The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 179

142. Bran Gaunt

“…….”

“…….”

Breaking the awkward silence, Bran Gaunt spoke first.

“Um…….”

However, unsure what to say next, he looked at Caryl with a troubled expression, then shuffled through the dusty books.

“Is it alright for you to be here?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Bran frowned at Caryl’s words and glanced at the soldiers standing guard outside the door.

Judging by their intense aura, he suspected they were not ordinary guards but the Imperial Guard [elite soldiers directly serving the Emperor].

*If so, the person in front of him was someone of equal value.*

*Or, someone with an equal amount of danger.*

The place where these two were was none other than a warehouse at the back of the academy, rarely visited by anyone.

Discarded books were piled high, and magical tools that were no longer in use were scattered haphazardly.

“Weren’t you… on your way somewhere?”

“That’s right.”

Caryl said with an unchanging and calm expression.

“I was on my way to see His Majesty.”

*Thump……!!!*

Bran dropped the book he was trying to place on the top shelf while on the ladder, staring at Caryl as if he were speechless.

Caryl picked up the fallen book and handed it to Bran, who hurriedly placed the book on the shelf and said,

“I’m sorry. I have a distinguished guest here… I haven’t finished my work yet.”

Bran began to hurry, his movements frantic.

However, Caryl chuckled at the sight.

*If he really thought of him as a distinguished guest, he would have put aside his work and greeted him first.*

“It’s alright. Even if it’s the Crown Prince’s funeral, the country can’t be maintained if everyone is just mourning.”

Caryl said, taking out a book from the pile and opening it.

“Even now, someone is working to live, and someone is eating.”

At his words, Bran glanced at Caryl with strange eyes and turned his head away.

“You use the word ‘Crown Prince’ so casually. You should be careful. Here, you might lose your head if you don’t use honorifics [formal titles and respectful language].”

“Aren’t you the same?”

*Clack-*

Caryl closed the book he had opened.

Perhaps he thought this much courtesy was enough. He asked directly.

“Even if you’ve been stuck in the library, you can’t possibly be completely unaware of the empire’s situation over the past few months.”

“…….”

“Besides, if it’s the Crown Prince’s funeral, they would have been preparing noisily from more than a week ago, so you would naturally know about the Crown Prince’s death…”

Bran slowly climbed down the ladder and looked at Caryl.

“Even if I concede that you don’t know about the commotion I caused a few days ago, it seems to me that it’s already over since you brought me here.”

“Haha…….”

“What do you think? Now that you’ve seen me in person. I want to hear your evaluation.”

“What do you mean by that…”

Bran asked back with a troubled expression at Caryl’s words.

“Did you take the wrong path? Surely… I don’t think you would do that, or is that just my delusion?”

Bran was bewildered as to how Caryl could be so sure of someone he had never met before.

“Besides, bringing me, who is under surveillance, to this old warehouse, I think it’s because you want to talk comfortably, at least.”

“Comfortably? There are guards standing right outside the window, and this is the academy. There are countless students who have risen to the ranks of mages, and the entire area is under the magic of Court Mage Kadin Luer.”

“Not here.”

“……Pardon?”

Bran Gaunt looked at him with a surprised expression at Caryl’s words.

“As you said, there are guards behind, but isn’t this the only place in the imperial palace without surveillance magic? If you have to be picky, it’s the safest place you can go in the palace. You can deceive people’s eyes, but it’s difficult to deceive magic.”

However, Caryl remained consistent in his attitude.

“Excuse me? I’m sorry, but I don’t know anything about you, Caryl…”

“I misspoke. You must have been more curious about something else than about me.”

Caryl gave a faint smile.

“How exactly 40,000 prisoners secretly entered the empire.”

“…….”

“So you came to see me. You wanted to see what kind of person would do such a daring thing, even just to see their face. Isn’t that right?”

The moment Caryl’s tone changed, Bran Gaunt involuntarily felt goosebumps and couldn’t help but twitch his lips.

“Haha… I raise both hands to Caryl’s sharp insight. Everyone in the imperial palace will probably be curious about Caryl.”

“Or were you curious about this? How you, who became an orphan after the Gaunt family was ruined, grabbed Duke Azif’s ankle. What happened at Twin Armor. How much of it was my doing.”

“…….”

“Or did you want to compare yourself to the king you had set your heart on?”

As Caryl’s questions continued, Bran’s smiling face hardened.

Looking at him, Caryl said calmly.

“I was curious about you too. How long will you remain a scribe?”

“Haha… Someone like me. I’m just satisfied to be in this position.”

“Is that so?”

It was only their first meeting.

Caryl didn’t think he could capture his heart with the first drink [win him over immediately].

However…

This meeting was to throw bait to move Bran Gaunt’s heart.

“It’s difficult to talk about other things because they’re confidential, but I can tell you the first one. It’s something I was going to tell His Majesty soon anyway, and the imprisoned prisoners may have already said it.”

Then he said to Bran.

“Do you have a map?”

“Ah, yes.”

At Caryl’s words, Bran took out a map from his pocket. The folded parts looked tattered from being folded and unfolded repeatedly, but the map itself was quite up-to-date.

Looking at the map he received, Caryl chuckled as if it was as he expected.

“You always carry a map with you, don’t you?”

“It’s nothing special. It’s just a hobby of mine to unfold maps and draw past tactics…”

“Good. Reviewing famous battles of the past is a great thing for a tactician.”

“You flatter me. I’m just a scribe at the academy.”

Bran said that, but he also knew that Caryl wouldn’t be interested in just a scribe.

“250 years ago, when the Old Empire was first founded, the one who built the imperial capital was the great mage Kaie Essir, you know that, right?”

“Of course. And the current empire was established 150 years ago. Max Stefan, the first king of the current empire, did not change the capital as a sign of inheriting the will of the Old Empire.”

“That’s right. After that, he built a new imperial palace and erected new barriers around the imperial capital.”

“But do you know? The imperial capital of the Old Empire was three times the size of the current one.”

At Caryl’s words, Bran nodded with a bitter smile.

“Yes. It was a time called the golden age, led by Kaie Essir, the first dragon hunter, proving enormous wealth and powerful strength.”

The area of the imperial capital alone was hundreds of kilometers. Three times that size would be truly enormous.

“The current imperial capital was newly built on top of the imperial capital of the Old Empire. The things you see above have completely changed, but the underground is the same as it was 250 years ago.”

“Could it be…”

Caryl nodded.

“That’s right. The current imperial capital is using the water and sewage facilities made in the Old Empire era as they are when building the city.”

Then, slowly connecting the northern mountains where arrows were shot from the imperial capital, he said with his finger.

“Among the underground sewage facilities built during the Old Empire era, there are some that extend through the northern mountains.”

Bran’s eyes shook at his words.

“But…! No matter what, it’s impossible. The water and sewage facilities within the imperial capital are strictly managed.”

“That’s right. That’s right. But some entrances are not. They’ve already been abandoned.”

Caryl once again circled the imperial capital with his finger and pointed north.

“Could it be…”

“It’s different here where the barbarians live. It’s already an abandoned ruin, so the imperial army’s hands don’t reach here.”

“Are you saying that you moved 40,000 troops to the north and moved them through the Old Empire’s sewers to the northern mountains?”

“That’s right.”

“How…….”

“The movement was not by land but by ship along the strait.”

“By sea?”

Bran frowned as if he didn’t understand Caryl’s words.

In winter, the wind mainly blows from north to south. Therefore, it was difficult for Tatur, located south of the empire, to sail north by sea.

“For some reason, luckily, the waves were blowing towards the empire. Isn’t it amazing?”

The reason why the wind is important in navigation is to ride the waves. But if the Sea King living in the strait stirs up the currents, the ships carrying the prisoners can move quickly regardless of the blowing wind.

However, Bran, who had no way of knowing this fact, felt that everything Caryl had done was like magic.

Putting such a huge number of 40,000 people in the empire’s front yard without anyone knowing was something that could be believed even if it was real magic.

At Caryl’s words, Bran unknowingly exclaimed.

The very idea of penetrating the imperial capital through the Old Empire’s sewers was surprising, and he even felt fear at what would have happened if this path had been used in the war.

*‘In my past life, I know many more secrets of the imperial capital than this. It’s a shame to show one of the cards I had….’*

Cards are not the end just by having them.

In order to get something bigger than that, you also need the courage to throw the card.

“Huh…….”

Caryl said to Bran.

“You can’t know this by looking at the map all day. It’s not even left in the history books. It’s not just the sewers. The proud imperial people ignore the shortcuts that only the barbarians know, but…”

He said quietly.

“You know better what I mean. Soon we will walk the path of the continent with dignity, not shortcuts. Well, do you need the second and third answers too?”

*Gulp-*

The sound of swallowing dry saliva echoed in the warehouse.

“Bran Gaunt. Examining the past is a great attitude, but you can never go up if you just sit at your desk.”

Looking at him, Caryl lightly placed his hand on Bran’s shoulder.

“You have to face it directly. Imagine the sight of looking down at tens of thousands of troops moving at your fingertips. That’s definitely not in the history of the past.”

“…….”

“Because you will write it anew in history.”

Before leaving the warehouse door, Caryl whispered as if it were a secret.

“I can do that for you.”

*Coo-goo-goo…….*

Before going out the door, Caryl brought his finger to his mouth as if it were a secret and gave a slight wink.

*Thud-*

Bran collapsed as if his legs had lost strength.

When was the last time he had such a suffocating conversation? He unknowingly realized that his palms were wet with sweat.

“Caryl McGovern…….”

Even after he left, Bran stared blankly at the map for a long time.