Surviving as the Emperor's Assassin

Chapter 2. I Ran Away.

To make matters worse, the sound of the pursuers' footsteps echoed from afar.

It was obvious that if I stayed here, I would be caught by them and suffer a terrible fate.

I desperately wanted to escape, but it didn't seem like the old man before me would just stand by and watch me flee.

As I hesitated, unable to move either way, the old man suddenly uttered unexpected words.

“We can't talk comfortably here. Follow me.”

“Pardon?”

What did this person just say?

“Do you want to be caught by those bastards?”

“N-No! Of course not!”

It was somewhat bewildering that the man who was trying to kill me just moments ago now wanted to talk, but it was far better than having my neck cut off or being captured by the pursuers.

I quickly got up and followed the old man who was walking away with long strides.

The place the old man led me to was a dark and smelly sewer.

It wasn't a pleasant place, but I was in no position to complain.

Relying on a faint torchlight, we entered the sewer.

* * *

“Your name?”

“It’s Yoo Seung-Jae.”

Just stating my name, yet my voice trembled.

Because I was in front of a man who could kill me right away.

I had to watch my words.

“That’s an unusual name.”

Is it?

I belatedly realized that the language the old man and I were speaking wasn't Korean either.

I hadn't had the chance to look around while frantically running away, but even at a glance, the scenery wasn't Korean.

My current appearance was close to that of a Westerner, and the old man in front of me was the same.

‘Abroad? No…….’

Once I felt the sense of unease, there wasn't just one or two things that bothered me.

The people chasing me were armed not with guns, but with spears and swords.

There wasn't a single common streetlight on the street, and entering the sewer, we used a torch instead of a flashlight.

Moreover, there was the word ‘Emperor’ that I kept hearing.

“Where on earth is this place……?”

“Where else, but a sewer.”

“That wasn't what I meant……”

Just as I was pondering how to phrase my question so the old man would understand correctly.

Slosh-

At the sound coming from afar, my body flinched reflexively.

It sounded like someone walking with shoes soaked in water.

‘Did the pursuers follow us this far?!’

Tense, I turned towards the direction the sound came from.

I braced myself to jump into the smelly sewage if it seemed dangerous, but thankfully, there was no need.

It was rats.

“Wh-What are those?!”

“Just rats. Is it such a big deal for rats to roam a sewer?”

“‘Just’ rats……?”

Was it okay to dismiss those things—as big as humans and walking bipedally on their hind legs—with a single word like 'rats'?

Furthermore, it wasn't just one or two.

The eyes of the swarming rats were chilling.

“Is this the first time you've seen a rat?”

“The rats I know don't look like that! Aren't they practically monsters?!”

“The rats have indeed gotten plump. I heard they deploy mercenaries about once a month to clean up, but it seems those mercenary bastards aren't doing their jobs properly.”

The old man muttered in an irritated tone.

Like someone cursing public officials upon seeing trash rolling around on the street.

Screeeech-!! Screee-!!

Suddenly, the rats started screeching.

The sharp noise echoed inside the sewer.

“Those things, they look like they're going to attack us?!”

“That’s unlikely. That's a reaction of fear.”

This was the first time I saw those things.

I had no choice but to believe the old man's words.

But it was a bit strange.

Those things were scared? Of ‘what’?

There was no need to voice the question.

The ‘answer’ popped out right before my eyes.

Whoosh-

Suddenly, the sewage water surged upwards.

No.

What surged up was something that had been holding its breath, hidden in the channel.

Vertically slit pupils.

A forked tongue.

A giant snake had its mouth wide open.

It couldn't be compared to an anaconda or the like.

Its head alone was close to the size of a small car.

Moreover, sharp horns protruded from various spots on its head, doubling its menace.

‘Danger-’

A premonition of death surged, just like when the old man's sword was pointed at me.

Slice.

Huh.

The severed head of the snake fell into the channel and sank.

The headless body of the snake thrashed about, splashing dirty water everywhere.

Despite its threatening appearance, its exit was anticlimactic.

“Even snakes? The sewers are part of the Imperial Capital too. The management is a mess.”

The old man, who had beheaded the snake, was nonchalant as if nothing had happened.

“So, are you going to say this is the first time you've seen a snake too?”

“……”

I had never even heard of, let alone seen, a giant horned snake like that.

At the very least, these were monsters that didn't exist on Earth.

There was plenty of other evidence, but seeing the bizarre rats and snakes made it certain.

This isn't Earth.

“It’s my first time. Seeing one.”

“Hoh? First time seeing both rats and snakes? Were you locked up in some mansion your whole life?”

I spoke honestly.

“You probably won't believe me, but I originally lived in a world different from this place.”

“A different world, you say?”

“Yes. A world where monsters like those don't exist.”

“Is that so.”

Surprisingly, the old man seemed to understand easily.

I thought he was a crazy old man. Seems he hadn't aged in vain.

“That's not a very important story.”

No. He really was just a crazy old man.

“It is important! I'm telling you I came from another world?!”

“Where you came from, what kind of person you are, even if you're not human, what does it matter? You assassinated the Emperor. They'll cut the tendons in your limbs, put a leash around your neck, drag you twelve laps around the Imperial Capital, then hang you on the castle gate as an example until the Empire falls.”

The old man casually spat out horrifying words.

Hearing that, I understood why the old man said my origin didn't matter.

Even if I said I was a human from another world, it wasn't a situation where they would spare me.

Those filled with anger wouldn't even listen to what I had to say.

“What's far more important is why this situation occurred. The fact that you happened to possess that body precisely at the moment the Emperor was killed is hard to see as a coincidence.”

A strange silence flowed.

The old man seemed to have much to think about, occasionally letting out a groan and tapping the hilt of his sword.

“Only black magic could make something like this possible, but black magic surprisingly has many restrictions. Swapping souls cannot be a simple magic. It's impossible to forcibly use it on someone rampaging inside the Imperial Palace.”

“Could you please explain it so I can understand?”

It seemed the situation had roughly cleared up in the old man's head.

But to me, talk about black magic doing whatever sounded like grasping at clouds.

“I must assume he abandoned that body of his own will. Like a lizard shedding its tail.”

“Eh. Um. Abandoning a body, does that even make sense?”

“And you being inside someone else's body makes sense?”

He had a point there.

I couldn't find words to refute his perfect logic.

“He probably prepared a new body. After the original body was executed as the culprit, he likely intended to operate freely as a person unrelated to the Emperor's assassination.”

The old man calmly continued his explanation.

“However, I cannot be certain whether he intended for your soul to enter that body. It might have been necessary for the process of transferring the soul to another body, or perhaps it was just a simple accident, or maybe you were a sacrifice meant to buy time.”

“……The last one sounds the most plausible.”

They say a lizard's tail continues to wriggle for quite some time even after being severed.

To attract the pursuing predator's attention.

If he prepared enough to switch bodies, he would have likely prepared to make full use of the leftover body as well.

“This is kind of, angering.”

Killing someone, then framing a complete stranger as the culprit to get away with it.

It was a notion devoid of conscience.

The fact that it was planned, not done impulsively under extreme duress, made the crime even worse.

“So what are you going to do? What can you do? You're the one who should be worrying about getting caught and killed if you wander outside like this.”

“……”

Damn old geezer.

Attacking cowardly with facts.

“To think that blessed body became the possession of such a fool.”

When I couldn't answer properly, the old man clicked his tongue.

My anger was one thing, but realistically, there wasn't much I could do.

I was in a situation where I had to worry about surviving the moment.

“……By the way, how far are we going?”

It had been a while since we entered the sewer.

He said he was looking for a place to talk, but the old man showed no signs of stopping.

“Outside the Imperial Capital.”

“Pardon?”

“This sewer leads outside the Imperial Capital. This way, you should be able to escape without being caught.”

The old man replied calmly.

So, does that mean…… he's letting me go?

“Is that, alright?”

No matter how ignorant I was of the situation here, I knew that the Emperor's death wasn't something that could be taken lightly.

If the old man helped the culprit escape, he would surely be implicated as an accomplice and suffer hardship.

“It's not alright. It will likely become quite troublesome.”

The old man let out a dry laugh.

This didn't seem like something to laugh about.

“But since the responsibility for failing to prevent the Emperor's death is bound to fall on me anyway. Letting the culprit escape won't make things much worse.”

“……”

He said that, but there was no way things wouldn't get worse.

However, being a weak human, I felt relieved at the hope of escape.

I couldn't bring myself to stop the old man who was willing to sacrifice himself for me.

“This is the punishment for poorly teaching my disciple. You need not concern yourself. I cannot stand by and watch an innocent person die because of what my disciple did.”

The old man spoke as if he had read my mind.

His way of thinking was upright to the point of seeming foolish.

Completely different from his disciple, ‘Luke’ or whatever his name was, who tried to use others like tools.

Though, it would be nice if he spoke a bit more kindly.

“Perhaps it would be better if you escaped together……”

“I cannot do that. Someone must take responsibility.”

It was the best alternative I could squeeze out, but the old man shook his head without hesitation.

* * *

“We've arrived.”

Before I knew it, we had reached the end of the sewer.

A waterway flowing out into a river.

As the old man had said, there seemed to be no watchful eyes around here.

“I'm letting you go like this, so if you get caught pointlessly, I won't let you off easy.”

The old man's tone was cold, but I could tell his words were out of concern for me.

He seemed somewhat like a grandfather worrying about his grandson.

Was he always this affectionate towards everyone, or was it because I was in his disciple's body that his feelings for his disciple were surfacing?

I had no way of knowing.

After even handing me a pouch filled with money, the old man gestured for me to hurry and go.

“……I hope we meet again someday.”

The words wishing him safety wouldn't come out of my mouth.

Because I knew the old man would face trouble. Saying such things while pretending not to know and running away would just be deceitful.

“Alright. Hurry up and go.”

The old man stood there motionlessly.

Leaving the old man behind, I took heavy steps forward.