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Nox's calm voice continued, his eyes closed.
"Back to my family. Back to my fellow swordsmen. Release me now. I'm glad I met a true swordsman in my final moments. I apologize for borrowing your hand to return to them with pride."
Nox Lewis.
The only swordsman who could rival Hugo Moulton, the greatest swordsman on the continent.
The swordsman who erased the existence of Nox Lewis from the world by scarring his own face over a thousand times the day he had no choice but to choose a life as an assassin.
The swordsman who blocked the combined attacks of Glacier, Davian, and Jina even after losing three-quarters of the inner energy gathered in his dantian.
The swordsman who, even in the midst of that, did not use the aura of a swordsman in the body of an assassin in order to uphold his convictions.
He closed his eyes.
Without a face, there is no expression.
However.
His face was serene.
There was so much more I wanted to ask.
But Davian decided to respect the time he had chosen.
He drew the sword from the scabbard at his waist.
Swish.
The sharp sound echoed inside the stone chamber.
This morning, Davian had taken the time to meticulously sharpen the sword.
"Well honed."
"It should be, shouldn't it?"
"Thank you."
Thud.
The sword that represented the western Pax Continent.
Nox Lewis.
The contract killer who terrified everyone in the world.
The faceless assassin.
His neck slowly drooped downward.
Neither fast nor slow.
Davian waited until his movements completely stopped and then popped the blue bead that Luciano's head had given him.
Creak.
The stone door opened.
Heavily armed swordsmen rushed in, drawing their swords.
Davian looked at their gleaming blades.
The end of Nox Lewis.
Originally.
The gleaming blades around him should have been raised vertically towards the sky, expressing respect for his life as a swordsman, rather than aiming at him in a frenzy.
If only there hadn't been a Marino Empire spy organization.
Head Luciano and Latia appeared behind the swordsmen.
"Are you okay! Davian!"
"Davian! Are you alright?"
Davian met Latia's eyes once to reassure her, then looked at Head Luciano.
"Yes, I'm fine. But I've committed a great sin against the Meridiem family."
"What do you mean..."
Luciano Meridiem's eyes turned to the faceless assassin, his head bowed deeply.
"Davian, did you do this?"
"I'm sorry. It was the deceased's wish."
Luciano gestured for the swordsmen to withdraw from the stone chamber.
"I thought he wasn't an ordinary person. So, Davian Nowen. Do you have anything to tell me?"
There's too much.
So much that I don't know where to start.
"There's a lot. And I have a few requests."
"Let's go up. Let's go to my private chamber and talk slowly."
That evening.
Davian told Luciano and Latia in detail about the faceless assassin.
Luciano listened to Davian's story, expressing amazement, then anger, and then pity for him.
Latia was the same.
However, Davian never revealed the assassin's name.
Nox Lewis.
The sword that represented the western continent.
He had scarred his own face a thousand times and became a faceless assassin in order to protect this name.
He didn't specifically ask for this to be kept a secret.
Davian decided to respect his wishes.
He simply said that he was a hidden master who had not revealed his name.
"So, I have a request."
"What is it?"
"I would like you to bury the faceless assassin's body somewhere nearby. In the Meridiem family."
Latia interrupted in surprise.
"What? Bury the assassin who came to kill the head of our family in our family's grounds?"
"The Marino Empire's spy organization is the bad guy, not the assassin. From beginning to end, all of this was planned for this. He is just a person who sacrificed his entire life for this. Now, there is no family or subordinates to hold a funeral for him. It's true that he came to kill the head of the family, but he is also the biggest victim of this."
"Even so..."
"He's not someone who should just be thrown into the forest and become food for crows."
Luciano pondered for a moment before answering.
"Did he ask you to do this?"
"No. It's my idea."
"Seeing you make even this kind of request, I don't think you've told me everything. You know who he is, don't you?"
Davian didn't bother to lie.
"That's right."
Luciano chuckled.
"The more I see you, the more audacious you are. Our Latia has made a really great friend by going to the academy."
Latia's cheeks suddenly flushed red.
Fortunately, the two obtuse men didn't notice the moment.
"I'll do as you say. Davian Nowen. He too is just a victim of the dirty Marino Empire bastards."
Luciano reached out and stroked Latia's hair.
"If those guys had captured Latia, I would have become anything, not just an assassin."
Latia looked at Luciano in surprise.
"Dad... no, Head of the family!"
"I mean it."
Tears welled up in Latia's large eyes.
'Dad said he would become anything other than an assassin for me? My dad, who only thinks about the family?'
Luciano looked at Davian.
"I'll grant your request too. Can you grant me one request too?"
"Please tell me."
"While you're at the academy, please protect my daughter Latia. That's the condition for not just throwing away the body of the assassin who came to take my head and burying him properly."
I'm going to work her pretty hard.
I'll protect her, though.
"I understand. Thank you."
"Latia, Davian. You said that those spies have even extended their reach to Elton Academy?"
"Yes. They've already launched several operations. The president has declared war on them."
"Regarding those guys. If you need any help from our family, tell me anytime. As of today, the Meridiem ducal family also declares war on the Marino Empire spy organization."
A few days later.
Elton City.
Davian's dormitory.
Mons clicked his tongue as he examined the Marino Empire spy organization chart and base map.
"You said this isn't all of it either?"
"Yeah. About 70% of the total? Since they would have investigated from the outside, there's a high probability that the truly important core organizations are missing."
"Anyway, we definitely know who was targeting Young Master."
Davian nodded.
"It's probably the guys at this base marked X-7."
Mons's eyes stared at another part of the organization chart.
"Then the guys who made our family like that..."
"They've completed their mission and disbanded, scattering to other bases."
"Then we just have to sweep them all away one by one."
Sarah, who was listening to Mons and Davian's conversation, pointed to one place on the Marino Empire map.
It was a base marked X-21.
"The place I was at is here. Of course, it's also the place where the bastards who made my family like that are."
Davian nodded.
"Okay. Let's work together to deal with them one by one. We can't just keep getting beaten."
Sarah asked.
"Where are we starting?"
Mons replied.
"Of course, it's the X-7 base guys who are still targeting Young Master. We didn't know where those guys were hiding, but now that we've found out the location of the base, offense is the best defense."
Sarah crossed her arms and leaned back on the sofa.
"One we hit, and one we tell that grandpa who's the academy president to hit? That grandpa was really angry at the spy organization. You said his name was Hugo Moulton? The greatest swordsman on the continent."
Mons asked back.
"What if President Hugo Moulton has also been colluded with them?"
"Eh, surely not."
"Didn't you hear Young Master's story? How Nox Lewis, who was a rival of Hugo Moulton, ended his life in his later years."
Sarah fiddled with her chin.
"Hmm... is that so?"
Davian opened his mouth.
"Mons is right. Now we can't know who's a spy and who's been colluded with by the spies. We've learned this time that just because someone's strong doesn't mean they can't be colluded with by those guys."
"Then what do we do?"
"From what we can do. We have to gradually destroy those guys. Just us."
"Where's that?"
Davian extended his finger and pointed to one place on the map.
"Here. The second base of X-7 that's come into our kingdom. We'll hit here first. We'll have to make a good plan. If we recklessly rush in, those guys might run away..."
Mons continued in Davian's place.
"There might be someone sitting there who's so skilled that we can't beat them even if we all join forces."
Davian nodded.
"That's right. First, thoroughly investigate the guys' base in Kanzar City."
Sarah, who was leaning on the sofa, straightened her back.
"Leave it to me."
"I was thinking of doing that anyway."
"I'll go and investigate quickly. Which guys are staying at the base. How we can sneak in and kill them all at once without getting caught."
"Just in case, Mons, go with her too. It's dangerous alone."
Mons jumped up.
"No way! Then Young Master will be alone all that time."
"I'm okay. I have a lot of friends here. Most of all, I have Glacier. Mons, you go with Sarah and spy on those guys."
There was nothing wrong with what he said.
Mons turned his head and looked at the kitchen.
He saw Glacier, who was cutting up the fruit Bellus had bought and making shaved ice with it.
"Did you call me? Davian?"
"No. Eat your shaved ice."
"Really not eating with me? I'm going to eat it all."
"It's the middle of winter, Glacier."
She's a beauty with blue hair and wearing sky blue clothes.
She's a spirit who easily defeated a demon legion commander.
And now she's even more powerful than she was then.
"Then... I'll go and come back as soon as possible. I'll leave right away today."
"You don't have to be that urgent. Go tomorrow."
Sarah poked Mons's arm and smiled coquettishly.
"A trip with just Mons and me?"
"Is this a trip? It's about investigating the Marino Empire spies' base. Don't even think about doing it half-heartedly."
"Anyway. We're going all the way to the capital with just the two of us. Take care of me, Mons. I'll draw a line when we sleep at night, so don't cross it."
"Nonsense."
"Mons. What were you thinking? Your face turned red?"
"I didn't do anything!"
Sarah, thinking she had teased him enough, leaned back on the sofa and chuckled.
Meanwhile.
Davian recalled the quest notification window that had popped up when he left the Meridiem family.
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[Quest: Destroy X-7 Base in Kanzar City]
Reward: 20K points (x2)
Deadline: Within the first semester of the second year
Failure: Death of all freshmen in Elton Academy
=====
After meeting Nox Lewis.
Again, the main story began to flow in a new direction.
Now, a quest with the lives of all the freshmen at stake had opened.
Third playthrough.
In order to clear the quest that led Davian to death, he needed as many academy members as possible.
The freshmen who will enroll next year will be fifth-graders by then.
They are a very important force, and we can't lose them all here.
Besides.
Since it's a quest, not an event, there's no way to avoid it anyway.
If he doesn't clear it, it's obvious that it will annoy Davian in some other way.
In that case.
'I'll smash it to pieces during winter break. X-7 base or whatever, damn spies.'
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