The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 247

177. The Principality Civil War (12)

“P-Please… spare me.”

With his face a mess, Giles groveled on the floor, raising his hands above his head and begging for mercy.

Tuk… tuk… tuk….

Amidst the charred and collapsed Gate Eter walls, only a half-burnt red carpet remained as a trace of the destroyed office.

“You beg for mercy in war? From the enemy, no less? A commander dares to utter such words in front of your soldiers who sacrificed themselves to protect Gate Eter.”

Carryl raised his head.

“A warrior chooses honor. But one who knows no honor is not even worthy of death.”

Lilianna answered as if she had been waiting for it. Carryl, satisfied with her words, lowered his head again and looked at Giles.

“Is your life more precious than honor?”

“H-Heuk!”

Carryl stared at him coldly.

“Enough.”

It was Fran who, having watched silently, stopped Carryl with a displeased expression.

“The Giles family, responsible for the defense of Gate Eter, has long been loyal to the principality. Harming him is not right.”

“It seems that his outstanding abilities were only up to his predecessors. To think that such a man was in charge of the important Gate Eter defense.”

Carryl pointed to Fran, who was standing next to him, as if warning Giles, and said,

“Your life has been spared. Be grateful for Lord Fran’s mercy.”

Carryl bowed to Fran.

He looked every bit the vassal. But the more Fran saw Carryl’s actions, the more his face hardened.

Anyone who didn’t know would think Fran was the one who brought in the foreigners.

“Instead, I will give you something to do for Lord Fran.”

“Wh-What is it…”

“Go to White Bunker immediately and report the fall of Gate Eter. I’ll leave your fate to Tuli. I don’t know if she will be as generous as Lord Fran.”

However, Giles’s face turned even whiter at the words that he was being let go, when he had been begging for his life until now.

“S-Spare me! If I go to White Bunker like this, I’m a dead man. I haven’t even… rep… reported it yet, but if I report the fall…!!”

At that moment,

Carryl’s eyes flashed at Giles’s words.

“What? You haven’t reported it…?”

“Th-That’s…”

“Don’t tell me Tuli doesn’t know about our attack.”

‘Look at this?’

He smirked as he watched Giles stammer, his lips turning blue.

Kwaaaang―――!!!

“Keuheok!”

Fran kicked Giles’s ribs with all his might, who was lying prostrate. Giles trembled, gasping and collapsing like an overturned turtle.

“What? What did you say?! You… you son of a bitch!!! What? Say it again!! You didn’t report it?!”

Fran’s face, which had looked calm until just now, was distorted.

His face was so angry that he shouted as if he would devour Giles right away.

‘This idiot…!! Does Tuli really not know about this? If a battle breaks out in front of White Bunker, it’s all over…!!’

Fran grabbed Giles by the scruff of his neck and shouted.

“What the hell were you thinking?! Why haven’t you reported it when the enemy is right in front of you!”

“Th-That’s…”

Giles trembled and couldn’t continue speaking. But it seemed like he knew the reason without even asking.

‘So the report didn’t reach White Bunker. Then things change.’

Carryl smiled and said in a low voice, watching the two.

“Hold on, Lord Fran. Isn’t it possible enough? If you don’t understand that, who can?”

“……What?”

Fran frowned and looked at Carryl as if he was talking nonsense.

Jeobeok― Jeobeok―

Carryl moved his steps and approached him.

Then, in a low voice that Giles couldn’t hear, Carryl whispered in his ear.

“You and that guy ruined the country with vain desires that you couldn’t handle.”

“……!!”

At his words, Fran recoiled, staring at Carryl. But Carryl approached him even more and uttered the last words.

“You’ll have to keep watching. I’ll keep showing it to you so you can’t forget it even if you want to. Because that’s your future.”

Fran’s face turned pale.

“Ugh…!! Ughaaaa!!”

He looked at Carryl, then let out a scream close to a scream and kicked Giles, who was lying down, with all his might.

“Die!! Die, you bastard!!”

“Ack…! Ack!!”

Giles, who was being beaten, grabbed the back of his neck with both hands and crouched down on the floor even more, looking like a bug.

How long has it been?

Fran, panting heavily, glared at Giles as if he was still not relieved.

Carryl left Fran alone while he was beating Giles, and Giles, who was crouching, did not move, so it was unknown whether he was alive or dead.

Dalgrak…… Dalgrak.

Fran took out a pill bottle from his arms, put the medicine in his mouth, chewed it, and kicked Giles once again.

“Keokeok……!!”

Then, with a suffocating sound, Giles, who had been crouching, flipped over and collapsed.

‘Hmm, it seems like the cycle of taking medicine is getting faster.’

Carryl had been a little concerned since he saw it in Cove, but now he knew that Fran was chewing pills like a habit.

“Then are we going to advance to White Bunker now? If the report hasn’t been made, it means it’s the most defenseless state now.”

“No, I’m not going there.”

“Why?”

“For you.”

“……What?”

Fran looked at Carryl as if he was talking nonsense. Then he leaned against the half-collapsed window frame and answered.

“Even if the report hasn’t been made, by the time we arrive at White Bunker, White Bunker will be prepared.”

“…….”

“Each fortress of the principality is designed to sound an alarm to White Bunker when it is hit. It’s a system built by the magic engineer Wingel Hart over five years. It would be a stupid question to ask if you know it, right?”

Fran’s face hardened at Carryl’s words.

This system had only been completed a few months ago and had not been widely known to the outside world.

“How did you know that…….”

Fran said, gaping and surprised.

Peoeok―――!!

It was then.

Carryl, who was leaning against the wall, punched Fran in the side with all his might.

“What, is it real? You should have told me sooner if you knew. What if we had advanced to White Bunker like this?”

“Keuheok…….”

Fran, who had become in the same position as Giles a little while ago, grabbed his side and let out a groan.

“I’ve heard rumors, I just tried it, but it seems to be true. If White Bunker is fully prepared, it means that if we advance like this, it’s the same as running into a trap with our own feet? Aren’t you awake?”

He pretended not to know and said, but in fact, the rumor is a lie. Carryl already knew well that the principality’s alarm system was completed based on his memories of his previous life.

Thanks to that, he was able to use the fortresses of the principality usefully when fighting the Fallen in the Holy War.

If it was Fran in his right mind, he would have noticed it, but now he didn’t seem to have the mind to figure it out.

“Keuk…… Keueuk.”

“Huh? You have to win the war. Anyone can see that we’re on the same side. Fran, isn’t that right?”

“……You bastard.”

“What?”

“…….”

Fran grabbed his throbbing side and glared at Carryl. But when he clenched his fist again, he lowered his head.

‘Damn it……. If I can just get out of here……!!’

He shouted inwardly several times, but Fran was worried about whether there was really a way to escape from the monster in front of him.

“Lilianna, take good care of Fran. He’s our important guest.”

“I understand.”

She, who was standing in front of Carryl, nodded, tied Fran’s wrists with a rope, and carried him on her shoulder.

Because it was a special rope that absorbed magic power, Fran felt like his strength was draining as soon as he was bound.

“…….”

But unlike usual, Fran’s expression hardened slightly.

* * *

“As you ordered, the rope is tied loosely.”

As Lilianna disappeared with Fran, Hashir appeared from behind and said in a low voice.

“But do you really think he’s going to run away?”

Carryl smirked at his question.

“Of course. He’s been looking for a chance. He’s not in a position to distinguish whether it’s a trap or not.”

That was true.

Just before Fran left, Carryl and Hashir did not miss the fact that he had a slightly hardened expression. The way he was trying so hard to hide it was just ridiculous to Carryl.

“Will he go to White Bunker?”

Carryl shook his head at Hashir’s question.

“No, if he has a brain, he won’t go there alone. Regardless of the deal with Wooden Cloud, he knows very well that even Fran will have a hard time preserving his head if he reports that Gate Eter has fallen.”

Carryl said, recalling Giles, who was messed up and fainted a little while ago.

“Unless he takes Giles with him. But that’s impossible from the point of view of running away.”

“Then… why did you send him away? Wouldn’t it be better to keep him as a hostage? Didn’t you want to make Fran the winner of the principality in the first place?”

Carryl smiled faintly.

“What are you talking about.”

“……Yes?”

“I said I would give Fran victory, but I didn’t say I would make him the master of the principality.”

At his words, Hashir tilted his head slightly and asked back.

“What do you mean…….”

“He’s not going to White Bunker. But rather, he’ll go where I really want him to go. There’s only one person Fran can rely on in the current situation.”

Right,

Anthem Howard.

After the danger of the Silver Wing Fleet disappeared, Carryl immediately removed all the magic bombardment aircraft of the Steel Fleet stationed in Cove and supplemented the lacking equipment on the Vinfredo Estuary front.

In addition, Anthem, following Carryl’s words, summoned all the alchemists around him and applied the drugs used for dragon hunting to the spears and provided them to the spearmen.

With the firepower of the bombardment aircraft and a solution to the lacking Wyvern Corps, he was pushing the front line and heading north, displaying his unique temperament.

“By now, Anthem should have arrived in the middle reaches of the Vinfredo River. He won’t stop his momentum, so Fran will be able to meet Anthem’s army within two days at the latest.”

Fran had the skills of an upper-level expert, even if he wasn’t a Sword Master.

If they ran at full speed, the two would be able to meet before their magic power ran out.

“The reason I let him go is because when he reaches Anthem’s camp, the 1st Wyvern unit that left White Bunker will have joined the front line.”

While staying in Gate Eter, Carryl interrogated Giles, and he, who had a light mouth, said a lot on his own without any special torture.

The most important information among them was that the 1st Wyvern unit of White Bunker was heading to the Vinfredo River front.

Because of that, Giles tried to deal with the foreigners with his own strength and make achievements because he knew the situation of White Bunker, which could no longer reduce its forces.

Ironically, Carryl and Fran had different thoughts while listening to Giles’s same words.

‘If it’s the 1st Wyvern unit… the most powerful unit among Tuli’s troops. Even if it’s him, he won’t be able to win easily. If I can join them and strike him… there’s a possibility.’

The reason why he couldn’t miss the gap that Carryl had created was precisely that, Fran’s thought that flashed through his mind when he heard Giles’s words.

On the other hand,

Carryl’s thoughts were different.

“Why is it important that the Wyvern unit joins the front line? If the enemy’s strength increases, it will be difficult to advance and difficult to capture White Bunker, right?”

“Hashir, do you think I would consider destroying White Bunker a difficult task?”

At Carryl’s question, Hashir hurriedly lowered his head.

“I’m sorry.”

It was a stupid question.

“I want to be a hero of the principality.”

At his answer, Carryl shrugged lightly and said.

“But I’m not going to make my name known in the principality as just another war hero who supported Fran Lurein and led him to victory.”

Carryl’s eyes shone.

“The civil war between Fran and Tuli must be more fierce than it is now. From our capture of Gate Eter to the battles of Frau Hat, Yoman, and Cove. All of them were to create a reason and justification for the two to fight. And it will become more intense in the future.”

“…….”

“Fran said that this civil war was a fixed war [predetermined outcome]. But what if the Fran army eliminates the 1st Wyvern unit when Fran arrives in the middle reaches of the river?”

Hashir felt goosebumps at his words.

“The war will fall into a whirlpool [become chaotic and unpredictable].”

“Could it be… Is that why you told me to collect the armor of the Gate Eter soldiers?”

“That’s right. The reason for attacking this place is not simply because it’s the back door of White Bunker. Tuli will recognize us wearing the principality’s armor as the Fran army. If that happens, there will be no choice but to wage a proper all-out war, not just a show war.”

Carryl said coldly.

“Tuli has only deployed small golems [artificial soldiers] to the front line, and her real force, the Meister unit, is still stationed in White Bunker. But if she loses the Wyvern unit, she will have no choice but to deploy them.”

Magic Engineering Corps Meister.

Another pride that laid the foundation for the principality.

Unlike other golems, this unit, with the genius engineer Wingel Hart as the supervisor, had a large golem called Revol.

This was a magic weapon that Wingel Hart recreated based on the blueprints of Murga’s Enderus, the royal family of the Dwarf Kingdom in the past and called the most complete masterpiece among the golems of all time.

What Carryl was waiting for was that.

Not that the Meister unit was stuck in White Bunker, but that it was deployed to the front line.

The majesty of the huge Revol, which is called a walking castle, is enormous, but ironically, Tuli was feeling burdened to operate it.

Because the place where Revol walks is devastated just by its size.

‘But only when Revol is completely neutralized can it be said that the true civil war of the principality is over.’

Carryl’s eyes shone.

“Making Tuli use Revol. And once the large golem Revol is deployed, the damage from the war will be beyond imagination. To the point where it will be difficult to recover even after several years.”

He said coldly.

“The time when we reveal ourselves is right then. A hero who will save the people of the principality who are sacrificed by a war caused by nothing more than the greed of power.”

“Could it be…….”

The more Hashir listened to Carryl’s words, the more he felt a chill down his spine.

Carryl smiled at him and nodded.

“I have no intention of dragging out the war. Because I will be the one to catch both Tuli and Fran in the battlefield where they face each other and become a new hero.”