บท 17: Assassination
POV - 1st (Grand Master)
This situation is too… strange. Although it's quiet at the moment, and no further incident has been reported after the fire, I have a bad feeling about this situation.
Our guest dies on his second day here, while under the supervision of one of my knights, while there is a suspected intruder in the castle?
Looking back before fully exiting the throne room, I see Reginald's sword hanging from his waist. That sword is one-of-a-kind. There's not a single one like it in the world, and Reginald wouldn't let his prized creation be pried from anything less than his cold, dead body.
It is not Reginald that is the source of this, that is for sure. Admittedly, he's the only living person whom we absolutely know was at the scene of the fire, so that might lead to suspicion towards him. But since we know that there's an intruder, who has so far evaded detection, it would be more reasonable to suppose that this phantom menace started the fire instead. It was not one of my men, we didn't start the fire.
There is no chance that any of my men would ever betray the King. They know much better than to invoke my wrath, and any knight under my supervision is a hand-picked patriot who puts his king and country first. They've been training all their lives for the precise purpose of serving these two things.
There still seems to be something wrong, however. These two guests show up the night before a suspected intruder infiltrates the castle, and now one of them is dead, seemingly targeted by this attacker.
Why would the infiltrator target them? Or perhaps he meant to target Reginald, and killed Nero by accident?
"Grand Master, is there anything wrong?" asked one of the men, not moving from formation.
"No. Stop the chitter-chatter and keep moving. His Majesty's safety is at risk."
Perhaps they are fleeing from somewhere - or someone - and tried to take refuge here, in the castle.
According to His Majesty, he found them inside the courtyard, picking out some new clothes, and the man had allegedly broken his former sword. If he broke his sword, it may have been in battle. So was he on the run? If I was being chased by various enemies and had no one to count on, going to a secure place like the courtyard while undercover would be one of my first thoughts. That way, anyone who infiltrates risks provoking the arbiter of that place, and will most likely not risk it.
However, if this hypothesis is true, then that means the attacker does not fear or - at the very least - respect us.
But I think something else is more likely afoot. The king seems to have received notice that the infiltrator is after him personally, so why would they have attacked this guest? It is more likely that they attacked Reginald, to remove one of the king's guards and make their own task more easy. Regardless, it's unlikely that they would bother with the guests, who are probably collateral damage. It's more important that Reginald escaped and can help to ensure the King's safety, even if the guest - who was probably just some worthless common person - died.
Clenching my fist at this infiltrator's show of disrespect and contempt, I continued running through the halls with my men.
I could see that they were going faster than they would like, but they knew better than to ask me to slow down in a situation like this.
That means the intruder was prepared enough to have already laid a trap in place of where the two were going, so they would have overheard the conversation in the throne room, then rushed as fast as they could to the treasury, bypassed the guardsmen stationed there, and laid their trap.
This… this is bad. If this is true, then we are facing an assassin with possible invisibility-inducing or camouflage items or abilities, who is extremely quick, stealthy, and skilled enough to set traps in a matter of minutes.
Reginald is one of my fighters. Although his swordsmanship isn't at the level he'd like it to be, his knowledge of security measures has helped us to thwart spies before. Even being one of the weakest fighters in my regiment would still make you one of the nation's best, so who is capable of doing this right under his nose?
Going by the facts I have in hand… someone who does not fear the wrath of our kingdom, with skilled assassins and fighters, and has enough resources to spare one of these skilled assassins and give them invisibility items.
There is only one kingdom, or should I say imperium, that fits this criteria. The Empire of Kekistan.
If they decide to go to war with us, we are done for.
POV Switch - 1st (MC)
Since I've infiltrated successfully, I must plan for the next step.
Looking over to see Silica sobbing and the king comforting her, while saying things like, "I'm deeply sorry that your father's death has occurred under my watch," I questioned why she was sobbing like this, considering we've only known each other for two days at most.
My sense of time has been skewed lately, since I can't see the outside sun properly.
While I was with Reginald, I heard her crying and screaming through the mental link, but fortunately my supposed 'death' gives me a good alibi for ignoring her. Seemingly, the king was having his way with her in private, and her dress is still stained with some blood. While the fire has meant that the king is now more concerned about safety than entertainment, I'm glad that he listened to me and had some fun with her while he could.
The worst part is, based on some of her screams she almost seemed to be enjoying herself sometimes. I guess it's difficult for a woman to be entirely upset over having sex with a King. Women are natural courtesans.
Anyways, I won't tell her that I'm alive through the mental link until the plan is completed. She could mess it up just with her reaction to my voice, and would probably tell the king that I am still alive.
Therefore, I must allow her to suffer, yet, even as a righteous man, I feel no guilt, as this is all to survive another day and enact more justice.
This also has to do with the fact that I despise her, but that is a topic for another day.
Now, how do I assassinate the king? As soon as the Grand Master left the room, this 'Guille' went to one side of the throne, next to the king, and stood there, silently, so I did the same on the opposite side.
Perfect spot for a quick assassination, I'm around one-and-a-half meters away from the king himself, or around five feet. If I leapt for him right now and tried to kill him, I probably could, but I'll wait a minute or two until I'm sure that the Grand Master is a decent distance from the throne room.
The sobbing and comforting between the king and Silica went on, until the deadline of a minute or two I had set was up.
Actually, nevermind. I forgot about the knight on the other side of me, what's to say that he wouldn't split my skull in two after or even while I kill the king? I need to be sure of my safety first.
After I get rid of him, there's nothing keeping me from going for the king, after all.
So I go for Guille.
How do I get close enough to get the drop on him? Like I did with Reginald, I will need to attack quickly and in a detrimental way before he can retaliate, that way I might even kill him in one attack, or, at the very least, make the actual fight easier for me.
In other words, underhanded tactics.
I don't trust my strength enough to face a knight in combat, like I've said before.
What is one way to get close to him without seeming suspicious or out of line?
I'm asking the wrong questions. What is a way to casually confront someone?
No. I'm overcomplicating the process, just walk over there like I belong there and there will be no reason to seem suspicious.
After all, if I'm a knight, how could anyone doubt me just for walking around?
Walking around the king in a U shape, I reached Guille easily.
"Guille. I have somethin- *COUGH COUGH* …to ask you about," I said, keeping up the act of having inhaled smoke.
I've seen plenty of smokers in my lifetime, so it wasn't too hard to simulate the famous "black lung", which is a sign of trying to speedrun life.
"Ah, indeed. Thou'rt healthy?"
The first instance of medieval speech. Or, at least, slightly archaic English. The other times have been just slightly fancy English without using modern lingo, but this time he's using words that I can't directly translate to normal tongue. If he used actual medieval English, I might not have understood him at all.
However, I know what he's trying to say: are you healthy?
"Yes, I am. It's because of ash and smoke."
"I see. God save thee, mon bien compagnon."
…Why is he speaking French now?
I took a few French classes, so I know what he's saying: my good fellow.
Would he expect Reginald to reply to him in French, or archaic English, as well? I'd better not keep this conversation going, then, or he'll start to suspect me.
It's time for action.
"Hath thou ar-"
I tested this out before when I spent a night in the inn. I can drop various items in my inventory at will, therefore, I can technically use them as a weapon. Although I'm not sure if it would work in the middle of a battle, it should work now since this knight isn't fighting me yet.
And my inventory has more than enough useless stuff to throw out.
Emptying around a hundred pounds worth of fruit on top of his head when he didn't expect it worked extremely effectively, as I thought. He came crashing down from the unexpected weight, and was pinned down underneath it. His face showed an expression of shock after being attacked so suddenly by a move that literally pulled stuff out of thin air.
Not wanting him to just get up after that and mutilate me easily, I followed up by continuing the attack, getting on top of him, pinning him down further, and ripping off his helmet.
That woke him up from the shock, and he started attacking back, not bothering with words or anything.
This was calculated. I noticed that he was a rapier user when I checked the weapon at his side. He would be trying to thrust his weapon into me, using precise aim rather than strength.
Rapier users don't have as much pure strength as other fighters, since they are more focused on techniques and include mathematical theorems in their fighting for some reason, so this is a best case scenario.
Although I used Reginald's sword to try and deflect his blows, he still managed to stab his rapier painfully through my left arm. That was hasty of him. While it will hurt me, it leaves him open.
Peering at his unmasked face, he looked French.
No wonder he spoke French randomly before and used a rapier. He's a frog.
Now then, his weapon is rendered null in this situation and I've pinned him after taking off his helmet, exposing his most vulnerable area to strike; the head. This should be no problem.
Ignoring the fright and loud noises from the king and Silica, I reached for Guille's neck, and he used one arm to reach for my… armpits?
Hmm, I see why he did that - there's a gap in the armor there - but it won't do anything. What damage will he inflict from touching my armpits? The joints are the only risk, but by the time his squeezing becomes a threat to my arm's functionality, I'll have choked him out and snapped his neck.
His eyes locked onto mine in a murderous gaze, as he hoped to take me out, but both he and I knew that this was his end.
Veins began popping out of his neck and face, then his face started turning different colors, then his eyes started to lose clarity, and then his grip on my joints loosened fully, and he went to sleep.
As a virtuous knight, exterminating this parasitic frog is the greatest honor I can have bestowed upon myself.
Therefore, I snapped his neck.
Getting up from the fruit-covered corpse and turning to the king and Silica, something I didn't expect happened.
Silica pulled out a little dagger from her inventory and stepped in front of the king, aiming to… protect him?
Why? She said she hated him, and he took her virginity non-consensually.
Does she have Stockholm Syndrome? Is she just proud of having sex with a king? Perhaps it's against the traditional Japanese moral code to kill authority figures? These are the only possible explanations for this.
Tsk tsk, so immature and naive. Developing one's own sense of moral justice will lead to one becoming one's own person, not dictated by others' dogma, and will lead to becoming a beacon of shining virtue.
Like me.
However, walking up to her, I smacked her in the head and knocked her out.
She crumpled, and I was left with the king.
"Re-Reginald! What is the meaning of th-this?! I am the ki-king, you cannot do this to me! You TREASONOUS-"
Picking up the rapier of the downed Guille, I chucked it at the king, and, unfortunately, missed.
So, I just walked up to him while he was still frozen, and stuck my - or, rather, Reginald's - sword through his eye.
I am a righteous man. That is why I'll slay you: you remind me of the Japanese, sexually interested in children. I believe this is what they call a 'lolicon,' so I'm afraid that as a virtuous knight, I must annihilate you. The Japanese menace shall no longer plague these lands, thanks to me.
In all honesty, I don't care that much about what he did to Silica. After all, that was partially my fault. In a way, it was quite funny.
But either way, he is dead.
There's no need for anything more than that. I don't care about him anymore. I have won. I am victorious over a king in his own castle.
Time froze as the challenge was completed, and a system message popped up for me and for Silica, who was still unconscious.
[CONGRATULATIONS. YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE FIRST HIDE AND SEEK CHALLENGE.
However, a bonus challenge arises…
Completing the bonus challenge will lead to you getting extra rewards, do you accept?
Details: Survive for another 24 hours to complete the bonus challenge.
|Yes/No|
NOTE: The death penalty is no longer applied for failing this task. If you fail, then the penalty will be a 25% reduction in rewards for the overall task.
You have five minutes until the challenge is automatically declined.
Accepting the bonus challenge will give you ten minutes to prepare.]
Hmmm… is it worth it?
I won't lie, surviving for another twenty-four hours would be incredibly easy. Just carry Silica to some hiding place after storing some stuff that would weigh me down in my inventory and then wait there for a bit and win.
It's really that simple, I doubt that anyone could find me within a day if I hid in some peasant farmer's house in the countryside after running there.
The only downside is that Silica would have to be kept alive, or my rewards are reduced... But surely keeping her alive for 24 hours wouldn't be that terrible, right?
Alright, it's a difficult decision. But I don't have the time to think it through, so I might as well accept it and take the chance at further rewards.
After I accept, there'll be a limited time I have to escape from the castle and enact my plan, and while the time I'm given is enough, I'd prefer to have more just to be safe…
Wait. I have five minutes until I have to accept, and time is still frozen in that time.
Haha…HA! This world is so easy to exploit, it's as if the people making it have never played a video game before!
So, I will accept. Only, it'll be after a few minutes.
I have five minutes until I have to accept, and then I have ten minutes to work afterwards; that's plenty of time to do what I will need to.
Surveying the room quickly, I assessed what I had to work with.
Flammable paintings, flammable decorations, flammable corpses, flammable fruit, and flammable alcohol in my inventory.
Perfect.
Trying something out, I willed the armor that I was wearing back into my inventory, and it worked fairly easily.
Convenient, now I can enact the plan quicker.
Pulling out three barrels from my inventory, I drenched the floor in alcohol, then moved onto the bodies.
The king and Guille were done for, and I moved Silica out of the way beforehand, towards the window in the throne room that overlooked the courtyard; my escape route.
Checking the display screen from the system, I had thirty seconds until I had to accept.
Better to be safe than accidentally go over the allotted five minutes and be screwed.
[CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.
You have ten minutes to prepare for the counter to start. When the ten minutes are up, time will resume.
Good luck, Players Hegemaniac & Silica.]
I still have seventeen barrels left, so I can spare another one to make the paintings a little more beautiful.
Doing so and moving onto the décor, my job was done, and it was all done in under eight minutes.
That means I have a good amount of time to escape now.
Continuing on, I stripped the king of his cloak, then grabbed a candle from a table meant to illuminate the place at night.
Going near the window and slinging Silica over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes, I lit the cloak in my hands on fire, and, waiting until it was actually burning with decently large flames, I threw it on the liquor-tainted ground far away from me.
There was a small explosion, but looking outside again, no one and nothing was moving, so time was still halted.
I'm not sure how flames can burn when time is stopped, but I'm not complaining.
Looking back at the room through my safe spot on the windowsill, the fire had already engulfed the entirety of the room and small explosions were happening constantly.
Time to get out of here.
Jumping down from the windowsill to the stone walkway that guards patrolled, I thanked the three meter fall for not breaking my legs, especially with the added weight of Silica.
Then again, she doesn't even reach my neck, so it's not much added weight.
Time was still frozen, so I decided to take advantage of it, since I'm not an assassin who can easily escape a manned castle without being seen.
Running along the walkway, I reached a staircase that led down to the courtyard, and the gate of the castle was closed… barely. There was a gap between the bottom of the gate and the ground, so I got down on my stomach and moved myself, inch by inch, through the gap, and dragged Silica through it by the arm after I had reached the other side.
[Your ten minutes are up. Time will now resume, and the 24 hour timer shall start.
24:00:00… 23:59:59…]
Starting to sprint while carrying Silica like a bag of potatoes again, I hoped I wouldn't get shot down by some archer.
There are bushes, rocks and some minor forestry in the area that I can take cover with until I get out of sight of the castle though, so I'm safe.
Sometimes, situations like these where I do something incredible makes me arrogant, but my rationality holds back my ego from influencing my choices, and quashes it.
That is why I am the world's most humble man.
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