LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 66: Assassin Trader (2)
“Yes, but you know my predicament, don’t you? Sir Zebec, you have your own problem, so you also need the opportunity to earn merit from somewhere. If you defend the Baroness’s residence against an ambush by the hooligans, you might be forgiven for your sins without becoming a penitent knight.”
“And what about the hooligans you’ll pay and have hired?”
“The Young Master told me to commission the Cell Sword Guild or some other adventurers, but I’m asking them to storm the Baroness’s mansion. There’s no way someone with a sane mind would agree, so I picked a bunch of burly refugees and hired them. They all said yes.”
“…….”
“I’d have to arm them, so it will cost more. Every place is bustling with young refugees. No one will notice if a few go missing.”
Belldon, the Young Master’s aide, spoke quietly so as not to be heard.
“Are you telling me to kill the young refugees?”
Belldon was appealing to Sir Zebec that while he would hire some hooligans, he would stab them in the back by creating a chance for Sir Zebec to earn merit with the Baroness.
But Sir Zebec wasn’t willing to partake in his scheme. Wasn’t this excessively dirty for someone who was supposed to become a penitent knight?
‘Even the messengers of the Messenger Clan know how to live with honor. I can’t do this.’
However, Captain Maya, who was listening beside him, rejoiced.
“What a great opportunity, Sir Zebec. You must accept it.”
“Isn’t it?”
“You’re talking rubbish now. Belldon, pay them what you promised and dismiss them immediately. I’ll try speaking to the Young Master.”
“What? Oh God, this is big trouble. If you do that, I’ll pay the price for it. You know as well, don’t you, Sir Zebec? The Young Master’s condition….”
“Sir Zebec. Jeez… the thing is-”
Even Maya was baffled by Sir Zebec’s unrelenting attitude.
“Huh? Wait, you guys?”
Maya recognized a man alongside a young boy and girl among the passersby.
“I see. You came to Salasma as well, huh?”
“Oh, Miss Captain?”
She had seen Azadine, Mediam, and Ismail.
“Hmm? Dame Maya, do you know them?”
“Ah, yes. He’s the pilgrim I met during the black magic disaster. He was quite skilled.”
“I bet he was.”
Sir Zebec smiled bitterly. From the looks of it, Maya was oblivious to the fact that Azadine was a member of the Messenger Clan.
“It’s been a while.”
“Ah, Sir Zebec. I see you’re here too.”
“Do you know Sir Zebec as well?”
Maya was quite intrigued.
“Yes, by chance. Did you find your father, Captain?”
Azadine posed the question nonchalantly, despite being fully aware that he had killed her father.
“No. I just couldn’t find him, so I returned to my duty for the time being since a lot of work had piled up. My father, Sir Kazrek, the paragon of the Knights Order, is probably in the middle of a mission. I’m sure he’s safe.”
“…….”
There had to be a limit to twisting the facts. She called Sir Kazrek, a man willing to slaughter civilians to cover up his mistakes, a paragon of the Knights Order. Listening to this, Azadine had to work hard to control his expressions.
“Well, what’s going on?”
“That’s the thing.”
Sir Zebec revealed the truth to them.
“Young Master Kozel has hired a group of destitute young refugees to raid Baroness Nort’s mansion. If they succeed, they’ll be hanged; if they fail, they’ll be killed. The fact that so many of them volunteered indicates their terrible plight.”
“Ah….”
Belldon was dumbfounded.
“Ho-how can you tell an outsider about that?”
“He’s a man I can trust. He’s a tight-lipped man.”
Sir Zebec surprised himself with his own words. As a Holy Knight of the King’s Church, he had vouched for his trust in Azadine, an Emperor’s messenger. Azadine laughed wryly upon hearing this.
“Is he, perhaps, the man in charge of hiring them?”
“Yes, he is.”
“Ah, Oh, mm.”
The sudden increase in the conversation’s pace took Belldon by surprise. And then Azadine spoke up.
“I’m sorry, but hiring these men, who’ve never even held a sword before, will be useless to you. So, don’t spill the blood of these pitiful people. How about you hire experts who’ll actually prove useful to you?”
“Useful experts?”
“I’m talking about myself.”
“…….”
Mediam and Ismail, who were listening to the conversation, held their tongues.
‘H-he’s fearless.’
‘Is he in his right mind?’
“…….”
Sir Zebec, who was part of the conversation, also let out a sigh.
“Dame Maya, I think we should excuse ourselves.”
“Huh?”
“It’s for a good reason.”
Sir Zebec stepped aside for Azadine to chat with Belldon privately. Or perhaps he excused himself so he wouldn’t have to wash his ears if a filthy conversation entered them.
Having left Baroness Nort’s residence in the evening, Azadine took the chance to probe the Count’s castle. However, the castle’s exterior was not a place one could casually stroll through. Any place that could be used to even peep into the castle had guards patrolling them alongside those on permanent posts.
“The Count must be quite paranoid, huh?”
With the swarms of refugees flooding in, the whole of Salasma had descended into chaos. The refugee population was displaced, starving, and destitute. While begging was quite favorable, some also committed theft, robbery, prostitution, and murder, rapidly deteriorating society’s order. A large amount of military power was needed to maintain order.
These circumstances called for the majority of the standing army to be deployed to maintain order inside the city. Yet shockingly, the Count paid no mind to the security of his city and was only focused on defending his own castle.
That was why there was no way to get in.
“Can’t we enter through the underground passage? That’s how the wererats invaded the Baroness’s mansion, right?”
Mediam chimed in as she followed him.
“I surveyed the underground passage, but a huge iron gate blocked the way in the middle. Strong as I may be, I don’t think I could smash it down.”
The door was a one-way opening with only an escape from the Count’s castle possible through it, not entry. It was only natural for a proper underground secret passageway to be set up that way.
“If there’s a steam pipe, can’t we enter through that? Maybe if we look around hard enough?”
“I don’t think so. Um, it might be better to climb over the wall at night, I guess? But if we do that….”
Azadine clicked his tongue at the thought of scaling up the wall at night. They were bound to make a mistake. The interior layout and the number of military forces and patrolling guards inside were all unknown to them.
The story would be different if they were to trespass while taking out the patrol guards or servants in their way. However, that requires them to hurt innocent people. Simply knocking them out of consciousness would do the trick, but they could end up killing someone if they were unlucky.
As a believer of the Recuse Knights Order’s faith, Azadine was against murdering innocent people. He needed a thorough investigation prior to attempting a nighttime infiltration.
“I’ll have to ask the Baroness for details of those who set foot in and out of the Count’s castle. And maybe get a map, if possible. The Countess and Count’s children must be able to go in and out, right?”
“How come? Is it so you could enter disguised as a servant? I doubt a noble would employ a servant with a helmet or a blindfold.”
Mediam highlighted the fact that while Azadine’s blind man disguise garnered him sympathy from others, it was all too easy to recall a blind person. Given his position, he couldn’t enter the palace undetected in his disguise.
“We don’t have much of a choice. Should we take our time breaking through the iron door, then?”
The door wasn’t breakable in one hit, but destroying it with tools was possible. Finalizing his decision, Azadine met up with Sir Zebec and his party on the way back.
Just then, the young refugees crowded them.
“What’s the conversation about, Mister employer?”
“Well. This man in the helmet wants me to hire him instead of you.”
“What?”
They gathered around Azadine, but he wasn’t intimidated in the slightest and spoke up.
“I’m sorry, but you guys aren’t cut out for the job. I’ll give you some money, so just be happy with that. Work like this is not for you.”
“This is ridiculous. What does he take us for?”
The young refugees went into a fit of rage. At that moment, Azadine held out a gold coin in front of them. It wasn’t the Emperor’s gold coin but was a common gold coin from the Eight Kingdoms.
“Oh?”
“What the hell? Are you showing off that you’re rich?”
“No. Do you want to make a bet with me?”
“A bet?”
“If you win, I’ll give this to you guys.”
“…….”
The young men’s eyes shimmered with greed upon seeing the gold coin.
“Wha-what’s the bet?”
“It’s simple.”
Azadine gestured to Mediam.
“Draw a circle around my feet, twice the width of my shoulders.”
Mediam took out a chalk and drew a circle at his feet.
“Like this?”
“Mmm, good.”
He spoke to them with the coin in his hands.
“Push me out of this circle, and this gold coin will be yours.”
“…What?”
“But if you lose, return to your families and make do with the relief the Rescue Knights provide.”
“Yo-you bastard!”
“How dare you look down on us!”
His provocation enraged the young refugees.
“Ah, wait. Why are you guys deciding this all on your….”
Belldon, the Young Master’s aide, was flustered. He started this with a plan to sacrifice the refugees to satisfy Kozel’s desire for revenge. He would then sweep everything under the rug.
Of course, it wasn’t something a mere aide could decide. However, contrary to Bellodon’s expectations, events had taken a bizarre turn.
“The time limit is….”
Azadine tossed the gold coin into the air.
The coin bounced high into the air and landed back in his hand.
“Ten coin tosses. Even if I fail to catch it again, you guys win. And if you guys win, I’ll also give you this gold coin as a bonus.”
“……!”
“How about it? Do you want to do it?”
“Yeah, let’s do it!”
“Alright then!”
Azadine flicked the gold coin. Instantly, those hooligans pounced on him together.
“Hit him!”
“Kill him!”
But Azadine’s index finger struck the philtrum of the young man leading the charge. While the young man was horrified by the stinging, paralyzing shock, Azadine grabbed his head, intertwined his arms, and spun him around within the circle.
“Uaaah!”
The hooligan youth flew across the ground like a bull being dragged by the reins. Others aiming to ambush Azadine went wild, getting swept away, crashing, and tripping.
He spun him around for one full turn and then hurled him away. Like bowling pins, the hooligans fell in unison, and Azadine caught the gold coin as it fell from the sky.
“One.”
“…….”
“Yeah.”
The onlookers held their tongues.
Even Mediam and Ismail, aware of his abilities, stood frozen at the scene before them.
“What? No more?”
“N-no.”
“We’re done.”
Azadine generously offered to toss the coin ten times, but just one toss was enough to snap all of their willpower into pieces.
“Hmm. Ismail.”
“Yes?”
“Give this to them.”
He pulled out a few silver coins and handed them to Ismail, who then passed on the silver coins to the hooligans. Immediately, they undid their leather armor and discarded their weapons, returning them to Belldon.
“Uh-uh…. Wa-wait! Hey….”
Belldon was dumbstruck, but after their bitter confrontation with Azadine, the young refugees were focused on taking their share of the money he handed them.