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***
Kinzelo Headquarters.
The bitter loss of Sota Desert wasn't enough that the leader suddenly coughed up blood again, so the atmosphere was not good. Only Bubare and Ainas were giggling
"Ha, Ms. Zephyrin used the leader's power again...."
"The leader needs to regain consciousness properly and control Ms. Zephyrin, but he lost his energy again. It seems like this keeps happening. I'm starting to think we should say something too, vice-leader."
When Bishkel and Berakt seemed to express their frustration, Joe nodded.
"No, so what if she's the Grand Duke of the Demon World. Isn't this a bit too much? The leader coughed up blood again!"
"Don't interfere, Joe. Seriously, do I have to personally tell you to shut up every time for you to keep that snort shut? Should I break your jaw so you can't speak again?"
"Um, Ms. Zephyrin must not have had a choice. She must be more eager for the leader's recovery than anyone else. She is in a similar situation to Sir Jin's
guardian dragon, Lord Murakan, so she must be frustrated."
"Well, that's true. Margiella."
Joe found it difficult to hide his awkward feelings every time this happened. If he had said exactly the same thing Margiella just said, Berakt would have probably pounced on him, threatening to kill him.
'Ugh, this narrow-minded, mutt, dirty, discriminatory bastard!'
As Joe thought that, Margiella turned her head and met his eyes.
'Don't have such bad thoughts, mister Joe!'
She said this by making her mouth and Joe let out a dry cough while feeling goosebumps.
Thud!
The door opened. Zephyrin entered.
"Ms. Zephyrin!"
Everyone who was seated stood up, showing their respect.
"Oh, Grand Duke.... You came. The white wolf….. Just mentioned you."
Zephyrin gestured for the standing individuals to sit down, seeming somewhat annoyed.
"I told you, Unnie! Ms. Zephyrin, you're here. Everyone was talking about you."
"They were talking about me? What?"
"Oh, what were they talking about? Everyone, about Ms. Zephyrin."
"We were talking about how cool you are. Going alone to the enemy territory is a burdensome task for us lower beings. Thank you for your hard work, Ms. Zephyrin."
Bishkel hastily interrupted Ainas and shifted the topic, sensing Zephyrin's low spirits. Even Berakt, who said he would speak up, sighed just by looking at Zephyrin's mood and 'face.'
'Darn it, I, a great warrior, am in a situation where I have to be cautious. Why is her jaw so... like that? Could it be that she was beaten?'
Zephyrin's jaw was very swollen.
"Ehehe, but Ms. Zephyrin! Where did you get this bump? Will something come out if we pop it?"
On the other hand, Ainas, despite being warned once, unabashedly placed her hand on her swollen jaw, laughing softly.
Of course, the giant bump was the result of a blow from Talaris.
"Oh, ahh, Ainas... that, that's not good. Th-the Grand Duke might... get angr-angry."
"Hehe, I've never seen such a big bump! Unnie! Unnie, try touching it too."
"Ah... you shouldn't... not... you shouldn't, you crazy thing! Just die, just die! What are you doing to the Grand Duke, die! Die!"
Bam-!
Bianca's way of speaking suddenly changed, spewing curses and fists in rapid fire. Ainas ran away, but Bianca soon followed her with a club in her hand.
Margiella rolled her wheelchair towards Zephyrin.
"Hmm, what happened? Ms. Zephyrin."
"...We decided to have a meeting, Margiella. Sir Jin will notify us of the date, and we can analyze things during the meeting. We need to share all the information we find at that time. Damn that Jin Runcandel."
"Wow, that's an impressive harvest!"
"Do you really think so?"
"Of course, if someone else from our group had gone, we wouldn't have gotten anything!"
In the meantime, the Kaligo sisters, who had been circling among the executives, regained some of their senses.
"Oh... what have I done? Sorry... it must hurt, Ainas."
"Oh, uh, no. It's okay... huh? But what's this smell? Grand Duke, did you eat something delicious there? There's a really appetizing smell coming from you, Grand Duke."
This time, even Bianca sniffed the air near Zephyrin.
After the beating, Zephyrin had a meal in Tikan before leaving. She couldn't help it because refusing to have a meal in such a situation seemed to be against the dignity of the Grand Duke of the demon world.
'Ha... why were those cookies so annoyingly delicious, and that strawberry pie too…'
Zephyrin took out the Latrie cookies, and the Kaligo sisters immediately bit into them, expressing their joy by jumping around.
In other words, it was a mess.
Bishkel couldn't help but feel bitter and sad, wondering how Kinzelo had ended up in this state.
"Should I tell you a funny story for the depressed Ms. Zephyrin?"
Chirr, Margiella said as she rolled her wheelchair.
"What is it?"
"Maybe something sad might happen to Sir Jin soon. Ms. Zephyrin."
"Something sad...?"
Margiella smiled gently.
***
"Hmm, you really ate a lot. You even took all the cookies I left for the kids."
"But I saved the strawberry pie, Jet. I couldn't help eating strawberry pie at the table, but it's not as good as strawberry pie. No way."
"Sure, Lord Murakan is the best!"
After dinner, the group gathered to chat or smoke.
Talaris listened to everything that happened in the Sota Desert and examined the blueprints and machine.
"Hmm, we might need a specialized mage for proper interpretation of the blueprints. This cipher magic is probably a new type created by Zipfel. As for the machine... that prophet said this would change the course of future war?"
"Yes, Madame Talaris."
"I'd rather say it may be true about a cannon of the Black Kings that called something like mana absorption, but I have no idea how such a small thing can be used?"
All of Jin's companions and allies so far had the same reaction.
"I felt the same way. But as I continued to think, I had this idea. It might have something to do with the cube that Zipfel used in Gaifa Archipelago, the summoning device...."
"The last survivor of the Hister clan named Arya Aulhart and Misha are crucial. I am sure it may be possible to decipher the code of blueprints using the record magic, but can't we at least find out who made the machine?"
"I agree."
"And it would be great if Kinzelo can decipher the codes... Black Dragon Misha, she might be of some help."
"I haven't been able to contact Ms. Misha. It's been a year now. So, I'm starting to worry a bit."
The last time Jin met Misha was around this time last year. He had sought her out to inquire about the recording device after visiting Temar's second tomb.
At that time, Jin received information from Misha that Arya Aulhart was in Mamit, leading to a natural reunion with Valeria.
"A year, well, that's nothing for dragons, so don't worry son-in-law. Having
fought together, I don't think she is going to get caught. I'd like to share a drink with Miss Misha as a companion too."
"Yeah, kid. The master of the Hidden palace is right. That crazy devil will show up when she feels like it, so let's just stop worrying about it. Huh? Uh, thinking about her face gives me the chills. And she is not perfect either. She is good at shady things like deciphering codes, but she fails a lot too."
"Heh, is the handsome oppa really scared of his older sister?"
"Huh, who is scared?"
"Ah, so you're the one who's actually worried?"
"If you knew that devil as well as I do, you'd realize how meaningless the act of worrying is. If she hid with all her heart, even the gods couldn't find her, let alone humans."
"Demon God's Orb is the combination of the abilities of various gods, so who knows? Maybe you need to be a little too honest."
"Too noisy. Anyway, I think it's more helpful to find the genius magic engineer sooner rather than later, not Misha. Improving the equipment of the Black Kings and understanding that unidentified machine is important."
"We need a magic engineer, and we need to meet Miss Misha too. I have a lot of things to ask her."
After recalling the need for a magic engineer, Jin was diligently searching through the memories of his past life.
He was trying to remember which true genius magic engineers he knew of were not affiliated with Zipfel or the imperial family up to this point.
'Ramos Phil? No, he was already affiliated with the Imperial academy when I was a reserve flagbearer. Hopper Newman? No. The Sylar clan... was it a clan that existed only until the early 1700s?'
Magic engineering ranked lowest among Jin's interests in magic.
As a result, he didn't know many memorable figures, and most of them were either dead or already affiliated with someone.
"A genius magic engineer, huh? Hmm... There were a few such individuals among my past lovers. Should I contact them once? Son-in-law."
"Past lovers? I don't really trust that, the master of the Hidden Palace. Were you into those flashy types?"
"I'd appreciate it, Madame Talaris. I plan to meet all the magic engineers who are not currently affiliated."
"Alright, but I have a condition. Call me mother-in-law, and I'll do it."
"Of course, Mother-in-law. I should address you as such after all the things you've done for me."
"Jin, you too now!"
Syris looked wide-eyed in surprise.
"Haha, exactly! Only my son-in-law responded properly to my joke today! The rest just remained serious. Ahaha!"
Talaris and Jin burst into laughter.
'Is it that funny for Mother and Jin? But for some reason, I feel like laughing too. Perhaps it's because of the peaceful and friendly atmosphere.'
Syris resisted the urge to smile that was forming.
"Oh, son-in-law. Look at that. If we tease her a bit more, she might actually smile too. Son-in-law, do you know? When she was young, she used to call herself the Ice Princess."
"Ice Princess... No, Ice Princess, you say, Lady Syris? How old were you then?"
"Huh? The Ice Princess? The kid got the nickname the Black Crown Prince. Have you heard of it? The Black, Crown, Prince, Jin Runcandel."
"Black Crown Prince? That's lame. I think Ice Princess is better, Jin."
Pfft, in the end, Syris burst into laughter and responded to those who were laughing so hard.
"Haha, I laughed my heads off thanks to my son-in-law."
"Are you leaving so soon, Madame Talaris?"
"Yeah, I have to go."
"I'll see you off."
"Son-in-law, you should come too."
"To the Hidden Palace?"
"Yeah. Specifically, to the Hidden Palace training ground."
"Why the training ground of the Hidden Palace..."
"I heard you received a training book of secret technique written by Chiron from your sister, Mary Runcandel. This mother-in-law will personally help you a bit with attribute completion. It's the price for my laughter."