The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 281

190. To the Empire

“That’s right.”

Carryl tilted his head, puzzled by the unexpected figure Anthem mentioned.

“Those who didn’t even participate in the war, now they come forward?”

The most recognized magic societies on the continent were undoubtedly the Ivory Tower’s Dawn Society and Anti-Hum’s Immortal Society.

The Ivory Tower, supported by the imperial court magician Cardin Ruel and the immense resources of the imperial family, and the Immortal Society, possessing a vast territory comparable to a city and a grand library in Anti-Hum.

In comparison, the Golden Magic Society, known as the magic society of the duchy, was significantly weaker in its position.

Moreover, like other magic societies in his previous life, they had no interest in worldly affairs and did not fight for the world even during the Holy War.

“They are the ones who didn’t step forward even when the country was at war. Even if it’s customary for magic societies not to interfere in the affairs of the kingdom, they turned a blind eye to the suffering of the people during the civil war. I have no interest in such people.”

“I believe you might understand if you knew the founding purpose of the Golden Magic Society.”

“Founding reason?”

“They are based in the duchy, but they are unrelated to the duchy’s affairs. They only provide magical knowledge to the duchy and are not loyal to it.”

“Hmm…”

Carryl looked at Anthem.

“They were a special forces unit created to find a magic book that supposedly existed in the distant past, known as the Mythic Era. Over time, they grew to their current size and remained in the form of a magic society.”

“A magic book…?”

Anthem nodded and said to him,

“Yes. Folsetia, called the Great Magic Book. It is said to contain magic known as Great Magic.”

At that moment,

Carryl’s eyebrows twitched.

‘Great Magic…? I have a memory of hearing that somewhere…’

As he repeated the familiar name, he remembered Laminue mentioning it.

‘Surely, it referred to the power that reached the realm where both dragon magic and spirit magic could be used simultaneously.’

He himself could use both powers now.

[You are different.]

As if reading his thoughts, Laminue cut him off.

[That magic is truly capable of killing even a god.]

“…”

Carryl said to him,

‘But even the one who reached that unique realm was said not to have reached Great Magic. Since even dragons couldn’t reach that realm, it was said that clues might be found upon reaching the 9th class. Laminue, could the magic book called Folsetia be the magic book left by the one you mentioned?’

[Well. I cannot know that much.]

Carryl nodded slowly at Laminue’s answer.

“They’re just chasing a pipe dream. It’s unbelievable that even one of them has risen to the ranks of a great mage.”

Then, pretending to be nonchalant, he replied coldly.

“But he is an outstanding individual, known as one of the top 10 on the continent. Even if we disregard the Golden Magic Society, he is worth keeping around.”

Carryl frowned slightly at Anthem’s words.

“I’ll think about it for now. But we need to find out the location of the Magic Bullet’s residence. Investigate it.”

“Yes, I understand.”

At the permission, Anthem nodded happily. In fact, the moment he heard the words ‘Great Magic,’ Carryl had already decided to meet Deril Harian, regardless of Anthem’s recommendation, something Anthem would not know.

“And find a man named Utar. I heard he’s from a family that has been working as blacksmiths in the duchy for a long time.”

Hiding his true intentions, Carryl continued.

“Utar… I believe you are referring to a member of the Bajik family. Why that person?”

“I need him to put flames inside the attribute stone. There’s no one as skilled in handling fire as he is.”

Utar of the Ember.

In his previous life, he was the owner who wielded the sword called ‘Liberated Flame,’ which Randol currently uses, and a talent remaining in the duchy.

He was a man who resembled fire itself.

‘Even though he will live a different life than in my previous life, I know of his numerous achievements in burning away corruption. I can’t just leave him be.’

Even if not as a warrior in his previous life, Carryl did not want to miss out on his talent as a blacksmith.

“I understand. I will make inquiries.”

“And finally, tell Wingel Hart to designate the Frost Highlands of the duchy as a golem development area. You know the reason better than anyone, right?”

“Yes, of course.”

Anthem, having confirmed the numerous golem parts in the Rothschild family’s warehouse in the Frost Highlands, nodded without hesitation.

“I will tell you the location of the Gnome Kingdom. Their location is top secret, so keep it a secret from the people here except for you. It’s not far from the Frost Highlands, so prioritize deploying the newly completed golems through the Gnomes and Wingel Hart towards the Gnome Kingdom.”

“What? Not the border?”

“Yes. There’s no need to worry too much about the border for now. There won’t be a war for the time being, and there’s something to resolve before stirring up trouble with the Empire. In the meantime, you guys should prepare the golems. There won’t be much time.”

“I will accelerate the process.”

Anthem seemed more pleased than exhausted by the constant influx of work.

He was simply delighted that he now had an environment where he could fully carry out his duties as a strategist.

Now that the duchy was united, he could finally unleash everything he had wanted to do and try.

“We need to prepare thoroughly to properly greet a guy who will come looking for that place someday.”

Carryl wore a strange smile.

“…?”

Anthem didn’t understand what his last words meant, but seeing him smile strangely and raise the corners of his lips, he thought he was planning something big.

“I’ve already told Cal Mac about the other necessities. He will be in charge of transporting the major supplies from now on.”

So far, Suan had been in charge of crossing the strait, but Carryl thought that when he returned to Tatur, he would have to give him a new mission for the time being.

‘Israfil must have finished the investigation of the Blood Cave. Finding another clue about those Wooden Cloud bastards is also important, but discovering the Fist King in Tramel is also a major task.’

The continent’s five Sword Masters.

He hadn’t met the Spear King directly, but his connection with Ganes made their relationship connected. Now, all that remained was the Fist King Balbont.

Carryl believed that Suan was needed to increase Suan Hazar’s skills and to bring the Fist King, who had no interest in worldly affairs, back into the world.

‘He’ll like it.’

He chuckled, recalling Suan’s face before they parted in Tatur.

[Krrr…]

Carryl patted the wyvern’s head and looked at Anthem.

“I’ll leave the rest to you.”

Whoosh—!!!

Anthem watched Carryl fly into the sky and bowed on his knees for quite a long time as he saw him off.

* * *

“Master!!”

“You’ve arrived.”

The people of Tatur, who had heard about Carryl’s arrival from Miliana in advance, welcomed him as he arrived on a giant wyvern.

“Is that the wyvern?”

“Wow… So there are several of these in the duchy.”

Some people couldn’t take their eyes off the wyvern he rode, and some focused on the news he brought.

“As you said, the supplies needed for the duchy have been prepared. We plan to send them as soon as Cal arrives. I’ve organized the documents on your desk.”

Dushala shook her head, looking at Suan and Kamma admiring the wyvern, and said to Carryl.

“Okay. I’ll check right away. What about the Mana Mine?”

“We are mining a small number of the 7-sided stones from the location where we found them buried before. And the dwarves have discovered and are investigating places where they suspect there may be 8-sided stones.”

“Good.”

It was a tremendous result compared to his previous life.

Back then, it was difficult to obtain even mid-grade attribute stones, let alone 8-sided stones, due to the war between the three Istrian countries.

“Thanks to the dwarves, mining is possible, but we couldn’t process them… Fortunately. I can’t believe that old man Calipsone would do such a thing. The Gnome Kingdom is unimaginable.”

Carryl nodded at Dushala’s words.

“Send all the collected 7-sided stones to them. There’s no point in keeping them anyway since we can’t process them. And prioritize finding fire-attribute Red Flame Stones among the 8-sided stones.”

“I will.”

“How is the supply of Joam Stones being sent to Anti-Hum?”

“Well… The number of discarded Joam Stones has increased as the Mana Mine development has become more active. We can supply them sufficiently without any complaints. Similarly, if we obtain 7-sided Joam Stones, we send them directly to Nine Darhon, the head of the Immortal Society.”

Indeed, Dushala, as the manager of Tatur who ran the black market, was perfectly carrying out the plans that Carryl had in mind without him even saying them.

“It was a good thing I spared you.”

Dushala chuckled at his words.

“What about the Empire?”

“There are no particular movements. It hasn’t been long since the announced mourning period after the Third Prince’s funeral ended.”

“Hmm.”

Carryl nodded.

‘It seems like holding the Emperor’s life hostage had an effect. He won’t be able to openly wage war. For now, all he can do is engage in behind-the-scenes maneuvers.’

And he already knew what he was trying to do through Randol in the south.

However, what was surprising was that the Emperor had not put any significant pressure on the McGovern family during the months he was in the duchy.

If he had set a trap to bring him to Heim out of impatience, he would have used his family members to make sure it reached his ears.

‘He couldn’t have found the antidote…’

He was the one who eventually died because he couldn’t find it even in his previous life.

Carryl couldn’t shake off the slightly suspicious feeling, but he soon turned his head.

“And Israfil says he has something urgent to tell you. It seems to be about the investigation of the Demon Nest.”

“Hmm. Where is he now?”

“He was investigating the Demon Nest until a little while ago, so he’s waiting in the office now. Let’s go up.”

Carryl nodded.

* * *

“You’ve arrived.”

Israfil stood up from his seat and bowed to Carryl.

“It’s been a while. It seems like there has been an achievement in magic in the meantime?”

Carryl immediately recognized Israfil’s change. And Israfil was the same in feeling the change.

‘Now I can really feel the dignity of a king.’

Carryl may have grown in another sense after experiencing the civil war in the duchy.

Israfil instinctively knew that a relationship where he would be treated with respect could no longer be established.

The gap that was never felt as rudeness but felt natural.

He didn’t want to be treated that way in the first place, but he felt a different momentum from him, who had become the owner of the duchy beyond Tatur.

“It’s all thanks to the Great Master.”

“Great Master?”

[Of course, it’s me. Welcome back. I heard the news.]

Carryl looked at Aln, the black figure behind Israfil, and said with a welcoming expression.

“It seems you’ve taken on a new disciple while I was away. How is he? Is he useful?”

[He’s useful. But if we’re talking about fun, can he compare to you? He’s too obedient.]

Carryl chuckled at Aln’s answer.

“You said you had something to report to me?”

“Yes. It’s about the Blood Cave. It seems certain that they are cultivating something inside. However, I tried to interrogate some of those who go in and out, but they were all mutes and couldn’t hear. They didn’t even see the eyes using magic inside, they just did what they were told.”

“Hmm…”

“I was going to try to infiltrate, but you ordered me to only investigate, so I only checked the places I expected.”

Carryl nodded.

“Good job. Those guys are not to be approached rashly.”

“But… While watching, I saw someone unexpected there.”

“Who is it?”

Israfil said cautiously.

“It’s the Second Prince of the Empire.”

He spoke with a very nervous face, but contrary to his expectations, Carryl’s expression was calm.

“Well, it’s not surprising.”

“…Yes?”

“Were there any other people captured besides that guy?”

“Not yet…”

Israfil, who had reported with a lukewarm reaction, looked at him with a bewildered expression.

“Just wait a little bit. The Black Eye will bring something to harvest. We can investigate the Blood Cave after that.”

Carryl looked at Israfil and said sharply.

“I’ll take care of him after that.”