Chapter 22

Fallen Leaves (1)

Squeak! Squeeeak!

The rats were thrown into a panic by the arrival of a massive unwelcome guest in the sewers.
A man dressed in shadow-like dark clothes, his face hidden just as darkly.

Without caring in the slightest about the filth soaking his leather shoes, he walked through the foul sewer as though it were his own home.

Splash! Splash!

Past the narrow alleyways.
Into the deep waterway.
Then past another bend leading through the purification tank.

Ruuumble ....

Before he knew it, a towering iron door of unknown origin stood before him.

The man silently stared at it before slipping something into a small gap in the door.

A gold coin engraved with the face of the Imperial Emperor, Yulkes I.

It was a fortune commoners would never even glimpse in their entire lives.

Clank.

A small slot in the iron door opened, and from within, two pitch-black eyes appeared.

"What business?"

A short question.

As if accustomed to it, the man spoke toward the eyes in the slot.

"A request."
"The target?"
"A guest staying at the Paul wyvern estate."

After the brief exchange—

Rattle.

With the sound of locks disengaging, the heavy iron door slowly opened its maw toward the man.

Ruuumble ....

And from within appeared a tiny man who barely reached the visitor's waist.

The owner of the eyes from the slot.

A hunchback bent nearly in half at the waist.

"Use it in three minutes."

The hunchback held out a single scroll toward him.

A teleportation scroll.

The gold coin the man had handed over was not the commission fee, but payment for this scroll.

"...."

When he looked back again, the hunchback had already vanished without a trace.

Following the instructions, he waited three minutes before tearing the scroll and closing his eyes.

One of the conditions of commissions from "Fallen Leaves" was that even the client must not see their faces.

Soon, a voice echoed before the man.

"There are two targets. They are currently under Lady Laia's protection."

It was a youthful voice impossible to distinguish as male or female.

Yet the man showed no surprise at hearing the voice of a child.

There was no guarantee that voice even belonged to the real speaker in the first place.

"You will need to avoid the surveillance of the knight order, and combat is possible as well. Additional fees will be required."
"Fine. I'll pay."

The man pulled something from his coat and dropped it before himself.

"This is...!"
"An item that cannot be made or obtained unless one belongs to the Imperial Family."

A transparent bottle filled with crimson liquid.

As though confirming what it was, the voice trembled briefly.

"If you complete the job, I'll give you ten more."

At those words, the voice fell silent for a moment before speaking again.

"... Three operatives will be deployed. One will kill the maid. The other two will assassinate the target himself."

At those words, Sanchez frowned.

For Fallen Leaves to deploy more than three members meant the mission was considered highly important.

'Just what kind of medicine is this to move even them...?'

The Empire's miraculous elixir that had captivated his lord, Helian.

Anxiety and curiosity rose within him at the same time, but he did not think any further.

That medicine was both Helian's treasure and another reverse scale.

Carelessly touching it could easily earn him Helian's displeasure.

"An assassination?"

Laia asked with a strange expression, and I replied,

"Exactly that. I ruined their plans, trampled their dignity, and rejected their proposal. There's no reason for them to keep me alive, is there?"

After hearing that, she seemed to understand, but not all of her doubts had disappeared.

"I understand it's dangerous, but how can you be so certain?"
"I have my own information network."

I said it with as much swagger as possible.

'If I said a ghost told me, they'd just call me insane. And even if they believed me, I'd probably get dragged back to the Order.'

Thinking of the terrible reputation that still clung to me, I inwardly sighed.

"Then who exactly is targeting you, Young Master?"

Gordon's question prompted Laia to join in.

"Exactly. Someone of your skill with the sword wouldn't be threatened by any ordinary organization."

Looking at them, I shared the information Banshee had told me.

If I explained everything in detail, I'd only expose myself, so I focused on keywords. Short and concise.

"Fallen Leaves."
"....!"

The moment that name was spoken, Gordon's eyes widened.

"Huh? Wait, you actually know them?"

If even Paul wyvern's Knight Commander was wary of them, then they were an even bigger force than I'd expected.

"How did those western bastards make it all the way here...?"
"There were rumors that Lady Helian secretly supported them. Seems they were true."

At Gordon's words, Laia clicked her tongue harshly.

'Looks like they consider this troublesome too. I can use that.'

After roughly piecing together information from their reactions, I smiled at them.

"Then let's make a deal."

The moment I said that, Laia seemed to grasp what I meant and nodded.

"Understood. We will guarantee your safety. In exchange—"
"No, not that kind of deal."

Join forces with Laia and the conservative faction of Paul wyvern to keep Helian in check.

Considering the current state of Leinrant, it was not a bad proposal.

'But if things go that way, the same dilemma Helian faces will appear again.'

If they bled for my safety, then eventually the initiative would belong not to me, but to Laia.

And if that happened, I would be forced to move according to their wishes.

But my goal was the opposite.

Just as Helian manipulated Leinrant's branch family—

I, too, needed to control Paul wyvern's conservative faction according to my will.

"On the condition that I cooperate with you, I demand the return of Leinrant's farmlands that became property of Paul wyvern."

"W-What...?!"

The one shocked by my words was not Laia, but Gordon.

Some of the territories Helian had acquired were registered not under her own name, but under the name of House Paul wyvern.

'With Laia's influence as part of the ducal faction, she should be able to push through at least this much.'

While I was thinking that—

Laia, her expression stiffened, asked me,

"You don't need protection?"
"Yes. If I die, this deal never happens. You lose nothing."

At those words, one of Laia's eyebrows rose.

"Let's say you somehow survive Fallen Leaves."

Her voice dripped with disbelief.

"In exchange for returning the farmlands, what exactly do you intend to offer?"
"Information extracted from a captured Fallen Leaves operative."

At that, Laia's face twisted.

"Captured? Fallen Leaves?"
"Yes."

I answered without even a flicker in my expression, and Laia questioned me again.

"Do you even understand what kind of organization Fallen Leaves is?"
"Well. Enough to know that even the descendants of Dragon Slayers are wary of them?"

I smiled faintly as I provoked them, causing the nearby knights to flinch.

"You're even more reckless than I thought. Fallen Leaves isn't some gang of nobodies! They're—!"
"And on top of that."

I cut off Laia's attempt to stop me and continued.

The most important thing in an alliance is the balance of power between both sides.
To drag an opponent who held superiority over us down to the same level, I needed to be the one presenting the first bargaining chip—not them.

Something overwhelming enough to shatter their expectations and seize control of this negotiation.

"I'll kill Hector while disguised as someone from the Empire."

The moment I revealed the card I had prepared, Laia asked back in disbelief.

"... What did you just say?"
"I said I'll kill Hector for you."

To declare that I would kill the heir of House Paul wyvern.

Right in front of Laia, a member of that very ducal house.

And moreover, to say such a thing to a knight—it went without saying how dangerous that was.

"Isn't it the most effective way to damage Helian under the current circumstances?"

The easiest way for the second-in-command to rise to the top is to kill the first.

If the succession structure of House Paul wyvern became unstable, chaos would inevitably descend upon the ducal faction led by Helian.

"I think shaking up the board is better than dragging out a hopeless stalemate like this."

Beside Laia, Gordon nodded as he listened to me.

"A murder committed by an outsider—and one disguised as an Imperial agent at that. If successful, it could damage the alliance between Helian and the Empire as well..."
"...!"

At Gordon's explanation, Laia clenched her fist.

Though they were half-siblings, Hector was still someone she had been born and raised alongside within the same family.

For someone so young, the burden of deciding his death was surely immense.

"My Lady. Painful as it may be, the time has come for you to make a decision."

A girl forced to bear far too heavy a burden at far too young an age.

Even as Gordon looked at Laia with pity, he did not hold back his counsel.

"...."

After some time passed—

"Can you take responsibility for this?"

Laia looked directly at me as she asked.

Just as Dunkel had once done before me, I clenched my fist and placed it over the left side of my chest.

"On the honor of Leinrant."

Honor.

I said the word aloud, but in truth, it carried little weight for me.

After all, I was a Necromancer, not a knight.

I only used those words because they seemed the most effective way to persuade a Knight Commander like her.

While inwardly laughing at myself—

Laia was the first to break the silence.

"Fine."

After speaking, Laia rose from her seat and extended her hand toward me.

"Young Master Klein Leinrant. I accept the deal."

Hearing that, I smiled and clasped her hand.

The second son of Leinrant and the second daughter of Paul wyvern.

Two people pushed aside in a struggle for power had joined hands for the first time.

—The situation is worse than I expected.

Deep into the night.

Even at such an hour, the city of Paul wyvern in the distance showed no signs of its lights going out.

After looking at Arin sleeping peacefully without a care in the world, I stepped onto the balcony at the voice echoing through my mind.

"I agree. I didn't think things would be this much of a disaster either."

As I responded to Rudel's lament, a blood-red piece of wood rested in my hand.

It was the item Banshee had given me after revealing the assassination plot against me.

"I thought she was just a monster obsessed with power, but to think she'd fall this far..."

I gritted my teeth as I looked at the wooden fragment in my hand.

"Purity is around fifty percent. To refine it this cleanly, ordinary materials would never suffice."

—Then this is...?

"They used living humans as ingredients."

A pounding headache surged through me.

The source of the pain was not me, but the soul of Rudel, who was mentally connected to me.

—I raised her wrong.... I raised her wrong....

An overwhelming wave of bitter regret flooded into my mind.

To witness one's own daughter become such a grotesque monster—

I could not even begin to imagine what that must feel like for a father.

'At least we discovered it before the finished product was completed.'

I tightened my grip around the wooden fragment, and the blackened piece crumbled into ashes that scattered into the wind.

"To think they dared use my research for something this vile."

Ignoring the ashes entirely, I stared at the Imperial flag hanging from one of the villas and ground my teeth together.

"Imperial Emperor. Don't think you'll die peacefully."

After saying that, I prepared to head outside.

According to Banshee, the attackers were stationed roughly thirty minutes away from here.

And proper preparations were necessary to welcome guests who had come from so far away.