The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 181

144. Big Fish and Loach

“…….”

Cahill glanced at the clock on the wall.

11:55 PM.

Only five minutes remained until the end of Chromen’s funeral period.

And four hours until dawn.

*Indeed,*

Cahill looked out the window, his eyes filled with intrigue, wondering how many incidents would unfold simultaneously during these four hours.

Among them, one person was most connected to him and undoubtedly the most anxious.

‘*It’s about time he came….*’

If not now, there would be no other chance.

The only time he could meet him freely was during these four hours before dawn.

Toc… Toc….

The sound of knocking on the door was very faint. Then, the doorknob slowly turned.

Cahill, who had deliberately left the door unlocked, watched it open. Confirming it was the person he expected, he quietly smirked.

“Cahill.”

The man standing before him wore a stiff expression.

It was, indeed,

Quel McGovern.

* * *

“Please, have some.”

Cahill handed Quel a teacup.

After taking a sip, Quel looked slightly surprised and said,

“I didn’t know you possessed such talent. You’re much better than your mother.”

“My mother doesn’t even know how to properly prepare tea. Unless it’s distinguishing poisonous herbs.”

Cahill replied coldly to Quel’s words.

He acknowledged Quel, his adoptive father, but Isabel Essir was different.

Even in his previous life, he had kept his distance from her, unlike his other siblings, and in this life, he had even less connection with her.

‘*But I should be grateful that she is of the Kaie Essir bloodline.*’

Thanks to that, he was able to obtain the Dragon’s Heart in Einherjar.

It would be ridiculous to call it a reward, but Cahill had neither positive nor negative feelings towards her.

Kaie Essir was exceptional, but Isabel Essir was not remarkable.

“I see. Cahill, do you miss the North?”

“Not particularly. But I believe a day will come when I return to the North. Considering how I have lived and how I will live.”

Cahill replied to Quel’s words with layered meaning: that he intended to gain the power of the North and that he would return there someday.

Or…

That if he succeeded here, their lives could be moved from the cold North to this central region.

“Ironically, you have gained a power different from the cold winter of the North. Perhaps your future lies within the Empire. It may sound absurd to say this, but… the power you have obtained, being like the flame of the McGovern family, may be fate.”

Cahill calmly replied to Quel’s words.

“Flames always exist, from the beginning, to benefit humanity. Of course, not all flames fulfill that mission.”

Then, he slowly pointed towards the Sun Hall outside the window and said,

“The symbol of Stefan is also a fiercely burning karmic fire. If the flame is too intense, it can sometimes devour people.”

Quel’s face momentarily stiffened at his words.

“May I ask you something?”

Cahill preempted Quel, who was struggling to speak.

“Speak.”

“Did Prince Oliven order you to come to me? Or was it your father’s decision?”

“What difference does it make?”

“There is a very big difference. If it’s the former, I will refuse, and if it’s the latter, I will make a request in return.”

Quel looked at Cahill with an incredulous expression.

“Unbelievable. You dare to make a request of your father? An ungrateful wretch who was saved from death… That’s why…”

“Stop.”

Quel said quietly at the voice coming from behind. There was a word that should not be uttered.

Cahill also looked up.

The man staring at him with sharp eyes was Tyren McGovern, the second son, who had accompanied Quel.

‘*I didn’t see him directly when I was in Digon… Is this the first time I’m seeing him in two years? Now, he’s quite the face in my memory.*’

Tyren was already nineteen years old.

When he first met him, he was only seventeen, having just had his coming-of-age ceremony, so he still had a boyish look, but now he clearly carried the air of an adult.

“I knew from before that you had a connection with His Majesty. And you also completed orders that we could not.”

“Are you resentful that I helped restore His Majesty’s health?”

It was a word he couldn’t bring himself to say, so Quel smiled bitterly and shook his head.

“His Majesty is the pillar of the Empire. He has accomplished many achievements that cannot be compared to mine. Wishing for his health is a natural duty as a subject.”

There was no hypocrisy in his words.

Cahill also knew that it was sincere, so he said nothing and looked at him.

“However… It is true that I hoped the time for His Majesty to pass on the throne would come a little sooner.”

Quel seemed to have made up his mind and said to Cahill.

“It may seem duplicitous for me, the commander of the Inquisitorial Order [an organization tasked with rooting out heresy and dissent], to say this… But the biggest reason I serve Prince Oliven is that he is the only one who can repeal the Inquisitorial Order.”

“…Father.”

Tyren frowned slightly at Quel’s words.

“And that thought has not changed even now. Not only Emperor Tyran, but also Prince Ruon, who most resembles his disposition, is the same.”

“…….”

Cahill looked at him with a faint smile.

‘*I know better than anyone that your convictions are upright.*’

The knight of knights.

Quel McGovern was a man who was respected by all the people until his death.

‘*But the object of your conviction is wrong.*’

Clearly,

The Inquisitorial Order will be repealed after Oliven ascends to the throne, as he believes.

‘*But he did something even more cruel than that.*’

Oliven announced, ‘The ethnic minorities who survived the Inquisitorial Order will be treated the same as the imperial citizens.’

Cahill’s face hardened coldly.

‘*Yes, the same treatment. Because they were assigned under the name of soldiers. He created the Sword Infantry Unit Yare, composed only of ethnic minorities, saying that he valued the excellent physical abilities of the ethnic minorities.*’

With the conviction in the late king that he had for the first time, the ethnic minorities always fought at the forefront in the unification of the continent by the Empire.

It was…

It was too late when he realized that it was just a shield to prevent the loss of the imperial army.

“Father.”

When Cahill called Quel that, Tyren glared at him with a displeased look.

“Yes. Speak.”

“I know that the reason you saved me is because of my biological father, Kaliark. I don’t know what kind of relationship you have… But I know that you don’t antagonize ethnic minorities.”

Quel’s expression darkened at his words.

“I also understand that as a knight of the Empire, you must carry out His Majesty’s orders.”

‘*What is it, that guy who was sharply on edge when I saw him at the mansion…*’

Tyren looked at Cahill, who was speaking calmly, as if he was puzzled. Two years was enough time to change a person.

But Cahill, as he assessed him, was not someone who would change so gently.

“Kaliark would be pleased to hear those words.”

Unlike Tyren’s worries, Quel said with a delighted expression at Cahill’s words.

“I also agree with your thoughts, Father. If the current Emperor Tyran remains in power, the Inquisitorial Order will not end. Prince Ruon will be the same.”

“That means…”

Quel looked at Cahill with a happy expression.

Because if it wasn’t those two, there was only one option left.

“So, if your answer to my question earlier is the latter, I have a request to make.”

“What is it?”

Cahill smiled coldly.

“Please allow my brother Mart to attend my trial in the Sun Hall tomorrow.”

Then, he uttered the last words he had prepared.

* * *

The day after Chromen’s funeral.

The Sun Hall began to bustle due to Cahill’s Twin Armor trial.

The ministers who had gathered since morning seemed to be more numerous than at the Third Prince’s funeral.

The divided factions made it immediately clear who supported whom.

“The fact that the one who interfered with Prince Ruon in Twin Armor is Quel McGovern’s adopted son… Doesn’t that say it all?”

“The Second Prince’s faction must have already made a move.”

There were many whispering voices, but Quel didn’t care and said to Cahill, who was standing in front of the Sun Hall’s door.

“We have already gathered the testimonies of the prisoners regarding the Twin Armor incident. We have also confirmed the circumstances of the Mague [a magical beast] being created, and we know that you attacked it, so there will be nothing wrong.”

Quel said this to reassure Cahill, but from the beginning, there was no anxiety on Cahill’s face.

Rather, he walked into the hall with confidence.

‘*This moment is the culmination of the complex plan I have prepared so far.*’

Although it was his trial, Cahill was happy instead.

Coo goo goo goo….

The door of the hall opened, and the gazes of the long line of ministers who were waiting turned to Cahill.

Tyran Stefan was sitting on the throne, with Ruon and Oliven on either side of him.

“I greet Your Majesty.”

Cahill stood exactly in the middle of the hall, knelt, and paid his respects.

This was his second visit, but the atmosphere was completely different from the first time.

“Raise your head. As the matter is what it is, cut to the chase and start immediately.”

As soon as the Emperor’s words ended, the ministers began to speak.

“Your Majesty, this man stood on the side of the Istrian Three Kingdoms in Twin Armor, blocked the Imperial Army, and caused numerous casualties.”

“What nonsense! Rather, he is the one who saved the Imperial Army from the danger of the Mague!”

“If it weren’t for his interference, we would have quickly broken through Twin Armor and headed south!”

“You’re showing that you haven’t experienced the battlefield. Do you think Twin Armor is a place that can be destroyed in a day or two?”

“What……?! Are you saying that the power of the Imperial Army is only enough to destroy one fortress of the Istrian Three Kingdoms!”

The ministers who were lined up on both sides began to pour out words at each other as if they had been waiting.

Most of them were people Cahill didn’t even recognize.

That meant they were only lower-ranking nobles, and it was certain that the Chancellor had made a move to drive him into a corner.

‘*It’s just a matter of shaping the atmosphere anyway.*’

As if he had no interest in such people, Cahill looked around and thought, even though the trial was in full swing.

‘*Didn’t Gordon come?*’

The leader of the Kyo-do Mercenary Corps had promised to meet again when they parted ways in the Fortress of the Specter.

But until yesterday, after the funeral, Gordon did not attend and did not show up.

‘*Does that mean I should do as I please?*’

Cahill chuckled as he grasped Gordon’s intentions.

Buzz- Buzz-

The people in the hall began to stir at his appearance. Cahill slowly scanned the subjects in the Sun Hall.

‘*There he is.*’

And when he found one of them, Cahill slowly nodded.

‘*Anyway, the result of this trial is obvious. But what I want now is to overturn that obvious trial.*’

The man who was looking at him with an anxious face was none other than Mart McGovern.

‘*Now, let’s see if what I’ve caught will become a rampaging big fish…*’

Cahill also faced the eldest of the McGovern family, who had a stiff face.

‘*Or whether it will end up being a crouching loach, we’ll have to watch from now on.*’

Then, he turned his eyes and looked at the Emperor with a calm expression.

“Your Majesty.”

At that moment,

His voice echoed in the hall.