The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 144

116. Follow-up (1)

“The one who annihilated the Lye Knights is said to be in Digon.”

“Then… are you saying the Queen is hiding him?”

Kromen asked, a slightly surprised expression on his face, upon hearing Tiren’s report from Digon.

“If that’s true, it’s possible her refusal to meet with us was because she was in league with him.”

Yooleen Hugart said, as if he had been waiting for this moment.

Already displeased with Milliana’s cold reception, he seemed to have found a reason to complain.

“I couldn’t confirm the extent of their relationship. I think that can only be clarified after meeting the Queen. However, raising this issue will make it difficult for her to continue refusing to meet with us.”

“Hmm… you’ve been through a lot.”

Kromen nodded at his words.

“I apologize.”

“By the way… does that mean your brother is currently in Digon territory?”

Keplan, who had been listening to Tiren, spoke to him.

“Yes. That’s what I heard from him.”

“A knight should pay respects to the Prince and show proper etiquette. Why hasn’t there been any report until now?”

The atmosphere turned cold as he, who had never raised his voice, began to point out faults.

Although he had provided crucial information, what was more important to Keplan was chivalry.

“I’m sorry. He was severely injured and unable to move. He clashed with that… *person* once again…”

However, Tiren spoke without hesitation, as if he had already anticipated Keplan’s personality.

The fact that Randol had received help from Digon was not something that the nobles of the Empire would easily accept.

Keplan’s reaction was natural.

He himself had not acknowledged the *Iminjok* [a term for people of different ethnicity or origin, often carrying connotations of ‘outsider’ or ‘foreigner’], Karil, as his brother.

However,

Like the saying *bibul oe Gok* [a Korean proverb meaning ‘one’s arm bends inward,’ akin to ‘blood is thicker than water’], protecting Randol, regardless of right or wrong, was both an act of brotherhood and an opportunity to show them his skills.

“Instead, thanks to that, I was able to confirm his swordsmanship. Randol will play a significant role in finding him. Furthermore, he will act as a mediator in the meeting with the Queen.”

Tiren knelt before Kromen and said,

“So please forgive my brother’s disloyalty, Your Highness.”

“Get up. If it weren’t for you, we would have been stuck in a difficult situation. Disloyalty from an injured man? That’s absurd.”

Kromen hurriedly waved his hand, preemptively stopping Tiren from kneeling further.

Fortunately, the young Prince, unlike the old butler, prioritized resolving the situation he was in over such formalities.

‘He’s become like a fox, that guy.’

Perhaps it was the result of growth through experience.

Yooleen Hugart felt that Tiren, who had begun to experience things that could never be learned in theory, had become skilled in a short amount of time.

“Then… I will request a meeting with the Queen again.”

“This will be the last chance.”

“Yes. I will prepare thoroughly.”

Tiren nodded.

* * *

-Karil…? Are you perhaps talking about the sixth one?

-Yes.

Randol looked at Tiren with a puzzled expression at his question.

-It might sound strange, but I heard that the winner of the competition in the magic city was named Karil.

-Hmm….

-The Expert Competition is only open to those who have reached the rank of magician.

It was an unexpected story, and if someone else had said it, he would have laughed it off.

However, it was none other than Tiren who had made this absurd hypothesis, so Randol also listened to him with some seriousness.

-Wouldn’t it be a coincidence? There’s no guarantee that there isn’t anyone else on the continent with that name.

-That could be.

-Besides… that child.

Randol carefully looked at Tiren and said.

Because both he and Tiren knew the decisive reason why his hypothesis could not be realized.

-Yes. He’s *Iminjok*. Without magic, and unable to have it. I know. I know how foolish my question is.

Tiren turned his head.

-Do you remember what that child wanted from Father when he first came to the mansion?

-Of course. He said he wanted to study magic.

-Yes.

Whenever Tiren thought of Karil, it felt as if magic followed him like a tag.

The reason he was having these doubts now might be because his unusual behavior from the mansion remained in his memory.

-But that was because he wanted to delve into magic to defeat us, wasn’t it?

-That’s right. However, I keep getting caught up on the fact that the *person* who attacked you used a sword.

Randol said to Tiren.

-I know that the black eyes of the *Iminjok* cannot be changed with magic. That will not happen.

Until now, there had been various studies and experiments on the *Iminjok*.

Among them, the most talked about among magicians was their unique eye and hair color.

Black, which can only be seen in the *Iminjok*.

Magicians tried to change their color from the outside with magic, but they failed with any kind of magic.

As if,

Their eyes, like empty pockets, swallowed all magic or rejected the magic itself, like a hard wall.

The black color of the *Iminjok* was therefore called heresy and became the evidence.

-That’s right.

Tiren nodded at Randol’s words.

However,

They were missing the most important thing.

Something that even Tiren didn’t notice.

The leading magicians judged that they had done all the experiments they could.

They thought that the world was composed of five attributes, and that thought was still valid.

In other words,

The magicians’ experiments on the *Iminjok* were ultimately limited to the human realm.

The attribute of no color (無色).

Even for the smartest Tiren, it was not easy to predict.

-That’s right. I was too deep in thought. No matter what possibilities I attach, it’s all something that can only be done if the prerequisite that Karil has magic is established.

At his words, Randol nodded.

‘I must have been thinking too sensitively about him….’

* * *

“Hoo…”

Tiren, who had returned to his room, regretted the question he had asked Randol that night.

“It’s embarrassing.”

He shook his head as if trying to shake off the doubts he had, and began to worry about what he would say to Milliana tomorrow.

Scribble- Scribble- Scribble-

He wrote on the paper with magic.

When he wrote a letter, the letter behind it disappeared as if someone was erasing it with an eraser.

And when he blew magic into it, the disappeared letters appeared and disappeared again like waves.

Magic Imprint (魔法刻印).

A method of making the writing visible only to the caster through a special magic formula.

It was a method used to create oaths in the Age of Magic, but because magic is inferior to what it was at that time, it has been modified because they cannot use *eonryeong* [a term referring to the power of words or incantations], and is used in magic oaths created by magicians like now.

“Hmm.”

He began to create the oath without any gaps.

He must not make a mistake.

He couldn’t let the *pan* [a Korean word referring to a situation or game] that he had just managed to set up tip over due to something he had missed.

He intuitively knew that completing this task would be an opportunity for him to break out of his shell.

Ticking… Ticking… Ticking.

Only the sound of the clock hands moving could be heard.

“Hoo…”

By the time he put down his pen,

It was dawn, beginning to break.

Looking at the densely written clauses visible to his eyes, Tiren rubbed his tired eyes and muttered.

“…Still, I should ask my teacher when I return to the Empire.”

In the end,

He couldn’t shake off the tail of doubt about Karil.

* * *

“I’m glad to see you again.”

Milliana smiled strangely as she looked at Tiren, who had come with Kromen.

Unlike the first time, their seats were prepared in her camp.

It was as if she had been waiting for now, not the first meeting.

“You have a confident expression. Did that night help in some way?”

At her question, Tiren lightly bowed.

“I just… need to confirm a few things, so that we can move forward in a good direction for each other.”

Tiren pushed the box containing the oath he had prepared all night in front of her and let out a low breath.

“Hmm, but that big guy isn’t here.”

However, Milliana seemed uninterested in it and looked at Kromen’s party and said.

“Sir Gordon will no longer be involved in the affairs between the Empire and Digon.”

“Yes, that’s right. As expected.”

‘…As expected?’

Tiren was puzzled by Milliana’s strange answer, but what was important now was not the *Gyodo* Mercenary Corps but the Queen in front of him.

‘Focus, Tiren.’

Tiren calmed his trembling heart and recited it several times in his mind.

However, unlike him, who was full of tension, Milliana still had an uninterested expression and was only staring into the distance.

* * *

“Gordon Fabian.”

Sitting in a chair with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, he twitched his forehead slightly when he heard his name and looked ahead.

To enter the airship’s office, you had to go through the only entrance.

“Even the mercenaries belonging to the mercenary corps sometimes get lost…”

Moreover, you had to pass through complex stairs inside, and the number of guards inside was dozens.

“A guy who’s not a mercenary managed to get to my room.”

Gordon slowly looked at the figure standing in front of the door and said.

“Did you come to die?”

*Pagagak*……!!!

In an instant,

The furniture around the desk trembled at the murderous intent that rushed in as he glared.

However, the person in front of the door did not move even after seeing his murderous intent.

“This is…”

Gordon looked at him with curious eyes.

“It’s been a while, but you’re still the same.”

Crack-

As soon as he finished speaking, the end of the mask he was wearing cracked.

Karil frowned slightly as if he was disappointed and took off the mask covering his face.

“You…”

Even Gordon, who had no change in expression, looked at him with slightly widened eyes when he saw the familiar face.

“I guess you did come to die.”

Gordon said quietly.

“How long has it been since we signed the contract, and there’s still no news about the airship’s engine?”

Karil laughed lightly at his words.

It sounded like a beast’s growl, but somehow Gordon’s voice had more joy than murderous intent.

‘Not bad.’

When he first met him, his body was barely able to stand due to the tension, but now it was different.

‘When I reached the rank of Sword Saint in my previous life… only two of the five Sword Masters who were called the strongest on the continent were alive.’

Balbont, the Fist King, and Ganes, who was called the Knight of the Mark.

Even now, the Fist King did not interfere in the affairs of the continent, so the only opponent Karil had faced was Ganes.

‘It’s different from when my father had to hide his magic.’

If his body had instinctively avoided the confrontation with Gordon a few years ago, now he was interested.

The strong people he had faced in his previous life were only monsters of corruption, not humans.

“So you still remember me.”

Karil said to him.

“There are still several years left until the contract is fulfilled. The reason I set it up that way on purpose is because the development of the *Magwangsan* [likely a mine rich in magical ore] must be completed and equipment capable of processing the 8-Gak Stone [Octagonal Stone] must be in place.”

“Is there anyone who can process it?”

Karil nodded at Gordon’s question.

After the *Shintak* [Divine Revelation or Oracle] was given, he had even ridden the airship equipped with that engine in his previous life.

If he wasn’t sure, he wouldn’t have falsely contracted with Gordon for the purpose of simply obtaining Michael.

“There were 3 years left until the contract expired, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Ha… are you telling me to wait until then? I’m going to die of old age.”

Gordon said, looking disappointed.

“Well, that’s beside the point…”

In an instant,

His eyes changed.

From the beginning, the first question was wrong. The engine was just a formality.

The real question.

“Why are you here?”

The murderous intent felt whenever he asked sharp questions that seemed loose but pierced his chest was stinging.

However, Karil took a step closer as if he had been waiting for it.

“What’s so long about 3 years? It’s absurd that the great Gordon Fabian would die of old age in just 3 years.”

“……”

“Let’s get straight to the point. You’re not going to die of old age; you’re going to die of an illness.”

“……What?”

Gordon Fabian’s expression hardened at Karil’s words.

“Why would the almighty Gordon Fabian keep an unpopular vice-commander by his side? He’s like a fox, but that’s because he’s smart.”

Gordon listened to Karil’s words.

“When he was worried about who would be the most useful guy to lead the mercenary corps when he died, he was the best. Even if he’s a *dokbuljanggun* [a Korean term for a lone wolf or someone who acts independently], the survival of the mercenary corps is more important than the pride of the mercenary corps.”

“Crazy bastard.”

He spat out profanity, but Karil continued without stopping.

“Chest pain that’s been felt for several years.”

His face hardened.

“A Sword Master would be able to know about his body without having to show it to a healer. You’re probably feeling your heart gradually hardening.”

Step- Step- Step-

Karil slowly approached him.

“You found a treatment, but you couldn’t find it, and there’s never been a case of this kind of disease until now. You have no choice but to dismiss it as a chronic disease and give up, right? But no.”

“……What?”

“It’s not a problem with your heart; it’s because the blood flowing through your blood vessels boils and disappears, so you can’t fully circulate magic through your magic blood vessels.”

Gordon’s eyes wavered.

“The hardening of the heart is just an additional result of that.”

Karil gave him the answer to the question he had been most curious about and wanted to hear the most, which he had investigated throughout the continent until now.

“*Sanhwa hyeoraekjeung* [Oxidized Blood Syndrome].”

Gulp-

The beast-like man swallowed dry saliva without realizing it, with a tense expression for the first time.

“That’s your disease.”

Thump-

“And it’s not an incurable disease either.”

Karil put down something big he was holding.

“I thought you wouldn’t interfere with the Prince’s affairs. Maybe… the Prince’s side is busy weighing the scales of the deal in their own way…”

That was,

The spoils obtained from the Minotaur’s lair.

“Shall we do it too?”

At that moment,

Instead of answering, Gordon threw a punch.