Episode 127. Chain of Awakening (4)
On Friday, as soon as it started to get dark, Rubin and Kuze left Capotini.
It was a midnight raid. Once we were far enough away from Capotini, we hired horses and rode without stopping.
Thanks to that, we were able to arrive in Bayanegro by daybreak.
Groan, groan.
Bayanegro was full of life from early in the morning. The streets were filled with people and the sound of singing echoed everywhere.
The excitement of the festival was added to the liveliness unique to a city where commerce flourished.
“There’s a festival happening right when we come.”
The annual festival was in full swing. The festival made smuggling safer.
But on the other hand, it could have made it harder for the warehouse manager to discover them.
“I sent a message to the manager as you instructed, but… I don’t know if he’ll come back soon.”
“It probably won’t take long.”
The two men did not know the location of the Beyanegro stronghold warehouse. This was not only the case for the two men, but also for other assassins on missions.
Since the exported goods had to be received by contacting someone somewhere in the city, there was no choice but to wait for them to show up.
Afterwards, the two entered the market area. Merchants who had gathered from nearby cities were displaying various special products and calling out to passersby.
“There is a high-quality fabric brought from far away Trumbel!”
“Selling books that can only be found in the system!”
The market wasn’t just filled with merchants. Judging from the number of smokes passing by while walking through the market, it seemed like there were a lot of assassins mixed in as well.
‘As expected of a city with a warehouse.’
Their individual paths were intertwined in all directions, so much so that it was difficult to distinguish them by darkness alone.
“Kuje.”
“Yes, your highness.”
“Stay here.”
“Here?”
In front of a lumber store, Rubin suddenly stopped walking.
Did the master notice something? Kuze looked around.
Could it be the owner of a lumber shop? Kuze looked at the owner of a lumber shop, but it wasn’t him. He didn’t feel any darkness.
That was when.
Boom! There was a commotion nearby, along with a dull thud.
Just two meters from Rubin, two men were tangled up in a fistfight. The bloodlust was intense and it seemed like this wasn’t an ordinary fight.
“Here we go again, here we go again.”
The lumber shop owner shook his head and said.
As it turned out, the two people fighting were members of a mercenary group that had set up shop here and a merchant group. The one wearing a red hood was a member of the mercenary group, and the one wearing a blue wristband was a member of the merchant group.
“It’s not just the mercenaries who growl like that. Those mercenaries and the merchants fight every day. Sometimes people even die. It looks like someone will die today.”
Kuze’s gaze as he looked at the two people became sharper.
To the average person, it would seem like a fight to the death, but it wasn’t. Their true identities were revealed in the darkness they couldn’t hide.
“…Your Majesty. I think it’s one of those two people.”
Then another thought crossed Kuze’s mind.
“Oh, maybe it could be both.”
“no.”
“yes?”
Meanwhile, Rubin’s gaze turned to another direction. There was a group of people approaching, pushing through the merchants and pedestrians who had gathered to watch the fight.
The two men heard the lumber shop owner’s sigh of relief.
“Phew, thank goodness. Someone has come to catch those bastards.”
“Who can catch it all?”
“You are a descendant of the Palasin family. A prestigious noble family in this city. Even mercenaries and merchants become docile in front of that family.”
As expected, a young man who had pushed his way through the crowd intervened in the fight. He shouted at the two people who were throwing punches and hurling various curses at them, making them flinch.
“Where are you guys making such a fuss!”
The commotion ended with a single word from the young man. Rubin spoke quietly to Kuze.
“It looks to me like there are three.”
The mercenary group, and not just the top. Even the noble children who had just appeared felt a sense of darkness.
Moreover, none of the three were mere vassals. It was not the artificial darkness that only vassals have, but the innate darkness that was fully felt.
‘Hmm, are those three brothers?’
After clearing up the commotion caused by the mercenaries and merchants, Rubin guessed as he watched the noble children walking towards him. Well, we’ll just have to wait and see.
An hour later.
Rubin and Kuze found themselves in a grand, old-fashioned reception room.
The maid brought out fancy drinks and snacks, and the man who introduced himself as the butler treated Rubin with the utmost courtesy.
“Please wait a moment, Lady Palestine will come out.”
“yes.”
“Would you like to change your clothes? Our master is still concerned that you have soiled his clothes.”
“it’s okay.”
A gentle smile never left the butler’s face. He truly looked like a butler from a noble family.
An hour ago, at the market, Prince Pallistine made a minor mistake while approaching Rubin.
He had knocked over the dye shop’s stall and soiled Rubin’s clothes.
The Prince of the Pallistine family felt sorry and invited Rubin and Kuze to the mansion, and so they ended up in the reception room. It was a proper ceremony for the prestigious Pallistine family.
Only those present knew that this whole thing was a script composed to contact Rubin.
Rubin rolled his eyes and looked around the mansion.
This man who appeared to be a butler to everyone, the maid who brought out the refreshments, and the guard who opened the thick gate were all vassals of the Assassin Sword Family.
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They were all pretending to be people, and Rubin was no exception. This role-playing would only end once the head of the household appeared.
“Ah, the master is coming.”
At that moment, the Palestine family appeared.
Thud thud.
A man with a sturdy build and fierce eyes. He naturally exuded the dignity of middle age. As soon as he entered the reception room, he immediately dismissed the butler and maid. Then he looked at Kuze with cold eyes.
He is debating whether to send this Roynenser out. Of course, it was Rubin, not he, who ultimately decided on Kuze’s location.
“I will stay with Kuze.”
“All right.”
Gaju immediately agreed.
He paid respect to his family’s children and shed his false identity.
“Your Majesty, it is my first time meeting you. I am Naif Greas.”
The true identity of these people was not the noble family Pallistine, but the assassin family Greas.
A collateral branch of the Roinen family and the family that manages the warehouse of Beyanegro.
‘The Greas family… … .’
Have you ever encountered it before?
Probably not.
The collateral families that Rubin actually met before he died were very few, and those that he did meet were only the families that he had taken the exams with when he was 9 or 11 years old before becoming a monk.
However, even though I have never met them, I think I have heard the name Greas quite a few times.
“Master Rubin, do you know Greas?”
“well.”
“If we look at the genealogy of the Assassin’s family, the Greas are a family closely related to the Roinen. The first Greas were cousins of the Roinen bloodline at the time.”
An old custom of the Assassin Sword Family, where the strongest of the brothers becomes the head of the household, and the rest leave home to form collateral branches.
According to the words of the Greas family, they could be considered the main branch of the Assassin family throughout history. If you trace back their history, you will be able to find the blood of the main family.
They also seemed to be proud of that fact.
‘It is also true that they have been in charge of the Beyanegros warehouse for generations.’
Only the head of the main family could decide who would be the warehouse manager.
Since the history of the Assassin’s Blade is older than the history of the Empire, even the Emperor’s edict could not interfere with it.
“Now that I think about it, I think I remember something. Those who belong to the mainstream of the Assassin Sword Family, but at the same time extend their influence to the sunny side.”
Rubin paused for a moment and met the eyes of the Greas family.
The noble family called Pallistine was a fake family that was created to run a warehouse, and it continued in that state for a long time.
Even though Gaju Naif was born a blood relative of the Assassin Sword Family, he lived in Yangji as a second-class noble called Palestine. He leads a perfect double life, to the point where it is difficult to tell which of the two is his false identity.
Even Naif, as a member of the Palestinian nobility, had built up a reputation in the city and even had political influence.
Even the commotion in the market was like that. The two opposing forces, the mercenary group and the merchant group, were actually an organization run behind the scenes by the Greas family.
The citizens of Bayanegro cannot even imagine that two forces that kill each other are one.
“That’s correct, Your Majesty.”
“And one more thing.”
“… … ?”
To Naif, who was tilting his head, Rubin remembered a concept he had forgotten and spoke it out loud without hesitation.
“It is also said that Greas and Roinen have a ‘dark oath’ relationship.”
“… … !”
In that moment, waves appeared in Naif’s calm eyes.
Even in the bloody aristocratic society where people live wearing masks, he was unshaken. Now, his face was filled with surprise that he could not hide.
‘How on earth do you… …?’
A dark oath.
It was a kind of oath of loyalty based on the same principle as the ‘Black Leaf’. The core content was simple but deadly.
-According to the Oath of Darkness, Greas must obey Roinen unconditionally.
-If this is violated, the power of life and death of the Greas family falls to Siren, and she can kill Greas by turning his tongue black at any time.
‘How does your majesty know this?’
Because it was a secret between Siren and Naif. Knowing a secret like that meant only one thing.
That Rubin also shares the right to the oath that Siren holds.
In fact, for Naeph, that fact was even more unrealistic. Naeph knew all too well what kind of a head of household the Siren was.
Her character was reflected in her realm. A top-notch unmanned person. There was no way that someone like that would have given Rubin such a secret just because he had inherited her blood.
‘Grocal, Killian… Are the words those two said true?’
Four years ago, the Lang assassination squad had come to visit him. There were no assassins to track down, so this visit had nothing to do with the assassination squad mission.
At that time, Grokal said that the youngest son of the Roinen family was quite trusted by Seiren.
‘It was true.’
If he had even told her about the ‘Secret Oath’ between the two families, then what Rubin received from Siren was not just a ‘fairly large’ amount of trust.
It was close to the meaning that he was accepting me as the next head of the family.
Naif barely managed to calm his trembling body without realizing it. Another conversation he had with Killian came to mind.
‘Anyway, Rubin will become the head of the household. If that doesn’t happen, the Assassin’s Blade will soon be in great danger.’
‘How can you be so sure?’
‘Rubin, I think he can jump over the Siren.’
It seems that you can surpass Siren. Those were the words of none other than the vassal who was once Siren’s Roynenser.
‘Trust me, Naif. So if Rubin’s going to do something to screw the Empire, help him with whatever it is. That’s why I came to you.’
Naif knew very well how rare it was for the eccentric Killian to seek out someone for reasons other than missions.
Killian came to find Rubin himself, because Rubin’s camouflage annex was simply connected to the Beyanegros stronghold warehouse.
“Nap Greasers.”
“… Yes, your highness.”
“According to the oath of darkness, I will trust you.”
Naif swallowed hard. The implications were clear.
‘So, you too, be loyal to me.’
Rubin continued.
“Now let me tell you why I came here.”
“…Please give your order.”
“I need to find someone. To do that, I need to check something. The list of items being removed from the warehouse here.”
“Are you talking about the export list? If you’re looking for people, my family’s information network will be sufficient.”
“That would be nice, but that’s information that even the Assassin Swordsman can’t easily obtain. It’s information about some pretty tough guys.”
There isn’t much information that an assassin can’t handle. And among them, if there’s an opponent that can be described as tight…
“Your Majesty, are you talking about the imperial decree?”
“Yes. We need to find the person the imperial order hid. The traces of him will probably remain on the list of items to be exported here.”
The Greas family frowned and thought for a moment. The only ones who could check the inventory list of the warehouse were the warehouse manager and the head of the main family. This meant that it was information that could not be easily given away.
But the Greas family did not hesitate. At this moment, Rubin, who was opposite him, was soon to be Siren Roinen.
“Understood, Young Master. I will bring it right away.”
