Chapter 23

Fallen Leaves (2)

"Target confirmed."
"Good. Begin pursuit."

Deep into the night.

The moment the clouds swallowed the moon, the hidden members of Fallen Leaves rose from the shadows.

Assassins clad in black hoods.

One remained behind to kill the maid in the annex, while the others observed Klein walking through the night streets.

"Review the target information."
"The target is Young Master Klein. His swordsmanship is on par with a Knight Commander, but he possesses no mana."
"Then it'll be easier to wear him down from long range. What about the other one?"
"Nothing special. Just an ordinary maid. However..."

The Fallen Leaves assassin trailing Klein while continuing the briefing hesitated mid-sentence.

"However what?"
"It's just..."

After pausing in thought for a moment, the assassin spoke suspiciously.

"There's no identity record."
"... No record? What does that mean?"

At his companion's question, he continued as though he himself found it unbelievable.

"Exactly what I said. We searched the organization's entire intelligence network, but there's no matching identity information."

No birthplace. No parents. Nothing.

At those words, the hooded assassin fell silent for a moment.

Fallen Leaves was an underground organization whose reach extended across the entire continent.

Their intelligence network had compiled personal information on nearly every person across the continent.

Even if an illegitimate child with no name were abandoned in the middle of the sea, Fallen Leaves could still locate and kill both the mother and father through their information network.

And a well-known city like the Leinrant territory?

They would have records down to every last rat.

Yet there was nothing?

"She's a maid Young Master Klein brought from a reformatory when he was seven years old. Other than that, there's absolutely no information."
"Then..."
"Yeah."

The masked assassin slowly opened his mouth.

"That maid is literally someone who appeared out of thin air."

As they spoke, the two suddenly snapped back to attention upon seeing Klein disappear around a street corner.

"Should we investigate further?"
"No. There's no need."

There were uncertain elements, but the contract had already been accepted.

If they hesitated over trivial details like this, they would have no face left to show their comrades at headquarters.

Besides, when they thought about that item they would receive as payment...

"Even if there's no information, she's still just an ordinary maid with no mana whatsoever."
"Then..."
"We kill her. Delphin is reliable enough for that."

The most skilled among them.

That was why Delphin would finish the target quickly and become the reserve force in case of unforeseen circumstances.

"The target stopped!"

In the meantime, Klein had reached an abandoned clearing and stopped there.

The perfect location for an assassination.

Yet rather than rejoice, the Fallen Leaves assassins carefully scanned the surroundings with suspicion.

"What is this? Why would he stop in a place like—"

The moment one of them muttered that—

"I thought dozens would come. But the headcount's lower than expected."

Klein raised his voice directly toward their hiding place.

A longsword was already in his hand.

"He noticed us?!"
"When did he—?!"

Startled by the unexpected situation, the two Fallen Leaves assassins simultaneously threw concealed weapons.

Clang—!

But the hidden weapons were intercepted by Klein's sword before they could even touch him, falling uselessly to the ground with metallic clatters.

"That's a rather noisy greeting."

Klein glanced at the concealed weapons embedded in the dirt and smirked.

'Now that our position's exposed, there's no point staying hidden any longer!'
'I'll distract him. You strike from behind.'

After exchanging signals, one of the Fallen Leaves assassins stepped out before Klein.

'No traps. No ambushes. Does he really think he can kill the two of us alone?'

The thought stirred irritation within him.

Both of his hands already held concealed weapons and tools coated in deadly poison.

If he wished, he could end Klein's life in an instant.

"Judging by this, I don't even need to ask who sent you."

Drawing his sword, Klein sneered at them as though bored.

"Looks like neither side has much to say, so shall we finish this quickly?"

It sounded like a declaration of war.

Hearing that, a deep sneer spread across the assassin's lips.

"You would've been better off dying without knowing anything—!"
"Much more peacefully!"

The moment they spoke—

Their figures vanished.

"Oh? Assassins use footwork techniques these days too?"

In a situation where attacks could come from anywhere—

Klein Leinrant instead watched their movements with fascinated eyes, as though entertained.

'The information wasn't exaggerated. He's reading my movements.'

Mana. Presence. Killing intent.

Even swordsmen and mages could not detect Fallen Leaves assassins so easily.

Yet Klein Leinrant's eyes tracked both assassins without the slightest disturbance.

Kiiiiiiing—!

The next instant, one of the vanished assassins lunged forward, stabbing with a dagger.

At the same time, the other attacked from behind with concealed weapons.

An attack from both front and rear simultaneously.

'No matter which one he blocks—'
'He's finished!'

At that very moment, the assassin holding the dagger saw Klein's sword slashing toward him.

'Good. He's focused on me!'

Klein's sword strike came straight from the front.

The assassin twisted his body to dodge the blade—

Clang!

A metallic explosion rang out as the concealed weapons were deflected upward into the air.

Impossible.

Klein had swung at him directly, meaning his back should have been completely exposed.

Yet when the assassin looked again, Klein had his back turned toward him while striking the concealed weapons upward behind himself.

"Phantom Sword's more useful than I expected."

Klein said it with a grin before instantly charging the dagger-wielding assassin.

"Ghk?!"

Klein's footwork exploded forward as he closed the distance in an instant.

The trajectory was a thrust.

"As if this is enough!"

The assassin moved to knock aside the incoming sword—

Then suddenly recalled what had happened moments earlier.

'It looked like he attacked the front, but he defended behind himself instead. In that case—!'

Realizing that, the assassin immediately twisted sideways and hurled his dagger.

Clang—!

As expected.

Though it had appeared to be a thrust, Klein's blade changed direction at the last moment toward the side.

"So you rely on cheap tricks!"

Grinding his teeth, the assassin spat those words out.

But Klein merely shrugged.

"An assassin lecturing a swordsman about tricks?"

Yet while hearing that, the assassin who had thrown away his dagger smiled victoriously.

"Right. This is what you call a real trick."

At those words, the Fallen Leaves assassin's figure vanished before Klein's eyes.

"With this!"

The instant he disappeared, the other assassin, who had already finished preparing, pulled the wire.

Fwooshwooshwoosh—!

While one kept Klein occupied, the other had secretly installed fixed crossbows throughout the area.

Eight crossbows positioned from different directions simultaneously unleashed quarrels toward Klein.

The target's attention had already been diverted by the previous attack.

No matter how skilled a swordsman was, there was no way to withstand an unending barrage from long range!

BOOOOM—!

The immense tension behind the crossbows did not merely drive the bolts into the ground—they tore up entire sections of stone tiles upon impact.

A thick cloud of smoke rose alongside a deafening explosion.

Seeing it, the two Fallen Leaves assassins finally let out relieved sighs.

"No matter how strong a knight is, nobody survives that."

Eight crossbow bolts capable of piercing through an entire war shield.

Even a high-ranking swordsman could not possibly survive such an assault.

"He was more troublesome than expected."
"Seriously."

The assassin who had been setting up the crossbows spoke as the mission seemed to conclude.

"But now, we'll finally obtain the 'Sacred Blood,' something no member of Fallen Leaves has ever earned before."

Sacred Blood.

At that name, the other assassin nodded and rolled back his sleeve to inspect his arm.

A communication spell engraved like a tattoo.

It connected him to the comrade assigned to kill the maid.

"Good."

After seeing new text appear, the assassin nodded.

"Looks like that side's finished too. The rendezvous point is—"

But the assassin abruptly froze mid-sentence.

"What? What is it?"
"... It's not a signal. A message came through."
"A message?"

At those words, the dagger-wielding assassin's voice grew uneasy.

The most important aspect of Fallen Leaves missions was secrecy.

Communication magic was never to be used unless absolutely necessary...

"What did it say?"
"T-That's..."

Just as the assassin hesitated—

"What, something go wrong?"

A man's voice echoed from the center of the devastated clearing.

A voice that absolutely should not have been heard.

"Man, this sucks. I only had one set of clothes too. Totally ruined them."

An attack powerful enough to tear apart an ordinary human dozens of times over.

Yet Young Master Klein casually walked out of the smoke, brushing dust from his clothes without a single injury.

"K-Klein Leinrant?!"
"How are you...?!"

"How am I fine?"

Klein cut them off with a broad smile before they could even finish asking.

The eight quarrels that had flown toward him.

It had been a threatening setup and a solid plan.

Unfortunately for them, he had already dealt with attacks like this before.

"I've gotten pretty good at blocking crossbows lately."

As he spoke, something slowly emerged from the thick smoke behind him.

Step. Step.

"T-That is...?"

A Skeleton with blackened bones, smoke rising from its body.

It appeared to have blocked the quarrels with its own frame, parts of its body shattered and dangling loosely.

"A Skeleton?!"
"Necromancy?! That's impossible...!"

Realizing something had gone terribly wrong, the Fallen Leaves assassins frantically looked around.

Sssssss—

Meanwhile, the Skeleton's damaged body slowly began restoring itself to its original form.

"Damn it...!"

Despair filled one assassin's voice as he scanned the surroundings.

The escape routes they had previously scouted out—the alleys, rooftops, every possible path—

Skeletons had appeared on all of them, bows aimed directly at the assassins.

"The easiest way to deal with assassins is to surround them in an open field."

Satisfied by the successful outcome of his experiment, Klein smiled.

Using himself as bait to force the enemy to reveal all their cards, then crushing them with superior numbers.

It was a new combat method combining his swordsmanship and Necromancy.

"Damn it, if this keeps up then—!"

Grinding his teeth, one assassin reached into his coat.

Twang—!

An arrow shot from a rooftop instantly grazed past his wrist.

It avoided the artery perfectly while striking right beside it.

Accuracy comparable to an elite military sharpshooter.

"AAAGH?!"

Unable to endure the pain, the assassin screamed as the object in his hand fell to the ground.

A suicide bomb rolled across the dirt.

"You shouldn't try killing yourself in front of a Necromancer."

Clatterrrr—!

Ten Skeletons simultaneously raised swords toward the assassins, while the others surrounded them with bows drawn.

"Because I can make you beg me to kill you instead."

Under the moonlight, Klein's smile as he warned them felt even more horrifying.

"Damn it, contact Delphin! He should be watching from above!"

They were completely cornered.

One assassin shouted urgently, but the companion beside him merely rolled up his sleeve and froze in place without saying a word.

"Damn it all!"

Something was wrong.

No response at all.

Annoyed by his partner's silence, the assassin rolled up his own sleeve to check the message himself.

... And just like his companion, he froze completely.

"What... is this?"

Only a single phrase was written on their arms.

'Run.'