Chapter 50

Translator: penny

Chapter: 50

Chapter Title: Raven Assassination Clan (8)

Back in my room, I started thinking about Composure.

Most situations where Composure activated were during direct combat crises.

The one exception was when the evolved zombie appeared.

Even then, out of the various choices, I picked grabbing a weapon and heading outside—and that turned out to be a mistake, forcing me into a desperate fight with the evolved zombie.

Now, it felt like Composure was trying to keep offering me choices.

More precisely, 【Skill: Survival Rules】 seemed to be urging me to think harder about staying alive.

Should I prepare as much as possible? If so, I'd need poison and weapons.

Normally, Sian Raven's pattern was crafting weapons via Shadow Craft and assassinating with the Shadow Sword, but I decided to prepare a bit more.

Since I planned to warp to Valtir first thing tomorrow, I needed to move now.

The moment that thought hit me, I left the room and headed to the agent support office.

"Lord Sian, you've arrived?"

The servant in the support office bowed his head politely.

"Poison, weapons."

"Yes. Weapons...?"

He seemed puzzled why I, who could use Shadow Craft, would need weapons.

"Do you really need to use Raven Clan techniques on some third-rate thug?"

"I don't know who you're assassinating, but I get it. It's been a while since an agent asked for weapons. How should I prepare the poison?"

"You know the kind I usually carry. I'll pick the weapons myself."

"Understood."

The servant who greeted me ordered his subordinate to prepare the poison, and I entered the weapon storage room.

Daggers lined the walls, their lengths not much different from those I made with Shadow Craft.

"You said you'd pick yourself, but they're all standard issue. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Most use mana-amplifying gear, but you're different, Lord Sian."

The Raven Clan was fundamentally mage-like.

We honed skills like hiding in shadows or infusing shadows with physical force to kill foes—sword training was for Crow Clan agents.

That's why Sian Raven had reached the level of crafting his own blade, the Black Slaughter Sword.

I didn't have a keen eye for weapons and felt no real differences, so I grabbed a nearby dagger at random.

Pulling it from the sheath revealed an incredibly sharp blade.

"This'll do."

After grabbing two daggers, I left the armory and saw the servant had laid out several vials of poison.

"These are the poisons you usually carry, so no need for explanations."

I didn't carry lethal poisons.

Paralysis agents, ones that slowed blood flow, or those that tangled mana circuits to block skill use.

Raven assassins preferred killing with their own power.

I neatly tucked the slim poison vials into my coat's inner pockets and slipped out of the support office.

That's when a woman's voice called out to me.

"Sian Raven~ Straight to a mission? Lucky you!"

Glancing back, it was a black-haired woman like me.

Kaela Raven, one year younger than Kyren Dal Raven and an assassin with similar power.

"Princess Rosetta just chose me."

"Can't argue with that. So, you kill the client yet? Mind if I take it?"

"No need. I'll handle it."

As I brushed past Kaela Raven, she grabbed my shoulder and whispered in my ear.

"Fine. Then tell the princess: if they keep tying me to the Raven Clan, I might just go after that golden target myself."

"If you want to fight the imperial family, be my guest."

I shook off Kaela Raven's hand from my shoulder and returned to my room.

Composure hadn't activated in that exchange just now.

Assassinating Lowe Travis seemed harder than facing off against a woman who could force a life-or-death shadow fight at any moment?

What the hell was wrong with that mission?

It felt like I'd gotten a quest for rapid growth like when I possessed Lee Sian, so should I just skip the nonsense and kill them all?

To avoid being overtaken by Sian Raven, I shook my head once and lay down to sleep.

I'd gone to bed early and woke at dawn.

I'd even drunk detox tea, and Combat Rest had fully cleared any lingering poison from my body.

Being able to sleep deeply and boost recovery like this was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠seriously impressive.

Grabbing a bag from my room, I stepped out, and the dawn guards bowed to me.

Getting out of Vengeance Road was the first problem.

Melting into shadows would be ideal, but I couldn't do that.

I pulled my black coat up over my face, hiding as much as possible in the darkness, and headed out.

My breathing and presence faded, and in the pre-dawn darkness, no one could spot me.

It would've been easier with Presence Detection unlocked, but it wasn't yet.

I slowly walked down Vengeance Road.

Making no sound on the grass, suppressing my presence completely, I covered the 500-meter distance.

I spotted two lurkers on the way out—weren't they too lax?

I wanted to stab their hearts to avoid trouble next time, but that'd break the rules, so I let it slide.

I slipped out of Vengeance Road uneventfully and waited for the mage operating the warp gate to arrive.

In the meantime, I took off the black coat and stowed it in my bag.

Adding the poison and two daggers turned me back into an ordinary black-haired guy in cheap village clothes.

Vengeance Road had no proper shops besides restaurants, so I killed time at one.

"Where to today, sir?"

The waitress asked while bringing my breakfast.

This place was Crow Clan-owned, and she'd seen me a few times, so she could ask about my destination.

"Valtir."

"A busy place. Safe travels."

"Thanks."

Dipping bread in warm soup in the quiet eatery filled my stomach nicely.

I sat watching passersby until warp time, but they were all Vengeance-obsessed.

Probably itching to kill returning Raven assassins lurking nearby.

Couldn't grasp why bother with such hassle.

The patriarch let it slide since it meant more targets to kill, but what kind of assassins were we?

As I sat there, warp time approached.

Heading out, I waited briefly until the sleepy mage came to open the gate.

"Where to?"

"Valtir."

"Valtir it is, then."

The mage inserted the Valtir rune and infused mana, opening the warp gate.

Few were waiting, so I warped first to Valtir, where the target resided.

"Man, there are really a lot of people here."

I voiced my honest impression as Yoo Sian.

As a major city, the warp gate bustled with traffic, and commerce felt thriving.

Since arriving in Utopia, nearly half a year had passed without crowds like this.

Life at Global Academy was part of it, but with few friends, I was practically a loner.

And in Lee Sian's world, the zombie outbreak had decimated the population.

The mart during the Notlight Wave was probably the densest—total chaos.

Gawking at the diverse crowds, I sought the biggest tavern.

The largest one doubled as a daytime restaurant and was already busy; I went to the small place three doors left and knocked.

"The white pigeon has been pierced."

Saying the code Terry Crow gave me yesterday, the door opened with a grumpy mutter.

"Yawn... Weren't you back by evening, Elby...?"

A black-haired man blinked at me.

"Lord Sian Raven?! Please, come in."

I entered Valtir's secret safehouse and sat in a chair.

"What brings you here? Has the hit on Lowe Travis been greenlit?"

"Yes. Hand over everything on Lowe Travis."

"Right away."

The intel agent swiftly pulled files from a bookshelf, already organized.

"If it's not a bother, may I explain?"

As I reached for the files, the agent spoke up.

Even reading them all would leave time, but hearing it firsthand felt different from documents.

With Composure having triggered oddly, crucial info might come verbally, so I set the files down, eyed the agent, and he cleared his throat before starting.

"Ahem. The murder implicating Lowe Travis happened nine days ago. We'd been watching him closely among agents, expecting trouble—and it hit. The client scraped together warp fare and headed to Raven HQ."

"Client was in bad shape. How'd he afford warp fees?"

Vengeance Road wasn't popular, costing 50 silver—a fortune.

He rattled off prepared answers smoothly.

"Lowe Travis always caused incidents and paid hush money. Victims pooled those payouts. Better to settle cleanly with the client's life than risk another murder."

"So, what's Lowe Travis up to lately?"

"That's it—he hasn't left home. Heard the client went to Ravens, figures his days are numbered. He's holed up in his Travis Manor room. Can't cover up murder."

"Shouldn't guards lock up a killer first?"

"He was in for two days, then out."

Hearing that, I could see why the client staked his life on hiring Ravens.

No wonder this insane clan never ran out of work.