Episode 22. The Problematic Assassin (3)
Tina Kiruha.
The moment I heard that name, the image that came to mind was that of my mother regretting her decision. The image of Siren regretting her past decision.
The day of destruction.
After repelling several large-scale attacks by the Emperor’s punitive force, the war between the Emperor and the Assassins entered an uneasy lull.
Even so, it was only a few hours of rest.
The assassins sent by Siren and Rubin were all already dead. The only way was to block the Emperor’s attack head-on.
The young Rubin and the old Siren sat in the twilight hall, preparing for a showdown.
“… … .”
Rubin looks down at his trembling arms.
I was already exhausted. I was out of breath even when I was still. If I tried to gather the dark smoke with great effort, it would immediately disperse.
Then, the siren’s one word, ending the silence, echoed through the dark hall.
“Now that things have turned out this way, I’m reminded of all the wrong decisions I made in my life.”
At those words, Rubin just shook his head quietly.
“While we were alive? We are not dead yet. We will not be dead in the future either.”
Even though he said that, he couldn’t shake off the feeling of despair. Rubin raised his head with difficulty and looked at Siren.
Anxiety and anger.
Just like Rubin, Siren’s eyes were filled with emotions that she could not hide.
“Tina Kiruha. I shouldn’t have killed that guy.”
Saying so, Siren closed her eyes for a moment.
“It’s the first time I’ve heard that name.”
“Tina, a little girl I met on a mission. A girl with precious abilities. She was the plaything of my assassination target.”
Siren continued.
“As we were about to kill the target and return, we found Tina trapped inside us. We could have just passed by or killed her, but we didn’t. She was a ‘special child’, even though she was weak.”
Siren bit her lower lip and paused for a moment.
“That’s why I brought him here. I planned to raise him to be an assassin. The abilities he had… were different from ours.”
“… … .”
“But I was blinded by that ability, and I think I overlooked the child’s bloodline. Tina wasn’t as ruthless as I had hoped. That was the fate of that tribe.”
Bloodline? Tribe? Fate?
At that time, I couldn’t understand what it meant.
And then, my mother’s soft words followed.
“I thought that fate was the key.”
Gwaaaaaaaaa!
At that moment, the trumpet blast of the legions led by the Emperor continued for a long time. Siren opened her closed eyes, and Rubin also picked up the sword he had put down.
It meant that the Emperor’s invasion had resumed.
* * *
‘So that’s Tina Kiruha. That assassin from the Phantom Tribe that your mother regretted.’
The puzzle is finally being completed.
The Hwanhyeol tribe could transform into any living thing, at least in appearance.
The Hwanhyeol Tribe is known to take on the appearance of another person even when they sleep. Their transformation ability is considered an extremely powerful weapon for assassins.
‘If Tina were alive, could she have killed the Emperor that day?’
My mother definitely described her as a key. Maybe she knew how.
Only then could I understand my mother’s regret for cutting Tina off in the past.
‘But that’s only possible if you grow into an assassin.’
Pacifism, vitalism, humanitarianism.
These values of the Hwanhyeol tribe were ones that could not be placed together with the Assassination Swordsman.
If the imperial edict designates a target, kill them.
It was the fate of all assassins to eliminate their targets without making any value judgments.
However, the Hwanhyeol tribe was a tribe that hated fighting, let alone killing.
‘I’d rather commit suicide than harm others.’
According to military strategy books that study the history of ancient warfare, there were actually cases where the Hwanhyeol tribe, who were dragged to the battlefield, committed mass suicide.
‘I understand why you had to kill Tina.’
At first, he may have been saved by Siren’s request to raise him as an assassin.
But his true nature would have been revealed during his first mission.
After it was revealed that he could not kill others, there would be no reason to keep him alive. Even the head of the family, Seiren Roinen, would have a hard time withstanding the Emperor’s pressure.
‘So that’s why the assassination squad came out in the end.’
With that thought in mind, Rubin focused on Tina in front of him.
“Tina Kiruha.”
It didn’t matter what decisions she had made or how she had acted up until now. The past was the past. What mattered was from now on.
From the moment he heard Tina’s name, Rubin was thinking from a completely different angle.
‘We must save him.’
Before hearing the name, I was only wondering how to end this bloodthirsty assassin.
Should I use the assassination squad outside who are completely unaware that they are being deceived, or should I wait for Grokal who is probably busy chasing after them by now?
Or maybe Rubin himself should step forward.
‘The question is how to save it.’
at that time.
Virko and Charcot lifted the tent and revealed their masked faces.
“Captain, we need to get moving soon. If we keep going like this, we’ll completely lose track of Tina.”
——————
faqwiki.us
Join our Discord for new chapter updates!
https://discord.com/invite/xr7SxG5T6V
——————
Tina, surprised, shut her mouth. Her anxious eyes lingered around Rubin. The moment Rubin revealed the truth, Tina lost even the chance to escape.
But Rubin had no such intention.
“I still have something to say. Could you wait a moment?”
“… That’s right.”
As the two assassins retreated, Tina aimed her sword and asked fiercely.
“Why didn’t you tell them? Don’t you regret it? I could kill you right now.”
“If you were going to kill me, you would have done it a long time ago. And… … .”
Rubin approached slowly. Tina’s sword aimed at him reached his Adam’s apple. Then Rubin snatched the sword away without any interference and threw it to the ground.
“I’ve never heard of the Hwanhyeol tribe killing anyone.”
Tina just laughs because it’s so absurd. Rubin drives the wedge in.
“You can’t kill me. You can’t escape safely in this state. What are you going to do now?”
Rubin knows how Tina dies, the ending.
Grokal, who was subdued by Tina and allowed to transform, was not weaker than Tina. He was just careless. The original story is that the leader of the assassination squad, who woke up late, eventually finds Tina.
Since she had been told by Siren that it was okay to kill her, she had no hesitation in striking Grokal with a single blow that pierced her. That was Tina’s end.
Rubin continued speaking, looking at Tina.
“The Hwanhyeol clan must transform into another life form at regular intervals. I don’t know how long it’s been since you transformed, but it doesn’t seem like much time is left.”
“Are you threatening me? Do you think I can’t escape?”
“Well, you could transform into something else again. But when you transform into another life form, do you think the Slayers outside wouldn’t be able to smell the dark smoke you’d emit?”
But Tina laughs at Rubin like that.
“I wonder if Siren will like it if the bookworm young master is so good at theory. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
Tina got up from her seat. She was planning to transform into another life form and get out of here.
“Tina, think carefully. You know you can’t shake off a single assassin with a dark mind.”
“… … .”
“Follow me. If you leave here like this… you will die.”
She wanted to deny it, but Rubin was right. Tina trembled for a moment, as if trying to hide her anger.
The last two weeks of escape. It was a desperate escape that continued with constant transformation.
But what tormented Tina the most was her childhood memory of running away as a member of the Hwan-Blooded Tribe.
A child who was not good at transformation. The forest and wilderness where he spent countless nights in fear. Memories of being captured by human slave traders and sold to a noble family.
Then one day.
There was a woman who suddenly appeared and rescued her. The master and the nobles who were thought to be the strongest in the world. Tina cried out loud in front of that woman who took their lives in an instant. Begging to be saved. Begging to be taken away.
But now the woman who had been like that was chasing him, intent on taking his life.
“Siren has decided to kill me, so how can you survive? Are you such a great son that you can even overturn your master’s orders?”
At those words, Rubin picked up Tina’s sword again and gave it to Tina to hold tightly.
“I will take that question as an invitation to follow me.”
* * *
Tadak. Tadak. Tadak.
A gray shadow running through the forest. The wind left a trail as the man passed by.
‘How far have you gone?’
As they move, the swarm leaves behind a distinctive mark that only they can recognize. This is to facilitate search and tracking.
If only they could recognize that mark, they could effectively pursue the target even when the three were scattered.
Now, Grokal Lang was quickly approaching his comrades, using the marks left by Virko and Charco as a guide.
‘To fall for such a trap.’
It was a disaster. The trap Tina had set was nothing special. It was just the basics that a new assassin would learn.
But the reason Grokal was hit was because of that simplicity. Who would have thought that he would use such a one-dimensional trap while being chased by the assassination squad?
Grokal gritted his teeth as he remembered Tina’s face looking down at him as he was trapped.
‘You dare to transform into me and act like a murderous leader?’
While she was caught in the trap, I could guess what Tina had done. She was probably pretending to be a grocal and leaving traces here and there to make tracking difficult.
‘You sly bitch!’
I had intended to end his life from the beginning, but now any remaining compassion has dried up.
‘I will pierce your heart the moment you see it in front of your eyes!’
But when Tina actually appeared before his eyes, Grokal couldn’t do that.
“What are you guys doing?”
When Grokal arrived, five assassins were watching something around the hill.
“hey!”
Virko shouted as he spotted the approaching Grokal. It seemed as if he had known that he would return alive.
“Grocal! Are you really Grocal? Where have you been and why are you here now?”
“Shut up, Virko. Where’s that bitch?”
Grokal Lang checked the faces first.
Of the five assassins gathered, two were Virko and Charko. The other three were the main family’s bodyguards.
“Why the vassals of the main family? Oh, damn it!”
Grokal immediately understood the situation. In the middle of the onlookers, two assassins were swinging their swords at each other.
A figure of about ten years old. Black hair that flows freely.
The two looked exactly the same.
That was the reason why the assassins and the vassals could only watch the fight between the two people.
“Grocal. Well, I don’t know what to do. Who is Master Rubin, and who is Tina… … .”
“If you interfere, I might attack you, you damn bitch!”
Grokal ignored his comrades’ words and drew his sword. Then he shouted.
“No, you idiots, there is a way… … .”
It was Rubin’s escorts who blocked Grokal as he was about to run away.
“Chief of the Slaughter! Are you planning to sacrifice the young master to your dangerous gamble?”
Grokal pushed the escort away.
“And what if that Tina bitch gets you hurt? Wouldn’t it be better for you to get hurt by me instead?”
“Any wounds?”
Instead of answering, Grokal jumped into the gap between the two Rubins. The two were taken aback by the sudden intrusion.
‘Damn, this is seriously gross. I didn’t expect that.’
‘What do we do now?’
Rubin and Tina exchanged anxious glances.
The plan was for the two to show a boiling fight and then have Rubin subdue Tina to a level befitting a nine-year-old Roynen bloodline, with a little luck thrown in.
But with Grokal’s intervention, the ending of this play became unknown.
“You f*cking bitch, do you think I won’t find you?”
