Chapter 166

Chapter 166

Nicholas wiped the blood off his rapier as he stared at the blonde girl lying beneath him. She hadn’t even suspected a thing— that he had been sent here to kill her.

Well, he had been sent here to capture her at first. He was supposed to bring her to the [Hero King], at the behest of his mentor— Ammon the Arcane Archsorcerer. While Nicholas himself wasn’t the biggest fan of Kallistus Kal, he did as he was told anyway, and in exchange, he would be rewarded greatly.

But for whatever reason, once he arrived at Whiteridge, he received a new missive. It was an alteration in the mission he had been given at first— now he was no longer supposed to capture the Noble Spellsword, he was supposed to kill her.

Now, Nicholas the Noble Knight was no assassin. He was an adventurer first and foremost, even if he oftentimes would stoop below the law to get what he wanted. So, normally, he would have rejected this mission. He was not going to go around as a blade-for-hire, killing people for gold, despite his mentor’s request.

Unfortunately, he had already accepted the mission to capture his target, and even though its parameters had changed. If he just rejected it now, he was certain it would have created a rift between him and the Arcane Archsorcerer. And he did not want that.

His relationship with Ammon was relatively new, and he had been dubious about the benefits at first— Nicholas was an S-ranked adventurer, so how much could the Arcane Archsorcerer truly have helped him? But the benefits later on proved to be quite... substantive.

Still, he had hoped to keep this ‘assassination’ discreet. His plan was to use his [Noble Charms] to sway the Noele to follow him and join his team. It was an incredibly effective Skill— he had used it many times in the past to seduce any woman he so desired. Once, he had even spent a passionate night with a [Bandit Lady] and convinced her to give up her ways and turn in her men to the Adventurer’s Guild.

Of course, while Nicholas had promised that he would never turn her in to the authorities, he obviously lied. When she found out he had tricked her, she was upset at first. But he still managed to convince her that he was left with no other choice, and that he would do everything in his power to free her from her unfair incarceration.

That had been a decade ago, and she was still waiting for him to visit till this day.

What a fool, Nicholas snickered at that memory. So he had a lot of trust in his [Noble Charms]. Or at least, he had a reason to believe it would have worked on the Noble Spellsword.

He had planned to bring her away from Wolfwater, using the pretense of recruiting her to his team of S-ranked adventurers. While he didn’t actually have a team, considering both Kale and Sienna were other pupils of Ammon— in fact, they weren’t even S-ranks either— he still believed his reputation and his [Noble Charms] would have been enough to make things work out swimmingly.

But somehow, that had failed. And when it did, he decided to toss aside all discretion and simply kill Noele.

Wasting his time trying to talk to her was proving too much trouble, and he was tired of their conversations. So he stabbed her in the back, leaving her for dead. He shook his head as he sheathed his rapier.

“Kale, Sienna,” he called out to his fellow pupils of the Arcane Archsorcerer. “Did you clear the area?”

Kale scoffed, guesting at the empty road. “Do you see anyone around here?”

“I disposed of all potential witnesses,” Sienna replied coldly. She sheathed a bloodied dagger. “There is no human alive within the vicinity of the premises.”

“Good,” Nicholas said, taking a step away from Noele’s bleeding body. His eyes flickered as he looked down at her. “And what about the Steel Tank?”

Sienna shook her head. “Unknown.”

“He ran away after a bit of light teasing,” Kale said with a shrug. “He won’t be a problem. Let’s just get out of here.”

“It would be a problem if he suspects something once he realizes his friend is... missing,” Nicholas replied, glancing at Noele’s bleeding body. “We need to dispose of him too.”

Kale sighed as he reached for the large tome strapped around his back. “It’s probably easier to convince him that she left the village with us... but I didn’t like him, anyway. He had terrible tastes. So this will be much more fun.”

He grinned, and Nicholas nodded. The Noble knight turned back to Sienna.

“And dispose of this body.” The Noble Knight gestured at the blonde girl lying behind him. “I don’t want anyone—”

But before he could finish, a white blur shot past him, followed by a frantic clucking.

“Bawk bawk bawk!”

Nicholas blinked a few times, almost stumbling back. He felt the gust of wind sweep over him a moment later, before he looked back up to see that Noele’s bleeding body was gone. He looked at the puddle of blood, before glancing back at Sienna.

Her typically stoic demeanor had broken, and she was wearing just as quizzical of a face as he was.

And behind him, the humie with the bow and the blond human stepped forward. They approached both Noele and Bucky as the two lay there helplessly.

“I want to eat the chicken,” the fat humie said, looking at Bucky.

Her feathers stood on end at that comment. Especially when the blond man nodded.

“Roast it alive,” he snickered as he unsheathed his rapier. “Make that chicken suffer for getting in our way.”

Bucky clenched her beak together as she mustered up the strength to get up. She raised her two wings, taking a defensive stance as she faced down the three humies. They looked mockingly at her, and she hesitated for a moment.

But there was nothing else she could do. She couldn’t run. All she could do was fight. So she readied herself for battle, even as the three humies stood menacingly across from her.

And a voice called out, interrupting their tense face-off.

“What is... going on here?” a man asked.

Bucky recognized the voice immediately. But the three humies did not. They turned around, facing a man standing between the frozen trees. He was dressed in a simple leather tunic with an apron tied around his waist. A splash of wine stained his shirt, and his face was drenched in sweat.

He blinked as he stared at Noele’s bleeding body, before looking at Bucky.

“Another interruption?” the blond humie said with a frown. “But this time, it’s just the [Bartender].”

Arthur blinked, looking back at the three humies with wide eyes. “You... did you guys do this? But why?”

It was a simple question. One which the blond man didn’t care to answer. He waved a hand dismissively at his two comrades, turning back to face Noele.

“Deal with this pest,” he said simply.

The humie with the bow nodded and drew her dagger. She walked up to Arthur as he backed away.

“How could you do this?” the bartender exclaimed, clenching his fist. “Why would you hurt them?”

And... fzzt. Bucky narrowed her eyes. She thought she saw a flicker of something run through Arthur’s hands. But her gaze snapped back to the blond humie as he drew closer.

“By the end of this, we’re going to have to massacre everyone in this town, huh?” he sighed, rubbing his temples. He stepped up to Bucky, raising his rapier. “Well, it is what it is—”

BOOM!

There was a flash of blinding light. A powerful shockwave washed across the frozen landscape, ripping apart the ice. The spell circle hovering in the sky was shattered, and Bucky felt the weight on her back vanish. She blinked as the blond humie stumbled forward.

He spun around with a scowl, staring back at Arthur. “What the fuck was— that...?”

His eyes went round when he saw the humie with a bow lying there in a crater, a charred corpse. He looked back towards Arthur as Bucky also stared in confusion.

“Bawk... bawk... bawk?” she asked. That translated to, “What... the... fuck?”

Arthur floated there, his body crackling with electricity. His eyes were burning with a purple flame. His skin was burning, and he cast a glare towards the two remaining humies standing there.

“You... you...”

Arthur pointed at the fat humie as the world was lit alight, and a massive lightning bolt shot shot down from the sky.

“Monsters!”