t even have the opportunity to stop them again.
Swooooosh!
Murakan had already returned to his black dragon form and grabbed the two humans with his hand. He then placed them on his back.
[Hold on tight. I’ll have to fly restlessly to reach the Zhan Kingdom by nightfall.]
The three of them soon darted across the Huphester skyline and headed to the Zhan Kingdom.
In the near future, a small rumour spread within central Huphester, where people said they ‘saw a dragon’. Nevertheless, no one ever learned of the truth of that incident.
No one, except Jin’s eldest sister.
“He really is quite extraordinary. He’s flying through the sky on a dragon as soon as he becomes a provisional flag-bearer?”
Luna was sitting on her balcony drinking alcohol while thinking of her youngest sibling who had just departed. Needless to say, she had seen Murakan flying across the sky as well as the two people riding on his back.
“A toast to my ungrateful and insensitive brother who didn’t come say bye. Hmph.”
***
“Urgh… Uub.”
Unfortunately, Gilly had a terrible case of acrophobia. As soon as they landed on a hill in the vicinity of the Zhan Kingdom’s capital, Gilly got off Murakan and trembled in fear for a long while.
“A-Are you alright, Strawberry Pie? Hey! Kid! Strawberry Pie is completely terrified right now because of you!”
“Why is it my fault? It’s because you were flying weirdly.”
“You’re the one who wanted to ride me! Ah, breathe deeply, Strawberry Pie… That’s right, take it slow. Breathe deeply. Good.”
Jin and Murakan consoled Strawberry P—I mean, Gilly for a while as they patted her on the back. She was still trembling all over with a face pale as a ghost.
Murakan made use of this opportunity and embraced Gilly in a big hug. Whether she was aware of his intentions or not, Gilly didn’t resist. Murakan then talked big while staring at Jin.
“This won’t do. I’ll look after Strawberry Pie, so you go get the money, kid.”
‘You crazy… Are you being serious?’
Jin was about to blurt that out, but managed to hold back. He then decided to follow Murakan’s suggestion.
The boy ran down the hill and the streets for two hours before reaching his destination.
The Bill Clan’s residence.
It was a gigantic mansion visible from anywhere in the Zhan Kingdom’s capital city. No wonder they were Zhan’s greatest clan of merchants.
Jin approached the front gate and the guards stopped him.
“What’s with you? Get lost, brat.”
Aaah…
As soon as he heard the old-fashioned, cliché line, Jin felt a nostalgic sensation as memories flooded his mind. He had heard similar lines so many times in his past life, where he roamed… no, crawled the lands as a beggar.
The long flight on Murakan had disheveled his hair, and the travelling clothes he was wearing didn’t have the clan’s Black Sword emblem on them. In the guards’ point of view, Jin was merely an annoying brat who was approaching the mansion in the middle of the night.
“Cember Bill. Is he inside?”
Jin bluntly mentioned the Bill Clan’s eldest son’s name, and the guards looked at each other, baffled. The boy’s behaviour was like that of the son from a prominent family.
“Yes, he is residing inside the mansion. If I may ask, who might you be, young sir?”
Jin pondered on what to answer.
What about ‘I am Jin Runcandel’? Or ‘an old friend’? Maybe ‘I dropped by since I was nearby. Tell Cember to come on out’?
None of them were appropriate answers. Revealing his name would mean breaking the rule of not using the clan’s name as a provisional flag-bearer. Meanwhile, the other options would take too long. The guards would make Jin go through all the procedures and paperwork before allowing him to meet Cember.
“Thanks. And sorry about this.”
Thwack!
Jin swiftly chopped the two guards in the back of the neck with his hands and they fell unconscious. Jin took out his entire fortune—ten coins—and placed them on their stomachs as compensation. Jin then opened the front gate and entered the Bill Clan’s residence.
Fortunately, Cember was sitting at the center of the lake in the residence, acting pitiful. Thus, Jin didn’t need to deal with other guards and wreak havoc.
“Cember.”
“Who ar—mmh, mhmm!”
“Don’t shout. It’s me, Jin. The one who rescued you from Kinzelo.”
“Bwaaah! My, Lord Jin? What brings you here?”
“Do you remember how you told me to come find you if I’m ever in need of help?”
“Of course I do. How could I ever forget my debt to Lord Jin? If it weren’t for you, right now I wouldn’t be—”
“Great. I’ll be waiting here, so go get me some gold and money.”
