Episode 185. Imperial Order (2)
“It’s been a while.”
Siren said with a cold expression.
Escorted by Rubin and the two black spirits, Rulfo entered the Roinen mansion. He shook himself several times as if he had been hit by a sandstorm, as if the fog wall he had passed through was bothering him.
“What an annoying poison.”
To Rulfo, the Roinen mansion seemed like a sturdy fortress, despite its lack of physical fortifications.
The fog was not only toxic, but it also had a mind-altering effect, making you feel as if you were being shaken.
It was a good thing that the two black shadows were maintaining a line in front and behind, otherwise they would have gotten so angry that they would have run wild trying to find their way.
“Whew… … .”
Rulfo exhaled and looked around.
The spacious garden is well landscaped, and both the main building and the annex are magnificently located. From the outside, it looks no different from an ordinary nobleman’s mansion.
of course-
‘What you see isn’t everything.’
There was no way that an unmanned person like Rulpo would not know. Just as the palace had high-dimensional security devices built in, there were vassals hiding all over the mansion.
Some of them were so undetected that even Rulfo couldn’t detect them. I would like to go around the entire mansion, but there’s no way that the Roinen family would allow it.
Even though I am here as the emperor’s envoy, there is a line that must not be crossed.
“… Then, please guide me to the next location.”
Rulfo seemed to want to hurry up and deliver the imperial decree, urging the process. And soon he came face to face with the eight black shadows standing behind Siren.
This was the moment Rubin had been waiting for. Rubin had no information on the higher-ranking Dark Shadows. This was his chance to gather information using Rulfo.
If Rulpo could exchange even a light greeting with the upper-level dark spirits, he would be able to learn a little about them.
“hmm.”
Rulfo glanced at the dark shadows. He must have heard of their infamy. Should he speak?
but-
“… … .”
Rulfo passed the dark figures without saying anything. Instead, he simply exchanged a quick glance.
Then he stopped.
I grimaced for a moment in front of the eerie Benic Benard, with his nose missing and his ears torn, but that was it.
‘I thought I could find out something about the higher-ranking Dark Shadows. Well, maybe next time.’
Rubin, hiding his regret, quickly observed the eight dark figures as he passed by.
Diven Khaldun and Marek Helid, whom I met at the training ground yesterday. Shakes Pear, who I was escorting with today. Kaban Crokisson, whose face I had known before.
Besides that, there was one more dark figure that Rubin could guess.
‘The author is Benik Benar.’
A grotesque appearance that made one frown. Rubin recognized the author as the old patriarch Benik, obsessed with the status of a black shadow.
‘It was said that he was recognized as the weakest lord. Then the order of the lower ranks of the Black Shadows is… Shakes, Marek, Diven, and Benic.’
Everyone started to move towards the dark hall. Rubin was walking behind, and at some point Benik approached him. He smiled broadly.
“It is a meeting between the oldest and the youngest. Although it is not a pleasant day, I am glad to meet Master Rubin.”
“Benik Benard. Me too.”
“I guess my strangeness has become quite famous since the master knows me.”
“I did some studying before facing the dark spirits.”
Benic smiled happily.
“Studying… I see that you even studied with Marek Helde yesterday, how was the result?”
It was unexpected. I didn’t think Marek would talk about what happened yesterday. His pride must have been hurt a lot.
Do the top four and bottom four really have their own factions? It turns out that Marek is a much bigger figure. Or maybe the lower-ranking black spirits have formed a tight alliance.
Benic waved his hand, perhaps noticing the thought.
“Don’t misunderstand. That’s not what the Helid family told me.”
“So you guessed it?”
“I guess it means that the amount of criticism you’ve received from staying at the bottom of the dark shadow for a long time has piled up.”
“…yes?”
“Marek and Diven are overly conscious of the master. But Marek has battle scars all over his body that weren’t there when I saw him yesterday morning. The master is the same. Well, that’s just a guess.”
To say it’s a guess is an understatement. It just means that Benik’s observation skills are so good that he can see it.
Besides the evidence he has given, he must have had more information to say that.
‘perhaps.’
Rubin stared at Benik Benar for a moment. Benik seemed to be smiling serenely, but his peculiar appearance only added to the strangeness.
Contrary to his reputation as an ‘old man obsessed with black shadows’, his attitude was polite, sharp, and frighteningly relaxed.
‘There must be a reason why he can maintain that attitude.’
It suddenly occurred to me that being old might not be the only reason.
Before they knew it, the group had arrived at the Twilight Hall. The hall’s characteristic coldness was slowly spreading. The already solemn atmosphere had become even more subdued by Maphis’ death.
“… … .”
While each person was entering the dark hall.
Benic stood still in front of the door, staring up at the sky. Sunlight filled his only remaining hazy eye.
Rubin watched him closely.
‘Let’s think about it. Benik and the Benar family… what happened before the return?’
It didn’t come to mind right away. It was natural, since I had no contact with Rubin. Maybe I had no memories of them at all.
“master!”
At that moment, an anxious Kuze approached Rubin.
“Let’s go in. Master Mafis’ funeral will be held soon.”
“Oh, I see.”
Rubin stopped thinking. He could slowly recall his memories of Benik.
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The most important thing now is the imperial decree given by Telmah. What kind of imperial decree awaits us?
After a while.
The Twilight Hall was more solemn than ever. The Roinen bloodline, including Siren, stood in front, while the eight black shadows lined up behind. Rulfo stood a little distance away from them, crossing his arms and muttering to himself.
“I wonder what the assassin’s funeral will be like.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” Rulfo said lightly, as if he were watching a play. Regardless, the assassins, including Rubin, performed brilliantly.
-What an unknown culture. The eldest son of the family is dead, how can you be so cold-hearted?
Haneke was also unfamiliar. Rubin thought it would be a good idea to explain a little.
‘Death in the Assassination Club is never an accident. It is a natural occurrence.’
-All deaths are like that, but we are human beings with feelings, right? Everyone deserves to be mourned.
‘Over the centuries of Assassin’s history, long before we ever served the Emperor, we Assassins have taken countless lives. So we believe that we too could be taken in the same way at any time.’
Death is just one of the ‘daily’ events that can happen to anyone. Although Haneke did not sympathize, he seemed to understand and quietly stepped aside.
“This is my first time seeing this. The funeral of the Assassin Swordsman.”
Rulfo added a word. The same goes for Rubin. He had never heard of an assassin’s funeral, either before or after the return.
Then the Siren answers.
“We have been sending off our dead comrades like this since before we devoted ourselves to the Lilic Empire.”
A dry answer. Then Siren wrapped the corpse of the Mafis in front of her in black cloth.
“Even if you are a blood relative of the main family, there is nothing special about it. But this time, an ‘outsider’ is watching.”
Siren drew her sword and struck down with a very simple movement. The point of impact was surprisingly near Maphis’ heart.
Push!
Flop, flop!
At the same time, the sound of wings flapping echoed through the Twilight Hall. A large, black bird flew in from near the ceiling of the Twilight Hall.
-Is that Royne Crow?
Haneke asked. He was also an outsider like Rulfo, so he couldn’t help but be surprised.
As the saying goes, it was Roinekrow who came down from the sky. It was definitely the Roinekrow that the dead Mafis had chosen.
Roineclaw landed on the corpse and grabbed the maphis wrapped in black fur.
And then the flapping began again, this time very violently. It had to fly up while holding onto the body. The flapping of wings made the hair of the people nearby flutter.
Just as Rulfo turned around with an annoyed expression, Roineclaw, who had started flying steadily, flew straight through the open window.
-Are you disappearing with the crow? This is definitely on a different level from a regular funeral.
‘Haneke, to this extent, you have maintained the format very well.’
If you die during a mission, most of these procedures are skipped. Roinecro will still fly away with the dead assassin’s body, but will not wrap the body in black drapery.
‘Even in times of urgency, Roinecrow will dig into the assassin’s chest with his beak. He will leave the body behind and fly away with only the heart.’
Haneke was convinced. So he thought that Siren had put her sword into Mafis’ heart.
Then suddenly a question occurred to me.
-Then where are the bodies and hearts taken?
‘I don’t know. I’ve never seen Roynecrow again since he lost his owner. My guess is that he went to Gillyfield Arboretum, but I never found any trace of his owner there either.’
-There are still many mysteries to be solved.
At that moment, Rulfo asked calmly.
“Is it over?”
“Yes. This is the best funeral we can do.”
“… Huh, that’s a bit disappointing.”
Rulfo shook his head and walked forward. He walked forward. To where Maphis’s body had been just a moment ago.
“Well, the simple funeral is over. Would you like to eat something before receiving the imperial order? Or… … .”
Rubin knew that Rulfo wanted to stay in Roinenga as long as possible, probably because of some ‘important plan’ for the future.
If we ever want to subdue the Assassins, the more information we have about the Roinen Mansion, the more useful it will be.
But Siren did not want the Emperor’s man to stay in her mansion for even a second longer. She cut Rulfo off mid-sentence.
“I receive the imperial edict immediately.”
“… You seem to be in a hurry. Well, if that’s true… … .”
Rulfo waved his hands as if shooing away flies.
“In that case, shouldn’t you have the courtesy of someone who follows the imperial command? Whether you are the Black Spirits or the vassals of the main family, first put down your weapons. I know that weapons are like your heart, but right now is not the time for war.”
A brief silence followed.
It was a demand that made me question my decency, but it wasn’t wrong. There was no reason to follow the imperial order armed except in times of war.
“Yes, that’s right.”
At Siren’s beckoning gesture, Damon and Killian put down their weapons first, then Rubin and Dorian.
The Black Shadow 8 followed along obediently, with only the large-sized Deven showing a displeased expression. After all, weapons were meant to maximize strength, not the source of their power.
“Rubin.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Go, get the weapons from the Black Spirits and move them to the back.”
“All right.”
Rubin carefully moved the weapons of the Dark Lords to the back of the Twilight Hall, as instructed by Siren.
– Did you say Shakes Fair? You’re the writer. Did you really take out a weapon?
What Shakes produced was a thick ball of thread. The threads were so thin that they were almost invisible to the eye. It looked like they were thinner than a spider’s web.
However, this is only the appearance, as it boasts incredible strength. Each and every strand is so strong that it cannot be cut with just any sword, and it is made of ‘bloodstone’, a combination of red ore, which is famous on the continent as a material for making weapons.
‘I wonder how it would fight with a thread made of bloodstone, but in any case, it seems to fit well with Shaker Pear’s reputation.’
Next was Marek Helid’s weapon. As he was handed the spears that could be combined with the spear, Marek looked at him with meaningful eyes.
-Maybe you’ve seen their weapons before you returned. You said you were the warehouse manager, right?
Before returning, Rubin managed the Black Zone’s stronghold warehouse, following Killian. As a result, he often sent the weapons he collected to his family or distributed them to collateral branches.
Sometimes, the collateral heads would put the treasure-grade weapons they had acquired during their missions into the base warehouse. Of course, most collateral heads would give their weapons to their vassals or children, so such cases were rare.
‘Oh, now that I think about it, that just occurred to me.’
-What do you mean?
‘When I first started my life as a warehouse manager, I came into contact with Benik Benar.’
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t direct contact.
Benik Benar decided to give the weapons he had obtained during his mission back to his family, and it was Rubin who retrieved them.
I had never met Benic in person because I was looking for a hidden weapon. That’s why my memory wasn’t clear.
“Master Rubin, please take good care of my beloved sword.”
At that moment, I received Benic’s weapon. It was a simple dagger, and it was ordinary compared to the weapons of other black shadows. Maybe it was because I was a low-ranking black shadow.
Afterwards, Rubin was given the weapons of Lil Zeppard, Anon Desril Lildens, and Anon Ascalzi.
Every time he took a sword from them, Rubin became a little agitated. This agitation never showed on the outside, but only Haneke noticed it.
-Why all of a sudden?
‘Haneke. I think I found out who the strongest of the eight Black Shadows is. Just now.’
-… … ?
Rubin returned to his original position after displaying all of the Dark Shadows’ weapons behind him. Immediately afterwards, Rubin’s gaze turned to Benik Benar.
-That old man is the last of the Black Shadows?
‘Do you remember what I said last time? After about 15 years, the three dark shadows, Lil, Anon, and Deathril, will disappear.’
Each of them was better known by his own nickname.
Ghost Blade Reel, Ghost Blade Anon, Hell Chain Death Reel.
Later on, they literally ‘vanished’ from the world, but it seemed that Rubin had only just found traces of them.
‘Before the return, Benik sent me weapons three times when I was the warehouse manager. And those weapons were the weapons of the current Lil, Anon, and Deathril.’
At some point in the future, Benic may have killed the three of them. Otherwise, he would not have given their weapons to the main family.
– So, does that mean that in the next 10 years, Benik will become incredibly strong and catch up with them? That corpse-like guy?
Of course, you could think that way. But Rubin’s view was different.
‘I told you that I found the strongest player in the Black Shadow at the moment. In my opinion, it seems that Benik is intentionally visiting the Black Shadow.’
-on purpose?
The bad reputation of being obsessed with black shadows may be wrong. Quite the opposite.
So if we interpret this differently –
‘It means that he is strong enough to ascend to the position of Black Spirit Lord whenever he wants.’
However, I still don’t know why Benik has been using his position as the Black Shadow. There must be some reason.
But Rubin wasn’t given time to delve further into Benik’s questions.
“I will now convey Your Majesty’s will!”
Rulpo’s voice became more powerful. Even the pale complexion that had been present just a moment ago had returned to its original color.
He stood stronger than ever and glanced at all of the assassins, including Siren.
“I give the order!”
The moment the imperial edict is read out loud.
Everyone except Rulfo bowed down to the Emperor.
