Chapter 7

Chapter 3. Black Dragon Murakan (1)

'I’ve heard the story of how the Black Dragon Murakan was defeated by the first family head and fell into a long sleep, but... this was the place?'

Jin didn’t know much about Murakan. The family rarely talked about this black dragon.

It was because there was more to say about the dragons that were currently active than about the ones that had already disappeared.

The glass coffin was smooth and free of dust. It wasn’t because someone polished it every day, but due to the magic power faintly enveloping the area around the coffin.

When he placed his palm on it, a chill ran through him. Swallowing hard, Jin started to move again.

'What a sight.'

If it were a dragon that was still active, it might be different, but there was nothing to gain from this sleeping Murakan. It was more important to find the secret books now than to stare at the sleeping dragon.

'It’s wider than I imagined.'

The basement seemed even larger than the central hall of Storm Castle. However, it was completely empty, making it easy to find the library where the secret books were stored.

Creak...

When he opened a sliding door, the library was immediately visible. For a secret library of Runkandel, it only had a single bookshelf and a few chairs, but that was more than enough.

There couldn’t be that many secret books of a martial family in this world.

'Secret books!'

The books inserted into the bookshelf, which was just over 1.5 meters tall, were once the books that many families in the world risked their lives to protect.

The essence of martial arts, readable only by the knights of Runkandel.

Jin suppressed his excitement and checked the secret books one by one.

'The Meyer family’s combat techniques, the Tiphon family’s techniques, the Yuron family’s spear techniques, the Shagal family’s techniques, the Attila family’s sword techniques... There are so many.'

He also saw a few secret books of the Kungen family, which was exterminated 200 years ago when Storm Castle was attacked. Jin’s hands trembled slightly as he picked them up one by one.

The trembling was from excitement.

Before being expelled from Runkandel, how much he had wished to become a knight and come to this place. The days of his past sorrow flashed through his mind.

Of course, he wasn’t here as a knight now. He was merely a person who had sneaked in secretly, even though he bore the name of 'Runkandel.'

But Jin didn’t take it seriously.

Isn’t doing whatever it takes to become stronger one of the virtues of Runkandel? Besides, he planned to return as a real knight a few years later.

'Where should I start?'

It was a happy dilemma. Did the young brothers who secretly looked at erotic pictures in their childhood feel this way? Jin smiled broadly as he examined the secret books.

The time given to him today wasn’t much.

Two hours.

The two hours of free time Jin obtained by saying he would mourn the bird. After two hours, Gilly would come to look for him.

It was like the sadness of having to choose what to eat when the table was full of delicious dishes.

'But today isn’t the only day. I can keep coming here by saying I’m mourning the bird or meditating.'

Swoosh.

A book was pulled out from the library. The first secret book Jin chose was a compilation of the Kungen family’s sword techniques.

'Since my third brother said he learned a lot from here... I’ll start with this.'

The Kungen family’s secret book consisted of three volumes. Jin pulled out the other two volumes next to it and sat down.

Originally, the Kungen family’s secret book had over ten volumes, but most were lost when Runkandel exterminated them 200 years ago.

Runkandel had intentionally destroyed them.

However, the remaining three volumes could be said to summarize the highest essence of Kungen sword techniques.

Flip, flip.

The pages turned quickly. Although it was a secret book, most of the content in the first part of Volume 1 was about the basics of sword techniques and the mindset of a knight, which was repetitive.

The pages stopped turning halfway through. Jin’s eyes deepened as he stared at the text.

The book, which had been explaining the basics, suddenly became filled with content that was incomprehensibly difficult.

'Oh... Indeed, a secret book is a secret book. It’s difficult.'

Although written in the common language of the continent, most of the content was beyond Jin’s current sword technique level.

Just before his sudden death in the Akkin Kingdom, Jin, at the age of 28, had achieved a 3-star level in sword techniques.

This was considered late compared to those who were ‘pretty good’ and was a far cry from the average level of Runkandel.

However, it had only taken him half a year to reach 3-star after contracting with Soladeret, which was an incredible achievement.

The problem was that his 3-star level of sword technique theory wasn’t enough to understand the Kungen family’s secret book.

But Jin hadn’t completely failed to anticipate this situation.

He had brought a notebook and a pencil.

Jin took them out of his pocket and started copying the secret book. He was transcribing it. In two hours, he could transcribe about ten pages.

During his time as a mage, he had transcribed so much that the fingerprints on his fingers had almost worn off.

Ten pages a day.

Jin had three years left before leaving Storm Castle. If he transcribed ten pages every day for three years, he could copy all the secret books and still have some left.

'Besides, as I keep studying, I’ll start to understand a little, and there will be many books I don’t need to transcribe.'

Squish, squish...

The sound of the pencil scratching the paper filled the quiet basement. An hour had passed by the time he filled ten pages, and Jin retraced his steps to leave the basement.

He covered the hole in the wall with earth and earth magic.

* * *

Two months passed. During this time, Jin managed to transcribe the three volumes of the Kungen family’s secret book and two volumes of the Meyer family’s combat techniques.

His days in the dull and bleak Storm Castle were now full of vitality. He had never been happier to wake up in the morning.

'What excuse should I use to go to the basement today? Mourning? Meditation? No... I’ve been using those for the past two days.'

Recently, a rumor had spread among the servants of Storm Castle that Jin was possessed by the soul of a dead bird.

Since he had been visiting the gravesite daily for two months under the pretext of mourning or meditating, such a rumor was understandable. Moreover, the Tona brothers, who had heard the rumor, were now more afraid of Jin than before.

'Hmm. Should I... come up with a reason to visit there every day?'

He thought for a long time but couldn’t come up with anything. How could he justify visiting the gravesite every day?

Jin soon changed his mind.

'I don’t need to justify it. If I want to go there every day, who in this Storm Castle would dare to stop me?'

The guardian knights already treated Jin not as a child but as 'Jin Runkandel,' and the servants were not the ones he needed to justify his actions to. The Tona brothers were already afraid of him, so there was no need to worry.

The problem was Gilly.

Unlike the guardian knights and servants, Gilly had influence over the children she was in charge of.

"Miss Gilly."

"Yes, young master."

"I’m thinking of going there again today."

"Again today...?"

Worriedness immediately appeared in Gilly’s eyes.

Sigh.

Gilly sighed deeply and stroked Jin’s head.

"Master. Unfortunately, the bird is already dead. It’s been two months. I’m so worried that I can’t even sleep."

"I’ve already forgotten about the bird. I go to the gravesite every day because I actually like it there."

"Like it there? Master, you shouldn’t like the gravesite. It’s inauspicious!"

"What do you mean by inauspicious?"

"The gravesite is the home of the dead. There’s nothing good about being close to it. Master, you should only receive good energy."

Anyway, even the nannies in this Runkandel are sensitive to superstitions. Jin shook his head inwardly.

"No, I will continue to like the gravesite."

"Master!"

"Miss Gilly, think about it. I am the youngest son of Runkandel."

Jin put on a serious tone, and Gilly’s eyes widened.

"Why are you suddenly saying this..."

"Being born into Runkandel, how many graves will I create in my life? In fact, I’m trying to understand 'death' these days. That’s why I go there every day to get used to it."

"Ah."

A gust of wind seemed to pass through Gilly’s mouth.

For a moment, her thoughts stopped as she stared blankly at her young master.

A young master who, at just seven years old, was facing the destiny of being born into a 'predator' like Runkandel.

Of course, this was just Gilly’s misconception.

In his second life, Jin was merely manipulating the younger Gilly as he pleased, compared to his previous life.

Honestly, who would say such things at seven years old? Even if he was born into the ruthless Runkandel.

Still, people like Gilly had no reason to doubt Jin’s words. The idea that he had regressed was unimaginable.

'After meeting the family head, there must have been a deep change in the young master’s heart. He must have told him something incredible.'

Gilly composed her expression and bowed her head.

"...Then I won’t stop you. I have no doubt that you will become an excellent knight who will carry Runkandel in the future. I’m very proud to hear your honest words."

"Thank you, Gilly. Until I leave Storm Castle, I will visit the gravesite for one or two hours every day."

"Yes, young master."

"And I don’t want any interference during that time. Do you understand?"

"I will inform the guardian knights. And, young master."

"Yes?"

"As your nanny and as an adult, I must add... It’s not always good to think too much at a young age. Please, sometimes get closer to enjoyable things."

"I understand. I’ll definitely do that. Gilly, then... um, can you make strawberry pie for a snack later? With plenty of honey."

Gilly’s stiff expression softened.

"I’ll bake it very well. Go ahead."

Jin left the room with a broad smile.

'Great! Now I can focus on transcribing without worrying.'

Over the past two months, there were many times when he was afraid when visiting the basement. If the guardian knights or Gilly found him in the cave, it could turn the family upside down.

'Even if I get caught now, since Father has shown interest in me, I won’t die, but it will still be quite troublesome.'

He started humming a tune. The earth resonance for breaking the wall felt more rhythmic today.

Today, he planned to transcribe the last chapter of the Meyer family’s combat techniques.

Squish, squish!

Savoring the thrill of the next three years of freedom while transcribing the combat techniques, he felt this was truly a blessing of regression.

'The Meyer family’s combat techniques seem less difficult compared to the Kungen family’s sword techniques. However, the part about integrating the body with aura... I’ll understand it eventually.'

An hour passed.

His thin, soft fingers ached from continuous transcription. Just as he was about to take a three-minute break,

Click...

A sound came from the other side of the sliding door, and Jin reflexively stood up, startled.

It was the sound of the glass coffin covering the Black Dragon Murakan opening.