Surviving as the Emperor's Assassin

Chapter 14. Investigated.

“You patrolled the top of the wall last night, right?! There's a problem! Follow me quickly!”

Seeing Bill rush over like this, something must have gone seriously wrong.

“Understood.”

I was at the scene when the problem occurred.

That was reason enough to be summoned.

However, I couldn't even guess what kind of incident caused such a fuss.

Because last night, while on the wall, I didn't sense any anomaly.

“Me too! I'll go too!”

Pol suddenly tagged along.

“Why you?”

Only I was summoned.

There was no reason for Pol to move with me.

“Where Brother goes, I go! I will never let you go alone again!”

It wasn't even a good thing, and at best, it would just be troublesome, yet he readily stuck his nose in.

The meaning of Pol's 'this time' was easy to guess.

When Luke Ivers killed the Emperor, Pol couldn't be with him.

He intended not to let such a thing happen again.

I understood his sentiment, but it was actually just a hindrance.

“……Hurry up and move!”

Bill glanced sideways at Pol and urged us on.

He didn't seem keen on Pol coming along, but arguing seemed like a greater waste of time.

I, too, wasn't confident I could quickly persuade Pol.

In the end, I followed Bill with this burden attached.

* * *

“May I ask what happened?”

I asked, carving out time while moving towards the wall.

“It seems there's an intruder in the city. We found traces and are currently investigating.”

Bill lowered his voice and whispered softly.

“An intruder……. I understand why the guard is in an uproar.”

Was there another person trying to climb the wall besides Pol?

It felt a bit wrong to say this, but Dejong wasn't exactly a remarkable city.

It wasn't that large, nor was it significant as a logistics hub or a military strategic point.

An ordinary city that could be found anywhere.

I couldn't understand why someone would risk their life climbing the wall to infiltrate such a place.

“That's right. And this time, it seems like a considerably dangerous one.”

“Hmm……. This is troublesome.”

The more I heard the explanation, the drier my mouth became.

If an intruder appeared during my patrol shift, it was my responsibility.

Unfortunately, this town was far from merciful.

It wouldn't be strange if the ignorant guards decided to make an example of me and hang me above the city gate.

Is it better to run away now?

If I quietly dealt with Bill and immediately left the city……

My hand stealthily moved towards the sword hilt.

“No need to be that scared. It wasn't an intruder you could have stopped anyway. They're just desperate for even the smallest clue about the intruder.”

An unexpected response.

When problems arise, it's human nature to find someone to blame.

The farther the target is from oneself, the better.

It shouldn't be me, better if it's not my group,

and best if it's someone completely unrelated or hostile.

In this case, shifting the blame to me, an external mercenary, would be the cleanest solution for the guards.

“There are quite a lot of people.”

More than ten people were gathered on the wall, murmuring.

The majority were guards, but a middle-aged man presumed to be a high-ranking official dressed in luxurious clothes and a knight equipped with menacing gear were also mixed in.

Faces not commonly seen.

“It's a serious situation.”

Bill subtly gave me a look.

It was pressure not to do anything that would catch those people's attention.

I didn't particularly want to stand out either.

To me, this place was a tiger's den filled with people who could turn on me at any moment.

Quietly, let's just finish what needs to be done and go back.

“Heeh…… Oof! Why did you do that?”

Pol, spacing out, looked at me with a still-dazed face after I elbowed his side and glared daggers at him.

“Keep your mouth shut. Don't say anything until I say it's okay.”

The problem was that no matter how careful I was, if Pol let slip one wrong word, everything could fall apart.

If I had my way, I'd just send him back, but forcing him back after coming this far would look suspicious to anyone.

“Yes! Understood!”

A certainly spirited reply, but my mind wasn't at ease at all.

“I've brought Green Ben.”

Meanwhile, Bill approached the high-ranking official and reported.

“Ah, finally…… Huck!? Blond hair? Luke Ivers?!”

“No, sir. It's Green Ben.”

“He's not green at all from head to toe.”

The knight and the high-ranking official looked down at me from the top of the wall.

The high-ranking official's mutterings, sounding puzzled, clearly reached down below.

“Green is just a nickname, sir. I am called the Blood Knight, but I don't always walk around covered in blood.”

The knight explained from the side.

Blood Knight, huh.

A menacing nickname.

Compared to that, the actual knight looked somewhat plump and dull.

Of course, knights are even more obsessed with fame than mercenaries, so it wouldn't be strange even if an exaggerated name was attached.

He could be a berserker who goes wild once he draws his sword.

“I see. Well, whether it's green or blue, what does it matter?”

The high-ranking official nodded lightly and gestured for me to come up.

“You were the last person to patrol here last night. So, if you know anything, you must tell us.”

As I stepped onto the wall, the guards parted, opening a path.

Through it, what I needed to see was prepared.

“Do you know what this is?”

The knight asked.

Several lines were drawn on the top of the wall.

Some were straight, some were gentle curves.

It was the first time seeing it, but the traces were familiar.

“This is…… Ugh.”

I stomped on the foot of Pol, who was about to answer innocently.

“I don't know for sure.”

I had my suspicions, but I played dumb.

“Traces of swordsmanship using mana.”

The knight knelt down and traced the sword marks with his hand.

Just as I thought.

Last night, when I performed the swordsmanship, the mana-infused sword didn't touch anything.

Yet, the aftereffect of swinging the sword must have carved into the stone wall.

Being night, I hadn't noticed such faint traces, and to those who discovered them in the morning, they must have looked like an intruder's marks.

“Consider yourself lucky. If you had encountered the intruder directly, you wouldn't have survived.”

I struggled to manage my expression at the knight's words.

Right now, I needed to pretend to be surprised, pretend to be scared.

Neither the knight nor anyone else showed even a hint of suspicion towards me.

The reason, ironically, was these traces.

Swordsmanship using mana is a skill only Rank 2 mercenaries or knight-level individuals can master.

To place someone who crawled up from the countryside just the day before yesterday wanting to become a mercenary on the list of suspects required being quite free from prejudice and common sense.

“During your patrol, was there anything unusual? Heard a sound, saw a shadow? Even a smell, perhaps?”

The reason they weren't blaming me for negligence was along similar lines.

If the intruder was that skilled, it wouldn't be strange for a rookie mercenary to have noticed nothing.

Even if I had discovered the intruder, I would likely have been helplessly killed.

It was closer to clutching at straws, desperately hoping for even a speck of dust as a clue about the culprit.

“I apologize, but there was nothing at all.”

I bowed my head politely.

I was inside the city from the start.

Since I didn't climb the wall, how could there have been anything suspicious?

“Hmmph.”

Sighs leaked out from here and there.

“Still back to square one. This is serious……”

The knight's hand repeatedly stroked the sword marks.

His face was filled with worry.

“No matter how heinous the intruder, with the Blood Knight present in Dejong, what problem could there be?”

I quickly praised the knight.

In any case, if people took this seriously and investigated earnestly, there was a chance the gaze of suspicion might eventually reach me.

I hoped they'd think 'we have countermeasures here, it's no big deal,' and wrap things up quickly.

“It's not that simple a problem.”

The high-ranking official clicked his tongue.

“Last night, no one was here. The intruder didn't need to swing his sword. But the fact that these sword marks remain means we must assume they were left intentionally.”

Since I'm the culprit, I know; I just accidentally scraped it and didn't notice.

“What intention?”

Unable to reveal the truth, I had to just listen, whatever logic they presented.

“A declaration of war, saying 'I'll be here, find me if you can'.”

The high-ranking official continued with completely off-base speculations.

“That's not something a sane person would do.”

I indirectly conveyed that he should say something that made sense.

“Yes. That's right.”

“Pardon?”

I didn't expect an affirming answer.

The culprit isn't sane?

“Recently, there was a criminal who escaped from the Imperial Capital.”

The high-ranking official muttered, gazing blankly towards the inner city.

“The Sword Saint's disciple, and the madman who assassinated His Majesty the Emperor.”

A description I'd heard often somewhere.

Maybe there was another criminal who escaped from the capital.

The Sword Saint probably had quite a few disciples.

And the one who killed the Emperor…….

Let's stop.

How could there possibly be another person who killed the Emperor?

“Luke Ivers.”

As expected, it was about me.

“If it's him, he's more than capable of pulling something like this.”

* * *

At the high-ranking official's words, the guards and the knight nodded in unison.

Everyone seemed to think Luke Ivers was the culprit.

“My goodness……”

I let out a deep sigh.

What is this?

The reasoning was wrong, but the answer was correct.

No matter how much I messed up, how could the conclusion end up like this?

“Luke Ivers is inside Dejong.”

The knight declared.

At his words, the guards tensed up.

I…… just averted my gaze and stayed still.

“He is skilled enough to infiltrate the Imperial Palace single-handedly and assassinate His Majesty the Emperor. Fighting him head-on, not only the guards but even I would pose no threat. Our goal is to track him and keep him confined within Dejong until reinforcements arrive from the Imperial family.”

The knight raised his sword with a resolute face.

“This is a mission that could risk your lives. Is everyone prepared!”

“““Yes!!”””

The guards responded to the knight's command.

Watching them steel their resolve to capture me right beside me sent chills down my spine.

The only fortunate part was that, despite knowing the answer, they couldn't recognize the multiple-choice option.

“Here, this is the portrait of the culprit received from the Imperial Palace. Confirm it and use it as reference in the search.”

‘A portrait?! Damn it, this means my face……!’

Before I could react, the knight unfolded the parchment and showed the portrait to everyone.

“Hmm! Indeed, a heinous criminal.”

“Just looking at the face is terrifying.”

The me depicted in the portrait, no, Luke Ivers—had a murderous face, looking like he had killed dozens of people.

Who the heck is that?

At least, it doesn't seem to be me.

‘Do they even intend to catch Luke Ivers?’

Look. These clueless people.

They didn't even show a hint of suspicion that I might be the same person as the Luke Ivers in the portrait.

Even the high-ranking official right in front of me.

“This isn't a matter to be left solely to the city guard. As citizens of the Empire, finding the traitor who assassinated His Majesty the Emperor is our duty.”

The high-ranking official also clenched his fist with a face full of fervor.

“The guard alone lacks the manpower to search the entirety of Dejong thoroughly. We'll need to put in a request with the Mercenary Guild too. I hope you will definitely participate.”

The high-ranking official left me with those words of request and descended the wall.

“Yes. Of course.”

I nodded reluctantly.

The request to find myself had begun.