The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 342

222. Escape (2)

Carryl stepped through the wall to the inside—no, to the outside.

He crossed the wall that blocked the city center, but the area beyond was also fenced off, making him feel like he was still inside.

“Where is this?”

He scanned his surroundings.

Though technically still within the Imperial City, the atmosphere was completely different from the bustling search for intruders. It was as quiet as a graveyard.

Only a few ruined stone buildings remained, with patches of unkempt grass growing sparsely around them.

“It’s a tomb.”

Carryl looked at Randol, seeking a more detailed explanation.

Carryl frowned at the insufficient answer, looking at him expectantly.

“Ironic, isn’t it? No guards here, yet it’s a forbidden area. More accurately, it’s a space abandoned by the Imperial City. I suppose they figure no one would come in even if the door was left open.”

[This aura is definitely not good.]

Whoosh-!!

Alrn materialized as a shadowy figure. He scanned the surroundings and said,

[I sense the aura of the dead. If Zarka were here, he’d know exactly what’s going on. It’s a shame. I wish I had brought Kay Rothschild.]

“No use regretting someone who isn’t here. But you feel the aura of the dead? It’s strange to have a tomb inside the Imperial City…”

This was where the Emperor lived.

The Imperial City of the Empire should be as sacred as the Heim Order’s sanctuary, but a tomb related to death seemed out of character for Tylan Schtean.

“It’s not a human tomb.”

“What does that mean?”

“Not everyone in the Imperial City is wealthy. In fact, it’s worse for some. As you can see from those who fled to Tatur, there are slaves and more vagrants here than in any other city. The children living in this city secretly gather inside here.”

“Why?”

“To find treasures in the tomb.”

Swish—

Surprisingly, as soon as he finished speaking, a faint mist began to rise around them. Even Carryl looked slightly nervous at the eerie energy he was experiencing for the first time.

“It’s a place where relics from the Old Empire era are collected. The late Emperor Tylan Schtean placed all the relics of the past here. Though it hasn’t been managed for decades.”

“Relics, why?”

Relics from the Magic Age, like the Blader’s Five Great Weapons, were precious and valuable.

Even a piece of scrap metal found in the ruins was often worth more than modern items.

The reason was that objects from the Magic Age contained potent magical power.

“To be exact, it’s more like debris than relics… Occasionally, there are valuable things among the discarded trash. Children who fear hunger more than fear come here for that reason.”

“……”

Carryl couldn’t understand why relics that should be in the Imperial Palace’s treasury were in a forgotten corner of the Imperial City.

Moreover, it was even stranger that there were no guards in a place with such valuable items.

“The late Emperor was a greedy man. You’re telling me he just left a place with relics unguarded? Don’t say such ridiculous things.”

Carryl ignored Randol’s words and looked around for a way out.

“We call places ‘ruins’ in two cases. One is literally the buildings built by the people of the Magic Age. They contain countless traps and barriers, but also valuable items.”

Randol continued to speak as he walked.

“The other case is when a monster nest loses its effectiveness and becomes stable. Boss monsters exist in monster nests, and when they are annihilated, the nest loses its power and monsters no longer appear. Instead, you can find valuable weapons inside.”

“That’s not the explanation I’m looking for.”

“Why did the late Emperor gather the relics in this unmanaged place within the Imperial City?”

“……”

“He didn’t gather them. He put them there on purpose. As a sacrifice.”

“Why?”

“To lure children who fear hunger more than fear inside.”

At his words, Carryl’s face hardened as he scanned their surroundings.

Swish…….

Was it his imagination?

He felt the air turn cold for a moment.

[It’s a monster nest.]

Alrn muttered in a low voice after hearing Randol’s words.

[To have a monster nest inside the Imperial City… Heh heh. There was a madman in the Empire too. The grade of a monster nest is originally determined at its creation, but it rises depending on how much human blood it consumes. The Emperor was raising a monster nest.]

He raised the corners of his lips.

[The saying ‘the darkest place is under the lamp’ is exactly right. The most dangerous thing must be hidden closest to deceive everyone. I wonder if it was created during the late Emperor’s time. If this has existed since the Old Empire era… it would be a monster nest that has been nurtured for hundreds of years.]

It was eerie.

At Alrn’s words, Carryl scanned his surroundings again.

If it was a low-grade monster nest, it wouldn’t matter even if time passed, but if it was an S-grade monster nest…

If that monster nest had been growing by feeding on humans for hundreds of years, something terrible might be lurking inside.

“But children have their own methods. Cross the wall and take twenty steps, then fifty steps to the left. Then go straight ahead again. Never look back as you walk. It sounds like a common pun, but this rule works surprisingly well.”

Randol wore a strange smile.

“That’s the direction we’re going now.”

“That’s right. There won’t be any soldiers behind us. You can trust me. We’re almost there, you can see the truth with your own eyes.”

“But how do you know all this? That this place is a monster nest. According to you, you only snuck in here as a child. It’s a secret that even the Imperial Palace kept quiet about.”

At Carryl’s question, Randol gave a bitter smile.

“I don’t know if it’s a monster nest or not. It’s just a rumor known only to commoners, not nobles. However… what I want to confirm is something else.”

“What is it?”

He nodded as if counting his steps.

“When I received the order of confinement for us, including my father, I went to see my brother Tyren because of the unfairness of the order. Because he’s the only one of the McGovern brothers who is by His Majesty’s side.”

“Tyren…”

Carryl repeated the name of the second son.

‘Perhaps he might have known this secret through his relationship with Olivon.’

‘In the future, he was the one who would rise to the position of Prime Minister.’

‘In some form, they may have already become secret-sharing partners.’

“While waiting for my brother, I saw some strange things on his desk.”

“What is it?”

“It was information about certain objects. Maybe… it seems like he’s secretly investigating something. I don’t know exactly what, but it was about three relics.”

[Carryl. Don’t tell me that……]

Alrn hurriedly asked Carryl, but Carryl didn’t change his expression.

Instead, he nodded.

The Necklace of Revelation.

The necklace found in the Spirit Spring in the Gnome Kingdom.

One of the three pieces created by Narhan Tanubiel, the leader of Elvenheim, who guarded Ariel Wood, once called the Elves’ Sanctuary.

‘Yes. It’s also the oracle given to us in the past. The sacred object found by the 10 people of the oracle, including me.’

It was an oracle that they desperately completed, believing it was the only way to stop the monster ravaging the continent.

Along with the Necklace of Revelation, the other two pieces:

The Armor of Extreme Qualification.

The Denial of Lament.

He couldn’t be sure with just the number three, but Carryl was overcome with a sense of unease; it didn’t seem like a simple coincidence.

“What’s so strange about that? There are countless such weapons mentioned in the Imperial Palace’s reports.”

He asked as if nothing was wrong. But Randol bit his lip slightly at Carryl’s question.

“Wooden Cloud.”

“……?!”

“I don’t know what the relics are, but the reason I was watching it was because of the person Tyren met.”

“How do you know who those crazy bastards are? You can’t find their true form even if you try.”

Carryl asked, forgetting that they were still inside the Imperial City, at the unexpected name.

“Do you remember? The first time we—no, you—caught a Wooden Cloud spy during the goblin hunt. My father suffered because of the spy’s death.”

“Can that be called suffering? You and Tyren were eventually given my credit, and now Tyren has risen to the position of assisting the Emperor.”

“It’s a pawn to weaken the McGovern family, though.”

“The one who tried to do that is now dead and buried in the ground. I mean the current Emperor. So it’s a blessing in disguise, isn’t it?”

Randol gave a bitter smile at Carryl’s cynical answer.

“Well… anyway, after that day, my father secretly investigated Wooden Cloud, thinking they could be a threat to the Empire. Elliot assisted in that work.”

“Elliot?”

“As you know, my brother is the son of a merchant family, even though he has fallen on hard times. He’s surprisingly familiar with the underworld.”

“The problem is that he’s not careful.”

He said that, but Elliot was the most physically fit of the brothers, so he thought he was perfect for doing the dirty work.

“So?”

“He was keeping a close eye on the places where Wooden Cloud could operate. One of them was the Duchy. And among the few people he was watching, there were those who showed suspicious movements after the Duchy fell into your hands.”

“Who is it?”

“Douglas Hunte.”

Carryl almost slapped his knee when that name came out of Randol’s mouth.

‘He dug in properly, unexpectedly.’

Douglas was one of the branches of Wooden Cloud, working with Redios in the past.

Although he didn’t reach the root above him, that was a great harvest.

[Those guys used the trap you set. I guess it was when they helped those guys escape from the Gnome Kingdom after the Duchy civil war.]

‘That’s right. We were also keeping an eye on the situation.’

Carryl raised the corners of his lips.

“So?”

“When I went to see my brother, I saw him hand over a letter, and I knew it was about the relics. And one of those places…”

“Is right here.”

Randol slowly nodded.

“Then tell me honestly. You didn’t accidentally see Tyren’s desk, you searched it. After seeing the Emperor killing the late Emperor in Heim, your mind has changed a little. Enough to suspect Tyren, who is supporting such a guy.”

“Well… I’m a knight fighting for the Empire, and I don’t want to be a horse for Wooden Cloud.”

“Does Count Cwell know about this?”

“Not yet.”

[Carryl. If those other relics are really the sacred treasures of the oracle you mentioned, and if someone with Elven blood gathers them all, they can open a dimensional gate, right?]

Carryl nodded.

‘That’s right. Not only the Spirit Realm, but also the gate to the Demon Realm can be opened.’

[It’s no exaggeration to say that the Wooden Cloud bastards are looking for those three relics. If the Emperor is Wooden Cloud, then in your past life, you innocently handed them over to those guys. Heh heh……]

Carryl bit his lip slightly at Alrn’s laughter.

‘I admit it. But it’s different now. As long as the Necklace of Revelation is already in my hands, those guys can’t complete the set of three relics.’

[Yes. But you’re also different. This time, it’s your turn to use those relics. Instead of opening the gate to the Demon Realm and making the chaotic continent even more of a mess with monsters of depravity……]

‘I’ll gather them and open the gate to the Spirit Realm.’

[That’s right.]

Swish…….

Once again, an eerie energy brushed past his shoulder, and the fog that had been surrounding the two disappeared as if it had never been there.

A narrow path leading to the forest appeared, and Carryl knew that the side path led to the canyon behind the Imperial City.

“We really got out safely.”

Carryl looked back.

‘Like with the Necklace of Revelation, that place is also different from the location of the relics I found when I received the oracle.’

If the relics of the oracle were really sleeping in that ruined place, maybe…

‘It means that even the relics of the oracle may have already been discovered and placed in an artificial place.’

By the hands of Wooden Cloud.

‘Now is not the time.’