The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 153

Kwaaaang—!!!

“What in the world are you doing?!”

Despite Baron Harun’s shouts, Mart forcefully opened the door to Kromen’s room in the building across the way.

The commotion in the hallway was brief.

Inside, Olivarn, who had been enjoying tea with Kromen on the sofa, looked up with a puzzled expression as the door burst open.

“What’s the matter? Mart, I don’t recall summoning you. Is something the matter?”

Mart stared at them, speechless and frozen, taken aback by their calm demeanor.

“How dare you…! This impudence!”

Baron Harun, standing behind him, shouted as he pressed down on Mart’s shoulder.

Thud…!!

Unable to withstand his strength, Mart collapsed to the floor. Even so, he couldn’t take his eyes off Kromen.

‘What, what have I done….’

A wave of regret washed over him.

He felt guilty for having suspected Olivarn, even for a moment, and for the disturbance he had caused.

But at the same time, he felt relieved that Kromen was alive.

“Enough. Harun, help Mart up. What is the meaning of this behavior between comrades?”

“But…!”

“Kuh…!!”

Harun glared at Mart with a displeased expression and tightened his grip on Mart’s shoulder.

“Barging into the residence where the imperial bloodline resides is punishable, but he is the son of Kwell McGovern, after all.”

Olivarn set down the teacup he was about to bring to his lips. Only Kromen, looking tense, began to sip his tea as if his throat was parched.

“There must be a valid reason for such rudeness. Isn’t that right?”

He walked towards Mart, who was lying on the floor.

“Let him go, Harun.”

“…Understood.”

Only when Olivarn gave his permission did Harun release Mart.

A clear handprint was visible on his shoulder.

As an Upper Sword Expert [a high-ranking swordsman], his strength was enough to shatter Mart’s shoulder bone with a little more force.

“As you know, this is the Marquisate of Vestal. Many eyes are watching, so everyone is being cautious. But a commotion in the middle of the night…”

Olivarn looked at Mart.

His face was smiling, but there was an eerie feeling.

“You can explain the reason, can’t you?”

“That’s…”

Mart’s lips trembled with tension.

“I sensed a strange presence… Forgive my rudeness, Your Highness.”

“Haha, no, not at all. A presence, you say? If that were the case, Sir Harun would have noticed it first. I appreciate your concern, but there’s no need to worry so much.”

Olivarn picked up his teacup from the table.

“It seems you’re quite nervous, being your first mission. You must be tired from guarding me all this time. Isn’t that right?”

“…I’m sorry.”

He patted Mart’s shoulder lightly as if he understood. Then, he handed him the teacup.

“Would you like a cup? It’s quite good.”

Transparent tea in the teacup.

Strangely, it had no scent at all.

“….”

A fleeting sense of unease.

Mart stared at the tea Olivarn offered, then quickly knelt down and shouted without drinking it.

“No, it’s not that!! I apologize for disturbing your time. I am grateful just for your forgiveness of my rudeness. I will take my leave… Your Highness.”

“Is that so?”

* * *

“So, Mart really did go to see Olivarn, just as you said.”

Gordon said quietly.

As he focused his magic, his pupils glowed with a golden light, and a circular mark like a ring formed around his irises.

Although they were kilometers apart, he could clearly see the scene inside the building.

As if looking through a telescope, the size of the building gradually increased, and Gordon could even see Olivarn’s expression.

“….”

It was the Myriad Vision (卍環) [a powerful magic enhancing vision], a supplementary magic that enhanced vision, surpassing even Eagle Eye, and could only be used by those with bodies of extreme skill, like Sword Masters.

Watching the scene unfold inside the building, Gordon finally closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh.

“What kind of man is Olivarn? Do you think he would be caught so easily? He wouldn’t openly kill Kromen in a place like this. It’s more important for him to create evidence to prove his innocence.”

Besides, Mart was a skilled swordsman among his peers, but there was no way he could break through the door that Baron Harun was guarding.

‘It’s deliberately for show.’

To show that the two of them are safe.

To show that Kromen’s death is not related to him.

“That wicked fellow. Thanks to him, Mart will have a hard time in the future. Who would have known that the big fish he was trying to catch wasn’t the prince but that guy.”

Caryl smiled faintly.

“It had to be Mart.”

If Olivarn had intended to kill Kromen here, there was no need to choose Mart as the person to show the murder scene to.

Even if Tyren, who had reached the ranks of a mage, might notice his transformation magic, he would have brought in someone with real influence, such as Harun or Jervan.

‘The reason I chose Mart out of so many people.’

Caryl knows him well.

The first son, who died in the Maron Gorge with his heart pierced by a demon, was the man Caryl had watched the longest, along with Tyren, among the six brothers.

“Mart would have noticed.”

As the son of the great man Kwell McGovern, he was the eldest son who showed aristocratic qualities, but he hated to lose more than anyone else and was always mindful of those around him.

Elliot, who was not meticulous, or the other loyalists who believed in Olivarn to the end, would not do.

‘He’s just suspicious enough.’

Moreover, his mother, Isabel Essil, strictly taught her sons aristocratic etiquette.

From how to handle cutlery to how to drink tea.

Although they are now a weak family, she was a woman with a strong pride as a descendant of Kaie Essil, the great archmage who was a meritorious subject in the founding of the old empire.

So that her children would not make mistakes that would be talked about by other nobles.

Such a Mart would be suspicious.

‘You would surely notice. There is no tea in the world without a scent.’

If you were to look for such a thing, it would only be water.

But would the princes drink boiled water without adding anything?

That’s impossible.

If it’s not water, there’s only one thing.

The colorless and odorless poison that Olivarn fed Kromen in his past life.

Mimyeong (未明) [a colorless and odorless poison].

“Does such a poison really exist? Frankly, I still find it hard to believe… that Olivarn would poison Kromen.”

“You will soon find out.”

In Caryl’s memory, Kromen’s death was clearly remembered.

The Emperor ordered all nobles to attend and held a grand state funeral, and for three months, he forbade alcohol and songs and mourned his death.

‘He probably never thought he would die from that poison either.’

Although there was no incident like this expedition in his past life, the timing of Kromen’s death, who had been taking poison at least since before then, would not change.

‘That’s exactly this time. Moreover, in this situation, Olivarn will not miss the current opportunity to pass the blame for Kromen’s death onto Digon.’

“If my prediction is correct, we will hear the news of Kromen’s death after the two arrive at the Imperial Palace. Because that is the most perfect death from Olivarn’s point of view.”

“Hmm….”

“Then Mart will really suspect it.”

Caryl’s eyes gleamed.

“And you will use him to reveal Kromen’s death. But is there really a need to make it so complicated? If you want, I can take off his mask.”

Caryl shook his head at Gordon’s words.

“No. If we were only targeting Olivarn, we could do that. Everyone has to be on the stage I created at the most dramatic moment.”

At that moment, Caryl’s eyes flashed.

‘Not just Olivarn. To bring down the Emperor and Ruon at the same time… Kromen’s death is necessary.’

He said in a low voice.

“This is the last one. The finale will be held in the Imperial Capital.”

Ooze-

At that moment, Gordon sensed it.

That everything Caryl had done so far was not simply a sense of justice to reveal the truth, but for him to stand on that stage himself.

‘How far are you thinking? Is the stage you’re creating meant to engulf the Empire?’

“Do you regret it?”

Caryl asked Gordon Fabian as if to confirm.

After all, Gordon was the one who brought Kromen to the South. Gordon also had to take responsibility for his death.

“No. Even if it wasn’t this time, he’s a child who can’t ascend to the throne anyway. He’s going to die someday.”

Gordon shook his head.

“At least if that death has meaning, it might be a little better for him.”

“Hmm….”

Caryl narrowed his eyes and said.

“You can stop it now if you want. There’s an Elixir on the airship, isn’t there? That could neutralize the poison Kromen took.”

At his words, Gordon snorted with a dumbfounded expression.

“Huh, how do you know that? Even the Emperor doesn’t know about that.”

Elixir.

Known as the panacea [a remedy believed to cure all diseases], it is said to be a product of the elves of the Magic Age and is now considered non-existent.

But in one place.

The Kyodo Mercenary Corps’ airship had that relic left.

He doesn’t know how he found the elixir, but at least Caryl knew how he used the elixir in his past life.

‘He didn’t use it for his incurable disease and saved it for his father.’

Caryl doesn’t know the relationship between the two.

Is it just a friendship formed by meeting as strong people?

Or maybe there’s some kind of relationship hidden that he doesn’t know about.

‘When I think about it, my father is a very unusual person. Even when he called my biological father’s name, he didn’t treat him as a foreigner, but as if he was calling a friend’s name.’

In his past life, he only had animosity towards Kwell McGovern, so he didn’t know, but Caryl recalled the stories Kwell had told him about Kaliak in this life he had returned to.

The day he handed Caryl Agnel [Caryl’s sword].

Certainly, Kwell said that the sword was a relic left by Kaliak, the leader of the Black Eye Tribe, but he did not say that it was loot taken from him.

The Kwell that Caryl knows was never a person to lie.

‘Your father left it to me.’

Kaliak left the relic to Kwell McGovern instead of entrusting it to himself, the only survivor of the Black Eye Tribe.

Foreigners trust the Empire?

Certainly, the relationship was not normal.

‘Why did my father adopt me… even disobeying the Emperor’s orders?’

When I think about it, Kwell’s actions were not simple.

Moreover, even Gordon Fabian of the Kyodo Mercenary Corps left the only elixir to Kwell McGovern instead of his own life.

‘Was my father trusted by foreigners? But in the end, he was the commander of the Northern Expeditionary Force that led the Edict of Heresy [a campaign against non-believers].’

Too contradictory two-sided appearance.

Is there a reason for that too?

It’s difficult.

Caryl let out a low sigh.

Unlike his past life, where he simply enforced himself with the sword, the more deeply he knew about politics and intrigue, the more he felt that the flow of the world was never easy.

‘What did my father want to do?’

Clench-

‘But even so….’

Caryl unknowingly stared at the building far away and clenched his fist.

‘I was killed by that bastard.’

He turned his head.

‘Kromen. Although I can’t save you, at least I’ll reveal your death in this life. That’s the only consideration I can give you.’

He remembers countless deaths.

He can’t save everyone.

He had vowed several times and experienced it countless times. But still, he could never get used to death.

“This.”

“What is it?”

Caryl handed over a note.

Gordon Fabian, who was standing on the airship, looked at him and asked.

“Don’t you know? The deal we made last time. I said I’d give it to you after this is done. It’s a place where you can get a cure for your illness.”

Gordon unfolded the note, read it, and looked at Caryl with an absurd expression.

“It’s here?”

“Yes.”

“So you’re telling me to go here now?”

“That’s right.”

“…Are you kidding me right now?”

Caryl smiled strangely at his reaction.

He fully understood his reaction.

The place indicated by the map drawn on the note was the land beyond the barrier where Ghost Castle is located, called the Forbidden Land because it could not be conquered even in the Magic Age.

“Oh, geez, I’m going in to live and coming out dead.”

Gordon tore the note Caryl gave him to shreds as if he didn’t need it anymore, scattering it in the wind and grumbling.

“Don’t be too upset.”

Caryl patted Gordon on the shoulder lightly and said.

“Because I’m going with you.”