Chapter 92 - The Three Assassins plete the Mission

  Chloe Evenhart:

  We walked through the mansion after the battle with the soldiers who had rushed towards the sounds of Nathan’s fight. Some of the staff fled outside, a them go, knowing the maids and soldiers had surrouhe farm as a precaution, ensuring no one could escape. There would be a trial to assess the crimes of eae. Although we had elimihe corrupt noble and his soldiers, there were still sequeo deal with for his subordinates.

  Kinue and I made our way to the ter of the mansion.

  "It’s all… destroyed," she remarked, her voice filled with surprise.

  I paused to take in our surroundings, seeing the chaos that had unfolded. Cracked walls, a partially colpsed ceiling, and a massive crater in the floor— all results of the devastating battle.

  "Now I uand why Mom and Aunt Katie tell him not to use that element unless necessary… it’s too destructive," I agreed.

  We came across two corpses, likely those of the criminal mages, both in deplorable states.

  "What are we going to do? With all this destru, there's no way to hide or disguise what happened here," Kinue asked, worried.

  "The official story will likely be that the noble was killed by wanted criminals who had taken refuge in his mansion, and we had to intervene, should the kingdom question it. My mother will probably divide his nds among the local people and cover the costs to keep the peasants employed and the pce running," I expined.

  roached the crater and slid down to the edge of the hole.

  Peeking down, I saw Nathan putting his mask ba as he examined a broken sword.

  "The sword disied…" he grumbled, turning to us.

  Kinue and I jumped down into the crater.

  What we saw was even more shog. The pce was in ruins, but there were many corpses of victims scattered around.

  "What was happening here?" I asked, trying to grasp the magnitude of the horror.

  "They used this pce to torture i people. I also found a stash s and mohis pce was a sort of depot for some criminals. They stored traband and probably even sves here, all protected by the noble’s influence. Fitzroy robably getting a cut of whatever he was hiding," Nathan expined.

  I walked over to a charred corpse, likely that of the third mage.

  "And the fourth mage? I heard there were four dangerous mages," I asked while surveying the se.

  "Scattered all over the pce," he replied, pointing to a severed arm in one er, a head thrown further away, and even a tongue and eyes strewn across the floor.

  What remained of a human torso, mutited and limbless, hung suspended, entangled in wires that held it tightly, while blood dripped slowly onto the floor.

  Kinue began to walk around, examining the remains of the battle.

  "Nice work," I plimented my cousin.

  "I’ll be asking for a raise, little duchess," he joked, as we tinued with our mission.

  Sifu:

  We were deep in the forest, far from the mansion. With me were Lady Katherine, Lady Margaery, Lady Adrihna, and Martha. As their test progressed without many issues, we sent the soldiers to the area, and some maids remained hidden in the forest, surrounding the pce.

  "I'm a bit nervous..." Lady Adrihna murmured.

  Lady Katherine sighed.

  "So am I," she admitted.

  "Calm down, both of you. Don’t start wanting to rush over there agaihem finish their test," Lady Margaery said firmly.

  "Do you think they might be in danger?" Adrihna asked me.

  "Who? From what I see, it's their enemies who are in dahose three have been trained as Legacies, and they’re excellent mages. To harm them, the enemy would o be incredibly powerful."

  "Like fhly dangerue mages?" Adrihna added, raising an eyebrow.

  I couldn’t tihe versation after her remark. We were all well aware of their capabilities, and there was no real reason to worry. An assassin's duty is to hahe target, no matter the difficulty or disadvantage.

  "I trust my nephew," Lady Margaery interjected. "He has the hardest task, but as someoio be the military leader of this duchy, I need him to be the best from the very start."

  The young master was tasked with handling the main target and those four criminal mages, while Lady Kinue and Lady Chloe dealt with the soldiers and es.

  Any soldier, even if not a merary, who chose to misuse their power within the duchy was o death.

  If it were up to Lady Margaery, I think she’d se all problematiobles from the duchy...

  "I’m not sure if I should allorind prio carry out this kind of task..." Adrihna muttered.

  "Teically, all three of them are princes and princesses," Lady Margaery corrected.

  We heard a rustling sound in the bushes, and a monstrous tree moved, advang toward us.

  "It’s us," a voice called.

  The pnt golem stopped moving, reizing the three young masters approag.

  "Children!" Lady Katherine rushed to greet them.

  We moved closer as they removed their masks. Martha approached, cheg the bloodstains on their clothes.

  "We're fine," Princess Chloe reassured her.

  Lady Margaery approached the three, maintaining her queenly demeanor, and the two women stepped back.

  "A noble child grows up in a protected enviro. Gradually, they are introduced to the world's violence by their parents, so they grow resilient and strong-minded. But in our family, we do the opposite," she began, looking at the three of them with a ster g gaze.

  She tinued, "From an early age, we ac our children to death, blood, and darkness. We believe that you only truly love someone when you uand how easily they be lost. Remember this, children: we are assassins to eliminate evil, not to bee it. Our bde aloints at the neck of those who harm the i."

  The three listened ily.

  "gratutions on officially being assassins," she said, pulling them into a hug. "I’m proud of how far you’ve e."

  After Lady Margaery's words, roached the three as well.

  "Perhaps... it isn’t so bad to let them grow up in this enviro after all..." Adrihna murmured quietly to herself.

  Martha and Lady Katherine tinued iing them for any injuries.

  "You did... surprisingly well for a mission of this level," I said to the young masters.

  "Thank you, master!" Kinue said with a respectful bow.

  I scratched my .

  "But, judging by the noise… I assume the stealth tactic failed," I remarked.

  Both girls turheir gaze toward Nathan.

  "It wasn't my fault. The fes started blowing things up, so I had to react..." Nathan tried to expin.

  "No problem," I said. "But I want to know whie of you took out the most people stealthily. Let's see who the winner is."

  "It was me!" Kinue decred.

  "No, it was me! After I got into the mansion, I took down way more," Chloe tered.

  "Actually, I had to deal with a lot of guards before I even reached the noble's chamber," Nathan added.

  The three of them kept arguing, and a smile appeared on Martha's face. The young assassins had pleted their mission.