Chapter 101: Conflicting Thoughts

“Hhhmm.”

“What's wrong? Did something you were planning not work out?”

“No, that's not it.”

“Then why…….”

“It's just that I have something to think about.”

Brushing off the Steel Knight's question with a vague laugh, Muno entered the room and was lost in thought again.

‘Mister Klarm and Sir Chloe, and even Rasmia…….’

Count Enoch had sent two vice-commanders of the Trian Knightly Order and even a Spirit Master.

‘Don't tell me that old man plans to insist on neutrality after all that?’

- Nominally, they're being sent as Grand Princess Roanna's escorts, but honestly…….

“……It's overkill.”

There weren't that many 4-Star knights even in the royal family.

Besides, not all 4-Star knights are the same.

The knights of Trian, who periodically experience the Monster Wave, tend to be rated half a rank higher than knights from other regions, even when they're at the same level.

Mister Klarm, who had been sickly all the time, was one thing, but Chloe's skill, who had accompanied me to catch the witch, was still difficult to gauge.

And above all.

‘That tough sister's specialty isn't exactly in protecting people.’

Just looking at her ideology, it felt like she would protect animals better than people.

The back of my head, where she had hit me back then, still seemed to throb a little.

Well, anyway.

“Ah, shi. I don't know! Anyway, on the surface, they're neutral!”

Then his father would have no reason to get involved in the succession war.

For him, that was enough.

Therefore.

‘I should just memorize this.’

Muno took out the booklet that the man, the branch manager of the information organization El, had given him.

[3rd Prince's Faction Nobles.]

A very intuitive title.

He had obtained it to identify the figures of the 3rd Prince's faction in advance, so as not to get roped in or picked on if he attended the party.

And inside, it contained detailed information that was not publicly known.

For instance.

Even trivial stories like this.

Of course, there was no guarantee that everything written here was true, but he doubted they would dare to commit fraud with something like this.

‘They’re more capable than I thought.’

Reid Merchant Guild.

He knew it had become Drasen's main trading partner a few years ago, but to think they had this kind of ability.

He wanted to see the face of that guild master once.

‘How did Lian get to know them?’

Of course, the matter at hand came first.

“Alright. I'll just show my face at the 3rd Prince's party, go to the other princes' side to clear up any misunderstandings, and then focus on catching those evil cultists.”

The information he obtained from El wasn't just a list of nobles attending the party.

- A mixed-race black woman? And a 4-Star Corporeal Arts user at that?

The characteristics are too distinct, but as far as I know, there is no such assassin.

- You think she's related to Aslan? Hmm. Yes, then I'll look into it.

- Ah, the fee? For someone with that plaque, we don't need to accept it.

Setting aside El's overly friendly attitude, one piece of information was useful.

- In the southern city of Erundel, a strange incident…….

‘Ignore the succession war as much as possible, and just catch those cultists.’

He could now see through a Double Veil at close range.

On top of that, he was slowly starting to get a feel for the path to 4-Star.

He was confident that he could cross the fourth wall if he continued to hunt his enemies.

‘If I don't stop there and become even stronger, maybe…….’

Muno's imagination began to run wild as he looked at the booklet.

‘I caught that 6-Circle witch even when I was weaker than I am now.’

His trait, Demon Devourer, boasted an exceptional advantage, at least against magicians.

Perhaps the true enemy, the mastermind behind it all.

Couldn't he catch that bastard, who was presumed to be a Seven-Star magician, with his own hands?

At that expectation, his hand holding the booklet tightened on its own.

Udeudeuk.

Kwadeuk.

The Founding Day ceremony was held on the first day of the new year.

That day was the seventeenth birthday he, an orphan, had set for himself.

Was that why?

- Baby, my baby……!

The screams of his biological parents, a memory now so old and faded, suddenly flashed through his mind.

And the terrible days of pain that followed also came flooding back.

“I really hope so…….”

A murderous smile began to form on the lips of Muno, who was imagining an enemy whose face he didn't even know.

Thanks to that, it took some time for him to focus on the contents of the booklet again.

* * *

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

Rauel slowly opened her eyes at the voice she heard yet again.

The unpleasant face right in front of her.

“Mind your own business.”

“Mind my own business? With the operation tomorrow, shouldn't you be carefully reviewing the words of an experienced person?”

A pale face smiling slyly.

It was Rondo, a 3-Star Corporeal Arts user who had previously been fawning over the 1st Prince to secure a position.

Whatever his skills were, he wasn't suited for assassination.

And next to him.

“That perverted bastard is hitting on her again.”

“Leave him be. He’s only crazy for the unusual ones……”

Those loafers, who had been hanging out with the 2nd and 3rd Princes respectively, were 2-Star Corporeal Arts users and Rondo's friends, whose names weren't even worth remembering.

Well, for their age, hanging out with the princes of Aslan, they were decently, no, frankly, exceptionally strong.

“Hey, blackie. Why don't you put out for him once?”

“That's right. Once that guy has a taste, he won't look at you again.

It's not like you'll ever get to sleep with a man in your life, right?”

“Shut up, you crazy bastards! Don't ruin the fun of seduction!”

“Puhaha.”

Looking at their giggling faces, they just seemed pathetic.

To think that the direct descendants of Aslan hung out with guys like this.

It was surely not just her illusion that the future of the family felt bleak.

‘Well, the first and second princes are said to be as cunning as their father, so he might have raised them as disposable pawns.’

The problem was that she now had to carry out an operation with these idiots.

‘This mission, it’s strange.’

Therefore…….

“Hey, stop being so stuck-up. Before the important job, let’s have some proper fun……”

The moment she tried to focus on her thoughts, Rondo finally crossed the line.

Ha.

“I don't care what you bastards are spouting off about……”

“What, what are you saying? So you'll put out? Kekekeke.”

“I believe I told you not to touch my body.”

“What nonse……”

Kwajik.

“……Gyaaaack!”

A single arrowhead she swung pierced through the bastard's palm who dared to touch her face and skewered his groin all at once.

And.

“Hey, this bitch!”

“How dare you, crazy bitch!”

Pabak.

“Gyaaaack!”

With just the arrows she lightly threw next, she pierced the crotches of the other bastards.

The bastards who had been chattering loudly soon foamed at the mouth and lost consciousness.

Of course, that didn't mean she had dealt with all the annoyances.

“Just cleaned up now? I was wondering how long you'd hold back.”

A man with a neat face, who introduced himself as Ian, finally stood up from the corner and approached with a smirk.

“Alright. Now that the idiots are taken care of, let's plan the operation properly.”

He had definitely never been seen on an assassination mission, but he was a man who strangely smelled of blood.

‘This one was also known as a loafer…….’

Among the personnel assigned to the mission, the identities of a few, including this fellow, had not yet been properly identified.

Of course, since they had been close associates of the family's direct line, they were all undoubtedly skilled, and they didn't seem as clueless as the idiots she had just finished off.

The problem was.

“Have you ever been on an assassination mission somewhere? You seem familiar with it.”

“Ah……. Well, I've lived a bit of a rough life myself. There isn't much I haven't done.”

Ian smirked and nonchalantly played it off.

But the senses of Rauel, who had reached 4-Star with her second trait, ‘The Piercer’, detected the simultaneous laughter of five people reacting to Ian's words, even though they weren't looking in her direction.

‘They’re supposed to be from different places…….’

It seemed they were part of the same group.

That wasn't the only strange thing.

“Do you have a grudge against the Black Knight?

You've been quite proactive from the start.”

“Ah, I received a request from the young prince. I need to achieve something great to make a grand return.”

A lie.

He couldn't have received a request.

They had all been summoned suddenly one day.

Moreover.

- I think we've been found out.

- He can't be sure. Still…….

- If we deal with him, we'll have an excuse to go back. At that time, for sure…….

She had overheard a suspicious conversation between Ian and another man.

They probably couldn't even imagine that she had the absurd trait of being able to hear voices and discern the situation at a target location from 300 meters away.

‘There's more than one thing that bothers me.’

A mission she was suddenly drafted for.

No matter that she had lost all her team members in the last operation, the higher-ups had paired her with strange individuals who were not members of the 'Dagger' organization.

And the bigger problem was none other than the target.

‘The Black Knight. That person is a monster…….’

The armor and artifacts covering his entire body were not the biggest threat.

The problem was his Spirit Arts of Metal, which seemed to detect the presence of any weapon approaching him.

It was an overwhelming control of the element that could twist even her arrowheads.

‘No matter how I think about it, it doesn't make sense.’

It wasn't by choice, but she had met several Spirit Masters while in Aslan.

Among them, the only one who could disperse a fireball hurtling towards him with just his will was ‘that person,’ who was estimated to be at least 5-Class.

But the Black Knight was a knight known to have just passed his coming-of-age.

‘His combat power alone far surpasses a typical 3-Star, and he even has Spirit Arts……. That doesn't make sense.’

How could that be the same as a human?

From experience, to kill the Black Knight, she would need at least two more 4-Star Corporeal Arts users specialized in assassination like herself.

Or a number of 5-Star, or a 6-Star Corporeal Arts user would have to crush him with sheer force.

But no matter how many times she reported this fact to her superiors, it was not accepted.

As if.

‘……The family has decided to abandon me?’

She was startled by the thought that suddenly occurred to her.

- The Ghost's Bow is confiscated for this mission.

You'll have to infiltrate the royal palace, you're not thinking of bringing an artifact, are you?

‘No way…….’

Her thoughts reached her treasure that she had left behind with the family.

“……Hey, hey. Are you listening to me?”

“Hm?”

“So, the identities are prepared, but who's going to administer this poison? Wouldn't a ‘female attendant’ be better? How about you do it?”

……Right, poison.

If physical force didn't work, there were other methods.

Like the poison bestowed by the family.

‘Right, that can't be it. The Dagger needs me. There is no one stronger than me yet.’

Her value was too high to be discarded immediately after showing her face to the target once.

At least, that's what Rauel thought.

Having been educated and lived her whole life as an assassin, she had never imagined another life.

However.

Nevertheless.

“……I don't want to do it.”

“What?”

Lost in thought, her true feelings, which she had tried to ignore, slipped out with a sigh.

“Hey, what did you say? What don't you want to do?”

She almost flinched for a moment.

“……Look at my skin color. They'll be suspicious the moment I approach. Besides, my appearance is also…….”

The brown skin left by her dead father. And with a constitution inherited from her mother that made it hard for her to gain weight, she had developed a slender physique perfectly suited for an assassin through her Corporeal Arts training.

“……Men will dislike it.”

It was a rough excuse, but it must have been persuasive enough, as Ian nodded his head.

But.

“Ah, but there's a strange rumor, you know?”

“What?”

“They say that guy only hangs out with scrawny women. Similar to you. Ah, of course, her skin color is different from yours. Then wouldn't your chances of success be higher if you approached him?”

Words that seemed to mock her appearance to her face.

But Rauel was used to such insults.

As long as they didn't physically touch her, it didn't bother her.

Besides, that wasn't what was important right now.

“Are you telling me to bet my life on such a rumor? Most importantly, the Black Knight already knows my face.”

“Is that so? Well, it doesn't matter. We have an artifact that can be used for disguise. It should be able to change your skin color and face flawlessly. And that rumor is true. We've already confirmed everything.”

“An artifact?”

Ian smiled slyly at the question that seemed to ask, ‘You guys have something like that?’

“Ah. Well, it has a limited number of uses, but we had a hard time getting it.”

Ha…….

“So what are you guys going to do?”

“We need to secure an escape route.”

“Just you guys?”

“We at least have some acquaintances among the nobles. What about you, do you have a way?”

“……”

“Are you scared, by any chance?”

Heh.

“Don't be ridiculous……”

“Great. Then it’s decided!”

A sigh escaped from within her.

She really didn't want to get directly involved with that person if she could help it.

‘Do I have to do it in the end?’

It wasn't just that she wanted to avoid him because he was a difficult opponent.

Rauel recalled the scene she had witnessed that day.

The day she had gone to leave a warning for Ted.

That person, who donated a large sum of money to the Temple and entrusted the children, even though it was a windfall.

The image of that person, smiling happily all the while.

That image, which seemed to be on a completely different level from the nobles who had died at her hands, weighed on her mind.

‘He seemed like a person who was truly human, something I haven't seen in a long time.’

Was it destined to be an ill-fated relationship after all?

A mission where both the situation and the target felt unsettling.

‘What should I do…….’

Rauel's eyes wavered in deep thought.

[Philip Lionel]

The eldest son of the Lionel Marquis family. Known as a genius knight with handsome looks, but he is a terrible miser.

……There is a rumor that at the time of that incident, he ran across the kingdom instead of buying a horse to save a single gold coin, but this is different from the truth. ……It was a silver coin.

The established theory is that even when a guild master who wanted to connect with him offered to lease a top-quality horse at a bargain price, he ran back because he didn't want to pay a single silver coin.