บท 46: The First Mission
A full week has passed since Sebastian began training his body.
The mission for the Blue Rose would start in just a few more minutes and he was already at the meeting point wearing the fox mask and cloak. Although the citizens and knights of the city, much to his chagrin, knew of his identity, the 'Night Hunter', very few had actually seen him in person.
But there wasn't much of a problem.
Blue Rose was an assassin organization, but they didn't shy away from getting attention. In fact, most of the aliases inside the Blue Rose were known to the upper echelons and their masks weren't exactly a huge secret either. It was a very eccentric organization of assassins.
Sebastian stood straight under the shade of the tree and waited. It didn't take long before he could hear the sound of wooden wheels and hooves of horses stomping down on the floor.
It was a simple carriage with a wagon attached to the back. It was being pulled by two large horses that looked like they could carry both the carriage and wagon alone.
Accompanying the carriage and its entourage was Hound.
"Fox," Hound walked up to Sebastian and spoke.
'A woman?'
Hound's voice was androgynous. It sounded like Hound was either a beautiful woman or an effeminate man. Sebastian couldn't copy that sort of voice even if he wanted to.
"Hound," Sebastian responded and the two of them walked side by side.
Although they had already revealed themselves to their client, they still needed to follow from a distance. They were assassins, not mercenaries.
It was only before noon and the sun's light made it harder for them to hide but with Hound's guidance, they walked through alleys, open houses, and covered roofs.
All the while, they talked about the mission. Neither of them were out of breath despite all the jumping and running they were doing.
"Our client this time wants to go through the forest. Normally, they'd hire mercenaries but word is, that his rival is planning on sending assassins. When you pin mercenaries against assassins, it's obvious as to who would come out on top."
One side defended and attacked in the open while the other would use every trick in the book and then some. Mercenaries would only be able to respond to attacks once they've been attacked or if they sense any danger. On the other hand, assassins can poison rations without being seen and even something cheap like sneak attacking is considered the norm.
Right now, they were moving ahead of the client to check for any traps. Though rarely, sometimes, assassinations in the middle of the city happen. If it was just a single person, then that's normal. But there were also some cases of entire groups being attacked.
Traps were the prevalent ways of assassinating a group and that's what Sebastian and Hound were trying to find.
"Doesn't look like there are any. Why don't you go closer to the client? I'll continue advancing."
Sebastian nodded and turned around to leave.
"A merchant." He looked through the carriage window and murmured.
If the client weren't a noble or an『Inheritor』, then the only possible option was a merchant. The carriage and wagon looked too well-made to be owned by a commoner. Not to mention that the entourage had roughly twenty people. There were very few people who could afford such leisure.
'...Isn't that a good way to make money?'
Sebastian stroked his chin from under the mask in thought.
Right now, he really needed funds. He was barely scraping by using the rewards for killing monsters and the monthly allowance given to him by his father.
Since he supported Pine's research, maintenance on his weapons, and other gear to better himself, he had to save money even on meals in school.
After looking around for a bit more, Sebastian sat down near a vantage point where he could see both the convoy and its surroundings and took out his bow. It wasn't the black bow that he typically used but one he had Pine forged for him.
The people in the banquet had already seen his black bow and spear very clearly. If it weren't for Amy retrieving the last arrow that Sebastian had used, they would have a copy of his arrows and he'd have lost another one.
As the Night Hunter, he was known to use the spear and not a bow. But, it didn't matter to him.
Maybe one day, someone would see the connection between the two of them, however unlikely.
All of a sudden, Sebastian saw a glint off in the distance. Rationality told him to ignore it but his instinct reacted differently. He raised his bow and without missing a beat, shot an arrow in the direction of the glint.
"Agh..."
After a loud grunt, a hooded figure fell from the roof.
"He's hit! We've been spotted!"
Several hooded figures began scattering and Sebastian fired at each one of them. He managed to take down half of their numbers before they escaped.
"There are too many of them." Sebastian clicked his tongue and took out his spear before jumping off his spot.
He couldn't stray too far from the convoy but he couldn't just let the assassins leave.
Using more of the stigma's energy, Sebastian caught up to a few of them.
"Die!"
One of the assassins swung his blade at Sebastian. He didn't look like an amateur either.
'There!'
Sebastian's eyes flashed and he struck the assassin's hand with his spear and cut the assassin's body diagonally.
He didn't have any time to rest as another assassin had snuck up on him. Sebastian stepped to the side and blocked the blade with his wrist plates. He moved and hit the second assassin's stomach with the bottom end of his pole before incapacitating him with a strike to the chin.
Once Sebastian finished, Hound walked up to him while dragging four hooded figures behind them.
"..."
It matched the number of people who were left. Hound managed to take down the four assassins fleeing in different directions in the time that Sebastian took to take down two. Not to mention that Hound was way farther than him.
'Let's not anger Hound.'
"Well done. I've also restrained the ones you've subdued with your arrows."
Hound pointed to the back and there, the more than half a dozen assassins were tied to one of the balconies.
"..."
Sebastian had taken roughly five minutes to shoot down and subdue the assassins.
'Are all of the assassins in Blue Rose at this level? She's ranked 31...'
Unaware of Sebastian's shock, Hound turned around and tied up the rest of the assassins before taking the ones hanging down from the balcony down and dragging them away.
'So strong...'
Sebastian gulped and had cold sweat drench his back.
He was made painfully aware of the difference between him and the assassins in the most powerful assassin organization in the country.
...
When the convoy passed through the forest, there weren't any other traps or assassins. It was very uneventful. Let alone assassins, there weren't even any signs of beasts and they passed through the forest and arrived at the nearby village fairly quickly.
"Did we really need to hire assassins?"
One of the guards scoffed as he looked at Hound and Sebastian to the side.
Sebastian was about to speak about the foiled attack but Hound stopped him.
"There's no need to prove ourselves to others."
Sebastian opened his mouth to answer but decided otherwise and turned away from the guards.
When the guard saw that neither of the two retorted, he snorted in disdain and raised his voice. "Assassins are just cowards who have little knowledge about fighting straight on!"
The guard's jeers were egged on by his comrades.
"That's right! Just a waste of money."
"What did they even do?"
Just like that, the entire convoy taunted and jeered at Sebastian and Hound.
'There really is no virtue in ignorance... If only they knew that the guy next to me could kill them all in a matter of minutes...'
When the merchant client walked back and heard the jeers, his face paled and he ran up to Sebastian and Hound while bowing his head.
"I'm extremely sorry for my subordinates' rudeness! Please spare them!"
When the guards heard the merchant, they were extremely confused and fell silent.
"It doesn't bother me." Hound was the one to talk.
"R-really?"
"After all, if I concern myself with the opinions and thoughts of all the ignorant buffoons, then wouldn't I die of stress?"
"""..."""
There wasn't any other response. Just silence.
The merchant purposely coughed and began to lead Hound away to discuss the payment. He ignored the fact that his guards were just called ignorant buffoons. Having them be insulted when they started it first was way better than having to hire new ones after they were slaughtered.
Left alone with the guards, Sebastian could only laugh awkwardly and move away. Could he really survive if he were to stick with Blue Rose?
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