Episode 128. Rescue Operation (1)
The list of items removed from the base warehouse was thoroughly encrypted.
Naturally, this password was different from the cryptography techniques that existed on the continent, and was shared only by the managers of the stronghold warehouses in the Assassin Swordsmanship.
Decrypting the password was quite tricky.
In addition to adjusting the shading that illuminates the document, the darkness had to be used at an appropriate intensity.
Also, the method was to intentionally lower one’s vision to a certain level in order for the hinted parts of the list to gradually be revealed.
Even the three brothers of the Greas family, who are expected to be the next warehouse managers, have not yet mastered this cryptography technique.
however.
Rubin deciphers the encrypted export list and copies it to one side.
“… Huh, that’s amazing. Do you know the password to the base warehouse?”
“I just found a pattern.”
Of course there are patterns, but they aren’t something you can find just by being smart.
‘How on earth did you know?’
Was it something he had learned from Killian in the Black Zone before? Naif quickly dismissed the question that was still rising in his mind, only making a somewhat possible assumption.
Because I couldn’t question my family’s children just because I was curious.
‘I thought I had forgotten, but now that I look at it again, I remember it.’
In fact, all of this was thanks to my experience before the regression.
In his previous life, Rubin was the manager of the Black Zone warehouse after Killian, and it was then that he learned the password that only the managers shared.
Of course, the encryption pattern applied to each base warehouse was different, but since I knew the general outline, I was able to solve it.
“Have you found what your highness wanted?”
Naif asked Rubin, who was carefully checking the list of items to be taken out. Rubin nodded.
“Yeah, I found it.”
“Where is it?”
“Tresden.”
Tresden was a small city near Bayanegro, but on the continent it was more famous for its infamous ‘Valley Prison’ than for the city itself.
“Let me check for a moment.”
Naif received the list of items from Rubin and checked what the assassins from Tresden had taken out so far.
“Hmm… … .”
Nothing came to mind right away.
Just one thing.
The Assassins’ deployment cycle was quite short, with new vassals being replaced approximately every six months.
The deployment of assassins was the exclusive prerogative of the Imperial Commission, not the Assassin’s Court. The Imperial Commission used assassins for a variety of purposes, including espionage and propaganda, to ensure the survival of the empire.
“The deployment cycle is too short.”
“There’s one more thing. The magic tools are only being exported to Tresden.”
“Ah, a magic tool.”
It was just as Rubin said.
Assassins cannot use magic tools because they do not have mana. The magic tools they acquire are just a source of income for the base warehouse. They are distributed around the city and exchanged for gold coins or other weapons.
However, if you look at the list of items taken out to Tresden, there were sometimes magical tools mixed in. Although they were nothing special, the repeated taking out was strange.
Once or twice might be ok, but multiple times, periodically?
This meant that the Imperial Order was secretly plotting against the Assassination Sword.
“I feel like I’ve lost the flow because the path to Tresden keeps changing.”
It was the warehouse manager’s way of remembering assassins by their names, not by their place names.
The common denominator called ‘Tresden’ became blurred as the Imperial Order changed the arrangement of assassins in short cycles.
“The Imperial Order has been deliberately deceiving me. My lord, who on earth is in Tresden?”
“The wizard. He’s the one I have to get out.”
“Then, because of that wizard, you got a magic tool?”
Naif pursed his lips and tilted his head.
“It’s strange. The magic tools that the Imperial Order guys got from us are nothing special. They’re not expensive, and they’re easy to get. You’ve lived in Capotini for years, so you probably know them well, Young Master.”
“I know. The Imperial Order can procure as many magical tools as you like. Even if it’s not necessarily a base warehouse.”
But why on earth did they take it out from the Assassin Sword Master’s stronghold warehouse?
“Then why on earth… … ?”
“You’re creating evidence. Fake evidence to use later.”
“Fake evidence?”
“So that when something happens later, I can blame it on the Assassin Swordsman.”
Even if Perga, who is the target of the decree, dies.
Whether Enzo dies or not, as Rubin knows.
At this point, both are equal.
‘The Imperial Order needs a fake script that says that the Assassin Swordsman was holding Enzo captive.’
Whether it’s Ferden or Enzo, the survivors blinded by revenge are used as the vanguard of the war against the Assassins.
Naif Greas didn’t know this part, of course, but he didn’t bother to ask. The virtue that suited him best at the moment was not curiosity, but loyalty.
“Your Majesty, then how do you plan on finding a wizard in Tresden… … .”
Naif couldn’t finish his sentence. Suddenly, he remembered that Rubin’s Roynenser had asked for a map of the ‘Valley Prison’ a few days ago.
‘You knew it was Tresden from the beginning? You asked to see the export list, just to check if my guess was correct?’
Naif barely managed to hold back his admiration without realizing it. Rubin still had an indifferent expression on his face.
“So that’s why you asked for a map of the ‘Valley Prison’ a while ago.
“I needed to confirm. Now that I see the export list, I’m sure.”
“Are you really trying to enter the ‘Valley Prison’ yourself?”
Rubin nodded. If Enzo Lorenzini was there, it was only natural to go there.
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However, the problem is that neither entering the ‘Valley Prison’ nor escaping from it with Enzo is an easy task.
It was literally a prison built into a canyon, and above all, it was classified as a first-class place.
Since the first level and above were directly managed by the Imperial Army, the security level was higher than any other prison. It was teeming with notorious criminals from the western part of the continent.
‘It was easy to get into Philimond’s black zone, but getting into this place is a problem.’
One way is to become a criminal and falsely imprison someone, but unless it is a serious crime, the chances of being imprisoned in a level 3 prison are high, let alone the ‘Valley Prison’.
“That’s why I need your decision.”
Rubin’s determined gaze turned to Naif.
“I checked the map of the prison you sent me. I don’t see any passages on the map that would allow me to infiltrate or escape.”
“I understand what you mean. You want me to tell you the secret passage.”
Rubin’s calculation was that if it was Greas, he would definitely know the secret passage.
However, if Enzo’s rescue is successful, the Empire will conduct a large-scale re-investigation of the facility.
If you were lucky, the secret passage might not be revealed, but the odds of that happening were extremely slim.
Ultimately, by supporting Rubin, the Greas family would lose the secret passage they had spent so much time building.
The ‘decision’ Rubin was talking about was whether or not you could take that risk.
“… … .”
Naif was silent, but only for a moment.
“All right.”
It was true that there was only one secret passage built into the ‘Valley Prison’, but it was not a waste to refuse Rubin’s request.
And above all else.
‘Because I have to. Even if I refuse, I don’t think Master Rubin will stay still.’
The worst thing for Naif was not just losing the secret passage to the prison, but Rubin losing his life.
If Rubin is going to go into the ‘Valley Prison’ until the end, all Naif has to do is to somehow make sure that the young master comes out alive.
That way, we won’t incur the Siren’s wrath.
And as Killian said, he is the one who will become the hope of the Assassin Swordsman.
“Thank you. Even if I get caught, I won’t let anything happen to the Greas family.”
“I would appreciate it if you could be so considerate.”
Even though he said that, the Greasers somehow felt that Rubin would not fail this operation.
After that, Naif began explaining the secret passage to Rubin and Kuze.
* * *
After finishing their conversation with the Greas family, Rubin and Kuze immediately headed to Tresden.
The invasion was planned to begin at dusk.
Naif said that if you wait at the crossroads of Tresden, a vassal of the Greas family will appear.
Until the blazing sunlight disappeared, Rubin and Kuze hid in the shade of the forest.
“…master.”
The dark smoke spread out widely to guard against. While resting in that state, Kuze called out to Rubin softly.
“Is there really Enzo in the Canyon Prison?”
“Actually, the odds are fifty-fifty. It could happen, it could not happen.”
“I think you are more certain than that, my lord.”
Rubin shrugged. You wonder why he looks so confident.
In fact, there was no guarantee that Enzo Lorenzini’s whereabouts would be the ‘Valley Prison’ based solely on Rubin’s inference.
This is because the flow of magical tools being exported and even the suspicious activities of the imperial edict did not directly reveal Enzo.
However, Rubin had another piece of evidence that he could not reveal to Kuze.
The fact that he himself is a regressor.
‘If everything goes as planned, about two years from now, an incident will occur in the Canyon Prison.’
According to Rubin’s recollection, it was the work of the Imperial Commission to cut out some of its own power. It was like an internal reorganization of the Imperial Commission.
It wasn’t all that uncommon. The head of the Imperial Guard, Rulfo, would occasionally change his subordinates as needed.
However, up until now, the work was exclusively done by those who could be said to be directly subordinate to Rulpo. Those who could be called high-ranking officials who had learned the secret swordsmanship of the Imperial Order had their hands dirty.
But this time was a bit unusual. The Imperial Order mobilized the Assassination Swordsman for this purge. That was also the reason why Rubin remembered it so clearly.
At that time, the role of the Assassins was to infiltrate the Canyon Prison and assassinate some of the prisoners there.
‘Enzo must have died in that incident.’
This was a puzzle that came together when it was discovered that Per and Enzo were connected by a ‘chain of awakening’.
As far as Rubin knew, there were still two years left, but he couldn’t rest easy.
With Rubin coming to Capotini and interfering in Pere’s life, there may have been a change in the way the Imperial Commissioner saw Pere’s potential.
So we had to move ahead.
“By the way, Kuze.”
Rubin changed the subject. He wanted to ease Kuze’s anxiety and bring up a topic that Roynenser would like.
“Tell me about the female spell you’re researching now. The one you mentioned a few days ago.”
It was the easiest way to make Kuze a chatterbox. If you just lightly touched his will to study, Kuze wouldn’t be able to stop talking.
Besides, the magic that Kuze had recently come to mind was quite useful to Rubin as well.
As Tina was leaving, Kuze’s eyes began to sparkle.
“Ah, this time the secret is hidden.”
“Hide?”
“The current representative stealth technique of the Assassin Swordsman is to disappear without a trace, blend in with the shadows, or temporarily confuse the enemy’s vision by capturing their vision with darkness.”
“however?”
“I will develop a secret technique that can be hidden in the ground.”
Rubin didn’t miss the point that Kuze had said “inside” the object, not “behind.”
“Into a rock or a wall? Is that possible?”
“It’s impossible with just the dark smoke. The dark smoke that’s released is only able to detect objects and determine their materials. That’s why magic is needed.”
It seems that Kuze has done quite a bit of research on the magic that has been revealed to the world. Of those, the one he judged to be the most likely was ‘spatial expansion’.
“No, it’s not possible with ‘spatial expansion’. That’s literally just ‘expanding the interior of space’. So, it’s only possible inside a space, like a room, a cave, or a house.”
It was then that a creative idea flashed into Rubin’s head.
“… Wait a minute. ‘Personality change.’ That might be possible.”
This was a new clue that even Kuze had not thought of. Kuze, who realized something, squeezed out all the magical knowledge he had.
“Are you saying that you can instantly change the material of the wall to something else?”
“That’s right. It’s a different method than what we envisioned. Wizards can change the properties of objects. In our case, the outside remains a wall, but a certain space inside becomes water.”
“Water would be the safest, because all objects contain the properties of water. But even if that were possible, it would be like being submerged in water.”
“It would be the same as diving.”
Rubin answered calmly. Diving is not a restriction for an assassin. If he were to breathe using the dark smoke, he could easily survive underwater for ten minutes.
The darkness of becoming one with the material world.
And magic that changes the state of things.
In theory, it seemed possible, but the most important problem remained.
“Mana, that’s the problem.”
Rubin’s mana was not yet sufficient. Since aura and mana coexist within one ring, it could not become sufficient even later.
“It’s not that there is no way.”
“Magic Stone.”
“Yes, if you have that, you can embed magic in it and use it whenever you want. Of course, it would have to be at least a tier 2 magic stone. With that level of magic, even that would wear out quickly.”
“Even a single 2nd-grade magic stone would be impossible. You’ll need a 1st-grade magic stone.”
A first-class magic stone.
Kuze doubted his own ears.
The reason why the 1st grade magic stone was not even considered as a candidate was not only because it was so difficult to obtain.
Even if you were to obtain it, it wasn’t something that just anyone could handle.
‘Condition of birth.’
Because only those with royal blood can use the first-class magic stone. Rubin must know that too…
“Your Majesty, only the royal family can use the first-class magic stone… … .”
It was then. Above the darkness of the two people, the vassal they had been waiting for was detected. Kuze turned his head slightly.
“You’re finally coming.”
From afar, an ox pulling a cart was approaching. The cart was carrying something, and the stench became more intense as it got closer.
“It was transporting a corpse.”
The rumbling cart stopped in front of Rubin. As Kuze had said, the wagon’s cargo space was filled with corpses.
The corpses were gathered from all over Bayanegro. They were people who had no money or were of low status and could not afford a proper funeral.
The bodies were all frozen to prevent decay, but most of them had melted by the time they arrived in Tresden. That was also the reason for the stench.
To the vassal who tried to bow to Rubin, Rubin quickly waved his hand.
“Now, what should I do with a person who is about to become a corpse? Just tell me what to do.”
“… I’ve tied the bodies together. I’ve also done some preparations inside. If you two get between the bodies, I’ll drop them all into the crematorium at once. It’s quite high, but it won’t be a problem for safety.”
“Then we can move as the Greas family instructed.”
“Yes. Are you ready, Young Master?”
As Rubin nodded, Gasin went to the back of the cart. He lifted some of the corpses that were piled up, and there was enough space for two people to fit.
Rubin and Kuze hid in the gap where the stench poured out.
