CHAPTER 211

The island was in the Bluebird Archipelago at the northern sea of the Huphester Alliance. There, hundreds of islands—big and small—were grouped together like a flock of bluebirds, hence its pretty name.

However, they weren't habitable.

Due to rainstorms, lightning storms, avalanches, wildfires, and even the harsh tides, it became impossible to live on the islands.

The archipelago had no use as a military base either. It just served as a tourist attraction during the winter, when the weather had mostly calmed down.

Those who owned an island in the archipelago were either those who had always dreamt of owning one, those who used it to impress their lover by gifting it to them, or frauds who wished to imitate the rich. In other words, people who would purchase an island for no true use.

And the Contractor under Joshua's wing went back and forth from the 32nd island of the archipelago.

"Since it's its own landmass, the Compass could pick up the Contractor's presence."

The Compass—that they intercepted after six months of hard work—had never told the exact location of a Contractor.

If the Huphester Alliance had twenty Contractors, there would be twenty red dots at the center of the entire Alliance. They wouldn't be able to tell exactly where the Contractors resided.

However, the Archipelago was different. Even if the Huphester Alliance owned the land, the independent landmass could display its own red dots.

Since there were only so many islands, they could track down the exact location.

"Yes, Young Master. If the red dots move within the Huphester Alliance, it's only when the Contractor visits an island. I think checking it out is worth the time."

"It's definitely not likely to be a coincidence."

"Of course."

"Tell the agents to keep an eye on this, and tell them to look into the Bluebird Archipelago. We'll probably pick up suspicion if we go immediately."

"Would Joshua know about the Compass?"

"No idea. However, we can't dismiss the fact that he might be in cohorts with the Zipfels or Kinzelo Group, so we have to think wisely."

"Could it be a trap?"

"Perhaps, but it's unlikely. If Joshua is in an alliance with a force that knows about the Compass, he'd definitely know about its capabilities. This might be a bait."

"Then I'll continue the investigation and send a few agents over to the islands other than the 32nd. Just to figure out the surroundings."

Mrrrooow...

Shurry rubbed her head on Gilly. She had been stuck to her lap ever since she arrived.

"My goodness, what a cutie. I was surprised by its size, but it gets prettier by the minute. On that note, will you really give it the Runcandel name?"

"Well, we have Nabi Runcandel. Shurry Runcandel sounds pretty good."

Then, another black cat hopped onto Shurry's head and into Gilly's arms. Jin grabbed Murakan by the scruff of his neck and lowered him to the ground. 

"We're gonna start construction in my room today. Looks a little too small for Shurry to live in."

"Well, the Crimson Gem looks a little cramped."

Poof!

Murakan transformed into a human again.

"Then that means I'll be sharing a room with Strawberry Pie until the construction is over."

"Yeah, right. Why would you even do that in the first place?"

"Why not? How about my room's construction? It feels a little small lately."

"Even if we remodel your room, we have countless other rooms for you to use. There's no need for you to intrude on Gilly's humble abode. Off you go, you bastard."

Murakan transformed into a cat again and skittered away. Shurry licked Murakan and began to play with him like a ball.

"Pffft."

Gilly laughed, and Jin shook his head.

* * *

Everyone was occupied in the month that followed, either with training or executing orders.

The Contractor they had been keeping an eye on hadn't left the island, so Jin chose to make a visit.

"Trap or not, I'm too curious to do nothing. Also, we waited enough to be cautious."

He considered that it was unlikely to be a trap.

Looking at the bigger picture, Joshua was the successor to the throne. Hence, it was highly unlikely that he had formed an alliance with the Zipfel Clan and Kinzelo Group. Had he done so, it would mean that the Garden of Swords had already been tainted.

However, as long as Cyron lived, that would be impossible.

Aside from some spies, he probably didn't have any agents to report information regarding the Compass.

"Just Sir Murakan is enough? What if it's a trap?"

"Even if it is, since it isn't the Lutero Magic Federation, we can just fly away. Plus, there's Shurry."

Flying through the Lutero Magic Federation, which was Zipfel territory, was risky. However, it was a different case in the Huphester Alliance.

Unless it were a Zipfel dragon or the dragon had a bounty, no offensive action would be taken.

Furthermore, the rider of a Black Dragon wouldn't be in any danger. The leader of the Huphester Alliance, Cyron, had already approved of Murakan.

"Shouldn't you take Miss Quikantel as well?"

"I don't think we need to. She's very busy teaching Enya, so we'll have to take a silent trip. Hopefully, the construction will be done by the time we're back."

Jin and Murakan began their journey for the Bluebird Archipelago.

As they traveled within the Huphester Alliance, they had to pay attention to their disguises. Jin's Crimson Gem was turned into a necklace, and both he and Murakan were dressed as blue-haired travelers.

"The Gold Snow Tribe's merchandise is very high quality. Maybe I should tell Sir Kashimir about this to industrialize it. Getting our hands on these things doesn't look too hard."

"Pretty profitable, not gonna lie."

After multiple Transfer Gates—and Murakan losing his lunch each time—they arrived at the location closest to the islands. From the Naska Port, they boarded a ship which took them three days. 

At the port, there were already Seven-Colored Peacock agents who had a fake trade ship stationed. They left at night, yet didn't immediately head for the 32nd island.

If they went straight for the island and encountered a problem, then the agents would get caught. Additionally, most of the islands were locked down because it wasn't the right season for any tourism.

Jin and Murakan planned to swim the rest of the way to the island once the port was out of sight.

Before they left the ship, Jin checked the Compass and made sure that the Contractor was still there.

Nya!

Shurry kept them afloat. 

Back at the Black Sea, Shurry had impressed Jin with its speed on land. However, that speed wasn't limited to traversing on land.

Splish, splash!

Shurry swam through the waves effortlessly. Jin and Murakan didn't even need to touch the water to get to an island.

Like that, they arrived on the 7th island.

"Finding the 32nd would take some work."

"Let's just fly through the Archipelago. It'll take forever if we keep going at this rate."

Without any guides, they couldn't tell at all which among the hundreds of islands was the 32nd. Just when Jin thought that the night would come to pass if they went to look for it cluelessly, Shurry began to draw in the sand.

Meow-meow.

It was a map of the islands.

"Huh."

"Damn, Furball. You're pretty talented. You've been here before?"

Nya~

Shurry had traveled the world during its prime, basically memorizing hundreds of maps. Of course, it couldn't account for the changing landmasses, but the islands maintained the exact same configuration since the past.

It was more accurate than any map.

"This is the 32nd island. Can you find it?"

Jin pointed at the map.

Meow.

Shurry nodded.

"Man, you're one precious cat. Let's go."

Not long after, they arrived.

The 32nd island looked especially smaller than the other islands; about the size of the island where Jin fought Andrei.

Shurry returned to the gem as Jin began to examine the island.

Almost immediately, rain began to fall. The unwelcoming weather welcomed the two.

Ruuuuumble— Crackle! Boom!

With lightning ripping the sky and wind pulling trees by the roots, they couldn't even see any lodges. 

"The fuck is this weather?"

As Murakan complained, Jin felt a tremble below his feet.

"Hey, kid, what's your sword doin'?"

The Sword of Lightning, Sigmund, began to glow.

When he unsheathed the sword, he saw inscriptions on its blade.

"No idea."

"Wait, this pattern… I've seen it somewhere. Peitel's script? No, maybe something different—"

CRACKLE— CRASH!

Lightning struck the ground, burning a tree stalk to a crisp. The next moment, they saw a large monument behind it. 

A large pillar that had the same inscriptions as Sigmund. 

"This is a God's Grave!"

"What?"

"I get it now. Kid, your sword—"

Before Murakan could finish speaking, blade slashes and wind spells flew towards them.

Jin easily parried the blade attack, and Murakan deflected the magic with his spiritual energy.

'It's them!'

Kuzan and Beris, Taimyun Marius's hunting dogs.

He could recognize them at a glance.

Before they could counterattack, a sharp bolt of lightning struck Murakan's spiritual energy. Compared to the one that struck the tree earlier, it wasn't at all caused by nature.

It was lightning brought down by Peitel's Contractor, Julien.