I Will Pledge My Loyalty
Ziel thought with absolute efficiency.
At least, he had so far.
Bringing Erso to the faculty dormitory was neither out of pity nor sympathy.
A Crow has many uses.
Ziel's current public identity was an elective instructor at the academy. It was no longer the era when he could roam without restriction, killing and destroying whatever he pleased like back when he was an assassin—and in the long run, he needed to leave that modus operandi behind anyway.
Not that he intended to abandon his identity as an assassin entirely, but he also needed to cultivate a presence befitting his cover.
Because of that, he needed someone to handle the legwork on his behalf, and Erso—whom he had utilized quite effectively in exchange for a few daggers—fit the bill perfectly.
"Senior, this is truly... Edelbein Academy, isn't it?"
"Yes. It is Edelbein Academy."
It was late at night.
Ziel passed the guards at the main gate and led the way toward the faculty dormitory. Just as he had said, there were virtually no restrictions on outside visitors entering. Ziel was, after all, a member of the faculty.
"Were you... a teacher?"
"Yes."
Erso furrowed his brow.
Meaning he's undercover as an instructor. So this is where he runs the syndicate from!
Having guessed one truth and one complete falsehood, Erso was seized by profound admiration.
Come to think of it, there's no better location. With so many students around, outsiders can't easily slip in, and high-ranking authorities rarely pay it any heed.
The perfect sanctuary to evade watchful eyes! A brilliant choice of headquarters.
Even the so-called faculty dormitory was extraordinarily dilapidated.
From what I gathered back when I contacted Yon Riversong, hardly anyone lives here.
A crumbling, decrepit building. There was a guard stationed nearby, but the man didn't seem to care in the slightest. Another detail making it ideal for avoiding scrutiny.
Senior planned for everything.
It wasn't merely because it was Senior; in Erso's eyes, the entire setup looked flawless. An undercover identity as a teacher! The academy as a base of operations! And on top of that, a rundown dormitory that drew zero attention!
"This is the place."
Creak.
Pushing open the ancient front door, a dark corridor stretched out before them.
"Pick any room you like. Just tell me the number once you've decided."
"Understood, Senior. Where is your room?"
"Room 405."
Erso pondered for a moment before settling on the third floor. "Then I'll take the room right beneath yours."
"Understood. I will inform Academic Affairs accordingly."
"Pardon?"
Why tell Academic Affairs? Wasn't coming here supposed to be a secret?
"Ah. Before that, I have a proposition." Ziel asked, "Would you like to work as my teaching assistant?"
"A... teaching assistant?"
"Department Head Berhal Abue of the Sword School mentioned that I would be needing one."
"..."
Seeing Erso fail to grasp the words for a beat, Ziel elaborated: "That is why I am making the offer to you, Crow."
"Ah!"
Erso let out an involuntary gasp. His entire body trembled. Finally!
A recruitment offer!
Senior was currently operating undercover here as an instructor. Naturally, whoever he brought into the fold would require a cover identity as well! In other words—
He phrased the recruitment offer euphemistically!
He was officially receiving a scout proposal right now.
"I will do it, Senior! It is an honor."
"I hear the work of an assistant is quite demanding."
"That doesn't matter in the least! With you leading me, Senior, what would I have to worry about?"
As long as he was alongside Senior, he could endure any hardship.
"Very well. The salary is one thousand five hundred Cel."
"Understood."
"I will also set aside a few daggers for you separately."
"I would be honored!"
What crisp, enthusiastic answers!
Ziel tilted his head, sensing something faintly strange.
He didn't hesitate for even a second. Could being a teaching assistant have been his lifelong dream?
Ziel recalled reading in a book once that human beings harbored all manner of dreams. There was no law forbidding someone from dreaming of becoming a teaching assistant.
Splendid.
This Crow was someone he could trust with assignments reasonably well. While he possessed plenty of shortcomings, in Ziel's estimation, he was not the type to stab him in the back—or rather, he was in no position to do so.
He is currently on the run from his organization.
Furthermore, there was no way Erso could know Ziel's true past. The only thing exposed was that the man behind the skin mask was actually an academy elective instructor.
"Understood. Then I will speak with the Department Head and the Academic Affairs Office. You will reside here and begin working as my assistant starting next semester."
"Leave it entirely to me, Senior!"
Erso could not contain his excitement. Although he had been forcibly stripped of his Crow livelihood and hunted like an animal, a far greater opportunity had presented itself.
Damn bastards. One day, I'll have my revenge.
Red Shadow. The organization that had discarded him and marked him for death.
At the same time, this place was tailor-made for hiding from their hounds.
Yet, a sliver of anxiety remained.
"Um, Senior... What should I do if they somehow notice I'm here?"
Just in case. In the slimmest, most improbable scenario—
No, the odds might actually be higher than I think.
Holding the public title of a teaching assistant meant he might be exposed to the outside world to some degree.
Yet Senior was, without fail, Senior.
"You can wear a skin mask."
"Ah, right, there's that. But all of mine are back at my safehouse..."
"Returning there is dangerous. We will commission a new one. I know a craftsman."
"Understood."
It might feel a bit suffocating, but what choice did he have? It was infinitely better than being spotted and butchered.
"There is also the method of altering your face."
"R-Really?"
As expected of Senior! He knew some bizarre, extraordinary method—
"Crush the nose, sear it with fire, then collapse and melt the bone structure. That will permanently alter your facial structure. There will be no risk of being discovered."
"...I'll wear a skin mask."
Unless he was backed into an absolute corner where survival and bloody vengeance were his sole priorities...
Wait, isn't that kind of my situation right now?
Instinctively, Erso stroked his own face.
Still, he couldn't bring himself to discard this handsome mug of his.
"Wait in your room for a moment. I will bring some devices to aid with security."
"Understood, Senior. Then I'll take Room 302."
Erso pushed open the door to Room 302 and stepped inside.
It was desolate. A musty, damp stench assaulted his nostrils.
My safehouse...
The sanctuary he had poured millions of Cel into renovating!
His bank accounts were undoubtedly frozen by now, meaning he had to start everything over from scratch.
But I have Senior and the syndicate.
He made a mental note to ask about the syndicate's name later. Who else was in the organization?
They must be terrifying monsters. Incomparably greater than me.
To be inducted into such a rank... it was nothing short of an honor!
Still, this room left much to be desired.
I'll have to remodel it my way.
Above all, the bed! He could never sleep in a bed this ancient and musty. When out on an assignment, he wouldn't mind roughing it under the stars, but in a space meant for resting, quality sleep was non-negotiable.
I should pay a visit to the Mortis Collection. I'll order a bed from there.
A luxury designer bed would look hilariously out of place in this cramped room, but it would guarantee pristine rest.
Still, I grabbed a pouch of silver coins before fleeing, so if I convert them to Cel somehow...
It was right as those optimistic daydreams were swirling in his head.
"It is me."
Erso dashed over and swung the door open.
Then he froze in utter shock.
"W-Who are you? Senior...?"
Standing before him was a man of breathtaking, otherworldly beauty.
"Yes."
Impossible. Erso's jaw dropped.
Today was the very first time he had ever laid eyes on Ziel's true face.
"W-Where did you acquire that?"
"Acquire what?"
"That skin mask!"
He wanted to buy one immediately. To think such a flawless skin mask could exist in this world!
"Do custom orders make things like this nowadays? I had no idea!"
"I did not acquire it."
I was born with it.
"Then was it a gift?"
Ziel paused briefly in thought.
"Yes."
A face was a gift bestowed by one's parents.
It was an idiomatic turn of phrase Ziel was not entirely accustomed to, but having read a fair share of books lately, he answered in that spirit without much trouble.
"That's... completely absurd. For such a perfect skin mask to exist. Living behind a face like that must make life truly worth living every single day."
Erso had completely, spectacularly misunderstood.
Though it was entirely natural. That striking appearance had been revealed to the world for the first time only after Ziel walked away from the Organization!
If I had a skin mask like that, life's difficulty would drop tenfold.
Ordinarily, the cardinal rule of crafting skin masks was to make them thoroughly plain and ordinary. Or tailor them precisely to mimic a specific mark's visage. Erso knew that much; it was how he had been trained. Whether one was a Crow or an assassin, blending into the background without drawing an ounce of attention was paramount.
Yet seeing this, wearing a mask like that didn't seem half bad either...
"Stop staring, Crow."
"S-Sorry. Um, Senior... could I have one made like that too?"
"It is impossible."
Ah. Of course.
If it was a gift, one had to earn the qualifications to receive it.
There is no such thing as two identical skin masks in this world.
That was what Ziel had meant, but...
"We are leaving to commission yours now."
"Right now?"
"It is best to move before the opposition grasps the situation."
"Understood."
"We will also forge a new identity for you."
"Yes, sir! I'll stay sharp."
A brand-new life was unfolding before Erso's eyes!
My heart is racing.
He was no longer just an ordinary Crow. He was Senior's loyal syndicate operative!
Are we a family now?!
That was what Erso thought.
Ziel's thoughts, however, were somewhat different.
Now that I have secured an assistant, next semester will be much more manageable.
Around the same time.
The Crow syndicate, Red Shadow, was thrown into utter chaos.
An intruder had breached House Blackwood's private exhibition hall, the Waters of Illusion.
Crucial documents had all been plundered, leaving the vault completely bare.
The other Crows stationed as sentries had all been subdued.
And—
"1st-Class Crow Erso is miss—gack!"
Erso was missing—no, he had vanished into thin air.
"You call that a report?!"
The fury of Master Bane, leader of Red Shadow, erupted like a volcano.
"M-Master."
"What were the men assigned to monitor him doing?! What about the surveillance devices?!"
"Forgive us. There was no—urk!"
The operative tumbled violently across the stone floor.
He was a 1st-Class Crow, a man widely respected within the syndicate. Yet before the Master, there was no distinction between a first-class or a second-class agent.
"Did I not tell you? If you cannot resolve the problem, do not dare open your mouth."
"W-We are tracking him!"
"And? What are the fruits of this pursuit?"
"..."
There were none.
"...There are no traces. It appears he infiltrated the exhibition hall without leaving a single footprint behind. As for Erso... he has not returned to his safehouse."
"Would you return if you were him?"
"..."
The Master let out a ragged breath, his hands trembling with rage.
He had steered this organization for decades. Under ordinary circumstances, he would have brushed off most disasters with icy indifference, but this incident was entirely different.
To think that bastard would pull a stunt like this.
The Crow, Erso.
He had been a cherished talent, but House Blackwood's uncompromising demand had left no choice but to eliminate him. Bane had proposed brainwashing, memory alteration, or other discreet solutions, but House Blackwood's intent was absolute.
Certain death.
The document the boy had stumbled upon during an assignment possessed that kind of catastrophic leverage.
Naturally, Bane had extracted an exorbitant sum from House Blackwood in return. Cultivating another 1st-Class Crow was no small feat, after all.
Yet for things to spiral so miserably out of hand!
We should have slit his throat immediately. Damn Blackwood bastards, concocting a month-long mission just to engineer a 'natural' demise.
Had they butchered him on the spot, none of this would have unfolded. It was entirely the fault of those Blackwood dogs—and their pathological obsession with that paper!
At this rate, even the southern branch head who had received the document from Erso was on the verge of being purged.
I should never have gotten tangled up with them from the start.
Still, the die was cast.
"Word has surely reached House Blackwood's ears by now. We must resolve this at all costs."
"However, we lack any evidence."
"That cur Erso is not that calculating." The Master braced his hands against the desk and lifted his head. "He must have an accomplice."
"An accomplice...!"
"Erso must have caught wind of our intentions early and immediately arranged for outside assistance."
"But what kind of accomplice could someone like Erso possibly recruit...?"
"He may be clumsy, greedy, and seemingly full of openings, but he is still a 1st-Class Crow reared in our shadows. Do not underestimate him."
What documents had rested inside the vault remained a mystery—unless House Blackwood deigned to disclose it. But the mere fact that they had been spirited away meant they were unquestionably perilous!
And if he has a capable accomplice backing him... this will not be simple.
Every avenue looked grim.
It was an immensely delicate juncture as it was.
With the destruction of Black Sky, the influence of assassin syndicates had collapsed across the continent. According to underground intelligence, Black Blade had made the fatal mistake of drawing the wrath of House Kundel.
With the assassin guilds crumbling left and right, this was supposed to be the historic moment for the Crows to seize dominion over the imperial underworld.
Yet to stumble over such an obstacle now!
"Widen the search perimeter. Maintain our existing tracking operations, and unleash the 1st-Class Crows. We do not know where he is burrowed, so tear through every corner."
"Yes, Master."
"Tighten the surveillance on the informants planted in each prominent house. Keep a close watch over King Robson's territory in the lower districts as well."
"Understood. Shall we extend the search to the academy?"
"Exclude that place. Have you already forgotten that Erso tried to use the Riversong family to touch Deleve Kundel? Stirring up dust there will only spawn greater headaches. Besides, Rocus is stationed on those grounds."
Rocus.
A renowned Esoteric Practitioner and a man whose unfathomable depths no one could fathom. While the esoteric practitioners did not command vast numbers, not a single faction—be it the Imperial Palace, the mages, or the great merchant syndicates—dared to provoke their wrath.
"Ah. Yes, understood."
A grueling trial descending in the midst of an already tangled web.
There was only a single path forward.
We must track him down and recover those documents. We must quell House Blackwood's fury.
The Master had no inkling.
Neither that Erso had nestled himself deep inside the academy...
Nor that the two of them were already strolling through the streets of the capital together to commission a new skin mask.