The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 277

189. The Rothschilds (2)

The Rothschild family.

In the era of magic, they were a powerful family known for their unique necromancy and puppetry. However, as time passed, they disappeared for some reason.

Even Well Baharzo, the Necromancer of the Council of Seven Elders, once praised as the master of necromancy, could not replicate the Rothschild family’s puppetry techniques.

Now, just when it was thought that their lineage had vanished completely, surprisingly, it was continuing even after 1,000 years.

“This is… Just now, without knowing the solution to the formation, it’s like being lost in a maze with no way out.”

“That’s fortunate.”

Caryl nodded.

‘That’s why Kay became the guide for this ruin. Back then, none of us could solve the monument’s formation, so we didn’t know its significance. But thanks to Anthem, it’s confirmed that this place is indeed the Rothschild family’s territory.’

Anthem began to carefully navigate the maze, marking the walls as he went. Instead of brute-forcing his way through, he chose a safer, albeit slower, method.

If you only considered the complexity of the maze itself, it might not be much more difficult than the Minotaur’s Labyrinth [a famous maze from Greek mythology].

However, unlike memorizing the path by repeatedly traversing the labyrinth within the Tower of Pharrell, Caryl had only been here once.

Moreover, he had relied on Kay’s guidance, so Caryl didn’t know the specific mechanisms and traps hidden within.

That’s why he gave Anthem the lead, providing him with the opportunity to study the Rothschild family’s secret art formation, as well as time to organize his thoughts.

‘This place was the Rothschild’s territory, and she was chosen as one of the Ten of the Oracle [a group of powerful individuals with prophetic abilities], which means someone went to summon her before we arrived. And in the process, the golems were destroyed.’

Caryl frowned slightly.

‘Nevertheless, Kay came to the Imperial City. Whether it’s solely for the divine mandate of the Oracle… or if there was another reason, I can’t be sure.’

Having only heard her voice a few times, it was impossible to know her past motivations.

What if there was another reason?

The number of possibilities that came to Caryl’s mind was vast, but he couldn’t deny that most of them were unfavorable.

Whether it was through coercion or some other pretext, he knew what Kay wanted from Oliven.

The revival of the Rothschild family.

Before meeting Kay, Caryl was already convinced that he held the most decisive card.

And that they were already being watched.

[Which of you solved Le Roi’s formation?]

A deep, distorted voice echoed through the maze.

As expected, Caryl immediately recognized that the voice was artificially altered.

“If you’re curious, why don’t you come out and ask yourself?”

Caryl replied, as if he had been anticipating the question.

[How… How can you solve that formation?]

The voice was still deep, but now it contained a tremor that seemed out of place.

‘What is this?’

Caryl didn’t miss the subtle change.

An unsettling sense of incongruity.

It was as if she couldn’t solve it herself and was genuinely curious about the solution.

‘Could it be… that she’s trapped and unable to escape because of the trap above?’

He glanced at the ceiling and answered.

“It wasn’t that difficult.”

From the moment he heard the voice, Caryl had been carefully examining the walls for any hidden devices.

“I just broke it.”

It wasn’t a lie, so Anthem smiled wryly and nodded.

[Then… does that mean you can get out?]

‘Hmm.’

From the next question, Caryl was certain. For some reason, she was trapped within this ancient ruin.

‘Nar Di Maugh must have rescued her from here. If she’s following him because of that, it will be easier to win her over.’

He had preempted the Platinum Dragon’s strategy.

“We can get out, but…”

Unlike before, Caryl focused his gaze on a small crystal embedded in the wall as he answered.

‘Is that it? She’s been watching us through that.’

He waved his hand as if to say hello.

“We can, but you can’t.”

[……What?]

“Not without my permission. If you want to get out…”

Caryl moved his lips as if whispering something. Then, he punched the crystal with all his might.

Crash……!!

The sound of the crystal shattering echoed through the maze.

Sizzle…… Sizzzzle……!!

Sizzzzle…….

In the dark room.

“…….”

She was speechless as she watched the shattered mirror, sparking with electricity, fade away.

‘He accurately located the crystal. That’s impossible unless you’re a high-level mage, and it was shattered with such force that it wouldn’t even crack without the strength of a Sword Expert [a master swordsman] or higher…’

The same person accomplished both feats.

A practically impossible being was now in front of her.

‘Could it be… a dragon? He didn’t come to acquire *that*, did he…’

Her eyes, fixed on the magic mirror, trembled.

‘No, even if he’s a dragon, he wouldn’t know about that place. It’s been hidden by our ancestors for generations.’

The last words he spoke just before destroying the crystal lingered in her ears.

-If you want to escape this maze, come to the sedimentation pond.

He spoke of a secret place that only she knew.

* * *

“Master, Master!!”

Anthem’s urgent voice broke the silence.

Caryl, who was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, slowly turned his head.

“You really came, just as you said.”

“Ah, that’s right.”

The figure in the black robe seemed slightly dumbfounded as he watched Anthem whispering in Caryl’s ear and Caryl stretching and waving as if he had been expecting her.

“…You said to come to the sedimentation pond, so why are you here?”

She had been waiting for a long time in the place Caryl had mentioned, but when the two of them didn’t appear, she finally came directly to the location where Caryl had destroyed the crystal a short while ago.

“Nice to meet you, Kay Rothschild.”

As soon as Caryl spoke her name, she felt her shoulders tense slightly beneath the black robe.

“Sorry. I don’t actually know the way there. I can barely solve the maze’s formation, but I have no idea which path leads where.”

“…What, what did you say?”

“I was waiting for you to find us.”

He looked at her with a smirk. Only then did Kay realize that she had been completely outmaneuvered by Caryl.

“If I hadn’t come?”

“You would have.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Look, you came.”

“…….”

Caryl nodded and pointed at her, and Kay glared at him, feeling as though she was being toyed with. Noticing her gaze, Caryl chuckled and said.

“I figured you would come if I mentioned the sedimentation pond. Because it’s the Rothschild family’s most closely guarded secret. Isn’t that right?”

“How do you know about the sedimentation pond?”

“I know it well. And I know what’s inside, too. I came to acquire the Rothschild family’s secret arts.”

Her confidence piqued her curiosity more than her displeasure, and she studied him intently.

“Nine Darhoon, the master of Anti-Hum and the leader of the Immortal Society, mentioned that one of Kaiye Eser’s two companions 250 years ago used a form of necromancy called puppetry. It goes without saying, but you are the only ones on the continent who still practice that technique.”

“What does that have to do with the sedimentation pond?”

“Don’t try to test me with shallow tricks. You know better than anyone what’s in there.”

Caryl said, his gaze unwavering.

“Your ancestor’s masterpiece, Kaiye Eser’s companion, is in there.”

When Kay Rothschild escaped from this ruin to the Imperial City due to Nar Di Maugh, she wasn’t alone. A special doll accompanied her.

Thanks to that doll, the name Kay Rothschild spread throughout the continent.

Some people even hailed her as one of the Eleven of the Oracle, and the doll was a hero who annihilated the Fallen [corrupted beings], no less than himself, who was known as a Sword Saint.

“Did you come to get that?”

“Yes.”

Kay nodded, as if she understood his intentions.

“So you’re a grave robber.”

“……Huh?”

Anthem looked at her with a bewildered expression at her blunt assessment.

“Then you have to die.”

Kwaaaaaang―――!!!

She raised her arm with all her might without hesitation. Instantly, the walls on both sides of the maze shattered, and two golems leaped out from within.

“Duck your head!”

“Ugh!!”

Caryl pressed down on the back of Anthem’s head, and a sharp blade flashed through the space where he had been standing just moments before.

‘Finally, they’ve come out.’

The two golems looked completely different from the ones they had previously encountered.

“Hu… Human?”

They possessed lifelike skin that could easily be mistaken for real flesh, and their chests rose and fell as if they were breathing.

Anthem’s surprise was understandable.

“No, those are dolls. It’s the Rothschild family’s unique secret art.”

Caryl shot forward.

“……!!!”

He instantly closed the distance with one of the dolls, grabbed its face, and slammed it into the wall.

Kwagagagang―――!!

With a sickening thud, the doll’s head shattered against the wall.

“One is weak. Ridiculously so.”

Unlike the golems he had faced at the gate, a sticky liquid resembling brain fluid oozed from the broken doll.

“Ugh…….”

Anthem watched the scene and gagged.

“……!!!”

But what was even more shocking was the ease with which the doll had been destroyed, a stark contrast to their previous struggles.

“I understand now. These dolls… you made them.”

Caryl removed the hood from the doll, revealing a face covered with a black robe just like Kay’s. After examining its features, he spoke as if there was no point in destroying the other one.

“The difference between the golems outside and the dolls you created is obvious… You can’t fight the sentries with these. You know that too, which is why you couldn’t escape.”

“…….”

Kay’s eyes trembled, as if her innermost thoughts had been exposed.

“As I said, the fact that we made it inside means that we dealt with the golems at the gate. Did you really think you could stop us with these dolls?”

The reason Caryl checked the doll’s face was because the golems of the puppetry she used in her previous life were different from the current ones.

‘Whether Nar Di Maugh is connected to Wooden Cloud or not, I now understand why she came to the Imperial City.’

He looked at Kay.

“It’s almost comical, but it seems like you were helpless against the sentries at the gate and were trapped here. I don’t know why the family’s successor is in this state, but… It would take you a hundred years to escape with these dolls.”

Caryl said, lifting the broken doll.

“But if you help me, I’ll let you out of here.”

He preemptively offered her the deal that the Platinum Dragon of his previous life would have proposed.

“Don’t you want to see the world outside? If you help me, I’ll show you the light.”

“Who? How do you know if I want to go outside?”

Caryl laughed at her words.

Because he already knew that she had answered that question in her previous life.

“The choice is yours. I want to go to the sedimentation pond. If you help me with that, I won’t just send you out, but I’ll give you one more gift.”

Caryl drew his sword with a strange smile.

“I’ll even awaken the doll of the Rothschild family that’s sleeping in the sedimentation pond. I need it anyway.”

“Crazy bastard… Do you even know what that is…”

Kay tried to refute his words, but Caryl cut her off.

[Let me tell you an interesting story.]

Caryl recalled the phrase Kaiye Eser left when he obtained the Dragon’s Heart in Einherjar.

[There are two more miserable ‘things’ like me. They won’t be left in history. Those guys were weirder ‘things’ than me. You know what that means. If you’re lucky, you might get it. Just like you got my power now.]

‘Luck? No.’

He strengthened his voice.

“I know very well what it is. So guide me. I brought the perfect soul to put in the doll left by Kaiye Eser’s companion and your ancestor.”

Woo Woong―――

At that moment, Ice Claw trembled as if nervous.