Dimitri stopped before a small tent. “She’s in here.”
When Dimitri parted the curtain-like opening, I saw six people inside—a frail old woman, a man, and four knights surrounding them.
Keagul Cursefit was wearing a gag that looked like it would prevent her from biting her tongue.
So this old woman’s the head of the Cursefit family? Given her advanced age, I could only imagine she’d been giving commands from a palanquin.
The man was wearing a second order uniform. His face was unusually thin and his nose too large. It was a bizarre, unique face for a Shanti. His body looked slender, yet muscular. He was probably the man who’d put a dagger to Keagul Cursefit’s throat and brought her to us.
I can’t get over that face. He certainly looks gutsy, but— Oh, hold on a second.
“How come the man’s not tied up?” I asked.
“We took his weapons away,” Dimitri told me. “He’s expecting a reward. We told him he might get one if he behaves.”
The strange man had certainly performed a great service.
“Hmm. If he tries anything, make sure to hold him back.”
“Yes, sir. As you command.”
I got closer to Cursefit. When she lifted her gagged face and glared at me, I studied her closely. “Hmmm... I wonder. Could be a body double. It’s hard to tell since I’ve never seen her.”
“You think she may be an impostor?” Dimitri asked. “I’ve met this woman and seen her face firsthand myself.”
I ignored Dimitri and addressed the old man who’d brought her. “Hey—witches can’t put all their faith in the second order, can they? When it comes to the real dirty work, they can’t trust an army. No, it has to be some pawn who’s used to getting his hands dirty. When a witch needs someone strong to rely on, it’s always a pathetic, lowdown thug.”
I didn’t overlook the way the man’s eyebrows twitched as I spoke. If it wasn’t for the impression Bronx the Breaker had left on me, I wouldn’t have noticed.
“Dimitri, there’s an assassin in this city known as the Silhouette. He’s a killer whose true identity is a mystery. Sounds like something from a novel, right?”
I continued after a short pause.
“Well, when I dealt in commerce, the assassin killed the owner of a retailer we worked with. The victim had been planning on quitting the parchment business to sell Ho paper exclusively. He’d even bought large sheets of Ho paper that other retailers weren’t interested in. He said they looked good on display in his store. He died so young...it was tragic. We made sure his family was taken care of, at least. His wife now works in an office in Suomi.”
Dimitri had, of course, realized where I was going with this. He aimed a threatening glare down at the man.
So far, the man hadn’t made his move.
“So I did a little research on this assassin known as the Silhouette,” I continued. “It’s a funny story. They used to call him the Rat Face until he started wearing a mask. As his career took off, he started to hate the name so much that he’d kill anyone who used it. People in the royal capital’s darker corners won’t even say the name aloud these days. You see what I mean, right?”
The man’s slim face combined with the big nose really was reminiscent of a rat.
Just as I finished speaking, Dimitri stepped in front of me and yelled, “Tie him up now!”
“Kreeeh!”
There was a shrill cry followed by a glint of silver that danced in my vision.
A concealed weapon? But it’s so long. With Dimitri standing in front of me, it was hard to tell what the shiny object was or how the man was wielding it.
There was another flash of silver, followed by the sound of metal scraping against metal—ka-shing!
He’d somehow concealed a weapon with a blade made from a flexible iron ribbon—probably from within his belt.
“Kreeeeeeh!”
But his weapon had a weakness—he had to swing it around like a chain as he fought. With each swing, his arm had to move through a sizable windup. The advantage of his weapon was that a single swing could target all five people around him at once, but it was too slow for a fight one-on-one.
The four knights around him held spears, while Dimitri had drawn a dagger. Dimitri was poised, ready to lunge at the assassin the moment he tried to get his limp sword into position for the next swing. It was obvious who’d strike first.
If I was the rat’s target, he couldn’t waste another moment on Dimitri. He dropped the strange weapon he’d been holding, leaped into the air, and hit Dimitri with a flying kick.
“Nguh!”
The man made contact with Dimitri’s head. Though it seemed that Dimitri had been hit hard, he somehow managed to drop his dagger and catch the man’s ankle with both hands.
“Hngh!” Dimitri curled his back and turned, tossing the rat in the style of a judo throw.
I stepped aside as the rat came flying at me. He’d been thrown so powerfully that he bounced when he hit the ground.
Dimitri grasped the man’s ankle again and watched him closely. The rat tried to rise, but his entire body simply trembled—likely the result of a concussion.
Dimitri had proved himself. The way he’d dropped his dagger to perform the throw demonstrated quick thinking.
“Should I kill him?” Dimitri asked.
“Strip him and tie him up.”
If he was willing to testify, we could potentially execute a few extra witches. Alternatively, we could publicly execute him in the city later to appease its residents.
“Mmh. Understood.” Dimitri sounded dissatisfied, but he released his grip.
The rat was still dangerous. We’d be in trouble if he got up. I recollected all the suffering he’d put Starsha through, then kicked the trembling rat in the head as hard as I could. His head rose from the ground, then dropped back down limp. With a twitch, he stopped moving completely.
Damn, did I just kill him?
Dimitri had the same thought. “Is he...dead?” He didn’t sound happy about it—probably because he’d wanted to kill the rat himself.
“He’s probably still alive. If he’s not, it doesn’t really matter.”
“Very well.” Dimitri didn’t seem overly concerned either.
“The question is what to do with the body double.” I looked at the old woman who was still staring at me with the gag in her mouth.
“I’m terribly sorry. I should’ve known it wasn’t her.”
“No, it’s fine. Actually, maybe it is her.”
“Could it be...?” Dimitri appeared to doubt the idea.
“I’m just saying it’s possible. The second order has no way of winning. It makes sense that a witch might come to me with one of her trusted assassins hoping for an opportunity to kill me. If they’re going to be captured after their defeat anyway, it looks like a good deal.”
“Ah... Yes, you’re right. But would a witch really have the backbone for such an attempt?”
“I’m just speculating. In any case, I’ll take care of her. Encourage the second order to surrender. A victory by nightfall might be quick, but not quick enough.”
Once night arrived, we’d have a hard time stopping witches from escaping the royal capital under the cover of darkness. I wanted the second order to surrender while there was still light so that we could position our soldiers to block all ways out of the city.
“Yes, sir! I’ll get right on it.”
“Counting on you.”
Now I needed to find Myalo.