Chapter 99 – The Youngest Sword Seeker (3)


    The capital of the Empire, Camelot.


    Just about a month ago, Najin, who had stopped by the capital as a tourist, now ventured deeper into it, to ces where normally one could not tread.


    Thud!


    The gate guards, upon spotting the carriage bearing the royal emblem, saluted with a stomp. They cleared the way allowing the carriage to pass without stopping. There was no need to check identities; the royal emblem on the carriage was proof enough.


    Thus, the carriage advanced deeper into the capital without halting, passing high-rise buildings towards the center, then deeper towards the center… Until the scenery changed.


    It had entered the heart of the Imperial City.


    The core of the Empire, thoroughly protected by all manner of artifacts and magical devices. As he passed through the magical barrier, Najin realized the air had changed. Immactely clear air. The mana in the atmosphere was perfectly controlled.


    Looking out the carriage window, towering towers came into view. Magic Towers, as they are called. The towering Magic Towers greeted Najin, signifying his arrival at the Empire’s core.


    And the carriage headed towards one particr Magic Tower.


    The tinum Tower, manned solely by court mages loyal to the royal family, awaited them. Najin alighted from the carriage and silently looked up at the towering tinum Tower.


    “It feels overwhelming.”


    -He really splurged on gold. Such a waste of money. Tsk tsk…


    Merlin’s clucking tongue was heard.


    Soon she began muttering, “A true mage must gain enlightenment from hunger and desperation, but this is why the modern ones…” However, Najin half-listened, letting it go in one ear and out the other.


    “This way.”


    Following Royal Guard Soltis, Najin walked on. After passing through severalyers of security barriers, Najin was finally able to traverse the dimensional gate connecting the upper and lower floors of the Magic Tower.


    sh.


    Passing through the bluish dimensional gate, what weed Najin was a vast space. At the center of the space stood a woman with long blond hair.


    Cipria Gachevskaya, the Archmage of Eight Circles.


    tinum Tower Master, Cipria Gachevskaya.


    The Empire’s Archmage looked at Najin with weary eyes, as if she had been dragged out of herboratory where she had been buried until just moments ago. Her expression was one of annoyance at the whole world.


    “Sigh…”


    She exhaled deeply and brushed her hair back. As the Royal Guard stepped back, she flicked her finger at Najin. It was a gesture for him toe forward.


    Arhebts Special Law is a royal decree. Disying such an attitude in its execution was highly disrespectful, but Royal Guard Soltis maintained his silence. Any ordinary mage would have been scolded…


    But Cipria Gachevskaya was an exception.


    For her alone, specialws were established. Considering that she had created and managed 40% of the artifactsid out in Camelot, it wasn’t really anything special.


    “Stand there. Don’t move.”


    Following hermand, Najin stood right in the center. Looking down, he saw intricate circuits intertwining like sophisticated gears meshing together.


    Click.


    Cipria snapped her fingers.


    Gears within gears meshed, creaking as a me ignited before Najin. The burning me shifted from ck to red, and from red to white.


    “It’s like looking at Cambria’s ranking chart.”


    -It’s simr. When distinguishing the levels of the soul, we often use that sequence of colors.


    “The levels of the soul?”


    -Yes.


    Merlin affirmed.


    -Ascending through realms is ultimately a process of the soul’s transcendence. It’s not that the soul’s colors are exactly those, but we just make it easy to differentiate.


    From ck to white to tinum.


    The soul approaches the stars as it transcends, so it’s not entirely a wrong expression, Merlin muttered.


    -ck, red, white, tinum. Broadly, these are the four categories, checking if you have reached the realm of a Sword Seeker.


    Najin looked ahead.


    The me before him was white.


    -If it’s white, that means you’ve reached the realm of a Sword Seeker.


    As Merlin muttered, Cipria nced at him. She looked at the empty space and nodded slightly, as if to move on to the next step.


    “……”


    Narrowing her eyes to focus, Cipria’s gaze seemed to indicate an area obscured by an inhibiting barrier or something simr. With that thought, Najin turned his gaze back.


    But then he caught Cipria’s eye, and she looked at him with a somewhat sour expression before quickly exhaling sharply.


    She sighed deeply and clenched the air. Suddenly, she was holding a staff. Raising the staff, she mmed it down. Thump! A clear sound rang out, and circles rose behind her.


    Eight circles.


    The gear-like circles slowly rotated, and she aimed her staff at Najin. Waves spread from the tip of the staff, wrapping around Najin.


    Creak, creak…


    The gears wrapped around Najin began to turn. As each gear moved an inch, letters started forming above it. This gear reads the information carved into the soul, right? Najin thought inwardly.


    “Is this going to reveal Excalibur?”


    -What?


    Merlin responded incredulously.


    -Hey, how many circles do you see in front of that girl?


    “Eight.”


    -Right. Eight circles.


    Merlin spoke triumphantly. Although she didn’t close her eyes, she probably had her arms crossed and shrugged his shoulders.


    -I have ten. Ten, you hear? And mind you, the difference between the 8th and 9th circles is huge, but the difference between the 9th and 10th circles is even more so.


    “Really?”


    -Of course! Nine represents imperfection, but ten symbolizes perfection. I’m a perfectly wless Archmage. Think that kid can break through my perceptual inhibition? If so, I’ll gracefully admit it and retire. I’m serious.


    To break through my perceptual inhibition, you’d have to bring the Witch of Cann right up to your nose. Merlin chuckled to herself.


    -Well, still…


    Merlin said.


    -Your age will probably get revealed. It must be some spell intended to verify your age.


    “That’s likely.”


    -Once your age is revealed, there’s no turning back. You know that, right?


    I know. Once my age is revealed, all sorts of attention will start to focus on me. But that’s something I’ve already prepared for.


    “I might as well get used to having Excalibur exposed from now on, right?”


    -You always talk a good game.


    Merlinughed.


    Meanwhile, letters began to emerge above the gears.


    -Ready?


    Ready, indeed. From the moment I left the underground city, I was as good as prepared. Najin silently answered the question, and just then, the letters above the gearspleted.


    The result was a two-digit number.


    Eighteen.


    Cipria Gachevskaya’s eyes widened.


    tinum Tower Master, Cipria Gachevskaya.


    She was incredibly tired. Not only had she not slept properly for days, but there was also a backlog of artifacts that needed tuning. She wanted to finish her work quickly and rest, but then a summons had unexpectedlye.


    -The enforcement of Arhebts Special Law?


    -Yes, directed personally from the department…


    -Why leave it to me?


    -The subject of thew is quite special, they said.


    Cipria was aware of the existence of Arhebts Special Law.


    But to employ someone of her stature for its enforcement seemed unnecessary. Like using a sword to kill a chicken, no, like using a great Archmage to hunt a goblin.


    So she made it very clear she was annoyed.


    Muttering, she asked if it really had to be her.


    But still, the department responsible for the management of Arhebts Special Law came with the emperor’s approval. When they examined the target’s information and records, they concluded that ‘the disguised identity might actually be the real age.’


    “What a fuss.”


    Cipria clicked her tongue.


    The time of the tinum Tower Master is exceedingly valuable. If it turned out to be just a fuss, she would formally protest to the responsible department. That would surely bolster the budget of the tinum Tower.


    With that thought, she flicked her finger.


    The young man before her had been confirmed to have reached the realm of a Sword Seeker by the soul’s me. What remained was his age. The age on his disguise was twenty-eight? A Sword Seeker of such caliber at 28.


    “Such nonsense.”


    Cipria scoffed.


    How could the level of a Sword Seeker be so easily attained? When the unparalleled genius Sword Saint Karan reached the realm of a Sword Seeker at 30, the world was in uproar. Simrly, when she, called the magic-loved girl, reached the 6th circle at 34, the magicalmunity was greatly shaken.


    But in his twenties?


    And they seriously considered it?


    “Did this field seem easy?”


    Such nonsense.


    It must be a disguised identity, she thought, waiting for the result to emerge. Information began assembling above the gears. No signs of artificial maniption on the soul, pure white. No mana detected…


    One by one, information appeared.


    And finally, the time engraved on the soul emerged.


    Eighteen. See? Definitely not the manipted identity. 28 years old, no, wait, what?


    “……”


    Cipria blinked. She looked again at the number that had appeared before her. The number remained unchanged. Eighteen. Eighteen.


    “Uh…”


    ‘Could it be? Did I overdo the all-nighters?


    It must be because I’m tired from not sleeping. I must be seeing things.’


    Cipria shifted her gaze. There, beyond the inhibiting barrier, were the supervisors watching.


    Their faces were not just pale, but ghastly white. Eighteen, eighteen, as they muttered under their breath, Cipria’s head slowly tilted.


    tinum Tower Master, Cipria Gachevskaya.


    To question her magic was an enormous discourtesy, a rudeness. Thus, the supervisors could not bring themselves to voice any doubts, but they were bulging their eyes out…


    “No, this doesn’t make sense.”


    Cipria herself could not ept it.


    She took a deep breath and mmed her staff down again. The gears wrapped around Najin once more, this time with more precision and without even skipping the magical chant.


    Thirty secondster.


    Again, only the number eighteen appeared above the gears. The assembly was engulfed in silence. It was not that they couldn’t hear the murmurs of the supervisors behind the inhibiting barrier; they were truly silent.


    A shock beyond words leaves one speechless.


    Archmage, Royal Guard, and the supervisors who had been in charge for decades, all fell silent.


    “My real name is Najin.”


    Just Najin.


    “I am eighteen this year.”


    He answered with augh.


    At such an innocent tone from Najin, the Royal Guard Soltis pped his forehead with the palm of his hand.


    Eighteen years old and a Sword Seeker.


    An unprecedented major event.


    It took less than a day for the rumor to spread and the Empire to be turned upside down.


    “What? Eighteen?”


    The core of the Empire.


    The highest ce in the Britannian Empire.


    “Wasn’t the youngest Sword Seeker 30 years old if my memory serves right? I remember it was Sir Karan who reached that age.”


    The man seated on the throne widened his eyes.


    His question was affirmed with nods from his vassals.


    “The youngest Sword Expert as well, was 23 years old and it was Sir Karan who held that record.”


    That was also urate.


    The records for the youngest Sword Expert, Seeker, and Master were all held by Sword Saint Karan. 23 years, 30 years, 47 years. Those were the records left by Karan. Even then, the Empire had been turned upside down.


    This story is unbelievable. Karan was supposedly a bioweapon produced by the magic tower, wasn’t he? Manipted. A lie…


    Hadn’t there been such rumors at the time? The man blinked several times and read the report again. The number written there had not changed. Eighteen years old and a Sword Seeker. Najin.


    Not even in his twenties.


    A teenager as a Sword Seeker?


    “Ha…”


    He let out a hollowugh.


    Ironically, the first possibilities he thought of were three: a homunculus, a demon contractor, or arva from Cann. But all three were dismissed.


    The soul was pure white.


    No artificial traces.


    No mana detected. After re-examining with 57 different artifacts, the results were consistent.


    It was a report submitted by tinum Tower Master Cipria Gachevskaya. Her words were trustworthy. But still, it was a matter hard to believe even with one’s own eyes, so the man stroked his face.


    “ce of origin?”


    “Unknown. He says he cannot answer.”


    “Lineage?”


    “No matching records within the Empire.”


    “I see.”


    The man made a quick decision.


    If he does not disclose his ce of origin, there is no need to press further. If there is no matching lineage within the Empire, it’s likely he is of foreign origin. Or perhaps of an indiscernible origin.


    Either way, it was unnecessary to know.


    What the Empire sought was a capable individual loyal to the Empire. As long as his origin was not from Cann or thend of demons, it hardly mattered.


    “Let’s bury that matter. It would be wise to dispatch a quiet, discreet investigative team.”


    If he was of foreign origin, other countries might use that as a pretext to secure his identity. Therefore, this matter must be handled discreetly.


    “But what is most important.”


    The man stood up from the throne.


    His tinum-blond hair, reminiscent of starlight, flowed with his movements. The Emperor of the Empire, a being above all, smiled as he fluttered his sleeve.


    “I shall see this person with my own eyes.”


    I will verify it myself.


    Summon him here. With that deration, the Emperor shifted his gaze. There, always steadfastly holding his position, stood the Empire’s sword.


    The Empire’s First Sword.


    The Empire’s first pir, Gerd, smiled back at the Emperor.


    “Sir Gerd.”


    “Command me.”


    “Summon the Sword Masters. At this historic moment, it’s only fitting that the Empire’s three Sword Masters are together.”


    The summoning order was given.


    It was the first such summoning since the “Thousand Moons” extermination campaign that took ce 21 years ago.