CH 44

Chapter 44 Night Raid

Translator: Tseirp

The four members of the assassination squad that left the Kingdom of Haggle rushed their horses and arrived at the royal capital of Ashbury in ten days.

They had a certain amount of knowledge about ‘a large silver-haired man who lives in the royal capital and is probably an aristocrat’ before leaving.

They were ninety-nine percent certain that to be Jeffrey Asher, who was the Commander of the Second Knight Order.

They contacted the Haggle agents who settled in Ashbury to find out where Jeffrey Asher’s dating partner lived. People in the country were also hired with money.

Then, in just a few days, the pseudonym and residence of Chloe, the Second Knight Order’s Commander’s companion, were identified.

“Is that the mansion? There’s a detached building. Probably that.”

They casually inspected it during the day and aimed for the detached building.

After waiting for nightfall, the four approached Yorana Haynes’ house. Lights were on both in the main house and the detached building. After confirming that, they left again.

“Wait an hour after all the lights go out. Three will enter, one on lookout.”

The three nodded to the leader’s orders.

All the lights went out. After waiting for an hour, the four of them approached the detached building and unlocked the door with practiced ease. The three who entered the detached building separated into two groups.

Two of them quietly opened the door of what appeared to be the master bedroom and entered the room. The leader and the middle-ranked man approached the bulge on the bed, and the moment they raised their knives, there was a whooshing sound.

In response to the sound, they turned around and caught it with a knife.

It was a sword swing from a large man. The leader who had good night vision was surprised to see his opponent’s silver hair (Why is he here?).

He didn’t have the leeway to fight back. The sword swings from the large man had tremendous power and speed, and he was forced to defend himself as he did his best to parry the blows that were unleashed.

The other companion was also fighting another man, but soon after the men in black rushed in and pressed the intruder down to the floor, held the arteries in his neck with both hands, and caused him to faint.

The leader of the assassins continued to fight with his knife for the possibility of escape, but while blocking the giant man’s sword, the man in black caught his leg with something like a rope, causing him to fall and he was held down.

The assassin who broke into the children’s room opened the door and took a step or two before hearing a loud noise in the next room and stopped moving.

(Did he notice?)

The moment he stepped into the corridor to rush to the next room, a fist slammed into his solar plexus and something like a stick was smashed onto his head. When the assassin’s movement stopped after leaking a cry of pain ‘Gaha’, another person wrapped his arm around his neck from behind and tightened it.

A knife was held to the neck of the lookout assassin outside as soon as he saw his comrades enter the detached building. A man different from the one holding the knife suddenly stood in front of him.

“If you move, we’ll kill you. If you make a sound, we’ll kill you too.”

The man spoke fluent Hagglese. He nodded. He thought of counterattacking when he saw an opening, but he was already surrounded by so many men dressed in black that he wondered (Where did they come from?).

After a while, many lamps were lit in the garden of the mansion.

The men in black took off the shoes of the four unconscious men, removed their belts, stripped them until they were half naked, tied them up, and carried them away. It was really quick. The assassin’s clothes had several small hidden weapons in them.

There were two wounded in the master bedroom, and the smell of blood hung in the night air.

The members of the Second Knight Order looked around the vicinity to see if there were any other assassins.

One of the Third Knight Order approached Jeffrey, said ‘Good job’, and left.

Mrs. Yorana and her servants had quietly taken refuge during the daylight. When he left the deserted Haynes mansion, Jeffrey glanced at the detached building, but he quickly looked away and headed for the royal castle.

The assassins were brought into the prison of the royal castle. Even though it was midnight, many people were coming and going.

Before long, a man who covered everything except his eyes with black cloth visited the prison.

The assassins were all housed in separate prisons, where they couldn’t see each other.

“Are you the leader? That’s what I’ve heard from your subordinates. Ah, you can’t answer because you’re gagged. You were surprised, weren’t you? That we were lying in wait. Ashbury also has a modest organization that undertakes special missions. We knew you were coming.”

After saying so in fluent Hagglese, the questioner called out to the outside of the prison and invited a person in.

“Are you nervous about being tortured? Don’t worry. Unlike your organization, we don’t condone such rough acts. Just one injection.”

The leader of the assassins lashed out while tied to a chair and gagged.

“It’s okay. It just stings, and you won’t die. It just makes you feel better and relaxed. It has been a long time since our country stopped stripping nails, sticking needles, and sticking heads in the water like your country. I don’t want to see it either.”

A man dressed in black held down the rampaging man, and a man dressed like a doctor gave him a quick injection. The man who gave the injection seemed to count for a while as he looked at the man who was tied up.

“I think it’s already working.”

He whispered to the interrogator.

Mercantile Kingdom Ashbury buys that medicine from a country far across the sea. Medicines bought from the country where all citizens have black eyes and black hair were quite expensive, but they all work wonderfully.

Along with medicine for burns, medicine for cuts, painkillers, and others, this truth agent was also purchased by Ashbury. In exchange, that country buys good quality ebony and rosewood grown in Ashbury.

The interrogator brought a chair into the prison and sat in front of the bound man. The prison door was locked as a precaution, but the interrogator didn’t care. The questions started in Hagglese.

“Now then, who were you guys aiming for? Can you tell me the name of the target?”

The assassin with a calm expression slowly moved his face. His pupils were constricted as when he was at rest. A man in black standing behind him removed the assassin’s gag.

“Chloe. I’m here to kill Chloe.”

“I see. Chloe is a female name. What kind of person are they?”

“Ace of the Special Forces. Brown hair, brown eyes, medium build. Twenty-seven years old.”

“Oho, an ace. Is that so? So why was Chloe ordered to be killed?”

“She ran away.”

“Did she fail at some task?”

“No. She disappeared abruptly.”

“Just for running away?”

“That’s right. His Majesty told us to kill dogs that lost their loyalty.”

The interrogator nodded several times.

“I see. I’ve heard that you all can’t quit the organization even if you want to quit, is that true?”

“Quit? Quit the organization?”

“That’s right. Can you quit if you want to quit? Can’t you quit?”

“No one quits. Work as long as you can.”

The man looked like he was being asked a strange question, but

“Instructor, clerical work, chores, cleaning. There is a lot of work to do. You never quit the organization.” He explained.

The interrogator made eye contact with the person behind the assassin. The man behind him shrugged his shoulders as if to say, ‘Wow’.

“Well, in Ashbury we call that a ‘slave’. Paid slaves. I understand most of the situation this time around. Entering the country with a fake identity, breaking and entering a noble’s building with a weapon, and trying to carry out an assassination. Those are all serious crimes. Well, next, I’d like you to tell me about your comrades who live in this country.”

After that, the interrogator asked one question after another, and after a while, he left the prison. Subsequently, the interrogator’s subordinate also left the prison. He called out to the jailer.

“The medicine will run out in a little while, so keep an eye on them. I’ll have guards stationed, but they’re skillful people, so don’t let your guard down. If there is another breakout, you’ll be fired this time.”

“Yes!”

The interrogator removed the cloth covering his head while climbing the stairs. Flowy silver hair appeared. He spoke to his subordinate who walked right behind him.

“The contact network I created was a great success. I’m really moved by the fact that we got the message earlier than the assassins.”

“Yes. As expected of the Manager.”

The contact network proposed by Edward Asher to convey emergency information from neighboring countries worked by changing horses one after another, and the information would continue to travel even at night.

“The prime minister says that maintenance is too costly, but tax money should be used for the safety of the people. Considering the possibility of being invaded by the armed forces of another country, the maintenance cost is cheap. This time it’s been proven.”

“Absolutely.”

“We have to catch their comrades tonight. We must do one last push to capture them before they escape.”

“Yes!”

Edward Asher climbed the stairs with a satisfied look on his face.