The 9th Class Swordmaster: Blade of Truth

Chapter 108: The Deal with the Wooden Cloud

Chapter 108: The Deal with the Wooden Cloud

The robed figures retreated to either side of the building as Karyl faced Fran Lurein. The latter removed his mask.

"I'm not sure what this means," Karyl said to him. "Has the duke fallen into some new Church, or is he perhaps preparing a new masquerade?"

Karyl picked up the mask that had fallen to the floor and looked intently at Fran. The courteous demeanour he had displayed during the day was now replaced by a hostile gaze.

"What did you discuss with Titan Shutean?"

Fran’s abrupt question seemed almost out of character.

It seems he knows the emperor is with the Church. It really seems that the Wooden Cloud’s intelligence reaches the empire as well, not just the Church.

Despite the circumstances, Karyl quickly analyzed the situation while maintaining his composure. After all, he had survived numerous battles.

"Hmm."

Before mastering swordsmanship in his youth, Karyl had fought in the Imperial Wars for Olivurn, and naturally, he had been captured several times. Thus, the current situation, although tense, was nothing compared to what he had faced before.

He recalled Fran Lurein’s expression when he frantically tried to take his life during the Imperial Wars. How amusing it would be if he knew what he would become.

He doesn't know about my conversation with the emperor. That’s probably because he killed the servant.

That also meant that although there might still be Wooden Cloud members out there, at least those who remained close to the emperor were not among them.

The emperor is safe, for now.

It might seem laughable to worry about the safety of the emperor, the most powerful ruler on the continent, but for Karyl, he was the most crucial figure to be concerned about.

"The basis of a deal is to state one's conditions first. I believe it was you who expressed your intention first."

"Do you think I called you here to make a deal?" Fran's voice was stern.

Around them, the robed figures blocked the exit.

They seem to be Sword Experts. I can’t spot any sorcerers among them, just swordsmen.

Karyl quickly sized up the cloaked figures. There were fifteen of them, excluding Fran, and they all seemed to meet the imperial knights’ standards of being Sword Experts.

That means all of them are at least at knight-level.

And having fifteen Sword Experts at one’s disposal was no joke. It was no wonder that Fran carried himself with such confidence.

"What do you want?"

"As I said, we are heading north,” Karyl explained. “It has to do with the emperor, but that’s all I can say for now.”

"..."

"Cove is your territory, Fran, but the last gate to the north, the White Bunker, is different. You know why."

The White Bunker was the grandest fortress in the principality, and it had never fallen in its five hundred years of existence.

The fortress, which also served as the gateway from the principality to the north, was the domain of Tuli Lurein, who was considered the leading figure in the principality.

In other words, within the divided principality, Fran ruled over the entrance at Cove, while Tuli controlled the gate leading to the north.

Fran nodded as if he had expected Karyl to mention that. "I won't make an unreasonable demand, like tearing down the White Bunker. What do you want?"

"Well, if your advanced fleet could advance inland, I would ask for that favor, but of course, they’re too heavy for that,” Karyl said wryly, gesturing toward the ships docked at the harbor. "I won't ask that of you."

Fran's expression hardened slightly.

"Our guild members should have reached the White Bunker by now."

"Kamma Povil,” Fran mentioned the name as if he knew. "He passed through Cove three weeks ago. Had it been a week later, he probably wouldn’t have managed to cross the sea.”

"Lucky indeed."

"Or maybe skilled. The Slave King's navigation isn't just a rumor. Crossing the sea in less than ten days when others take two months."

"The reason we're heading to the lair of the Fire Dragon is to find a way to cure the emperor's illness."

"How foolish to show all your cards like this. Then all the more reason I cannot accept your offer. If I were to imprison you here, you would be unable to save the emperor.”

One of the men beside Fran scoffed at Karyl.

"..."

Karyl glanced at him briefly before shifting his gaze back to Fran.

"If you want war, then go ahead. No matter how burdensome a war may be, nothing is more important than one's own life. Do you think the emperor will just stand by and do nothing...? Also, you detained the priests of the Church without permission. If you turn the Church into an enemy, who do you think will fall away?"

Cove, located between the empire and the sea, would be the first to be attacked in an imperial invasion.

"Perhaps Tuli Lurein and the other dukes might decide that abandoning you, Fran Lurein, is better than going against an alliance between the empire and the Church.”

With that, Karyl made a gesture of slitting his throat with his thumb.

"You impudent-!” shouted one of the veiled figures, stepping forward and pointing at Karyl.

Ssshhh—

But his words were cut short, for his finger slowly drifted upward. With the gruesome sound of flesh tearing, the man fell backward, his body split in half.

"Hu... Huah?!"

"Ugh!!"

The people beside him screamed in horror at the sight of the bisected corpse. The cut surface was eerily frozen, not a drop of blood spilling on the floor.

"This is a diplomatic discussion, not a gathering of street thugs where people shout at each other,” Karyl said in indignation as he touched his ear.

"You... certainly..." Fran, rather than being angry at his colleague’s death, merely looked confused. He looked at the magical inscriptions on the door and the ceiling. There was no reaction.

When Fran received the report, he knew he was dealing with a sorcerer, one that had won the Azor Expert Magic Competition. Therefore, he had prepared thoroughly.

The barrier didn't activate. That means he didn't use mana...

Fran quickly turned his head.

"I never said I couldn't use a sword."

Following his gaze, Karyl also pointed to the wall with magical inscriptions, and he was already aware.

Thud—

He nailed the Freezing Talon to the floor.

"I hold the emperor's life in my hand. That means I can keep him on his sickbed or restore him to his throne."

"..."

"Fran Lurein, if you help me, I can assist you in replacing Tuli Lurein as the head of the principality."

Karyl held his palm up as if grasping a heart, then closed his fingers into a fist.

“I can protect the principality from the emperor!”

“...!!”

Karyl slowly turned his head.

“Answer me.”

It was the person Fran had looked at earlier.

Karyl’s voice was calm as he looked between them.

“So, will you do it or not?”