The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 96

82. What I Missed

“Are you Karil?”

At the low voice calling his name, Karil slowly raised his head.

It was a first for him.

Karil gazed at the place he had arrived at after traveling by carriage for nearly fifteen days, his eyes sparkling with wonder.

“I heard you came with Lord Joey Johannsen.”

“Yes. Thanks to the priest’s consideration in allowing the use of a magic circle, I was able to see the Pope comfortably.”

Karil spoke in a calm tone.

From his kneeling posture to the way he spoke, his etiquette was perfect and flawless.

‘Who knew what I learned in my past life would be used like this?’

He smiled wryly, recalling the memories of when he was first brought to the mansion by Kwell McGovern.

‘Randal…’

Perhaps because he thought of the mansion.

Karil recalled his adopted brothers whom he had met at Narak Rock.

“I am Karil of Tatur.”

But the reminiscence was only brief.

Karil spoke as if to imprint his name once more upon the bishop.

Woo-oong…

The sound of the wind blowing sounded like the cry of a living being.

Arriving at Heim, the sacred ground of the Order, Karil could not help but marvel at the city filled with silver light.

It was as if,

The architecture surpassed the Empire’s by several generations.

He had received a divine revelation and stood in battle against corruption as a chosen one, but he had never actually faced a bishop of the Order or properly examined the Order itself.

‘I was merely carrying out Ollivander’s orders.’

Karil slowly raised his head.

‘So, a place like this existed.’

Moreover, the Order’s sacred ground was a place veiled in mystery even to the people of the continent.

‘Come to think of it, the reason Joey Johannsen so easily allowed me into the Order is either because the value of the attribute stone is that attractive, or to fulfill the Order’s teachings of being open to everyone.’

Or perhaps it was because he, too, did not desire the destruction of the three kingdoms that Karil had spoken of.

‘Considering the ancient texts he retrieved from the ruins, the latter is most likely. There are still many things to investigate.’

Furthermore, there was a high possibility that the descendants of the three kingdoms’ nobles were involved in the investigation of the ruins.

‘He’s quite clever. It’s quite a choice for them, the weak nations, to survive in the cracks between the Empire and the Duchy.’

The Empire and the Duchy.

They were the two great powers that formed the pillars of the continent, but in a way, the only entity that surpassed them in power was the Order.

‘Are they trying to bring the Order over to their side?’

But unfortunately, their plan would fail.

‘Because the Emperor is coming here.’

Karil raised his head and scanned the Order’s palace.

High ceilings.

And light entered through small windows dozens of meters above, so the inside of the building was not dark, but none of them properly illuminated the outside.

It seemed as if it was designed to conceal the location of this place.

‘But the Emperor hasn’t come here yet. The bishop and some high-ranking priests may know the news, but…’

At least Joey Johannsen, who discovered and investigated the ruins, had been away from the Order for a long time and had not heard the news about the Empire.

‘It’s fortunate that I met him. Thanks to the teleportation magic circle, I was able to come to the Order faster than the Emperor, but more than that, he invited me to the Order for the sake of the ruins discovered in the three kingdoms. It’s not just simple goodwill, but I benefited from it.’

Using teleportation magic that traversed the continent certainly shortened the time and reduced fatigue.

However,

Conversely, there was also the disadvantage of not knowing the route to the destination.

‘Hmm…’

However, although it was difficult to properly sense the location after teleporting with the magic circle, Karil could intuitively guess where this was.

‘The mountain that was visible for a brief moment after arriving and when the light of the teleportation magic circle disappeared was definitely the Maron Gorge.’

There may be many similar terrains on the continent, but Karil could be certain of that place.

Because he could never forget the fierce battle that took place there.

‘Maron Gorge… the place where the heart of the eldest, Mart McGovern, was pierced by a demon.’

Seeing that place with the naked eye meant that it was not far from the Empire.

‘The location of the gorge is northeast. Then the location of Heim is likely to be slightly below the Empire.’

Karil thought as he lightly greeted the people other than the bishop.

Each of them gently accepted Karil’s greetings.

‘If that’s the case, it’s quite far from the Duchy… I thought they would have built the sacred ground close to the Duchy because there were many people from the Lurein family, who were founding members of the early Order, but it seems that’s not the case.’

The bishop slowly spoke to Karil.

“I heard from Lord Joey that you own a magic mine where attribute stones can be mined.”

“That is correct. Although it is still insufficient, I have come, braving the discourtesy, to provide support so that it may be of help to the Order.”

“The Order only believes in the power of Yula [the God of Light]. We do not deny magic, but we will only accept your offer in spirit.”

There was power in the bishop’s voice.

Whenever Karil heard his voice, which contained a sacred power rather than a magical one, he felt a sense of suffocation in his chest.

“The Order always has a duty to provide lodging for travelers. You, who have come to this place, are also our connection, so rest comfortably before you leave.”

It was a considerate remark, but the bishop raised his hand, expressing his refusal to discuss the deal with Karil any further.

‘Well… I guess it doesn’t matter.’

From the beginning, the deal for the attribute stone was merely bait to come to the Order.

Furthermore, by the bishop rejecting the deal with him, he could also tell that the value of the attribute stone was not very high to the Order.

‘But if they don’t need it, I’ll have to make them need it.’

Karil smiled softly.

“This child will attend to Karil while you are here.”

The priest next to Karil introduced a child who appeared to be a trainee.

“I am merely a merchant and do not need a servant. I will only stay for a few days before returning.”

“It is the Order’s rule. Please do not worry.”

“…”

The child, who bowed at the priest’s words, seemed to be about Karil’s age.

Looking at the child, he somehow thought of Ruben, who had helped him at the mansion.

“Thank you for your kindness.”

Karil thought that it would not be good to refuse.

‘It’s probably to keep an eye on me.’

In any case, his own eyes and ears were separate. They must be investigating the Order somewhere even now.

“Then…”

Karil bowed to the bishop once more and slowly left the hall.

‘Perhaps the bishop and other high-ranking officials of the Order may not be related to the Lurein family after all.’

Even if the Order didn’t, Wooden Cloud would have wanted the attribute stone.

‘I need to meet Aedan first.’

* * *

Historically, the Order had existed since the Magic Era, making it the only organization older than the Empire.

The Order, which worshiped Yula, the God of Light, did not make it easy to join.

Their magic was known to possess a special quality called divine power, rather than the ordinary five attributes [earth, water, fire, wind, and void].

‘Arun Zabis told me about the two attributes besides the five major attributes of magic.’

Light and darkness.

Arun had said that those two powers belonged to Yula.

The Order was an organization that was extremely biased towards light in both aspects.

‘Divine power has an excellent physical restoration ability compared to other magic, making it superior in healing magic.’

It was obvious, but that was why the Order produced many healers.

Joey Johannsen was one of them.

Priests were those who trained their minds rather than their bodies.

Of course,

There were those within the Order who were called Holy Knights and were meant for combat, but they were few in number.

The priests Karil knew were by no means suitable for exploring relics and ruins.

‘Is the current situation Joey Johannsen’s independent action?’

But then why did he bring him along?

‘The bishop doesn’t seem to be very interested in me. But he was different. Then is he trying to report to someone other than the bishop about me?’

Karil returned to his room, sat at the table, and spoke in a low voice.

“It’s strange.”

“Yes? Is there anything you need?”

The trainee child standing at the door was startled by Karil’s words and asked back.

Even that appearance was similar to Ruben, so Karil chuckled.

“No. I don’t need anything, so go. I’ll call you if I need anything.”

“Understood.”

Watching the child bow and turn around, he thought.

‘There’s no connection. No connection. The Order, Wooden Cloud, and Joey Johannsen’s actions. Is there something I’m missing?’

Karil spoke in a low voice.

“What do you think?”

Aedan, who was hiding behind the curtain, was holding a small document.

“This is a very interesting place.”

“What is that?”

“The Order’s records. I was able to obtain some of them, though not all.”

After receiving the data and looking through it, Karil looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.

“Where did you get this?”

“I heard it from Juke [a contact]. There’s someone related to the Dark Shadow [an intelligence organization] in the Order. I went while Master was meeting the bishop.”

“Weren’t you caught?”

Karil said, surprised by his bold actions.

Now, Aedan Hamil was his subordinate, not affiliated with the Dark Shadow of the Eastern Kingdom.

“Well… I don’t know about other places, but fortunately, the Order is a closed-off place. Since Juke was keeping quiet, the report hasn’t been filed yet. Thanks to that, I was able to smooth things over.”

Aedan said, placing the documents on the table.

“If I get caught, my head will fly off. Somehow… this isn’t a very pleasant place. I’ve become curious too.”

“Right?”

“Still, it won’t be perfect data. The Dark Shadow never fully reveals their work, even to their comrades.”

“Judging by this, Juke Di Hold seems to be in a higher position in the Dark Shadow than you. You used her name, didn’t you?”

“Haha.”

Aedan chuckled quietly.

“You won’t be surprised no matter what I say now, will you? Even if Juke Di Hold is older than me, not my younger sister.”

“Yeah. That’s the truth.”

“…Yes?”

He wore a blank expression as he looked at Karil, who casually accepted his joke.

‘It’s more than I thought. The Eastern Kingdom… I need to be more careful now.’

They were more deeply involved in the continent than he had imagined. If there were spies even in the veiled Order, the other countries were no exception.

Rustle—

Karil unfolded the records he had handed over.

‘Look at this…?’

There were many things written inside, but among them, there was a part that Aedan had marked.

‘I’m going crazy.’

His eyes trembled.

Certainly, the Order was not a simple place.

Of course,

It was also a place where one had to study doctrines and make constant efforts, but the data presented by Aedan was not about that.

The connection between the three points: the Order, Wooden Cloud, and Joey Johannsen.

“Is this certain?”

“Someone from the Dark Shadow investigated it.”

Aedan said with a confident voice. Karil nodded at his words.

‘This is what I missed.’

It was the Empire.

Of course, he had thought about that point. He knew the relationship between the Emperor and Joey Johannsen, whom he would meet later. However, he had misunderstood the chronological order of the elements connecting that connection.

‘It’s not that the Emperor was related to Wooden Cloud, but that Joey Johannsen was already the Emperor’s man.’

The corners of Karil’s lips went up.

“This is getting interesting…”

This secret place veiled in mystery, the Order, was already a battlefield where a bloody battle of wits was taking place between the Empire and Wooden Cloud.

‘Who will get the Order… I don’t know who’s on the Wooden Cloud side yet. Then, should I join this game too?’

His eyes gleamed.

After a long time, he took out a small pouch that he always carried with him.

Karil took out an accessory with a small aquamarine embedded in it.

Aedan knew very well what it was.

‘Kwell McGovern’s direct seal.’