Chapter 67

Chapter 23. The Elven Swordsman, Kashmir (2)

Kashmir is a person whose purpose for coming to Tikkan is no different from Jin's group. How to approach him was a problem they had been pondering.

But for him to come here so unexpectedly, on his own accord, was completely unforeseen.

'What is this?'

Jin and Murakan naturally stepped forward in front of Gilly.

Kashmir, leaning against the door frame, shrugged his shoulders. The long curved sword at his waist was impressive, a weapon that had cut down hundreds of strong warriors, earning him the nickname 'Elven Swordsman.'

"Ah, I see. Did I interrupt your rest?"

Murakan smiled, looking incredulous. Jin thought about why Kashmir had come here.

'It can't be because of the incident in Akin. The guard captain must have informed him of our location. The innkeeper must have contacted the guard captain after seeing the seal.'

Then why?

They had only been in Tikkan for a couple of hours, not causing any trouble, just quietly enjoying their vacation.

There was not a single reason for Kashmir to be interested in them yet.

Suddenly, Yuria came to mind.

'Could it be? Yuria told Arisa about Murakan's transformed appearance, and Arisa, knowing that transformation is a dragon's power, reported it to Kashmir.'

Jin, convinced of this, quickly began to calculate in his mind.

'If they assumed we were dragons just based on Yuria's words, a mere child, it means Kashmir is that desperate. The guard captain probably knew about this as a close confidant.'

It didn't seem like a bad situation.

'The armed knights in the corridor are not to intimidate us. They are here as a precaution in case a battle with a dragon breaks out.'

If not, there would be no need to station them outside. If he wanted to scare them, he would have come into the room.

Jin also understood that Kashmir had evacuated everyone from the inn for the same reason.

'He probably evacuated the nearby civilians as well. If a dragon gets angry because of his approach, the area could turn into a wasteland in an instant.'

It took only a few seconds to think this through, thanks to the lack of events in Tikkan.

Jin thought Kashmir had acted reasonably well. He had mobilized knights and evacuated civilians, even though he wasn't sure Murakan was a dragon.

However, there was one mistake Kashmir made.

"Can't you even greet properly, you brat? Why are you speaking so informally? Do you know who I am?"

"W-What?"

"Unbelievable. Just because you carry a sword and have a few lackeys, you think the world is so easy?"

The informal greeting was the mistake.

When Murakan started cursing and growling, Kashmir's eyes showed confusion.

Dragons are generally known to have bad tempers, a widespread legend.

Kashmir, knowing this, must have had a reason for speaking informally. Perhaps it was because of his memory as a pure-blooded prince of Viment, even if he was a 'deposed prince.'

Regardless, Murakan is particularly temperamental among dragons.

"What are you doing here, ruining my mood? Tell me, insect. Who am I? Answer."

"I... don't know."

Kashmir, answering this way, had a distorted expression on his handsome face. He seemed to be quite shocked.

And he seemed to be convinced that Murakan was a dragon. Otherwise, a person of Kashmir's stature wouldn't just stand there like a scarecrow after such an insult.

"Is there a gold nugget in your mouth? You're so short with your words, insect. Come here. Come here. People like you need a beating to come to their senses..."

Despite emphasizing "come here" twice, Murakan was the one walking towards Kashmir.

Kashmir, taken aback, took a step back, which was the highlight of this farce. By then, Jin was almost laughing.

"Murakan, calm down, calm down. Hey, calm down."

Jin gently stopped Murakan. His eyes were glowing with anger. If not stopped, he would have broken Kashmir's jaw.

Murakan was angry for three reasons.

Eighty percent because the strawberry pie felt threatened, ten percent because his rest was disturbed, and ten percent because of the informal speech.

Kashmir, finally regaining his composure, cleared his throat.

"Hmm, hmm! I'm sorry. I was being arrogant. I didn't mean to upset you, please forgive me."

"Sir Elven Swordsman Kashmir."

"Me? You know me?"

"How could I not? I was hoping to meet you in Tikkan anyway."

Jin's attitude, much softer than Murakan's, made Kashmir inwardly sigh with relief. He avoided Murakan's glowing gaze.

"I didn't expect you to come here so suddenly. Hmm, it must be because of the cat, right?"

Kashmir's dazed eyes regained their focus. Jin mentioning the cat helped him regain his composure.

"Your name is?"

"Jin Lunckandel."

He said his real name without hesitation. Gilly, standing behind, instinctively covered her open mouth, and Murakan also looked surprised.

While it was inevitable for others to recognize a Lunckandel squire, it was taboo for a squire to reveal their identity.

Of course, Kashmir was the most surprised.

"If you had attended our family banquet recently, we could have met earlier. It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir Kashmir."

Kashmir, who had been stiff, smiled lightly.

'Jin Lunckandel... He hinted that he's a dragon and then casually revealed his real name. Has a Lunckandel ever associated with a dragon before?'

At least in Kashmir's memory, it was impossible. Dragons have traditionally only associated with magicians who have contracts with gods or those with special abilities.

'That brash man is clearly a dragon. Despite his vulgar language, the overwhelming presence he exuded was immense.'

Kashmir's gaze naturally fell on Gilly as he observed the group.

'And that woman is Gilly MacLan, isn't she?'

Before becoming a deposed prince, Kashmir had seen MacLan visitors at the Viment palace.

Gilly didn't remember, but Kashmir hadn't forgotten the formidable power of Clo's technique she had shown in the training ground as a child.

There was no doubt. The child in front of him was Gilly. However, it was hard to understand why Jin was with a dragon.

"Sir Kashmir, it seems we have a lot to talk about. Please, sit down."

Kashmir dismissed the troops he had stationed in the corridor. It was a risky move, but it was to make up for the rudeness of speaking informally to a dragon.

Murakan looked quite displeased.

Gilly, respecting Jin's judgment, had already placed a new cup on the table. Murakan had to follow the mood.

Jin filled Kashmir's cup with wine.

"Sir Jin. Does your family know you are with a dragon? It's unimaginable for a Lunckandel to be with a dragon."

"They don't know."

"You're revealing a life-threatening secret so casually."

"Since Sir Kashmir dismissed the troops, if anything happens, I can just bury you based on today's conversation."

Jin said this jokingly, and Kashmir laughed awkwardly.

"Maybe the ice cream I gave Yuria wasn't enough. If I had known, I would have bought something better. Both Arisa and Sir Kashmir seem to trust Yuria a lot. The way you're listening to a child's story is quite surprising."

"Since Sir Jin has shared a difficult secret, I will do the same. She is my daughter. There's no reason not to believe me."

Kashmir, though well-built, was no match for Arisa. But imagining them together, it didn't seem so strange...

No, that's not important now. Jin nodded and continued.

The fact that Kashmir had a daughter was a story he hadn't heard in his previous life.

Moreover,

"My daughter is a contract holder of Az Mil."

"Az Mil?"

"Yes, the 'God of Eyes,' Az Mil."

Suddenly, it made sense why Arisa and Kashmir trusted the 'sighting' of the dragon so much.

A contract holder of the God of Eyes would never 'missee' anything. Hallucinations were impossible.

"This secret seems to match the level of the secret of you being with a dragon."

My daughter is a contract holder of Az Mil.

Revealing this required great courage. A contract holder of Az Mil not only has 'absolute vision' to see everything clearly but also 'foresight.'

All the world's power holders have been searching for a contract holder of Az Mil with great enthusiasm. The belief and desire to rid themselves of future uncertainties.

That's why many contract holders of Az Mil have ended up tragically, being used and then discarded.

Especially the royal families of Jip and Viment were extreme. It's a public secret that they want to keep a contract holder of Az Mil 'in some way' close to them.

"Hold on, insect. If that child is a contract holder of Az Mil, where is the dragon? There's no trace or aura of a dragon in this area. Az Mil's dragons are known to dote on their contract holders."

Murakan, now interested, sat down at the table, his aura less intense. Jin instinctively understood why Kashmir had come here.

The image of Yuria holding a 'dragon doll' came to mind.

'For some reason, Yuria's guardian dragon has disappeared, which is why he came here so urgently.'

A shadow fell over Kashmir's face.

"...Yuria's guardian dragon disappeared suddenly a year ago. It seems to have been kidnapped by Jip or Viment, but that's just a suspicion."

"There's no stupid dragon in the world that gets kidnapped, that's ridiculous..."

Murakan stopped speaking, his pupils dilating.

"Wait. It's been a year? Your daughter is... about five years old, right?"

"Yes."

Kashmir bowed his head deeply. Thinking of his daughter, who had lost her dear friend and now only held a doll made in her friend's image, he felt devastated.

But it was a much bigger problem than Kashmir realized.

"Then your daughter has been seeing the future all this time! A contract holder so young can't control their power without a dragon's guidance. This is insane, seeing my transformation must have been part of her future vision."

"What? You mean Yuria has been seeing the future continuously?"

"Humans might not understand, but the mental burden of seeing the future is heavy even for dragons. Your daughter is too young to distinguish between dreams and reality, so she doesn't feel it yet."

"What, what do you mean?"

"If this continues, your daughter will soon go mad and become a cripple. In a year or two, she'll start feeling fatigue, and then it will snowball. It will become uncontrollable. You need to find that dragon quickly."