Chapter 87 : The Magic Sword Bram

TL:SummerPeanut

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“Duke of Regan, that’s why I told you. There is no way we can tail Mars anymore..."

Sasha said to Duke of Regan, and Duke of Regan replied.

“How did you notice? We were quite far away this time... and we put on maximum alert towards any wind movement...."

She asked with her beautiful face contorting slightly.

“It's a trade secret."

I simply replied.

Well, it was all thanks to Ike.

Why did Ike put me and Clarice in last place this time?

His action meant putting the two best fighters at the rear despite this not being a retreating battle.

And that for some reason it took me a long time to come out of the hidden passageway in the basement.

Considering these factors, we were basically told to make sure that the rear was well scouted.

At first, when Clarice and I were told to stay behind, I thought he meant I should be suspicious of Clarice but I believe in the bond between myself, Ike, Clarice, and Ellie is more than a real family.

“Now, what do we do? Do we stay here and talk?"

Ike said, and Duke of Regan said.

“No, it's not good for us to stand out here. Let's go back through the underground passage for now. We’ll discuss it on the school side where you can see the entrance to this hidden passageway.”

Hmmm, there is no way these two could have anything to do with Joseph and Johan's disappearance I guess.

We followed Duke of Regan's advice and went back the way we came.

In the underground passage, Duke of Regan stopped at Cyrus's arm spot and clasped her hands together.

We followed suit.

Duke of Regan muttered in a small voice ‘I'm sorry’.

Back at the Lister Imperial School, we decided to talk a short distance away from the elven statue where the hidden staircase was located.

Misha was looking worriedly into Sasha's face.

I tapped Misha on the shoulder and she leaned back against me.

I’m sure she’s worried that her mother might be denounced from now.

“Are you two the ones who killed Teacher Cyrus?”

Ike suddenly drove in the knife.

Misha is the one who is fearful of the answer to that question.

Perhaps Misha also thinks that Sasha might have done the deed.

That's why Ike asked this question first.

“No, there’s no way that’s true! I swear to God and my daughter! I had nothing to do with Cyrus! And of course, I had nothing to do with Joseph and Johan!"

Sasha said angrily.

Yet Ike wanted Misha to hear these words as soon as possible.

“I'm sure you're right. I’m glad for you. Misha."

Misha seemed a little relieved when I said this to her.

Sasha, too, seemed to realize why he was asking that and felt a little awkward because she yelled back at him. Well, if someone suddenly said something like that in front of my daughter, I would also be upset.

“I apologize for doubting you. Teacher Sasha. But I wanted to reassure Misha first. Misha, I would like to apologize to you too."

Ike bowed to Sasha and Misha. Yeah. He's a good brother. I want to be someone like him.

When Ike apologized honestly to Sasha, she too said below.

“Rather I'm the one who should be sorry… I yelled at you without any dignity as an adult... I also appreciate your concern for Misha.”

Sasha also apologized properly to Ike.

I think we are now in a better mood to talk a little.

Misha's grip on my hand had been very strong, perhaps because she was worried but now her grip had softened. Her expression also became a little brighter.

“Then who killed Teacher Cyrus? If it’s Duke of Regan, I’m sure you already have some ideas, don't you?"

Ike asked but Duke of Regan remained downcast.

Ike said a few words.

"It was Teacher Ryner who killed Teacher Cyrus, wasn't it?"

To which Duke of Regan replied.

“Not exactly... I believe it was... not Ryner.”

“What makes you think so?"

"Because... Ryner’s level hasn't changed in 18 years…..”

“18 years? What do you mean? Has Duke of Regan known Teacher Ryner for a long time? 18 years ago…is Teacher Ryner actually..."

“Ryner was a student at Lister Imperial School 18 years ago, ranked 2nd in the S class.”

Ryner is actually a graduate of this school…? But then again, if his level hasn't changed since he graduated, his status probably hasn't changed that drastically either... If he's ranked 2nd with that strength, then the ranked 1st student must have been quite strong right? Maybe Ike and I came into the same notion and hence the talk below.

"His level hasn't changed and he's ranked 2nd with that kind of strength? It's really hard for me to honestly swallow that...”

"Oh? It's really true. And I'm sure you guys would understand. There was no Royal School of Syrians back then so the beastmen went to this school too. Four years ago, Ryner was 29 years old, and now he is 33. Don't you think it’s weird that he is of the same age as someone else?"

When Duke of Regan looked at Ellie…

“...Papa…”

She said as her eyes fluttered open. I see. That makes sense then. There’s no way to beat Barnes... Ike quickly agreed.

“If it is not Teacher Ryner who killed Teacher Cyrus, then who is the culprit? You are not going to say it was done by a ghost, are you?"

“No... I don't have any proof...but it should be Bram...”

Hmm? I don't know anyone called Bram... where have I heard of him before?

“Just who is that person?"

Ike got a little annoyed now and he further pressed the answer from Duke of Regan.

“Bram, the magic sword that Ryner is equipped with... I believe it was Bram who killed Cyrus....”

“How can a sword kill a man at its own will?!”

Ike said to Duke of Regan in an unusually loud voice, and Duke of Regan replied

"That sword can. That cursed magic sword(Intelligent Sword)... That sword is originally ‘Bram Chest’, Ryner’s peer, the ranked 5th in the S class at Lister Imperial School.”

"A man turning into a sword?"

I asked and Duke of Regan nodded.

Can one actually believe that? But Ike nodded.

“Please let us know what exactly you mean by that.”

At Ike's serious look, Duke of Regan nodded as if she had given up.

“Eighteen years ago, there were 5 S class students in the fifth grade. Three of them were beastmen and two were human. They were, respectively, a three-person party of only beastmen, led by Lord Barnes, and a two-person party consisting of Ryner and Bram. I don't know if these two parties were close or not but they stimulated each other’s growth. And in the fifth grade, Ryner obtained the title of Sword King.”

“He challenged Barnes, who he had never been able to beat, to a match. He was convinced that he could win because of his title as the Sword King because he had lost only so narrowly in the past. However, the result was a defeat. In fact, Barnes had been holding back all this time. The only difference was that Barnes couldn't take it too easy either and he broke Ryner's sword during the fight.”

Just how strong was he to break a sword using bare hands… When I looked in Ellie’s direction, she was wearing a very proud expression.

"Then Ryner began to rely on the quality of his sword from thereafter. He started sword hunting. But in the beginning, the sword hunting of his was different compared to recent ones. It was properly legal...

Both side fight with their swords on the line. It was done with the consent of both parties. I've been there a few times, and even the losers were satisfied."

“In the beginning...so later on...?”

“One day, Ryner and Bram went to the Kingdom of Zarkham to do a quest, and they had a sword-hunting match with a child of Zakham’s nobility... I said child but he was an adult obviously and Ryner won in a landslide. The child from the Kingdom of Zarkham got a little hurt.”

“The child's parents hired a group of demon race to put a curse on Ryner in retaliation for the injury. But when the child's parents found out that Ryner was good friends with the next Duke of Syrians, they decided not to put the curse on Ryner. However, the parents were not satisfied and placed the curse on Bram, a member of Ryner's party instead.”

“Bram was kidnapped during a quest, and by the time Ryner came to realize Bram was gone. A snow white sword was delivered to Ryner later. And that was the reborn Bram, Bram the Magic Sword.”

“Since then, Ryner started to behave strangely. The sword was turning from white to red. It wasn't until after Ryner graduated from Lister Imperial School that I realized that the color of the sword is now the color of human blood.”

“Tell me one thing. How do you cast a curse?”

I was very curious about curses.

After all, Ellie was cursed, too.

“Curses... can be used by the witchdoctors of the demon race. But it takes a large number of such spellcasters to cast a curse. Not to mention the amount of time required to cast a single curse. In fact, I've seen it happen a few times but it would never affect us if we were in a normal state."

Ike opened his mouth.

"So Duke of Regan thinks that the Magic Sword Bram, walked in all by himself and killed Teacher Cyrus?"

Ike lunged at Duke of Regan.

“No... I think he used Reiner's body to kill Cyrus... and my simple appraisal result is that Ryner has been cursed for a long time...since 18 years ago… I thought he had finally returned to the previous Ryner since his behavior reverted back but apparently he is still under the curse. Though I haven't been able to appraise Ryner…or rather Bram recently because Bram is ever so reluctant to be appraised..."

“Brother Ike. I think Duke of Regan is probably not lying."

I told Ike that because he didn't believe Duke of Regan's words and then he held himself back before saying.

“I...see. Does Teacher Ryner have his memories? Memories of killing Teacher Cyrus, and of killing other adventurers.”

“This is just my guess, I think he does... It's just a feeling with no assurance. I heard that Ryner tried several times to cut himself... and everything went wrong, probably thanks to Bram...."

The fact that she said it’s ‘thanks’ instead of ‘because’ of Bram conveys Duke of Regan's feelings toward Ryner. I am sure that she wants to save Ryner.

“Then why is there a need to kill Teacher Cyrus? I don't understand why Teacher Ryner...no, Bram would kill him. I do believe the sword that Teacher Cyrus has is a good one but it is certainly not as good as the swords belonging to Mars and Baron.”

“That’s because I requested Cyrus to do an internal investigation of Ryner.  I never thought it would turn out like this...."

Sasha continued on behalf of Duke of Regan because her voice choked with tears.

“On the second day of the entrance examinations, Mars, you are able to exchange a sword fight with Cyrus with a calm face, right? When I reported it to Duke of Regan, she said that Mars might not be able to grow in the Lister Imperial School and that she would need to hire Ryner assuming he’s back to normal now. Even though I had reminded Cyrus to never push himself..."

So a little bit of this is my fault too huh...

“So tell me about Bram's abilities and stats. Does he have any strange magic?"

I said, and Duke of Regan choked back tears.

“Bram could use magic known as spatial magic. He could only change the coordinates of objects and store something in space. The coordinates of objects could only be moved 2 or 3 meters at most, and I think he could only put away one or two swords in the space."

This solved the mystery of Ryner’s suddenly appearing and disappearing swords.

It might be better for me to use VIsion to see Bram's future attacks than to see Ryner's...

“One last thing from us. If I shatter the magic sword Bram, will Teacher Ryner’s curse break as well? And what will happen to the magic sword Bram if I break the curse on Teacher Ryner first? I would like to know what would happen to the Intelligent Sword if it lost its vessel."

“It's all my speculations but if you don't remove the curse on Ryner properly, there might be some kind of curse left on Ryner even if you shatter the magic sword Bram...

In the case we remove the curse from Ryner first, I fear the collapse of Ryner's spirit... I’m scared of what Ryner will think when he comes to his senses after seeing the magic sword Bram... If it loses its vessel, I believe there will be more victims again...

It's just my own opinion... but I believe Ryner is innocent...and I don't think Bram is even more so. The magic sword Bram itself is cursed and has no will of its own. Of course, all the crimes were committed using Ryner's body... I think the one with the heaviest sin is the nobility parents who put the curse on Ryner..."

Well, it’s not like I don’t understand how she feels...

“Can you give me one chance? I'll do something about Teacher Reiner and Bram."

When I said so, and Duke of Regan replied.

"How will you...?"

"Teacher Ryner is... not good with Clarice so I think I'll go from that direction. Basically, I'm the only one who fights."

I think I understood the reason Ryner had shown discomfort when he fought Clarice.

“What should we do?”

“Prepare a sturdy building that has no issues being destroyed later with no windows where you can never see the inside from the outside. Bring Teacher Ryner there and I will take care of the rest. Joseph and Johan may take some action at that time so please be on the lookout outside."

That last part was complete bullshit. Because I don't want anyone else to know what's going on inside.

Then Duke of Regan answered.

“Give me two weeks. I'll figure something out."

Then two weeks passed and it was time to settle everything Ryner.

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