The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 101

86. In the Port City

About two weeks after leaving Heim’s gates, Caryl and his party arrived at the port city of Piasta.

‘Hmm, it’s been a while.’

Stepping out of the carriage, Caryl stretched to relieve his stiff body, deeply inhaling the salty scent of the sea.

“Thanks to you, we had a comfortable journey. The authority of the Order is truly remarkable.”

“It was nothing.”

Joy Johannsel, who had driven the carriage for the entire two weeks, replied to Caryl without a hint of fatigue.

Despite his modesty, they had passed through several checkpoints on their way here through the Empire, but thanks to Joy and Yurin’s priest certificates, Caryl’s identity didn’t need separate verification.

With the Order’s first-class priests vouching for him, the soldiers couldn’t even think of stopping them.

“If I had known we were heading to Piasta, we could have used the teleportation circle instead.”

Yurin Huggard, maintaining his aloof demeanor, stepped out of the carriage.

As befitting a port city, a huge fish market was in full swing, and he covered his face with the sleeve of his robe, seemingly disgusted by the fishy smell permeating the entire city.

“Using the teleportation circle has severe aftereffects. You need to rest for several days afterward. Are you alright with magical motion sickness, Lord Yurin?”

“Umm…….”

“Besides, the nearest teleportation circle that goes directly from Heim to here is still a week away. It’s not much different.”

Caryl spoke casually, but he knew very well that Yurin suffered from severe magical motion sickness.

He had seen him vomit on the spot after using teleportation magic back in the day, a sight that didn’t suit his large frame.

He was just being spiteful, even though he couldn’t even use it.

‘Honestly, it would have been easier if I could have brought Serpent with me.’

Caryl regretted leaving the Sand Serpent, the master of the hills, in Tatur.

‘Well, it was impossible in the first place.’

Bringing him along would have made transportation easier, but it would have been too conspicuous.

Especially since Caryl had spoken to the Emperor about the Lyrian Knights as if he had no connection to the South.

What if the Emperor saw him handling a Sand Serpent from the Order?

It was out of the question.

“That’s right, Master. Thanks to you, we’ve become closer. Frankly, I didn’t know you had reached the ranks of a mage, Caryl.”

He was still arrogant, but Yurin Huggard’s gaze towards Caryl was different from before they left Heim.

“You’re welcome.”

Caryl shrugged as if it were nothing in response to Joy Johannsel’s words.

During their journey to Piasta, Caryl and his party encountered some bandits, but it wasn’t even a memorable event for them.

In the process, Joy Johannsel thought of Caryl as a mage because he used magic instead of his specialty, swordsmanship, when dealing with the bandits.

He hadn’t intentionally tried to hide it, but Caryl realized that he had never fought solely with magic until now.

Even at the magic competition, he had used tricks, not pure skill.

Bandits in front of him.

Those who sought to steal lives and possessions.

Moreover, with Yurin Huggard as a reliable shield, he could use magic to his heart’s content without guilt, so there was no better sandbag.

“Thanks to Lord Yurin, it was comfortable.”

“Hmph…….”

He looked indifferent, but honestly, reaching the ranks of a mage was a great achievement in itself.

Having magical power and breaking through the barrier were worlds apart.

Even among the Imperials who were born with magical power, only a small number reached the ranks of a mage, so it was natural for Yurin Huggard to see Caryl in a new light.

‘To be a 4th class at that age…….’

Since mages were more respected than swordsmen in this era, perhaps Caryl’s demonstration of magical power, rather than swordsmanship, ultimately changed Yurin.

‘I met Olliver here for the first time since my regression. Come to think of it, that guy……. What is he doing now?’

Caryl frowned slightly, recalling him from the prison where he had rescued Suan Hazar.

His curiosity about Olliver didn’t stem from warm feelings like worry.

In his past life, it was around this time that he barely started talking to his brothers in the mansion and learning etiquette, so it was natural that he didn’t know what the prince was doing.

‘That guy……. He’s been busy running around.’

Unlike himself, who was confined to the mansion, he was already preparing to ascend to the throne.

‘By now, news of the Lyrian Knights should have been reported to the Imperial Palace. The Emperor will handle it well.’

Although he knew he couldn’t raise an army immediately, his meeting with the Emperor was truly a stroke of genius.

‘The princes won’t stand still to increase their power even a little more…….’

In particular, the annihilation of the Lyrian Knights, his support base, could provide Olliver with a good excuse to dispatch troops.

But Caryl knew that such worries were ridiculous.

What kind of person was Tyrian Shutean?

He had met him in person and experienced it, but he was the only person who could control the fate of the continent.

‘Even though he’s old and deeply ill, he’s definitely not the kind of person to be swayed by his young children.’

Now that the pressure was completely gone, Caryl was able to travel the continent more freely than he had planned.

“So, what are you planning to do now?”

Yurin Huggard urged Caryl, wanting to get out of this fishy-smelling place as soon as possible.

“Follow me.”

Caryl confidently pointed to a place and moved his feet.

The place he pointed to was the largest building on the street where the merchant guilds were concentrated in Piasta.

The engraved sign swayed as if welcoming them.

* * *

“Lavat Guild? Oh, it’s very famous.”

“Don’t even mention it. Isn’t that where the Slave King is? Everyone is trying to get on that ship.”

“Since it was established, the goods coming in have completely changed. Honestly, you can’t get the ingredients grown in the North or South anywhere else.”

The reputation of the Lavat Guild, which was located in the port city, was universally praised by any merchant in the market.

“I only knew it was thriving in the Three Kingdoms, but it’s amazing. I didn’t know you had such a wide reach.”

“What have I done? It’s all thanks to my capable subordinates.”

Even though he said that, Caryl felt inexplicably good at the merchants’ praise.

‘Suan Hazar and Camma must have been doing a good job. Especially Camma, it was fortunate that I kept that old badger alive.’

Caryl thought of him struggling in the Principality even at this moment.

‘Since we have to pass through the Principality anyway……. I wish I could see them if I get the chance.’

In the Principality, there were not only Camma but also Suan and Mikhail.

If he was lucky, Serica Loren might have joined them as well, so if things went well and he could take them with him, it would be great for Caryl.

“Principality? Are we going to the Principality?”

“Um……. That’s not it.”

“Then?”

“The medicine that the Emperor wants is a little further up from the Principality.”

“Uhum…….”

Yurin Huggard tried to recall what was above it. But he couldn’t think of any particular place.

Because going north from the Principality would only lead to the land inhabited by the northern barbarians.

“That place is now a ruin due to the Edict of Heresy Extermination [a decree ordering the destruction of anything deemed heretical]. Is there anything to gain there?”

Caryl’s heart felt heavy at his words, but he didn’t show it.

Even if he went back in time again, there was no way to stop the Emperor’s Edict of Heresy Extermination right away.

He had no choice but to accept the past.

“Yes. There’s nothing to gain in that ruin.”

The Zannabi tribe, one of the northern barbarians, knew the most about the poison the Emperor had suffered, but as Yurin said, there was no need to go looking for them.

Caryl smiled faintly and said to him.

“It’s even further up than that. To be exact, it’s even further up than the Ivory Tower of the Dawn Society, one of the magic guilds.”

“What? The Ivory Tower is located in the northernmost part of the continent. But if it’s even further up than that…….”

Joy Johannsel, who had been listening quietly, said with a surprised expression at his words.

“We need to prepare thoroughly before we go.”

The cold wind of the North was enough to make him shiver just thinking about it.

But while Joy was worried about the cold, Yurin frowned, recalling the opposite, the intense heat.

“Don’t tell me……. Are you going to the Fire Dragon’s lair?”

“That’s right.”

“……!!”

Joy couldn’t help but be astonished at Caryl’s nonchalant nod.

Looking at his gaping mouth, Caryl said.

“Don’t worry. As you know, the Red Dragon, Lyseria, was hunted by Kaie Esir 250 years ago.”

In the past, dragon hunting was actively carried out, but now it was different.

If there were any dragons left, it would be Nar D Mauge, the Gold Dragon Enuma Elash, the Green Dragon Cruach, and the Red Dragon Python, but humans did not invade their lairs.

Also.

Dragons did not harm humans either.

The reason why they tacitly did not invade each other’s territory, like a non-aggression pact, was because the damage to obtain the vast treasures in the lair was greater than the treasures themselves.

“Even if it’s an empty lair, you should know what it means to enter it.”

Lyseria, who was hunted by Kaie Esir, a meritorious subject of the Empire’s founding.

Because of that, even though it was beyond the North, the Fire Dragon’s lair was managed by the Empire.

“Master, but isn’t it a place that has already been conquered? Besides, there won’t be any friction with the Principality……. Wouldn’t it be better?”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Yurin shook his head at Joy Johannsel’s words.

“The Dragon’s Lair is still an unknown territory. Even though 250 years have passed since the Fire Dragon died, it has not been fully explored yet.”

That wasn’t wrong.

In fact, Lyseria had hidden some of her treasures with special sealing formations.

And those have not been discovered until now.

‘Until the oracle is given, the Fire Dragon’s Lair remains unconquered.’

The one who broke the lair’s sealing formation was none other than Nar D Mauge.

When the oracle was given and the monsters of corruption poured out of Phare, humanity needed strong weapons.

The plan that Nar D Mauge, who sided with humanity unlike the other dragons who stood by, came up with was Lyseria’s weapons.

‘Ironically, the reason why it was difficult to conquer the lair until now was because it required a priest with the power of God to break the sealing formation of a dragon who had reached the extreme of magic…….’

The priests of the Order explored ruins, but they didn’t do things like looting lairs.

Moreover, it required not an ordinary priest but a master-level priest, and additional special conditions that only dragons could fulfill had to be met.

Even if you had a priest, it meant that Lyseria’s seal was not something that humans could break.

‘But I can meet those conditions.’

Caryl, who possessed dragon magic power, smiled contentedly as he looked at Yurin and Joy, who would be the keys to the lair.

‘I’m finally going to do what I thought about after reading Kaie Esir’s will in Einherjar.’

Besides, it wasn’t exactly a lie.

The Dawn Primrose, the antidote to the Twilight Poison, only grew in areas with intense heat and strong magic power at the same time.

‘While I’m going to get that…….’

He was planning to take out some of the dragon’s treasures as well, so it was a pleasant thought just thinking about it.

Moreover, Camma and Suan had already created such a wonderful base in Piasta, so the preparation was perfect.

Caryl thought that this would be the most enjoyable of all the journeys since his regression.

Right now,

Until just a moment ago.

“Not being able to use a ship from the port. Does that make any sense?”

“I’m sorry, Master. In fact, we’re going crazy because we can’t go out fishing because of that.”

The guild manager had already been working hard to find a ship to go to the Principality due to the instructions from Tatur.

-The Lavat Guild has a real owner.

Suan Hazar, who was not an ordinary customer, had always said that while traveling between the Lawless Port and Piasta.

As a manager, he was at a loss because he had not been able to carry out the first instruction from the higher-ups related to that owner.

“That’s strange.”

“Unless it’s a warship, it’s almost impossible to launch a ship in the current waters.”

“There are ships, but they can’t go out. What’s going on?”

Caryl recalled the ships docked at the port and asked the manager.

“That’s…….”

The manager said to Caryl in a voice that was barely audible.

“I’m sorry. It’s because it’s the spawning season of the Water King.”

A monster called the owner of Ponaine, a huge river that runs through the continent.

“Ah. Has the season already come?”

The Sea Serpent, the Water King, mostly lives in the river, but returns to the sea to lay eggs during the spawning season.

“Indeed, the Ponaine’s river is connected to the sea. If that’s the case, you don’t have to be sorry.”

Despite Caryl’s words, the manager still bowed his head and said.

“I’m…… sor…….”

“Stop. Raise your head.”

Eventually, he put strength into his voice.

“What’s your name?”

“……Huan.”

“Okay, Huan. Listen carefully. Monsters are like disasters. If you’re going to blame someone for this, blame the god who created such monsters, or blame the Empire or the Principality, which haven’t even tried to subjugate them because they’ve been too busy watching each other.”

“Keuhm…….”

Yurin Huggard coughed lowly at Caryl’s words. Even he, who worshiped God, couldn’t call the world’s monsters God’s grace.

“And if that’s the case, don’t worry.”

“Yes?”

Unlike the manager, who spoke in a worried voice, Caryl’s reaction to the story was surprisingly calm.

“I’m quite skilled at handling monsters.”