The capital of Santea, Kelia Road.
A man wearing a robe was walking down a deserted, dark alleyway.
The man soon noticed a faint pattern painted on the wall and stopped walking.
He looked around once and opened his mouth.
“Come out.”
Swoop.
Then, a black haze rose from behind the man.
The one who appeared out of the darkness without a trace was a tall woman wearing a robe, just like the man.
Looking up at the half moon floating in the night sky, the corner of her mouth drew an arc.
“It’s been a while since I’ve received a request from the imperial family.”
The man who noticed her presence only after she opened her mouth turned his head in surprise.
He clicked his tongue with a look of displeasure.
Shadow.
There were many and varied names the woman was called on the continent, but this was the most well-known name.
She was dark and elusive, like a shadow, and disappeared into the darkness with no one knowing. Just like her moniker.
“So, what is this request? Assassination requests are still not accepted, so if that’s your purpose, you can return as it is.
Her leisurely attitude annoyed the man, but he focused on the purpose of coming this far.
“It’s about the Seventh Lord of Calderic.”
The woman narrowed her eyes.
“What we want is information. Whether you infiltrate the castle of the Seventh Lord or not, you just need to collect as much information about him as possible.”
“Hmm, was it information gathering? It was also information about the newly enthroned Lord…”
She smiled.
“They said that the Fist Saint died at his hands? There are even rumors that he might be a human from Santea.”
The man’s expression darkened again.
There’s no rumor going around like the woman implied. The fact that the Fist Saint died at the hands of the new Seventh Lord was still only just a guess by the high-ranking officials of Santea.
The woman knew it, but she still made that statement.
If there was one person who, despite being an individual, possessed information power equal to that of any other large intelligence organization, it was her.
“Ahaha, I’m sorry. Anyway, if it’s a request like that, you’ll have to pay a little more. How much did you bring?”
Without answering, the man took something out of his bosom and threw it at the woman.
It was a purse containing over 10 platinum coins.
The woman who checked the contents whistled and put the money bag in her bosom.
A terrifying amount of advance payment that it wouldn’t be strange if she just picked it up and ran away with it without completing the request.
But the man who handed over the money didn’t care about that at all.
There was no way she would try to destroy the trust she had built until now and burn the bridge with the imperial family for just this measly amount.
“Then I’ll go first. I don’t know how long it will take, but I’ll see you with good news at least within a year.”
The woman erased the pattern drawn on the wall by rubbing it with her finger.
Squeak.
Once again, the same black haze as before shimmered, and the woman’s figure disappeared before his eyes as if evaporating without a trace.
The man, who had been staring at the spot where she had disappeared for a while, also moved on and left the alley.
Thus, the secret meeting in a dark alley ended with only the moon rising in the sky as a witness.
And after some time, Calderic.
“Kate, grab a pen and paper and follow me.”
“Yes? Paper and pen, why?”
“There’s a knight test today, right? Mr. Lefi, who was to record it, is sick and lying down, so you and I have to do it. Don’t talk nonsense and just hurry.”
“Oh, that’s right. I see!”
The woman responded to her superior’s command with a cheerful smile. She swore inwardly.
What a bother.
Her identity, which differed completely from the one seen in the alley before, was the Shadow.
It had been several months since she came to Enrock—the capital of the Seventh Lord’s territory—and entered the castle.
It was not that difficult for her to infiltrate the castle as an administrative officer.
“Ugh... Did the Lord come out himself?”
There were already many knights gathered in the arena where she followed her superior to, and even the Seventh Lord was there.
Listening to her superior’s muttering voice, the woman glanced sideways at the platform where the Seventh Lord was sitting.
Seventh Lord...
It had been several months since she had been living in the castle, but she had gotten no important information about the Seventh Lord yet.
Because he spent far more overwhelming time outside than in the castle. Did he have a wanderlust?
What she found out was just his race, gender, physical characteristics, and a personality that didn’t give unnecessary power to the castle’s officials.
And recently, there was a huge incident where he killed the Sixth Lord and was called for an emergency summon by the Overlord. But no matter how much she dug into it, there was a limit to what she could do.
How did he come back alive? I thought he was going to die.
So recently, she was investigating the human siblings, who were speculated to be related to the reason the Seventh Lord killed the Sixth Lord.
Even recently, Asher, who was supposed to be his escort and had a great skill, had been in charge of teaching swordsmanship to the siblings.
It meant that the Seventh Lord was clearly paying attention to the brother and sister, and of course she couldn’t help but smell something.
Now that there’s nothing more to dig up here, she planned to head to the capital of the Sixth Lord, eventually to learn more about the siblings’ past.
The trial began, and she recorded the results with her attention secretly on the Seventh Lord.
There was Reef among the knights. She passed the test with much better skills than the other apprentices did .
As the test ended, she felt a gaze.
When she turned her head slightly, the Seventh Lord was staring at her.
...?
What?
A sense of doubt and inexplicable ominousness rose for a moment, but she pretended it was nothing and quickly bowed her head.
As she lowered her gaze, the surrounding noise slowly subsided.
When she slowly raised her head again in the suffocating silence, all the surrounding eyes were focused in this direction.
“...”
Recognizing that something was firmly wrong, she looked at the Seventh Lord with a weakly stiff face.
He pointed this way and opened his mouth.
“She’s a spy. Catch it.”
***
Chang!
Members of the Iron Blood Knights drew their swords immediately after my words, and the other knights came to their senses a beat later.
Standing on either side of me, Asher and the Iron Blood Knight Commander also fixed their eyes on the woman with their swords in their hands.
Soon, all the knights who were filling the arena were aiming their swords at her.
“Uh, huh, huh? Whoa!”
The other administrators standing next to the woman stood dazed and then backed away in fright.
She looked around with a look of total bewilderment and suddenly raised her hand.
“Excuse me.”
It seemed like she had something to say.
She opened her mouth with a serious face.
“Does anyone know? What’s on the lunch menu today?”
“...”
However, the words that followed were incomprehensible nonsense that did not fit the situation at all.
The knights also looked at her with eyes wondering what kind of bullshit this was all of a sudden.
I clicked my tongue a little.
That woman.
That was just meaningless nonsense to distract the knights, even for a moment.
And what followed immediately...
Whoa!
A mist suddenly spewed from her body and covered the whole area in an instant.
Even though the sun was up in the middle of the sky, the pitch-black fog was so dense that no light came through.
“...The spy is on the run! Catch her!”
Someone shouted, but the knights surrounded by fog were just wandering around inside.
At that, Asher and the Iron Blood Knight Commander immediately jumped into the arena and swung their swords at the same time.
A huge two-pronged sword wind parted the fog and their vision returned.
But the woman’s figure was nowhere to be found.
Even Asher couldn’t feel her presence and where she had fled. I looked around with my eyes narrowed and maximized my [Super Sensory].
Because I knew what her abilities were.
And soon my senses caught up with her. Sensing her, who was quickly moving away while hiding herself.
She’s so damn fast.
I immediately used [Space Leap] in succession to move into the air on one side of the arena, and I spread the [Floating Veil].
She collided with my veil, which blocked her, and then fell straight down.
“Argh...”
Before she could return to her senses, a sword was already pointing at her neck.
Asher, who had caught up with her, coldly looked down at her as she collapsed on the floor.
The knights then completely surrounded the place and blocked the escape routes with no chance of escape.
She smiled subserviently with a slightly pale face and slowly raised her hands.
“Ha, surrender. I surrender.”
Landing on the floor, I let out a small sigh as I watched the situation ended.
I ignored the burdensome gazes of the knights, who were looking at me with eyes filled with awe.
Shadow.
So, what the hell was this woman doing here?
***
After sorting out the situation, Asher and I dragged the woman to my room.
After letting her sit on the other side of the table, I quietly sat across from her.
I said as I watched her looked around.
“No matter what tricks you do, it’s impossible to escape, Shadow.”
“...”
“It’s useless to use that Mystery to hide yourself. If you try to escape again, I’ll cut your throat right then, so give up.”
The reason even Asher couldn’t catch her in the black mist was because of her stealth mystery.
I had [Super Sensory], so I could apprehend her while she’s running away.
She probably did not expect that I had discovered her true identity and abilities. She looked at me with her eyebrows furrowed and then lowered her head.
“Ha, I got caught by a monster like this…”
She’s probably ready to have a conversation now.
I crossed my arms and asked first.
“Who sent you?”
Shadow Freon.
If one was to pick a unique existence on this continent, this woman would probably count as one.
As the continent’s best informant and thief, she usually did espionage under anyone who could pay her well.
If it's a force that could move this woman, then they had limited options. I could roughly guess who it could be, though.
She asked with a half-resigned look.
“Will you save me if I tell you?”
“Tell me who it was first.”
“I can tell you, but I want to know what you will do to me once I do.”
“Then you can just die here. Asher.”
At my words, Asher, who was standing next to me, reached for the hilt of the sword at her waist.
Her mouth opened immediately.
“...Santea Imperial Family.”
