episode_0161

“… Swordsmith.”

When I saw the face of the swordsman who appeared in front of me out of nowhere, I felt the blood running down my spine turn cold.

The empire’s strongest warrior and powerhouse, and perhaps even the continent’s strongest warrior, was standing before my eyes.

Probably, definitely as my enemy.

“… Well, it’s because I’m lucky.”

I was almost killed once by an old man in front of me.

If it weren’t for Bella’s help and if heavenly fortune hadn’t followed, I would have definitely died.

Seeing the person who had pushed me to the brink of death again gave me an indescribable feeling.

“It’s luck… I see.”

The swordsman nodded calmly.

Well, this is actually the situation in front of me, and more than anything, the swordsman himself is the one who pushed me to the brink of death, so he probably knows it better than anyone else.

My condition literally means that I would never have been able to survive unless the luck of heaven overlapped.

“… That’s surprising. I never thought I would meet you here.”

Look straight at the swordsman.

I had already guessed that he had ties to the church.

However, I did not expect to meet him again here, at this moment.

“It looks like your connection with the religious denomination is deeper than you thought?”

Maybe he, too, is just someone who belongs to a cult and faithfully follows the orders of its leader.

Let’s look at him with that question in mind.

“Hmm… well. Maybe not to the level you think. It’s hard to say that my relationship with them is that deep. So to speak… I would say it’s closer to a cooperative relationship. It’s just a matter of helping each other sometimes.”

But the swordsman clearly denied what I said.

“… It’s just a cooperative relationship of giving and receiving help… … .For that matter, you showed up at quite an exquisite moment. There is no reason for you to be here in the first place, is there?”

Elbrent’s army gathered at the academy did not include swordsmen to begin with.

Therefore, questions inevitably arise as to why he is here at this moment.

Unless, as the swordsman said, the relationship between him and the church is very deep.

“Yes. It’s just as you said. Originally, I shouldn’t have been here.”

He nodded calmly.

“Are you suspicious of His Highness the Crown Prince?”

Although Cairn gathered an army in the name of waging war against Reinberg, Cairn did not include swordsmen in the army.

It wouldn’t be surprising if he questioned that fact.

This means that you will fight without using the undisputed strongest card.

however.

“That’s not true.”

The swordsman shook his head.

“I was curious, but I didn’t doubt it. Because His Majesty the Crown Prince’s appearance seemed so sincere.”

His words continued.

“The sight of His Majesty preparing for war is the image of a young crown prince who is blinded by his brother’s revenge, yet wants to prove his abilities through war and be recognized as the next emperor, no longer the crown prince. It was. I never dreamed it would be acting.”

I nodded inwardly at those words.

I don’t have a deep understanding of the person named Cairn, but I vaguely know that he is a meticulous and outstanding person beyond imagination.

If he had intended to deceive the swordsman from the beginning, his acting would have been nothing short of perfect.

In fact, Hayden is a person who acted perfectly for a long time even after realizing that he was fake.

Moreover, if the swordsman had been suspicious of Cairn in the first place, the church would not have been pushed into such a corner.

So, there was a high probability that what the swordsman said was true.

“I have to say that the reason I’m here is because of the old man’s worries. Your Highness doesn’t want to borrow my power, but I knew that my opponent, Reinberg, wasn’t that shabby. That’s why I came here, to Perdion. I plan to monitor the situation and step forward if I feel that the empire is in danger. … I never imagined that things would turn out like this.”

I nodded as I listened to the swordsmith’s explanation that followed.

If that’s the case, I understand.

As far as why he is here.

However, questions still remained.

“… Still, you don’t seem to care much.”

That was the question.

Even though he knew that he had been completely deceived by Cairn, the swordsman did not seem very offended.

“Don’t you know now? Your Majesty was suspicious of you from the beginning. And now, how will your Majesty treat you?”

The swordsman is not a person with a bad mind.

No, considering that he has reigned at the pinnacle of imperial power for a long time, his wit must be extraordinary.

There was no way such a person would not know what this situation meant.

There was no one who couldn’t guess why Cairn hid everything from himself.

“Yes. As you said, it seems that Your Majesty was suspicious of this old man from the beginning. and… Maybe when it’s all over, doubts won’t just remain doubts.”

The swordsman nodded calmly.

Perhaps, if this situation is resolved and Elbrent regains stability, Cairn will not leave the swordsmith alone.

Because he is not a finite person to the extent of leaving within the empire a potentially dangerous element, a dagger that could stab his neck at any time.

Cairn will definitely be hostile to the swordsman and will try to erase him.

The swordsman Dreir Hexler, a man who reigned for a long time as the empire’s strongest warrior and created numerous legends.

The task of erasing him from the empire would not be that easy.

The people of the empire who respect him and are proud of him will be suspicious and rebel.

However, if the person doing it is Cairn Ra Elbrent, the story is different.

He will be able to do the task more perfectly than anyone else.

Cairn will probably first completely destroy the reputation of the swordsman.

They will spread rumors to undermine his achievements and plant seeds of distrust in people’s hearts.

As time passes, the swordsman will go from a hero of the empire to a traitor to the empire who deserves to be killed.

Only then will Cairn draw his sword.

However, even knowing this, the swordsman’s expression was extremely calm.

“If everything ends like this, I will lose everything and the empire… No, maybe I will be chased from every country on the continent.”

Even as he mentioned the extremely bleak future, his eyes did not waver in the slightest.

“Anyway, if everything ends like this.”

The swordsman denied that dark future in a short sentence.

“Aren’t you starting to guess now? What is happening here now.”

“… … .”

At the swordsman’s words, I kept my mouth shut.

When this phenomenon first occurred, I thought this was the final struggle of the presumed leader of the Order.

However, the more I went through the crowd of monsters, beyond the curtain, and toward the center, the more these thoughts began to arise.

I think that maybe this isn’t just a struggle.

“Looking at your expression, it seems to be what I thought.”

The swordsmith looked at my expression and nodded.

Then, he opened his mouth again and spoke.

“It’s as you expected. Inside this space, ‘he’… So, the ‘religion leader’ is on the verge of completing his great work.”

“… … !”

At those words, I involuntarily opened my eyes wide.

The fact that I had vaguely guessed fell before my eyes.

“Do you know what the purpose of the denomination is?”

The swordsman asked me with eyes whose emotions could not be read.

To this I.

“… I don’t know.”

I told the truth without hiding it.

Because it wasn’t something worth hiding now.

“Actually, I don’t know for sure. but… … .”

After a brief pause, the swordsman opened his mouth again.

“I know that the moment the great work that the leader talks about is accomplished, the continent will be destroyed.”

“… … !”

At those words, my body flinched without realizing it.

“If that happens, everything will have no meaning. Your anger, my reputation being destroyed, and the empire.”

“… Are you okay with that?”

I had no choice but to ask.

“Do you think there is value in a world where humanity has been destroyed?”

If, as he said, the end of the continent comes and all humanity dies, is there any meaning to a world where there is nothing left?

“Well, it’s something that can’t be helped. No country can fight the entire continent alone. In order to survive, we must help the church’s cause.”

“… … .”

I couldn’t refute those words.

Honestly, I thought it wasn’t wrong.

“And strictly speaking, not everyone will die. Those who belong to the cult will survive. and… From there, a new world will be created.”

Sereung─

A soft metallic sound rang out, and the swordsman’s sword came out of its scabbard and appeared.

“I decided to cooperate, but shouldn’t I still do my part? That’s what I thought, that’s why I came forward like this. Aside from that, I also have some questions.”

The swordsman gently held the sword, which shined brightly even under this gloomy sky.

“I heard that there is a high probability that you defeated the resurrected Armianon. According to the cult leader, even if he were a warrior of the Ten Sword level, he would not be able to even properly wound Armianon, let alone defeat him… . amazing. You seem to have grown a lot in this short period of time.”

His eyes, unable to read his emotions, turned to me again.

“I’ve been curious about this for a long time. Ferdion, who is said to be the strongest warrior in history and who created countless legends, and I, who is the stronger of the two?”

For the first time, an expression appeared on that face that had always been calm.

A smile, it was a smile.

“No matter what, you can’t revive a dead person, so it would be impossible to confront Ferdion directly… If you achieved the same feat as Ferdion, I think you would still be a good example.”

With a soft smile that doesn’t suit the situation,

“Please, don’t disappoint me.”

The strongest warrior of the current generation pointed his sword at me.