章節 118: CHAPTER 277
"Are you saying they're not sending delegations because of you?"
Gilly's eyes and gestures revealed countless emotions. Shame, embarrassment, guilt, bitterness, and worry - all the negative emotions that belittle a person. They were weighing her down.
Gilly lowered her head.
Jin didn't ask any more questions and simply patted her shoulder. "It's okay. You don't have to feel that way, Gilly. I won't hold it against the McLoran clan, so please don't worry."
Jin immediately understood Gilly's concerns.
"I've lost face in front of you. Thank you for understanding, young master."
But Jin actually felt the opposite of what he had told her.
If the McLorans had hurt Gilly in the past, and she was still tormented by it to the point where she couldn't bring it up to Murakan and himself due to the pain, then he would punish the McLorans sooner or later. The fact that they didn't send a delegation meant little to him compared to that.
"Oh, Strawberry Shortcake. Don't be sad and come here. That ungraceful boy playing king for a day is coming to an end, so it seems the adults can finally get something."
Murakan gently took Gilly away. Jin looked for Petrow instead.
"Yes, young master!"
"Did the Volta clan not send anyone?" Jin asked.
"Let me check again, sir."
It was already past midnight when Petrow returned. "Oddly enough, sir. All the poor noble clans sent people who were rejected, but the Volta clan was the only one that didn't send anyone."
The so-called lowly noble clans like the Voltas didn't need to be cautious of Jin's brothers when sending congratulatory parties.
Anyway, these clans weren't significant enough to have direct ties with the pure-blooded Runcandels. Therefore, none of his brothers would care if Jin decided to meet with any of the poor noble clans or not, and Rosa wouldn't pay them any attention either.
This was precisely why the weaker clans tried their best to establish ties with the pure-blooded Runcandels on such occasions.
They often squeezed out every last bit of their funds to send gifts or even offered clan relics if they couldn't afford anything.
But the Voltas acted differently from the rest of the poor noble clans.
"So, they didn't, huh? Hmm."
It can't be. Is there someone in the Volta clan who is aware of Picon Minche's lineage? In this time period?
Picon Minche was the undisputed and unparalleled blacksmith in the history of the continent. He himself forged the Balisade and the Bradamante.
Almost a thousand years had passed since Picon Minche's death, but the Minche Smithing Guild remained the top blacksmithing group on the continent.
Licensed blacksmiths from the Minche Guild received better treatment than most knights and Magicians, both in Hufester and the Lutero Magical Federation.
Especially the guild's top three blacksmiths, each known as Anvil, Hammer, and Forge, were respected even by Cyron himself.
Given the respect shown to guild members, who would have imagined that Picon's own descendant was a steward of a struggling noble clan?
He was around twenty-three or twenty-four years old when he first appeared in my past life. I know for sure it was before he reached a star in Sword Techniques.
I still remembered it clearly because the whole of Hufester was shocked by the news.
The descendant of Picon Minche went by the name Fin Blanche.
And like most, he didn't know he was a descendant of Picon. Just like his parents, their parents, and their grandparents didn't know either.
Picon's descendants had lost their Minche surname and identity at some point and lived their lives as commoners. Their surname changed multiple times according to the laws and marriage customs of their time.
Then, suddenly, the god of blacksmiths appeared in Fin Blanche, the steward of the Volta clan.
Fin had already made a contract with the god of blacksmiths, but he only realized it for the first time when Jin was around twenty-four years old.
"Maybe the information from my past life was wrong. Perhaps the world only became aware of Fin Blanche's existence at that time, but the clan might have known about Fin much earlier, especially since Joshua has that Seer."
Jin summarized his thoughts and nodded.
Unlike now, Jin was not a flagbearer back then and was even looked down upon by the servants.
Therefore, he had no way of understanding what was going on within the clan. Back then, his life was just a series of days spent futilely training alone in a corner, only to hastily return to his room and hide from others.
On the other hand, Joshua's life back then wasn't much different from now.
Even if some other brother besides Joshua had acquired Fin Blanche, they would hardly have shared him with the clan's trash, which is what Jin used to be.
Indeed, Jin could never find out which faction Fin Blanche joined after it was revealed that he was the contractor of the god of blacksmiths.
Jin could only assume that he had been recruited by the Runcandels.
In any case, the only way to know for sure was to meet him in person.
"The Volta clan's territory was a remote countryside of the Schutzeron Kingdom, right? Is there a portal directly connecting to the area?"
Do you mean you want to visit the Volta clan right now?
Petrow never asked that question.
"There isn't one, young master. But I will send an order to the flagbearer to open the portal to the nearest city in Schutzeron immediately, sir."
--------------------------------
Just after Jin arrived at the southern portal of the Schutzeron Kingdom, he immediately rode Shuri towards the Volta mansion.
Being seen with Shuri was no longer much of a problem, but he stuck to mountainous paths to avoid attracting too much attention.
"Who's there?"
The small Volta clan mansion was terribly run-down and looked like it could collapse at any moment.
The doors were guarded by two scrawny boys who weren't worthy of being called guards. Jin didn't know if they were malnourished because they weren't paid on time or if they were thin despite being paid on time.
"I am Jin Runcandel, the twelfth flagbearer of the Runcandel clan. I have come to meet the patriarch of the Volta clan. Show me the way."
"Uhh. Oh!"
"Yes, sir! Patriarch, sir! Sir! The flagbearer of the Ru- Runcandels is here!"
The two quickly stood up and shouted for their patriarch.
When the patriarch appeared after a while (even the patriarch himself was quite disheveled, though not as much as the boys), Jin almost ironically laughed.
The mansion's door broke and fell off as he exited. In his haste, he opened it a bit faster than usual, causing it to come off its hinges.
At that moment, Jin had to discard every single reason why the Volta clan wasn't sending envoys.
The portals didn't matter. They were so poor they could barely afford a horse. There was no way they could afford to send envoys.
The Volta clan simply didn't have money.
Fallen clan or not, Jin found it unbelievable that such noble clans existed in Hufester.
"How can we assist the twelfth flagbearer of the Runcandel clan? What has brought Your Lordship to such a humble place?"
"I have come to ask a question. But how did things come to this state?"
It was impolite to ask someone he had just met, but the question needed to be asked.
"Oh, we had a recent famine in the area. And with bandits and demonic creatures causing trouble as well, I have nothing to defend myself, sir."
"Why didn't you seek support from the Schutzeron Kingdom?"
"The Schutzeron royals have abandoned these lands long ago. As you can see, there is no value in these lands, sir."
Jin had to accept it as soon as he heard it. Just as the Volta patriarch mentioned, the lands seemed completely devoid of value.
"But still, the winter harvest is coming, so we should be self-sufficient for it... no, what am I saying? I apologize, Sir Jin Runcandel. We couldn't afford to send envoys, and we couldn't visit you."
The Volta patriarch was about to kneel when Jin held him by the shoulders.
In fact, Jin wanted to give him a hug and hand him a wad of bills because now he was sure that no one in the Garden of Swords had dug into the Volta clan.
If anyone had found out about Fin Blanche's existence, they wouldn't be in this state right now. Therefore, the Volta clan's patriarch had fulfilled his part, at least in Jin's eyes.
"I haven't come to scold you. I've come to see Fin Blanche. I've been told that he serves the Volta clan as a steward." F0lloww new 𝒄hapters at nov/(e)l/bin/(.)com
The Volta patriarch's eyes widened in surprise. "Fin? Why are you looking for that guy, sir?"
"Do you need to know?"
The Volta patriarch and his guards quickly shook their heads at Jin's cold response. "No, Sir Jin! But it's just that Fin, our steward...". The patriarch's eyes immediately turned red. "He was captured by bandits three days ago. He was sweeping the snow on that street over there, and, well. If they had caught me instead. I'm old and useless."
The patriarch's loud sobs were pitiful, but Jin didn't have time to console him.
"I will bring him back immediately. You should pray for Fin Blanche's safety."
He would probably be safe, unless the history-altering caused by Jin's rebirth had also spread to this impossibly remote village.
"What, sir?"
"The direction."
"They went north. The bandits headed north, sir."
"Let's go, Shuri!"
"Mya!"
Shuri kicked up a cloud of snow as the cat sped away. The members of the Volta clan stood frozen in place, blinking as they watched Jin and Shuri disappear.
Jin ran three hours to the north and arrived at the bandits' hideout.
"What is this?"
"Who are you?"
Jin entered the natural cave, pushing aside the clumsy curtain they had placed at the entrance. The bandits who had been drinking suddenly stood up and shouted.
They were so insignificant that Jin had never come across such weaklings, even in his days as a provisional flagbearer.
The whole world wasn't as populated and filled with talent as the big cities.
Naturally, Jin had grown up in the group of beasts and transcendental figures, but that didn't mean there weren't people in other parts of the world who still fought against wretched bandits like them.
"Fin Blanche, raise your hand."
"We ask who you are!"
"You look like a noble from the capital. Why don't you continue on your way? Don't get yourself in trouble now."
Jin could see a weak teenager raising his hand in the background. It was Fin Blanche.
Jin found his target, but there was no need to draw his sword or start throwing punches.
When Jin revealed a tiny amount of the energies he wielded, the bandits instinctively fell to the ground and started trembling. When Jin increased his energies even more, they all passed out.
Fin looked around with frightened eyes and slowly walked towards Jin. And with each step he took, Jin felt something.
He felt the mysterious resonance he had experienced on the Bluebird Islands. The phenomenon was similar to how Sigmund had resonated with Gramm's tomb.
Wrooom!
Except it wasn't Sigmund resonating now. It was his recently retrieved favorite sword.
It was the Bradamante.
The sword was resonating with the god of blacksmiths, who was contracted with Fin.
"It seems today is a lucky day for both you and me." Jin greeted Fin as he offered a handshake.
But when Fin took Jin's hand, he heard a voice inside his head for the first time in his life.
-Bradamante! Fin, steal the sword that he holds. Right now!
章節 119: CHAPTER 278
"Wow!" Fin startled. He looked around.
But no matter how hard he looked, the origin of the mysteriously booming voice had to be inside his head.
"What are you doing, Fin Blanche? Take it off immediately!"
The demanding voice came from the god of blacksmiths.
In Jin's previous life, Fin communicated with the god of blacksmiths for the first time after about five years. Jin's visit was changing the history around him.
Indeed, Fin Blanche was not the only one who could hear his voice.
"Grab the Bradamante? Wait a moment. Why am I also hearing the voice of the god of blacksmiths?"
In most cases, it was extremely rare to hear a god's voice unless one was their contractor. The exceptions involved prayers powerful enough to move the gods or the incarnation of a god through mediums.
Jin had already experienced a similar anomaly on the thirty-second island of Bluebird.
Perhaps it was because Bradamante was related to the god of blacksmiths, just as Sigmund was to Gramm.
Jin pondered. Meanwhile, Fin had no idea what was happening.
He looked around several times to check the origin of the voice. He concluded that it was just a hallucination and decided to ignore the voice and thank Jin.
"So... thank you! Sir, I have been saved thanks to you. It seems you came here only to save me. If you could tell me your name. What?"
Fin was about to bow his head when he suddenly made a strange sound and took a step back.
"W-What's happening?"
"Strike him down! Fin Blanche! Use this sword! The energy it emits is extremely unsettling."
Fin's shock was caused by a sword forming in his hand.
Black pieces of metal appeared out of nowhere and swirled around Fin. Jin's eyes also gleamed with intrigue.
Is the metal turning into a sword?
Jin had already experienced something similar with the leader of the Kinzelo.
He had also shown the ability to control metals to create a sword and a gate in the ancient Oterium, just like Fin was doing now.
"I will lend you my divine powers. Subdue that man and claim the Bradamante. Fin Blanche, I know you are surprised, but you are actually my contractor. You always have been, since your birth. I am the god of blacksmiths and your ancestor. If you listen to what I tell you now, I promise to train you from now on."
The god of blacksmiths was completely unaware that Jin could hear his voice.
Meanwhile, Fin was greatly concerned that Jin could also hear that voice, and it was driving him crazy. Jin didn't visibly react, so he couldn't tell what he understood, if anything.
"My Sir! Please allow me to explain before you misunderstand anything. I have no idea what this voice is, and I am only grateful that you saved me. But why is a sword suddenly forming in my hand, and...? Aargh!"
Shik!
Fin brandished the sword.
It wasn't just a threat. It carried the clear intention of cutting Jin's body in half, starting from the top of his head. In fact, the blade even had an aura around it.
Jin slightly moved aside to dodge the attack.
"Fin, what are you doing? I am giving you powers, and I even demonstrated it. Go and attack him. I will continue to assist you. Judging by his movements, he is probably quite a swordsman."
Obviously, the attack didn't stem from Fin's will. The god of blacksmiths was forcibly moving his body.
"My Sir! Do you also hear this voice? This is not my doing! Something is controlling my body against my will." Fin shouted, his face completely pale with fright.
"That man cannot hear my voice. Listen to me, will you? Fin, I must reclaim my masterpiece."
"Get out of my body, evil spirit!"
Jin felt as if he were watching a little absurd monologue. CH𝒆Ck for 𝒏ew st𝒐ries on no/v/el/bin(.)c0m
Ridiculousness aside, there were many intriguing details in what the god of blacksmiths had just said.
The god of blacksmiths said that Bradamante was his masterpiece and claimed to be Fin's ancestor, as if he were none other than Picon Minche.
Furthermore, he could also conjure metals like the leader of Kinzelo.
Jin felt the need to have a conversation with the actual god of blacksmiths.
"Fin Blanche."
"My Sir! I apologize, Sir. I don't know why a crazy spirit has entered me at this moment."
"I understand that you haven't attacked me of your own will. It must be the work of the evil spirit claiming to be the god of blacksmiths. It seems desperate to take hold of Bradamante."
Tears welled up in Fin's eyes as he eagerly nodded at Jin's words. "You're right, Sir!"
Meanwhile, the god of blacksmiths was taken aback. He spoke in response.
"What did you say, brat? Do you mean to say you can hear me?"
This god insulted people and even wielded swords against a stranger who had just saved his own contractor.
At this point, Jin didn't really feel the need to show him respect, whether he was a god or not.
"I can hear you loud and clear, evil spirit."
"Oh, how interesting. So, you can hear me. But despicable human, how dare you call me an evil spirit? I am the great god of blacksmiths, Picon Minche!"
But it was known that the god of blacksmiths was Growler, not Picon Minche.
"The god of blacksmiths is not Picon Minche. It is Growler."
"Ha! Growler, of course. There was a time when someone like that used to be the god of blacksmiths. But I, Picon Minche, was a superior blacksmith, not to mention that Growler is dead. Of course, mere wretches like you would be ignorant of the grand stories of the gods."
"What nonsense."
"Where did you get Bradamante from? First, give it to me. If you do, I will overlook your rudeness and kill you without suffering."
At this point, Fin's body was completely under Picon's control, and Fin's consciousness was pushed aside. There was a faint light emitting from the whites of his blank eyes, and there was a murderous intent in the hand wielding the sword.
But it wasn't a complete personification like the one Peitel used in Yulian's body on the Bluebird Islands.
Picon hadn't accumulated enough divine energy to fully reveal himself. All he could do for now was forcefully possess his contractor's body.
But neither Jin nor the rookie god Picon knew this fact.
"Hey, Picon Minche. You keep saying something about killing me and such. Are you sure you can live up to those words?"
"Hmph! Did you think I was complimenting you when I said you were quite the swordsman?"
Jin chuckled.
'And to think I've already gotten into two fights over Bradamante as soon as I returned to the clan.'
Instead of revealing the fact that he was a Runcandel, Jin let Bradamante fall to the ground.
"Take it. If you can."
"You insolent brat!"
Steel gathered around Picon, who immediately stood up in one leap.
First the sword, then armor, and even a shield. Steel instantly formed into battle gear, and Jin observed the skill with intense concentration.
He hadn't heard anything about the god of blacksmiths having such powers. This was too similar to the ability of the leader of Kinzelo.
But he realized that there was a clear distinction between the two.
The leader of Kinzelo was clearly more skilled. The weapons formed by Picon's steel were rather crude, but the sword and gate formed by the leader of Kinzelo had a mysterious perfection.
Did the leader of Kinzelo absorb the powers of Growler, who used to be the god of blacksmiths? Or perhaps he absorbed Growler himself, as the Demon God Stone could do.
By doing so, he left a vacancy for the god of blacksmiths, which was filled by Picon Minche, who became a god.
The idea suddenly occurred to him.
In any case, Picon Minche is definitely not a threat in combat.
Picon's battle skills were quite mediocre, and it was a mystery what made him so bold and courageous.
Bam!
Jin dodged the sword and struck Picon. Plak! The shield shattered with a single blow. Picon finally realized that he had made a terrible mistake.
It wasn't because Jin's light punch broke his shield. Nor was it because Jin's fist penetrated the armor and still seemed like it would go in again.
Was it the Shadow Energy?
It was the dark energy surrounding Jin's fist.
In Picon's mind, possessing Shadow Energy meant that whoever wielded it had the right to possess Bradamante.
"Wait! There has been a mistake! You are Solderet's contractor..."
Jin briefly paused upon hearing the name Solderet, but he decided to pretend he hadn't heard it for now. He knew he wouldn't be satisfied until he landed another punch.
Picon took a direct hit to the jaw and rolled four times on the ground.
"What did you say?" Picon immediately got up and yelled at Jin's question.
"Damn it! Why didn't you tell me from the beginning that you were Solderet's contractor?"
"Did you give me a chance to speak? And what does that even matter?"
"If I didn't give you a chance to speak, you should have declared it yourself!"
Despite how loudly Picon shouted, there was a tone of welcome in his voice.
Jin sensed that the tables had completely turned in his favor after his little show of strength in the shadow.
"Stop talking nonsense and apologize. If you do, I'll forget your rudeness."
Picon frowned. But he had nothing to say.
"I'm sorry. At first, I only sensed a strange energy in you, so it didn't cross my mind that you could be Solderet's contractor."
"What a surprise. I thought you'd foam at the mouth and curse me again. By the way, what kind of strange energy are you talking about?"
Picon pointed to Sigmund, hanging from Jin's waist.
It seems he was confused by that little toxic sword there. I don't know much about it, but it seems to have stabbed numerous gods and even sealed divine energy within it. Maybe that's why I felt extremely unsettled as soon as I saw it.
What Picon felt when he saw Jin were his instincts as a god.
Since Picon had become a god relatively few years ago, he was unaware of the Legends' Battle against the gods that took place five thousand years ago.
He was incredibly disturbed by the energy of Sigmund, which was both a god killer and the sealed strength of a god. And since Jin had Bradamante along with Sigmund, Picon desperately desired to reclaim the former, no matter what.
A brief silence followed.
"What's your name? I'm sure you must be a Runcandel and a descendant of Temar."
"I'm Jin Runcandel."
"Alright, Jin Runcandel. A thousand years ago, Solderet sealed me to become a god and told me..."
Whether the position of the god of blacksmiths was a vacant one as Jin assumed or not, and Picon Minche's skills as a blacksmith god aside...
It was impossible for a mere human like Picon to be granted god status. Therefore, Solderet used his power and position to make him a god.
"...that I must inform the Shadow Contractors to come to me with Bradamante or the Balisade from the place where Temar was buried. And he added that I must reinforce the blades of their swords."
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