Chapter 15

Assassin's Pov

This was not good. Their destination was filled with Lord's soldier as well as Adventurers. And moreover the A-rank Adventurer had also moved there. No doubt coming even within 500m mark, they will be sensed. They contacted their insider of the Guild. Minutes later a man appeared in the clearing of the forest. Then they all descended. He asked.

"What happened?"

The man shrugged.

"I don't know much but there are talks happening about some man and his group of people that caused the commotion. He claimed himself to be a part of some secret organization or something. The main threat, however, is that he possesses strength comparable to S rank. He could be the one who captured Theta or possibly killed her."

The other Assassin asked.

"How?"

The man replied.

"Don't know but from the testimony of the remaining Adventurer, a small cat-girl had a mental-breakdown in a fight between her and a monster. It looked closely like the case when their memories returned. After all, it is not the first time this happened."

The Assassin nodded. Their mistress did shatter the crystal meant to hold back the memories but what was about this monster that endangered the B-rank Assassin who combat prowess could reach A-rank?

"Monster?"

The man nodded as he began explaining.

"Yeah, we found out that this ruin was a mass grave site of more than a million people. They all died and now what we have is a malice that controlled a body of a skeleton, equipped from bone to teeth in [Legendary Tier equipment]."

The Assassins looked at each other. This was not a good sign. Theta was kidnapped or possibly killed and that meant that the mistress will be pissed off. One of the Assassins asked.

"Have you informed the Mistress?"

The man nodded.

"Yeah, was about to until you all came in."

"Then do it."

The man nodded before saying.

"Just to let you know, there is an emissary coming from Duke Elcot tomorrow. From what I have heard."

The Assassin was a bit unsettled.

"Why? What is the reason? They should have no reason to come here, yet."

The man shrugged.

"Heard the younger twin died in the skirmish between monsters inside the ruin. So someone is coming to meet the Lord to hear the whole story."

The Assassin’s pondered.

"Hmm, a ruse maybe? The Lord or the Emissary could pass some information to each other. Ask the Mistress for permission to stay and observe this place."

Mistress Pov

The Mistress was first enraged when she had heard about the report. She was gnawing on her nail. She had failed the [Cult] by losing one of their important pieces. They will not let this go and her chance of raising her status in the eyes of the [Cult] just plummeted, not to mention the [Elder] who supported her will definitely do something. She gritted her teeth in fear as her hand shook. She feared the [Elder] from the bottom of her heart. After all he was one of the two people that was closest to the leader of the [Cult]. She was just few days away from completing her mission. She will not let this chance go away and whatever the Duke was plotting she will not let the information slip away.

"Permission granted. Observe the Emissary and find out what they are planning. You all should not be close to the mansion, find the Lord and have him place themselves near the window so that you all can see what they are talking about."

Unknown Pov

He had come to Aron city with his sister. A bit dangerous when it came to security should their enemies do something but nonetheless he would protect her with their elite guards. Considering who his father was, they were the most talented and powerful guards. He was the elder twin born and an elder brother of his younger sister. Their mother unfortunately passed away 3 years later after giving birth to his younger sister. It was quite the devastating blow to their whole family as a whole. Especially for his younger twin and his youngest sister. The younger twin deviated further and further from the family and delved into his frivolous life while his younger sister seemed despondent.

Nothing could make her sister happy. She still had the portrait of their mother hanging in her room. It was a picture of their mother sitting in a chair with a smile. She had long straight black hair with blue eyes that complemented her face giving her a kind of ethereal beauty. She was even hailed as a divine beauty by the Temple for unknown reasons. Their father did not have the heart to take the portrait away when he himself was taking quite the blow from her demise. He kept himself with his work trying to suppress a problem of a certain noble of the Empire. That was why he came here in his father's stead when he had gotten the news of his twin's demise.

Wallace had already lost his mother as well as his way of life since he became friends with those frivolous friends and got himself to exile by nearly taking the 2^nd princess's innocence. He sighed at the last one. He kept on asking his twin to mend his ways, to distance himself from bad influence but the younger twin did not take any heed. His brother was always jealous of him for his position but didn't he see that power always come with responsibility? And knowing his younger twin's way of life, it truly was not the best option. Now with that out of the way, he also had some other motive in coming here. True, the death of his younger brother was a great blow to him but he felt numb for whatever reason. Muted even but now was not the time.

He could be seen walking towards the main manor of the Lord to 'discuss' the full report of his brother's demise. He was wearing noble's dress garment made of silk. It consisted of a white shirt with a black coat with gold lining. He had worn a red tie and his black pants with black boots that almost reached his knee. He had a sword on his waist. He had gotten his father's red hair and his mother's blue eyes while his little sister inherited all her mother's feature. He was also showcasing his medals over his chest pocket indicating his achievements. He was greeted by the Garrison head.

"I welcome you to Aron city, Aaron-sama."

And the rest of the guards bowed down to him. He just nodded as he came alone with two of his guards who were his uncles besides him. He can take care of himself quite easily as he was taught in the ways of sword by his father, the Grand Marshal. His name is Aaron Elcot, the eldest son of Duke Elcot and the next heir. He had left all the guards with his sister, knowing it was probably safe because most of the [Cult] were faintly present in the Lord's house. He was literally walking into the Lion's den but he was sure that the [Cult] would do nothing with the guards besides him. He just wanted to know the situation of the Lord now, who was once the subordinate of his father.

He entered the mansion and found it cold despite the fact that it was morning with sun shining brightly. He walked the hallway, his shoes echoing in the lonely corridor. He smiled wistfully at the state of the mansion. The Lord must lead a lonely life in this prison. The only living beings in the mansion was the two guards stationed right outside the door that led to the Lord's office and the maids that could occasionally come to clean the place and prepare food. The guards shift changed every 3 hours and did a check-up inside the mansion for any intruders. The outside guards too did change every 3 hours when Aaron had inquired about it.

'Maybe for the more window time for the Assassin to move around?'

He was standing in front of the Lord's office when the Guard let only him inside with his two guards that remained outside. Aaron stopped for a while and tried to sense for Assassins. They all had [Presence Concealment+] so it was a bit harder but he could feel four faint figure just outside the mansion. Luckily he had leveled up his detection skill in secret. They too were spying in secret, maybe that was the reason why they were directly facing the window. So that the Assassins can see and read the movement of their lips to understand what they were saying.

Aaron just gave a smile.

"It's been a while since I have seen you Baron Kimbly."

The Lord just smiled bitterly.

"And me as well, Aaron-sama. I heard you have attained the status of Earl, just two steps below of that of Duke. Quite remarkable for someone so young."

"You flatter me, Lord Kimbly."

Aaron just smiled. He tapped his foot once and stopped for a second before tapping twice and then thrice. The Lord seemed to understand something but did not let it show in his face. He did the same rhythm. It was a secret code developed by the Duke and only those trusted by the Duke would use it to communicate. Aaron hoped they did not know about their code.

Really at first this secret language was developed as a mean to annoy the people by the Duke when he was younger and then he had a revelation.

Why not make a code based on it?

And here was the result, they tapped along.

'How are you, Lord Kimbly?'

'It's suffocating, kid. They just increased their status quo of the children.'

'How much?'

'Not 'much' but times. They are telling me to send twice a month now. Someone is getting impatient as I worry something big is happening.'

But above they were talking as if they were having friendly banter.

"You know, Earl Aaron? I used to cook food for your father. Why? Because the first time he tried to cook, he blew up a kitchen."

"Hahaha, please treat me like a friend. I really hate all this 'politeness'. You were a friend of father and with that you are like an uncle to me."

"If you say so kid."

'What is happening? Bodies of children are appearing in the rivers of Capital city.'

'Don't know kid, I just follow orders. Have you found my daughter?'

'We are searching. But traces were found nearing a safe house at the border.'

The Lord's eyes twitched.

'Near the borders?'

"So have you read the missive given to you? Regarding you-......"

Assassin Pov

".....-r Brother's death?"

The Assassins were reading their lips and writing down everything they were saying. The one lipsing was annoyed.

"......Why are we doing this anyway? Can't we just, you know, hide inside the mansion and hear what they were saying?"

The older Assassin was annoyed.

"That's why you will always remain a grunt Assassin, boy. Who do you fucking think that person is? A commoner? No that is the son of the Duke himself. He has been just promoted to Earl based on his merit alone. This means he is skilled, maybe at least B-rank just short of A-rank, not to mention he was taught in the ways of combat and had performed well in the fields. A person like that can sense us from 100 meters away. That is why we are this far away."

The Assassin that got scolded just grunted and resumed to read the lips.

Aaron Pov

Aaron just nodded as he sighed in sadness.

"Yeah but I have come to you for the confirmation on it if there was any foul play here? My brother did have many enemies due to his 'behavior'."

'Near the border. Maybe for escape when things go sour. You know when anti-teleportation fields are deployed. The barrack of Sholiy is just near there. Maybe they are backing the Duke with the [Cult]?'

The Baron just nodded sadly.

"Yes, no foul play involved kid. Just a series of bad luck and coincidence."

'What can the Duke do?'

Aaron sighed heavily.

"Ah, things have gone from bad to worse now. First it was mother that went first and now is my twin brother..... Father will be devastated. Though I can't say anything for my sister. She drifted apart from him years after mother's death."

'We will try to do a covert operation with the best of the best. The Guildmaster refused to get entangled into anymore of this political scheme so he declined our request to assist us. Maybe in the future, if it gets out of hand then he ‘must’ assist us.'

"I apologize if you were offended but give my condolences for your mother. May her soul rest in peace."

'Can't blame him. He did try to dissuade me from performing the operation for your dad but too bad, I had fallen in love with her.'

"Yeah me too. But I may believe it was the [Cult] that was responsible for her death. Because far too many reason why they hated her."

'I believe the [Cult] may try to do something with your daughter just like what they were trying to do with your wife. However, we are not sure what exactly was that.'

The Lord was flabbergasted.

"What!"

Really the Lord would not be able to keep a calm when he heard what was about to happen to his daughter so Aaron covered it up by exposing a great secret about his mother.

"My mother said that she was a commoner who was skilled in combat. Not as best as my father but still comparable to his right hand man."

'It's a hypothesis but did your daughter show the same condition as your wife did?'

The Lord sweated a little.

"Yeah I guess. Your mother was quite the power house."

'Yes....she did exhibit some symptoms....'

Aaron face turned fierce.

"Nobody can just up and disappear in the middle of the road within our own territory. No monster is foolish enough to venture that far out and there was a poor work of cleaning up the evidence."

'We will do our best to foil the [Cult]'s plan so don't worry we will get your daughter safe and sound. Both the emperor and the duke is trying their best to gather some powerhouses for this operation.'

The Lord then nodded and said in an earnest voice.

"I suppose so, please do your best."

Aaron just nodded. It was cheap, using his mother as a reason to start the conversation. But the Baron looked like he was about to have a break down from all the innocent blood on his hand. He needed assurance that everything he went through was for something if not for his daughter.

"I will. Well it's time to leave so please excuse me."

Aaron stood up and went out the door. Now it was just the time to look for his sister. She just latched onto him when he decided to leave for Aron city post haste. In fact, she cried when she thought he was about to leave without her. The journey had not been easy despite the fact that he, his father and sister went for a vacation when the messenger had given them the news and was nearer to Aron city. His father was summoned by the Emperor while he and his sister departed for Aron city in their fastest carriage.

Now he went out of the mansion followed by his two uncle guards. Brand and Rowley was their name. Aaron asked.

"Nothing out of the ordinary?"

Brand nodded.

"The guards here have nothing to do with the [Cult]."

Rowley nodded as well.

"When asked about anything related to the [Cult], they honestly did not know about anything except the general information that the public knows."

Aaron just nodded. Now just where was his sister? He did instruct her Guards and secret Guards to come to the carriage by afternoon and it was almost afternoon. Well, now that he thinks about it, his sister never did leave the mansion. Neither did she have a debut party that most noble-children went through. However, it could be due to that fact that father was too lost on his work after the death of his mother. Well, let her enjoy her stay here then.

Kimiko Pov

Kimiko was stupefied at the claim made by the ridiculous young ojou-sama. It was not just her but the Guards behind her as well as some hidden guards who were looking protectively at her as well. Maybe except Gabby behind her who was chuckling at her situation. Kimiko looked at the stupefied guards and then at the large tear filled unblinking eyes of the little girl who was clutching her one leg and again at the guards, gesturing them to do something about this clinging ojou-sama. The guards momentarily panicked and tried to placate their little mistress.

"Uh....Ojou-sama you should let go of the ...... lady Adventurer's leg."

But the little girl adamantly refused.

"NO! My mommy came back for me! I won't let her go."

"But she is too young to be your mother!"

Kimiko thought.

'Yeah right, listen to your elder! I am just 16 years old! Not old enough to spawn a six-year old girl.'

But the little girl refused to listen to reason. She just closed her eyes and kept on whining.

"My mama is the most beautiful in the world and because of that she never ages!"

But the guards were stupefied. That was a supposed to be a reason.

'That girl is just average! How can ojuo-sama call a random average looking woman, the most beautiful! It is an insult to other beauties!'

A sentiment shared by the crowd who had nothing more productive to do than stare at the spectacle and gossip around. However, only Kimiko and her maids knew that it was the work of her passive skill that made her look flat-chested as well as an average looking woman when she was busty, full of good curves as well as beauty that put shame to other beauties. Only the innocent hearted could see her at her original form like children. Now that she thought about it, this little girl did look a lot like her. Black long straight hair, fair skin as well as blue eyes, one could see that she had the making of a beautiful girl in the future. Kimiko could pass off as her elder sister.

She looked at her maid, pleading for help but that traitor just shrugged instead. She then gently tried to pry off the little girl with her hand but she wasn't budging. What had she gotten herself into? She just wanted to travel to the Adventurer City by getting a carriage or something and this had to happen. But looking at the little girl as well as the dresses worn by the guards near her, she was sure that the little girl was a noble as well. At least she hoped that the little girl was not someone from a prominent family otherwise she'd curse her charisma for not being able to get this girl off of her willingly. Charisma was useful in influencing people around as well. Then she heard a voice that came away from the crowd.

"What is going on here?"

As the crowd parted she could see a red haired blue eyed man wearing noble military attire uniform with a sword on his waist. He looked a little older than her and he was flanked by two guards as well. The little girl seemed to be happy and started smiling brightly. The man seemed to be stunned at her smiling. The little girl exclaimed.

"Big Brother! I found Mommy!"

Kimiko's eye twitched.

All around her she could hear the whispers from the crowd.

"Hey isn't that?"

"No way, it's him!"

"It's Aaron Elcot, the eldest son of the Grand Marshal Stan!"

"Then that little girl must be the youngest daughter! Fiore Elcot!"

"Wait didn't she said that the girl was her mother?"

"Huh, no way, her mother died many years ago!"

Kimiko just wished she travelled back in time a minute ago and slap herself for jinxing herself because this world truly found a way or two to derail her plan completely. She was sure that the world was out to get her because the ridiculous amount of coincidence, she wondered if Fate herself was playing a hand at it. It was all attributed to her lower than low Charisma.

Edited: 26-Nov-2020