Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Theo began to feel suspicious while following the maid only after they reached a dead end.

“Hey. Why did you bring us here? This place is far from the Main Building.”

“I know.”

The instant he felt something strange in the maid’s suddenly calm voice, Luna examined the maid’s face closely.

“Who are you? I have never seen you before.”

“I heard you looked down on servants, but it seems you remember their faces.”

Mana suddenly flowed out from the maid’s body as she gave a faint laugh.

The moment Theo tried to shout in alarm—

“If you open your mouth, you die.”

“Gasp.”

The Mana scattered, and five shadows appeared.

Theo and Luna drew in sharp breaths in shock.

After releasing their Invisibility, their attire was unmistakably that of servants, but no one thought of them that way.

There was no way servants could use magic.

“Captain. You have arrived.”

“Are these the ones?”

“Yes.”

After confirming Theo and Luna’s faces, Galf grinned.

“Deal with them.”

“Yes.”

“W-wait……!”

Theo tried to shout, but he was already too late.

A flash of lightning had sparked in the maid’s grasp.

That was when it happened.

“Stop.”

At the sudden order, the maid hurriedly canceled her magic and looked at Galf.

His gaze was directed toward the corridor he had come from.

“Elder Sister Luna? Young Master Theo?”

“Z-Zeke!”

At the appearance of someone they had never expected, everyone’s eyes widened.

A witness had appeared.

And ironically, that witness was the Assassins’ next target.

“How fortunate. The target has come to us on his own feet.”

The corner of Galf’s mouth curled up pleasantly.

How could he not be pleased when they could handle everything at once?

On the other hand, Theo and Luna’s expressions remained dark.

If the person who had appeared had been someone on Gerard’s level, they might have been glad, but it was Zeke, the weakest of them all.

It was like a puppy appearing before a pack of tigers.

The situation had not changed.

They merely thought one more companion had been added to their road to death.

Unexpectedly, however, the Assassins had no intention of killing Zeke.

“You know you must not kill him, yes?”

“I know.”

“Subdue him.”

At the captain’s order, the maid gathered Mana in her grasp.

“Paralyze(Paralyze).”

The magic that paralyzed an opponent struck Zeke’s body directly.

Galf was about to look away as though there was nothing more to see, but he could not.

That was because the Fourth Young Master, whose entire body should have gone rigid, was standing there picking his ear.

‘……What happened?’

Though Galf did not show it, he was extremely flustered.

He had clearly seen the boy being struck by paralysis magic, so how was he moving as though nothing had happened?

His subordinates seemed to feel the same way, as all of their eyes had widened in shock.

Meanwhile, Zeke was checking the message.

[The cast magic ‘Paralyze’ is absorbed.]

[The Skill’s Proficiency has increased by 30.]

[Proficiency remaining until 6-Star Achievement: 6,750/10,000]

[The magic ‘Paralyze’ has been stored in the Dimensional Gap.]

[Stored Magic 1/6]

[You can release the magic within the time limit.]

[Remaining Time : 00:09:59]

‘I am glad I kept the Skill active at all times.’

He was satisfied, but Zeke did not smile.

If he had not had the Magic Absorption Skill, he would have been the one caught instead.

‘The fact that they used Paralyze instead of killing me immediately means they intend to kidnap me, does it?’

It was probably their employer’s order.

“Who sent you?”

“…….”

“Was it the Tower Master?”

In that instant, Zeke did not miss it.

The Assassins’ eyebrows twitched.

“So it is true. Your employer is the Tower Master, then?”

“…….”

“Did the Tower Master order you to kidnap me?”

The Assassins remained silent until the end.

“If you do not want to tell me, then fine. I can capture you first and ask later.”

“What are all of you doing? Subdue the target……”

‘Release.’

The magic Zeke had stored was released from his grasp.

His target was clear.

THUD-

“Captain!”

The man who had been called captain since earlier collapsed like a mannequin.

His entire body was frozen stiff.

“H-how?”

“We were told the Fourth Young Master definitely had no Circle…….”

The Assassins were flustered when the Fourth Young Master, who had supposedly never learned magic, used magic.

But only for a moment.

As though they had not forgotten their orders, they all began gathering Mana.

Some of them were reaching their hands toward Theo and Luna.

‘But there is no way that will work.’

When Zeke absorbed the Mana, shock filled the Assassins’ eyes.

“M-my magic will not activate?”

“What is happening?”

Zeke smiled at the reaction he had expected.

It must have felt as though the hands and feet they had always used as a matter of course had vanished in an instant.

[Assassins subdued 1/6]

‘For now, one is down.’

Zeke glanced at the message floating at the edge of his vision, then looked at the Assassins.

‘Six rings on their chests. Six 6th-Circle Mages, then.’

Judging by their clothes, they seemed to have infiltrated while pretending to be servants.

They must have used the fact that there were many servants in the Ducal House to sneak inside.

‘The Guard Knights who were watching the doors are probably already dead.’

They had likely lured them away while posing as servants, then dealt with them in secret.

Otherwise, it made no sense that there were no servants or Guard Knights nearby.

‘If I subdue them here, I can clear the Quest in one go.’

Zeke beckoned to the flustered Assassins.

“What are you doing? Your captain ended up like that, and you are just going to stand there blankly? If you are going to attack, hurry up and attack.”

“…….”

He tried provoking them a little, but perhaps because they were trained Assassins, it did not work at all.

They exchanged glances and chose the next best option.

“Everyone, scatter!”

Sensing that the situation was turning strange, the Assassins threw themselves in every direction.

It seemed survival was more important to them than the success of the mission.

“T-they are running away!”

Theo shouted, but Zeke remained calm.

How far could they run when they could not even use magic?

‘Unless they have learned Aura like me.’

When Zeke focused power into his lower body, his body shot forward like an arrow.

WHOOSH-!

“Gasp!”

The Assassin, horrified after being caught up to in an instant, tried to use magic out of habit.

But there was no way it could work.

Zeke was absorbing all the Mana within a radius of sixty meters.

THUD!

“Kugh!”

After being struck squarely beneath the nose, the Assassin toppled over and fainted.

‘There is no need to paralyze them with magic.’

Zeke smiled faintly and ran toward his next target.

THWACK!

When he struck the back of the Assassin’s head, the man’s head slammed into the floor.

For a moment, Zeke worried that he might have killed him.

‘It does not really matter. If I need mouths to torture, there are plenty here.’

Zeke had no intention of killing them.

In order to find out exactly who had instigated the attack, it was better to merely subdue them.

THUD! THWACK!

After he subdued four in an instant, he saw the maid fleeing in the distance.

The distance between them had grown somewhat, but it was not much of a problem for Zeke.

It was a distance he could close in a single second.

WHOOSH-!

“Eek!”

Perhaps she had not expected him to catch up so quickly, because the maid was startled.

Regardless, Zeke grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the floor.

CRACK!

“I do not go easy just because you are a woman.”

Perhaps because he had failed to control his strength, there was the sound of something breaking, but he did not care about that either.

‘I did think a situation would come someday where I would have to use my strength, but I did not know that day would be today.’

As he looked down at the unconscious Assassin, the message he had been waiting for appeared.

[Assassins subdued 6/6 complete!]

[The Unexpected Quest has been cleared!]

[As a reward, random Stats increase by 300.]

[Strength has permanently increased by 56.]

[Intelligence has permanently increased by 48.]

[Agility has permanently increased by 55.]

[Vitality has permanently increased by 45.]

[Recovery has permanently increased by 44.]

[Resistance has permanently increased by 52.]

‘A month’s worth of Stats. Nice!’

Zeke smiled in satisfaction and dragged the unconscious Assassins behind him.

“Future Brother-in-law.”

“Hm?”

“Are you going to keep standing still like that? Please help me.”

“U-understood.”

Theo obediently helped Zeke gather the Assassins in one place.

All six people he had first seen had been neatly subdued.

Just as Zeke dusted off his hands and began considering what to do with them, it happened.

“Young Master! Young Master!”

Along with the sound of someone calling him, he heard the footsteps of dozens of people.

When he turned his head, he saw Raker, the Captain, running over in a hurry with other Guard Knights.

“Young Master! Are you all right……?”

Raker’s eyes widened as soon as he approached.

With a face that said he could not continue speaking, he looked at the Assassins gathered in one place.

“What in the world happened here……?”

“Assassins infiltrated the estate.”

Zeke’s answer did not resolve his doubts.

Raker understood that Assassins had infiltrated, but why were they gathered in one place and unconscious?

‘Who did this? How?’

Raker looked up at Zeke with doubtful eyes.

At Zeke’s unreadable expression, Raker had to feel even more confused.

***

Raker was not the only one who felt confusion.

“What? Assassins infiltrated the estate? Does that even make sense?”

At Gerard’s roar, Guard Mage Dallant lowered his head deeply, as though he had no excuse.

“I apologize.”

“Enough with apologies. How did this happen? There should have been more than enough guards!”

“We will have to investigate further, but it seems they infiltrated in the dead of night, taking advantage of a lapse in surveillance.”

“You are telling me they infiltrated even though Detection Magic is placed at the entrance?”

“They did not use Invisibility to infiltrate in the first place. They disguised themselves as servants and walked in openly. It seems they took advantage of the fact that servants are not inspected.”

“Hah!”

Gerard let out a sigh and glared at Dallant with a fierce gaze.

“What is the extent of the damage?”

“According to what has been confirmed so far, six Guard Knights and ten servants have died. And……”

“And?”

When Dallant hesitated in a manner unlike himself, Gerard looked at him as if telling him to speak quickly.

“Lady Luna and Young Master Theo, her fiancé from House Baldor, nearly suffered harm.”

“…….”

Gerard could not say anything.

What did it mean that they had nearly suffered harm at the hands of Assassins?

It meant they had nearly died.

“I apologize. We should have noticed sooner and responded…… I am truly sorry.”

“Were the children hurt?”

“No. Fortunately, the Fourth Young Master’s intervention prevented an even greater disaster.”

“Zeke?”

The name that suddenly appeared only raised questions for Gerard.

“How did Zeke intervene?”

“According to Young Master Theo’s testimony, he beat down the Assassins and saved both him and Lady Luna.”

“What?”

Dallant was not someone who would make jokes in this sort of situation.

Luna’s fiancé was the same.

Because he knew that, Gerard felt even more confused.

“That is difficult to believe. He defeated six 6th-Circle Assassin Mages alone?”

“I found it difficult to believe at first as well, but…… that is certainly how Young Master Theo described it.”

“Where are the Assassins?”

“They have been placed in the Torture Chamber.”

“Have they opened their mouths?”

“They are all keeping their mouths shut as though they had agreed to do so, but it is only a matter of time. They are wearing restraints so they cannot use magic, and we have also placed Healing Magic on them so they cannot kill themselves.”

He meant that Gerard only needed to wait a little, but the furious Gerard had not the slightest intention of doing so.

“I will see them myself. Lead the way.”

“Understood.”

Gerard, whose eyes were as sharp as those of a beast, began to move.

***

Galf was a trained Hound.

He was a contract killer who did anything the Tower Master ordered, a so-called specialist in cleanup work.

That was what Galf and his subordinates were.

Naturally, they had also trained for when they were tortured.

But right now, all of them were thinking the same thing.

That such training was utterly useless.

“Speak. Who ordered this?”

“Grrgh.”

As they felt the raging Mana of an 8th-Circle Mage throughout their entire bodies, the Assassins desperately tried not to yield.

But one’s life was precious to anyone.

SLASH-

When the comrade beside them was beheaded by a blade of ice, all of them had no choice but to tremble in fear.

“If you do not open your mouths, only death awaits you. Speak. On whose orders did you come here?”

“…….”

“No answer, I see.”

SLASH!

With action taken without the slightest delay, two men died in an instant.

Gerard floated the blade of ice in the air and glared at the Assassins.

“There are four left now. Who will answer?”

“Y-you know very well that we cannot say it, do you not? We have already sworn a Mana Oath with the contractor……”

“I know. But the fact that you are bound by an oath does not mean you are incapable of speaking. Choose. Will you die like this? Or will you live on, even as broken men?”

Gerard’s warning was effective.

Galf, the captain, shouted while throwing aside all dignity.

“The Tower Master…… Gregor Pantein ordered it!”

“C-Captain?”

“I see.”

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

Gerard cut down all the remaining Assassins except Galf.

Galf had at least saved his life by revealing the truth, but soon, a terrible pain awaited him.

“Grrrgh, huaaaaargh!”

As the price for breaking the Mana Oath, his Circle was collapsing.

“It seems you were not lying. The oath is certainly activating.”

“Grrrk…….”

“I have kept my promise, but that does not mean I can leave you alive. Even air is wasted on a man like you.”

With those words, Gerard took Galf’s life.

All the Assassins were dead, but he had obtained one thing.

He had discovered who was behind the attack.

‘Gregor, you bastard who deserves to be torn apart. You have finally crossed the line.’

Rage blazed fiercely in Gerard’s eyes.

The war had already begun.