Volume 3 Chapter 52 – Banquet (7)

Jin attended the banquet the following day as well.

Fortunately, not many people were aware of his duel with Syris. In fact, many were misunderstanding their relationship just like Dipus Runcandel, and their beliefs were reinforced today.

Had they actually duelled, the winner would've been bragging about their victory to others at the banquet. Nevertheless, Jin and Syris remained silent and didn't bring up the topic, so people naturally came to the conclusion that they had had a secret love affair last night.

The banquet continued in a similar fashion as the day before.

Jin stayed seated in one location, and the guests came introducing themselves to him. However, there were less people crowding around him. Since the secret and veiled child of the Runcandels had already revealed himself last night, the guests were busier dealing with their own favours and grudges amongst themselves.

Ever since Jin and Syris had left the arena last night, countless other duels have been occurring nonstop until now.

And since people were allowed to spectate the fight, there were more guests gathered at the arena than the banquet hall.

The 'single-log bridge' party had begun for real.

Nevertheless, Jin was sitting at the center of the hall, sipping on his wine as he looked around in glee.

'I should be able to meet those Zipfels today.'

Jin was curious to know how high their mastery of magic was. Since he had heard that the four Zipfel guests were between 15 and 20 years of age, they were the best magicians he could compare himself to.

Moreover, if he got the chance, he wanted to ask them about the Kollon Ruins. But Jin changed his mind as it was probably a bad idea.

'I'll get a lot of free time once I become a provisional flag-bearer. I can just go investigate the Kollon Ruins with Murakan whenever I want in the near future.'

And if he received Murakan's help, Jin could easily find and take the mirror artifact called the 'Fountain of Mana' for himself.

'I'll make sure the Zipfels can't mass-produce 7-star magicians like a factory this time around.'

Once his thoughts reached that conclusion, Jin laid his glass on the table and exhaled deeply.

Meow.

Meooow.

He suddenly noticed a black cat naively walking around the banquet hall. The guests were surprised by the presence of a small cat at the Runcandel main house, so they couldn't help but stare at it.

'That stupid…!'

Jin was certain Murakan had sneaked inside without Gilly's knowledge. The boy wasn't sure whether the dragon had noticed his gaze on him, but Murakan raised his tail straight and catwalked to the center of the hall.

He then safely arrived at his destination: on top of Syris's lap.

The girl was satisfied by the cute pet's affection towards her and she started stroking it. After a short while, she looked at the nametag on the cat's collar and burst out in laughter.

—Nabi Runcandel

That was the name written on the tag. Syris laughed out loud for a long time, before composing herself and wiping her tears. She then got up and approached Jin.

"Did you come up with his name, Young Master Jin?"

She was speaking in a soft tone, a complete 180 compared to her attitude back at the arena.

The way she skillfully carried him showed her abundant experience with animals. Jin smiled awkwardly and nodded.

"Yes."

"Before coming here, I imagined you to be a battle maniac obsessed with swords, but you have quite a few surprising sides to yourself. May I play with him for a short while?"

"Feel free to."

After receiving his approval, Syris bowed and left the hall.

'Did she really come to me just to ask that?'

Jin found her quite peculiar but somewhat likeable. Then, someone else unexpectedly sat next to him.

"Oh! So we finally meet again, Jin Runcandel! You have no idea how difficult it was finding you, haha."

A young man wearing a genuinely friendly smile spoke to Jin enthusiastically.

Jin knew this boy, as well as all the feats and accomplishments he'd achieve in the future.

However, he didn't want to act familiar with him, even though he was a Zipfel Jin had been looking forward to seeing.

"Who… are you?"

"Goodness! To think I'd hear such a disheartening greeting from you at our reunion! How could you forget about me? I've been thinking about you every day all this time."

"So who on earth are you?"

"C'mon, try guessing. The first two letters of my name are 'Be'. Haha, do you remember now?"

"Nope."

"Dammit! We first met each other at the Mitel Kingdom's transfer gate. Does it not ring a bell?"

"Nope, no bells ringing at all."

At this point, Jin found their interaction amusing, so he continued feigning ignorance.

"Hahaha… To think that you don't remember even with all these clues… Jin, I think you have the memory of a goldfish. Listen carefully. My name is Bera—"

"Beradin Zipfel. You're still as oblivious as ever. I was indirectly saying that I didn't want to act like your acquaintance. Yet you didn't get the hint and continued bringing up the topic. How tiresome."

"Oh, is that what it was…?"

To think that this boy would actually become a 9-star magician by 30 years old and get selected as the succeeding patriarch. Jin had also realized how clueless Beradin was on their first encounter, but this was just on another level. He was speechless at how ridiculous the situation was.

Even though Jin had bluntly said how tiresome Beradin was, the Zipfel boy didn't let it bother him for too long. He wore a gloomy expression for a short while, but soon resumed the conversation.

"You have no idea how much I was looking for you since yesterday. Geez, the Runcandels' banquet hall is enormous. No matter how much I walked around, I just couldn't find you. I think I roamed the hall for two hours or something."

"Gosh, no matter how large this hall is, it's just a banquet hall. Are you seriously telling me you didn't find me after searching for two hours?"

Jin spoke as he recalled the previous day.

He was the center of attention and guests continued approaching him. He was also located at the center of the hall, so even if someone didn't want to see him, they'd inevitably notice the boy at least once during the evening.

"Yeah, I'm serious. Had I used magic, I could've found you in ten seconds, but isn't it banned to use magic at the Runcandel estate? I just kept walking around, but always saw the same faces around me."

"Is that so."

"Anyways, it's so good to see you again, Jin. Has it been five years already? To think you're already a 5-star. I knew you'd be the cause of some big event the last time I saw you, haha. But I haven't been lazing around all this time either. I've already reached the…"

The directionally-challenged boy paused to add a dramatic effect.

"6-star stage! Kuhahaha, I'm already a 6-star magician. In other words, I'm one level higher than your swordsmanship!"

Beradin was three years older than Jin, so he was a 6-star magician by the age of 18. This was quite the achievement. It was worthy of being celebrated just like Jin's exceptional growth. However…

'He's only 6-star?'

Jin was greatly surprised as Beradin's level was far lower than he had expected. Putting aside the foolish act of revealing his abilities in enemy territory, Jin was shocked that the most talented pureblood of the Zipfel Clan was only a 6-star magician.

'I feel like my mana will be about 7-star in three years, though…'

Had he overestimated Beradin due to his achievements in Jin's past life? Or was he lying about his own growth to trick the Runcandels?

"Seeing your shocked face makes the time I spent searching for you totally worth it, Jin. I'm looking forward to the day I finally get to fight you. I was greatly enlightened by our last encounter and trained like crazy. Try your best catching up to me, Jin. Now, let's have a toast."

Jin didn't bother revealing the true reason behind his shock and raised his glass of wine with a bewildered face.

As the cups hit each other, Jin barely suppressed the smile that was about to grow on his face.

'If Beradin was only able to reach 6-star by 18 years old… the next person to reach the peak of magic after Kelliark Zipfel will be me. I'm sure of it.'

Jin was reevaluating his own potential objectively. Meanwhile, the unaware Beradin was standing with his chest puffed out as he thought Jin had acknowledged him.

"You should care more about me from now on. I have no doubts that you'll become the succeeding Runcandel patriarch. So in the future, the Runcandels under your rule will be fighting the Zipfels under mine. Just think about it. Doesn't that get your blood pumping?"

Jin smiled softly.

"Beradin Zipfel. It seems I need to give you another piece of advice just like five years ago."

"Oh, what is it?"

"You should learn to hold your tongue."

"Haha, you say the same thing as my father."

"Anyone would say that after knowing you for more than a minute. Anyways, why did the Zipfels come to the banquet without sending a formal request?"

They had come at the last minute, resulting in their second-in-command getting humiliated.

Jin silently waited for Beradin's answer.

"Oh, that's because of me. I pestered Uncle Andrei to let me come, saying that I absolutely had to see you."

"What?"

"We just happened to be in Huphester when I heard the news of a banquet celebrating your achievement, so I thought, 'This is fate! Fate is letting me see him once again!', and so I came here."

"Is that it?"

"Yep, that's it."

Jin was at a loss for words.

'Andrei Zipfel—the clan's second-in-command—actually listened to a kid's tantrum and came to enemy territory without any preparation?'

Jin just couldn't comprehend Andrei's thought process using common sense.

However, as he dwelled on it a bit longer, he realized how much love, affection, and attention the boy known as 'Beradin Zipfel' was receiving in the clan of magicians.

Beradin was already being treated like the next patriarch of the clan.

The Zipfel clan was a place where geniuses in magic were a dime a dozen. However, this boy was already being considered the best of the best, despite not being 20 years old yet.

Once he realized that, a certain thought went through Jin's mind.

'If we kill Beradin before he can fully mature… we could deal a terrible blow against the Zipfels.'

Even if they killed Beradin, the Zipfels surely had an alternative.

Nevertheless, they would lose the only magician of this generation who would reach 9-star by the age of 30.

Beradin would surely become the Zipfels' strongest magician of this generation in the future, and losing him would be a terrible outcome for them.

"Beradin."

"What?"

"You should be grateful that we're in a banquet hall right now."

"Keke, aren't you being a bit too cold to me? But yeah, I know. I know that your father showed mercy to my uncle. Speaking of which, let me make you a promise. If you ever come to a Zipfel banquet without a formal request, we won't bring you any harm."

Beradin wore a cunning smile as he scratched the back of his head.

"Really? What if I suddenly attacked people in the middle of the hall and sabotaged the banquet?"

"I never take back my words. Even if you cause a terror attack, we won't kill you. If a fight were to break out, I won't take part in it at the very least."

'What a foolish romanticist,' thought Jin.

Still, he couldn't put aside the possibility that Beradin knew about the human experiments conducted using forbidden magic inside the Zipfel Clan. However, no matter how stupid Beradin was, Jin couldn't just bluntly ask questions about the Kollon Ruins as it was risky.

Having emptied his glass, Jin suddenly stood up from his seat.

"Where are you going?"

"Some displeasing creep has been glancing at me since earlier, so I'm off to give him a good scolding."

Jin directed his gaze towards the left.

Over there was a certain man leering at Jin since a while ago: Bouvard Gaston.

"Oh, are you starting a fight? Can I watch?"

Jin ignored Beradin's question and walked towards Bouvard.

"Excuse me, sir. Do you happen to have something you wish to tell me?"

Vishukel wasn't next to him. He was looking around the banquet hall with his sister Margiela. That was why Bouvard could act so carelessly with no repercussions… until now, that is.

"Um… When will Lady Luna return?"

"What was that?"

"Hehe, I'm talking about Lady Luna. Will she not make another appearance at the banquet? I wanted to give her this… It's a poem I wrote all night long, filling it with my love…"

"Haha."

Jin chuckled and Bouvard took that as an acknowledgement. So far, Jin could just let this insolence pass as just one chubby man's 'foolishness'. He was about to ignore the man as he appeared to be lacking in the brain department.

'To think that there'd be a moron disrespectfully and thoughtlessly searching for Elder Sister Luna at the Garden of Swords. Isn't he an attendant serving the Yvliano Clan? I should warn Lord Vishukel about his attendant's behaviour sometime before the banquet ends.'

However, Bouvard ended up trespassing his limits and infuriating Jin.

"Hehe, Lady Luna will realize once she reads my poem that I'm not your typical man. In fact, I may even become your brother-in-law in the near future, Young Master Jin. Uhehehe."

Even Beradin—who was silently watching this interaction while sipping on his glass—couldn't help but spit out his wine once he heard those words.

***