II: Assassins and a Maid
NUMEROUS assassins from various regions were congregating in Farune’s capital; Eyland had spared no expense hiring them. Ten thousand gold coins awaited whoever managed to kidnap one of King Mars’s children successfully, and even if they killed their target, they would still be paid five thousand. It was an unprecedented reward, even considering that the targets were royalty.
In times of peace, the Hundred and the Mages’ Guild were stationed in Farune’s royal castle, so it was simply impossible to sneak in, but it was currently the middle of a war with the fate of the country at stake. The only ones left in the castle were the Blue Knights, led by Captain Bledd, and Third Princess Cassandra. Needless to say, Eyland’s hired assassins were members of the criminal underworld, and absolute experts at gathering information, so they had a good idea as to exactly how difficult this job would be.
Their greatest obstacle would be the Blue Knights, but the assassins had largely judged that they would be no different from the average knightly order. After all, the only accomplishment the Blue Knights had to their name was being trounced by Farune’s current second princess, Carmilla, when she had stormed into the castle to confront the king. Although Carmilla—known as the Frenzied Princess—was quite powerful, the fact that she had broken through their security all on her own was enough to indicate the Blue Knights’ limits. Still, they were one of the infamous Farune’s knightly orders, so they must have had some degree of strength.
The next anticipated obstacle was Third Princess Cassandra, who looked to be the one remaining princess consort in the castle. She was the victor of the Consort Selection Tournament, a novel way of choosing a new princess that had shocked the surrounding countries. As it happened, Cassandra was also a superhuman who had won the tournament empty-handed, without even touching a weapon.
She was an unknown quantity, and the assassins didn’t want to face her if at all possible. But they also thought that as long as they didn’t target her daughter, Hilda, there would be no problem. After all, Hilda was third in the line of succession, and with how things were now, there was no way she would ever end up on the throne. It would be in Cassandra’s best interest if the first in line, Arthur, or the second in line, Leon, were out of the picture. So, the assassins judged that as long as they didn’t do anything to her daughter, Cassandra wouldn’t go out of her way to act against them.
Incidentally, the several dozen assassins had decided to join forces. They were natural competitors, but they were all there under the same directive from Eyland, so they had chosen to split the enormous reward and increase the odds of success for either a kidnapping or an assassination.
And that was why several people, all clothed in black, were currently approaching Farune’s royal castle under the cover of darkness. Needless to say, they didn’t pass through the front gate, which had security fortified by the Blue Knights. Instead, one assassin who had infiltrated the castle as a servant dangled a rope from a window and let the others in.
“Over here,” the disguised assassin said, showing his fellows the way. “The brats are in an inner room. I don’t know what the security’s like because only a select few people ever go over there, but the area’s pretty deserted, so it should be light.”
The assassins proceeded carefully, taking cover in the shadows of pillars. Luckily, there were only a few Blue Knights on guard, and it was easy for the assassins to evade their gazes.
Piece of cake, most of the assassins thought. Farune was always on the offensive, so its defenders probably never thought they’d be the ones getting attacked. The assassins got the feeling that the country’s lax security was due to arrogance.
The castle wasn’t very large, so the assassins made it to the door that led to the inner rooms surprisingly easily. For some reason, there was no one on guard. They felt that something was slightly off. The door was locked—had the Farunians thought that they didn’t need to place anyone out front because the door was locked? The assassins were all veterans at something as easy as lockpicking, and it didn’t take them much time to unlock the door. They coated the hinges in oil to keep the door from making any noise, then opened it, slowly but surely. When they had the bare minimum amount of space, the assassins smoothly slipped inside, one after the other.
The room was large. But the rough, bare stone walls and floors were more reminiscent of a training ground than the living quarters of a castle.
Inside, there was someone waiting for them. It was a woman, clad in a black dress and a white apron. At first glance, she seemed to be a maid. But she was also wearing two intersecting shortswords on her lower back. Behind her, a door led even deeper inside; that was probably the wing that housed King Mars’s wives and children.
“It makes me sad,” the maid said with a sigh. “Whenever I see fools sneaking into Farune, I remember my old self and I feel sad. My old, foolish self…”
One of the assassins threw a knife at the maid, giving no heed to her mutterings. The weapon flew toward her throat with perfect accuracy. But she caught it with just two fingers.
“I see you made sure to coat it with poison,” she said, feeling something slimy on the blade. “You’re wasting your time with that here.” She grabbed the handle of the knife, then flung it back at the assassin who had thrown it, at more than twice its original speed.
“Gah…” The knife was so fast the assassin couldn’t dodge it, and it pierced his neck, killing him instantly.
The other assassins quickly recognized the maid as a threat, and quietly set on her like shadows, making no unnecessary movements. Four of them targeted the maid from her front, back, left, and right in perfect sync. Their coordination seemed flawless, but the maid swiftly stepped forward, drew her two shortswords in the blink of an eye, and attacked the assassin in front of her with a spinning slash. Using the momentum from her first strike, she let loose a low backward roundhouse kick on the three assassins to her rear. Her pale, slender leg flashed through a slit in her dress.