Chapter 60: A Crumbling Plan

Mid Evening - Mid Spring : Kingdom of Kaelallan

-

"My goodness, just what did I miss?" As Sarah walked up, her eyes were glued on the halfie pinned to the plaza.

"The assassins tried to kill me again, I guess that was their backup this time."

"No kidding..." Slowly turning towards Oliver, the bartender I met right as I entered the city, Lewis, noticed me. "Oh, it's you!"

Seeing how close he and Sarah were, I immediately connected the dots. -So he really was the same Lewis from Fathers adventuring party…- "Hey Lewis."

Sarah's face instantly washed with a mix of confusion and disappointment. "You two already knew each other?"

"Yeah, when I first arrived in Kaelallan, I stopped by his bar and got a bite to eat. It was actually a pretty good experience too."

A smile appeared on his face from the compliment, but it didn't last long. "So what exactly happened here? Sarah was just telling me about what happened over the last few days, but…" As he looked around and got a closer look at the several mangled bodies, his look of concern worsened.

Oliver was quick to try and explain though. "Well, to say the least, the Tower really wants me dead."

"So Sarah didn't just mishear it, huh…" His face looked troubled as he fell into thought. "Wait, so how many assassins did they send? I only see 4 bodies here, and I heard from Sarah that there were 7 previously, but that only totals 11…"

"Well, there are 3 others with one in the monument, one over in that collapsed building, and the last technically being the 'dragon'." I immediately tried shooting down his concerns, but they all fell short.

"That change much." His face was still troubled. "For some context, most real assassination groups run in teams between 15 and 20, but for a huge association like the tower, they are likely closer to 50 or even more."

"So? What are you getting at?" I wasn't quite picking up what he was putting down.

"What I'm saying is that this wasn't all of them. In groups that big, they leave a few stragglers to report back to their leader even if the assassination attempt fails." Lewis was still deep in thought, but I quickly shut down his worries.

"You're worrying way too much about it." It was clear he was already trying to find a solution. "Things have escalated a bit beyond the point of just involving Kaelallan." I looked over towards the halfie in the plaza with an odd look. -Depending on what I learn from her, the entire Tower may just disappear…-

"Man, we have the whole gang!" Ripping me out of my thoughts, Father walked out of the monument with blood-covered sleeves.

"Hm? Oh, hey, Osto." Lewis gave a light wave as he tried to shake off my ominous words. "Where is Helen?"

Father's enthusiasm immediately dried up. "Well, she's.." He glanced in other directions, clearly wanting to avoid the question.

It only took a second for Lewis to notice. "Ah-AHEM!" Understanding what Father meant, Lewis cleared his throat and tried to change the subject.

Oliver's look of confusion deepened as he clearly wasn't understanding.

-Wait… There's no way he doesn't know… right?-

-

- ~~~ - (Omnipotent)

"Hah.. hah.. hah.." Breathing heavily as he ran out of the capital, a stray, black-robed man was making a mad dash for the forest.

His steps were heavy and his thoughts were foggy, but the fear of death kept pushing him past his limits. -How can a monster like that exist?!-

The scene of the child mercilessly slaughtering his comrades without a hint of hesitation flashed in his mind. It was a scene that both didn't make sense, and made him feel sick.

Countless thoughts shot through his mind as he tried his best to focus on running, but eventually, his fatigue caught up to him.

"Huek…" *Thump* As his legs finally gave out and he fell face-first into the dirt, a feeling of desperation filled his heart. -Ugh, just… a little bit more!-

He was already at the edge of the forest, with only a kilometer or so more till he could notify the others, but his crawling was simply not enough.

"Oh, you seem to be in bad shape, where's everyone else?" The oddly familiar voice stopped every thought in the man's mind.

-It couldn't be…- Slowly looking back, he noticed the tall black-haired man standing over him. -An executive?!-

"Are you going to talk or will I have to force it out of you?"

"No no no, I'll talk..."

"About time. Now spit it out."

"We were told to move when 'someone special' moved from the higher-ups. They never said who that person was but when we saw who we assumed it was, we moved as ordered. At first, everything seemed to be fine… but... everyone including that dragon… ended up being culled by that monster…"

"Excuse me?" A mix of anger and shock filled his voice. "So you mean to tell me everyone was killed by one person?!" -Was it Lawton Keen?- The executive tried to think of all the possible people that could beat everyone so one-sidedly, but no one other than Lawton came to mind. -I thought he was still on that expedition...-

"It was a monster that looked like a kid... he looked like a-"

*Crack* Unable to hold back his anger, the executive crushed the skull of the low-ranked assassin.

"You dare lie to my face like that?!"

Slowly standing up and wiping the blood off his hand, he started heading back towards the cave.

-How did they manage to lose with a f*cking dragon?! It wasn't even a weak one.-

Although he was still in the dark about most of the details, the fact that the young assassin clearly stated that the 6 S ranks and dragon sent to kill the king were killed was something he couldn't overlook. -Maybe he was calling that 'Knight Keen' a kid? He looks young sure, but he is far from a kid..-

Not being able to come to a decent conclusion, he simply calmed himself down and made his way back to the hideout.

Finally coming across a familiar marked tree, he noticed the presence of someone above him. "I need you to go into Kaelallan and see if they have a dragon captured alive. I need you to be quick."

Giving a quick nod, the man in the tree darted out of sight.

"Haah…" From there, the executive continued back to the hideout. -If that dragon is alive, it will leak our plans to save itself...- Although the man had minimal knowledge about dragons, he clearly understood that they were very selfish creatures.

-I'm impressed the higher-ups managed to win them over…- Over the past couple of years, there had been some huge advancements in the tower's plans because they were able to gain the help of a large group of 'dragons'.

The Tower was able to take control of several nations exceptionally easily due to their support. Simply put, dragons were creatures humanoids stood no chance against.

"Haah…" Finally making it back inside the hideout, the executive sat down at an empty table and started flicking around a gold coin. -I wonder how much they spent to win 'em over..-

-

- Vasilias ~

Back in Kaelallan, things had steadied to a calm.

Father, with everyone in his group, moved back into the monument to chat while I sat by the railing with Ilios, waiting for the halfie to wake up. -I wish she would wake up faster…-

"It's a little chilly tonight..." Lucy's voice was quick to pull me from my thoughts.

-What is she doing out here?- "I thought you were inside."

"I got bored… They were talking about things I didn't care to talk about."

"Well, there is no need for you to do anything else out here. I'd honestly recommend staying inside in case more assassins show up." I really wanted to just send her away so I could do other things, but my kind suggestion fell short.

"Am I not safer with you if one showed up?"

"..." I couldn't refute her words.

"Well, anyway, you want a drink or snack?" She stuck a piece of white bread towards me as she sipped her water.

"No thanks." My rejection was blunt. "By the way, where did that other nation rank go? That knight, Lawton Keen."

"He was just going around giving orders to knights, I think he went to the barracks for something though."

"Ah..." -That's a shame.. now would be a good time to 'chat' with him...-

Looking back over the plaza, I laid back and got lost in the sea of stars.

After a while, Lucy got bored and ended up going back inside and I was once again left alone with Ilios under the starry night sky.

After a while, Ilios shifted over and laid his head on my stomach.

As I ran my fingers through his fur, my mind got lost in an ocean of thoughts and memories.

"Haah…" -To think I miss Mother already..-

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Chapter end