The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 98

84. The Deal (1)

Ten days had passed since Emperor Tyran Sutean began his stay at the Order, but aside from the first day, Heim remained as quiet as ever.

“Aidan, why don’t you sit down? You’re making me dizzy. Or just go to sleep in the bedroom.”

Late at night.

Karyl said, watching Aidan pacing busily around the room.

“I have to go out to check if the messenger hawk has arrived anyway. How can I sleep peacefully?”

“Is that so? You’re working hard again today.”

Aidan said, watching Karyl leisurely drinking tea, unlike himself.

“Aren’t you curious, Master? The bait should have been taken by now. I’m worried this is a waste of time. The plan to swallow the three kingdoms through the magic mine rights felt more realistic.”

Karyl chuckled at his words.

“This is part of that plan. I’ll explain it all to you later.”

“…….”

“Or, if you’re really curious, ask someone from Amyeon. Why would the ruler of the Eastern Kingdom plant people in the Order before the Empire? There’s a reason. They don’t know you’ve betrayed them yet, do they?”

“Betrayal? I’ve only temporarily changed my route to carry out the Eastern Kingdom’s orders. It’s better for whoever has more profit to seize the hegemony of the continent.”

“That’s what you call betrayal. If I hadn’t come then, you might have been beaten to death by Juke. That woman’s personality isn’t ordinary.”

“……You seem to know her well?”

“Don’t I?”

“You do.”

Karyl thought that he could spend this boring time by teasing Aidan.

‘It’s frustrating because I can’t train my swordsmanship or show my magic.’

Except for Joey Johannsel, no one in the Order knew Karyl’s true identity.

To them, Karyl was just a merchant from Tatur.

‘But thanks to the reply from Azor, they seem to have confirmed that I’m the one who targeted the Gray Church Leader.’

It had already been half a month since he last spoke with him.

The messenger hawks that had been flying in countless numbers since the Emperor’s arrival had become infrequent, but there were still occasional ones coming from outside.

Aidan used a unique method learned from Amyeon to break the seals of the messenger hawks, check the contents, and perfectly replace the seals.

Karyl was able to see through their thoughts through the reports he received.

‘Wooden Cloud will probably move after I meet the Emperor. Joey Johannsel may also be keeping his distance from me, watching their reactions.’

Unlike the anxious Aidan, Karyl still had a relaxed expression.

‘Eventually, they’ll have to call me. The Emperor’s lifespan is running out. They’ll be grasping at straws.’

The Order’s healing arts are the best on the continent, but even so, there are limits to what they can do.

They can fix broken arms and legs and neutralize poisons, but they can’t cure natural aging.

That’s.

Like turning back time, and it was against the ethics of God.

In comparison, magic is different.

It was a blessing from God, but ironically, it wasn’t the power of God himself.

‘Some scholars say that’s why magic declined after the Magic Age… But what does it matter? I have the magic of that era in my head now.’

250 years ago.

Karyl now possessed knowledge of a realm that even the Archmage Kaie Esir had not reached.

Toc- toc- toc-

A sound broke the tedious wait.

It was night, close to dawn.

The priests of the Order go to bed early for the next day’s mass. The person who would visit this room at this hour was obvious.

Creak-

Karyl opened the door and said to the man standing outside with a smile.

“I’ve been waiting.”

* * *

“Do I really have to cover my eyes?”

“I’m sorry.”

While staying at the Order for several days, Karyl spent most of his time in the room.

‘It doesn’t matter anyway. If I pass the garden and go to the right, it’s probably the basement of the Second Building.’

It was also to avoid unnecessary suspicion, but the biggest reason was that it wasn’t necessary.

He had already grasped the layout of the Order through Aidan long ago.

Swish-

As soon as the cloth covering his eyes was removed.

It was a completely different feeling from the Order’s building, which was full of brilliant light.

Candles were lit instead of magic lamps in the room, and the basement was deeper than he thought, making the ceiling look incredibly high.

‘I didn’t know there was a place like this in the Order. It feels like I’ve only come down one floor… Did they use teleportation magic in between?’

Karyl wondered if they had used a magic circle built inside the building, recalling that he had not felt any signs of magic application.

‘Anyway, it’s definitely a secret place within the Order. Well… It’s only natural since the person in front of me is the only Emperor on the continent.’

But it was strange.

The feeling inside the hall was completely different from the image of the Order that served Yula.

“Are you Karyl?”

At the voice echoing in the hall, Karyl knelt on one knee, placed his opposite arm on it, and lowered his head.

“I am overwhelmed to see your face.”

The Emperor’s deep wrinkles moved.

Whether it was a smile or a grimace, the Emperor leaned against the ornately decorated bed and looked down at Karyl, saying.

“Put down your weapon.”

At his words, Karyl untied the Ice Claw he was carrying and pushed it towards the Emperor.

“I heard that you are the master of Tatur, who returned alive from the Gray Church in Azor, and that you investigated the magic ruins before the Order. Is that true?”

“It’s a little different.”

Tarian Sutean’s eyebrows twitched at Karyl’s words.

“Hmm.”

At the Emperor’s reaction, Karyl stared at Joey Johannsel. Then, he took out a piece of jewelry from a small box and showed it to the Emperor.

The seal of Quell McGovern.

“I apologize for being presumptuous, but I would like to mention one thing that is missing.”

The Emperor looked at it, nodded, and said what he wanted to say before Karyl.

“You, the master of Tatur, who is called a lawless zone, have a relationship with Quell McGovern…….”

Clang-!! Clang……!! Clang!!

At that moment.

The men around the Emperor drew their swords all at once.

“Honestly, it’s hard to believe. Unfortunately, the person who can prove this is far away in the snowy north.”

“…….”

Karyl looked at the Imperial Knights.

“Quell has been a reliable knight who has supported the Empire for a long time. I like him too. Thanks to him leading the Azure Knights, the Empire has been able to develop further.”

“That is correct.”

Despite the swords pointed at him, he calmly said, not avoiding the Emperor’s eyes.

“I’ve seen his sons too. Tyren and Randal, I think they were both adopted. But both were bright in different ways.”

“The children of the McGovern family are all outstanding. Although they are adopted, Quell’s judgment is accurate.”

“Cluck… You’re being presumptuous. Saying such things out of my mouth. A humble person from a free city mentioning the name of a noble knight.”

The Emperor looked at Karyl and said in a voice that sounded like he was coughing up phlegm.

“But a humble person may be able to help Your Majesty achieve your goals.”

“So it’s you. The real contributor who caught the spy from the Lurein Duchy. Isn’t that right?”

The Emperor looked at Karyl with sharp eyes.

Instantly.

Karyl couldn’t help but be surprised by his unexpected words.

‘Is the Emperor still remembering what happened a year ago?’

It could be a guess, but his discernment, having survived in the Imperial Palace where countless schemes and tactics have come and gone for a long time, could never be ordinary.

“I received a report before. So I had Tyren McGovern become a disciple of the court magician, Cardin Ruer, and I bestowed a weapon to Randal McGovern.”

At the Emperor’s words, Karyl thought.

He knew that Randal had been given a sword, but it was the first time he had heard that Tyren had become a disciple of Cardin Ruer.

‘It’s like giving wings to a tiger. With the Imperial Magic Society in his background, he’s already bright.’

He wondered if Tyren’s future, one of the results of the turning point he had created, had created the biggest obstacle.

‘I can’t delay any longer. As soon as this is over, I need to meet Anthem Howard as soon as possible.’

If Tyren McGovern is with Cardin Ruer, he is likely to enter the Academy.

‘The Academy has Serga, who will become the Empire’s strongest magician. Tyren will never miss him. Moreover… If he’s in the Imperial Palace, he may form a connection with Brand Gaunt, who will become the Empire’s strategist faster than I expected.’

A meeting between Tyren McGovern, an unparalleled genius and future prime minister, and two of the Empire’s Seven Greats [influential figures in the Empire].

It was their destiny to meet someday, but Karyl was not happy to have that time brought forward.

“But both children were brats who didn’t fit in with fighting. Finding a spy among the goblin army? It would be possible in five years. But not now.”

The Emperor gestured to Karyl.

Thud- thud- thud-

The distance between the two narrowed.

Still under the tension of the Imperial Knights, Karyl calmly walked towards the Emperor.

“How old are you this year?”

“Thirteen.”

“A child who is not even of the age of learning already has the eyes of a murderer. And even a connection with Quell… Could you be a hidden adopted son of his?”

“…….”

Silence flowed.

That time, which was only a few seconds, felt as long to Karyl as when he had climbed the tower.

“Hmph, that’s enough. What does it matter? Whether he’s his adopted son or his confidant… I’ll find out someday. What matters is that he’s a person of the Empire, isn’t it?”

Karyl smiled faintly at his words.

‘He’s a slippery character after all.’

Do they all change like this when they come to the throne?

Karyl didn’t see it in his previous life.

He thought, standing before the person who had annihilated his tribe.

“I heard from Lord Joey that you had an interesting story.”

“I was just sharing a story about the ruins that were discovered during the development of the magic mine… I didn’t know that Lord Joey had a connection with Your Majesty.”

“Isn’t this also fate?”

“It is.”

The Emperor looked at Karyl and laughed heartily.

‘His tongue is blue, his eyes are dark, and the blood vessels in his eyes are not disappearing, and the skin on his cheeks is peeling off in places as if it were sunken…’

Each time he laughed, his lifeless skin shook unsightly.

Karyl’s mouth was bitter.

‘He didn’t die of old age.’

He knew this symptom.

Just once.

Because he had seen it in his previous life.

The appearance of the young Third Prince when he died flashed through his mind.

A colorless, odorless poison, Mimeong (未明) [a fictional poison].

It was a deadly poison used only by the Janabi tribe in the north.

‘Symptoms appear, but it’s too late when it’s already developed. There is no cure, and it’s a poison that is not known to the Empire at this time.’

Karyl had only learned about it years later.

‘Who is it?’

Suddenly, he became curious.

The identity of the person who was bold enough to poison the Emperor of the Empire.

‘It’s not something that will end with one or two times. At least several months or years.’

“…….”

As he thought that, Karyl’s eyes changed as he looked at the Emperor.

Despite being nothing but skin and bones, the fact that he had been called to the Order’s secret place because of the words he had uttered was no different from an old man being deceived by street vendors and buying ineffective medicine.

The Emperor was quick and sharp, but he was ultimately weak in the face of his own life.

But it’s not pity.

Thousands and tens of thousands of souls of other races would be hanging over his shoulders.

‘My father will be among them.’

A warrior of a great tribe, Kaliak.

Karyl had a lot of worries in the tower that went back in time.

If he climbed the tower further, could he perhaps go back to before the Emperor issued the Edict of Eradication and save the northern tribes?

But he had to make a decision.

If.

If he couldn’t form a relationship with Quell because of that decision, he wouldn’t be able to obtain dragon magic in Einherjar.

The choice to be made between blood ties and the future.

“…….”

It was a decision he made himself.

Now, the death of his father, which he thought was a forgotten event, came to mind in vain.

The Emperor, who had taken his life, had called him, a stranger, to save his own life.

Could he even imagine it?

“I want to hear more about what you said.”

“I will tell you anything.”

“What should I give you to get it?”

Karyl laughed quietly at the Emperor’s words.

“Hmm, well.”

Everyone’s attention was focused on his reaction, which was different from before. Breaking through the heavy air, Karyl said calmly.

“Would you give me the Empire?”