------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The assassin turned his head and looked at Diana.
"Hey, client. This mission is a failure. If you happen to meet any of the organization's people who approached you alive, please tell them. I did my best, but the opponent was too strong."
"A failure...? A failure! Didn't you say you've never failed a mission before!"
The assassin chuckled and looked down at the ice sword piercing his stomach.
"What can I do now that it's come to this? Maybe ending my life like this isn't so bad."
The assassin turned his head to Davian.
"Kill me. My body can't die on its own."
"I have a lot left to investigate."
"Do whatever you want with that. Just make sure you kill me. I'd still like to entrust the end of my life to someone who knows how to properly hold a sword."
Honestly, Jina's swordsmanship is better than Davian's.
But only referring to Davian as someone who knows how to hold a sword...
It seems that this assassin doesn't acknowledge the sword of another assassin.
Just then.
The sound of hooves began to be heard from the castle.
"Huk!"
Diana hastily tried to run back the way she came.
But Jina's sword blocked her path.
"Where are you going?"
"You wench! How dare a maidservant!"
Jina's sword touched Diana's neck.
"I only serve Lady Latia. I've never served you."
A short time later.
A group on horseback arrived where Davian and the others were.
Leading the way were five swordsmen in armor, riding horses clad in steel armor.
A middle-aged man in the back slowly came forward on horseback.
The head of the Meridiem family.
Luciano Meridiem opened his mouth.
"Latia, are you alright?"
"Yes, Patriarch."
Luciano Meridiem looked around.
"Why did you send the messenger so late? It almost turned into a disaster."
"If the Patriarch had started moving, they would have noticed and run away, so I took my friends and Jina and came directly."
Luciano instructed the armored swordsmen.
"Arrest those two. I will interrogate them myself."
A few days later.
The attempted murder of the Meridiem family head seemed to be quickly resolved.
Latia's second aunt, Diana, finally confessed that she had tried to kill the head of the family.
Her husband and children were all locked in the dungeon.
It was a matter to be decided by the family council, but they were all likely to be executed.
Among them was Edgar Meridiem, who had competed in magic against Latia, Davian, and Karin.
Diana Meridiem's eldest son, a young man with the skills to be ranked first or second among the second generation.
"I... I have nothing to do with this! This was a solo act by my mother, Diana! I've only been trying to become a proud member of the Meridiem family!"
Edgar tried to cut ties with his parents in order to get out of this, but.
Whether or not he was involved in this was not important.
Diana Meridiem's goal was ultimately to seat Edgar Meridiem in the next position as head of the family.
"I'm not a member of the Meridiem family! I have nothing to do with this! I'm going to leave my wife's family immediately and return to my own! Let go of me, you bastards!"
Diana's husband also struggled to break ties with his family and escape, but.
It was no use.
Not only Diana's family, but all the servants related to them were locked in the dungeon.
They were also all subject to execution.
Attempting to murder the head of the family within the duchy was a serious crime comparable to an assassination attempt on the king in a country.
All those involved were unlikely to avoid execution.
With this, the current head of the family, Luciano Meridiem, would further strengthen his exclusive influence in the family.
The problem was the faceless assassin.
Even when the head of the family interrogated him directly.
Even when torture experts poured out all their torture techniques all day long.
He didn't say a word.
According to Diana's testimony, she did not find the faceless assassin and commission this job.
Some kind of organization approached Diana first.
The faceless assassin was the one they sent, promising a sure thing.
Because of this, the head of the family tried to get the assassin to open his mouth and find out the organization that had approached him first.
But the faceless assassin never opened his mouth.
However.
He uttered the same words every time the interrogation ended.
"If you allow me to meet alone with that boy who last crossed swords with me, I will tell you everything. And I will end my life with that boy's sword."
It was an impossible request.
They could not involve an outsider who had nothing to do with the family's internal affairs involving the attempted murder of the head of the family.
Although he had contributed greatly to preventing the murder of the head of the family along with Latia.
Davian was just an outsider.
But.
The faceless assassin never opened his mouth.
Eventually, a private meeting with Davian was decided.
The deepest part of the Meridiem Duchy's dungeon.
Outside the thick stone door, a large number of skilled guards and soldiers were stationed.
The head of the family escorted Davian to the stone door.
"Are you really going to be okay? He's a dangerous man. You know better than anyone that he's a very skilled man."
"I'm fine. He just wants to talk to me."
The head of the family handed over a small blue marble.
"Still, be careful. If anything happens, break this marble. Then the stone door will open immediately and the soldiers will rush in. Of course, I'll be with them."
"Yes, I understand."
Creak.
Davian pushed open the thick stone door and went inside.
Creak. Bang.
The soldiers closed the stone door again.
When the light that had been coming in through the door disappeared, the surroundings were plunged into darkness.
Davian's eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness.
A space blocked by stones on all sides.
In the center, there was a stone table, and beyond the table, on the front wall, the faceless assassin was tied up in a spread-eagle position.
Thick steel was wrapped around his wrists and ankles, fixing him to the wall.
"You've come."
"I heard you were looking for me. Why?"
"Aren't you the one who last crossed swords with me?"
Davian slowly walked forward.
For a quick conversation.
He decided to give him a little stimulation.
"You're an assassin who targets the backs of unsuspecting people. But you want to choose to end your life as an honorable swordsman?"
The faceless assassin chuckled.
"I may have walked a dishonorable path for about ten years at the end of my life. But even without that period, I've walked a proper path of the sword tens of times better than you. So please indulge me a little."
Come to think of it.
When they fought a few days ago, he said, 'It doesn't seem like you've been holding a sword for very long.'
"Can you tell how long I've been holding a sword?"
"Hasn't it been about a year? I was very surprised. To think there could be a human who could raise their swordsmanship so quickly. I wish I had met you sooner..."
Whoosh.
Davian could feel the assassin's wrists vibrating finely.
'Dangerous!'
Every cell in Davian's body sent out a warning signal.
However.
Davian's reason desperately suppressed the sharply rising nerves and senses.
He didn't know why.
But he didn't get the feeling that that assassin would harm him.
Swish.
The steel that had been constricting the assassin's wrists was cut off like slicing radish.
Swish.
The same on the other side.
Swish.
Soon after, the shackles that had been binding his feet were also cleanly cut off.
He didn't even wrap his sword in aura when they fought.
Now he was creating aura on both hands and feet without a sword.
At this rate, no matter how thick the shackles were, they were of no use.
"Your whole body is practically a sword now."
"What good is it? I still ended up getting my stomach pierced by a young man like you."
"Why didn't you use aura?"
If the faceless assassin had used aura in the battle a few days ago.
The battle would have flowed in a different direction.
He wouldn't have lost as long as Glacie was there.
But he might not have been able to end the battle without killing him with Glacie's hand.
Otherwise, Davian would have died first.
"The day I gave up the path of the swordsman. The day the sword I had held for life was stained. I vowed never to summon aura to the sword again. Because aura belongs to an honorable swordsman."
The assassin slowly walked forward.
"Sit down."
The assassin pointed to the chair on Davian's side and sat down first.
Davian also sat opposite the assassin.
"My name is Knox. Knox Lewis."
Davian was startled and asked back.
"Pardon?"
There were two swords in the Alkancia Kingdom.
Hugo Molton, the sword representing the eastern part of the continent.
Knox Lewis, the sword representing the western part of the continent.
The superiority of the two could not be determined.
And it is said that if the two joined forces, they could easily swallow the kingdom.
Davian, who had no interest in this world, had heard this countless times.
And about ten years ago.
One of the two swords disappeared.
Hugo Molton, the president of Groser Elton Academy, naturally became the best sword on the continent.
'The missing Knox Lewis... was the faceless assassin.'
Now that unbelievable swordsmanship is explained.
He probably didn't show 100% of his skills for some reason.
"How did you end up like this?"
Knox Lewis suddenly brought up an irrelevant topic.
"I knew they were targeting my family. From a long time ago."
"They?"
"The Marino Empire bastards. The ones who are plotting to swallow this country whole."
Again.
It's that damn Marino Empire again.
It's their obvious trick.
They did the same thing to Sophie, who has now changed her name to Sara, and her father.
However.
A question arose.
'He knew they were targeting his family? How did someone of this level end up like this?'
I'll ask about that later.
"They kidnapped your family."
"To be exact, it wasn't the Marino Empire bastards. It was the royal family bastards."
"Pardon?"
What is this again?
The royal family kidnapped Knox Lewis's family.
Why?
"I knew that the Marino Empire spies were targeting my family. A few of them tried to do something stupid and ended up with their necks cut by my sword. But..."
The faceless assassin.
No, the shoulders of Knox Lewis, the sword that represented the western part of the continent, trembled.
"The royal family directly sold my family to the Marino Empire."
"From the royal family?"
"That's right. They deliberately sent me to the front lines, which weren't even necessary. They sent all my subordinates who were always protecting my family to the front lines as well. They even sent the Royal Guard to protect my family."
Knox Lewis's trembling shoulders calmed down.
His voice was calm again.
"And then they sold my family to those bastards. Of course, all the Royal Guards who were protecting my family died. That's the royal family's excuse. They say they did as much as they could... Nonsense."
Unlike his calm voice.
It was a series of amazing stories.
"Are you saying that there was collusion between the royal family and the Marino Empire spy organization?"
Knox nodded.
Comments
Post a Comment