The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 159

125. Opening the Box

“What happened?”

“…….”

After the secret talk with রেডios, Cal Mc asked, seemingly curious, as he watched Camma return after sending him away.

“…….”

However, contrary to the expectation that he would be fussing and noisily talking about this matter, Cal couldn’t help but be even more curious when he saw Camma deep in thought with a serious face.

‘Why is he like that? He would normally be calling my name and making a fuss…….’

“Cal.”

It was then.

Camma called him.

“Yes? Please speak.”

“You said you know where Mikhail is?”

At his question, Cal nodded.

“Yes. Suan told me. She told me to go there if something happened… but she told me to wait if possible, though?”

“Now is the time. It’s not just any ordinary matter, so we can move. We need to go there right away. I don’t think we can stay here any longer.”

“What’s going on?”

“A war will break out.”

At Camma’s words, Cal smirked with a knowing expression and said.

“Oh, is it that story again? You can tell just by opening the window now. Didn’t you see outside? You were the one singing about how all of Fran’s warships are gathered right now, Camma.”

“You rascal. That’s not it. It’s the opposite. Tully Lurein moved first.”

“……Yes?”

“Everyone thought that Fran’s forces gathered in Cove would head north to strike White Bunker, right? But Tully is coming down to strike Fran in reverse.”

It was definitely unexpected.

However, Cal spoke as if he didn’t understand his words.

“That doesn’t make sense. White Bunker is an impregnable fortress. Why abandon it and risk coming down to Cove?”

At his question, Camma glanced around.

Then, he beckoned Cal to come closer, and Cal put his ear to him.

‘The 5th Duke, Rakiel, betrayed us.’

“……!!!”

At his words, Cal Mc involuntarily looked out the window. This was because the Silver Wing Fleet of the 5th Duke, Rakiel, was stationed right behind the steel fleet anchored in Cove.

“No way…….”

“When the war starts, Cove will be in chaos inside and out. If we’re not careful, we might see the steel fleet turn into a sea of fire before the war even starts.”

Cal couldn’t easily imagine Fran’s fleet, which could be said to be the pride of the duchy, engulfed in flames.

“Then why did রেডios come to us? Why would he take the risk of us informing Fran about this secret?”

“There is a reason. The only thing in Cove that doesn’t belong to the duchy is the Lavat Guild. Even if the city becomes a sea of fire, it can be rebuilt, but once we leave, we may never return.”

“Hmm.”

“According to রেডios, Tully still wants to do business with us. He’s thinking of advancing to the center after finishing this civil war. He came to save us because he wants us to be the bridgehead.”

At Camma’s words, Cal scoffed.

“He has big dreams. Doesn’t he know there’s a Master across the sea in the center? And he’s going to trade with us? They’ll be eaten alive if they come.”

“I don’t know… This is just my feeling, but I don’t think রেডios came to us on Tully’s orders.”

“Then?”

“Where else could it be? The Wooden Cloud that the Master mentioned. From Tully’s perspective, advancing to the center is naturally a conquest… But with the Wooden Cloud, it’s different.”

Camma stroked his chin once and said.

“Get ready. We need to go to White Bunker right now. There are many things to find out from now on.”

As if he had been preparing, a travel bag was already prepared in one corner of the room, ready to leave at any moment.

“You seem a little excited?”

Cal smirked as he looked at him.

“Of course, I have a knack for shady things.”

Camma pointed to himself with his thumb and raised his chin slightly as he spoke.

“……That’s not something to be proud of.”

Cal smirked at his appearance, but he knew that his hunch was better than he thought, especially in a bad way.

“Let’s go.”

He said to Camma as if he had made up his mind.

* * *

“What… is this?”

Those were the first words Gordon said after checking inside the box. However, others couldn’t react to his words.

“Nothing at all. Who the hell is the crazy bastard who put an empty box in the belly of a dragon?”

Gordon looked at the Fortress of the Undead.

“Are you kidding me right now? I should grab the lich inside and ask him.”

“Just a moment.”

It was Aidan who stopped him as he strode towards the fortress.

“It’s not empty.”

“Hmm?”

“Look at this. It can’t be this heavy just from the weight of the box. There’s definitely something inside.”

“But there’s nothing there?”

“What you see isn’t everything. It looks like that at first glance… But doesn’t the bottom of the box seem higher than you think?”

“Could it be…….”

At Aidan’s words, Carryl looked at him as if he had noticed something.

“It’s a simple trick.”

He inserted a dagger along the inside of the box.

Swoosh-

The blade of the dagger went halfway into the gap connected to the bottom of the box. When he twisted the blade, the bottom popped open with a click.

“Exploration teams exploring dungeons or ruins pay attention to magical traps and the like, but they often fall for these shallow tricks.”

Gordon stroked his innocent beard as if embarrassed by his words.

It was natural.

Who would have imagined that there would be a box with a childish prank device inside the corpse of a Bone Dragon close to SS-class?

“Ahem, yes. So what’s inside?”

Nevertheless, he coughed and said to Aidan, wondering what the contents were.

“Just a moment.”

Before putting his hand inside the box, Aidan showed it to Carryl first.

“I don’t feel any magic power. There’s no special magic on it. I think you can take it out.”

“Understood.”

“Heh heh…….”

Gordon felt once again why Carryl had chosen Aidan, seeing him being careful until the very end.

‘Opening the box and even his composure… He’s quite something.’

“You can’t covet him. Aidan is my important subordinate.”

“Wh, what are you talking about.”

Gordon said to him with a slightly embarrassed expression when Carryl said it subtly.

“I was just kidding, but your reaction makes me wonder if you were really thinking that?”

“Nonsense. Tell me what’s inside quickly.”

“That’s…….”

Everyone’s eyes were on Aidan’s voice. In his hand was an old circular object.

“It’s a crest?”

Whirr-
The cloth decoration attached around the small disc crumbled as it was old, and only the mark remained in Aidan’s palm.

“A crest……?”

Everyone was once again dumbfounded by the mark that was suddenly inside the initially empty box.

Gordon picked up the crest in Aidan’s hand and examined it.

It was not a symbol used in any kingdom on the continent.

After carefully examining the pattern on the disc, which initially looked like a large ladder, it was a long tower with each floor divided.

“Is there a family with a tower as their symbol?”

Aidan asked Gordon.

At his question, Gordon shook his head, but Carryl flinched his shoulders the moment he saw the crest.

‘Pharel……?’

Carryl shook his head, recalling the tower of his past life that he wanted to forget but could never forget.

‘Why…….’

It’s not just because it’s a tower shape that he’s scared.

Despite being old and unable to properly confirm the shape, Carryl knew that the pattern engraved on the crest was talking about Pharel.

“This… It’s an item from the Magic Era [a period of advanced magical development in the past].”

Gordon said, examining the crest.

“The Magic Era?”

“Yes. I don’t know why something like this is left, but this pattern belongs to a group called Blader.”

Everyone tilted their heads at the name they heard for the first time, but Carryl’s heart sank as soon as Gordon’s words fell.

Because his face was hardened, which he hadn’t shown even when facing the Bone Dragon, Aidan carefully approached him.

“Master, are you alright?”

However, Carryl asked as if Gordon’s answer was more important than his question.

“Blader? Are you saying that tower pattern is theirs?”

“What, you know that too? Are you really 14 years old? Even the old men in the imperial palace have forgotten the story.”

Gordon said to Carryl with an expression that he couldn’t be more surprised now.

“Isn’t it the group that made the 5 Great Relics [powerful magical artifacts]? The staff sleeping in the imperial palace, Infinite Breath, is their work.”

“That’s right.”

“And my sword is also one of them, Ice Claw.”

“……!!”

Aidan and Miliana looked at the sword he held out with astonished expressions.

“I knew it. I thought it was an unusual sword, but it’s one of the 5 Great Relics… You’re becoming more and more absurd.”

Certainly, Gordon’s expression was more of understanding than surprise at his words.

“So it was you. The guy who conquered Azor’s Gray School.”

“How do you know?”

“That’s the only place where there could be such a relic. I heard it in the corridors of the imperial palace. The court magician, Kadin Luer, was making a fuss. He seemed to want to recruit the conqueror of the Gray School.”

‘He must have been there at that time…….’

Carryl briefly thought of Tyren at Gordon’s words.

“You better be careful. If the empire guys find out that your sword is one of Blader’s 5 Great Relics, there will definitely be those who will aim for it.”

“Let them try if they can take it.”

“Anyway, you’re a guy who’s so confident that it’s annoyingly likable.”

Gordon laughed and moved on at Carryl’s answer.

“But the point is why Blader’s crest, which disappeared in the Magic Era, is inside the Bone Dragon’s body… This is a problem even if I find a hidden item.”

“Hmm…….”

“That’s right. What does this mean…….”

Miliana and Aidan looked at each other and tilted their heads.

Kuuuuuu…….

The Fortress of the Undead began to howl lowly as if rejecting them.

Carryl looked at the fortress far away.

‘The Undead…….’

Why?

At that moment, the disappeared Aln Zabius came to his mind.

He thought, looking at the crest in Gordon’s hand.

‘He is also one of the Bladers.’

Moreover, like Jarka Hochi, who can be said to be the owner of this place, he remained in this world despite being a dead person who was not from this era.

In addition, the Council of Seven Elders, where Aln Zabius was, had a close relationship with the White Gold Dragon, and there is a theory that the barrier surrounding the Fortress of the Undead was also created by a dragon.

Carryl felt a chilling thrill run through his entire body without realizing it.

“Also, both of them are people from the same Magic Era.”

He thought that there might be more in this than he expected, more than conquering the Fortress of the Undead.

Perhaps…….

‘If Jarka Hochi is also one of the other Bladers…….’

He might be able to find the whereabouts of two of the 5 Great Relics of Blader, which were said to have disappeared.