December 14th, 1797
Jin and Murakan went to the holy kingdom to meet Rani Salome.
The Holy Kingdom of Vankella was in the midst of the Advent Festival, celebrating the day when Ayula first descended to the holy kingdom.
It was the kingdom's largest festival, lasting a full week. The streets were filled with colorful flags that depicted a dormant volcano, which symbolized Ayula.
"A dormant volcano, huh. I feel this every time I see it, but humans really did choose the right symbol."
Ayula, the God of Peace. They were the main deity revered by the Holy Kingdom of Vankella.
From Murakan's memories, though Ayula was usually benevolent, when he got angry, he would burn everything to the ground.
"It's said that no matter what god, if they were to cause too much chaos regarding offerings, Ayula would threaten them with a face-to-face meeting. Before I was born, there was even a time where Ayula destroyed one. Ah, I think that god was a god of blessing."
"Really?"
"Plus, there was a time when a rumor spread among dragons that it was Ayula who destroyed Numeros, the God of Hope. Anyway, he's an extreme guy."
The streets were filled with pleasant melodies, the laughter of people, and cheers.
Of course, the citizens of the kingdom and travelers who came to enjoy the festival were present, but reporters could also be frequently spotted.
In the middle of the capital's square, where the largest crowd was gathered, an old man with a great presence stood on a podium, waving at the people.
That impressive old man held a golden staff and wore a dormant volcano-like crown. Divine mana engulfed his entire body in a yellow light, and a friendly smile revealed his perfect teeth. He was none other than Holy King McLan.
"Holy King, Your Majesty!"
"Holy King, Your Majesty!"
The people's love for McLan was absolute.
But that was to be expected. A holy king who split the privileges of the upper class, sharing them with the citizens, was hard to find even if you looked throughout the holy kingdom's entire history.
Usually, the holy king was too busy giving privileges to the ministers that elevated him to the throne.
For a while, Jin and Murakan watched him in the square.
'So that person is Holy King McLan. The father of Rani Salome.'
Jin had never seen McLan this close in his past life.
"So that's the current holy king, huh?"
"Lower your voice, Murakan. It'd be big trouble if anyone were to hear you."
"Hmph, he feels more ordinary than I expected."
"Really? He's ordinary?"
Jin also felt the same way, though.
"How should I describe it? The other holy kings I've seen had quite a great amount of energy for humans. A feeling of holiness that made them difficult to treat lightly, rather than them being strong. But that old man… I'm not sure. it feels like he has aura, but at the same time it doesn't."
Rani's trial was postponed because of the holy king.
However, it was not because the holy king had used his power to prevent the punishment, but because of the Advent Festival.
While it was a tradition of the holy kingdom to not judge sinners during the Advent Festival, Rani had also played an important role in the Advent Festival of recent years.
At the Consecration of the Holy Kin, a ceremony where the holy king personally blessed each of his subjects.
It could be said that the consecration was the flower of the Advent Festival. Since she was fifteen, Rani had always read blessings on behalf of the holy king.
Regarding this, Kashimir had given them some information before they'd arrived in the holy kingdom.
Since it wouldn't be good for appearances if Rani Salome suddenly vanished, it seemed she had been temporarily released. It'd likely be possible to meet Rani once before the end of the trial.
It was fortunate news for Jin and Murakan.
Had the result of the trial not been good, it would have been difficult to meet her.
"Hm, no matter how hard I think about it, it just doesn't make sense."
Crunch.
Jin looked over the situation as he bit into the candy, shaped like a dormant volcano, that he'd just bought from a store.
The two dyed their hair red using the Gold Snow Tribe's dye and pretended to be tourists.
"What doesn't make sense?"
"Rani got into trouble at the temple where the holy king was performing a blessing not too long ago. It makes no sense to use Rani for such an important event like the consecration."
"Aren't they doing that to save face? Doesn't she read the blessings for the king every year?"
"I'm just saying it's a bit weird to simply overlook. If Rani were to misbehave during the consecration, it would be a major incident. It's not something that can be covered up like last time."
Because Rani's behavior had only been seen by those at the temple, the outside media hadn't covered it at all.
It was an incident that was difficult to learn about unless one had planted special informants, as Kashimir had done.
But this time, there would be more than one or two people watching.
If Rani caused another incident, the prestige of the holy king, and the holy kingdom as a whole, would plummet.
"That's true. They must've done something, right? Or maybe Rani had just gone momentarily insane, and still retains a good relationship with the king."
"I guess we'll know when we meet her."
Rani's house was a small one right next to the Great Temple of Ayula in the holy kingdom's capital.
However, the house was rarely used because of excess visitors, thanks to the many subjects who followed McLan and Rani.
The place where Rani actually resided was in the eastern part of the capital, the Eastern Temple of Ayula. Though, due to the renovation works happening there, entry was prohibited for anyone uninvolved.
Of course, the two had no intention of worrying about that.
"Let's slowly start heading for the eastern temple."
The two entered the transfer gate going east.
"Ugh!"
"Isn't it about time you got used to it?"
Murakan started vomiting as soon as the teleportation ended.
As always, he was still vulnerable to transfer gates.
"Damn it, even though I regained 40% of my strength, I can't fly as I want."
"Endure it for a little longer. Once I become a flag-bearer, we can easily and comfortably fly over at least the skies of the Huphester Alliance."
There was no need to even search for the location of the Eastern Temple of Ayula.
Since the tallest building visible upon exiting the transfer gate was the eastern temple.
Compared to the center, which was full of festive excitement, the eastern region was quiet.
It was natural, since the trades people would have all left to set up stalls in the center for the duration of the festival.
They climbed the hill and finally reached the eastern temple.
Unlike the paladins in Santel, who wore heavy armor and plugged up the city, the ones guarding the eastern temple were regular soldiers, yawning lethargically.
The workers repairing the temple were nowhere to be seen.
They must've headed to the center to enjoy the festival as well.
No one within the kingdom would dare to enter the temple without permission. There was nothing for tourists to see in the eastern temple, and all the important holy relics had been moved to the central temple, so there was no need for tight security.
Jin took out a small glass bottle from his pocket and opened the lid.
It contained a sleeping poison brewed by Kuzan.
'I feel bad… But it's not a dangerous poison, so it should be fine.'
Jin glanced at Murakan.
Murakan made a face that asked if he really had to do something like this, but sighed and transformed into a cat.
"Meow."
Murakan approached the guards with a glass bottle in his mouth.
Naturally, the guard's eyes turned to the glass bottle the cat was holding.
Before they could even take a closer look, Murakan dropped the glass bottle in front of them, spreading the sleeping poison.
"What's this?
"Ugh, my body…?"
Thud, thud.
"Sorry."
After slipping a few gold coins into the guard's pockets, the two leisurely strolled past the main gate and entered the temple.
Rani's room was located at the end of the hallway on the temple's third floor.
The closer they got, the stronger the smell of alcohol became.
Fortunately, there were no other soldiers present, so the two were able to meet Rani without any issues.
"Rani Salome, I didn't know you were this fond of alcohol."
As Jin quietly closed the door and spoke, Rani finally looked up at him.
Even though Jin had approached while deliberately not concealing himself, Rani hadn't paid him any attention.
She was like someone who'd given up on everything.
"…Jin Runcandel?"
Her eyes had been filled with strong faith and pride back in Santel. Now, the only thing contained in them was sorrow.
Rani stared blankly at Jin in disbelief for a while.
It seemed that she hadn't expected him to come find her so quickly.
"How…?"
"Didn't I promise you? I'm here to repay my debt."
Poof!
Murakan transformed into a human and stood before Rani.
As she saw that Murakan was fine, Rani put down the bottle, wide-eyed.
"Long time no see, you religious punk. Thanks to you, I survived and sought you out. From the looks of things, it seems like there's a problem. I, the great black dragon, will solve it all. So why not pass me a drink?"
Murakan smiled as he naturally took the alcohol away from her to prevent her from drinking anymore.
Up till that point, Rani still looked dazed. She blinked and then burst into tears, clenching her teeth to prevent the sound of her cries from escaping outside.
The two waited until she settled down.
"Now, stop crying and tell us what's going on."
"my father, my father…"
"Your father? Holy King McLan?"
"Father has been captured."
Jin and Murakan looked at each other and then back at Rani.
"What are you talking about? Religious punk, we just came back from seeing the holy king at the central square. He was standing there just fine…"
"I don't know what they did, but that's a fake. Only their faces are the same. My real father was kidnapped."
"What?"
"The holy king… was kidnapped?"
A fake.
Hearing that word, someone came to Jin's mind.
Kinzelo's fragmentor, Bouvard Gaston.
At that moment, Jin could understand why Rani had taken on the role of reading the blessings as always at the Consecration of Holy Kin.
'She was threatened.'
Holy King McLan was being held hostage and Rani was being threatened.
—If you don't want to see the real McLan die, act the same as usual.
Likely being told something like that.
And while that was happening, unable to restrain her anger, Rani went on a rampage at the temple where the blessing ceremony was being performed, and ended up awaiting trial.
"Rani Salome, do you know who kidnapped the holy king?"
Kinzelo.
He obviously knew that would be the answer, since they were using Bouvard's transformation ability.
However, the name Rani gave was unexpected.
"Zipfel. Those bastards… kidnapped my father."
"Zipfel? Are you sure?"
"I'm sure. It seemed like there were others involved, but… Haah, I'm not certain. There was only so much I could do."
Rani clutched her head and trembled.
"It's okay, Rani. Drink some water. We need to calm down and talk properly so that we can think this through."
Zipfel and Kinzelo's alliance was over.
Could it be that they joined forces again?
For a moment, that idea appeared in Jin's head.
Thump thump thump thump—!
Suddenly, heavy footsteps could be heard outside the door.
It must have been someone who realized that Jin and Murakan had trespassed, but for some reason, there was something strange about those footsteps.
They weren't the footsteps of a human.