Whooooaaaa~!
Excited out of her mind, Enya bellowed and beat her chest like a beastly primate. Her uproar surprised Jin, making him step backwards. The girl's guardian dragon sighed.
Snatch!
Enya grabbed Jin's two hands and bowed. With her head inches away from hitting the ground, it looked like prostration.
"It's a great pleasure to meet you, Lord Jin! I'm Enya!"
"Oh, mhm… Nice to meet you too, Enya."
"Kyaaaaa~!"
'Seriously.'
Jin had never seen a situation like this in his entire life. Even the all-great-and-powerful Beradin Zipfel wouldn't get this much admiration from a single admirer.
'Is this what "admiration" means?'
It was akin to a follower meeting their god. Frankly, Enya—who was still crouched on the ground—began to mumble some prayers.
Jin's chest was about to burst from embarrassment.
A girl with dreams of meeting a 'deity', something that Jin will never truly understand. Probably because he never experienced such excitement.
"…It wasn't this bad when she became Olta's contractor."
Quikantel sighed once more.
When the God of Time chose her, all Enya said was 'Whoa.' And now she was jumping around like an excited dog, which disappointed Quikantel.
'This is why I told Lord Olta about royal blood!'
A sight without any composure or self-control!
This was why Olta and the silver dragons prioritized blood class. A contractor of a god should at least be civilized.
But what could they do?
In the present, no human was more friendly and approachable than Enya, so they forced themselves to make a contract with her. Due to the irrevocable contract, Quikantel had to love and take care of Enya.
Because that was the duty of a guardian dragon.
"Ahem, Enya. That's enough."
Quikantel tried to alleviate Enya's enthusiasm. Quikantel lightly pressed Enya's forehead, and finally, the girl calmed down.
Of course, her sparkling silver eyes never stopped staring at Jin.
The young Runcandel chuckled to himself.
'I wonder what Murakan would say to her.'
"Oh, I must've gotten too excited. Seeing the real Jin Runcandel in the flesh and not in something released by the press really got me going… I'm sorry!"
Enya bowed once more in apology.
A girl with a severely sociable and lively personality—that's what Jin thought of her.
"No need to apologize, Enya. I just don't know how to react to the celebratory welcome."
"Kyaaaa! Would you like some more?"
"That would be enough."
"Ms. Quikantel! Ms. Quikantel! Can you please tell me now? The reason why Lord Jin came to our place? Did Olta respond to my prayers?"
"You pray to Olta nightly?"
"Obviously, I prayed to meet Lord Jin someday. Heehee. Anyways, today is such a great day! I was so tired at the academy."
Quikantel's face darkened. She knew how often Enya was discriminated against by the other students and staff.
'I can't slaughter all of those bastards either…'
Quikantel ground her teeth as she thought of the noble scum bullying Enya. If they physically abused her, she would kill them all. But all they did was treat Enya as if she didn't exist.
Jin looked at Quikantel and felt sympathy for her pain. He knew how the academy's nobility acted in the presence of a commoner. He nodded.
'They would do all kinds of bad things just because she's a commoner. This is why I didn't talk to magicians from the academy.'
During Jin's learning days, he encountered all kinds of magicians from the academy. To this day, he never met a group of people he hated more than them.
Moving on.
It was time to pull Enya out of the discriminatory shithole. As a Runcandel, Jin couldn't specifically help her, but their elaborate plan for relocation would be just enough.
'I just need to persuade Enya to immigrate her entire family to Tikan. And as for magic, I can just find an excellent teacher.'
Overall, the Free City of Tikan had a carefree and welcoming community. Additionally, Kashimir would take care of her, so she would experience the most extravagant life.
If she could just forfeit her homeland, then it would be a great opportunity.
"Miss Enya, the goal of my visit is to ensure your safety and take you somewhere safer."
He straightforwardly stated the truth.
It didn't take long for him to realize that his phrasing could be misunderstood. As soon as she heard what Jin said, Enya felt like the main character in a novel.
"To… take me… To. Take. Meeeeee!"
His words caused another chaotic mess. Enya started punching the air like a hallucinating patient, and her eyes were bloodshot.
"I go— I'll go! Wherever it is, I'll go! All hail Olta!"
Thock!
Tired of the sight, Quikantel lightly hit the back of Enya's neck. Enya's body shook, then fell to the ground as she fainted. Jin chuckled at the funny sight.
"My goodness. How did she become Olta's contractor?"
"Well, a child has got to be a child. You're a child as well. Phew, there's no need to persuade her. She would even follow you to the Runcandel underground prison."
"We do not retain an underground prison in our clan, Ms. Quikantel."
"It's gone? It should still be there. And probably has some dragons locked up."
"…What?"
"That's not important, so forget it. Okay, listen. Enya will wake up exactly ten seconds from now. Once she does, make sure to choose your words carefully, and explain the current situation to her."
"Didn't you hit her pretty hard? Not even a trained knight can survive that blow."
Rustle.
Ten seconds hadn't even passed, yet Enya started coming to. Goosebumps traversed Jin's body. Modern physiology and medicine could not explain the phenomenon before him.
It was the will of a fanatic.
Still, the strike definitely had some effect. Enya seemed to have lost some of her overflowing energy.
She was also at a loss for words.
"Looooooord Jiiiiin."
"Miss Enya, I will slowly explain the current situation."
Enya nodded. Jin then began from Euria and her predicament, all the way to the speculations regarding Vyuretta and the Zipfels.
He couldn't say anything from his past life, but thankfully, Enya easily digested all of the content.
"Mhm, since they're the words of Lord Jin, I'll trust every single one. It's so romantic! Dragons, conflict, adventure, a boy and a girl! And Lord Jin!"
"Something like that."
"I'm fine as long as it's for the benefit of me. Anyways, I must leave the Vermont Empire with my family and head to Tikan?"
"Exactly."
"And when should we leave?"
"The sooner the better. Ms. Quikantel and I have some business in the empire, so it's a good idea for you to leave first."
Officially leaving the academy and clearing out the area was not a good idea.
The Vermont Imperial Family will not let Olta's contractor go so easily, and the moment they notice her intention to leave, they will chain her down at all costs—whether it be by capturing her family as hostage or using drugs to prevent her from leaving. The Vermont Special Forces would also be assigned to monitor them.
Before that happens, secretly leaving was the most optimal choice. There would be a search and chase, but it would start in the Lutero Magic Federation instead of Tikan.
Though, it doesn't mean there's no danger at all.
'It depends how much the Vermont Imperial Family cares about Olta's contractor.'
As Jin saw it, the Vermont Imperial Family didn't really care about Enya. If they did care, then Enya wouldn't be wearing ragged clothes.
'Either they're being cautious of the Zipfels or they can't give her special care because the world simply doesn't know about her yet. She isn't even being escorted by anyone.'
If the problem was the latter, then she would at least have some bodyguards around her at all times.
Even though she was a contractor, she couldn't receive special aid because of her social class. In the eyes of the rich and privileged, a poor contractor was only a nuisance.
Essentially, the Zipfels enforced their ideal through the working staff—to never aid the worthless commoner.
"So as soon as possible. I understand, milord. I will get my family ready by tomorrow."
Enya's entire family was just her 7-year-old brother and an old dog named Pupi.
"But Jin, how are you going to transport her? You can't go through the gate, and I can't take her there myself. Everything will be put on record, so the threat of a chase is likely."
It would be the same if they were to fly with Murakan.
However, Jin already thought of a way.
"Merchant ships from Tikan periodically dock in the capital's port. Just sneak on one of them."
The Seven-Colored Peacock agents in the Vermont Empire all worked around that docking schedule. Although the empire knew the sailors worked for the intelligence agency, they couldn't do anything because the organization had valuable information about the empire's corrupt government and high-ranking officials.
Aside from the agents that had a hold of sensitive information, lower-ranked agents could travel in and out of the Vermont Empire freely.
"After Enya leaves, I will proceed with a normal life and try to find an opportunity to meet Vyuretta. As for the academy, I'll say that Enya is sick."
The rich and nobility wouldn't give a damn about Enya's attendance. They would rather have her never come in for the rest of her life.
"Yes, we can wrap things up with Vyuretta and return to Tikan. I hope we can resolve issues without fighting… but a battle is imminent."
"As mentioned before, Vyuretta is mine. That sleeping dog shouldn't fight him."
Wrapping up their conversation, Jin and Quikantel simultaneously looked at the front door.
They could hear pairs of footsteps getting louder from the front yard. Then…
Knock, knock.
One of the owners of the footsteps knocked on the door.
"Anyone home? We came to ask for some kindling."
There's no way someone would come all the way to their remote location for some firewood.
They were either the Special Forces or the Imperial Guard that came to check up on them.
"Coming all the way here for some kindling? How absurd. Please wait a moment."
And surprisingly, Quikantel didn't even doubt the uninvited guests.
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