The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 143

115. The Real Culprit

“Your courage is commendable. To enter Digon’s territory alone,” Miliana said.

“It’s been quite difficult to meet the Queen. After much deliberation, I decided to visit you personally, not as a representative of the Empire, but as an individual.”

“Is that so?”

Tiren spoke without hesitation, but Miliana wore a peculiar smile, as if she could see through his words.

*Swish-*

*Thud…!!*

At that moment,

Miliana drew her rapier from her waist and threw it with such speed that it was almost invisible.

Tiren, unable to react, simply stared at her, frozen.

A red line appeared on his cheek, and blood trickled down.

The sword, embedded in the pillar, trembled as if unable to withstand her power.

“What confidence do you have that I would meet you for a friendly chat, rather than sending your head back to your prince as a gift?”

Tiren wiped the blood from his cheek with the back of his hand.

“I didn’t think we’d have a friendly chat, but I also didn’t think you’d kill me.”

“Why?”

“Because neither we nor the Queen actually desire bloodshed.”

Miliana looked at him with an appraising gaze.

‘Well, shall we stop here?’

His reactions were amusing, and she felt like teasing him a bit more, but remembering her promise to Carryl, she moved on to the next part of her plan.

“What’s the reason for your visit? You said it’s a personal matter, not as an envoy of the Empire?”

She tilted her chin slightly as she asked.

*Swoosh-*

Tiren pulled the sword from the pillar and placed it before her.

“Randall McGovern.”

Then, he revealed the card he intended to play.

“A survivor of the Lye Knights, and the fifth son of our family. I understand he is here.”

“And if he isn’t?”

“He will be. A reliable source told me so.”

‘Right. But does he know that this guy is the one who annihilated his brother’s knights?’

Miliana spoke with an expression of amusement, as if watching an interesting performance.

“Correct. We’ve been watching over him. He was quite badly injured. As you said, the Empire’s affairs are the Empire’s affairs. There’s no need to prevent a reunion between brothers.”

She pointed to the end of the barracks.

“He’s in the fifth tent on the right. I wanted to tell you sooner, but he’s still recovering.”

“What? It’s been quite a while since then… Still? Is the injury that severe?”

Tiren’s cold gaze wavered, and he asked her with an urgent voice.

Though from commoner and noble backgrounds, Tiren valued Randall, who had been knighted through his own efforts, unlike his other brothers.

Moreover, they had spent a considerable amount of time together in the Imperial Palace, so his attitude towards him was different.

“No, well… it’s not from the injury back then…”

Unlike Tiren, who was filled with worry, Miliana scratched her cheek, unsure of what to say.

* * *

“Brother…”

Tiren looked at his younger brother, whom he was reuniting with after a long time.

Bandages covered him here and there, and he winced as if in pain every time he moved.

“What happened here?”

“I’m sorry.”

Seeing him lower his head, Tiren thought that his father’s words were indeed true.

‘How did Carryl know this?’

Kwell McGovern had only told Tiren that Carryl knew Randall’s location but kept silent about him becoming the master of Tatur [a region or territory].

Whether it was out of consideration as a father or caution about uncertain information, he didn’t know.

‘This might be related.’

Tiren sensed that Carryl was no ordinary person from Kwell’s words that he had helped the Emperor return to governing the country.

‘He’s just another barbarian with the same savage blood.’

Unlike his other brothers, Tiren had not acknowledged Carryl from the moment he first came to the mansion.

It would have been different if he had lived quietly like someone who didn’t exist.

However,

He could not tolerate a foreigner, not even an imperial, interfering in the affairs of the Empire.

“Wait.”

Tiren scanned the barracks.

“Detection.”

Then, he spread his hand and drew a seal, creating a square blue barrier around him.

*Whoosh…!!*

The momentary flash of light disappeared, and the barrier gradually expanded to the size of the barracks where Randall was, then vanished as if absorbed.

“Hmm. There are no observers, huh?”

Tiren muttered quietly when nothing was detected by the detection magic.

“Brother… have you reached the 4th class [level of magical ability]?”

Seeing this, Randall widened his eyes in surprise and asked.

“It hasn’t been long. It’s just the beginning. There are far more skilled mages than me in the Academy.”

“Still, congratulations. Father will be pleased.”

Tiren smiled faintly at those words.

“Your father will be even more pleased that you’re alive.”

“…I’m sorry.”

Tiren lightly patted Randall’s shoulder, who had lowered his head, and then looked around slightly before asking.

“I’ll get straight to the point.”

“Yes?”

“The Lye Knights… do you remember the one who annihilated you?”

Randall nodded slowly.

“What did he look like?”

At Tiren’s question, Randall bit his lip slightly, perhaps because he was recalling the unpleasant memory of the knights’ annihilation or because of the memory of defeat.

“He was about my age or a little younger.”

“…What?”

Tiren asked back at the unexpected answer.

“Judging by his brown eyes and hair, he was probably an Imperial. It’s a common color.”

Randall sighed.

“His swordsmanship was fierce. I’ve seen the swordsmanship of the knights since coming to the Imperial Palace, but I’ve never seen anything like that. And…”

“And?”

“I’m not sure what kind of magic he used. It was a purplish mana. I’ve never seen or heard of such a mana blade.”

He rubbed his forehead and said with difficulty.

‘Purple?’

“At first, it was a colorless mana blade. But in the second clash, it was definitely purple.”

“Hmm.”

“I think… it’s related to the Secret Spring on the Narak Rock [a specific location].”

Randall said, recalling the lightning that fell from the sky when he retreated from Narak Rock.

“It was really purple?”

“How could I forget?”

The knights’ mana blades could not resist the power of a single mage.

Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Lightning.

The five elements that make up the world all opposed his power but were shattered mercilessly.

Overwhelming strength.

The despair he felt when the absolute advantage that all attributes could not overcome was broken.

“Purple, huh…”

At Randall’s words, a thought suddenly flashed through Tiren’s mind.

Just once.

He remembered seeing a passage about a mage with such power in an old book he had seen in the Academy’s library.

The Mystics, Aln Zabis.

“The Council of Seven…”

Tiren muttered in a low voice.

‘But they are people from the Magic Age, called the Beginning.’

That was a full,

1,000 years ago.

If that power had been maintained for that long, it would not be easy to keep it a secret until now.

But still…

Listening to Randall’s words, Tiren could not shake off his uneasy feeling. The story he had heard in the corridors of the Imperial Palace.

‘The winner of the Expert Magic Competition.’

He had entered the Gray School as a reward for winning the competition and conquered it. Thanks to that, the Lye Knights had gone to the Secret Spring to find Qinglin.

What kind of place was the Gray School?

It was the only unexplored area related to the Council of Seven that had not yet been conquered.

“You said he used swordsmanship?”

“Yes, it was swordsmanship I had never seen before. It was simple yet strange, static yet dynamic.”

“I’m not asking to admire it. What’s important is the level of that swordsmanship. If it’s a magic that even the Sword Expert knights can’t beat, it might be in the 4th class.”

And swordsmanship on top of that…

In fact, if he had the skill to annihilate a group of knights, not just one or two, it would be no exaggeration to say that he had already reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship.

He just didn’t want to admit it.

The uneasiness that the unidentified enemy might have reached the rank of Sword Master.

“I don’t know about swordsmanship. But it’s never easy to annihilate a group of knights with magic alone. Has his swordsmanship also reached its peak?”

“That’s…”

Randall couldn’t answer Tiren’s question properly.

“Think carefully, Randall. Although your father held back, we grew up seeing the swordsmanship of Sword Masters.”

Seeing his expression, Tiren moved closer and asked in a low voice as if whispering.

“Is he stronger than your father?”

“…I don’t know.”

Seeing Randall unable to answer easily, Tiren let out a low sigh without realizing it.

“I see. So he was that strong. Were there any other peculiarities?”

“Hmm… I don’t know if it was a coincidence or not… When I clashed with him at the Secret Spring, a Sand Serpent intruded.”

“…What?”

“I said something unnecessary. It’s absurd to tame the master of the hills. It’s not far from Narak Rock… maybe it came looking for prey.”

Was it a coincidence?

But it was too strange to be a coincidence.

Tiren felt a chill run down his spine with an unknown sense of unease.

“It might not be absurd.”

“Yes?”

“The reason why Prince Oliven couldn’t come to the south and turned back was because a Sand Serpent was blocking the road.”

“Are you saying that the Prince has returned to the Empire?”

“No. I don’t think so. It seems like he’s regrouping… but is it just a coincidence that the same serpent is causing problems in a critical situation?”

“Brother.”

Randall looked at Tiren.

As he called out to him in a tense voice, Tiren also swallowed hard.

“The one who annihilated the knights is here.”

“…What!?”

“I saw it clearly. He was dueling with the Queen of Digon. I ended up like this because I interfered…”

Tiren looked at him coldly at his words.

“You’ve been beaten by him twice?”

“…I’m sorry.”

It wasn’t a rebuke for his defeat.

It was anger at what had happened to the McGovern brothers.

“Your apology should be directed to His Majesty, not me. But you’ve told me something important. It might be fortunate that you were here.”

“What do you mean…”

“The reason we came here is because of the annihilation of the Lye Knights. Digon is not cooperative because of the issue between the Five Great Families and the Knights.”

‘But if the culprit is related to Digon, the story changes. We might even be able to hold her accountable.’

If that were the case, it might completely change the current landscape.

‘I’ve figured out a way to meet the Queen.’

Tiren clenched his fist without realizing it.

“Randall, what are you going to do from now on?”

“I’m ashamed to say, but in this situation… I’ll be more of a hindrance than a help to you, brother.”

Tiren nodded at his answer.

“There’s something I have to do.”

“Personal revenge is not allowed. This is no longer just your problem, it’s the Empire’s problem.”

He stopped him as if reading Randall’s thoughts.

“I know. But… I can’t allow myself to return like this.”

“I hope you don’t do anything foolish.”

Randall nodded at his words.

“…I will return to the Empire and receive the appropriate punishment.”

“You.”

Tiren gave a bitter smile and lightly patted his shoulder.

“I will come again with the Prince. I hope you will act as a mediator then.”

“I will try.”

“Yes. Take good care of yourself.”

He had many things to do to prepare for tomorrow when he returned. Unfortunately, even if it was a reunion after a long time, he couldn’t waste time like this.

*Swish-*

Tiren, who was about to turn back, hesitated for a moment as he opened the door of the barracks.

Randall looked at his back with a puzzled expression.

“Just one last question.”

“Yes?”

Tiren had been hesitating whether to bring up this question ever since he came to the south and met Randall.

Brown eyes, brown hair, even magic.

Even though none of them were related, one question that strangely didn’t disappear from his mind kept lingering.

“I know it’s a stupid question. But perhaps…”

He carefully asked Randall.

“Did the one who attacked you resemble Carryl?”