Capítulo 56: The Underworld's Affairs
"This is..."
Sebastian clutched the parchment in disbelief. His hands were trembling and his pupils were unsteady.
None of the people in the room tried to calm him down, his reaction was perfectly reasonable.
"What kind of sick bastards would set monsters loose in a village?!"
Sebastian stood up and slammed his hands along with the parchment onto the table.
"Relax, it hasn't happened yet. But, it will. Soon."
Wisteria leaned forward in her seat and looked at all of the people present before speaking, "we are assassins. We work in the city's underworld but at the same time, we also work on the surface. Though the villages may not be under our jurisdiction on paper, the kingdom has already passed on their control over to us."
It was a fact known by the members—save for Sebastian, it was why she had to iterate it once more.
"Though we don't know when they will try to put their plan into fruition, we also have a hidden ace."
Wisteria took out a huge map showing the entire city. It had details of the buildings and who owned which territory. She pointed at one of the slums and then a noble estate.
"Right now, our spies are in two of their bases. They haven't expanded much with the pressure we've placed on them, but, they aren't Gravitas' best assassins for no reason. They've hidden quite a bit of their manpower and supply routes. And, that's why I called you all here.
"All of you, even Sebastian who hasn't fully become one of ours, I order you to destroy these two bases, get information on their bases, supply routes, hidden caches, I want everything! If we can't take it, destroy it! I want them out of the kingdom in a fortnight!"
"""As you command!"""
...
"..."
Sebastian looked over the estate of a local viscount.
"Hesitating?"
Hound asked from beside him.
The two of them, along with half of the members, were chosen to assault the viscount's estate.
Of course, it was troublesome if a viscount's estate were to suddenly fall overnight. That's why they planned to uncover his corrupt acts by leaving some evidence on the scene, and if there wasn't any, then they were going to make some.
"No, I'm just thinking. What drove the viscount to do something like supporting this kind of organization?"
"The world is a lot darker than you might think."
For sure, there were things that he was exposed to that he didn't even think possible. Deaths being covered up as natural causes, promotions acquired through bribes, and now, a plan to slaughter an entire village using monsters. It made him realize how naive he had actually been—and probably still is.
"Although we don't know why a noble is supporting a foreign assassin organization, it doesn't matter."
Even if there were circumstances that forced the viscount to do so.
"If they cross us, they become our enemies, it's as simple as that."
Sebastian lowered his mask and draped the hood over his head and stood up.
"It's about time."
The one at the lead of the group, Second, muttered and sure enough, there were a few flashes of light aimed towards them. It was the signal that the viscount is on the premises and the exits were secured.
Second turned around and looked at every person with a deep gaze, "we are assassins, not soldiers, and not fighters. Speeches aren't exactly our forte."
He paused to look at the nobleman's estate, "that's why I won't waste words. I want his head on a pole by this time, tomorrow. Do I make myself clear?"
"""Yes."""
"Then go!"
As someone ranked second in the Blue Rose, his words held a lot of authority. Though the assassins were all prideful, they could only tuck their tails between their legs in front of him.
Save for Hound, Sebastian, and Second, all of the remains assassins scattered in different directions.
"What do you want?"
Second looked at Sebastian closely. He wasn't a true member of Blue Rose so Second's trust in him was only superficial. Still, he obeyed Wisteria's orders. It didn't matter if he was ranked second in terms of strength, he wasn't a leader.
"Do the methods we use to take him down don't matter?"
At that one sentence filled with confidence, Second had to give him another appraisal.
'This kid... Could it be that he thinks that this viscount is just a pushover? Or is he just that confident in his skills?'
Though it was true that most of the royalties and nobles had no abilities themselves, they held quite the influence. If this viscount could associate himself with a foreign assassin organization and stay hidden for this long, then he might even have more influence.
Second turned to Hound. She was still wearing a mask but he could feel it. She was supporting Sebastian's decision.
"That's right. The methods don't matter."
Sebastian bowed firmly and left. Hound was ready to follow him but Second asked her to stay behind.
"To think that you actually support someone, how special is this person? Princess."
Hound took off her mask and revealed her flawless face, "at the very least, I think he's capable of being a Sage."
"...Those are words that can't be taken lightly."
"I understand the gravity of the words I've spoken."
"..."
Second took off his own mask and sat down. They were in a vantage point quite a bit away from the noble's estate but his eyes looked as if they could see each and every detail from the distance.
"Then, I hope to see the rise of another Sage in my lifetime."
"Look forward to it."
Hound put her mask back on and left. She was faster than Sebastian so even if she were to depart later, she would still be able to catch up.
Second took out a small flask and drank a gulp of its contents.
"I will."
His delayed answer couldn't be heard by anyone, but he just felt like saying it.
...
"..."
Hound looked at Sebastian clashing with the soldiers in disbelief.
'Sage? A wise man? He's more fit to be called a musclehead...'
Although it was true that there were only thirty-odd men in the viscount's estate that could serve as fighters, an assassin would well, assassinate. What Sebastian was doing now was charging through the estate with his face covered by the mask.
"Huff..."
Sebastian sucked in a breath and slammed the rear end of his spear into the one of the guards' stomach and forced him back. But, as expected of people employed by a noble, though they didn't hold any abilities like Sebastian did, they didn't fall that easily.
"AGH!"
"UGH"
Accompanied by the sound of his spear clashing with their weapons and the thumps that could be heard as his fists and spear's shaft hit their bodies were groans.
Sebastian was dealing with them swiftly and soon, the seven or so guards that surrounded him were laying down on the floor.
"..."
Hound approached Sebastian with an incredulous gaze.
"Did you really have to go through the front?"
"Eh?"
Sebastian rotated the spear around his body before setting it on his right arm.
"Second said that we could use any method we wanted."
"Normally, when people ask those kinds of questions, they'd be thinking about poison or traps."
"Well, there's no use crying over spilled milk."
Sebastian took a moment to catch his breath and ran for the estate's main door.
"Halt!"
"Stop right there!"
The two guards at the gate brandished their spears and thrust them forward. Sebastian leaped a few meters in the air and then knocked down both guards with his landing.
Then, he kicked the giant door causing one side to snap from its hinges and hit a few unfortunate people who were behind the said door.
With the sound the door made when crashing into the floor, the entire estate was alerted.
Sebastian quickly tried to deal with the guards that were already in the room but before he could even take down three of them, a giant ball of wind crashed into him and he was sent flying outside through one of the windows.
Luckily, with the energy coating his body, he didn't suffer anything than minor injuries and the glass didn't penetrate his clothes.
"An 『Inheritor』..."
Sebastian wiped off the glass shards around his clothes and leaped back through the open window. He quickly spotted the person who had used an ability against him and pointed his left wrist.
Thud thud thud
The bolts in his miniature crossbow hit the hems of the 『Inheritor's』 clothes and stabbed him into the wall.
"Eh?!"
The man tried to free himself but before he could rip off his clothes, Sebastian had used the rails of the stairs to climb up to the second floor where the man was located and knocked him out with a swift strike to the chin.
When the guards saw his feat, chills ran up their spine and some of them tried to flee but before the could reach the door, they saw the shadow of a figure pass by them and the next thing they knew, they were already on the floor.
"...As amazing as ever."
"Less talking, more... wait."
Hound took one of the barely conscious guards and then pinned him to the wall.
"Where's the viscount?"
"Eek! I-in his office at the end of the second floor's hallway!
The fear in the man's eyes was evident. When Hound released the man, he slid down the wall and blacked out.
Sebastian didn't wait for Hound's confirmation, he dashed towards the end of the hallway and got ready to kick down the door but just as he approached, he heard it. Through the door, he could hear crying. It wasn't that of a man's either, it was that of a woman, and a child.
Sebastian paused outside the door and hesitated.
"Move aside."
Hound cut in beside him and destroyed the door.
"Kyaaa!"
There was a small child and a woman huddled in a corner with a man, most likely the viscount, covering them with his body.
"..."
Sebastian couldn't move. When he stormed in here, he was prepared to kill the viscount. But...
"Hound..."
Hound walked forward.
"P-please! I have a wife and a child! I'll give you all of my money just please spare us!"
Before he could finish, Hound pulled him by the collar and pushed him down on the table. Then, she took out a small knife and pinned his clothes to the table.
"Did you think about that when you invited foreign assassins?"
His wife, the woman who held the child, looked at him with an alarmed gaze.
"Dear... is this true?"
"No! It's just false slander!"
"False slander?"
Hound raised up her sleeve and showed him a tattoo of a blue rose etched into her skin.
"Blue Rose...!"
The viscount gulped. It was one thing for strangers to accuse him but Blue Rose is an organization built up of assassins and information gatherers, they nary tell lies, even to their enemies.
Hound was about to stab the viscount's neck with her knife after seeing that he couldn't answer anymore but stopped at the last second. She looked at Sebastian and held out the handle of her knife.
"Do you want to do it?"
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SeverTheHeavens
SeverTheHeavens I'm currently in my midterms so I barely have any room to write. I expect that updates would be regular again next week but I can't be sure as my professors might give projects by then.
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