Hey guys! Artique, here!

Just as Dapop and Reborn_Cat commented in the last chapter, I realized that this series immensely lacks in pacing. I apologize for realizing it this late...but I have made a re-attempt for the last chapter.

Please do comment on your thoughts.

and, Thanks for the support you all have shown me!!

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“So, until where do you plan on following me?”

*Swish-!!*

In the next instant, hundreds of daggers were thrown towards me with the intent to kill.

Just because they throw it, doesn’t mean it will reach…

*Snap*

All the daggers floated in mid-air, facing towards me.

“What!?!”, someone let out their surprised voice.

As I pointed my fingers towards the other side of the alley, all the daggers turn to face the same direction.

 “If you don’t come out, whatever you are thinking right now will be your last thought”

“Don’t get afraid. Alpha get into the position, Beta follow me.”, a relatively old voice commanded the others.

Over 50 people were facing me. The ones in the back seemed to be mages.

Chants…

The ones in the front seem to be close-range assassins.

Interesting...they seem to have good formation and coordination...but will it be enough to finish me?

I have a building and the daggers behind me.

I am cornered, huh…

The mages finished their chants and sent a huge ball of fire towards me. I swiftly grabbed a dagger next to me and did a small downward slash.

*swish*

The fireball that came towards me split into two and smashed into the building behind me.

“You are gonna have to do better than that to defeat me.”

“Mater Ron, wh..what should we do?”, a young voice masked with terror spoke out.

“Silence.”, the one that seemed to be Ron ordered the kid.

Thank you, kid.

[Jane!]

[Yes]

[Search for an assassin named Ron. I want to know which noble he is affiliated with.]

[I want a raise]

[What?]

[You are giving me too much work. Do you know how difficult it is to get the information you want?]

[*sigh* Fine...how much do you want?]

[Double my current salary]

[Done]

[Wait...you accepted so easily?!? Can I ask for more?]

[Nope...deal closed. Get me the information right now.]

[Damn it...fine, give me two minutes.]

Until then, let me play with these guys.

*Buzzz* 

I cloaked all the daggers next to me with green lightning. Occasionally, sparks of lightning moved from one dagger to another, giving out a mysteriously cool effect.

“Wh..what is that?!”, one of them screamed.

Ignoring him, I aligned the daggers to surround me facing the outward direction and dashed forward to the middle of the assassin’s group.

*Kwang*

From the center, I let all the daggers fly outwards, towards the assassins.

“Agh!”

“AH! How is he even doing this?”

However, the old man named Roy dodged all the daggers and came straight to me and made a vertical slash. I instantly dodged it by jumping backward. On coming into contact with his sword, the ground split into two.

“Not bad!”, I exclaimed.

“But it is not enough, Alpha!”

Looks like the mages are up to something…

*Boom*

As soon as I kicked the ground, with me as the center, a huge wave of earth spread out evenly throwing off both the assassins and the mages out of balance.

And to keep the mages from chanting again, I completely froze them until their mouths. As for the assassins, I chained them to the ground using hardened mud. Right now, everyone except me and Ron are incapable of movement.

I made a sword using magic and dashed towards Ron.

He is the strongest one here…

*Boom* *Boom* *Boom*

As our swords clash, huge waves of air gets sent outwards.

“Hey, tell me, which noble sent you?”

“...”

“...tch, you won’t, huh”

I made another sword and tried to thrust it towards one of his arms to slash it off.

*Clang*

I was blocked by another assassin who managed to escape.

“Do you think I will let you?!”

Seems to be a kid…

“Kid, don’t come here.”

*Flick*, I flicked my fingers sending out of a ball of air.

“Ack!”, he smashed into one of the buildings, breaking the walls.

“So, now that we are here, tell me Ron, who sent you?”

“...”

He is pretty tight-lipped…

[Found it...Ron, chief of the assassin’s village controlled by Marquis Astley Devon…Boss, this is serious, Astley blackmails the assassins into doing his job.]

[Blackmail?]

[Yes, though the assassins are strong it seems like some individuals by Astley are strong enough to completely wipe their village. WAIT!]

[What happened?]

[Slave Trading]

[Pardon?]

[Marquis Astley is heavily involved in slave trading...the children of this said village are usually involved.]

[And why hasn’t anything been reported yet?]

[Hostages…]

[That son of a bastard…Good job, Jane. You just got yourself a raise.]

[Yay!!]

I lost all my will to fight after hearing what Jane had to say. 

But at the same time...I need them to listen to me…

“Astley Devon.”

“Yo...You how do you know that name?!!”, Ron screamed at me in surprise

An opening…

*BOOM*

As I kicked the dumbfounded Ron, he flew towards the mages and crashed into them.

“Master Ron!! Yo...You! How dare you do this?!? Agh! This damned mud!!”

“You!! I won’t ever let you live...Die!!”

Somehow one by one, the assassins freed themselves from my restraints and started attacking me.

*Clash* *Clash*

Damn...their advantage in numbers is really annoying. I might lose if I don’t take this serious-

Just as I was thinking that a sword headed directly for my neck.

“...tch”, I dodge that by dashing backward.

What shall I do? I don’t want to fight them…alright let’s use this.

*Whoosh*

I created Fog to use it as a smokescreen. 

“This is ….This is Fog!!”

“AHH! I can’t see anything!”

“Kids step back and we will take care of everything.”, a middle-aged man spoke out.

So there are assassins who can see through the fog…If this goes on like this I might not be able to hold back…

“Sebastian!”

“Yes, My lord”

“Wh...where was he?”

“Can I leave it to you take care of the kids?”

“Certainly, My lord. Baby-sitting is one of my fortes.”

“Good...get the kids out of the fog. Things are about to get heated in here.”

“I will do as you say, my lord.”

“Now, come on! Is your mouth the only part working?”, though I provoked them, no one moved.

And this is why experienced adults are a pain to deal with...and Ron has recovered from the kick.

*Whoosh*

The assassins swiftly moved through the fog and surrounded me.

Good, good...come at me…

As they slowly came closer, *BOOM*, I kicked the ground to throw myself into the air.

“Wh...where did he go?”

“Don’t panic, he is above us.”, Ron said so while looking only to have his open wide on seeing me.

I was holding a ball of green color gas in my hand, as I gently dropped the ball towards the fog. Ron shouted to the others,

“Get out of the fog!!!!”

But you are too late…

“Ah! No-”

“Mmm!”

“Nnn!”

What I dropped was gas containing a paralyzing effect. No one can move anymore for a long time. This is quite dangerous for kids, might even knock them out for days.

“Hmm?”

It seems like Ron has escaped…

As I dropped down, I could see Ron’s pupil shaking…

“My lord, it is over.”

I could see the kids lying there...they are alive, right?

“Sebastian, I hoped you only knocked them out.”

“I certainly did do as you ordered me to, my lord.”

“Good...Now Ron, let’s talk.”

“What do you even want to talk about?”

“About your situation right now…”

*Snap*

I added layers and layers of ice on Ron to keep him in place. I also raised a chair for myself to have a pleasant talk. But the shape somehow ended up being a throne.

“...damn it...Our situation?”, realizing my intent to talk, Ron followed along with me.

“Yes, about your village…”, as I said this, Ron’s pupils widened.

“Ho...How do you know about the village?!”

While smiling, “I have my sources.” 

“...”

“Now Ron, you have three choices.”, looking straight into his eyes.

“Three?”

“Yes, the first one is to die, of course.”

He is not surprised...looks like experience is playing its part here.

“The second is, you can flee.”

“Flee?”, he looked at me questingly.

“Yes, you can take the kids and leave the empire if you want to. Of course, that means whoever is living in that village will face the full burn of your decision."

His eye widened at that sentence and he glared at me.

“Now now, don’t get angry. I am just wording out your available choices. For the final one…”

“...”

While pointing to myself, “You can follow me.”

“Huh? What kind of non-”

“Listen carefully, your rash actions might leave the kids in jeopardy. You can join me and start living in Ellen.”

“You...you will take all of us in?”

“Yes, I am not someone who willing wastes talents. Additionally, according to the words of my mother, I have to help you out here.”

“The late Empress? I see, she really might do what you are doing. But what about the kids?”

“They can come along of course. If they want to stop being an assassin and want to pursue studies, they can freely do so in Ellen.”

“Why are you doing this? We tried to kill you!!”

“Freedom, Ron. Freedom”

“Freedom?”

“Yes, it’s not something I was born with. Being a royal is not something easy. But the kids lying there can have it. I want them to taste freedom in my place.”

True...being a Royal, I had to play along with the whims of the emperor and resign my position as the crown prince. Though, in the end, things did go as I wanted, it doesn’t mean I have complete freedom.

“So what do you say, Ron? Will you let the kids have freedom, something we never had?”

“I...I want to. But there are still people in the villages.”

“You don’t need to worry about that. I, Arthur Ellen Zemira, promise you that everyone in your village including the hostages will safely reach Ellen. If you accept my offer, that is”

“What about Astley Devon?”

“You don’t need to worry about that. Astley and I have some scores to settle.”

Astley Devon, according to the documents given to me Sebastian, he is the one who stole the most.

“Scores to settle?”, Ron inquired.

“Yes, scores to settle. To think he has the audacity to conduct slave trade, in an Empire that I live in. He is courting death.”

“Yo..You are going to kill him?”

“Damn right, I am. But it is not something that you should worry about now. So, tell me, Ron, will you join me?”

“If you promise a peaceful life for my people, I am willing to walk along the depths of hell with you.”, he said so while kneeling.

“Haha~ you don’t need to go that far. But, welcome, Ron.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Oh~ good...Ellen is immensely lacking in fighting power. These guys should be a nice addition.

“Ron, take these and go to Ellen. I will be joining you there tomorrow. For now, take the kids and stay in the inns.”, I said as I threw a pouch of gold coins to Ron.

*Snap*, as I healed everyone, one by one they all started standing up.

“Yo..You!! I will kill you!”, exclaimed one of them while barely managing to stand up.

*knock*, Ron knocked him in the head.

Ouch, that has to be painful.

“Mas...Master Ron?!? Why did you hit me?!?”

“Look around.”

The boy looked around to see all of his people sitting down casually.

“Eh? Wh..what has happened?”

“Our lord, Duke Arthur, has promised us land to live and freedom. So be respectful towards him.”

“Haha~ that’s fine, Ron. Boy, what is your name?”, I said while walking towards him.

“...Revan”

Kneeling down with him facing me, I said, “So tell me, Revan. Do you want to continue being an assassin or do want to pursue studies?”

*Blink* *Blink*

Looks like his brain is trying to process everything that has happened…

“I can go to school?!”

“Of course, you can.”

“Master Ron, is he telling the truth?!?”

“Ahh Revan, how many times do you think Master can explain. Come I will explain it to you.”, one of the other kids took Revan away while smiling.

Good...this is how kids should be...smiling and not running around with daggers in hand.

“Ron, I think you can leave now. Oh- at the same time, do you have any method to contact the village? If you do, inform them to pack their things by tomorrow. Two days later, we will be rescuing them and the hostages.”

“Yes, my lord. I will inform them of our arrival. Let us meet tomorrow at Ellen.”

He took the kids and started leaving.

“Sebastian, I want all the information about Astley by tomorrow.”

“I will take care of it, My lord. You did well to keep it in till now”

[Jane.]

[Yes, boss]

[Information on Astley. Where he is currently living? How many strong individuals are with him? Everything, by tomorrow morning]

[Eh? That’s too much wo-]

[Jane, shut up and do what I tell you.]

[...On it]

“Sebastian, I am gonna have to let loose a little. Diana is waiting for me in the palace, so I can’t go there in this mood.”

“Pardon?”

“Leave this place...I have to erase the evidence.”

Once Sebastian left,

*Whoosh*

I flew towards the sky, and after reaching an appreciable amount of height. Aiming towards the ground, I shot an arrow purely made of flames and my rage.

*BOOOM-!!*

A huge explosion occurred covering the whole area with light. Even the ground trembled because of a single arrow.

Phew...Astley Devon has to die…but how? The thing with Rachel was settled peacefully because the other was just a Baron’s heir. However, this time it is a Marquis. Things might get messy if I do something rash. It is better to consult Duke Landon…

While having such thoughts, I slowly made my way to the palace.

“Brother!!!”, Diana jumped into my arms.

“Woahhh!! What happened??”

Ah...she heals me

“I thought you got hurt during that explosion.”, she said with tears lining up inside her eyes.

“Of course not, dummy. Do you think something of this level is enough to hurt me?”

“Brother, you are an idiot!! Give me back my feelings!!”

*sigh* “I am glad you didn’t get hurt, Arthur.”

“Ah...Greetings, Empress Camilla. Do you know what caused the explosion?”

Of course, the reason is standing right before your eyes.

“No...I have sent knights to investigate it, but it’s too dangerous for us to step in this early.”

“True...what about the emperor?”

“He is discussing about the explosion with Prime Minister.”

“I see…then I guess, I will meet him later.”

I apologize, Duke Landon. I have caused you a lot of extra work. 

“Hey, Diana.”, I said to the body still clinging to me.

“Yeah?”

“Had your dinner yet?”

“Nope!! So start cooking!!”

“Haha~ Fine, fine...Empress, if you are free why don’t you join us?”

“Hmm...I am free until the knights come back, so yeah, I will join you”

“Great...Sebastian, ask the Prime Minister to join us if he becomes available.”

“I will surely inform him of the event, My lord”

“Alright, let’s go, Diana”

“Okay~”

 

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As you can see, I have added background settings for the Assassins, making it seem much more natural for them to join Arthur. 

Was this any better than the previous chapter? If so, tell me in the comment section!!