The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 139

111. Digon

“Sword!! SWOOOORD――!!!”

“Goodness, you’ll burst my eardrums. What’s wrong?”

“Is this the time to be so carefree? It’s a disaster! A disaster, I tell you! War might break out!”

Kamma, in Cobb’s guild office, spoke anxiously while watching the warships gather at the harbor.

“Come on, stop exaggerating.”

“Exaggerating? Hey, you’re so relaxed because you don’t know how things work. Every dog in Cobb knows the might of the Iron Fleet.”

Cal Mc, watching Kamma’s anxious figure, clicked his tongue and chuckled.

“I know it’s impressive. But if we end up fighting White Bunker, at least we won’t be fighting with that impressive fleet, so don’t worry.”

After Caril returned to Tatur, Cal Mc and Kamma traveled back and forth between the duchy and the city for several months.

The Rabat Guild had now established itself quite well in Cobb and had become acquainted with the nobles of White Bunker.

Thanks to this, Cal had seen Kamma’s overreactions countless times. So now he seemed used to it and laughed.

“Tsk, you only know one thing and not the other. Of course, the fleet won’t move. Do you think I’m such an idiot that I’d think ships can go up mountains?”

“Come now… Surely not.”

“Your eyes don’t look too trustworthy. Anyway, the important thing is that Fran is making moves unlike before, probably because the Empire’s attention is focused on the south.”

“Master made that happen.”

Cal sighed as he looked at the mess Kamma had made on the desk, then grabbed a box to put the documents in and said, “Yeah, yeah. The duchy and the empire are all moving at Master’s command. He’s such an amazing person. Every step he takes shakes the country.”

“That’s right.”

Kamma nodded at his answer, then hurriedly waved his hand and said, “No, that’s not what I meant….”

“The fact that Count Fran, who had been quiet, is summoning the fleet means he has declared his intention for war, even if there is no naval battle. That would escalate into an issue for all seven dukes, not just a fight between Cobb and White Bunker.” Cal answered, organizing the documents piled up in the office as if he had been waiting.

“After that, the 3rd Duke Wilmay and the 4th Duke Zakso supported White Bunker, and the 5th Duke Rakiel, the 6th Duke Bonitos, and the 7th Duke Ruiche sided with Count Fran.”

“……”

“Numerically, it’s 3 to 4, so it’s assessed that the power of the 1st Duke Tuli has weakened, but in fact, the remaining military power of the Lurein Duchy is overwhelmingly greater for the 3rd and 4th Dukes, so Count Fran is still at a disadvantage.”

The chattering Kamma’s mouth stopped at Cal’s explanation.

“Let’s see… White Bunker has 50,000 resident troops, and Cobb has 40,000. But since neither can immediately expend all their forces, if they receive support from the other dukes, it would roughly be a war of 70,000 against 50,000.”

Cal moved his fingers a few times as if writing on a paper in the air, then finished calculating.

“Speaking of which, Prince Ruon deployed 70,000 troops to strike the south, so the Empire is definitely on a different scale, right?”

“No, that’s not the problem right now….”

Tuk―

Cal handed Kamma the box containing the documents and said, “And have you forgotten after only selling things for a few months? We’re an information guild.”

“Hmm?”

“If we were simple merchants, we would have already broken the contract with White Bunker. The reason we’ve been putting in effort and dragging our feet for months is because we were waiting for this war to happen.”

Cal grinned. “We need to sell information about Fran.”

Kamma felt dizzy at that moment.

“Besides, Master said something, didn’t he?”

“Hmm?”

“When the war starts, strong reinforcements will come. Our job is to return to Tatur with them.”

But Kamma frowned at those words.

“The only one left is Mikhail. To trust a fledgling magician who has barely reached the ranks of a mage and expect to return alive from a battlefield where tens of thousands will die… does that make sense?”

“It’s what Master ordered.”

“Tsk, what makes you trust Master’s words so much? I admit Master is amazing, but that doesn’t mean he’s a god.”

Cal Mc grinned at Kamma’s question.

“Uncle.”

“U, Uncle?! Kid. How many times have I told you? I’m the manager of Tatur with only three people….”

“Haven’t you seen Master fight?”

“……What?”

Despite Kamma’s nagging, Cal lightly put his hand on his shoulder as if they were already close.

“I don’t know about gods, but I guarantee Master is someone who can at least catch a dragon alone.”

Tuk, tuk.

Cal Mc tapped Kamma leisurely as if dusting him off and said, “Since that Master said there would be strong, strong reinforcements, there’s no need to worry about their skills, right?”

The bold boy smiled with an expression that rather anticipated the war.

“We will be in the new era of the duchy.”

* * *

The Digon tribe’s camp.

The Digon tribe, which had reigned as the ruler of the south for a long time, had a scale comparable to the kingdoms of the continent, but they lived in traditional camps like barbarians.

“An unexpected visitor has arrived.”

But the queen’s camp, which was only called a camp, was surrounded by several layers of wooden fences and boasted such great power that it was no exaggeration to call it a castle.

“The ones I was waiting for didn’t come, and someone a little out of the blue did?”

A sharp and piercing voice was heard.

Short, silver bobbed hair and golden eyes resembling a dragon.

The woman sitting on a large cushion in the center of the camp, raising one leg and resting her arm on it, looking down, exuded an unapproachable majesty just by her appearance.

Millyana, the queen of Digon.

Her bodyguards, standing on either side of the throne, did not move and stared at the man in front of them.

“…….”

But despite receiving such suffocatingly sharp gazes, the man was surprisingly confident.

He was also the leader of a tribe.

“I didn’t expect the wolf-fox, who should be cowering in the north, to come all the way to this hot place. What brings you here?”

The first person to visit Digon, instead of the Empire’s Third Prince, was none other than Hashir.

“I have something to tell you.”

“Something to tell me? The rumors must be true. The rumor that the wolf-fox serves a master.”

Millyana twitched her lips at his words and spoke with a mocking tone, along with a surprised expression.

“Although Digon’s power is high, we will not wage war with the Empire. In the first place, they attacked the Five Great Clans. They are tribes that should originally be under Digon’s protection.”

“…….”

Despite her sarcasm, Hashir calmly said only what he had to say.

“This is Master’s message. If Digon refuses to allow the landing of the Cult Mercenary Corps’ airship, he hopes that no prince will make a deal until I arrive.”

“Ha? Why should I do that?”

Millyana’s face hardened slightly at Hashir’s words.

She had said it boldly, but in reality, the airship of the Cult Mercenary Corps, which had arrived in the south first among the three princes, was still floating in the sky due to her refusal.

“Because that is the only way Digon can maintain its lineage.”

Kwaaaang―――!!!

At that moment.

Her bodyguards simultaneously drew the greatswords they were holding and pointed them at Hashir.

“…….”

Although twenty swords were touching his neck, he didn’t even blink an eye.

“You have guts.”

Millyana raised her hand and dismissed the bodyguards.

“I have one question. Is the wolf-fox’s action the will of the entire north, or is it just your own decision?”

“Our wolf-fox has never been with the other tribes of the north. The wolf-fox does not form packs.”

“Yes. That’s why it’s strange. That you are bowing your head to a continental person who is not even the same ethnic group.”

She asked Hashir again.

“I want to hear your thoughts.”

“If I had to say, it’s the wolf-fox’s own decision right now. Because the Empire has stirred up the north with the Order of Eradication of Heresy.”

Hashir took a low breath and said, “But soon it will be the will of the entire north.”

She looked at him with an interesting expression.

“You seem confident. To hear such words from the wolf-fox… amazing. The master you serve must be that great?”

“It’s about my confidence.”

A strange tension flowed between the two.

Millyana knows that the four tribes of the Great Plains and the Five Great Clans of the South have now become subordinates of a man named Caril.

Hashir’s words that he would make it the will of the entire north also implied that the remaining tribes of the north could also become Caril’s.

Perhaps, as he said, Digon is the only one left.

“I was complacent. The ones the dragon should be wary of were not the Empire’s youngsters.” Millyana said with a growl.

But Hashir, with his face covered by a hood, said to her with eyes colder than the heat of the south, “Dragon… I don’t know if you’re not ashamed to still call yourselves that.”

Although his mouth was covered, there seemed to be a sneer in his voice.

“You’ll know when you meet him. No matter how much of a dragon you are, you’ll be hunted by that man.”

Gritting―

Millyana gritted her teeth at his words.

The sharply raised fangs gleamed as if they were really a dragon’s.

“‘When you meet him.’ I’ve already met him.”

“……!!”

“Hashir, I didn’t know you thought so highly of me. I’m kind of proud.”

It was then.

Not only Hashir but everyone there was surprised by the voice coming from behind the camp.

“But I don’t particularly want to be a dragon hunter. Dragons are definitely a reliable force, right? If possible, I’d like to be able to handle them as subordinates.”

Thud― Thud― Thud―

Organized footsteps echoed in the camp.

For some reason, not even the bodyguards could draw their swords at his appearance.

“Are you meeting now? You’re too late. I guess the job I ordered was harder than I thought.”

“……When did you come? And it’s not that I was late, it’s that Master came too early.”

“You know. I have someone who can tell me the shortcut to the south.”

“I think I made a pointless trip.”

“You were just lucky.”

Caril smiled faintly as he passed Hashir.

“What did I say in the north?”

“I found it. It was quite a struggle, as you said.”

“Good.”

The two had a brief conversation.

Millyana, who didn’t know what was going on, only glared at him sharply.

‘When……?’

How many people could enter Digon’s camp so casually?

She quietly reached for the two rapiers she was wearing on her waist.

At that moment, Caril pointed at her with his finger and said, “You shouldn’t draw those swords. I didn’t come here to fight, and we’re old acquaintances, right?”

“Old acquaintances……?”

Caril put his hand inside his coat.

“Don’t do anything reckless. Stop.”

As she said in a tense voice, Caril laughed lightly and slowly took out his hand.

In his hand was a mask.

“You……?”

Caril put the mask on his face and then took it off.

“How’s the one I brought? Was he worth teaching?”

Then Millyana let out a ridiculous laugh at his words.

“It was you. The guy who threatened me so presumptuously.”

“Threatened? I was just saying I hope you make a good choice. Well, I also thought you’d want to teach him when you saw him. Didn’t you like him?”

“Hmph…….”

Caril nodded at her not denying it. Millyana would have recognized his talent enough.

“The one you’re waiting for probably won’t come. I received a report that Ollivon turned his ship around in the canyon. And I don’t know what kind of deal you made, but even if it’s not this time, Ollivon and that trash will never keep their promise to you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Are you a noble or something? You talk as if you know him well.”

Millyana looked at Caril with interest.

‘I know him well. I know that he will never keep whatever promise he made to you. Because that bastard cut off your head himself.’

At first, Caril was suspicious of Digon helping the Empire.

But he remembered her holding the Ice Claw and fighting with him in the process of fulfilling the oracle in his previous life.

‘The reason you, a barbarian, fought with me to fulfill the oracle was not just to protect the continent from corruption.’

It was already from this point.

Ollivon must have promised Millyana something. And she fought for that.

‘I need to know that.’

Caril’s eyes lit up.

What did he, a continental person, promise that could move the heart of the barbarian Digon?

Caril was convinced that he could make Digon’s power his own if that happened.

“It’s better than a noble wagging his tail at the imperial family. This time, I came as the master of Tatur and the lord of the south.”

“The lord of the south…….”

Millyana frowned slightly at Caril’s words.

But on the other hand, she felt amused and rather interested.

In a way, he was talking so confidently, even though he was the enemy who had taken the south she was ruling over.

Caril bowed slightly and said to her, “Shall we make a deal?”