Assassin Sword Family Ronan Chapter 274

Episode 274. Midnight Conversation

The labor ends when the sun sets.

Even though Yeolji Prison has fewer 5-star high-risk prisoners than other 1-star prisons, it is still a group of 1-star and 2-star prisoners. Naturally, the Imperial Army did not want prisoners to spend the night in the workhouse.

Finally, the Grandbird took flight once again. The sound of its huge wings and dull cries tore through the night sky. This time, it was a flight to the prison.

WHEEWOOOOOOOO! WHEEWOOOOOOOO!

Gwaaaaaa!

The prisoners arrived and immediately dispersed as soon as they set foot on the ground. Although the labor was hard and the oppression of the Scorpions was excruciating, they thought it was better than the heat of the ‘hot land’.

“You have to go to sleep as soon as possible so that you can endure the hardships tomorrow.”

“Thank you for telling me this and that today, Uksin.”

Rubin bowed his head to Wooshin and greeted him. Kun simply waved his hand.

“We’ll be moving together tomorrow too.”

Rubin added, and Wooshin laughed.

“Even now, when I think about it, it’s funny how I scared you guys first. I forgot that it’s okay to be arrogant when you have that much power.”

Then he looked at Rubin and whispered.

“By the way, is it okay to call me ‘you guys’? Are you strong like Barton?”

“I’m a little different.”

“Well, I guess so. Well, it’s amazing that there are two young people who can fight like that.” 

At that moment, Kun shouted at the two Scorpion members. The bald and balding Scorpion members who were checking the number of returned laborers flinched.

“You two over there! Just mess with this old man because he talked to us. And you sullen old man. If you care about our egalitarian ideas, come visit the cell anytime. It’s close.”

“I appreciate the invitation, but I don’t have the courage to do it. Rather, Barton, would you rather avoid the hard labor?”

“hmm…….”

No way. If I could change my mind, I would do it right now.

Kun, who was looking at Rubin, let out a deep sigh and walked towards his cell. Rubin shrugged his shoulders as if he knew nothing, and Ukshin misunderstood.

“… As expected, you are an upright person. Then, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir.”

Before entering the cell, Rubin turned around and looked at the back of Wooshin. He was so short that his yellow robe dragged on the floor as he entered his cell.

Somehow, I felt like there was something about that old man.

He was a prisoner in a first-class prison, so he wasn’t a normal person, but he didn’t seem like the type to be grouped with other prisoners either.

Of course, this was just a hunch. There was nothing to confirm. He was not someone I knew before returning, and he was not someone Haneke knew. This was just a suspicion that arose based on instinct.

‘If I get the chance, I should observe the author.’

If I wanted, I could get rid of this discomfort today. With the ‘Shadow Curtain’, I could sneak into that old man’s cell at any time. However, there was no need to rush, leaving my goal of X behind.

More importantly, tonight was the night. Because I’m sure X would approach me again tonight.

“Now all you have to do is wait.”

After entering the cell, Rubin took off his yellow robe and said.

“what?”

“Because X will send you a secret letter again.”

“Are you sure? Are you sure this is going the right way?”

“The letter will arrive before the sun rises, if X was there today.”

I looked at him as if he was going to explain, but Kun just waved his hand away.

Kuhn had personally experienced Rubin’s remaining mind since he was nine years old when he made his ‘first choice’. Seeing his confidence, it must mean that he had calculated it.

Rather than listening to Rubin’s explanation and getting annoyed by convincing myself, it was better to just not know. It was much better to judge the situation later and spend time doing my own thing for now.

‘Leave the brain work to Rubin. I’ll just train in the dark.’

Kun took off his upper body and closed his eyes. He sat still, dark and aroused various sensations for hours… … . 

‘come.’

Both of them opened their eyes at the same time.

At that moment, a lightning bolt flew in with a crashing sound.

Crunch.

Ice stuck in the wall. This time, it was denser than the normal ice arrow.

“You really sent me another note. And once again, in a flash. Is this guy X really a wizard?”

“… … .”

Rubin silently stares out the window as the ice storm flies in.

‘I’m not a wizard.’

Just a day ago, he had made a similar assumption to Kun. Since the Ice Storm had come, X must be a wizard, or there must be a wizard around him.

But now I see that it’s clear that wasn’t the case.

‘I didn’t see Hwisik in my eyes.’

A mana line that must be drawn to cast magic. Wizards above a certain level internalize the spell, but the thing that can destroy it is the ‘Glayton Bracelet’ that Rubin has.

But when the ice blast just flew in, there was no slash drawn in the air. If it was the work of a wizard, there should have been a slash.

Maybe this… … .

“Kun, check it out.”

“I was going to do that anyway.”

Kwajijijik.

Kun grumbled and picked up the ice arrow, crushing it. He looked for a note inside and was about to read it out loud when Rubin spoke.

“Kun.”

“why?”

“By any chance, is there a story about the spearmen written there?”

I was half-sure as I asked. Judging from the way Kun’s eyebrows twitched, it seemed like my guess was not wrong.

“Read it.”

After a while, Kun handed over X’s note with an uneasy expression.

-Barton. I saw you ignore the weakness I told you about and take down the Scorpion leader. I feel more determined to save you, so I’ll have to step up and do it. In fact, I thought you wouldn’t be able to defeat the White Scorpion, or even if you did, you’d naturally join the Scorpion. But you didn’t… … .

The next sentence continued like this:

-Your idea of ​​equality is a very precious belief, but your reprimand at the mine put you in danger. Netu, who leads the Scorpion Corps, is nothing compared to the leader you defeated. He was once a strong man who made a name for himself as a mercenary. In my opinion, he is stronger than you.

And X wrote down a way to survive.

– From your cell, go west to the nearest Spearman’s cell. It’s the cell with the Spearman’s symbol on the outside wall. There, tell him that you’ve changed your mind and that you want to join the Spearman. That’s how you’ll survive.

The letter ended here.

As Rubin tore up the letter, Kun nodded in vain, washing his face dry.

“I wasn’t going to ask… but I can’t help it. How did you know? That X would come out like this.”

In the end, Rubin answered Kun’s question out of curiosity.

“Because you rejected the order here while talking about equality. Of course, no prisoner would follow that equality, but the problem is the power you showed.”

It would have been nice if Kun, who had shown his power, had joined some force, but he didn’t. That would have been a threat to other factions as well.

“Isn’t that the idea of ​​equality something you were trying to appeal to X? To see if X would respond to that idea.”

“That’s true, too. But it was also a way to make X impatient. The talent I was looking for had appeared, but I had created a situation where it would fall apart if I just left it alone.”

“Then how did you know X would mention the Spear Corps?”

“that…….”

Actually, I realized that at the very end. Thanks to the ice storm that flew in.

“There was something I hadn’t really been aware of until now.”

“what?”

“Golem.”

“Golems? The guard golems that are scattered around here?”

“If it’s a high-level golem, it can embed a magic stone inside it and activate it. It can send out ice strikes at will.”

And when magic is activated by the magic stone, it has nothing to do with the spell. That’s why it wasn’t visible to Rubin, who was wearing the Glayton bracelet.

“Just before the Ice Strike was launched, the golem on the watchtower 200 meters to the east looked this way.”

“You were pretending to watch us when you fired the ice blast? It seemed smaller than the ice blasts I know.”

Then, Kun remembered the connection between the golem and the spearmen.

“Ah, that old man told me that.”

The three factions of the Yeolji Prison are each in charge of labor.

The Scorpion Group is a mining force.

The Black Fox Group is in charge of slaying monsters.

And the spearmen are laborers who make golems.

The final completion of the golem was done by the magic engineer, but the miscellaneous and tedious work before that was done by the prisoners.

“It’s narrowed down a bit now. X is hiding as a slave, but he’s also connected to the Spear Corps.”

And there could be someone around X who can manipulate the guard golem, or X himself could do it.

“What are we going to do now?”

“You must do as you are told.”

“Oh, you’re going to the Spearmen’s cell? You want me to say, ‘I’ll become a member, I’ll join.’ Phew, I guess I won’t have to dig a pickaxe starting tomorrow.”

“Instead, you have to keep acting.”

If you’re playing another character, put on that attitude like a skin. That’s the basics of acting taught in the Assassination School.

If Barton Colombs’ personality is true to what is revealed on the outside, X’s advice should not be easily followed. Barton is a reckless person who overestimates his own strength.

“Barton is a brash guy. Luke is a cool rationalist. Even though it’s acting, it’s not wrong.”

Finally, Rubin wrapped himself in a yellow robe. This time, it was his turn to step forward. 

* * *

“Who is X?”

There were three prisoners waiting in the Changbyeongdan cell.

When I searched last night, there were two prisoners in this cell. But now, there is one more. He must be the one who came here to hear the answer to the secret letter.

The Scorpion’s mark is a black scorpion painted on the chin.

On the other hand, the location of the spearman tattoo was on the neck. Two prisoners in the cell had a spearman tattoo on their necks. But one did not.

‘Are you one of X’s associates?’

A fairly handsome middle-aged man. He has no tattoos, so he must have been in a mining operation.

“You are not the Barton Colombs we were waiting for. Why didn’t Barton come?”

“I should have asked first. Are you the X who sent this secret letter?”

“Well, okay. But let’s sit down and talk about it.”

Then the man bit the two spearmen. He offered them a seat at the table and sat down across from them.

“Your name is… Luke. First of all, it’s true that I’m here for a secret letter. But I’m not X.”

“I thought I’d see X when I came here.”

“X wants to help Barton. But that doesn’t mean he has to show up right away. My name is Kay.”

“K. And X. That’s a simple codename.”

“Does that bother you?”

“No. I was just thinking. If there are X and K, there must be colleagues who use different spellings.”

“… … .”

“Maybe Barton could get a spelling name too.”

“hmm…….”

Kay’s gaze towards Rubin becomes darker. The calmness is broken and seriousness appears.

“You seem quite different in personality from Barton. You seem sharp and cool. Are you also a drone?”

“I can use a sword. Just a little.”

“There is not a single prisoner here who does not know how to use a sword. That means we do not need anyone who is ‘a little bit skilled.’”

“Let’s just say I was a little humble and move on.”

Kay snickered and got back to the main point.

“As I said, X wants to help Barton.”

“It sounds like you only want to help Barton.”

“Well, I don’t know about you.”

“It’s the same for us. We don’t know who X is, and we don’t know why he’s willing to help us.”

“Yes… That’s natural. Then you didn’t bring Barton’s message just now? Did you come to see us?”

Rubin nodded.

“Actually, Barton and I have different opinions right now. Barton is as fearless as he is strong.”

“Yes, that’s also the weakness of Barton that we analyzed. And it seems like he has a show-off personality. When he was destroying the White Scorpion, he didn’t even touch the weakness we told him about.”

“Barton is confident that he can defeat anyone, whether it be the Scorpion leader Netu or the leaders of other factions. That’s why he tried to ignore this secret letter from X.”

“But your position is different?”

“Yes, I also believe in equality, but I am not as reckless as Barton. I have to survive before I can even attempt a revolution.”

“Your direction is the same as mine. As I said, Barton is in danger right now. The leaders of the Scorpion Corps, Black Fox Corps, and Spear Corps are all five-stars. None of them like sharp rocks.”

After speaking, Kay thought, “Oops.” There was a slip of the tongue in what he had just said.

‘Did you notice?’

As expected, Rubin chuckled.

“K. I should go back to what you said earlier. When you said, ‘Our only hope is with the Spearmen,’ I thought X was the real power behind the Spearmen.”

“… … .”

“But just now you said that the captain of the spear corps was also someone who would eliminate Barton. It seems that he is not one of X’s people. X is not the real power behind the spear corps.”

“Oh, I made a bad move. But I’m also glad that Barton has a pretty smart colleague by his side.”

Kay got up from her seat and looked out the window. Rubin and Kun’s cells were visible in the distance.

It was late at night. It would be a long time before the sun rose. Long enough to have a more detailed conversation.