Chapter 88

Chapter 30. Defeat Alice! (4)

Perhaps the tension from the daily sparring sessions had worn off a bit.

In the 96th sparring session the next day, Alice experienced her first defeat at Jin's hands. Just as the exchange of moves had passed the 70th move, Jin's thrust pierced Alice's shoulder.

"Ugh!"

The moment the attack succeeded, Alice was clearly taken aback, as was Jin, who had executed the successful attack.

The wound was severe enough to prevent the sparring from continuing. As Jin hastily withdrew his sword and called for a healer, Alice managed a awkward smile.

"Alice-sama! Are you alright?"

"Ah... I'm fine. It's been a long time since I've had an injury like this."

Fresh blood was pouring onto the ground. While the healers were casting their healing spells, Jin shook his head in confusion.

'Alice-sama could have avoided that thrust. This was just a fluke.'

It was true.

Jin hadn't even used his full strength. When sparring with Alice, Jin usually only used his secret move after the 100th exchange.

In a sense, Jin had defeated Alice at the 'exploratory' stage he always used. However, since this victory was due to Alice's lapse in concentration rather than his own growth, it didn't feel good.

'I misread the trajectory of the sword when my vision was momentarily obscured... I must have become quite rusty since I retired.'

Maintaining the same level of tension against an opponent she had defeated 94 times was not an easy task, even for a warrior of Alice's caliber.

Alice wiped her forehead and shook her head.

"Phew, I lost."

"No, we should consider this sparring session invalid. It was an inexplicable victory."

"I knew you would say that, Jin-sama. Yes, it's hard to accept. I let my guard down and committed a grave offense against you."

Thanks to the healers' efforts, the wound healed almost instantly.

"But, Jin-sama, it can't be invalid. If it were the Jin-sama from three months ago, even if I had let my guard down, you wouldn't have been able to defeat me."

It had been just three months, or more precisely, 97 days since the sparring sessions began.

For Alice, who had seen and felt Jin's growth every day, it was almost unbelievable.

'Even considering the Runkandel factor, it's incomprehensible. He will soon reach the 6th rank in both swordsmanship and magic.'

Having come from Biment, she had seen many geniuses from the 'Hiran' family, another renowned swordsmanship lineage.

But Alice could confidently say that Jin was on a different level, even compared to all the geniuses she had seen.

"Then, can I no longer spar with Alice-sama?"

"Of course not. Try to achieve a satisfying victory within the remaining three months. I'll keep the evenings free until then."

* * *

December 1, 1795.

Today was the 110th sparring session between Jin and Alice, but Alice had taken a day off. She wanted to face Jin in perfect condition and not have to perform her duties as the guard captain.

Thus, their sparring session started in the afternoon, not in the evening as usual.

Thirty minutes before the sparring session began, Cassimir found Jin.

"Jin-sama, I have information on the matters you mentioned last time. It took much longer than expected..."

"Did you find Alu's real name?"

Alu, the leader of the Tesing gang, the Spider Hand.

Initially, Cassimir thought it would be easy to trace his background. After all, the Seven-Colored Birds had the means to quickly gather information on a back-alley gang leader.

However, finding Alu's real name had been a continuous challenge from the start.

"Unfortunately, no. The elite members of the Seven-Colored Birds are still investigating, but it seems Alu has many secrets. There's no trace of his activities before he became the leader of Tesing."

Cassimir shrugged.

"The only thing we can conclude is that someone intentionally erased information about Alu. As you suggested, there might be a connection to Runkandel."

"Hmm... I'm starting to regret not killing him. Then, the information the Seven-Colored Birds brought is about Bishkel, right?"

"Yes, Bishkel Ebliano, the next head of the Ebliano family. Um, Jin-sama, have you heard of the organization called 'Kinzello'?"

"I know about them. I've even had a run-in with them during my first mission with the new students this year."

Kinzello.

A group of mad armed men who wanted to make their king the ruler of the entire world. In Jin's previous life, they assassinated the king of Jean when he was 27 and began their notorious activities by massacring civilians.

"While it's not certain, there's a possibility that Bishkel is a member of Kinzello. He visits the Duchy of Kurano once a week and always goes to a particular sculpture workshop."

"Please continue."

"The owner of the workshop, which has the bizarre name 'Art is Explosion,' is a man named Bubar Gaston. From what we've learned, Bubar is a member of Kinzello. Since Bishkel meets him weekly, it's suspicious."

"Bubar Gaston?"

Jin feigned ignorance. He couldn't yet tell Cassimir that Bubar had the ability to 'transform' others.

Not because he didn't trust Cassimir, but because he had no way to prove it.

"Yes, he's a man in his early 30s and quite overweight. And Bishkel always buys sweet potato croquettes to bring to him, as if he's running an errand."

"Hmm, assuming both are members of Kinzello, it suggests that Bubar might have a higher rank."

"Probably. I've met Bishkel personally, and he's a very proud person. If he's delivering bread himself, it must mean something."

In reality, Bubar was a senior member, and Bishkel was a deputy, so Bishkel had a higher rank, but the Seven-Colored Birds hadn't discovered this.

Cassimir and Jin both chuckled. Jin couldn't quite picture Bishkel delivering bread.

'I suspected there was something between Bishkel and Bubar, but Kinzello? This is unexpected. And Bubar seems to have a higher rank... What could Bishkel gain from joining Kinzello?'

The answer was simple.

The Ebliano family, while not as powerful as Runkandel, was once a formidable clan, rivaling Biment's Hiran.

However, they had been declining recently, failing to produce outstanding warriors except for Bishkel.

'Bishkel might be using Kinzello's power to restore the family's reputation, or he might be inspired by Kinzello's ideology.'

But is Kinzello really that powerful? Powerful enough to attract an outstanding warrior like Bishkel.

'Recalling the period when Kinzello was active in my previous life... it's not impossible. Runkandel, Ziph, and Biment didn't mess with them.'

It was quite strange to think about.

In both his previous and current life, Runkandel hadn't taken action against Kinzello. Even though his youngest division and he had nearly been killed by them on their first mission.

'Maybe Runkandel considered them insignificant, or perhaps they saw them as a dangerous group. The answer will come in time.'

Jin gave Cassimir a light nod.

"I understand, Sir Cassimir. Thank you for your hard work."

"The agents did the hard work; I just listened. So, my next task is to gather more information on Kinzello and continue investigating Alu."

Jin appreciated Cassimir's initiative. He didn't need to be told what to do; they worked well together.

"Thank you, Sir Cassimir."

"Then, please play with Yuria a bit later. She's always looking for you in my office, calling 'Jin-nii, Jin-nii.' It's giving me a headache, especially with Enya joining in."

"Understood. By the way, it's almost time for my sparring session with Alice-sama. Would you like to come, Sir Cassimir?"

"Sure. I also want to see how much Jin-sama has improved."

Cassimir's face was calm, as he still believed Jin couldn't defeat Alice.

'I need to confirm Jin-sama's growth today and write another letter to Sir Siron.'

Alice was already waiting in the training ground.

"Oh, what's this? Why are you here?"

Alice playfully scolded Cassimir.

"Um, am I not supposed to be here? Jin-sama asked me to watch."

"Not necessarily, but... I don't want to show you my defeat."

"Defeat... What? You're going to lose? What are you talking about!?"

Cassimir's eyes widened in shock.

'Not even six months, but just over three months?'

Alice nodded in response to his unspoken question.

Alice Vaitz, former member of Biment's Special Task Force 2 and the guard captain of Tikan.

She had taken a day off and prepared in perfect condition because she sensed her defeat.

'I've already been surpassed by Jin-sama. Yesterday.'

While Cassimir was momentarily lost in thought, Jin and Alice faced each other and took their positions.

"This will be our last sparring session, Jin-sama."

Jin nodded in acknowledgment, and Alice continued.

"I hope you remember me as a good sparring partner, even when you reach the pinnacle of the world."

"I will always remember you as a good teacher and friend. I hope you remember me as a good student."

Cassimir, regaining his composure, slowly moved to the edge of the training ground to avoid interfering with their final sparring session.

Kaaah...

As Alice clenched her fist, Jin whispered softly.

"Summon."

Phoenix

A mythical creature that only 6th-rank mages and above can summon.

In the past 109 sparring sessions, Jin's growth wasn't limited to swordsmanship; his spiritual energy and magic power had also advanced significantly.

Whoosh!

A massive bird, engulfed in flames, emerged from a dimensional gate that had just opened beside Jin.

Watching Jin's phoenix, Cassimir couldn't help but sigh.

Cassimir knew the name of this phoenix.