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Sandra had her arms wide open as she fell, wearing a radiant smile.
To those who did not know her circumstances or her eccentric personality, it seemed as if she was welcoming her lover whom she had not seen in a long time with an absolutely earnest heart.
'Is that Sandra Zipfel...!?'
'Just now, did she refer to the youngest as 'my Jin'!?'
'Is there some kind of relationship between the 12th flagbearer and Sandra Zipfel?'
Joshua, Diphus, and even Jane couldn't help but squint their eyes while looking up at Sandra.
It was absurd for her to appear out of nowhere and call Jin 'her', and it was shocking to see Hedo, who seemed like a monster, had an awkward reaction to her words.
Thud!
Sandra landed about ten steps away from Jin with agile and light movements that were uncharacteristic of a mage.
"Kyahaha, I thought you would catch me and hug me coolly. Are you going to avoid me like this?"
"In this world, there are people who consider avoiding a wise move."
"How about my outfit today? I ordered it with a special recommendation from the Golden Pengi's upper echelons. Is it okay?"
Jin's eyes were not on the black coat and shirt that looked similar to her Runcandel ceremonial uniform, but on the golden prosthetic hand. He could also recognize that the picture engraved on it was his own face.
-A right arm... it seems just right.
-What do you mean by 'just right'?
-I feel it's a bit too early to give away everything I have. A right arm is neither too much nor too little. We're just on our first date.
Jin got goosebumps once more as he remembered the conversation they had in the Gaifa Archipelago.
The ongoing battle came to a halt, and everyone fell silent for a while, with only the noise of debris and shattered stones falling to the ground.
Jin just nodded his head.
It wasn't a difficult decision. It suited his taste, and more importantly, it seemed like it could be of some help in getting out of this dreadful crisis.
"I'm relieved! If you had deceived me, I was planning to order that stupid muscle pig to kill those cute little rats... Damn muscle pig!.... Damn it! Hedo! How are you going to handle this? How are you going to take responsibility!"
Waaaang-!
The alarm sound was getting louder. In the sky above, Drakka's dragons had already begun their flight, and the battleship Kozec was preparing to move out.
"You said you would definitely let me have dinner with Mr. Jin!"
"...There was a bit of a setback, young lady."
"A setback? A setback! At this crucial moment, really, I'd rather die! How long have I waited?"
The Runcandels couldn't comprehend it at all. The sight of that monster being so helpless in front of Sandra was surreal.
And in that moment, Jin understood why Hedo didn't actively display his battle prowess.
'It's because of Sandra's orders.'
His feelings became complex.
The fact that he might be alive thanks to Sandra was more of a humiliation than a sense of relief.
He had no choice but to think so because her eccentric behavior, which did not seem like an enemy's prank, was beneficial in some way.
If it weren't for Yona and Sandra.
This mission was already a failure. It was probably possible to escape, but Runcandels had undoubtedly suffered a significant blow without any substantial gain.
'It wasn't just Zipfel and Hedo who were complacent. I and other Runcandels also thought it was too easy.'
But it wasn't the time for regrets or self-blame.
The problem could be fixed later, and today's humiliation would be repaid with an even greater disgrace.
'What's somewhat fortunate is that the enemies didn't calculate all these unexpected variables.'
So, even now, he had to be the first to read through the unexpected variables perfectly.
'I don't know why, but Hedo values Sandra Zipfel's orders the most. However, today, Sandra and I won't really be able to have dinner together. So he probably just tried to keep me alive to avoid Sandra's resentment.'
-If you have anything you picked up here, leave it and go. If you do so, I'll let you live for now.
As Hedo spoke those words, Jin couldn't help but feel uneasy about the phrase 'I'll let you live for now.'
'After retrieving the blueprints, Hedo planned to kill everyone except me and Murakan.'
Not only Joshua, Diphus, and Jane but also the Spectres who were pitifully acting like shrimp. Jin was convinced of that.
'The reason he wants to deal with the Spectres is either to erase evidence that he prioritized Sandra's orders over the clan or because he didn't want to be bothered. And the reason he called the main house even though I could die, was because if it's revealed later that we stole the battleship's blueprints and escaped unscathed, Sandra could also be in trouble.'
Jin felt his mind was about to explode with consecutive thoughts about the assumptions.
'Not only me and Murakan but everyone in Runcandels must survive. At least until we escape the 2nd tower!'
Drakka's main force would provide support, and after escaping the 2nd tower, there might still be a challenging battle.
Yona, Diphus, Jane, and even Joshua needed to survive in order to have even the slightest chance of breaking through that and escaping the Lutero Magic Federation.
'How should I do this? I need a way to negotiate with the Tower Keeper.'
As he pondered up to that point.
Jin saw far behind Hedo, through the fleet filling the open sky...
He could see something familiar.
And the word that came to mind at that moment was precisely this.
Heavenly luck.
'The heaven is helping me. No, perhaps this was already foreseen from the moment they arrived.'
Jin immediately concluded on how to use this newly revealed variable in the sky.
Furthermore, it seemed crucial not to miss the opportunity to grasp as much information about Hedo as possible.
Jin held his sword against Sandra Zipfel's throat. Even as the blade touched her neck, she seemed pleased to be closer to Jin.
"Open the way, Tower Keeper."
Hedo shrugged his shoulders at Jin's words.
"You plan to use the young lady as a hostage? You should know that's not much of a threat, considering what you experienced in Gaifa Archipelago."
"Of course, I know Sandra Zipfel is half-immortal. However, that fact itself hasn't been properly revealed to the outside world yet, has it? Moreover, the fact that Sandra tried to help me escape won't have a good effect on you or Sandra if it becomes known worldwide."
"I've said it several times already, return the blueprints. If you do, I'll let you live."
"I continue to give the same answer. I didn't steal anything. And when I said to open the way, it means not to harm anyone from Runcandel here, not just me and Murakan."
Hedo's gaze hardened.
"Don't you think you're making excessively unreasonable demands in enemy territory?"
"Even if you block the way, I am confident that I can escape this place with Sandra. Then, can you really control the mouth of this strange woman? There must be limits to media control."
"You're crossing the line."
"Even if we engage in intense battles during the escape, Sandra won't die, and the fact that she is half-immortal is actually an advantageous condition for me in the current situation."
"You're speaking with confidence, but I'm sure you're not unaware that it's impossible to take the young lady and leave the Lutero Magic Federation. Only you and Murakan can leave."
Jin shook his head firmly.
"I will say it one last time. Open the way, Tower Keeper."
Seemingly frustrated, Hedo took out a cigarette.
'The reason the 12th flagbearer is obsessed with the young lady is because they need insurance in many ways. Even if I let them go, it's impossible to shake off the main house's pursuit. Why is he insisting on this? I thought he wasn't such a foolish person.'
Regardless of whether I get out of the way or not, unless heaven's luck favors you, everyone in Runcandels here will inevitably face death...
Hedo had been thinking this since the moment he called the main house.
The reason he wanted to kill everyone, excluding Jin and Murakan, was because he needed a pretext.
He needs to have something to say when questioned by Kelliark in the future. Even though he missed Jin and Murakan due to negligence, he can claim that he eliminated everyone else.
"Uh, honey."
Sandra, who was so excited about looking at the side of Jin's face, opened her mouth.
"I roughly know why you're doing this. You hate that damn musclehead, don't you? I feel like tearing him apart today too. How dare he put himself in danger... But shouldn't you also consider Hedo's perspective a little?"
Surprisingly, she had accurately deciphered all the hidden currents between Jin and Hedo in their conversation. The fact that Jin needed insurance and Hedo needed a pretext.
However, she had been unable to notice the change in the sky because she had only been admiring Jin's profile.
"If everyone manages to escape safely, both Hedo and I will have a hard time. We'll definitely be questioned. You don't want that either, right? Our married life hasn't even properly begun, and if I'm stuck in some dungeon of my clan, you would be sad, right?"
"A dungeon? Young lady, you won't end up in a place like that."
"Hedo, just shut up! I'm handling it!"
Sandra yelled vehemently, then giggled and turned her gaze back to Jin.
"So, let's just the three of us, me, you, and the Black Dragon, leave quietly. That way, you can almost certainly survive. I'll be the bait. Then, nobody else will get hurt, right? We'll even have a dramatic escape date!"
She didn't seem to classify the other Runcandels as people, except for Jin.
Instead of responding to her, Jin locked eyes with Hedo.
"It seems the Tower Keeper still doesn't understand why I'm insisting so stubbornly."
Jin pointed his finger at the sky behind Hedo.
"When you see that, you'll think it's not a bad idea to accept my offer."
Hedo turned around.
In the sky, there were over a hundred of Zipfel's mass-produced battleships hovering, strangely, only one of them was illuminated.
It wasn't a Zipfel's battleship.
It was the battleship Grenil.
Kinzelo's flagship that attacked Sword Emperor Castle.
Grenil's cannons were aimed at the stationary mass-produced battleships.
"Wouldn't it be better if you let us go and stop that thing? I don't think there is a better pretext for you and your young lady than that."
Jin smiled, and Hedo's expression wrinkled as he smoked a cigarette.