Chapter 45 Assassin's Candidate

As soon as I heard that Gil, a servant who served me once, was Gilbert's biological brother, I was astonished.

I was actually curious about the relationship between the two of them and what kind of past they both had, but I kept those questions to myself because they weren't important at this point.

There are still better things than discussing their past.

"Do you know the reason why Gil wants to meet you?"

"Perhaps... He has a message... From Baron Warwick."

Seeing every word that came out of his mouth that was becoming more and more broken and unclear, it seemed like I couldn't control this huge teddy bear much longer, in other words, this doll was about to expire.

I have to dig up information from his head that I haven't had the chance to dig up before. Of course, I have to dig up important information, not trivial information like his habits or something like that.

First of all, I started to dig deeper into the Black Box organization.

Such as information about the organization's system. As well as other important information such as the location of their headquarters, the strength of the leaders, and so on.

Granted, some of the information he provided was new to me, but I couldn't get carried away in this moment of interrogation.

Without lowering my guard against the surroundings, I continued to carry out the interrogation.

But, I stopped after I sensed someone's presence.

That person was not far from me. Fortunately, I didn't sense any ill will from that person, so I didn't immediately attack him.

The person emerged from the road beside the houses. He seemed to be looking from left to right as if he was looking for something.

Finally, his eyes found me.

"Ah, I finally found you!"

His voice still sounded familiar to my ears.

His figure still looks like a teenage boy's.

And his dark brown skin is still his trademark.

Even though his clothes symbolized a man, when that person waved and approached me, his body movements somehow didn't look like a man's.

Are there also shemale (half-male women) in this world? If there was, he would be one of them. Inevitably, I thought about useless things like that.

There is only one person who fits the strange description above, that person is Anas, a child that I just freed from the hands of the Black Box Organization. Somehow, he got here and met me.

"Earlier, I apologize if you don't agree, Sir. But, on second thought, I wanted to follow you until I could repay your debt of kindness."

After stating his intention, he scratched the back of his head while averting his eyes when I met his eyes. I think, his rebellious nature will still be there even if he is no longer in the grip of the Black Box Organization.

But before that, I have to know the chronology of how he got here.

"And how did you get here?"

Maybe because he couldn't hold my gaze, he then started to tell me about how he got here.

"At first, I was astonished when I realized that all of the gates that sealed Ryam City had many soldiers on guard. And I felt that the number of soldiers was out of line."

"And then?"

"And I just broke through, hehehe."

"How did you manage to break through just like that?"

"I used the Dagger Wielder skill you gave me earlier."

"Does that mean you can instantly master the Dagger Wielder from the Skill Book I gave you?"

"Um... Yes."

There were only a few possible reasons for how he could master a skill from the Skill Book. Either he had previously learned a skill related to that skill, or he did have extraordinary talent. Maybe it could also be because he has very high compatibility with the skills in the Skill Book.

Or instead, all the reasons above are the answer? In essence, he will be a very important asset if he has great potential.

At first, I wanted to send him off because I didn't want to have the extra burden on my journey, but it seemed that was unnecessary. Well, I guess I'll prove it myself.

"Then you should be able to use the Skill Dagger Wielder by now, right."

"What do you mean?"

"Isn't it only natural that you have to prove your words?"

"But how should I show it?"

In response to his question, I readied the sword in my hand. When he saw me, who looked as if he was preparing to fight, he seemed to immediately understand what I meant.

"Are you saying I have to fight you?"

"Of course."

"But, I only have the poison dagger you gave me, Sir. Won't this harm you?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you that the dagger won't have much effect on Mana users?"

"Oh, it's no wonder that the warriors I slashed before were able to recover quickly. I thought it was only because of the abilities I had, not because of the problem with the dagger. But... I see."

He muttered under his breath while looking at the dagger in his hand. His brain seemed to be processing information.

"Are you disappointed? Or, did you expect that I would give you such a powerful Magic Item? I will say this once, and that is… nothing comes for free in this world. Do you still want to follow me after hearing about it? "

It's up to him how to interpret my words. I'll leave it to his head.

"What do you mean? Do I have to pay for the Magic Item you gave me? But I don't have any money. And... I-I can't pay for it with my body either."

I don't understand what he said. He said something strange.

I instantly regretted having let him freely interpret my meaning.

It would be better if I explained it to him directly, but I'm too lazy to do that.

Ignoring the strange pose he was striking, I quickly slid over and in an instant, I was in front of him. Then I swung my sword just like that. Of course, I'm gonna stopped my sword when my sword was about to hit him.

But, before I stopped my sword, he stopped his strange pose, and his eyes immediately stared at the direction my attack had come from. His reaction is fast. I could see that he wanted to dodge my attack.

Of course, since I attacked suddenly, he won't have time to dodge my attack. So, according to what I planned, I stopped my attack as soon as my sword got close to him.

"Ah, you startled me!"

I ignore the reaction.

"Get ready for the next attack."

Immediately, I launched an attack according to the standard of battle. That is to say, I swing my attacks not with the weird variation moves I'm used to, but with more conventional moves like horizontal, vertical, and diagonal slashes. My movements are also slower than usual.

Even so, I didn't expect that he would be able to fend off my attack. He blocked every one of my attacks using a variety of exaggerated but effective moves. Indeed, that was proof that he had mastered the Dagger Wielder skill.

Speaking of which, he had been using up his Mana a while ago. And I could tell that he was currently using the Skill Dagger Wielder.

"Good. I guess I now believe that you have mastered it."

I stopped attacking.

Meanwhile, he placed his hands on his knees. It was clear that he was exhausted.

One thing I learned from the fight earlier is, he has the talent to be an Assassin. The stamina is bad, but the movement is good. That way, I can raise him to be my Assassin.

But, learning from his rebellious nature, I wouldn't have much hope.

"Do you already have a cultivation method?"

"Well, you must know the answer already, right? Hehe."

He gave a hollow laugh when I asked something that seemed to have an obvious answer.

"First of all, I'll ask it again, are you going to follow me?"

"Sure. I will be the one who will always serve you until my debt is paid off."

"Your answer is very vague. In a way, seeing that I have saved the bad luck that befell you, will your debt be repaid when you can save me later, with almost the same scenario as when I saved you?"

"Oh, that seems like a great idea. Yes, I'll do it that way."

He clapped his hands as if having had an epiphany. But I guess that's fine. With that kind of resolution in mind, at least he wouldn't mess around.

"Very well. I will give you the cultivation method book later. For now, you must do as I say. Do you understand?"

"Ahhh. Is that true? ...."

I stopped listening to the happy voice he let out for being annoying.

'Was this how Cornelia felt when she found me, saved me, and started tutoring me?'

Somehow, I could feel the moment Cornelia taught me.

Anas reminded me of myself when I was rescued by Cornelia and taught a few things.

"Hey, are you thinking about a girl right now?"

He suddenly stopped cheering joyfully. Then he suddenly asked me strangely. Well, it was even stranger to see that he could make such deductions.

"Forget about that. I think I should get a new informant now."

Originally I planned to have Anas become my informant within Ryam City while I was away, however, it seems that is no longer possible.

I feel like I've done something wrong to give instructions to someone who obviously won't follow them.

'Looks like I'll have to think of another way I can get information inside Ryam City while I'm away.'

And fortunately, Anas' replacement immediately occurred to me.

I gave instructions to Gilbert who was still like a statue.

"Show me the meeting place between you and Gil."