Misha and Quikantel were escorted to their room, and Kuzan and Beris returned to the emergency room. They look very shocked.
"Are you alright?"
"... I apologize. After hearing about what happened to Beris, I got worked up. I keep looking weak in front of you."
Kuzan lowered his head while Jin shook his.
"No worries, it's very human of you. If Gilly or I got struck, the situation would've been the same."
"I… just asked if she was a thief… It was completely reasonable… Whew. What a bitch."
Beris rubbed her chin. It still felt a little numb.
She clearly felt misunderstood.
It had been a month since they arrived in Tikan.
After realizing that they had been obeying and serving their number one enemy, and that Beris lost all her magic, she grew depressed. The aftereffects of the mana overload were too much.
However, from the second week on, she decided to entrust herself to the place she lived.
Although she didn't recover her mana, she did everything from supporting the maids to working with the intelligence agents. Everyone told her that she didn't need to, but she insisted.
She never wanted to be useless.
While preparing cookies with Lathry, a terrible fate befell her. A random woman appeared from thin air, so Beris merely questioned her.
"Master, would you like some ice?"
Enya suggested to Beris.
"Calling me master again? You crazy? Who's the master here?"
"You taught me the theory and usage of wind spells. You also taught me 5-star spells, so you must be my master."
"Then all your Vermont Academy professors must also be your masters. Shut up and pisss off…"
Just because her magic was gone didn't mean her personality had faded.
"I never learned such things from them."
"You think I don't know how their classes are taught? I know it's in your introductory classes."
"But I really never learned anything there. Just a bit, I got discriminated against. Anyway, I'll get you some ice, so teach me something else."
Enya saw herself in Beris.
Although they didn't have a single point in common, Enya had similar feelings as Beris. The feeling of uselessness.
After returning from the Dark Magician Association, Enya trained and studied whenever she could.
She also helped Beris fit in and picked up some of her battle skills.
Pitter patter.
Enya sprinted away to get some ice, and Beris shook her head.
"All that happens is I lose my mana, and this runt thinks we're equals."
Despite her comment, Beris did not hesitate to take the ice pack that Enya brought.
"Alright, so keep your side of the promise. Teach me something."
"What promise?"
"I'll be waiting at the underground training room! Alright, Lord Jin, I'll see you later!"
Before Beris had the chance to shout at her, she pitter-pattered away.
"Kuzan, what's up with this kid? Pretty damn annoying."
Jin smirked.
"Beris, I'll offer a piece of advice. You should watch your mouth toward Enya when in the presence of Miss Quikantel. Whatever your true feelings, she will indiscriminately beat you up, and I can't stop her. Plus, if you get beat, Kuzan would face the same fate. What a familiar scenario."
She merely acted according to her psychopathic persona. Her demeanor toward other people did not truly reflect the gratitude she felt.
At the end of the day, she gave Enya what she wanted. Jin didn't want her to be misunderstood again.
"Hmph!"
Beris started walking away, and Kuzan apologized for her.
"I'll make sure to get the message across to her."
"Let her be. It's just how she socializes, but otherwise, she's doing great. Gilly thinks that Beris is adjusting well."
Comparatively, Tikan was a very foreign environment for them.
From their youth, they grew up in the Lunar Sacrifice orphanage as hunting dogs. Used, tricked, tortured. They lost Taimyun and served Joshua.
Their entire lives had been depressing. They were just slowly learning what it meant to be human.
The same applied to Julien.
"Do you need anything, Julien?"
"... No."
"I see."
Jin didn't push further. He still wrestled with the trauma that he had faced recently.
Well, his introverted personality also trapped him in his own head. No one knew how he got along with Joshua's active personality.
'God of Storms, Graham. If there is some way to channel that through Sigmund, then I'll take this kid back to the island.'
It wasn't a bad idea to amplify his divine abilities, just as Joshua had. Only if Julien decides to dedicate himself to Jin, though.
At this point, Jin didn't really consider Julien as part of his group, but more so a guest. Kuzan and Beris felt more like his soldiers.
"Sir Kashimir."
"Yes, milord."
"Was there some news on the Holy Kingdom while I was gone?"
"After you left, Bran and I met up with some priests, but they didn't want to speak. They just constantly said that it would mess with our trades, so they suggested we don't interfere with their trade ships. Thankfully, we did see ships going toward Santel."
"Good work. You think there's something fishy, right?"
"Indeed, I think that the Holy Kingdom of Vankella is no longer neutral. This is clearly in support of Zipfel. In fact, not a single press release on this event has been published."
"The Protectors of the Doctrine sealed up Santel. In fact, they used some hypnosis-type spells to gain support."
"It seems that they even disobeyed the holy king. Or, maybe he's been on Zipfel's side the entire time…"
That would be the worst-case scenario.
If the Holy Kingdom already belonged to Zipfel, then it would be very problematic for Jin's endeavors.
The guardian knights of Runcandel would fight without the support of first-class healers. Or, they'd have to pay an insane price for everything they needed. Their healing and medicine remained unmatched in the world.
"It's a possibility, but I pray that's not the case. Oh, we also met the holy king's daughter, Rani Salome."
"McLan is known to love his daughter. I have heard multiple stories about her. If he sent his daughter to do chores for Zipfel, then that must mean…"
"No, unlike the others, Rani acted on her own volition. If it weren't for her, Murakan would've been captured, or even died."
Jin summarized what happened.
"Rani mentioned that the corruption of the holy kingdom censors information from the public, so she chose to help us. Because the citizens know that the destruction was caused by Kadun rather than Murakan."
"My goodness… she did us a big favor, milord."
"Indeed. I've thought about it, and maybe the holy king placed Rani in the Protectors of the Doctrine so she could keep an eye on them."
"So Zipfel has the Protectors of the Doctrine and other parts of the Holy Kingdom, but not the kingdom as a whole?"
"Exactly."
"That seems a little more realistic. Recalling some of the legislation from recent times, most were pretty bad for those in positions of power."
McLan had banned all forms of hypnosis twenty years ago. Jin wasn't at the age to receive such news, but Kashimir had been part of a royal family. He never forgot the mountains of papers regarding the situation.
It was the most efficient but most unethical way to conduct their missionary work, so it made sense to ban it.
"However, do you think these wielders of power gave their everything to Zipfel just because of the unfair laws? I find it hard to believe, especially because by teaming up with Zipfel, they lose even more power. Ultimately, they'd be doing their dirty work!"
"This is true, milord. In that case, the holy king siding with Zipfel is more likely. Hm, this definitely requires some more digging. I'm afraid this will be quite the rabbit hole."
"First, please look more into Rani Salome. The Doctrine's 5th leader decreed a punishment for her, so if McLan never heard about it, she'd be in big trouble."
"Understood. Because of her great deeds as the savior of Sir Murakan, I will make sure to arrange her pardon."
* * *
The next morning, Murakan looked significantly better.
He didn't feel like a ball of fire, and looked like a healthy cat. He wandered the halls of the residence.
Without the need of healers, his fever had dropped.
[Mya, myaaa–]
"Nyan."
Shurry tossed Murakan around.
"He could stay like that forever. He looks pretty happy right now. What do you think of that, Jin? You can save some oxygen for yourself."
"Miss Misha."
"I'm kidding. If he was even half as cute normally… Mmmm. Anyway, you're going to hear some screams, but wait patiently. Let me do my thing."
Misha's shadow loomed over Murakan.
And she smiled deviously.