The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 27

25. Escape

“Tatur? Is my hearing failing, or has my brain turned to mush from being beaten too much? Hah… Heh heh.”

Soo-an looked at Caryl and laughed in disbelief.

“First a prince, now some strange kid offering me a city. A free city that no kingdom has ever obtained. Seriously, is this a prison or a five-star hotel?”

Spit-

Soo-an spat out a clot of dark red blood, glaring at Caryl as he growled.

“Get lost.”

“That’s the look I was hoping for. You were never meant to be a merchant.”

“……What?”

Caryl seemed pleased as he looked into Soo-an’s eyes.

“Honestly, I didn’t know. You always wore that eye patch. Soo-an Hazar, the Slave King. Really… this must be fate playing tricks.”

Caryl moved closer to Soo-an’s face.

Then, he lifted the long hair covering one side of his face.

“…….”

In that moment.

Unlike his ordinary blue eye, a hidden red eye was revealed.

A cursed Odd Eye [a rare genetic trait signifying mixed Imperial and foreign blood].

“You’re a hybrid.”

A person born between an Imperial and a foreigner.

Whoosh—!!!

Soo-an Hazar glared at Caryl and pushed his arm away with all his might.

Caryl looked at him with calm eyes.

‘The reason he hated the Empire but followed Olivon. It wasn’t for the Empire, but for Olivon personally, who repealed the Edict of Eradication [a law that persecuted foreigners].’

But.

By the time Olivon ascended the throne, two years had already passed since the previous emperor’s Edict of Eradication.

It was too late.

‘Many foreigners died.’

Even the surviving foreigners were too few to recover.

‘Barely alive.’

Nevertheless, people looked up to Olivon for his benevolent rule.

The continent echoed with praise for him.

“…….”

Caryl recalled that time.

Under the brilliant light, Olivon was the perfect example of a king.

It was the first time he, a foreigner, thought he could dedicate his life to the Empire.

But.

It’s different now.

A question arose in Caryl’s mind.

‘Is it true?’

Was the repeal of the Edict of Eradication really because he considered the foreigners his people?

‘Or did he just think they were no longer a threat to him?’

The true face of the late king.

He knew it.

Kwaaaang—!!

Kwaga-gang—!

Explosions erupted everywhere.

His hands trembled without him realizing it, sweat forming on his palms.

Caryl could vividly hear it.

The screams amidst the explosions.

Clang-

Scrgr—!!

The sight of the tribal chief and his family being executed on the guillotine as an example.

‘Now…….’

He thought as he looked at Soo-an Hazar.

‘I can save them.’

The countless foreigners who died because of the Edict of Eradication.

“Help me.”

“The prince’s words I could dismiss as nonsense, but you’re just crazy.”

Soo-an laughed at Caryl’s words in disbelief.

“Why? Do you also want to save the foreigners? What will you offer? Will you give me as much money as the prince?”

“No.”

Soo-an frowned at his answer.

“Nothing? Then what makes you so confident?”

A mysterious boy suddenly appeared.

Soo-an showed him his handcuffs and said.

“Do you even have the ability to release me right now?”

A cold sneer.

But Caryl slowly raised the corner of his mouth at his words.

“If that’s all you’ve got, I’m disappointed. I clearly stated the condition I offered you.”

Kwaaaang—!!

The wall of the underground prison shattered with a roar.

“That’s nothing.”

He destroyed the noble’s mansion without hesitation.

Soo-an was speechless at the sight before him.

“……!!!”

It was then.

Light announcing the morning was coming in through the broken wall.

And black eyes contrasting with the dazzling sun.

There was no need to explain what that meant.

“You… could it be…….”

The ordinary Imperial boy from a moment ago was gone, and standing before him was a black-eyed foreigner.

Soo-an’s gaze fixed on Caryl’s hand.

‘Ma… Mana [magical energy]?!’

It was impossible.

It was unbelievable even after seeing it with his own eyes.

A power that foreigners were inherently unable to use.

That was why they were branded as heretics and persecuted without reason.

“Lies…….”

He said it, but looking at the scene before him, Soo-an slapped his own cheek as hard as he could in disbelief.

Slap—!!

The pain he felt.

It was clearly not a dream.

He couldn’t deny it.

This is.

Reality.

“How is it?”

Caryl looked down at him with his arms crossed.

“Don’t you want to change the world?”

A man that even Olivon couldn’t obtain.

Soo-an Hazar.

He didn’t understand.

Why his heart fluttered at the words of this young boy as if he were possessed.

“What’s going on!!”

“Where did that happen!!”

“Is it an enemy?!”

“Everyone, be on alert!!”

The mansion was in an uproar.

Soldiers were seen coming down behind the collapsed wall.

Caryl held out his hand.

“How many foreigners did you send to Tatur? Saving a hundred people can make you a notable person, and saving a thousand can make you a hero. But isn’t that title of king wasted on just that?”

He said to Soo-an.

“Come with me.”

Clench-

Why?

He didn’t know.

He, who had even rejected the prince, was as if possessed, and without realizing it, he grabbed Caryl’s hand.

* * *

‘I’m crazy… I’ve gone mad.’

Soo-an regretted it again and again as he rowed with all his might.

‘What was I thinking, taking that kid with me?’

Swish……!!!

Standing at the bow of the boat, cutting through the river, Caryl had a satisfied expression.

‘Judging by his clothes, he seems to be from a noble family… A foreigner… What is he?’

But unlike him, Soo-an’s expression was not good.

‘Does he even know what Tatur is like?’

He still had many questions, but Soo-an sensed that Caryl was no ordinary person as he looked at his back.

The feeling he had in the prison.

Soo-an still felt a shiver down his spine when he thought about that moment.

‘Well, anyone who could sneak into a baron’s prison wouldn’t be ordinary.’

The aura he felt from Caryl was more than just forcefulness.

It was something he couldn’t define, a feeling that transcended his limits.

‘It’s not something you’d see in a child who’s barely ten years old. It’s like… the aura of a hegemon [dominant leader] who has been through countless battlefields.’

Was that even possible?

It was then.

“Soo-an Hazar.”

“Yes? …Yes?!”

He was startled and reflexively spoke in honorifics to Caryl, who called his name.

“What do you think about foreigners living on the continent?”

“Yes? What a pointless question… They’re lucky if they don’t die. Now they don’t even keep them as slaves because of the Edict of Eradication.”

Soo-an gave a bitter smile at Caryl’s question.

“You can see just by looking at me. Even hybrids are persecuted just the same. It’s a great story in books. The forbidden love between a foreign woman and an Imperial man.”

He raised his hand grandly in the air as if acting on a stage, then stopped.

Squeak-

“Damn it… Do they not know what forbidden means? If they can’t handle it, adults shouldn’t do what they’re not supposed to do. Why do they do it, why?”

Anger could be felt on his face.

But Caryl could see the bitterness within.

“You’re not very good at hiding your feelings.”

Caryl said quietly.

“…….”

“Your eyes shake every time you curse. Olivon probably knew that too. That’s why he didn’t give up on you.”

The boy casually called the prince’s name.

Soo-an was even more curious about Caryl’s identity, but he put on a nonchalant face as if trying to hide it.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Just hold on tight. I can’t save you if you fall from here.”

Creak- Creeak—!!

Soo-an pulled the oars with all his might.