Assassins
“What the hell are you?!”
Right after that, numerous rippling shadows began to form across the ceiling and walls of the room.
A bad feeling hit me hard, and I shouted at once.
“Everyone, wake up!! It’s an ambush!!!”
At my cry the other adventurers started opening their eyes.
“What the—?!”
Aiham also leapt up in shock.
But some of them still hadn’t fully come to their senses.
“Snap out of it!! Do you want to die?!”
I shouted while parrying the attack of the masked man right in front of me.
The shadows on the ceiling thrashed harder and harder until their heads began to emerge.
My continued shouting finally jolted the adventurers awake; they scrambled for their weapons.
“Cut the necks coming out of the walls and ceiling!!”
At that, the adventurers started hacking at the necks pouring in from every direction.
Thuds and wet slices as heads were severed.
But we were already a little too late.
Of the roughly twenty shadows, more than half had already fully emerged.
Aiham saw them and yelled.
“Giseok! What the hell are these things?!”
“I don’t know either! Just stay sharp!”
Then the masked man who had been trying to assassinate me asked,
“You… how did you know?”
“With killing intent pouring off you like that, how could I miss it?”
That was when I activated the skill.
Poison Coating
Poison began to seep from my dagger.
“So that’s it. You’re one of us, then.”
The assassin swung his blade again.
Clang! Steel met steel.
We traded several more blows before he suddenly leapt back.
His hand disappeared into his robe.
What now?
Something shot out from inside the fabric.
Tang—
I barely managed to bat it aside.
It was a throwing weapon.
A shuriken…
The tip of the fallen shuriken was coated in purple liquid.
“Watch out! They’re using hidden weapons! They’re poisoned!”
Everyone flinched and tensed at that.
Even knowing, though, people kept getting hit.
Already some had been stabbed by the poisoned weapons; their skin was turning blue.
But I couldn’t go help them.
Just dealing with the one in front of me was hard enough.
Ever since I’d fully left the Tower, my level had only risen by one.
Killing nothing but weak monsters had stalled my growth completely.
“Aaaagh!!”
A fellow adventurer’s scream rang out as a man of Soldier rank collapsed.
This is bad. I need to finish this fast.
I couldn’t use Afterimage with allies around.
Even if I did, the masked bastards would absorb the poison far more slowly.
Then…
I drew in a deep breath.
The assassin in front of me seemed to sense something wrong and shot backward.
I chanted the skill name in my mind.
Triple Acceleration
In the same instant I closed the distance at blinding speed.
He managed to react to the first strike.
But the accelerated movement that followed left him completely unable to keep up.
I carved wounds into his cheek and forearm.
The mask covering his mouth was sliced open, revealing his face.
On his cheek sat a black tattoo shaped like a tooth.
Aiham saw it and shouted.
“These bastards! They’re Rotten Teeth?!”
Rotten Teeth?
I didn’t know what that was, but I could roughly tell it was the name of an assassin group.
“Now that you know our identity, we can’t leave you alive.”
“Funny. You came here to kill us anyway, didn’t you?!”
Aiham beside me cleaved open one of their chests with his sword as he spoke.
“I’ll kill you!!”
The assassin roared and charged me.
But then his sword simply slipped from his hand.
The poison had spread.
“Shit… already…”
“Fast, right?”
With that short gasp, my blade swept across his neck.
Blood burst out.
In that moment a powerful thrill ran through my entire body.
The strange sensation made me freeze for a second, but I couldn’t stop fighting.
If I hold back my breath, my comrades will die!
I sucked in an even deeper breath.
And Acceleration began again.
Clang! after clang! mixed with the assassins’ screams.
Their screams, the sensation of cutting flesh—it all drove me further out of my mind.
“G-Giseok?”
I had no idea what expression I was wearing then.
I wasn’t fully conscious.
Stamina draining away.
Dopamine rising in the opposite direction.
With every person I cut down—one, two—my mind grew hazier.
But I didn’t stop.
When I finally came to, my breath had hit rock bottom.
Haa—haa—haa—
Only when my throat burned like fire did my vision clear.
Six corpses I had killed lay on the floor.
“Nice work! We’ll handle the rest!”
Aiham and the other adventurers shouted as they stepped in front of me to cover me.
The moment I saw that, strength drained from my whole body and I blacked out.
A short while later I opened my eyes.
Aera’s voice reached me.
“Are you all right, Giseok?”
I rubbed my eyes and sat up.
“Why… am I lying down?”
Aiham answered.
“You back with us? You collapsed from breathing trouble while fighting earlier.”
“Fighting??”
Hearing that word, the moments before I blacked out flickered through my mind like a film reel.
“What about them? What happened to those bastards?!”
“Don’t worry. Once they realized they were outnumbered they smashed a window and ran.”
I let out a breath of relief and looked at Aera.
“How was it over there? Were you okay?”
Then Grandpa Lu spoke.
“They came for us as well. About twenty of them, but I subdued them.”
As expected of Grandpa Lu;;
Aera had really done well entrusting him with her safety.
“Our side took pretty heavy losses too…”
“How many died?”
“Two. Three of the survivors took antidotes and are resting.”
“Haa… what the hell is going on…”
I sighed.
Aera spoke up.
“I think the Baron is behind this.”
“The Baron?”
“He must be holding a grudge. Rotten Teeth is an assassin guild. They move only on commission. In this city the only person who would hold a grudge against us is the Baron.”
At those words Grandpa Lu’s kindly face changed in an instant.
“Young miss, allow me to go alone and deal with them.”
“No! Grandpa!! We can’t touch a noble of another country—inside a city no less—without evidence. We’ll definitely get caught and it’ll become a problem.”
“She’s right, Master… and this is the Empire.”
“Then what should we…”
Worried, I asked,
“For now let’s go protest together tomorrow. We need to put a little pressure on him so he doesn’t freely send assassins again…”
And so, the moment dawn broke, we headed for the castle.
“Halt. What business brings you here?”
The guards blocked our path.
“I am Aera, vice-leader of the Medici Merchant Guild of the Tebe Kingdom. We recently concluded a deal with the lord. I have come to see him.”
“Ah, the guild that arrived with several carriages? Show your adventurer cards and you may enter.”
The guards let us through.
Inside we found the secretary.
He was grinning and openly flirting with a woman wearing an apron.
Aera called out the moment she saw him.
“Secretary!”
At Aera’s voice the secretary turned; his expression instantly hardened like stone.
A face that clearly said, How are you people still alive?
But he quickly forced a smile and approached.
“Haha… Lady Aera, what brings you here…? The remaining payment is due tomorrow, is it not?”
“We have come to see the lord. There is something we need to discuss.”
“Regarding what matter…?”
Grandpa Lu fixed him with a glare.
“Show us the way.”
The secretary flinched at the sight of Grandpa Lu and immediately led us.
“Th-this way, please.”
Knock—knock—
“My lord, the vice-leader of House Medici has arrived. Shall I show them in?”
About three seconds of silence passed.
Then the lord’s voice came.
“Very well.”
The door opened and we finally saw the lord’s face.
That sly bastard.
The words “I’m screwed” might as well have been written across his face.
“W-what is the matter, Vice-Leader?”
Hearing the slight tremor in the lord’s voice, Aera spoke in a low tone.
“My lord, the state of public order inside the city is truly appalling.”
“Public order? What… do you mean?”
“We were attacked by assassins last night.”
At Aera’s words Baron David flinched, if only for a moment.
This bastard was definitely the one.
He then gave an awkward cough and said,
“Attacked by assassins, you say… Are your people… all right?”
“We are fine, but two died and three were injured.”
“That is… most unfortunate…”
Of course this shameless bastard planned to play dumb and brush it off.
“My lord, we have done nothing in this city or this country that would earn us such enmity.”
“Perhaps the assassins attacked for the money…”
“We have not even received the remaining payment yet, and the goods are still with you, my lord. Moreover, the attackers were the infamous Rotten Teeth. They are not common thugs who would attack us without a commission.”
Hearing that, the lord turned his head and stared off at the distant mountains.
What an utterly detestable man.
At Aera’s words the secretary beside him spoke up.
“My lord, perhaps you might order the soldiers to investigate?”
The lord immediately agreed.
“Yes! That is exactly what we should do, for the sake of the city’s security as well.”
Then he looked straight at Aera.
“It is truly regrettable that you suffered such a thing the moment you arrived. As lord I shall personally order an investigation. I will also increase the town’s guards until you leave.”
Hearing that, Grandpa Lu dropped a single line.
“There will not be a second time.”
“What?”
“If something like this happens again, we will have no choice but to suspect.”
“S-suspect whom??”
Then Grandpa Lu’s trademark kindly smile vanished, replaced by a chilling shadow.
It was the first time I had ever seen Grandpa Lu truly angry.
And he delivered one more line.
“You, my lord.”
At those words the lord exploded.
“You lowborn—who do you think you’re threatening?!”
The lord’s face turned beet red; veins bulged on his neck as he roared.
The secretary tried to restrain him.
“My lord, please calm yourself. They have had their lives threatened; they are simply on edge.”
“How dare they speak so insolently to an Imperial lord!!”
Grandpa Lu walked over to the lord’s desk, picked up a pen again, and said,
“If my lord so desires, I can begin suspecting you right this moment.”
At the sight of him holding the pen the lord took a step back and swallowed hard.
He had realized it was not just talk.
Seeing that, Grandpa Lu set the pen down again and slowly walked back to Aera’s side.
“Let us go, young miss.”
“Yes. My lord, we apologize for the intrusion. I hope my words will help strengthen the city’s security. And tomorrow, please include consolation money for the dead adventurers. We will deliver it to their families.”
Then we walked out the door with steady steps.
The lord and the secretary simply stared after us from behind.
We returned to our new lodgings.
“Butler Lu, that was truly impressive earlier. It felt great.”
Aera spoke.
“I’ve never seen such a stupid lord who would actually call assassins. From now on we should never do business with this place again.”
“Still, I think he got the message today. You worked hard.”
“But there’s something that’s been bothering me for a while…”
“Yes?”
“Why do you speak casually with Aiham but mix formal speech with me?”
Come to think of it, Aera was much younger than me, yet somehow it was hard to drop the formal speech with her.
Maybe because there had never been a proper chance?
“Probably… because you never gave me permission to speak casually? Something like that?”
“Then please speak casually with me starting today!”
“Huh?”
“I don’t like feeling like you’re treating only me as a stranger.”
Suddenly being asked to speak casually was a little awkward.
But looking at her expression, refusing felt even worse.
“All right, Aera.”
Aera’s face flushed slightly.
“You speak casually too, Aera.”
“I don’t want to!”
“Huh?”
“I like it the way it is.”
Aera twisted her body shyly as she spoke.
Hahaha, well, with the age gap it probably isn’t easy for her to speak casually either…
“Fine, Aera. Do whatever’s comfortable for you.”
That night we stayed even more careful, keeping our eyes open through the dark, but the assassins never came again.
What we didn’t know…
was that suspicious movements were taking place at the castle that very night.