Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Grabbing the Tail (3)
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Rustle.
Martin flipped through the ledger quickly.
Sien, checking from behind, furrowed her brow.
Every page was densely filled with something, but he couldn’t make out the contents at all.
Where letters or numbers should have been, there were only bizarre symbols and drawings.
“To write everything in code right up to the end... really going out of his way to be a pain.”
“It’s a pretty old assassin organization. I figured they wouldn’t keep records in the common tongue.”
“What do we do?”
“Just ask someone who knows. He’s right here.”
“The head of an organization like this? You think he’ll spill that easily?”
“In the end, he’s just human. And humans break easier than you’d think.”
Martin’s gaze shifted back to Jard.
Still crushed by Sien’s ability, his expression was poor, but that was all.
The code’s existence propped him up.
‘Almost no one knows that code.’
The code in the ledger had been created about a hundred years ago by the leaders of the top ten shadowy organizations, including the Blood Sword Squad.
Only the leaders were taught how to use and read it.
It was passed down only to the leaders and a tiny handful of top executives in each group, and in the current Blood Sword Squad, he was the only one who knew it.
That gave him confidence.
No matter how much time Martin spent, he’d never be able to read the code.
‘All I need to do is die.’
Then the truth would be buried in darkness forever.
Steel ing himself, Jard squeezed out his mana.
Until now, he’d used it to resist Martin or Sien’s unique abilities, but this time was different.
He reversed his mana flow.
To burst every mana circuit and blood vessel in his body.
But Martin moved faster.
“Who said you could die whenever you want?”
Grab.
Martin seized Jard’s shoulder and activated All Things Distortion.
Centered on the shoulder, the muscles and bones twisted wildly out of shape.
Jard’s mind went blank from pain beyond imagination.
“Arrrgh!”
A massive scream erupted from Jard’s mouth.
As an assassin, he’d conditioned his body to endure all sorts of torture. He was even immune to various poisons.
But the agony Martin inflicted rendered all that effort meaningless.
Crack.
Flesh split, white bone emerging with spurting blood. It snapped immediately, and in the end, his entire left arm separated from his torso and fell to the floor.
“Sien.”
“Yeah.”
At Martin’s call, Sien opened her subspace.
She handed him a potion, and he sprinkled it on Jard’s wound.
The potion worked so well that the bleeding stopped in an instant.
“Mind teaching me how to read the code?”
“...Kill me.”
“That’s a given. Tell me how to read it, and I’ll let you go peacefully.”
“Th-this lifetime in the shadows doesn’t mean I have no pride. You’ll never hear the truth from me.”
“We’ll see.”
“Arrrgh!”
This time, Martin applied All Things Distortion to Jard’s right shoulder.
Then he placed his palm on Jard’s left leg and right leg.
Each time, the limbs detached one by one, and Martin poured potion to keep him from dying of shock.
Any normal person would have lost their mind immediately.
Yet Jard screamed but refused to give Martin what he wanted.
Not even looming death could make him afraid.
“Didn’t I say human mouths are light?”
“A leader is a leader, huh. To endure this to the end.”
Sien tossed the question in a teasing tone.
Martin gave a wry smile and shook his head slowly.
“I... told you. It’s pointless, but... I’ll protect my pride.”
“Your will is certainly admirable. Too bad it doesn’t mean much.”
Martin met Jard’s gaze head-on.
The wry smile on his lips turned into a bright one.
Seeing that, Jard felt an ill omen.
His instincts warned him.
He shouldn’t hear Martin’s next words. Hearing them would utterly deny his entire life.
But Jard had no power to stop Martin’s mouth.
“The truth is, I can read the code you made.”
“...If you think that nonsense will shake me, you’re gravely mistaken.”
Thud!
Before Jard could finish, Martin flung the ledger wide open.
It was the first page, and he pointed to the top line with his right index finger.
“Imperial Year 872, September 13th: Received 10,000 gold from the Rustal family to establish. First commission on September 21st: From the Rustal family, to kill Cassian Dust.”
The cruel truth stabbed into Jard’s chest like a wedge.
Jard, who’d somehow endured horrific pain, reacted differently this time.
Tremble.
His whole body shook violently.
The shock was so great he couldn’t even scream.
He just stared at Martin with a dazed face.
“So the Blood Sword Squad is basically the Rustal family’s hunting dog?”
“Exactly, Sien.”
Rustle.
Echoing Sien’s words, Martin turned the page.
Then he pointed to the very last page, the bottom line.
“Imperial Year 1016, March 7th: Rustal family commissions my death. Note: Do not kill Sien. Right?”
“...How! How the hell can you read it?!”
Jard wailed miserably.
He couldn’t accept the reality before his eyes.
Martin sneered at his foe.
“Demanding the truth from others while keeping your own mouth shut? Isn’t that a bit too shameless?”
“...”
Jard fell silent.
He no longer had the strength to speak.
With his last pride shattered, his life force drained rapidly. Wrinkles multiplied on his face, his hair turned pure white.
Only seconds left to breathe.
In that moment, he mocked one person inwardly.
‘To fight this guy... Baldemar, you’re truly insane.’
At 18, he’d reached 7th Circle, top tier on the Krasian continent.
Terrifying enough, but that wasn’t all.
The decisiveness to act on a decision immediately, the ruthlessness to disregard others’ lives.
And he even knew secrets no one else could grasp.
Bottomless.
That was Jard’s assessment of Martin.
So he couldn’t understand Baldemar.
If he couldn’t manifest his unique ability, fine—but challenging Martin now was the height of suicide.
‘You won’t die easy either, Baldemar von Rustal.’
That pleased him, at least.
A bit of relief from a lifetime of torment.
Sigh.
Jard closed his eyes.
His heartbeat stopped completely, his breathing gone.
“It’s over.”
“Yeah.”
“We’ve uncovered the Blood Sword Squad’s ties to the Rustal family, and the assassination attempt. Add in the embezzlement, and we can really take down the Rustals.”
“Wow. Getting scary now? It’s like you’re reading my mind.”
“Anyone could predict that once we brought up Rustal embezzlement. Anyway, how could you read the Blood Sword Squad’s code, Martin?”
“My father left me more than people imagine.”
“How did the previous family head know an assassin group’s code...”
“You know, Sien? The more people are looked down on, the more venomous they get.”
Martin cut Sien off and answered calmly.
The weight in his words silenced her.
Martin the incompetent was one thing, but the previous head had been subtly dismissed by other nobles and even within the family.
Because he lacked the power to bear one of the three great houses.
So it wasn’t strange what he might do behind the scenes.
As Martin said, the weaker the person, the more they obsessed over compensating for their shortcomings.
‘Sorry, Father.’
Martin apologized inwardly.
No matter how close he was to Sien, he couldn’t say he’d clashed with the Blood Sword Squad and other assassins before his regression and learned the code that way.
His father had once been at the pinnacle of the three great houses, even if lacking in power.
Meaning it wasn’t odd for him to know anything.
He’d have to keep leveraging that name whenever he used future knowledge ahead.
“Got it. Anyway, the Rustals are done for. Not just dungeon byproducts embezzled, but even attempting treason. Question is when to drop it. What’s your plan?”
“No advance warning. No need to give them time to prepare.”
“You’re not thinking of handling it just us two again? If so, I’ll stop you. Even if I have to knock you out.”
The weakest of the five great branches, but the Rustal family still had top-tier power among imperial nobles.
Not something 7th and 5th Circle could handle alone.
“Relax, Sien. Even I’m not crazy enough to attack the Rustals with just two of us.”
“Then?”
“Meeting someone first. Sir Vincent said he’d arrange it soon.”
“Oh.”
Only then did Sien sigh in relief.
She looked so cute that Martin chuckled.
But seeing dead Jard, his smile vanished.
‘You’ll end up like this too, Baldemar von Rustal.’
He’d secured the most crucial key.
Soon, he could make that bastard weep blood.
Martin steeled himself and turned.
To return to Adalbert mansion.
“Train your ability harder, Martin.”
“I am training. Why suddenly?”
“Spatial Domination at 4th Circle means long-range teleportation.”
“Wow. Shocking. Even so, how can you see me as a taxi? Don’t you have issues?”
“You brag about being a genius all the time, so it’s fine.”
Sien snorted in rebuttal.
Of course, Martin didn’t back down.
“Wait a bit. Before 20, I’ll hit 8th Circle and shock you.”
“Uh, that’s...”
Sien retreated for the first time.
Because Martin might actually do it.
He nodded lightly, wearing the winner’s smile.
* * *
After Martin and Sien left, silence filled the Blood Sword Squad’s base.
But soon, the quiet shattered.
By dozens of knights.
Thud thud.
They wore uniforms of green with gold trim. A green dragon emblem adorned the right chest.
The Rustal family’s direct knights, the Green Dragon Order, had arrived.
Leading was vice-captain Klazen Wagner.
His face stiff, he scanned the surroundings.
All buildings collapsed, blood and flesh adding to the horror.
But Klazen silently headed to Jard’s office.
He spotted the coldly stiffened corpse but ignored it.
“Smash it.”
“Yes!”
The accompanying knights roared.
They channeled aura into their weapons and began demolishing the office floor.
After about thirty minutes, the floor caved in, revealing a basement.
A single safe sat inside.
Thud.
Jumping down, Klazen inspected the safe.
Fortunately, the magic seals and curses remained intact.
Relieved, he pulled a crystal orb from his pocket and infused mana.
Flash!
Bright light bloomed, and Baldemar von Rustal’s image appeared.
“Reporting to the family head. No survivors in the Blood Sword Squad.”
—Did Martin, that bastard, really reach 7th Circle?—
“Yes. But we confirmed one oddity.”
—What?—
“Martin Adalbert faced the Blood Sword Squad with pure martial arts.”
—A curse of the dragon sufferer, with martial arts?—
Baldemar looked incredulous.
Klazen understood his lord’s feelings.
How shocked they’d been seeing the Blood Sword Squad fall to Martin.
But they couldn’t deny reality just because it was hard to believe.
“Yes. All my men confirmed it clearly.”
—He must’ve shaken off most of the dragon’s curse. Good intel, thanks. Anyway, the safe?—
“The safe’s magic and curses are unbroken. No signs of opening. From the circumstances, Martin Adalbert likely didn’t find it.”
—Too early to relax. His Spatial Domination is 3rd Circle. Remember, without a unique ability barrier, he could easily take the contents.—
“My apologies. I didn’t think that far.”
—No need to apologize for that. Hurry and bring the safe. I’ll check it myself.—
“Understood.”
Klazen placed his right hand over his heart.
—It won’t be long now. The day our Rustal family reaches the pinnacle.—
“I offer this body to aid my lord’s great cause.”
—Thank you, my loyal retainer.—
With that, the orb’s light faded.
Klazen waved his right hand to open subspace and stored the safe.
They needed to check the contents ASAP.
If the ledger had truly fallen into Martin’s hands as Baldemar feared, things would get messy. Even if it was in code.
‘A pain to the end, Martin Adalbert.’
Wasn’t his life already terminally limited?
Klazen couldn’t fathom why he stirred up trouble.
Wishing his family head would crush Martin soon, he departed.