C517

Tikan was still under construction.

The massive equipment of the Black King's Mountain was being reviewed and reinstalled, so it was natural that it would take some time.

However, even though the construction was not complete, Tikan now possessed over 80% of the defensive power of the Black King's Mountain.

Considering only the defensive power of the equipment brought from the Black King's Mountain Shelter, it was at 80%.

If one took into account the strength of Jin's companions and the newly formed blood alliance...

(Although they were considered subordinates...)

Tikan stood as an unparalleled city in defense, excluding the two main factions.

At the moment, there was no small nation that could surpass Tikan.

Since the union of the mercenaries and the Black King, Tikan had become a land that could easily be called the fifth faction.

"Oh, the nation's declaration is just around the corner..."

Perhaps because of this, the man who was the leader of Tikan, the owner of the Seven-Colored Peacock, and the Ghost Sword Kashimir Alfrion, had been crying a lot lately.

It was due to inexpressible emotions, an overwhelming sense of gratitude, heightened sensitivity as he approached middle age, and the conviction that a long-cherished dream was about to come true, as well as gratitude towards his companions.

These were the reasons why Kashimir shed tears of happiness.

"Oh, Kashimir-nim is crying again."

"Euria, please bring your father's handkerchief. Young Master Jin is also there, what kind of insolence is that?"

So said Jet and Alisa, and Amela added,

"Why are you crying, Kashimir?"

Truly, after a long time, all the companions gathered to eat.

(Thanks to Murakan's persistence)

Except for Gilly, who went for a walk with Murakan, everyone sat at the dining table.

"It's still not enough to make a nation declaration," Jin said.

He was also excited.

However, after this mission, a sense of urgency naturally settled in Jin's mind.

"Yes, as the Lord says, we're still lacking. Although the chances of Zipple and Kinzelo touching this place in the near future are slim, they will try to press whenever the opportunity arises," said Lata, and Valkas nodded.

"The installation speed of the defense equipment is slower than expected, my Lord," Valkas commented.

"I heard it's because the equipment was specialized for the mountain range where the Black King's Mountain was located, Valkas-nim."

"That's right. Compatibility with Tikan is not bad, but it's not perfect. Also, since our time at the Black King's Mountain Hideout, I've felt that there is much room for improvement in our equipment. Thanks to Amela, many improvements have already been made."

Amela.

As demonstrated on the Gaifa Islands, she is a war master who uses the power of Chaos.

In Gaifa, she showed even greater power by merging with Bouvard's Chaos, but even without that, she was already the world's best war team operator.

Valkas rated her higher than all the mercenaries of the Black King, not in terms of pure strength but in the aspect of "war."

"Although not all equipment has been installed yet, it's producing 80% of the energy. However, I understand seeing Amela reinforcing the equipment. It can still improve. It means we can surpass the power of the old Black King's Mountain Hideout."

"Is that possible?"

"It's possible, my Lord!"

Said Amela, waving her hand out of her bushy clothes.

Jin felt somewhat uncomfortable with her behavior.

On the Gaifa Islands, she fought with the intention to kill them all the time, and after Yona's interrogation, she fainted, so he left for the Sota Desert without keeping a word of conversation.

On the other hand, Amela behaved very friendly and referred to Jin as the Lord, just like Valkas and Lata.

This was because her Chaos had submitted to Yona and fundamentally had the nature of a somewhat affable girl. The slight fear she had towards Jin and Murakan seemed to have disappeared.

"Most of the old Valkas's equipment is a product of modern magical engineering. However, some are relics, commonly called masterpieces. Like the Lord's helmet. It seems that old Valkas and my cuties didn't know each other so well."

Before meeting Jin, Amela roamed the world as a lifelong mercenary and chaos explorer.

Thanks to that, there were not many people in the world more knowledgeable about relics and artifacts than her.

"Haha, I can't believe I'm listening to an old man from my comrades."

"Heavenly, don't call me handsome...!"

Amela, hidden in the thick clothes, seemed younger not only than Jin but even than Enya.

For some reason, Valkas felt strangely hurt.

Those who reacted strongly to the term "cutie" were Lata and Faye.

"Masterpiece?"

"These things were made by demons, or by ancient Zipples. An example is what old Valkas calls Black King Cannon Number 1, but in my opinion, it's more appropriate to call it a full-range mana absorption percussion cannon. Old Valkas didn't know, so he used it like a normal cannon."

"Mana absorption... what? Hm, Amela-nim, you know how to use difficult words. Did you understand it?"

"Full-range mana absorption percussion cannon...?"

Jin, who had always lived with academy critique books, was familiar with such long official names.

"Well, will it improve?"

"If all functions are completed, it will become the most powerful cannon ever. Um... to compare, where is Kozec! It would be more powerful than Cozek's full-range mana absorption percussion cannon."

Even comparing the slightly different names, the first one seemed stronger.

However, it couldn't be confirmed if Amela's words were true.

"If that's true, how did that thing end up at the Black King's Mountain? During the time when the Black Kings existed independently, there were occasional exchanges with Zipple or the imperial family engineers for equipment maintenance. They couldn't just leave when they saw mana cannons... something."

"Hehe, you ask cute questions. Did they send top personnel to the Black King's Mountain? Since they always sent people who looked like confused scarecrows, it wouldn't be surprising if they didn't know. It's a problem that can be solved with a bit of brain."

"That's true."

"Hey, the cutie is a fan of Amela!"

"Well, anyway, it seems to be an amazing cannon. Can Amela-nim restore it?"

To Enya's question, Amela shook her head.

Because Lata had her in a tight grip, her neck hardly moved, and she only shook the bushes.

"Ah, ugh, that, aack, I, I can't. Ahh, bones, bones, they've got me! Wait! I lack skills. And I'm not sure if there's personnel capable of restoring it."

"My Lord, whether Amela's words are true or not, it seems necessary to recruit a suitable magical engineer. There are many devices to improve, and above all, we need to find clues about the machine obtained in the Sota Desert."

An object that could change the course of the future war.

That's how the Prophet described to Rosa the machine Jin had acquired.

Mother also did not hear the Prophet talk about the exact purpose of that object.

'If she had heard, she would have told me too, as it will undoubtedly benefit the Family.'

Of course, the Prophet's words could be false.

She might also not know the true purpose of the machine.

But the machine wouldn't be alone with the blueprints; there must be a reason for its existence.

To find that reason, Histor's Record Magic was needed, and the help of a genius magical engineer.

"Jet."

"Yes, my Lord!"

"Inform me immediately if Aria contacts."

Jin has not met Valeria since leaving the Wantaramo Forest last year.

She kept the Demon Man's corpse obtained in the Wantaramo Forest as evidence to pressure the imperial family.

Furthermore, she was analyzing the metal used by the leader of Kinzelo that Jin had obtained from the sword emperor's castle and the recording device Jin had given her, and also tracing the Temar's tomb while restoring Histor's magic.

The lack of contact could be due to no progress or that she is exposed to some danger.

It must be one of the two.

'If not, she may have entered the next succession temple.'

In addition to Valeria, Jin still couldn't contact Misha, so he was a little anxious.

"Of course. Ah, no news is good news, so don't worry too much. We haven't contacted her for quite some time, but is something wrong with that haughty lady?"

"That would be great. Hey, Murakan. Misha-nim..."

"My Lord, Murakan-nim went for a walk with Gilly... Ah, there he comes! Eh? But why is there a giant toad... Is he riding Talaris-nim's Death Snow Toad?"

The Seven Swords of the Hidden Palace, Ryu and Hiten, who were sitting at the table, stood up and bowed.

"Greetings, Mistress!"

"Greetings, Mistress!"

Not only Murakan and Gilly, but also their Mistress was on Talaris's Death Snow Toad.

Next to them, for some reason, Kuzan, Beris, and Yulian were standing with seemingly blank expressions, as if they were some kind of assistants.

"Hehe, son-in-law. Long time no see."

"Talaris-nim, Lady Siris."

"Why don't you ever call this mother even when there's such an occasion, my son-in-law?"

"Didn't you receive an invitation from Lucas Manfran?"

"Oh, it must have been a confusion. I almost feel resentful again. Hahaha... Ha! It's amazing. On my way here, I heard from that handsome Black Dragon that something strange clung to my son-in-law."

It was a story about Sandra Zipple.

At that comment, Siris let out a sigh as if she no longer had the strength to argue with her mother.

"To my son-in-law, she's not to your liking, right? The daughter of a hostile clan?"

"Mother, even if she's Zipple, she's a person who has helped Jin a lot."

"Ara, you're acting stiff as always. Can't you even accept a joke?"

"It wasn't a light matter."

Of course, Siris was never aware of Sandra Zipple.

However, even though Jin is her friend, she seemed unable to help betraying the Hidden Palace, but she felt strange that Sandra did.

If it had been me in the past, I would have laughed and mocked about this.

After meeting Jin, it seems that I have changed a bit.

Talaris shrugged.

"Ara, I thank you too. But it doesn't give you the right to humiliate your mother in front of people. This mother is still the owner of the Hidden Palace."

"I apologize for that, Mother."

"Hehe, I was just joking. Don't be scared."

"Ah, really."

"I can still enjoy teasing my daughter. Anyway, it's nice to see everyone. It's a bit strange and fascinating to see the three great mercenaries eating together like this. Indeed, this is the work of the charm of the man I marked as my son-in-law... So, what were you talking about?"

"Full-range mana absorption percussion cannon..."

At the moment Jin responded to that point.

Suddenly, an alarm sounded throughout Tikan.

The equipment installed by the Black Kings was causing the alarm.

Wuuu, wuuu.

The alarm went off due to the sudden appearance of an unidentified object in the sky.

And the protagonist who triggered the alarm was the person who escorted Jin and his group in the Sota Desert not long ago.

Zephyrin.