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Chapter 34: Reinforcements
🕑 Added 2023-11-29 05:05:02 +0000 UTC"R666! Answer! R666!" My card was ringing me. I picked up my earclip and shouted at him.
"So noisy! Do you know what time it is!" I complained right to his face.
"R663 is requesting backup. You are the only one in the area."
"Hmm? Why would he be in the noble quarters anyway?" I tried to jog my memory. If I recall correctly, the underway's exits branched into multiple locations such as noble wells, slums, sewers, and some even led outside of the city. Why did he pick the one that leads here? Did he forget the underway's map?
"He was being chased by the target."
"I see. I am on my way." I replied. His situation reminded me of my own reconnaissance. I almost died there. After putting on my cloak, I left my villa and ran to the well.
"How many targets?"
"He said one skill holder. Proficient with swords. He is currently engaging them now. R666, in the worst-case scenario, you must retrieve the Kamera and Recorder."
"Roger." I hastened my steps and found them. The young man was crossing blades with a man wearing a hat while a noble-looking man was skulking behind the hat man. My mana sight shows that the noble was preparing some spells. I threw my throwing knife laced with paralyzing poison at him. He croaked like a frog.
The other two turned toward me all at once. My shadow covered half of my face, so I was not worried. But the hat man recognized me immediately.
"Hm… a small figure clad in darkness from magic. Hehehe. So, you are her?" he chuckled.
"Have we met before?"
"Well, you are a bit famous. Not many have fled the three musketeers saint alone and live to tell the tale."
"You are from Elderan," I growled. He might be strong. However, this world has no levels. As long as I can embed this knife into his throat, he will die like any other man. Moreover, I had new paralysis poison coated on my blade. He then swung his sword from a distance. Waves of mana flowed toward me, but I sidestepped the slash, and it passed by me harmlessly.
"Whoa. You dodged that easily. As expected. I couldn't win easily against the children of gods. But I heard this empire's children of gods are slothful, never trained. Let's see how you fare up close."
We charged at the same time. His blade swooshed in, but my trident dagger blocked it. Then, with my stiletto, I thrust in. He dodged it, but his moves were wide, and thus he was unable to retaliate. He was gaining distance from me, and I let him.
He stepped in with an overhead swing, and he swung at me with such confidence. However, I had already put him under an illusion. I stepped away from him as he cut my illusionary body. From his perspective, I must have tried to block his sword with my trident knife in vain as he overpowered me.
"Hah! You are no big deal! You think you can parry me with that thin knife of yours?"
I looked upon him from a distance away as he dwelt on his glory. Something about him irked me. He then swung his blade sideways. I dodged his sword aura. He used a skill. However, unlike my skill which consumes stamina, his skill seemed to use mana. Even though he was not a mage, he could still use mana? This world sure has no absolutes.
"You are smart. But your bloodlust failed you this time," he spoke as he turned in my general direction. He could not see me, but he could sense me. His words irked me more. Ugh. Why am I so annoyed? My heart started to race as I looked at him. Unlike before, when I faced the musketeers, I felt no danger this time. I could take him on. I wanted to kill him.
I spread my tentacles across my body as I crouched down before charging him. He was sweating; he was afraid. Yet, he didn't run. How amusing.
I charged toward him with the intent of finishing him. As he swung his blade, I parried with my trident dagger, and then, within my cloak, my dark tentacle stabbed him using my throwing knife coated with poison. The battle finished in an instant as I retreated back.
"This trident knife is crap. Its blade was chipped and almost cut off," I muttered while looking at the paralyzed men before me. As I disarmed him and the nobles, I reported back to R25B.
"They have been captured. May I go back to sleep now?" I said with a hint of sarcasm in my voice.
"Really? Excellent job, R666. Of course, you may go back to sleep. I have contacted my client. He will send an appropriate person to retrieve the package."
The battle left me feeling unsatisfied. I kept looking at the noble and the man. My knives were still drawn. The fight was over. I should go home and sleep. But when I look at their defenseless bodies, I want to carve them up. Stabbed them. Pierce their throat.
"R666, thank you for saving me." R663 undid his scarf and showed me his face. He was a young man and still could be a teenager. R4, my mentor, said none in the reaper guild were scared of my eyes. And yet, when I glared at him, I could sense fear. He was not in the reaper guild. He feared me. I should kill him.
“R666?” He called me again. It knocked me from my stupor.
"Huh? Sorry. So, how are you going to leave? Should I escort you to the noble gate, or will you leave through the well?" I blushed as he called me and tried to speak nonsense. I also undid my darkness cloak and revealed my face.
"Well, R25B said they will send an intelligence agent here. I will hand over the package."
"Sorry. But I will leave now; I couldn't face them."
"Yeah. You are too young to be believed as a reaper. Let me handle it from here. Once again. Thank you." He smiled. His smile was beautiful. He could be more handsome if he bathed more.
"Bye-bye," I said while running away. My face blushed.
Returning home, I went back to my bed and buried my face in my pillow. In my heart was a mixture of emotions. Unsatisfied, I had the urge to kill, yet when he smiled, my frustration disappeared. It was similar to when I looked at Alicia lately. My body calmed down somewhat, yet it was replaced with embarrassment.
I fell asleep. In my dream, I met Elidranthia again. She didn't smile this time. She inched closer and hugged me tightly. Something felt repressed within her. Something unsatisfied. The red moon shone behind her as the red comet turned dark. I woke up, and it was noon. The sun shone through the window, blinding me with its light.
"Alicia?"
"Yes, Lady Eli?" Alicia entered. She was replacing water in a jug and had just returned.
"Why didn't you wake me?"
"You slept soundly. I didn't want to disturb you. Besides, today was Sunday."
"I see. Oh yeah, today is Sunday." I muttered.
"I will bring you lunch. Have you reviewed our lesson? Let me bring lunch to our dormitory from the cafeteria, okay?"
"R666! Good work last night. The intelligence army has interrogated the suspects. Baron Denah was easy to talk to. But this guy, we call him Mala, was silent. However, we have a strong conviction he was from the Elderan Empire."
"Anything new?" I yawned in sarcasm as I talked to him. I already knew from the way he spoke and about the three musketeers that he was from the Elderan Empire. I didn't know anything about the Elderan Empire except his name. However, in the webnovel, the Elderan Empire was hostile to this nation because we accused them of helping the Western coalition. Yet, there was no formal war declaration between us.
"Well, thanks to you, we have figured out several of their weapon locations. Moreover, Baron Denah will be released."
"HUH?? Why? He is a traitor to the crown!" I raised my voice before realizing I was too loud in my dormitory. Alicia was currently ordering my lunch. She could come any moment now.
"Well… that's where we come in. An assassination request has been issued for him by the Ministry of Defense, of course. You see, the kingdom negotiated with that baron such that they would release him if he paid a hefty fine and provided information about all of his wrongdoings. In this kingdom, it was hard to enact the death penalty under normal law. There were a total of thirty assassination quests, totaling 200 points. It is for Baron Denah and the other possible members of the rebellion or assassination attempts housed in the slums."
"I see. Should I kill them tonight?" I whispered to hide my excitement. My blood seemed to boil over at the prospect of being able to eliminate bad guys.
"No. Not yet. Don't kill them too early. The client said we must wait a minimum of 1 week."
“Aw… that shucks….” I whined. My excitement was rising, and he doused it with cold water.
"Lady Eli. Here is your lunch!" Alicia opened the door while carrying a tray full of bread, soup, and fruits.
"Thank you, Alicia. Look. I have finished my homework. It was easy," I said while opening my workbook. The only thing I needed to work on was my dancing.
"Wow, nice work as always. You are very quick on this!" Alicia praised me. I smiled back.
"Where are yours? Let me teach you! You have problems with maths and history, right?"
"Sure! Thank you, Lady Eli."
For that day, I was incredibly restless, making it hard for me to keep my mana locked. The class today talked about mage history. I noted several things regarding this lesson since it was not fully mentioned in the webnovels.
Mages in this world had six elements they might be adapted to. Alex, my previous tutor, already mentioned this. However, he didn't mention the history of mages. Before the invention of magic tools and feystone, mages had very distinguishing tasks, and people could see which kind of mage they were at a glance. Fire mages usually worked in the furnace, helping weaponsmiths. Light mages and water mages were doctors. Earth mages were construction workers.
That time was the dark time for dark mages. No pun intended. Dark mages were often associated with mind manipulation. They were often hired to torture criminal nobles without harming the body or to give pleasure without actually engaging in the affair. That's what they did in civil affairs.
For military affairs, dark mages were also the least favorite. They were often employed as tutors for their illusion magic. Wind mages were messengers, and fire mages were artillery on top of the castle. Fire and wind were the most precious things during wartime. But other mages were also in high demand, except dark mages. Water and light mages worked as doctors and earth mages were involved in wall and fortress construction.
Dark mages were often discriminated against during that time. However, with the advent of magic tools, their discrimination lessened because other mages could perform tasks from various branches of magic. Furnaces could be powered by feystones, clean water purifiers could be powered by feystones, pulleys for construction could also be powered by feystones. Cement makers were powered by feystones. They even had tractors and cars, although horses remained the primary and cheaper transportation method.
The end of dark mage discrimination occurred during a war 200 years ago. Our small kingdom at that time won a decisive victory due to inventions like cannons, flamethrowers, and explosive traps—all of which required feystones. The kingdom, now an empire, began to view feystones differently. Feystone channeling became incredibly important, triumphing over discrimination. They immediately monopolized all feystones, regulated their prices, and ensured their production.
After the exciting history lessons and other boring ones, one week passed, and the kill quest was finally confirmed.
Comments
Nef Mccrimmon
Ty for the chappy
