Book 4-3.5
The group safely arrived at the Basara Kingdom and dropped their cargo with the guild working out of the castle.
Many merchants gathered to trade with them. With them having so much items this time, quite a lot of merchants gathered around them. The trades happened with the Basara government taking their commission.
“Will you be okay?”
Haisha approached Edwin after he completed trades for the day and asked. The attack this time was not aimed at the cargo but at Edwin. They were sure of it. Haisha was worried because Pareia’s warriors who had protected them would now need to return.
“Since I am here as a guest of the royal family, I shouldn’t need to worry about my safety. My residence will be within the castle as well so there shouldn’t be much of an issue.”
Edwin told Haisha not to worry, but Haisha could not relax.
“What if you travel with us? At least until the assassins are caught.”
“Not only do I need to sell stuff, I need to also purchase stuff before I return. That is why Runa-nim is taking good care of me after all, hahaha.”
“Even so, they were not your average assassins. I am not exaggerating when I say that no matter how bad the situation was, the fact that Shubeon was hurt that badly proves that they were very skilled.”
“Even if we managed to get through it this time, they will continue to come after me. I can’t just be afraid and not go about my duties because of it. Please don’t worry about me and return to Pareia.”
Haisha was contemplating about what to do. Right now, Edwin’s impact on Pareia was big enough for both the Glow and Runa to take such good care of him. IT was because Edwin was responsible for all foreign materials coming in and out of Pareia.
While Haisha was worrying, Thrint entered the room with a stiff expression.
“Thrint, how did it go?”
Thrint had taken Shubeon to the Basara Kigdom’s temple as Shubeon did not seem to heal after being injured at the oasis.
“The bastard that injured Shubeon. We need to catch him.”
“What the heck are you talking about?”
“There was poison on the dagger. Furthermore, the poison is pretty special that you can’t see anything on the outside. That was why our shamans did not realize it at al.”
Haisha’s expression started to become stiff as well.
“Is it dangerous?”
“No matter who it is, it would be hard for them to make it more than one month after being poisoned by it.”
As Thrint said something that made Haisha’s heart drop, Haisha started to stumble. No wonder Shubeon was looking so weak since the battle.
“Wouldn’t Tuma Takaka-nim be able to heal him?”
“It’s already been 10 days since he was poisoned. There is no way to get him to where Tuma Takaka-nim is within 20 days.”
“But we can’t just sit still like this.”
“That is why we need to catch the bastard. People who carry poison around tend to carry the antidote as well.”
“And if they don’t come?”
“They will. People with that much skill will never give up so easily after failing their mission.”
Thrint’s confident answer made Haisha nervous.
“If, by chance, they do not come, Shubeon will die. If we change pirmas as we go, we will be able to make it back in a month.”
“The man in the temple said a maximum of one month. Normal people would die within half a month when hit by that poison.”
“That is why I think we should pick the more certain option. Tuma Takaka-nim should be able to cure him.”
“I trust Tuma Takaka-nim as well, however, the priest in the temple was confident. He said the poison is very effective, and because it leaves no traces of whether you were poisoned or not, it is very difficult to find an antidote. If Shubeon can’t resist, he will die. So wouldn’t it be more certain to catch the bastard carrying the antidote?”
In the end, they were stuck between a rock and a hard place.
They didn’t have enough time to reach Tuma Takaka, but just waiting here was dangerous as well.
After hearing the two of their conversation, Edwin realized that things were pretty serious. Shubeon was one of Pareia’s important people, but beyond that, he was Edwin’s savior. He was ready to do anything to save Shubeon’s life.
“If the assassins were really aiming for me, how about we try this?”
Haisha and Thrint started to look toward Edwin as he started to speak.
The man thought things were more difficult now that they had so much protection and made it into the city.
The target must be worried as he did not give them any openings. However, the man endlessly roamed around the target to look for an opportunity. They could not fail this mission.
The peak that he had worked so hard to reach was just a step away. He could not fail after coming so far.
The man was waiting. He was waiting until the target would let down his guard. He was waiting until the dangerous warriors around the target left.
Then one day, the opportunity finally arrived. His mercenaries must have reached the end of their contract as they started to prepare to retreat.
The man had a smile of relief as he waited for them to completely leave.
A few days later, the mercenaries started to leave and Edwin was left alone. The man thought it was odd that Edwin was alone.
People who had their lives targeted found it difficult to relax. That was why they had mercenaries or security guards around them.
But Edwin was not like that. He should have plenty of money to spend on it, but he did not do that. Something was odd.
The man soon realized that it was his misunderstanding. As he paid careful attention for a couple of days, he noticed that Edwin had protection stealthily following him around.
The man let out a laugh. The security around Edwin was much weaker than the mercenaries from before. In addition, the current security force was made up of assassins.
To the man, they were like children playing around in front of their grandpa.
The man who felt like he would be able to succeed this time, called four S-grade assassins and infiltrated the castle.
The S-grade assassins took care of the guards protecting the castle that Edwin was residing in. While they stealthily kept watch outside, the man personally entered Edwin’s room to kill him.
The hallway had carpet and the door was a luxurious door that it made no noise, but even if it wasn’t the man would have made no noise as he moved. It was a skill fit for an assassin.’’
Once the man approached the bed that Edwin was sleeping in, he verified that he was sleeping before putting his hand inside his shirt. Once he took the hand back out, there was a sharp dagger clenched in his hand.
Stab.
The man was extremely uncomfortable after stabbing Edwin without any hesitation. The feeling was off. The man had killed hundreds of people with his own hands. There was no way he wouldn’t know how it would feel to stab a person in the chest.
The man urgently took the dagger out and tried to stab Edwin’s neck this time. However, Edwin’s eyes opened at that instant. The man became shocked after seeing that.
“Die!”
He was only shocked for a moment as he quickly tried to lower the dagger toward Edwin’s neck once more, however, he felt a strong pain in his ankle and felt his body falling to the side.
“You bastard, I was waiting for you.”
The man who grabbed the assassin’s neck while overflowing with a murderous aura was Thrint.
“Gaaak.”
The man tried to slash Thrint’s wrist with his dagger, however, both of his hands were instantly caught by Thrint. In the end, the man ended up choking himself with his own hands.
He tried everything he could to escape, however, the man would never be able to handle Thrint’s strength that was strong enough to freely handle two large greatswords.
He tried to even use mana to release Thrint’s hand, however, even that did not work on Thrint’s clenched hands.
“Who is it that ordered you to commit such a vile act?”
“Oooooooo~”
The man let out a moan before realizing that Thrint was as strong as a master grade individual in the continent and realized that this was the end. He felt it was unfair that things ended up like this, however, there was no way he would cause any harm to his life savor the crown prince or his subordinates before he died.
The moment the man tried to bite down on the poison inside of his mouth, Thrint grabbed the man’s cheeks with one hand so that his teeth could not clench down.
“You think we would fall the for same trick twice? Your underlings did the same thing last time and died right away that we couldn’t find anything out.”
Thrint followed up by lifting up his fist and punching the man’s face.
“Ugh~ah~.”
The man started to cry out in pain as he continued to receive Thrint’s punches.
Once the man seemed to faint, Thrint grabbed the man’s hair with his left hand while lowering the man’s chin with his right hand before slapping his cheek very hard.
Plop.
Something came out of the man’s mouth mixed with the bloody saliva. It was the man’s teeth.
“If you were a warrior, I would treat you like one, however, since you are a coward, I will treat you like one.”
“Oooooo~”
As the man let out a long moan, Thrint tied the man’s two hands before looking through his clothes.
He found seven throwing knives the size of an adult’s palm, a leather bag full of money, and nine bags that smelled like different medicinal herbs.
Thrint looked at the man’s possession before asking.
“Your dagger is smeared in poison. Which bag is the antidote to remove the poison?”
“......”
“I will ask once more. Which one is the antidote?”
“Spit.”
Maybe it was because he lost so many teeth, but it seemed pretty hard for him to even spit.
Thrint saw the blood on his chest and silently clenched the man’s hair again. He then hit the man’s face once more. The man’s remaining few teeth all fell to the floor.
Thrint asked once again.
“Which one is it?”