Episode 42. The Road to Capotini (1)
‘Is this really a cold farewell?’
Rubin briefly said goodbye to his rivals who had pointed weapons at each other, but he didn’t even have that kind of farewell with the head of the family.
When I returned to the Roinen mansion.
Rubin’s preparations for leaving home were already complete.
A journey of about a month to Capotini, at the western end of the continent.
A carriage was already waiting for the journey.
No more vassals were given to escort Rubin, and only Roynenser and Rubin himself had to fight their way through.
“There are bound to be many dangers lurking on long distance travel!”
The woman who sends Rubin away in place of his mother. In the icy world of assassination, the only woman who shows such strong and honest emotions is Rubin’s nanny, Pure.
As the maid was wiping away her tears with a handkerchief, a voice was heard from Rubin’s backpack.
“You’re funny. Does your maid know what kind of person you are that she’s so worried about you?”
Tina was transformed into a hedgehog, saying she wanted to travel comfortably.
On the other hand, there were some who were moved by Puree’s tears. Haneke liked Puree, saying that she was the only one who shined fluorescently among these dull assassins.
-It’s such a shame I won’t be able to see that special woman.
“Your Highness, listen carefully to what I say! Unfortunately, there are cases where the children who have left home lose their lives before they even reach the annex! To bandits, monsters, and such!”
“Okay… I’ll keep that in mind.”
“And that Roynenser… … .”
Puree whispered only to Rubin so that Kuze, who was waiting in front of the carriage behind, could not hear.
“You said it was completely beyond help?”
“Don’t worry, you can rest assured. He’s capable.”
“Competent? Competent? Take Vikander with you, please!”
If things continued like this, I would be caught by Puree and would never be able to leave the mansion.
Rubin shared a brief hug with Puree and then turned away. Puree’s long sobs followed.
At that moment, Damon, who had approached without anyone noticing, was walking alongside Rubin, keeping pace with him as he headed toward the carriage.
“Your Majesty, as soon as you arrive at Capotini, a contact from the Imperial Department will immediately escort you to the camouflage annex. He will give you your new identity, name, and living expenses.”
“Until then, you don’t know what status you’ll live as?”
“Yes. I would like to accommodate you, my lord, who is of the Roinen bloodline, but it is not easy because the designated city is Capotini.”
“It doesn’t matter what happens.”
I crossed the garden and arrived in front of the carriage.
Damon looked sharply at Rubin’s Roynenser, who still had some disbelief, and then leaned down towards Rubin.
“Well then, I hope you stay healthy. I hope you quickly reach the level you desire.”
“Damon, take good care of your master.”
Damon, bending down, felt the sincerity in Rubin’s words. A child who is worried about the head of the Assassin’s Blade family.
But somehow, Rubin’s words felt like they contained sincerity that overturned that gap.
“Understood, Your Majesty.”
“Okay, I’ll be going now.”
Rubin got into the carriage. Since the children of the nobility were not even given a coachman, Kuze had to take charge of the carriage.
The journey began with Kuze sitting on the coachman’s seat, holding the reins of two horses in one hand.
“Whoa!”
The broken backpack creaked, and Tina, in the shape of a prickly hedgehog, poked her head out.
“You’ve already left, right?”
Tina paced around the carriage, spewing out barbed words.
“It took a month to arrive! You have such bad taste! Why did you choose a city in the western region?”
Rubin showed no response to Tina’s screams.
“Huh? You’re already asleep, you? We just left.”
The carriage rattled. Rubin closed his eyes quietly. After talking to himself for a while, Tina, exhausted, transformed into a cat and curled up next to Rubin, falling asleep. Rubin didn’t move.
“… … .”
Rubin, with his eyes closed, occasionally moved his body. Rubin had already begun training with Haneke to hone his Brion Auror.
* * *
“Your Majesty, it would be better for us to stay in this village today.”
Kuze said, slowing down the carriage.
It’s been three days since they left the mansion. During that time, Rubin and his party arrived in the city in the evening, spent the night, and departed again at dawn to continue their journey.
The place where we were staying today was a small village, not even a city, compared to the previous two places. The name of the village was Nekiaville. It was such a remote countryside that it made you wonder if there was such a village.
“… … .”
There was no answer from Rubin inside the carriage. The absence of an answer was also an expression of agreement.
“You must be sleeping.”
“That guy isn’t sleeping. He’s doing some kind of inner training.”
“Oh, that’s right.”
Tina sat quietly next to the horse. Tina, in her cat form, occasionally swished her tail and lifted her front paw to stroke her whiskers.
“I’m bored.”
At Tina’s words, Kuze coughed loudly.
Rubin’s Roinecro was actually an assassin from the Phantom Tribe! I can’t tell you how shocking it was at first. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t get used to it even though I was seeing the Phantom Tribe’s amazing abilities right before my eyes.
“Oh, it’s a sign. There’s one kilometer left.”
Tina said, looking at the sign indicating the distance remaining to Nekiaville. She looked around, sensing other signs.
“Hey, is there anyone around?”
“Yes, I don’t see anyone there either.”
“Really? Then I should transform into a different form.”
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Then Tina changed her appearance. She was a middle-aged woman. She had shown herself once before in the city she had passed through yesterday.
“Our roles are the same as yesterday, okay? I’m the teacher who takes care of the noble children, and you’re the groom.”
“I am the groom, and Tina is the teacher.”
As he said that, Kuze opened the blinds slightly and looked behind him at Rubin. Rubin did not open his closed eyes even when the carriage shook violently as it passed over the uneven ground.
You mean inner training? You create imaginary enemies and study their fighting styles?
Kuze, who could not even imagine that Rubin would be connected to the old general, could only guess at that much.
“Your Majesty, we have now entered the village.”
Rubin opened his eyes at Kuze’s words. The first thing he did was look down at his hands.
My hands were shaking slightly.
The Brion Auror that had been placed on the wooden sword in the inner training ground just a moment ago. Rubin let out a small exclamation without realizing it at its great power.
“… Amazing.”
“Yes? What did you say?”
“No. I was just talking to myself.”
“Rubin, shouldn’t we take care of our hunger first?”
Just then, a small inn appeared in front of us, where we could both sleep and eat. It seemed to be the neatest building in the area. There was even a place to park a carriage and horse in the building’s yard.
“Then I guess I’ll spend the night here tonight.”
As soon as Kuze finished speaking, Tina quickly got down from the front seat… and soon Rubin also opened the carriage door and came out.
Rubin didn’t go straight into the building he had decided on as his lodging, but looked around with his lips sticking out.
“Is it a pyramid?”
* * *
“Captain, we have some new items.”
On the outskirts of Nekiaville, in an abandoned building buried in the bushes, a man who had been killing time while covered in dust got up.
“What? Something new?”
“Yes. I just entered the village.”
“What’s the status?”
The man stood up and cracked his neck from side to side. Knock knock knock.
“He seems to be a nobleman’s child. He looks to be about ten years old, and he only moves around with his groom and tutor.”
“Are you on your way back from an outing? Anyway, it looks like you’re going to spend some money.”
“I don’t know exactly which noble child he is, but it looks like that. And right now, we’re not in a position to be picky… … .”
The captain glared and frowned. The subordinate winced and closed his mouth.
Dekus was a proud man. Although he was now forced to extort money from the unlucky noble families and merchants who stopped by the town, he never considered himself a scoundrel.
‘I just crouched down for a moment to jump.’
Dekus picked up a longsword lying beside him. He then held it out in front of his subordinates, his arms shaking.
“Look, do you see it? This is what Auror is, you punk!”
“Wow, you are truly amazing.”
It wasn’t the first time he had seen Dekus’s aura manifest with difficulty, but his subordinates were busy praising him.
“Phew… phew… . So, where is that ‘thing’ now?”
“Isn’t it obvious? That’s all there is to this tiny town when it’s inhabited by outsiders.”
“Then, I guess you must have moved too, brother.”
“Yes. As soon as the captain is ready, Mankus will begin work right away.”
“Okay, okay! It has to be someone with some money.”
Dekus raised his voice and shook his body. His arms were cold. As expected, it wasn’t easy to manifest even once a day.
“From what I saw, it doesn’t seem like a family without money.”
“okay?”
“That brash woman who was a private tutor was happily betting money on the old man at the bar.”
“If you were to make a bet with the bartender, it would be a snail race?”
“Yes. When you see a woman who is a private tutor spending that much money, doesn’t that show her family background?”
“Okay! Okay! Tell the kids in town to start right away! I’ll move to a different location and wait.”
“Understood, sir!”
A subordinate goes out with a big smile on his face. Deckers, who was listening to his subordinate’s expectant jumping sound, also started to move.
‘Once the kids sneak that little brat up to me, I’ll wait and show him the auror.’
The next location is a cave in the forest, another 30 minutes away from here.
Deckers inspected the condition of this place, which had been unused for some time due to lack of work.
When I lit the torch fixed to the wall, it seemed like a group of bandits would be hanging around. I sat down on a large chair and waited with my head resting on my longsword for 30 minutes.
‘You’re here.’
Finally, I heard the sound of someone moving through the bushes.
Among the men, a large one was carrying a sack, and the rest of them were approaching him, giggling.
“Captain!”
Judging by the way he raised his voice, he must have definitely put the little guy to sleep.
“Did you put the little guy to sleep?”
“Yes. I poured some anesthetic powder that would make even an ogre fall asleep.”
“Aren’t you going to die then? You can’t die until Brother Mancus gets the money!”
The men entered the cave. As soon as they entered, they put down the sack in one corner.
“Who is this guy’s guardian?”
“The woman was completely absorbed in the snail race until we snuck the child in. The coachman was busy trying to stop her.”
“Really? They’re weird guys.”
Then, an uneasy thought began to form in Dekus’s mind. He was worried that his subordinates might have lost their sense of humor due to the lack of work recently.
What if the subordinates mistook the vagrants for nobles? Then, the hostage situation and the play would all be useless.
Decker hurried over to the bag and opened it.
“What, what is it!”
“Captain, why?”
“There’s nothing, you little shits!”
Deckers turned around, shouting.
“That can’t be. I clearly put it down a little while ago… … .”
Dekus couldn’t hear his subordinate’s answer until the end. The five men who had been standing upright at that moment fell down almost simultaneously.
The subordinates fell to the floor with repeated crashing sounds, and at first they didn’t even know what was happening.
Crunch. Crunch.
With a terrible sound, a jet of blood spurted out and hit the ground. Only then did they realize that it was the blood pouring out from their severed feet.
“Kuaaaah!”
“My bar, my… foot? My baaaaal!”
A scream of pain, and a child’s voice echoing softly between them.
“Hmm, wasn’t that a group of thieves?”
Deckers, who had collapsed with his legs weakened, looked at the boy standing there blankly. The boy standing alone on the blood-soaked ground.
The child, who had been casually brushing the dust off his black hair, turned his head towards Dekus.
“What kind of person are you?”
