REAPER SCANS
Swordmaster’s Youngest Son
[Translator – Junseo]
[Proofreader – Valirius]
Volume 10 Chapter 368 - Traces (8)
“Just help me dye my hair.”
Valeria passed him the hair dye she’d previously received.
“I don’t want to show this hair to anyone, whether it’s Vermont or Zipfel.”
Jin shrugged. He turned around and applied the dye to Valeria’s red hair.
A gentle sheen spread from Valeria’s hair that was darkening. Jin’s fingers passed gently through it, spreading the dye. For some reason, the Cat Tribe stared at them with their mouths open and their eyes sparkling.
‘What’s with this atmosphere?’
‘They look nice together, don’t they?’
Contrary to what the Cat Tribe were thinking, the two didn’t pay any particular attention to the skin contact.
Valeria was busy trying to calm her momentarily dizzy mind, and Jin was only concerned about whether she had actually recovered enough.
“I’m done.”
Jin wiped the dye off his hands with the same cloth he used to clean his sword.
Valeria glanced at her dyed hair in the hand mirror and gave a satisfied nod. The red color was neatly hidden.
[Let’s go!]
They followed Lulu and Miru into the passage.
The inside of the passage was hazy as if covered in fog and there were ripples like they were underwater, but strangely enough, they didn’t feel fatigue from walking. It felt as if they were wandering through a pleasant dream.
They were out of the passage before they could even walk a hundred steps.
The distance was considerable enough that it would’ve taken a trained warrior quite some time to run, but the Cat Tribe’s passage was effectively a transfer gate.
[We got here in no time, Lulu. Your abilities always impress me whenever I see them.]
[Still, it took time to create the passage, so I don’t know if we’ll be able to escape their pursuit just yet.]
The area outside the passage was filled with strangely twisted trees. Despite their contortions, the trees were tall and thick enough to be compared to the supporting pillars of a castle’s main gate.
The moonlight couldn’t penetrate the dense foliage, so the vast lake below looked like black oil.
‘So Temar’s tomb is hidden inside there?’
Olmango, who sealed the second tomb deep in the sea, came to mind. Sheila also had a hidden medium to get to the tomb beneath the lake.
La, Lalala…
Sheila began to sing.
It was a pleasant voice. Like sugar granules sweetening their ears. Even Valeria found herself smiling for a moment at Sheila’s singing.
From Sheila’s small mouth flowed particles that looked like glass dust. The particles went into the lake and floated on it, causing the waves to change.
A gentle whirlpool. A scene that could be expressed exactly as so unfolded before their eyes. Small, gentle whirlpools rippled across the lake as if dancing to the sound of the song.
How many minutes passed by? Finally, like a star rising, an object rose above the lake’s surface, shining with a particular brightness.
It was a gourd.
One holding Royal Wine. The biggest reason why the peaks of power didn’t damage this forest… The reason for Wantaramo’s existence.
The bottle slowly flew toward Sheila. The moment she hugged the bottle of alcohol with her small body, the particles of light illuminating the lake disappeared all at once, and the forest was plunged into darkness once again.
[Take this, Jin Runcandel.]
He politely accepted the Royal Wine.
(Royal Wine — Shil Damiro)
The Royal Wine is given the name of the person who gave rise to its formation, not the person who makes it or receives it.
That’s why when the Royal Wine regarding Shurry was formed, it was given the name of neither the Fairy Tribe, nor Luna, but Cyron.
‘Shil Damiro…? They share the same name as Luet Damiro Yul from the third tomb. Perhaps they’re related?’
Shil Damiro was a name Jin had seen in the third tomb as well.
—(The 3rd of March, 797, Runcandel records Zipfel’s manipulation of the Fairy Tribe’s history. The 4th of March, 797, five Fairies, Shil Damiro, Becker Tishke, Mulias Mon, Trika Tredos, and Zen Mainu, were forgotten among the Fairy Tribe…)
“In the recording device of the third tomb, I saw the name Luet Damiro Yul. This must be wine that was created because of a relative of hers.”
[Luet Damiro Yul…?]
“Do you know that name?”
Sheila closed her eyes as if trying to remember something.
[…I can’t remember. However, the name Yul is given only to the Fairy King, so she must’ve been the most noble being even among them.]
Although Myla described herself as a Fairy, Sheila always made a distinction between Fairies and those descended from them.
[Drink.]
Just as he was about to open the bottle, Jin locked eyes with Sheila.
“How long will it take?”
[What do you mean?]
“I went into the third tomb without knowing anything, and two days had passed. I want to know how much time will pass after I drink this Royal Wine.”
[That’s something even I don’t know.]
“The pursuers will arrive soon. If too much time passes, you, Lulu, and Miru will have to handle them alone.”
[You’re worrying about such trivial things.]
“No, it’s not trivial. Lulu and Miru exhausted themselves making the passage, and you said you don’t know your own fighting ability.”
[This is my forest.]
“You said you lost control of the forest.”
[Even still, do you really think that I can’t handle a few humans?]
If it were up to Jin to judge whether Sheila was strong or not, he would pick the latter without hesitation.
She definitely had the dignity of the king of a race, but she lacked the dangerous scent that came from being strong.
If the Cat Tribe weren’t so exhausted, he would’ve trusted their strength and drank the wine with peace of mind.
[If you’re really worried, why don’t you leave the child behind and enter alone?]
“I can’t. I made a promise.”
[So you’re saying you’re going to wait for the pursuers? If the Royal Wine is damaged during that, then there’ll be a lot of trouble. If we’re not careful, we might end up having to retreat after revealing the location of the Royal Wine to the enemies.]
“I guess drinking it outside of here is impossible?”
[The moment the Royal Wine leaves the forest, the story contained within disappears. If such a thing were possible, do you think I would’ve told you to drink it now?]
Jin nodded.
“I thought that would be the case. Still, I think it would be better in more ways than one to just clear the enemies before going ahead.”
[In the worst-case scenario, all our lives may be forfeit.]
“No, that won’t happen.”
[How are you so confident?]
“Didn’t you say so a little while ago? That we must all fight in a way that doesn’t cause irreparable damage to the forest. Those conditions are advantageous for me.”
[I’ll be able to hide with the Cat Tribe.]
“See? First you said you could definitely handle a few humans, and now you’re talking about hiding. You don’t have the strength to deal with them.”
[…Even if they catch me, they won’t kill me right away.]
“Then, if you and the Cat Tribe are captured, they’ll have hostages. Is that a good outcome?”
He didn’t want to have to sacrifice the Cat Tribe and Sheila.
That’s how Jin felt.
He was also confident. He said that he could take on anyone from the imperial guard or special forces, as long as they weren’t on the level of the division leaders.
‘Even if a division leader comes along, it’s worth fighting them since I have Valeria. In fact, it will definitely turn into a fight that favors us.’
Sheila, too, had nothing more to say.
[Lulu, Miru. You try to convince him.]
[Hm…]
While Lulu and Miru were choosing their words…
From behind the lake came a sound that made their decision for them.
“It seems my judgment was right.”
Hiss…
Jin said as he slowly unsheathed Bradamante.
Valeria also tightened her grip on her staff and looked behind the lake.
[…Are you saying the pursuer has already arrived?]
They should’ve still had a bit of time before Zipfel arrived.
As Sheila had expected, Myla wasn’t the only traitor. Vermont arrived faster than they did. It wasn’t a surprise, since Wantaramo Forest was Vermont’s territory in the first place.
‘This is better anyway. It’s best to deal with these guys first, and then enter the tomb before further support arrives.’
If he didn’t eliminate the pursuers before entering, he felt like he would be so anxious he wouldn’t be able to focus.
“Please step back.”
[Lady Sheila, I think it would be wise to listen to Jin. Since it has already come to this, we must act in a way that causes the least burden possible.]
Sheila sighed.
[Fine.]
Jin handed the Royal Wine to Sheila again, so that it didn’t get damaged during the battle.
‘Armor Awaken.’
As he recited those words in his mind, shadow energy flowed out from Bradamante and enveloped Jin’s body.
He took off his cloak and gave it to Sheila and the Cat Tribe. Picon had added that feature for situations like this.
[Be careful.]
“Don’t worry.”
As Sheila and the Cat Tribe retreated, the light that had been illuminating the surroundings disappeared. The place where they had been standing was once again engulfed in pitch darkness.
It was quiet.
There was no sound of footsteps, only a cool breeze passing through the bushes, but Jin and his enemies could read each other’s energies faintly mixed within.
As a result of pushing his senses to the limit, Jin was soon able to come to one conclusion.
‘There’s no one on the level of a commander here.’
The moment the problem he was most worried about disappeared…
A smile spread across Jin’s lips as the shadow energy surrounding his sword began to flicker fiercely. Because of the darkness of the forest, though, his enemies couldn’t see this.
‘Aria.’
Jin whispered and called to Valeria.
‘What?’
‘Don’t show yourself and just gather your mana.’
He thought it would be better to save her strength for the fight with Zipfel.
Valeria nodded.
The distance between Jin and his enemies became smaller and smaller.
Vermont’s warriors were still under the impression that they had not yet entered each other’s attack range.
They had already obtained information from the traitor of the Fairy Tribe descendents that the one who had sought the forest was ‘Jin Runcandel’, so they judged that the Jin Runcandel they knew wouldn’t be able to land a telling blow on them given the distance.
But that was a fatal mistake.
‘There are six of them.’
Swish—!
“Urgh!”
Blood spurted without warning from the Vermont warriors.
There was no sound as the black blade imbued with shadow energy cut through both neck and air, nor was there any sound as Jin used his movement technique.
There was only the eerie sound of a head falling to the cold ground.
‘Now there’s five.’
The warriors scattered reflexively, their aura-tinged blades glowing. Jin stood behind his second target, thrusting Bradamante into their neck.
Reaper Scans
Translator – Junseo
Proofreader – Valirius
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Read the webtoon on https://reaperscans.com/comics/4050-swordmasters-youngest-son/
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