Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: A Noisy Prisoner
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The Shadow Blood Assassination Squad was an organization dedicated to dealing with traitors to the family.
It was an elite unit, composed entirely of agents ranked special grade or higher.
Their deployment meant that an important figure within the family had betrayed them and fled.
Watching the agents surround the area and block off all escape routes, I couldn't shake a sense of unease.
'Did they find out I learned the Riverune secret arts? There's nothing else it could be.'
I had been a diligent trainee, flawlessly completing every mission assigned to me.
The family had no reason whatsoever to suspect me.
Presently, someone emerged from among the squad members.
A middle-aged man with a reddish face and long, curly brown hair.
He was the leader of the Shadow Blood Assassination Squad, someone I had seen a few times in passing.
"Ray Rantzverger. You are charged with the crime of ignoring the family's summons for six months."
"Excuse me? What do you mean, six months, all of a sudden?"
"That seems like too long a period to be a simple mistake. Are you going to feign ignorance?"
With a baffled expression, I glanced back at the Forest of the Dead.
It felt like it had taken less than half a day to get through the tower's trial and recover.
I had entered in the morning, so it should have been evening by now.
But the sun was still hanging in the eastern sky.
'The only thing I've eaten was some jerky I chewed on after leaving the forest. And now you're telling me it's been six months?'
Something was definitely wrong.
If I hadn't come out of the tower for six months, my body would have rotted away by now.
I hadn't consumed anything while inside Esmeranta's Tower.
This suggested that time flowed differently inside the tower than it did outside.
'There's no other explanation.'
Esmeranta's Tower was still a place of rampant rumors, with too many of its secrets yet to be unveiled.
It was a truly unknown space, so the possibility that time flowed differently certainly existed.
But proving it would not be easy.
The only way would be to send an agent of a similar level into the tower and wait for six months.
Besides, there was no guarantee that the flow of time would be consistent every time.
"So, what happens now?"
"You are to be escorted to Black Scale Island. Your punishment will be decided at the main house. If you come quietly, we will not lay a hand on you, in consideration of your direct lineage."
After a quick calculation, I unbuckled the scabbard from my waist.
The atmosphere among the Shadow Blood Assassination Squad instantly changed.
They had clearly expected me to resist.
But I placed the Black Dragon Sword, still in its sheath, on the ground.
Then, I calmly held out both my hands.
"Alright. Do what you have to do."
The squad leader's eyes wavered slightly.
He was probably thinking, *What kind of runaway assassin is this confident?*
He must have never encountered such an insanely defiant traitor before.
As their leader hesitated, the squad members also froze, their eyes the only things that gleamed.
I took a step toward the Shadow Blood Assassination Squad and extended my hands further.
"What are you doing? Arrest me."
*Shhhk!*
As I, the one who should have been running, suddenly approached them, the agents flinched back.
It seemed they couldn't believe my declaration of surrender.
"Seriously, have you all lived lives of constant deception? Why are elite agents like you so timid?"
My comment must have stung their pride, because the squad leader finally gave the order.
"Do not delay. Bind him."
Squad members approached without a sound and began to tie me up meticulously.
Naturally, a thorough search followed.
It was common for assassins to hide weapons in discreet places.
"Ugh! Not there. Brothers, I'm not into that."
I squirmed and flailed as their hands roamed without hesitation into my more private areas.
With each movement, the agents' expressions grew more and more baffled.
Their gazes seemed to say, *What in the world is this guy?*
Ignoring them, I playfully examined the handcuffs, jingling them back and forth.
"He's clean."
"Put him in."
After the ordeal of the body search, the squad members loaded me into the back of a wagon.
It was an iron cage, like one used for caging animals.
Presently, the wagon left the Forest of the Dead behind and headed into the Deisol Wasteland.
* * *
The journey to Black Scale Island was a long one, lasting roughly two months.
The party passed through the Everdeen Autonomous Region, traveling west along the southern coast.
"It's been two months. Does that mouth of his ever show signs of shutting?"
"No, sir... Trying to shut him up is pointless, so we just let him be."
The agent on watch answered the squad leader's question, glancing at me in the iron cage.
"I'm going to lose my mind. I never thought I'd be escorting a prisoner who whines about being bored."
"The agents' workload has increased significantly. Most of them now prefer the night watch."
"I can see why. At least that chattering mouth is quiet when he's asleep. Any signs of escape?"
"Well..."
Having overheard their hushed conversation, I shouted loudly toward the two of them.
"You're barking up the completely wrong tree. Escaping would only create more misunderstandings, so why would I do that?"
The squad leader's face twisted into a scowl.
"Ah, damn it. There he goes again. I'll pretend I didn't hear that. You handle him."
"But my shift is almost over, sir."
"Then pass it on to the next guy. Good luck."
"Wait, Squad Leader! How can you just provoke that parrot and leave me to deal with him? Sir?"
The lone agent cried out pitifully, but the leader had already fled far away.
I poked the guard's back with a wooden stick, a mischievous grin on my face.
"I'm bored. Let's have a little chat, shall we? Hehe."
"Just shut up, please!"
Another fortnight passed, and by the time we were almost at Pailos Harbor.
While we were camped in an open area near the trade route, the squad leader stealthily approached and spoke to me.
It was a rather surprising move, considering how he'd been avoiding me.
Perhaps he'd found some courage now that we were almost at our destination.
"We're nearly at the main house, and you're still this loud."
"Ah, I tend to get talkative when I'm nervous."
"Why?"
"If you're asking why, well, when I was on Black Scale Island, you see, I dreamed of advancing to the Empire, and wherever I went, women would flock to me, asking for autographs, asking to meet me, and I was, you know..."
"Stop! That's enough. I will not tolerate any more of your babbling."
"Aw, I was just getting started. That's harsh."
"I'm feeling the urge to execute you on the spot. So just shut up."
As my torrent of words was about to begin, the squad leader threatened me in a chilling voice.
He said that, but he couldn't actually kill me.
Executing a direct descendant without a trial would surely backfire on him.
In response to the leader's intense reaction, I made a gesture of zipping my lips.
'Was I a bit too harsh?'
Prisoners being transported were usually subjected to harsh treatment.
And I was an agent who had been on the run for a whole six months.
But perhaps due to my constant mental assault, the squad members had grown more cautious in their actions as the days went by.
When my chatter-dispenser was fully activated, it was safe to say no one was getting any sleep that night.
It felt as though the roles of captor and captive had been thoroughly reversed.
The squad leader shook his head and looked at me.
"Since this is the last leg, may I make a proposal?"
"Huh? I'm a prisoner in a cage. What could you possibly ask of me?"
"If you keep your mouth shut until we reach Black Scale Island, I'll give as objective a testimony as possible. How about it?"
"Aww. But that's no fun."
"You little bastard, you think this is for..."
"Whoa, whoa. Your language is getting pretty rough, isn't it?"
"...Just answer the question."
The squad leader quickly changed the subject.
He had likely concluded that continuing to engage with me would only put him at a disadvantage.
"Fine, let's do that."
As I nodded and smacked my lips in disappointment, the leader quickly turned away.
He clearly wanted nothing more to do with me.
Presently, I quietly closed my eyes.
I had things to think about anyway, so the silence wasn't an unwelcome change.
'Reaching the 4th tier has allowed me to perfectly execute the Demonic Wheel Kill.'
In other words, the completeness of the secret technique I had newly created was increasing.
I called the Heaven-Severing Nine Harmony Sword, combined with assassination arts, the Heaven-Severing Demonic Chain Sword.
A new name was essential, as the technique had become so different from the original.
The process of establishing the sword art's core principles was already well underway.
'It's a bit of a shame I couldn't actually test the Heaven-Severing Explosive Wheel.'
I had imbued the Heaven-Severing Single Flash with the silence of the Silent Assassination Arts.
Since this was just a slight addition of assassination arts, I didn't bother to change its name.
But from the second stage, things were drastically different.
The second secret technique, the Heaven-Severing Meteor, I renamed the Heaven-Severing Explosive Wheel.
Its explosive appearance was similar, but by mixing in the Demonic Wheel Kill, I had added an element of stealth.
The third was the Heaven-Severing Demonic Moon, which I had completed first.
'Up to this point, it's manageable. The problem is what comes next.'
The fourth form of the Heaven-Severing Nine Harmony Sword could only be learned upon reaching the 3rd tier.
But it was impossible to mix the Demonic Wheel Kill into a secret technique of that power.
It would likely require a higher level of assassination arts.
Of course, that would only be possible once I escaped my current predicament.
If the punishment was severe, I might not be able to participate in the next selection for the Acting Head position.
To complete my revenge as soon as possible, I had to avoid that situation at all costs.
'I wonder how the Acting Head will react.'
Recalling Kairam's cold face, I stared out at the dark pier.
The wagon was slowly approaching a fishing boat.