Master Assassin of the Ronan

Chapter 15: The Privilege of the Victor (3)

‘Haneke, do you know who ordered your death?’

At Rubin’s question, Haneke stroked his beard, a gesture tinged with bitterness.

-If it’s someone who can mobilize the secretive and dangerous Assassin Blade Family, there are only a few in this world.

With that, he slumped down onto the floor.

-Also, if it’s someone who can command your mother, who stands at the pinnacle of all assassins, then there’s only one.

Rubin nodded.

‘Yes, Emperor Telmach.’

-Right. I know, too. And I even know why he ordered my death.

Haneke was calm.

Rather than being angry about being purged by the Emperor, he accepted it.

‘Why?’

-It was the Emperor’s final order—to wipe out the troublesome northern tribes. As always, I carried it out without a word. But… there were too many children.

‘Of course, the Emperor must have ordered you to leave none alive.’

That was Emperor Telmach’s way.

He didn’t want any seeds of revenge left behind.

If he could, he would even erase the word and concept of “hope” from this world.

-Still, I have no regrets. Even if I were to return like you, I’d make the same choice. But… what about you?

Haneke looked at Rubin with a distant gaze.

-What has you so restless? You’re always on edge, as if someone’s chasing you. Ah, come to think of it, I haven’t asked yet… How did you die?

When Rubin didn’t answer, Haneke cleared his throat.

-Well, in any case, you’ve returned to the past. This time, you might be able to change the future as you wish.

‘……’

Haneke was right.

Since his regression, Rubin’s life had already veered off its previous course.

Perhaps this time, he might survive and avoid the Emperor’s blade.

But mere survival was not Rubin’s goal. He wanted more than that.

‘I will kill the Emperor.’

At Rubin’s declaration, Haneke’s eyes wavered. Kill the Emperor?

It was a statement he had never heard spoken aloud.

Haneke shook his head.

-That’s impossible. You know that, don’t you? With a single word from him, the map… no, the history of the continent would change. How could you kill such a person on your own?

As expected, the response was not “why” but rather “it’s impossible.”

That only showed how distant the Emperor was.

Rubin looked Haneke straight in the eye and said,

‘I will kill him. That’s why I need your swordsmanship. And also…’

One more thing.

‘You will need me as well.’

Haneke looked exasperated, as if he were hearing utter nonsense.

-You keep saying strange things. Like how the Brion Family’s swordsmanship will vanish, or how I will need you. What on earth are you talking about? The things you’re worrying about won’t happen, so don’t worry needlessly.

‘What if everything you believe in was a lie?’

-What’s supposed to be a lie? I can’t understand. I have a grandson who took an oath of loyalty to the Emperor. He still lives in the capital of the Empire, along with the Brion Family’s ancient swordsmanship texts.

In short, Haneke had placed his faith in a hollow loyalty. Because of that oath, he believed his grandson wouldn’t be killed.

But Rubin knew the Emperor’s true nature.

The Emperor, leaving seeds of vengeance behind?

That was impossible.

‘You know that Telmach is the kind of person who would crush even the women and children of the tribes. Do you really think your grandson is still alive?’

Even with Rubin’s pointed question, Haneke showed no sign of accepting it.

-Rubin. I’ve already accepted my death. And I can even understand, to some extent, the Emperor’s decision to purge me. I have no regrets about my past life, nor complaints about my current situation. I am simply a lingering soul, and only feel a slight interest in you, nothing more.

‘…….’

-Your situation, I understand, but that’s your story to resolve on your own. My story is already finished. And I’m not one to revisit a finished story.

‘You don’t believe me.’

-Ridiculous nonsense.

The old warrior’s stubbornness was like an impregnable fortress. Rubin drove his wooden sword into the ground, its tip quivering from the impact.

Fine. If that’s how it is, there’s no choice.

If he wouldn’t believe, then Rubin would have to show him directly.

* * *

Soft footsteps echoed against the ground.

The fog was so thick it was impossible to see even a step ahead.

Strolling through it had long been one of Seiren’s pastimes.

To outsiders, it was a mind-destroying toxic fog, but to Seiren, who had honed Dark Ripple to its ultimate limit, it was the opposite.

Wandering through the fog actually cleared her mind.

“Daemon. You can come out.”

The fog distorted as her direct retainer emerged.

Her direct retainer, Daemon.

He was one of the few people Seiren trusted.

Daemon was practically the Ronan Family’s steward.

A retainer who carried out all tasks to Seiren’s exact wishes. His abilities were unmatched, even among the heads of the branch families.

For this reason, Daemon was the only retainer exempt from assignments from the Imperial Edict Bureau.

“Master, the Imperial Edict Bureau has responded.”

“They replied faster than I expected. Did they accept?”

“Yes. The Imperial Edict Bureau has accepted Young Master Rubin’s request to tour the ‘Tower of Light and Rebellion.’”

A week had passed since the ‘first selection.’

The winner of this test was given the reward of being the first to enter the host family’s warehouse, but that wasn’t all.

There was another reward, bestowed not by the Assassin Blade Family, but by the Imperial Edict Bureau.

The nature of this reward was nuanced.

‘Within the Emperor’s permission, we will grant your wish.’

Treasures could be given, or servants, or even lands. Or perhaps more.

However, few knew that a dangerous bait was hidden behind this sweet reward.

It was a kind of loyalty test.

“Since he requested to tour the Tower of Light and Rebellion, the Imperial Edict Bureau would be pleased.”

It was entirely Rubin’s decision.

Though, ultimately, it aligned with the Master’s thoughts as well.

“Perhaps Young Master Rubin has grasped the Imperial Edict Bureau’s intentions.”

Daemon also found Rubin to be a peculiar young master.

Not only was he unreadable, but the depths of his talent were impossible to gauge.

Not only did he win the ‘first selection’ through sheer strategy, but he chose as his reward a mere broken shard of the deceased Imperial General’s blade.

And now, he had directly requested the Imperial Edict Bureau’s ‘reward’ as a ‘tour.’

“To assist his journey to the Tower of Light and Rebellion, the Imperial Edict Bureau has unusually offered to send a Granbird.”

“Whatever the reason, I won’t allow a Granbird’s shadow to fall upon my estate. Assign a trusted retainer to escort him by carriage.”

“He has yet to come of age. Is it permissible to allow Young Master’s departure? And… could it be dangerous?”

“Dangerous? Ah.”

The ‘danger’ Daemon mentioned referred to the recent unfortunate incidents within the Assassin Blade Family.

“Has it not been dealt with yet?”

“The execution unit is on its trail, so there should be news soon. However, it might overlap with Young Master Rubin’s journey…”

“If it were up to me, I wouldn’t worry about that.”

What did she mean?

Daemon paused to consider her words.

The current target being pursued was by no means an easy one.

The Execution Unit was an independent organization that dealt with internal issues within the Assassin Blade Family.

The fact that they had been mobilized indicated the gravity of the situation.

Faith in the Execution Unit?

Or perhaps, a belief that even if Rubin encountered that target, he would be fine?

Daemon decided to ask no further questions.

Silently, the retainer bowed. Then, to convey the Master’s will to the Imperial Edict Bureau, he vanished back into the fog.

* * *

-A carriage journey, is it? Good news. I was just starting to tire of this prison-like estate.

‘I thought I’d be riding the Granbird.’

Rubin was notified just a day before departure to take a carriage to the Tower of Light and Rebellion.

Rubin had expected his request to the Imperial Edict Bureau to be accepted without issue, but the journey by carriage was unexpected.

If it were a Granbird, they would arrive in a single day, but by carriage, it would take five days.

As the winner of the first selection, he was well within his rights to request a Granbird.

‘The schedule is going to be longer than expected. I’ll be stuck in the carriage for at least five days.’

-That’s rather sad news. Sounds like it’ll get boring.

‘There’s one way to stave off boredom.’

-Hmm? And what would that be?

‘Brion swordsmanship training. It’s a nice, undisturbed environment, after all.’

Seeing Rubin’s dedication to the Brion swordsmanship, Haneke clicked his tongue with a knowing nod.

Two weeks had passed since reuniting with Haneke.

During that time, Rubin had been secluded in the library of the Ronan estate.

Days filled with nothing but reading, with books stacked on one side.

Though he called it reading, it wasn’t swordsmanship or magic books, just trivial history books.

However, seeing this, the retainers and maids of the main house could finally accept that Rubin had won the first selection ‘with only his intellect.’

But no one in the family knew that while seated at his desk, Rubin was actually sweating profusely practicing swordsmanship.

The Ronan library was a completely isolated space. Its quiet atmosphere made it an ideal environment for training with Haneke in his inner world.

Rubin had devoted himself to the Brion swordsmanship so intensely that two weeks felt short.

Thanks to his efforts, he had reached the second form of the Brion swordsmanship.

To reach the second form within two weeks was like discovering a raw gem.

Yet, rather than indulging in teaching this tempting talent, Haneke chose to control his own greed.

In fact, after Rubin reached the second form, Haneke began to slow the pace even further.

-Let’s end here for today.

-That’ll do for now.

-Don’t rush too much.

-This should be enough for today.

In this way, he would break the flow each time.

‘Understood.’

At first, Rubin had tried to hold onto Haneke for more practice, but now he withdrew quietly.

Instead, Rubin would continue practicing the Brion swordsmanship alone in front of Haneke.

With Haneke idly watching, Rubin faced an imaginary opponent and trained on his own.

Each time he watched Rubin’s relentless focus, Haneke struggled to hide the admiration surfacing in his eyes.

-By the way, aren’t you supposed to be the Ronan Family’s successor candidate? Isn’t this a bit lax for an escort?

While performing the sixtieth repetition of the second form of Brion swordsmanship, Rubin stopped his movements and looked at Haneke.

And soon understood what Haneke meant.

Inside the carriage was only Rubin, with just one coachman and two mounted retainers in front and behind.

Just as Haneke mentioned, the escort seemed lacking for the successor of the Ronan family.

In other noble families that operated independently, it was common for them to deploy dozens of aura-wielding knights and a trustworthy mage to guard their heirs.

Despite Haneke’s concerns, Rubin remained unbothered.

‘I’m not the Ronan Family’s successor right now.’

-You mean you’re using a false identity?

‘False identities are the most basic protocol for the Assassin Blade Family’s external activities. Before departure, my direct retainer told me my role. A commoner’s son, the deranged son of a wealthy leather merchant. And supposedly, I suffer from mutism.’

The setup was a bit over the top, but it was a reasonable precaution to restrict Rubin’s actions to avoid any possible missteps.

No matter how great his potential had shown to be, Rubin was still neither on his first mission nor even initiated. He was merely a nine-year-old boy.

No matter how exceptional his talent, without the qualifications, he would not be given an opportunity. It was a fundamental rule of the Assassin Blade Family.

Instead, the two retainers at the front and rear of the carriage would handle everything on their own.

Each was not only masterful in their assigned role but was also willing to risk their lives to protect Rubin.

‘Those two are the personal guards assigned by my mother. They must be at the highest level among the retainers of the Ronan family. Breaking through them to kill me would be like taking down a fortress.’

Though he didn’t elaborate, there would be no issue with safety even at night.

Rubin’s accommodations were secured through “disguised annexes” stationed in every city they passed.

-Disguised annexes?

‘They exist. Even the Grand Marshal would be satisfied with them.’

-Hearing it like that sounds a bit mysterious.

Generally, assassins wouldn’t know which roles their colleagues were performing or where they were stationed within various cities.

In other words, during missions, they were responsible for securing their own supplies or accommodations as needed.

The disguised annexes served this purpose.

Scattered across the continent, only those with blood ties to the Assassin Blade Family knew their locations.

Only assassins on missions or those assigned to special tasks within the family could use them.

Naturally, Rubin didn’t qualify.

Yet he was allowed to use the disguised annexes as a special privilege.

A benefit reserved solely for the successor of the Ronan Family of the Assassin Blade.

‘Haneke, the Assassin Blade Family’s existence itself is a secret. Within the imperial family, only the Emperor and the Imperial Edict Bureau know about us.’

-Do you think it’s only them? There are probably more.

‘Who else?’

-The dead. Those who, like me, fought against your kind and died. They might also know the Assassin Blade Family. If, like me, their souls linger.

Rubin smirked at Haneke’s playful remark but privately thought it wasn’t entirely impossible.

He picked up the wooden sword again and resumed the second form of the Brion swordsmanship.

This was already his sixty-first repetition today.

Haneke watched him in silence.

Though it appeared as if Rubin had perfectly copied Haneke’s movements, Haneke’s keen eyes noticed something different.

The level of precision and clarity in each movement was reaching its utmost limit.

Haneke thought to himself.

‘If only this boy had been born into the Brion family…’

He dismissed it just as quickly, realizing it was a pointless thought.

When Rubin had secluded himself in the carriage and repeated the second form of Brion swordsmanship for the five-hundredth time, their party arrived at Sandniac Castle, the first checkpoint, spending their first night there safely.

The next day, the journey resumed, and on the second night, they spent the night at the disguised annex in Donerbov Castle.

By then, Rubin had repeated the second form of swordsmanship for the thousandth time.

Then, on the third night.

This time, they arrived in the city of Bolgoth Castle.

Once again, Rubin’s carriage passed through the castle gates without issue under his false identity.

“The disguised annex for tonight is the Cartographer’s House,” one of the retainers informed Rubin inside the carriage.

“…….”

Since Rubin was playing the role of a mute child, he did not respond. Instead, he made a faint scratching sound inside the carriage.

‘Why are they telling me in advance today? It’s different from yesterday and the day before.’

The retainers did not respond.

Rubin sensed something unusual in the atmosphere.

Shortly afterward, when he stepped out of the carriage,

Rubin noticed a tension in his two bodyguards he hadn’t sensed before.

And soon, he learned the reason.