The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 147

117. The Start of the Drive Hunt

“Let’s hear it.”

Milliana didn’t even bother to take out the written oath in front of her to check, instead looking back and forth between Kromen and Tyren.

“I hear that in the Central, even if it’s not the King, a subordinate can express their intentions on their behalf, right? My thinking was short-sighted. From the start, sending an envoy itself meant the King wasn’t directly involved. I was a bit too emotional.”

‘That’s ridiculous.’

Even if she was a barbarian from the South, she was the head of a tribe.

Moreover, the fact that she had a secret agreement with Olivon was publicly known.

There was no way such a person wouldn’t know such obvious rules.

“If you wish, I now permit you to speak to me instead of the Prince.”

Tyren thought Milliana was apologizing for delaying their meeting until now with such a ridiculous excuse.

“No, thank you.”

But right now, he had no choice but to accept even this apology.

‘Let’s see if you can keep talking so arrogantly until the end.’

“Before we begin, I would like to thank you for helping my foolish brother.”

He glanced at the Queen with eyes like sharpening knives and spoke quietly.

“There’s no need to thank me. Fortunately, he has recovered and the brothers have talked, so it’s a happy thing.”

Tyren invisibly exhaled.

That’s enough pleasantries.

“As Your Majesty knows, all the Princes, including Prince Kromen, have come south to resolve this incident.”

“One of those solutions tried to kill me, though.”

Milliana shrugged her shoulders as if it were nothing and waved her hand, signaling him to continue.

“This incident was about resolving the annihilation of the Lye Knights, but we were missing the most important thing.”

“Oh really?”

“Whether the ones who annihilated the Knights were truly the barbarians of the South.”

“Hmm.”

At Tyren’s words, Milliana slowly nodded.

“Unfortunately, communication between the South and the Empire has not been smooth since this incident occurred.”

“So?”

“However, thanks to Your Majesty’s consideration, I learned an interesting fact from my meeting with the last survivor of the Lye Knights, my brother.”

“Consideration, huh…….”

Milliana wore a strange smile.

“Well, fine. So?”

Since Tyren didn’t know about Caryl’s identity in the first place, he couldn’t guess her true feelings.

“The root of the problem between the Empire and the South is the annihilation of the Lye Knights.”

Everyone nodded at Tyren’s words.

“Y-yes, that’s right.”

Especially Kromen, as if expecting it, answered in agreement every time his words ended.

Seeing his appearance, Yurin Hugart and Elliot slightly frowned but didn’t show it.

However,

Only Yurin subtly glanced at Kepellan.

“Although the Lye Knights had conflicts with the five major families of the South, the situation of annihilation is truly unfortunate. But I don’t think the Digon Clan, who opened the doors of the South, would create such a situation…….”

Kwaaaang—-!!!

At that moment,

Before Tyren could finish his words, one of Milliana’s twin swords slashed his collarbone and was embedded in the pillar of the barracks.

“Who opened what? Hey, I must have misheard, right?”

Shivers…….

Blood soaked his clothes.

“……!!”

Everyone couldn’t help but be surprised by the sight.

Despite the deep wound that exposed his collarbone, Tyren slowly raised his hand, placed it on one side of his chest, and said.

“Please forgive my rudeness.”

“Continue.”

Tyren, whose face had turned pale, looked as if he would collapse at any moment, but he didn’t let go of his concentration.

“In a way, this matter may not be something for the Empire and Digon to fight over.”

He looked at the written oath.

No matter what, he had to make the Queen sign the documents inside.

“Rather, it is something we should cooperate on.”

“Cooperate, huh……. I hope you’re not saying that without knowing the relationship between the South and the Central.”

Milliana continued to ask questions as if she didn’t care about Tyren’s wound.

“The Empire has clearly expressed its intention to invade the South. The proof is the First Prince’s army. It was blocked by the Istria Three Kingdoms, but what if that army was behind you?”

She spoke sharply.

“Would you have taken the same attitude as you do now?”

“…….”

At that moment, Tyren stood up from his seat.

Everyone’s attention was focused on his actions.

Swish-

Tyren used all his strength to pull the sword embedded in the pillar with both hands. Even lifting his arm must have been painful, but his expression remained unchanged.

Step…… Step…… Step…….

He walked forward, knelt down, and raised the sword he had pulled from the pillar above his head with both hands.

“The Empire is a powerful nation. Prince Ruon dispatched his troops to show the might of a powerful nation in the annihilation of the Knights. Their deaths are unfortunate, but thanks to them, our arrival in Digon is also a godsend opportunity.”

Tyren’s eyes gleamed.

“Through this, Your Majesty will achieve what you have been hoping for.”

“Haha. You speak as if you know what I want.”

About half of Tyren’s clothes were stained with blood.

Even in a situation where he might collapse due to bleeding, Milliana only received the sword he raised.

“Um…….”

Yurin, the priest, tried to speak, unable to watch any longer, but Kepellan stopped him.

He knew that although it was cruel, Tyren was the only one who could resolve this matter.

“The might of a powerful nation……. It sounds like a threat.”

“I simply wish to determine right and wrong. In this incident, I want Landol McGovern, the fourth of the McGovern family and a knight of the Lye Knights, to attend this meeting as a key witness, my brother.”

“Even if he comes, how will it help this situation?”

“Because he knows something that neither Your Majesty nor we know.”

“Hoo……?:”

“That the real culprit who annihilated the Knights is someone else.”

Everyone paid attention to him.

“And that the real culprit is related to Digon.”

In an instant,

The atmosphere in the barracks sank at Tyren’s words.

Yurin Hugart moved a little closer to Kromen in case of an emergency.

Just like he said inside the airship, if Digon was hiding the culprit, they might do something to the Third Prince to conceal the truth.

“Bring Landol here.”

But at Tyren’s words, Milliana shouted outside as if she had expected it.

Landol, who had been waiting as if already prepared, entered the barracks and greeted Kromen.

“Please forgive my disloyalty, Your Highness.”

“It’s alright. It’s a relief that you’re alive.”

The Third Prince, who just wanted to escape from this heavy, oppressive space, was simply pleased that one more ally had joined him.

“The real culprit is related to Digon, huh…….”

For the first time, Milliana reached for the box that Tyren had given her.

Click-

“Hmm.”

She opened the lid of the box and took out the parchment inside.

“You.”

After slowly scanning it, she opened her mouth towards Tyren.

“Can you take responsibility for what you’ve said?”

* * *

Knock- Knock-

“Um……. I’ve brought it, Commander.”

Rozes opened the door to the heavy-atmosphere office and spoke quietly, as if testing the waters.

In his bandit-like hands was a large bowl.

A foul smell filled the room.

“I can’t imagine that big guy being a chef.”

Caryl said, looking at Rozes.

“You shouldn’t judge people by their appearance.”

Gordon received the bowl that Rozes brought, still with a stern expression.

“No. Then you shouldn’t have bothered to tell me to bring it here and just talked about it inside the airship.”

At Caryl’s words, Rozes stroked his bushy beard and nodded awkwardly.

“Silly fellow.”

It was unclear whether he was talking to one of them or both, but Gordon clicked his tongue and lowered his head.

Bubble…… Bubble…….

The soup, still not cooled and with bubbles still popping, had the monster’s shell floating as it was, and the essence was a murky color like rotten water.

“…….”

“I think we can boil down Iacus’s head a couple more times since it’s so big. Right?”

“Yes, yes. Since I did it the way Caryl told me, the extract is coming out very well……. We can do it even more times.”

“No. That’s enough.”

“The more you eat, the more the pain will decrease. Well……. It won’t completely heal, though.”

Gordon held up the bowl containing the essence and showed it to Caryl.

“Then you should tell me a way to completely cure it instead of such temporary measures. Are you toying with me?”

“Are you telling me to show you everything I have?”

But even at his rebuke, Caryl didn’t flinch and instead spoke confidently.

“What do I trust?”

He paid him back with the same words Gordon had said a little while ago during their fight.

Gulp, gulp, gulp.

While glaring at Caryl with a displeased look, Gordon emptied the bowl he was holding in one gulp.

He seemed to have at least lost his suspicion of Caryl.

Even Rozes, who made it, frowned at the sight of him eating it.

“Hmm.”

But Gordon, befitting his reputation as the commander of the Order Mercenaries, didn’t change his expression at all.

“You’ll get used to it over time. You may feel pain from time to time, but it’s stimulating the magic blood, so don’t try to stop it forcibly.”

“You know more than the healers. The airship’s engine too……. Where does your knowledge come from?”

Gordon looked at Caryl with an interested gaze.

“It’s a secret.”

“You dare say such a thing.”

He showed the empty bowl as if asking why he had trusted him but he was hiding things.

But Caryl dismissed it with that one word and lightly waved his hand towards Rozes.

Rozes blankly stood there, then belatedly understood and took the bowl from Gordon and left the room.

“Since you’re the one holding what I want anyway……. Fine. I’ll listen to what you want first.”

Caryl asked him.

“Prince Kromen is in Digon, right?”

“You’re quick with the news.”

“I’m also working as an information merchant in Tatur in my own way.”

There was no need to tell Gordon, who wouldn’t know that he had created the situation, the truth.

Show the minimum number of cards and know the opponent’s cards for sure. That was Caryl’s thought.

“Well, it was a noisy incident. That’s right. The Third Prince is currently on my airship and has contacted Digon. You probably know the reason.”

He looked at Caryl with an expression as if asking why he was asking that.

“Do you think Lord Gordon that the Third Prince can resolve this matter?”

“……What?”

Gordon’s eyebrows twitched slightly at the unexpected question.

“Certainly, the Third Prince is weak. But there’s a pretty smart guy around him. That guy might be able to overcome this situation.”

The person that came to both of their minds was the same.

Tyren McGovern.

Their evaluation of him was also the same.

However, there was only one difference.

“He will fail.”

Caryl said in a low voice.

That was,

The perspective on the outcome of this negotiation.

“…….”

He looked at the location of Digon’s barracks, where the debate between Tyren and Milliana was taking place.

“How can you be so sure?”

Gordon frowned and looked at him.

But Caryl had a confident expression as if he knew the result.

‘Sorry, Tyren. The plan you racked your brains out for will fail.’

Reveal the real culprit, hold them accountable, and shift all the blame to them to strengthen the relationship between Digon and the Empire again.

It was the most ideal method.

‘No. It must fail unconditionally. Because that’s how my plan can be completed.’

To be exact, the Third Prince’s failure.

Before leaving the barracks, Caryl had already made that promise with Milliana.

To ensure that she would not accept reconciliation with the Empire no matter what conditions were presented.

‘But today’s failure will make you stronger. And you have to be stronger than in your previous life. Even if the harsh tempering I give you turns its blade against me.’

Caryl wore a bitter smile.

‘You’ll be frustrated. You’ll feel wronged. But I need to see you waver. At that sight, the Third Prince will not just waver but completely collapse.’

Caryl slowly approached Gordon.

‘That’s what I want. When he wavers at you, Kromen will run away to find someone else to rely on.’

The person has already been decided.

And that person was the ultimate target he was aiming for.

“What I want is…….”

Caryl said to Gordon in a quiet voice.

“……!!!”

At that moment,

Gordon Fabian’s eyes widened in surprise, even more than when he heard he could cure his incurable disease.