The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 420

258. The Great Jungle, Adur (1)

“Are you leaving?”

Late at night, Caryl stopped walking at the sound of someone approaching and turned around.

“How’s your arm?”

He spoke with a calm expression, looking at the man standing there as if he had expected him.

“As you can see… Well, thanks to Lord Cardin Luer, my skin is sealed, so there’s no pain.”

Deryl Harian lifted his severed wrist, hidden by his robe, and replied with a faint smile.

“Where are you planning to go?”

“Why do you need to know that?”

“Since you originally gave me the duty of a historian, shouldn’t I be faithful to it? Even if it’s a secret to the people, it will be a piece of history for future generations.”

Despite Caryl’s cold question, Deryl Harian still spoke with a friendly face.

“Are you going to find the remaining members of the Ten of Godslayers?”

At his question, Caryl stared coldly, and Deryl Harian shrugged.

“I was just guessing. In my opinion, Lord Caryl already has the list of the Ten of Godslayers completed in his head. But only six people came to the tomb. Even including Lord Caryl, that’s three short. But if you’re moving alone in the middle of the night… Aren’t you secretly going to find them?”

“You even know the numbers well. Were you eavesdropping somewhere?”

“Haha, not at all. I just heard the number from people.”

“So? What do you want to say to me? Waiting until I moved to avoid other people’s eyes means you have something to say when we’re alone.”

Deryl Harian nodded at Caryl’s words.

“As expected of Lord Caryl… You know me well.”

“Speak.”

“Please take this child with you. There may be a time when you need it.”

At his gesture, a small divine beast appeared from the darkness. It was the Green Deer Alkar, one of the legendary divine beasts called the Three Phases, which have now disappeared.

The creature, which had grown more than when he first saw it, was now about shoulder height with Caryl.

“Why are you entrusting the divine beast to me? Wasn’t the goal of the Golden Cross Society to revive the remaining divine beasts as well?”

“With my arm like this, it will be difficult to even investigate the remaining Phases, let alone restore them.”

“It’s not time to be making pitiful noises yet.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not asking for my arm back, but I’m saying that it’s meaningless for me to keep Alkar in a situation where I can’t research the Phases.”

“Hmm.”

Deryl Harian gently stroked Alkar’s forehead and continued.

“Although it hasn’t been born long, the Green Deer is the only divine beast among the Three Phases that possesses the power of light. I just have one request.”

“What is it?”

“Could you find a place for Alkar to live? Although it’s a divine beast, it’s still young, so its power isn’t that strong. It will need a home.”

Caryl chuckled at his words.

“It’s ridiculous to ask me to find a home when the world might end.”

“It won’t end. Because Lord Caryl will stop it, won’t you?”

“You always talk so well.”

“It will definitely be helpful.”

“…….”

Caryl stared silently at the newly born small divine beast. He didn’t know how long it had been born, but Alkar looked like just a weak young deer.

Looking at it barely standing and trembling, he worried that it might actually become a hindrance in the event of a sudden incident.

[It wouldn’t be bad to take it with you.]

It was then.

Rasis, who had been silent, spoke to Caryl. A small orb of light popped out of his body and circled around him.

“Why?”

[A divine beast is a living being born with the power of spirits. It’s similar but different. If a spirit is the power of nature itself without a body… Hmm, since a divine beast has life, it’s better to see its essence as being related to the earth.]

“So?”

[If a divine beast is alive, the strength of the earth’s core increases. That also means that the foundation of human life becomes stronger.]

“According to the literature, during the time when the Three Phases were alive, the soil around their homes was extremely fertile and the air was clear compared to other places. It is also said that all the people who lived nearby lived long lives.”

Deryl Harian took over Rasis’s words. But Caryl scoffed at his explanation.

“Don’t you think that surviving this war is the first thing we need to do in order to make the soil fertile, the air clear, and live a long life?”

[That’s why I’m saying to take it with you.]

Caryl looked at Rasis’s light.

[Just by the divine beast standing there, the earth becomes stronger and the air becomes cleaner. Even if it’s not just for future generations. Humans become stronger when they stand on two feet. The battlefield you’re standing on as well. Although it may be a small variable, it may unexpectedly have a big effect.]

“Hmm…….”

At his words, Caryl slowly nodded.

In his previous life, divine beasts were extinct and did not exist, so Caryl did not have a great sense of what kind of power a divine beast possessed.

Moreover, if it was the power of light, he didn’t feel a great need for it since he had Rasis, the Spirit King of Light.

[I agree too. Minimizing variables also means that the plan becomes perfect. There’s no guarantee that unexpected things won’t happen like they did during the Kaie Esir incident.]

“That’s right.”

Caryl nodded at Aln’s words and lightly stroked the divine beast’s forehead.

Zhiing-

At that moment, a diamond pattern appeared in the middle of Alkar’s forehead.

“Huh…….”

Deryl Harian looked surprised at the sight.

“What is this?”

“It’s a contract pattern. Divine beasts can also make covenants like spirits. But unlike spirit contracts, which are made with one person, it’s mostly like a trade with the people living around their home. They make the land they live on healthy in exchange for receiving life.”

“Life?”

“Yes. Unlike spirits, divine beasts have a lifespan. Eventually, they disappear over time, and in order to extend their lifespan, they receive life from the humans they have made a covenant with.”

As he said that, Deryl clapped his hands together as if there was something he needed to point out.

“It’s life, but it doesn’t really take human lives like vampires do. It’s just that humans offer the crops grown from the land as a tribute in return for the divine beast’s favor.”

“I see.”

“But it’s unexpected. It hasn’t even decided on a home, but it’s making a mark of covenant with Lord Caryl, just one person.”

[That’s only natural. That’s because the power that Caryl can give it is stronger than the power that the earth gives it.]

Aln Zavius puffed out his chest slightly and said proudly.

[If he’s my disciple, he should be at least that good.]

Deryl laughed lightly as the Archmage of the Magic Era, a dignified being that any magician would look up to, made a joke that didn’t suit him.

“Okay. I’ll take this guy with me. I don’t know if it will be useful or not… The power of the earth becomes stronger… Maybe this guy will really create an unexpected variable in the place I’m going this time.”

“Where are you going?”

“The Great Jungle, Adur.”

Deryl’s expression hardened slightly at Caryl’s words.

“Are you planning to meet the wild men [uncivilized tribes]? They are not human.”

“What about it? Even the demons of the Demon World have become my subordinates.”

But unlike the surprised Deryl, Caryl replied in a calm voice.

“Deryl, have you ever met a wild man?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Then have you ever been to the North? Have you seen a foreigner before this time?”

“…That’s not true.”

Deryl replied with a troubled face, as if he knew what he was trying to say.

“The Northerners lived under the stigma of heresy until just a few years ago. The Empire called the North the land of curses and said that no one was born with all their limbs intact due to God’s punishment. But what about the ones you saw? Were they cursed by heresy as rumored?”

“That’s not true.”

“Believing rumors without seeing them with your own eyes is foolish. Just like you revived the divine beast that everyone believed had disappeared.”

Deryl lowered his head at Caryl’s words.

“I was careless.”

“That’s not true. I wouldn’t have been able to believe it easily either if you hadn’t shown me Alkar. Besides, the wild men are even less known than the North and South, so I understand.”

Bwee-

Caryl put his hand to his mouth and whistled, and red scales flapped their wings and flew from afar.

“I have founded the Free Country. This place, which is neither a kingdom, a duchy, nor an empire, is a place where even wild men can live freely in my country. I will bring them.”

He said as he climbed onto the saddle placed on the wyvern’s back.

“Oh… But I need to point out what’s wrong.”

“Yes?”

“It’s not three, it’s two.”

Deryl Harian tilted his head and looked at him at Caryl’s words.

“There are two people I’m going to find. One is already here. Think about who it is. If you bring him to me, I might reattach your severed arm in light of your contribution.”

“Haha, are you giving me another assignment?”

Deryl shook his head with a look of defeat.

Suaaaaaaak—!!!

Instead of answering, Caryl pulled on the wyvern’s reins and soared into the sky.

“Wild men… You’re really going to bring even the most extraordinary people.”

Deryl Harian muttered in a low voice, looking at Caryl’s departing figure.

“Well, he always surpasses my expectations… I wonder if Kaie Esir could have even come up with such an idea if he were alive.”

He chuckled.

“But if they really come, maybe the soul of the Soul White Wolf will be needed. You’re giving me work to do even in your absence.”

Looking at his severed arm with regret, he thought that although his arm was severed, he should put down the pen that should record history and start the Phase research that had been temporarily stopped.

One of the Three Phases.

The White Wolf, Roerbrok.

* * *

[Krrr…….]

The red scales flying in the sky growled lowly as it smelled the damp air.

Caryl looked down.

A jungle with trees with huge leaves like palm trees growing densely like pillars. Everything around him was large, as if he had come to a country of giants.

Located on the eastern end of the Empire, heading towards the sea, this place was ironically the closest to Heim, the holy land of the Order [a religious organization].

Contrary to the Order, which could be called the repository of intelligence, the Great Jungle, where only wild men, considered uncivilized tribes, lived, was surprisingly a place that even the Empire did not touch.

Once, Tylan Schtean sent soldiers here to log the tropical forests and use them as new land for the expansion of the Empire.

The number was about 1,000.

But surprisingly, only a very small number returned alive. The Emperor was furious at the soldiers who returned with their bodies broken as if they had fought a war and asked for the reason.

He shouted that if there was resistance like in the North, he would wipe them all out, but he closed his mouth when he heard the report from the surviving soldiers.

There was resistance here that rejected the Empire’s invasion.

But it wasn’t people.

The enemy was nature itself.

The size of the jungle, where tropical trees grew intricately like a maze, was enormous, and the inside was humid, surrounded by swamps, and full of monsters hiding in various places.

This place, which belonged to no one, was a land of opportunity on the surface, but in reality, it was an extreme land where one had to struggle to survive.

Even the Emperor, who had never given up on his plans, eventually gave up on making the Great Jungle his own.

Originally, a country should be a place where people can at least live, even if they fight each other inside. But the Great Jungle itself was a terrible place that could be seen as a huge demon’s den, where one had to struggle to survive.

Therefore, this place was also a forbidden area in a different sense from the Land of Promise, where the White Gold Dragon’s lair was located.

At least the Land of Promise had minimal information because one could directly seek a meeting with the dragons who were the owners of the place, but the Great Jungle was truly an unknown land.

“Hmm.”

Looking down at this place, Caryl took a deep breath of the damp air and said in a low voice.

“It’s been a while.”

He had an expression as if he had come home.

[Kuuuuuuuuuu—]

At that moment,

A monster’s roar that sounded like a huge trumpet echoed from afar.