The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 30

28. The Masked Performance

“Thank you for saving me… I almost died.”

Aidan Hamil knelt before Karil and Suan, bowing his head repeatedly in gratitude.

“Are you alright? Things suddenly took such a turn… More importantly, your brother…”

At Suan’s question, his face darkened.

“I don’t know what happened to him. I want to go look for him, but… I can’t do it on my own…”

With a deep sigh, Suan Hazar looked at Karil again.

“…”

However, unlike the two who were serious, Karil’s thoughts were simple.

‘How long do I have to watch this ridiculous act?’

His shoulders were relaxed.

He was kneeling, but his toes were curled, ready to spring up at any moment.

Karil looked at Aidan.

The tattered coat covered his entire body from shoulder to toe like a robe.

‘Tearing the rags must have been to make it easier to move. His main weapons were three daggers, so…’

Right waist, chest, and inside the left sleeve.

‘Well, that’s about it.’

The analysis was complete.

He was definitely a great assassin, but his fame would only spread after Oliver became emperor.

Three years before that, he was nothing more than an amateur in Karil’s eyes.

‘If Aidan is with a woman…’

Juke D. Hold.

A striking girl with short, blue hair and distinct features.

He had only seen her face once, but her intense appearance was vividly etched in Karil’s memory.

‘She’d be shocked if she knew the truth.’

From the same background as Aidan Hamil, but she was a completely different style of assassin.

She used poison and hidden weapons instead of combat, making her difficult to deal with.

‘A troublesome one is with him.’

Karil frowned as he recalled her face.

‘If it’s really her, I should be worried about Curran instead.’

“What are you planning to do?”

Suan looked at Karil, who was reacting indifferently as if nothing had happened, and asked as if seeking his permission.

A hierarchy that had naturally formed.

And Karil spoke naturally, as if this situation was not awkward.

“What else can we do? As originally planned. We’re going into Tatur.”

“But…!!”

Karil said calmly.

“Then you can help. How are you going to help? Are you going to fight the Gold Lion or something?”

“…”

Suan Hazar couldn’t say anything to his words.

“How did you find us?”

“That’s… I came to Tatur with Suan’s help, but their exploitation was too severe… I couldn’t stand it anymore. So I was just waiting for Suan to come back.”

Suan’s face hardened at Aidan’s words.

“And I happened to see you two today while inspecting the ships in the Port of Outlaws.”

Karil raised his head.

Curran definitely inspected the ships docked at the Port of Outlaws once a week.

The strong currents of the Four Rivers easily broke even stationary ships.

It was plausible.

But.

‘That’s a lie.’

Curran wasn’t that careless.

There was no way he would entrust such an important ship to a guy like that.

‘He must have been hiding somewhere and appeared as soon as he saw us. After all, it hasn’t been long since he heard that Suan was coming here.’

Karil looked at Aidan and asked.

“So you were trying to escape, and your brother was caught?”

“That’s right!”

He reacted fiercely to his agreement.

It was something that an ordinary person might have overlooked, but Karil, who knew Aidan Hamil well, could only be dumbfounded.

He wondered if Aidan even knew that he was in the palm of his hand.

‘What’s important now isn’t him. It’s how to move Suan Hazar’s heart.’

It was unexpected, but Tatur had ultimately become a place to either gain or lose Suan Hazar.

“So that’s what he says. What do you want to do? Suan Hazar.”

Karil looked at him.

“That… that’s…”

Suan Hazar couldn’t continue.

“I’ll change the question. Then tell me why I should help him.”

He still didn’t answer.

Step- Step- Step-

Karil left him there and walked forward as if to show off.

“Ugh… ugh…”

Then, he approached the fallen man who was groaning, the one he had kicked a little while ago.

“Is that also difficult? Then I’ll make it easier. I killed six people a little while ago. And this guy is the last survivor.”

“Kuh…!!”

He pointed his sword at his neck.

“He said he’s one of the Gold Lion’s subordinates. This guy must have exploited the people here as well. How much have you extorted? Have you ever raped a woman? Have you ever killed someone? Weren’t you the one who hit that person?”

“Plea… Please save me!!”

Karil looked at Suan.

“Now this guy is asking to be saved just like that guy. Do you think we should kill this guy? Or should we just leave him alone?”

“…”

As if he expected it, Karil nodded and said.

Swish-

Karil picked up the severed head of the man and threw it in front of Suan Hazar.

“…”

Until just a moment ago.

A life that was breathing had disappeared.

“At least the Tatur I know is like this.”

At that moment.

It was fleeting, but Aidan Hamil’s face contorted. Karil didn’t miss him hiding his expression.

“Suan Hazar, you gave them freedom. Your actions are right enough to be called the Slave King. But freedom is not something given by others. Those who came on your ship ultimately made their own decisions.”

Karil pointed to Aidan.

“You don’t have to take responsibility for his life. He came on his own, too.”

“But…”

“Why, do you feel like you’ve pushed them into hell?”

“…”

“Then it can be changed.”

Karil wiped the blood from the dagger on the clothes of the fallen corpse and said.

“How many pirates are there in the Port of Outlaws?”

“I don’t know exactly. Curran’s men always monitor about 50 workers in shifts.”

‘Well, Aidan wouldn’t tell me properly. It’s probably about half as many more.’

Curran, the Gold Lion, was a skilled man who used 3-class water magic and a unique swordsmanship called Sun and Moon Sword.

‘Not quite at the level of the Royal Knights, but he’s good enough to be recruited as a knight by any nobleman.’

Moreover, his subordinates were not the riffraff he had just killed.

Never.

It wouldn’t be an easy fight.

But he wouldn’t even think about losing.

Crack-

Karil lightly loosened his wrists.

“Follow me.”

* * *

“These are the new ones.”

“Hmm…”

A sticky gaze moved slowly from top to bottom, from left to right.

“Hee-eum…”

After another low sigh.

“Kyaaak!!”

A scream and a dull sound echoed in the room.

“I’ll take you.”

As he slowly rose from his chair, the giant, who seemed to be twice the size of an ordinary person, grabbed the hair of the woman who had just screamed and dragged her away.

“If it weren’t for you guys, you would have all crossed the Jordan River [a euphemism for dying]. You should know you’re lucky. There’s a pretty good one, so the rest of you can just go in.”

“…”

The coin lying on the floor, pointing to the back.

People stared blankly at the coin.

The man nonchalantly put a collar around the neck of the woman he was holding.

Clang-

It was a chain made of steel, not an ordinary rope, with a chain attached to it.

He held it casually, something that seemed too heavy to lift with both hands.

Looking closely, there were several more of these chains behind his chair.

“Ju… Just a moment…!!”

Then a man behind him said in a trembling voice. He approached the man as if crawling on his trembling legs, as if he was about to collapse at any moment.

“Hmm.”

“Cu… Curran-nim, that child is my only daughter… Please…”

Curran, the Gold Lion.

This man, with bulging biceps and countless sword wounds all over his body, was the owner of the Port of Outlaws.

He lowered his head.