The Swordmaster Who Returned After 1,000 Years

Chapter 96

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 96

Tudududuk...

Myorn stared in shock at the endless stream of mana stones pouring out from the painting, mouth agape.

Each of the brilliantly shining mana stones was of at least mid-tier quality.

"W-What is all this?"

"The mana stones should be enough," Kaylen said as he reached into the painting and rummaged through it.

"This is a mana suit."

He pulled out the mana suits that had been worn by the vampires.

As over fifty gauntlets tumbled onto the floor, Myorn stretched out her fur and swiftly snatched them up.

Turning them over and inspecting them from all angles, she spoke with intrigue.

"This... feels a bit different from regular mana suits."

"You noticed right away."

"I've spent years developing mana suits. Of course, I'd notice. Where did you get these?"

"Haven't you heard what happened at the royal capital?"

"Something happened?"

Considering Myorn had been locked away in her workshop conducting experiments, it was no surprise she was unaware of recent events.

When Kaylen explained everything that had happened, Myorn listened silently before speaking.

"...So, you left that report pinned to the king's bed?"

"Yes, that's right."

Myorn formed a question mark with her fur.

"So the king was collaborating with the demon worshippers all along?"

"Yes. He sent humans and livestock to assist in the chimera experiments."

"Why didn’t you just behead him right then and there?"

At Myorn's words, Kaylen smiled faintly.

"I can't. With the demons sending colonial suppression forces, the kingdom would fall into chaos without a leader. And besides, Sword Master Stein would likely become a suspect."

"...So what? Does it matter if Stein is suspected? Who in this land would dare challenge a Sword Master?"

"If you wield power recklessly, you lose the people's trust."

"The people's trust? Why does that matter? You're not even the king."

To Myorn’s question, Kaylen responded in a meaningful tone.

"Well, you never know what the future holds."

"...What?"

"Do you think the king only sent Cesar a hundred slaves and livestock just once?"

"Who knows?"

"I have over forty reports in my hands. In total, 4,000 people and countless livestock were likely used in the chimera experiments."

Myorn was taken aback.

They sacrificed that many people?

"4,000... That's a lot. How did no one notice?"

"There’s a reason no rumors spread. There were collaborators."

"Collaborators...?"

"The Magic Tower."

"......"

"It was written in the report—‘With the support of the Magic Tower, as our ancestors instructed.’"

Black Skull Cesar.

Though he had borrowed power from the demons, he had been nothing more than an insignificant pawn easily crushed by Kaylen.

However, his influence had secretly infiltrated the kingdom for centuries.

Even if no specific names were listed…

Multiple Magic Towers were undoubtedly in collusion with Cesar.

“There are more traitors connected to the Otherworld than I expected. This country is riddled with them.”

In this life, Kaylen had no particular desire to become king.

In his previous life as Ernstine, he had ruled the entire continent as its emperor...

However, when the Supreme One, Ernstine, suddenly vanished, the empire quickly fractured, and the Meier family faced ruin.

Only a handful of descendants had survived by changing their surname.

Thus, Kaylen had established the Meier Swordsmanship School and refrained from involving himself deeply in worldly affairs.

Now that it was clear the Middleworld had become a colony of the Otherworld, he would have to intervene here...

Perhaps it was the memory of his failed attempt at establishing a unified empire.

Kaylen had never seriously considered becoming a king.

However, seeing the current state of the Bormian Kingdom changed his mind.

With numerous kingdoms already fallen, Bormian was one of the few remaining stable nations...

But if its ruling class had already allied themselves with the Otherworld,

This had to be corrected.

“If only a part of the ruling class is involved, we can remove them surgically... But...”

“What if a significant portion is involved? If we can’t simply remove a part of them... Are you saying you'll overturn everything? By becoming king yourself?”

“Yes. If necessary, I will become king.”

Hearing Kaylen declare this with such conviction sent a chill down Myorn's spine.

He seemed completely different from before.

Previously, he had appeared as nothing more than an overly mature child obsessed with mana suits...

But now, there was an unmistakable ambition in him.

Like flames slowly rising.

It was faint now, but it felt as though it would soon engulf everything.

‘Ugh... What’s happening to me?’

Myorn averted her gaze.

Even when Kaylen’s appearance had changed drastically, she had merely thought he looked beautiful without feeling anything more.

But now, the determined and ambitious look in his eyes lingered in her mind.

The gaze of a man filled with strong will and ambition.

Seeing it up close made her feel oddly flustered.

“Uh... Right... Yeah. So, you said you were going to combine these mana suits, right?” Myorn hastily changed the subject.

“I never imagined mana suits could be combined... So the mana suit technology really did come from the Otherworld after all.”

“You think mana suit technology came from the Otherworld?”

Tap, tap.

Myorn tapped the magic circle engraved on the gauntlet with her fur.

“There’s an old story about this. When the Middleworld was threatened by the Dungeon Cores, mana suits suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Normally, to create such intricate magic circles, you’d need established foundational knowledge and infrastructure. But the mana suit operating circles just came into existence without any of that.”

Kaylen recalled the lecture on mana suits.

‘The wizard who created the mana suit magic circle... They called him the Nameless Archmage.’

As if he had provided the perfect solution to the Dungeon Core crisis.

The Nameless Archmage had distributed the mana suit magic circles freely to every Magic Tower, even leaving behind samples.

His identity remained one of the greatest mysteries in magical academia.

“The Academy teaches that the Nameless Archmage developed and spread the technology.”

“The same goes for my people and the elves. That archmage distributed mana suit samples and magic circles... I remember the elders being quite excited about his technology, which seemed beyond our era.”

“Did you ever see his face?”

“No. There’s no information about him. The only thing we know is that he always wore a hooded robe and a jester’s mask.”

The Nameless Archmage.

He was known as a legendary figure in the magical academia...

But now, with the evidence pointing toward him having brought technology from the Otherworld, his true identity was shrouded in suspicion.

‘Now that I think about it, the Otherworld doesn’t immediately wipe out the Middleworld. They just colonize it.’

The same could be said for Cesar. He had the opportunity to quickly seize the kingdom and sell the country to the Otherworld, yet...

The demon lord had instructed him to preserve the kingdom.

It seemed they didn’t wish for the complete destruction of humanity.

‘Perhaps that Nameless Archmage was a pawn sent from the Otherworld.’ The Middleworld had been doomed to destruction because it couldn’t destroy the Dungeon Core.

It was only thanks to the appearance of the Meister and the mana suits that humanity had managed to survive.

Though humanity’s territory had shrunk considerably, it had stabilized compared to when the dungeon portals first appeared.

This stabilization was all due to the widespread adoption of mana suits.

‘But... why are they conducting the colonial conquest?’

Kaylen frowned.

He couldn’t understand why, after saving them, they would still wipe everything out.

Were they raising them like livestock just to slaughter them later?

‘There’s simply not enough information to figure out the intentions of the Otherworld.’

He decided to put those thoughts aside for the moment and focus on the task at hand.

“Myorn, the workshop is about to get busier.”

“Why? Is it because of the research?”

“No. I promoted the ‘Normal’ and ‘Expert’ mana suits.”

“Well, since the Swordmaster promoted them, I’m sure it’ll have some effect... but will it get that busy? The knights are poor, and they’d be fine just selling what’s already been made.”

“That’s...”

Kaylen explained what had been advertised to the knights, causing Myorn to suddenly burst out in anger.

“What? You said wearing the mana suit accumulates mana? You actually said something so ridiculous?”

“We’re still in the research phase in that regard.”

“Ugh. Anyway! Now we’ll just get more inquiries. Seriously.”

“Well, we could always research it in that direction, right? The important thing is getting them to use the new mana suits, Normal and Expert.”

At this, Myorn furrowed her brow.

Of course, she had plenty of things to do, and now she was expected to research this too?

She realized that she had been foolishly flustered by him earlier.

Tap, tap.

“Myorn, a guest has arrived.”

A salesperson hired to actively sell the mana suits from Myorn's workshop carefully announced.

“We’re busy right now!”

“Well... the guest is Prince Bellos, the Second Prince.”

“Ah, Sir Stein is here too.”

Prince Bellos greeted Kaylen with a bright smile.

Kaylen, now disguised as ‘Stein,’ calmly replied.

“Yes, I had some tests to conduct at the workshop.”

“I heard the news yesterday. You’ve also cleaned up the remaining undead from the Melzrek Lodge. And today, you’re here for testing... Truly impressive.”

Prince Bellos couldn’t stop praising him.

It seemed that the prince was unaware of the relationship between the royal family and the Melzrek Lodge.

“My father is sorry that he didn’t realize the true nature of the lodge when he awarded it to you. He mentioned that, in addition to the Melzrek Lodge, he would also purchase a mansion in the capital for you.”

“That’s thoughtful of him. But there’s no need to do that.”

When Kaylen woke up and saw the paper placed beside his bed, he wondered what made Bellos decide to buy a mansion for him. Kaylen had said it wasn’t necessary, but Bellos was insistent.

"No, no. How could we, the royal family, not repay the favor we owe to Sir Stein? It’s only natural that we do so," Bellos said, adding that good news would be coming soon. He then got to the point of why he was visiting the workshop.

"I came today to purchase the knight-class mana suits you mentioned before. I heard you have both Normal and Expert versions."

"Yes, that's correct."

"How many of each version do you have available for purchase?"

Kaylen glanced at Maioren. The fur began to clump together as he drew 50 and 10.

"There are 50 Normal suits and 10 Expert suits."

"60 in total... Alright, I’ll purchase all of them."

"All of them?"

"Yes. While the issue with the royal family has been settled... the monster problem that attacked the Duke of Oblaine’s house is just beginning. I intend to send the mana suits as soon as possible."

A horde of monsters had emerged from the dungeon portals. They were a major threat, marching relentlessly day and night.

"The defense of Oblaine is solid, but these monsters don’t eat or sleep, and they move 24 hours a day. We need to gather all the strength we can from the capital and send reinforcements."

As Bellos spoke, he subtly glanced at Kaylen before continuing.

"If Sir Stein is willing... could you assist us? I will make sure to repay you with my name on it."

Perhaps because he had seen Stein act without hesitation in front of King Kaitan, Bellos' request was cautious and respectful.

"I understand."

"...? Really?!"

"Yes. However, I will not join the reinforcements directly. I will take a Drake and go separately."

"Yes! Yes! Of course, that’s how it should be. Thank you so much!"

Bellos had not expected a positive response when he asked, but upon hearing Stein’s willingness to join, he was overjoyed and left happily.

Not long after Bellos had left, the shop assistant again notified of a visitor.

"Maioren, a guest has arrived."

"They’ve all been sold. Who is it?"

"Uh... Princess Violet."

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]