The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 279

189. The Rothschild Family (4)

[The King of the Dead? This little kid? Arthur, Arthur. You can’t even handle me properly yet. What can a little kid like that do?]

Zarka Hoch scoffed, pointing at Kay Rothschild.

“I know you helped at the Ice Spring. Zarka, you seem to have forgotten your place since then. Should I remind you?”

[Wh-what…]

Caryl frowned slightly at Zarka’s response before Kay could even speak.

“If we’re going by that logic, I’m just as young. Who was it that got beaten by this kid? Frankly, if it weren’t for me, you would have been annihilated.”

Zarka clicked his tongue at Caryl’s words.

“This is for your own good, too. Do you really think a spirit parasitizing a sword can find the culprit who turned Ariel Wood into that state? One gust of wind from the Platinum Dragon would obliterate your very existence.”

[……]

His words were harsh, and Zarka couldn’t refute them.

Indeed, the Fortress of Specters had now disappeared. This meant that even with great power, the source of magic to unleash that power was gone.

“He has the blood of the one who resurrected you. Of course, just because blood is connected doesn’t mean talent is inherited, but I can see it. Controlling the doll just now was enough.”

[You talk a good game…]

But Zarka still sounded skeptical.

‘It’s more than enough, actually. In her previous life, she used this by inserting another soul into it.’

People called her the Eleventh Hero, so there was no need to explain her prowess back then.

‘But now I understand. Anyone can see that this doll was made by Gald Rothschild with you in mind, and your soul is the only one that can unleash the doll’s full power.’

But there was no way Zarka could know this.

He just didn’t seem to like the idea of entering a doll that looked exactly like him.

Until now, he had been the lord of the Fortress of Specters.

However, the moment he entered the doll, he would inevitably be restricted by the sorcerer Kay Rothschild.

The thought of having to follow the orders of a mere human child, after living for so long, was bound to make him feel resistant.

“Don’t think you’re still the same Lich you were back then. Staying by my side will only keep you stuck to the Ice Claw forever. After hearing about the Rothschild family from Nine Darhon, I didn’t think I needed to learn necromancy.”

[Why?]

“Because it’s a waste of time. It’s better to have someone who can handle it better than me on my side. Just like her.”

Caryl continued.

“And don’t you agree with what Alun Zabis said? If you’re going to take revenge, do it perfectly. If you’re going to stab someone, make sure it’s a fatal blow. By my side, it would be difficult for you to regain the power you had in the Fortress of Specters.”

Caryl seemed to have noticed Zarka’s thoughts.

“And frankly, wouldn’t it be better for you to belong to her than to me? Can you even imagine how I would use you? Do as you please. The choice is yours.”

[……]

It was supposed to be a joke, but it didn’t sound like one at all. Zarka answered with a sullen face.

[You call that a suggestion when it’s a question with no choice? You’re a…]

Even though he said that, Zarka himself knew that Caryl’s offer was the best option. Dollcraft had a distinct difference from any other form of necromancy.

That was,

The advantage of a physical body.

Even if you were resurrected through necromancy, you would only be a spirit. The bones that made up the Lich’s body were merely used as parts to construct the spirit, and they didn’t exert any power.

However, if you were resurrected through dollcraft, you would be able to exert physical force in addition to the Lich’s strengths.

“It’s not a bad offer, is it? Don’t you think?”

Zarka had already seen the example of Alun Zabis.

He had made a contract with Duart, the King of Dark Spirits, and gained a special body.

However, Alun’s body was also made of magic power, specifically spirit power. Perhaps he would gain an even more perfect body than that.

[Alright.]

Zarka Hoch nodded at Caryl’s words.

[Hey, kid.]

He looked at Kay Rothschild and said,

[Let’s make a contract. Then I will give you the knowledge of the elves that has been accumulated for a thousand years.]

His dignified voice filled the settling pond. Intense magic swirled around, making the skin tingle. Anthem watched the scene with a tense face.

“No.”

[…What?]

The magic emanating from Zarka faded as if a candle had been extinguished.

[Why not?! Do you think you’re in a position to refuse?!]

Zarka Hoch, looking more flustered than ever, shouted, as if he was trying to read Caryl’s expression.

“No, it would be more accurate to say I can’t.”

[Can’t? Is this the time to be talking about can or can’t! You have to do it somehow!! If that wicked guy changes his mind and blocks the entrance, you’ll be trapped here to die!]

“…I want to get out too.”

[Then why?!]

Kay let out a soft sigh.

“Because I can’t awaken the doll’s seal. You’re the ones who don’t understand the situation, not me.”

“Is there a problem?”

Caryl remembered that she had definitely brought the doll to the capital in her previous life.

“Touch the doll.”

Kay pointed to the doll.

Fsssk―

At her words, Caryl reached out, and a faint wave rippled from the part that touched the doll, pushing his hand away.

With a dizzying pain, his arm was flung back as if it had been kicked.

“Hmm…?”

“The stronger the power, the stronger the power needed for the seal. I don’t know when it started, but this doll, called the masterpiece of the Rothschild family, is sealed.”

“It’s just a doll made 250 years ago.”

“Who says?”

“…What?”

Kay Rothschild retorted at Caryl’s words.

“Don’t generalize that what you think is right. There are stranger things in the world. The Rothschild family has existed since before the Magic Era [an era before magic was commonly used]. This doll was made over 1,000 years ago.”

“Before the Magic Era…?”

[That can’t be. That doll clearly has my face. That means it’s the result of that guy’s eccentric behavior when he made me a Lich.]

“I don’t know the reason for that. But clearly, this doll existed from the ancestors of the ancestors and even before that. It has been sealed ever since it opened its eyes once.”

[Someone who looks exactly like me existed in the past…? That’s impossible.]

Zarka Hoch muttered to himself in disbelief.

“It only opened its eyes once? When was that?”

“The Mythological Era [an era of gods and legends]. There was a war between gods and humans called the Great Cataclysm [a devastating war]. You guys wouldn’t know about it.”

“I see.”

Caryl nodded as if he now understood, which made Kay, who had brought it up, look at him with a puzzled expression.

“Hearing your explanation makes me realize even more that you need to be with me. I don’t know why this doll looks exactly like Zarka, but at least I know what the Rothschild family did.”

“What does the family’s purpose have to do with you?”

“That’s the reason you guys are trapped here and the reason you have to be with me. Kay, to think you’re a descendant of the Blader [a legendary warrior]. I hate the word fate, but this is what you could call fate.”

“…Blader? What’s that?”

Kay Rothschild looked at him with a look that said she didn’t understand Caryl’s words.

“I’ll explain it later. More importantly, Lamine. It seems like there’s one more person sealed here besides her. You probably know what’s inside the doll, right?”

[……]

“From the ancestor I saw in the Thousand-Year Ice Cave to you, Mael, Agnel’s scabbard, and even the Rothschild family. They were all sealed as a price for losing the war in the past.”

Caryl scanned the doll.

“When you first mentioned it, I thought the Ice Spring was her seal, but it wasn’t. It might be God’s bad taste, but I understand now that I see this. Kay, let me ask you. Does the Rothschild family’s dollcraft use spirit magic along with necromancy, by any chance?”

At his question, Kay asked back in surprise.

“…How do you know that?”

Caryl gave a bitter smile.

“I know because I’ve heard about the Rothschild family’s necromancy. Their necromancy doesn’t just pull out souls, but it makes the corpse itself into a doll, so they have a unique corpse preservation technique.”

Of course, the secrets of their family, which was shrouded in mystery, could not be known.

In his previous life, Caryl had only seen her summon the undead.

She was trapped in the ruins and didn’t know what was happening outside the world, so she couldn’t doubt his words.

“The best thing for that preservation technique is to freeze the corpse itself. The Rothschild family is more deeply connected to the water spirits than anyone else. After the Spirit War, the loser must follow the rules of defeat made by the winner. And I know what punishment God gave her.”

Caryl finished speaking and slowly placed his hand on the forehead of the lying doll.

“If not only this doll but also the Blader in the Thousand-Year Ice Cave and Agnel’s scabbard are sealed with her power… God has given the Queen of the Tides the worst punishment possible: The terrible act of imprisoning her comrades with her own power.”

Fazzzeuk…!! Kwazuk…!!

Then, as if dry land was cracking, cracks like spiderwebs began to appear on the doll’s shell.

“Wh-what…?!

Kay Rothschild shouted in surprise at the sight. But Caryl gave even more strength.

‘The reason she followed Nar Di Maugh in her previous life was not just because he broke the golems above and gave her freedom, because she definitely brought this doll with her when she came with him back then.’

Paddeuk―

Caryl gritted his teeth.

‘The fact that her sealed doll has been released means that this seal has been lifted.’

It was the moment when Caryl’s initial suspicion, which he had when he came down the stairs, turned into conviction as he went deeper.

The first being to set foot in this place.

That was, the Platinum Dragon.

‘There’s no doubt that guy released the doll’s seal.’

As he focused his magic even more, the doll’s forehead began to glow red.

The lifting of the seal would mean that the Queen of the Tides’ shackles had also been destroyed.

‘From the reason he hid the box in the Gray Academy, everything is now clear: That he hid the Water Spirit King from us.’

More than betrayal or anger, Caryl was now more curious about the relationship between Olivant and Nar Di Maugh.

‘Nar Di Maugh, you weren’t really fighting for humans, were you?’

Why was that?

At that moment, Caryl was reminded of Alun Zabis’s question when he first met him, asking if he trusted the Platinum Dragon.

“Stop!!!”

Kay Rothschild shouted anxiously, looking at the precariously shaking doll.

But she couldn’t dare to approach the heat emanating from Caryl.

The flames swirling around his body were thicker and heavier than the Explosive Flame King’s.

[This is…]

Lamine knew well that the familiar flame was another flame that had sealed him for a long time.

[The Flame Dragon’s flames…]

He muttered in a low voice, looking at the vortex of explosive heat engulfing Caryl’s entire body with a truly admiring voice.

“If a dragon can break this seal, there’s no reason why I can’t.”

Kwaddeuk… Kwaddeudeudeuk…!!

The frost that had been covering the doll like a shell turned as hard as ice, then melted like water again, becoming limp, and then bubbling and boiling again.

“And she, like the other Spirit Kings who have succumbed to me, will kneel. Won’t she? Lamine.”

[Kuaaaaaaaa―――!!!]

It was then.

White smoke rose from inside the doll as if a soul was inside, and a scream like a ghostly wail was heard.