The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 209

“This is the room you’ll be staying in.”

“……This is a room?”

“Of course. You can sleep, rest, and there’s even space to eat.”

Having returned from Duat’s space, Nine Darhon unhesitatingly took Serika and Mikhail to the basement of the Grand Library.

The basement was divided into dozens of floors by seemingly endless deep stairs, with numerous stone doors on each floor.

Opening one of them, surprisingly, a small room just big enough for two people awaited them.

“You’re lucky. The Immortal Society is a magic society that uses black magic. They don’t teach any other kind of magic. Of course, there are magic books of other attributes inside the Grand Library. Except for the Ivory Tower of the Dawn Society, no empire or principality has as many magic books as we do.”

Nine Darhon said, looking at the two with his arms crossed.

“Once you go in, you won’t feel cramped. Just like during the Book of Challenges, you’ll be training within your respective minds. Of course, rest and meals are guaranteed. Other than that, it’s all training.”

“……”

Mikhail swallowed nervously at his words.

“Ah, and don’t do anything unnecessary just because you’re in the same space. Keep your wits about you.”

“Wh, what……!!”

That tension was short-lived, as he shouted, his face flushing red at Nine Darhon’s words.

* * *

“Heh heh heh. Such noisy fellows.”

Nine, who had come up from the basement, said as he sat on a chair remaining in his ruined study.

The top of the library, where the roof had been completely blown off after the fierce battle with Duat, was completely in ruins.

“You’re the noisy one. The Immortal Society’s reputation in the world is usually more serious and weighty than this.”

Nine Darhon chuckled at Carryl’s words.

“There’s a more amazing mage than me, and there’s a kid who solved something I couldn’t solve, so why would I bother putting on airs?”

Somehow, he looked a little relieved.

As he said, this place was where he could be just Nine Darhon, not the leader.

Whirr…….

Even the cold wind coming in through the open ceiling and walls felt refreshing.

[Exactly. What’s the point of a brat trying to act important? That guy’s just gotten arrogant because he’s the ruler of a country. You, you haven’t been doing the magic training I told you to do, have you?]

“Can you stop nagging? It’s been a long time since we’ve reunited.”

[Look at him, look at him.]

Alrn Zavius pointed at Carryl as if seeking agreement, looking at Nine Darhon.

[Before you conquer the continent, there’s something more important. You’re right that you need subordinates and companions. You can’t do everything alone. But if you’re weak, you can’t do anything.]

“I know.”

Carryl nodded at his words.

How could he forget?

In his past life, his companions died because he was weak.

[Carryl. Our meeting was a bit unusual, but I don’t even bother looking at someone without potential. And that goes for you too, you rascal.]

Nine Darhon, who had been quietly listening to Alrn Zavius, unknowingly swallowed hard.

[Training isn’t just for those kids, you two need to do it too.]

“Alrn, there are things we need to do before that. The Dust of the Void can be dealt with later, but there’s someone else we need to find.”

[That necromancer from 250 years ago? So it’s something related to that Kaie Esser guy again.]

Alrn replied to Carryl’s words with a slightly disgruntled voice. He was reminded of when he and Kaie Esser were compared when the two first met at the Gray Academy.

[Hey, brat. You said you know those guys, right? Tell me everything right now, we don’t have time.]

“Yes? Ah, yes……! Yes, sir.”

Nine Darhon replied to Alrn’s words, stiff as a rookie in a magic society.

The majesty of the primordial mage from 1,000 years ago was immense, but perhaps if it were other great mages instead of him, they wouldn’t be so frozen when dealing with Alrn.

The reason was the difference in attributes.

Unlike the original attributes they had from birth, the mages of the Immortal Society trained in magic with a special attribute called dark power.

That was called attribute conversion (屬性變換) [a special method to change one’s magic attribute].

A special method unique to the Immortal Society that overlaid a new attribute on top of the attribute they were born with.

It certainly wasn’t the traditional method of mages.

Rather, it felt more like a kind of trick, like the mana transformation used by the Eastern Kingdom.

When Aidan unlocked the lock on the box obtained from the dragon’s corpse in Ariel Wood, he said that the black magic of the continent might have been created based on the secret arts of the Eastern Kingdom.

In that sense, the black magic of the Immortal Society, which evolved ancient black magic into magic, was also likely to have the potential of Eastern Kingdom technology.

[Hmm.]

At its apex was Duat, the Spirit King of Darkness.

Since Alrn Zavius possessed his power, it would not be an exaggeration to say that Alrn felt to Nine Darhon like facing a god.

[Even if you have the blood of the Darhon family, it’s impossible to live for 250 years……. You wouldn’t have seen him in person.]

“Ah, yes……. That’s right. I heard the story from Nike Darhon, the former leader of the Immortal Society and my father.”

“Wait, father? Your father was alive 250 years ago?”

Carryl chuckled in disbelief at Nine Darhon’s words.

“He was alive. Can’t you tell by looking at my appearance? The direct descendants who inherit our family’s blood live long. Nearly 300 years.”

Certainly, though Nine Darhon was in his seventies, he looked similar to Carryl in appearance.

Of course, Carryl’s growth was accelerated compared to his peers due to the dragon’s heart, but even aside from that, Nine Darhon looked like he had just come of age.

“Huh… then how old were you when he had you?”

“Well, maybe around 140 years old.”

“…I heard from Israfil that your family lives long, but I didn’t know it was to this extent.”

“Israfil…?”

Nine Darhon tilted his head as if trying to recall, but his reaction suggested he didn’t quite remember.

“You probably don’t know him. If I find him later, I’ll introduce you. He’s probably some pale guy stuck in a corner of the Grand Library, reading books.”

“Hmm…”

“You probably won’t need him, so I’ll take him with me later.”

He wondered why Carryl knew someone that even he, the leader of the Immortal Society, couldn’t remember, but that level of curiosity had become trivial now.

[Is your father the necromancer Carryl is looking for?]

Alrn, who had been waiting, asked Nine Darhon once again.

“No. However, my father once mentioned that Kaie Essir stopped by here before going to hunt the Flame Dragon, so I remember it.”

‘That was then.’

Carryl recalled Riceria’s memories when he consumed the Flame Dragon’s heart.

‘But there were no other companions in that memory…?’

Clearly, Kaie Essir was alone when he hunted the Flame Dragon.

“The two of them had a different purpose than dragon hunting. They sought a certain magic.”

Nine Darhon answered Carryl’s unspoken question as if he knew what he was thinking.

“What is it?”

“Great Magic.”

“…”

Carryl had heard that name before.

It was what Laminu had said when he first met him in the Flame Dragon’s lair.

‘In the past, there was only one person. Someone who possessed dragon magic and used the power of spirits, like me, was called that.’

Laminu had certainly said that.

‘That magic is capable of killing even gods.’

Carryl sighed softly as he recalled the memory.

As one of the Ten of the Oracle, he thought he had experienced more extraordinary things than anyone else.

But the more he learned, the more he felt that the path taken by the pioneers of the past was even more arduous than the path he was walking.

What he so desperately desired…

The act of killing a god had already been done 250 years ago, which had several implications.

[But, brat. Isn’t the one you’re trying to find Kaie Essir’s companion or something?]

“That’s right.”

[Is that guy a better necromancer than Wel Bahar of the Council of Seven Elders? If not, is there a need to find him?]

Alrn said with a slightly proud voice.

It was understandable.

The Seven Elders were all at the pinnacle of their respective fields.

“We… Wel Bahar?!”

Nine Darhon exclaimed the name.

How could he not be surprised?

If Alrn was the primordial magician, Wel Bahar was the primordial necromancer.

Although the Immortal Society focused more on curse magic and black magic than necromancy, the name Wel Bahar was an existence they could only look up to.

“Well, I don’t know. But what I want isn’t his excellence, but the treasure he left behind. Looking at Kaie Essir’s will, it’s highly likely that those two hid something as well.”

[Hmm.]

In his previous life, he had excavated many relics in the Order, but there were no items related to Kaie Essir’s companions.

Since he didn’t even know about Einherjar [warriors chosen by Odin to fight in Valhalla] in the first place, the three of them must have been truly extraordinary individuals.

“Master, I don’t know much either. However, as Carryl said, one of Kaie Essir’s companions is a necromancer, and the other is a swordsman.”

Nine Darhon playfully called Alrn ‘Master’.

“…Sword?”

Carryl looked at him.

“Yes. But there’s no information about that swordsman. The reason my father remembers the necromancer who was Kaie Essir’s companion is simply because he’s in the same field as us.”

“Hmm… Any clues?”

“My father said he was a user of unique necromancy.”

“Unique necromancy?”

“It doesn’t exist on the continent. Or rather, it’s a technique that has now disappeared. It’s a technique called puppetry (人形術) [Ningyō-jutsu: a Japanese puppetry technique], which involves placing resurrected souls inside golems.”

That was something Carryl had never heard of either.

[Heh, there was someone who used that 250 years ago? It’s a technique that almost disappeared even in the Magic Era.]

Alrn muttered, slightly surprised.

“Is that so?”

[Well, it’s a hassle anyway. The biggest advantage of necromancy is that it can be restored immediately if it’s destroyed as long as there’s magical power, but dolls can’t. Besides, special strings are attached to each joint, and the caster has to control them directly.]

“From what I remember, those necromancer’s dolls had their own will.”

At Nine Darhon’s words, Alrn asked back with interest.

[Really? To think there was a puppeteer who reached that level back then… This is making me curious.]

“Don’t ordinary undead also have a will when resurrected with high-level magic?”

Carryl recalled Jarka Hochi, who was sleeping in his ice claw.

[That’s true, but it’s clearly different. It’s the biggest advantage of puppetry. The special string connecting the doll and the caster is called the lifeline, and depending on the caster’s ability, the spirit inside the doll can fully manifest all its power from its previous life.]

In most cases, liches or wraiths resurrected through necromancy could hardly exert even half of their abilities from their previous lives.

In that sense, Jarka Hochi was an elf with great magical power.

[Also, they unconditionally obey the caster’s commands until the lifeline is severed. Well, the process of making a contract is more complicated than ordinary necromancy, though.]

“Amazing. To think there was such a technique.”

Carryl looked at Nine Darhon and asked.

“Do you know who it is?”

Unfortunately, he shook his head.

“But I know the family.”

[Right, now that I think about it, there was a family that made a name for themselves with puppetry even in the Magic Era.]

At that moment,

Surprisingly, the two people’s voices overlapped.

[It was probably the Rothschild family, right?]

“It’s the Rothschild family.”

As soon as the words were finished, Nine Darhon and Alrn Zabiuss looked at each other.

[Could it be that the family still exists? To think they’ve maintained their lineage for a thousand years.]

Alrn, who had spoken first, asked him, seemingly more surprised.

“They do.”

The answer came from Carryl.

“I’ve lived long enough to see everything. To think the Rothschild family has such abilities.”

Nine Darhon was dumbfounded at Carryl’s words, who was only fourteen years old, but age was no longer important to him.

“Do you know anything?”

“Yes. If my memory serves me right, the problem is that they’re in a duchy, not an empire.”

“Are you sure? If there was such a family in a duchy, there’s no way I wouldn’t know.”

“I’m sure. It’s natural that you don’t know. The Rothschild family has been ruined as of now.”

“As of now…?”

Nine Darhon quickly sensed something strange in Carryl’s words.

‘Kay Rothschild.’

But Carryl recalled the name in his memories, as if not caring about his question.

‘I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or fate. To think that she, one of the Ten of the Oracle, is related to puppetry…’

It’s a family that has disappeared now.

Her existence was unknown to anyone before the oracle.

Because it was after the empire unified the continent, Carryl knew that she was a fallen noble during the process of finding the Ten after the oracle was given.

Emperor Olivon said that he would revive the Rothschild family for her after fulfilling the oracle.

Of course,

All of that was a lie.

‘She was a unique woman. But I don’t remember seeing her use puppetry… Could it be that the technique wasn’t passed down?’

It was an unknown matter.

What was clear was that he would only know if he met her.

“It doesn’t matter. I was planning to go to the duchy after the empire’s affairs are over anyway. It’s just that I have one more reason to go there.”

“Don’t tell me… you’re not thinking of learning puppetry, are you?”

“If possible. But more than that, it would be nice if I could find a necromancer who can use that technique.”

“Do you have someone in mind?”

“Not yet. But wouldn’t someone who inherited the blood of that family be better at it than me?”

“Do you really have to go through the trouble of finding them? You can learn necromancy from the Immortal Guild.”

Carryl showed his ice claw and said.

“I have someone.”

[Ah… Is it that guy who’s still asleep?]

Alrn looked at him and chuckled.

Only Nine Darhon, who didn’t know what was going on, just stared at him blankly.

‘Certainly, it’s possible to revive him with necromancy. But if that happens, he won’t be able to use all his abilities from his previous life.’

A lich who built the Fortress of the Undead despite not being able to use all his abilities.

What would happen if he could exert all his abilities? Carryl seemed excited just imagining it.

‘Revive Jarka Hochi with puppetry.’

He slowly nodded his head.