The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 25

23. Refilling the Void

‘A knight?’

The people on the street all moved to the sides at once.

“Clear the way, everyone!”

The soldier at the front shouted.

Kahlil stared at the man in the ornate armor standing in the center.

With his piercing eyes and thick beard, he didn’t even glance at the bowing people, looking only ahead.

‘Isn’t that Baron Harun?’

It was a familiar face.

He held territory quite a distance from Piasta and was a warrior leading about 1,000 private soldiers.

‘What’s he doing here?’

This port city was far from the border.

He was tasked with assisting the Balsar and McGovern families, who defended the border.

“Is that him?”

“Probably. Serves him right. Why did he go crazy and help those foreigners?”

“That kind of guy should be punished immediately!”

The people were whispering.

Kahlil listened to their conversation.

‘This is something……’

Several people walked among the soldiers with their faces battered and their arms tied.

“Walk faster!!”

Thwack—!!

The adjutant next to Baron Harun struck the prisoner’s head with the scabbard with all his might, and he collapsed weakly without even screaming.

“Everyone, bow your heads!! These guys are traitors!! Don’t even think about making eye contact!!”

At his threat, people bowed even lower.

“Huff…… Huff…….”

The fallen prisoner gasped for breath.

“…….”

Kahlil stared at him, his shoulders twitching as he couldn’t even get up in front of him.

‘This is something……’

There was no way to express it.

Absurd.

Or should it be called fate?

‘I was looking for you, but……’

Kahlil’s eyes flashed.

“Get up!!”

The soldiers picked up the prisoner who had fallen to the ground.

His eyes met Kahlil’s.

‘I never imagined we’d meet like this.’

Kahlil glared, watching the man walk away in shackles.

All sorts of thoughts swirled in his head.

‘Suan Hazar.’

……He was a wanted man?

This was something even Kahlil, who had gone back in time, had never expected.

‘What on earth happened in these three years that I don’t know about……?’

He needed to sort out his thoughts.

‘If my memory is correct, after the oracle was given, Olivon introduced him to me so that I could take the sea route to Tatur to carry out a surprise attack operation to occupy the principality.’

He remembered his first meeting with him because of his quite affable face and sturdy build.

‘How could a criminal who would be caught by the Knights become a guild master here?’

It was strange.

But more important than that was that he was the only man he knew who had the ability to go to Tatur.

‘Anyway, he’s not a man who’s going to die here.’

Kahlil made up his mind.

‘Then that life. I’ll borrow it.’

He slowly raised his head.

Looking at the splendid mansion on the hill where he was taken, Kahlil thought.

The execution was set for the night.

* * *

The mansion on the hill.

It belonged to Baron Rage, the administrator of Piasta. A merchant by birth, he was a man far removed from martial arts, but he was a skilled businessman who led the merchant association of the port city.

Wealth built through trade.

Rage Myrtle was one of the few people who rose from commoner to noble.

Step- Step- Step-

The lights of the luxurious mansion on the highest hill of the port city were brightly lit, and guards were densely stationed at every door.

‘He must be busy entertaining Baron Harun. Well, he wouldn’t miss this opportunity.’

Kahlil watched the scene from the darkness.

‘He was a man who accumulated wealth that ranked among the top five in the Empire, regardless of class, with his excellent insight.’

However.

Even his excellent eye went wrong with the last move.

‘Sponsoring the First Prince.’

Kahlil looked behind where the guards were standing.

‘A position bought with money. That’s why he doesn’t trust people. Despite the tight security, he’s created an escape route in case of an emergency.’

Baron Rage didn’t know that his anxiety had created a gap in the seemingly impregnable mansion.

‘I infiltrated to find the ledger of taxes and unjust profits that he had secretly embezzled under Olivon’s orders, and it’s helping me in this way.’

Kahlil hid his presence and went around to the back of the mansion.

Avoiding the eyes of the guards, he went straight down the hill and came to a forest path where no one was around.

Rustle- Rustle-

He began to make his way through the pathless forest as if he were familiar with it.

Clunk-

Something was caught in his hand.

It was a rusty handle that didn’t fit in with the forest.

‘As expected.’

Kahlil lightly raised the corners of his lips.

‘It’s here. It was years later that I discovered this place, but the mansion was built much earlier. This is no different from my memory.’

He scanned his surroundings once.

As expected, there was no one in the forest.

‘It’s not impossible to go in from the front, but the guards guarding the prison will be Baron Harun’s soldiers, not the mansion’s riffraff.’

It doesn’t hurt to be careful.

Besides, Baron Harun wasn’t a Sword Master, but he was a knight with a pretty good sense through long experience.

‘He’s a loyal man. If it weren’t for his stubborn personality, he would have survived longer.’

That didn’t seem important.

Kahlil quietly opened the old door in the bushes.

Stairs were visible in the pitch-black darkness.

The stench flowing on the floor.

It was none other than the huge sewer that ran through the entire Piasta.

And it was also a passage connected to the mansion.

‘It’s not a royal palace, but it’s an emergency exit with dozens of branching paths like a maze.’

Baron Rage was not on the list he had in mind.

‘You can tell the size of his vessel just by looking at this.’

Kahlil covered his nose and slowly went down.

* * *

Wheeze…… Wheeze…….

A low breathing sound was heard.

The battered face became more and more swollen over time, and now it was impossible to tell who it was.

“Damn it…….”

His whole body ached, and he couldn’t move properly.

‘I was crazy. What kind of wealth and glory would I enjoy to do this kind of work…… I’m not a saint.’

“No. If you were going to enjoy wealth and glory, you shouldn’t have done it. Suan Hazar, you stupid bastard. Heh heh heh…….”

A low laugh was heard from inside the bars.

“Hey, can’t you be quiet!!”

The soldier on guard shouted at his words.

Suan gritted his teeth.

Moving the shackles tied behind him, he examined his body.

‘Still, there are no cuts anywhere. Nothing is broken, so is it a blessing in disguise?’

His shoulder throbbed, but this was good enough.

‘Where…… should I try to escape.’

A small steel needle flashed between his collar.

As if.

He licked his lips slightly with his tongue as if he was used to this kind of thing and began to unlock the lock skillfully.

Click-

It was then.

Suan’s hand stopped.

The lock was not unlocked.

It was the sound of the underground prison door opening.

“……Loyalty!!”

The soldier who had shouted at Suan a little while ago shouted in a trembling voice.

“It’s you.”

“……!!!.”

Suan didn’t say anything and slowly raised his head.

At that moment.

His eyes widened in surprise.

“……!!!”

And one more person.

Through the gap in the ceiling.

The person who watched this scene was also the same.

‘No way…….’

Kahlil, who had entered the mansion through the underground waterway, felt like his heart was stopping.

If he hadn’t decided to rescue Suan, he would never have known.

“I wanted to meet you.”

A voice heard from the darkness.

How could he forget?

Even now, after paying for eons of time and returning, his voice remained vividly in his ears.

‘Olivon……?!’

The emperor he killed with his own hands.

No.

Before that, a close friend who had overcome the Asura Field [a mythical battlefield] together.

Unlike when he fell with blood in his mouth, his young and intelligent eyes sparkled.

‘Why are you here…….’

Everything was full of questions.

He thought he would be in the imperial family, but he was in a port city that could be called a frontier.

Coincidence?

That can’t be.

Then there is only one reason.

‘Is Olivon the one who arrested him, not the Emperor?’

“…….”

Kahlil held his breath and stared at the two.

“Suan Hazar, no…….”

But the words that flowed from Olivon’s mouth were even more shocking.

“Slave King.”