Assassin’s Chronicle - Chapter 91

“Stop, stop! We are friends. Let’s talk.” Vonmerge noticed something went wrong and tried to mediate the dispute.

“What is inside?” Hagan was so worried that his face turned red.

“It is nothing to do with you,” Anfey said flatly.

“But…” Hagan tried to argue.

“Alright, alright.” Vonmerge quickly covered Hagan’s mouth. “Commander, you know Hagan’s temper. Please forgive him.”

“You guys can stay and get to know each other first. Suzanna, can you come out for a second,” Anfey turned around and walked out of the room.

Seeing Suzanna following Anfey out, Vonmerge and Hagan’s eyes were as big as saucers. They had followed Suzanna for a year and gone to a lot of places together. They knew about Suzanna. Suzanna looked petite and soft outside, but she was a strong and tough woman. She had her own ideas about things and did things assertively. They had never seen Suzanna so obedient.

In the hallway, Anfey paused for a moment and asked in low voice, “Suzanna, how long have you known them?”

“Almost a year and a half,” Suzanna answered.

“Do you know them well?” Anfey asked.

“Yes,” Suzanna said.

“What kind of people are they?” Anfey asked.

“Generally speaking, they are not bad. Vonmerge likes joking around. Hagan is hot tempered, but they are nice people.” Suzanna smiled.

“Suzanna, Hagan has already noticed the presence of little unicorn. Can you tell him to keep our secret. He cannot tell anyone, especially Vonmerge. Vonmerge looks like he has a big mouth. If he knew about it, he would let others know about little unicorn,” Anfey said.

Anfey learned from Suzanna and Christian that there were few people in history who had received the loyalty of unicorns. Those few people all were very influential and had strong combat powers, which guaranteed their success and safety in battle. Anfey was not as good as them in terms of combat power and influence. Therefore, he had to be careful and cautious.

“Yes, I will call him over and let him know now,” Suzanna said.

“You do not have to do it now. We have to do something to distract Vonmerge, otherwise he could try to get the secret from Hagan. Hagan looks very honest. Suzanna, are you sure they will be helpful for us?” Anfey frowned.

“Anfey, Hagan is an alchemist. He will be very helpful for us. Vonmerge is just a junior swordsman, but he is very social and has the ability to connect with others quickly. Our legion needs someone like him,” Suzanna said sincerely. She had not been with Anfey and his legion long. She had traveled with Vonmerge and Hagan for more than a year. However, the strength of the bond between people was not determined by the length of time they had been together. She had experienced life-threatening moments with Anfey and his legion and shared a major secret with them. Therefore, she could analyze Vonmerge and Hagan’s personalities and qualities in front of Anfey, but would not tell Vonmerge any secret of Anfey’s legion.

Anfey nodded while Suzanna continued, “If you want to distract Vonmerge, I have an idea, but I have to borrow your arm.”

“Borrow my arm? What do you mean?” Anfey had maintained a serious face for the discussion.

Suzanna heaved a slight sigh. “Never mind, I will go in first.” She opened the door and walked inside.

Anfey was quite confused. He was in thought for a while before he turned around to Blavi and asked, “Is everything alright?”

“Yes,” Blavi said.

“Can you watch up here for a minute? I need go downstairs,” Anfey said.

Everyone seemed more friendly towards each other in the room. Vonmerge did help lighten up the conversation. Suzanna walked into the room and stood next to Christian. She whispered to him, “I will borrow your arm.” Suzanna held Christian’s arm before he could realize what was happening.

Vonmerge had liked Suzanna for a long time. Suzanna knew how Vonmerge thought about her, but she did not feel the same way about him. Suzanna had had bad experiences since she was little. In her mind, a guy who was not as good as her should be able to face tough times with her together and help her. Vonmerge could not do any of those things, at least not when they travelled together. Suzanna took care of everyone when they travelled together.

Vonmerge had been watching Suzanna out of the corner of his eye. When he suddenly saw Suzanna holding Christian’s arm, his face became pale. His voice became hoarse.

Meanwhile, Anfey had walked down to the first floor. The owner saw Anfey walking downstairs by himself, so he stood up and smiled. “Dear guest, how can I help you?”

“I just need some fresh air. I will walk around a little. I am good. Thank you.” Anfey smiled as he looked around. “Sir, your business must be good.” Anfey laid his eyes on the blackboard opposite the cashier table. A lot of things had been written on the blackboard, and they all started with “magic crystal”. Anfey looked at them closely.

“Not bad. It just helps make ends meet.” The owner smiled. “My dear guest, are you interested in magic crystals? Do you want to buy or sell?”

“We are going to form a mercenary legion soon, so I want to learn more about the magic crystals. Sir, you can call me Anfey,” Anfey said.

“Anfey, nice to meet you. My name is Clark.” He walked out from behind the cashier’s counter and stood next to Anfey. “These prices are updated. I ask my employees to go to Mercenary Union and Commercial Union to copy all kinds of military assignments and prices down every morning.”

“Why don’t you have the price for senior magic beast crystals?” Anfey asked flatly.

“Senior magic beast crystals? Anyone who has senior magic crystals would not stay in my hotel,” Clark answered, and he felt a little embarrassed about it.

“Ok, does the price list need to be updated every day? It is a lot of work,” Anfey said.

“What can we do? Too much competition among the hotels. All the hotels in Blackwater City have to update the price list every day for the convenience of their guests so they do not have to go to Mercenary Union to accept any assignment on their own. They only need to pass me the crystal plate and I will send my employees to do it for them.”

“How about registering a mercenary?” Anfey asked.

“Hmm, we cannot help with that. Mercenary Union will check on it, so we cannot help you with that,” Clark said.

A few big guys walked by the hotel. They all looked drunk. One of them looked at the hotel and suddenly picked up a stone and threw it at the hotel. The stone flew by Clark and hit the wall. The guys laughed wildly and wobbled away.

Clark’s face was still peaceful, like nothing had happened. Anfey was a person who liked to fight for justice. He thought for a second and smiled. “Are they in four super mercenary groups?”

“Definitely not, they are nobodies,” Clark sneered. Anfey could tell from that sneer that Clark was actually mad. However, he was really good at hiding his emotions.

“How come they dare to act so obnoxiously?” Anfey asked.

“They used to stay in my inn. They are members of Giant mercenary. Back then, A Red Rock mercenary was staying in my inn as well. They were a lot stronger than Giant mercenary. Later, Red Rock mercenary took an assignment to acquire a dead body of Thunder Eagle. They went into the Forest of Death for it. Giant mercenary left the hotel after them.” Clark sighed. “Red Rock mercenary never came back to the inn. Their belongs were still kept here. Well, when Giant mercenary came back, they got six or seven top Thunder Eagle magic crystals. I bet Red Rock mercenary was ambushed by them, because they could not get so many Thunder eagle magic crystals on their own. Those two mercenaries argued a few times in the inn previously. Every time the kids in Red Rock mercenary were more mature and let it go. Poor kids!”

Anfey squinted his eyes, picturing Red Rock mercenary working together and finally killing a few Thunder Eagles. They must have been exhausted from the fighting. Some of them might have been wounded or killed. Before they could get out of their sadness and retrieve their magic crystals, Giant mercenary came up behind them and killed them. They not only took their lives, but also the magic crystals. Forest of Death was such a chaotic place.

No wonder Hui Wei said Forest of Death was far more horrible than any magic beast.

“You should have told others about it. People would condemn Red Rock mercenary for what they have done,” Anfey said.

“Condemn?” Clark shook his head. “The survival of the fittest is the rule of Forest of Death. Someday if you take your mercenary to the Forest of Death, you have to keep that rule in mind.”

“Thank you for your advice.” Anfey smiled and then walked upstairs. Seeing what a few guys in Giant mercenary had done to Clark, Anfey knew what he needed to do. When the stone flew by Clark, most people would be shocked or dodge away, but Clark was calm and did not move his body a bit. This did not seem to match the weak combat power Clark had.

“Anfey, don’t you want to see the assignments of Mercenary Union?” Clark asked.

“No, not yet,” Anfey said.

Clark watched Anfey disappear around the corner. He slowly went back to the cashier’s counter. There were a few magic images under the table, with Anfey’s image on top of stack.

The bar was bustling with people, and everyone was screaming at each other. Speaking with a friend in this environment would have been almost impossible, and in order to do so one would have to scream over several other people. Anfey did not like places like that, and nor did Christian. They sat there silently, and seemed out of place in the busy bar.

“You’re certain that Shansa is making a move towards Maho?” a hoarse voice asked.

The clamor came to a halt. Everyone was talking about the rumors they had heard, but some rumors were more important than others, and the war was definitely on everyone’s mind.

“My sources are a hundred percent correct,” another voice replied loudly.

“You’re joking. There is no way Shansa can take Maho’s Blackania City. How many times have they tried, but to no avail?”

“That’s why you can’t be a general, you idiot.”

“Well enlighten me, then.”

“Shansa didn’t attack Blackania. They went through the Broken Valley.”

“The Broken Valley? But that belongs to the mercenaries…”

“Money, money,” the man said, holding up two fingers. “Two hundred thousand gold pieces. Enough to buy anything. More than enough to buy a path.”

The other man sighed. “It’s too bad. Old Yolanthe was a good man. Too bad he died so young.”

“If Yolanthe was still alive, Shansa would never invade Maho.”

“Even if Yolanthe was still alive, Shansa would still make their move. Ellisen Empire is already closing in on Maho. You know what this means? They are splitting Maho. Heed my words. Things are going to change.”

“This may be the end of Maho.”

“You’re right. Maho’s Granden couldn’t hold against the Ellisen armies, and even their archmage Saul was defeated and injured by Newyoheim.”

“If Maho Empire falls, surely Ellisen and Shansa would become much stronger. Say, do you think they will threaten our Country of Mercenaries?”

“Are you thick? Did you forget what the relationship between Glory mercenary and Ellisen was? And now Shansa and Tiger of Tawau mercenary will be united through marriage… No, neither will touch us.”

“Really? There will be a marriage?”

“Do you not believe me? Shansa’s princess is coming to this very city in a few days.”

While those men were speaking, Christian’s expression grew grimmer and grimmer. His hands trembled and couldn’t hold his ale cup still. Anfey maintained a straight face. He took the cup from Christian and set it down on the table.

“Anfey…”

“Wait until we’re alone,” Anfey said.

Then the mercenaries changed the topic from the war to their own futures. They were not affiliated with Maho Empire, and did not worry about the empire’s impending doom.

The bar became clamorous again. Seeing that they had gathered all the information they could, Anfey and Christian quietly slipped out of the bar.

Before they had gone into the bar, Christian had talked about the bright moon. Now, however, he could not spare the moon a single thought.

Niya had let the little unicorn out. For it, everything was new and exciting. For something living in the Magic Beast Forest, things like a bed and cups were a novelty. The little unicorn was overjoyed and was bouncing around in the room. Niya watched it play and was laughing hysterically.

Just when she was the happiest, Anfey and Christian came into the room. Anfey’s face didn’t betray much, but Christian looked solemn. Niya was no longer the innocent little girl after everything they had gone through. “What happened? Did you guys go out for information? Did you…” she asked, shocked.

“Nothing. Just some news about Shansa. Niya, can you leave the room for a second? We need to talk,” Anfey said before Christian could tell Niya anything. He couldn’t let Christian talk. They weren’t sure if Saul was really injured, but if Niya found out, she surely would try to go find him.

“Can’t I listen?”

“We will tell you once we are done,” Anfey said, smiling.

Seeing that he was smiling, Niya felt more at ease. She nodded and said, “Alright. Tell me everything afterwards.”

“Of course,” Anfey promised her. “Niya, can you tell Blavi, Riska, Zubin, and Sante to come and talk to me?”

“Of course.”

After a few minutes, the four of them gathered in the room. Christian repeated to them everything they had heard in a hushed voice. Everyone was stunned, and the room was dead silent. Fate had played a strange trick on them. Had they stayed in Forest Clarm, they could have avoided this. Phillip may be irrational and ruthless, but he would not have continued his hunt when his nation was falling apart.

They had decided to leave Forest Clarm to avoid their biggest threat and to train the inexperienced mages. Anfey didn’t realize by leaving they might as well have walked into their doom.

“What you guys think we should do?” Anfey asked.

“Anfey, I don’t want to stay here any longer. I want to go back.” Christian said, determined.

Anfey sighed. Christian had never talked to him this way before. In the past, Christian had always left room for discussion, and if he insisted, Christian would listen to him. He knew that would not be the case now. It wouldn’t matter what he says, Christian would not change his mind.

“What do you guys think?”

“I want to go back, Anfey,” Riska said, his voice serious. “Maho needs us.”

“And you?” Anfey asked, looking at Sante and Zubin.

“Whatever you say,” Zubin replied quietly.

“Me too.”

The conversation had seemed simple, but Anfey knew it was not. Christian and Blavi were his friends and his assistants. Zubin and Sante would be his trusted workers. They were two completely different cases.

“I don’t oppose returning, but what can we do? Two junior magisters, a few senior mages, what do you think we can do?”

“We can’t do much, but still better than staying here and doing nothing,” Christian said.

“Who says we can’t help by being here?”

“What can we do here, then?”

“A lot of things. Didn’t they say Shansa’s princess is coming here?”

“You’re saying we are going to kill the princess?” Blavi asked.

“But marriage is only a way of doing things. We kill one princess, and they will send another. Will that work?” Christian asked.

“Of course,” Anfey said. “One day you’ll understand. Staying here is more important than killing a thousand man on the battlefield.”

Christian stared at him in silence, then asked, “Anfey, what can we do?”

“Let’s find the Mercenary Kingdom and the Broken Valley’s maps first. We need to get to know Glory mercenary as well. They are the Tiger of Tawau’s friends and enemy. Since Ellisen and Glory mercenary became connected through marriage, they had been helping Ellisen. They must have a lot of say after learning Shansa and Tiger of Tawau’s deal. We can also kill some of the people in Glory mercenary and take their badges. It would help our cause in the long term.” Anfey stopped to gather his thoughts before continuing, “In Blackwater, we are nothing. We need Vonmerge. Suzanna said he was a man of the world, so hopefully she is right. Let Vonmerge deal with Tiger of Tawau. If the princess really is coming, they must be busy. There must be some rumors out there.”

The group glanced at one another, and Blavi spoke first, “I think he’s right. Going back means going into the army. What can we do? There are a thousand others like us. We can contribute more by staying here.”

“Alright, let’s stay here for now,” Christian said. Clearly he still wanted to return, and had only agreed to stay because he trusted Anfey.

“The first thing we need to do,” Anfey said slowly, “is to decide if this place is safe or not.”

“Hurry up! I saw the old Phillip, I saw the old Phillip!” Feller was in a panic and rushed into the hotel. He had sweat all over his forehead. He shouted, “Someone sold us out. We gotta leave now!”

Anfey and Christian were looking at different assignments from Mercenary Union when they heard Feller. Their faces changed immediately. Anfey yelled, “Don’t panic. This is Blackwater City in the Country of Mercenaries. I dare old Phillip would hurt us here.”

“Anfey, you don’t know how hot-tempered that old Phillip is. He would not care!” Christian shouted.

“We’d better leave now!” Suzanna said.

“We have been running away for a long time. Where else can we go? Let’s fight him until we die!” Blavi said with his eyes wide open.

“Are you serious? How can we battle with a master swordsman?” Christian said.

“Don’t worry. Suzanna is a senior swordswoman. We have so many mages too. I think we can do it,” Blavi said.

Anfey did not say anything. He hesitated for a second before he pulled out his sword and walked outside. His action had said enough about what he was going to do.

Clark was shocked when he heard old Phillip was coming. He knew who Phillip was and understood the reason Anfey and his legion were so afraid of him. He was so worried when he heard Anfey’s legion talking about going into battle against Phillip. He thought to himself, “These poor kids!” What can a senior swordsman do? There was a huge difference between a senior swordsman and a master swordsman. The magic attacks from mages were just like tickling Phillip. It would not take much for Phillip to kill all of them.

Seeing Anfey rushing out of the hotel, Clark shouted in instinct, “Wait! Don’t do anything stupid. I have a secret chamber here. You guys can hide there for now.”

“Chamber?” Anfey suddenly turned around and threw himself on the cashier counter, shouting excitedly, “Where is the chamber?” It looked like he had been pushed into a corner to go out to fight with Phillip. He did not have other options. If he had any chance to survive, he would not let it go.

Clark was still not sure who sold Anfey and his legion out. Phillip had already come, which meant he got accurate information, maybe even knew about this inn.

“Come with me,” Clark said and then ran out from behind the cashier counter. He had already had an idea in this short period time. He thought he could ask Anfey and his legion to hide in his chamber, and then he would handle Phillip himself. If Phillip wanted to make a scene here, he would let Phillip know who he was and ask him to back off. Of course, there was a prerequisite for this to happen: that is, Phillip did not see Anfey and his legion, otherwise someone like him would not be able to stop Phillip.

Clark rushed into the storage room. The storage room, where stored all kinds of wines and other goods, was not big. Clark moved a heavy wine barrel at the corner of the left wall. There was a black stone underneath. He grabbed the stone and pulled it. A secret door slowly rose on the left wall.

Clark ducked in first. “Hurry, come with me.”

Anfey suddenly stopped right at the door, while Suzanna had walked two steps down below the door. Suzanna stood right between Anfey and Clark.

Clark took the torch off the hallway wall, walked downstairs in front of everyone, then noticed no one had followed him. He turned around and yelled, “What are you doing? Come. Hurry up.”

“Do you know us?” Anfey asked calmly.

“I…” Clark realized he was set up. He looked down and thought a little bit before he said anything. “I do not know you.”

“Really?” Anfey said.

“Please don’t misunderstand me. I do not mean to hurt you. You have to trust me. I swear I do not want to hurt you.” Clark was worried and tried to explain.

“I know you did not want to hurt us, otherwise you would not warn of “survival of the fittest,” but I want to know how you recognized us?” Anfey said.

“I saw your magic images.” Clark said.

“Which magic union sent out those magic images?” Anfey asked.

“It’s the magic union in the Country of Mercenaries,” Clark said.

“Suzanna, take him down.” Anfey shook his head.

Suzanna slowly took out her sword. Clark yelled, “Don’t kill me. The intense combat power will attract the patrol’s attention.”

“We will be fine. I can just tell them we were cheated by an innkeeper and fought with him out of spite. I think it is you who will have to explain to the patrol. Magic unions are independent in each country. Some of them are even hostile towards others. How could magic images sent from the magic union in Maho Empire arrive here? Phillip should not have any influence over the Country of Mercenaries. I do not want to hear your lies anymore, Mr. Clark,” Anfey said.

Clark did not say anything, but smiled bitterly. He had mixed feelings about it. To be honest, he was so worried about Anfey and his legion’s safety that he exposed his hidden identity. How could Anfey and his legion take advantage of his kindness?

“Feller, take a few people with you to check around. Don’t miss any place that looks suspicious. I will find it out no matter what.” Anfey gave the order.

“Don’t move!” Clark yelled. “Some areas are protected by magic arrays. If you move the wrong stuff, it might explode.”

“Explode? I did not know you are a man of sacrifice. They are all mages. They know how to control magic arrays. You don’t have to worry about it. Do you want to tell me what you are?” Anfey smiled.

“Don’t do this to me. I am just a nobody.” Clark smiled bitterly.

“Are you saying you do not have the authority to make a decision?” Anfey saw Clark passively agree, so he knew he had guessed right. He thought a little bit and said, “You can tell your supervisor that I would like to see him in private. You don’t have to worry about it. Niya is the daughter of Professor Saul. We are all students of his. We would not do anything to harm the country’s safety. After learning about the invasion from Shansa Empire, everybody wanted to go back to fight for the country. I thought we could help more if we stay here.”

“How do you know we are working for the king?” Clark’s face changed.

“There are only a few types of people who are interested in us and also know about us. I just took a guess. Can you take a message to your supervisor? We have common interests that we could talk about,” Anfey said slowly.

“I am nobody,” Clark restated, with a bitter smile on his face.

“Is one day enough?” Anfey acted like he did not realize he had put Clark in an awkward situation. He pushed him even further. Clark hesitated a little bit and nodded. He was just a liaison for the contacts. He was in charge of passing the information inside the organization but did not have any authority to make any decision. His experience was far less than the frontier spies. He had freaked out when Anfey had discovered his identity.

“Ok, let me know when you know about it,” Anfey said.

When Anfey and Suzanna walked into Hagan’s room, he was engaged in various jars. He stood up quickly when he saw Anfey and Suzanna coming in. “Suzanna, here you are. Anfey, how are you?”

“Hagan, what are you doing?” Suzanna smiled.

“Didn’t you give me a few pieces of wyvern magic crystals? I am thinking of making you a magic sword,” Hagan said.

Anfey did not pay attention to who was greeted first by Hagan. He simply glanced around and asked, “Hagan, how is your alchemy?”

“What about it? Do you think I am not good enough? Then don’t invite me to your mercenary!” Hagan got mad quickly again when he heard Anfey’s question.

“Don’t get mad. I only wanted to give you something. I was just afraid you would make some mistakes when you transform them into something else,” Anfey said.

Hagan sneered, “What is it?”

Anfey took a few things out of his Dimensional Ring and passed them to Hagan. Hagan looked closely at them for a while and asked in surprise, “Is this a manticore’s tooth?”

“Yes, can you make me a few blasting arrows with it?” Anfey asked.

“Sure,” Hagan nodded without any hesitation.

“You can let Feller know if you need other materials. He can purchase them for you,” Anfey said.

“Thank you, but I am an alchemist, not a blacksmith. I need ingredients instead of materials,” Hagan corrected Anfey’s inappropriate terms. “Vonmerge can help me collect ingredients. He is familiar with Blackwater, but…”

“Money is not a problem. Don’t worry about it,” Anfey smiled.

“That is great,” Hagan nodded. He got mad quick but forgot about it in a second as well.

“I have two more items. Do you think you can make a suit of leather armor for Suzanna?” Anfey took out the unicorn and manticore furs from the Dimensional ring.

“Manticore’s fur, hmm, is this unicorn’s fur?” Hagan suddenly raised his voice. He threw himself onto the furs and touched them gently with excitement on his face.

Anfey waited a second and asked quietly, “Can you make leather armor?”

“Of course!” Hagan unwillingly moved his eyes away from the furs.

“Which one is better for leather armor?” Anfey asked.

“The unicorn’s. Suzanna needs armor that can protect her from magic power.” Hagan stared at Anfey. “Do you have any other good stuff? Take them all out together.”

“And this one. I need a short-shaft spear.” Anfey took out the manticore’s tail stinger.

“Spear? I am afraid it would take too long to make. Do you want its paralyzing effects on the spear? Even if I could make a spear for you, you would be disappointed anyway,” Hagan said slowly.

“Why?” Anfey asked.

“A manticore is a senior magic beast and very hard to catch. However, countless of them throughout history have been killed by human beings. Weapons with paralyzing effects are everywhere in the world nowadays. In fact, its paralyzing effects will disappear in two or three years after their death. It could also be affected by the amount of usage. It will be a regular spear by the time I finish making it.”

“So…” Anfey was disappointed.

“If you do not want a spear, I can break the tail stinger and make it into a knife quick. Aren’t you a swordsman? A knife should be helpful,” Hagan said.

“Knife?” Anfey’s eyes lit up with excitement. He hurriedly nodded. “Sure, I will have a knife.”

The clock struck midnight, but Anfey was wide awake. He was alone in his room with the unicorn. It stared at him intently with clear blue eyes. Even though sometimes it would make noises and struggle, sometimes it seemed like it could really understand what he was saying. Before they had entered Blackwater City, Anfey had to wrap it with cloth to keep it out of public sight, and had pointedly told it not to make any noises or movements. It wasn’t until they had settled down in the tavern did the unicorn move. Now it was as if the unicorn understood that Anfey was meditating and had kept away from him to prevent distracting him.

The room had no light, and all the windows were shut with the curtains drawn, not allowing even the moonlight to shine through. However, it was not dark. There were more than thirty little balls of fire floating in midair providing light for room.

Anfey had been studying fire sword for the past few days and discovered that the more fireball present, the harder the sword would get. Anfey had already drunk a vial of the unicorn blood. Since it was kept by Christian and Feller, and Feller was loyal to him, he did not concern himself with any of the possible consequences.

It wasn’t because Anfey was someone who used his power for personal gain. Christian had told him that the blood would be the most effective if he waited until he became an actual mage, but Anfey had different ideas. In situations like this, he needed everything he could find to survive. However, he didn’t want to argue with Christian either, so he decided to ingest the blood secretly.

Clearly, it had worked. Magically, he was only a step away from being a junior mage, but his skills had greatly improved when it came to the release and control of fireballs. Now, he could control about fifty fireballs at the same time. If he slashed at a fireball with a fire sword, it would take a dozen slashes for it to disappear.

Anfey suddenly felt something and distinguished the fireballs one by one. He stretched his body and covered the young unicorn with a blanket.

After a few seconds, the door was pushed open. A shadow came into the room and walked quietly up to the bed.

Anfey waved his hand and lit the candle on the table with a fireball. With the help of the candlelight, two pairs of eyes met. One was cold, and the other calm. One serious, the other clear. Anfey did not try to cover his face, and the other man had covered everything except for his eyes. After a few moments they both moved their eyes away.

“So you are the one that asked for me,” he said.

Anfey took a breath, and decided to get straight to the point. “You should know that Shansa Empire is attacking Maho, and that Tiger of Tawau is forming an alliance with Shansa through marriage, right?”

The man nodded, but did not say anything.

“We want to assassinate the princess.”

The man nodded again, but remained silent.

“We need help,” Anfey admitted.

“What kind?”

“Information. Lots of it.”

“Keep going.”

“I need to know what kind of people will be on the escort team: a list, if you can. Mark every person of importance and anyone we need to look out for. How many horses will be present, how much dowry. I need the princess’s portrait, and if she was a mage or a swordsman, and how powerful she is. If possible, the portraits of people of importance as well. Also, how many maids she brought, and if any of those maids are powerful enough to be a threat.” Anfey stopped for a moment before continuing, “I also need to know how much road they can cover in a day after leaving Shansa, where they are stopping, and the geography of their route; as well as an estimate of how long it will take for them to reach this city, the welcome ceremonies in the different cities, and where their supplies are coming from.”

The man stared at Anfey’s face. “Alright,” he said.

“Some other things. The princess’s personality and history, and her preferences in food and clothing. People she likes, people she dislikes.”

“Anything else?”

“I also need to know more about what the Tiger of Tawau is doing, where they are keeping the princess, where they will greet her, and the size of the ceremony,” Anfey said. “I heard the mercenary’s first wife was a female elf slave and had nine children. All of them powerful. I don’t want to wait until after the wedding to go through with the plan.

“The princess’s living quarters should have already been settled, but furnishing takes time. If possible, I want you to give me the floor plan of the room as well.”

“You must realize it is almost impossible to gather all of this information,” the man said.

“Give me as much as you can,” Anfey said, smiling. “I will take care of the rest. Do you remember everything I’ve said?”

“You need not to worry about my memory,” the man said. “Are you certain about the plan?” He had originally thought it was just a group of children trying to play hero, and wanted to dissuade them. He wanted to make them give up their goals, and then he would escort them back to Maho Empire. If they disagreed, he would take Niya and leave the rest.

After talking with Anfey, however, he realized they were serious. Anfey had thought of everything he had thought of, and that shocked him. After all, he was one of the best spies from Maho, and Anfey was only an apprentice.

“The Shansa caravans have encountered some trouble on their way here, though I am not sure what. My men are looking into it, and they need seven days to get here. I will give you the information after that.”

“No, no. Three days,” Anfey said. “I need to prepare as well.”

“It’s impossible,” the man said, shaking his head. He did not realize it, but it sounded as if he was speaking to a friend.

“Three days,” Anfey said. “That is as much time as I can give.”

“Fine,” the man said. “I will try everything I can. How sure are you?” He now saw Anfey as a leader, and a brilliant one at that. His mind combined with the senior swordsman…perhaps they had a chance.

“Too early for any predictions. We will meet again in three days.”

“Alright.”

Just then, another shadow appeared outside the room. “My lord,” it said.

“Clark, did you already finish packing?” the man asked, frowning.

“Yes, my lord,” Clark said nervously.

“Clark, why are you packing?” Anfey asked, though he had already formulated an answer for himself.

Clark opened his mouth a few times but did not say anything. The other man answered for him. “Clark is leaving,” he said. “The tavern will get a new owner. If you want to look for me, talk to the new man.”

“Listen. I am young, and so are my friends. We’d prefer a familiar face,” Anfey said. “I want to still contact you through Clark, since we are already familiar.” He knew Clark would be punished because his identity had been compromised. He felt responsible for the situation, and wanted to help Clark.

The man narrowed his eyes. Clearly Anfey’s excuses were not convincing enough, and he realized he was trying to help Clark.

He did not care if the secret spies had worked together with someone, but he did not want outsiders to interfere with his organization. He stared at Anfey coldly.

“Either way, the situation benefits you,” Anfey said, smiling. “If we fail, your men will not be affected. If we succeed, you will be given credit for our success. I will keep Niya here, if that is what you’re worried about. She will not be involved in this.”

The man was silent for a few moments, and his gaze softened. “I will come back in three days,” he said. Then he turned and left, brushing past Clark without looking at him.

Clark sighed in relief, knowing he had just escaped his fate. “Thank you a lot, Anfey,” he said gratefully.

“I was the one that caused this. You did not blame me for causing you trouble, and there is no need to thank me,” Anfey replied.

For the next three days, Anfey did not come out of his room at all. Niya had to take care of the little unicorn for him. Christian and others thought Anfey had dedicated himself to practicing magic. The non-stop magic surges from his room were the evidence. They did not go and bother him.

Christian thought Anfey would exhaust himself from the nonstop practice. Before he decided to check on Anfey on evening of the the third day, Anfey had already come out of his room. Christian was only seven or eight steps away from Anfey’s room when he saw Anfey show up at the door of his room. He was surprised and hurried over to Anfey. “Anfey, are you alright?”

“I am good.” Anfey looked reenergized. It seemed that his magic skills had improved a lot.

“Anfey, don’t practice magic this way next time. Don’t you remember what you have told me about alternating…?” Christian said.

“Alternating work and relaxation is the key to learning.” Anfey smiled.

“Right, I meant to say that,” Christian said sincerely. If he had known Anfey had drunk a small bottle of unicorn blood, he would have been very mad. Sometimes it was good to be ignorant.

“Anything happen in the past few days?” Anfey asked.

“Everybody followed your orders and no one went out. Hmm, Vonmerge should have a lot of information. He came by several times. He saw you in training so he did not interrupt you,” Christian said.

“Did Hui Wei behave for the past few days? Did he try to escape?” Anfey asked.

“He has been good. His Dimensional Ring is with you. How could he escape without the ring? I bet there is a lot more good stuff in it. Maybe the secret of the Magic Forbidden Field is in it.” Christian smiled. Hui Wei looked painful when he had to give away the Scroll of Temporal Teleportation. How could a poor guy with both magic and combat powers, who had to work with orcs, have a such valuable magic scroll? It inevitably made people wonder about his identity, where he was from, and the secrets in his Dimensional Ring.

With Anfey’s temperament, if Hui Wei had told Anfey his secrets, he felt there was a good chance Anfey would kill him. Hui Wei was very smart. Generally, he did whatever he was asked to do. He never challenged Anfey nor caused any trouble for Anfey’s legion. He had behaved well, but never opened his mouth about the secrets of the Magic Forbidden Field.

Yet at that time, even if Hui Wei had told Anfey the secret of the Magic Forbidden Field, Anfey would not have killed him. Nobody knew how many secrets he held onto. Anfey would not want to kill him before he could get all the secrets out of Hui Wei.

Anfey heard someone walking upstairs. It was Suzanna walking upstairs with Shally. Today Suzanna did not wear leather armor. She wore a white dress. The dress was a little bit below her knees. The clear and delicate skin of her lower legs showed. She wore a pair of boots made of flash leopard. The black shoe ties on the boots wrapped around her lower legs. She looked sexy with those black shoelaces. Suzanna also had a little bit of makeup on. She looked so adorable with the long and thick eyelashes. She looked at Shally with a warm smile. Her gold earrings sparkled in her black shiny hair.

Suzanna looked feminine, but everyone knew the power hidden underneath this feminine appearance.

Under normal conditions, it would only take one or two years to make a name for herself. There would be people wanting her to be her aides. She was already a senior swordswoman even before she was twenty years old. No one would doubt that she would be a master swordswoman someday. She had reached to a level that many people could not reach in their whole life. People knew she would become a master swordswoman someday, but the question would be how many more years it would take her.

Anfey knew he was lucky to get to know Saul and Ernest after he came to this world. He was also fortunate to know Suzanna.

“Anfey, you finally came out.” Suzanna smiled.

“Brother Anfey, take it.” Shally held a hot dessert in front of her.

“I am not hungry yet. You can have it, Shally.” Anfey caressed Shally’s head. This was a way to get Suzanna to like him. If he touched Suzanna’s head, she probably would have punched him. Shally was so much easier to maneuver.

Anfy had been the one caring about Shally the most, sometimes even more than her sister since Shally joined Anfey’s legion. He read stories to Shally, played games with her, and even “shamelessly” challenged her with magic powers. Shally did not have strong desire to win. She was happy if someone would play with her. It did not matter to her whether she was winning. To Shally, practicing magic with Anfey was a game. She was not as serious as Anfey, who wanted to see who was better with magic power.

Anfey did not know why he glanced at Suzanna’s legs. He did look at other places right away. “What a shame. It would be perfect with a pair of high heels and shorter skirt,” Anfey thought to himself.

Suzanna was a senior swordswoman. It was not difficult for her to catch Anfey glancing at her legs, even though he looked away quickly. Suzanna looked down at her own legs and then she blushed.

Most times, people could not forget something even though they tried. Every time when Anfey saw Suzanna’s skin showing, or even heard Niya asking her to take a bath, he could not help thinking of that night with Suzanna. Sometimes he would secretly glanced at Suzanna. Suzanna was even worse than Anfey. Every time she saw Anfey smiling, she would think about that night. There was no one to blame, since Anfey’s smile had never changed. The angle he pulled his mouth and the number of teeth he showed were always the same. It seemed that he wore a mask, and his facial expression would never change. When she had been caught by him that night, he gave her the same kind of smile. Later when they formed a legion, he smiled the same way when they discussed issues for the legion. Suzanna could not help thinking about that night. She had developed a conditioned response.

From a psychological point of view, to get rid of this conditioned response, it would have been better for her to be away from Anfey. If she did not see Anfey’s smiles, she would forget about it in few years. However, there could be another possibility: If Suzanna kept recalling Anfey’s smiles, this psychological barrier could get worse.

“Suzanna, I have made your leather armor. Huh, Anfey, you are here.” Anfey heard Hagan talking behind him and then he asked, “Where is my stuff?”

“Wait a second.” Hagan tucked his head back to the room and walked out of the room a minute later with a package in his hand.

Anfey gently opened the package. There were almost a hundred arrowheads. About twenty of them were thick and snowy white. They were made of manticore’s teeth. The rest of the arrow heads were comparatively smaller and light blue. They were made of wyverns’ teeth. Anfey knew these arrows were quite powerful. The former arrowheads could explode, and the latter ones were poisonous and could kill anyone unless that person carried the detoxing medicine made from wyvern’s gallbladders.

These arrowheads were great, but they were all disposable and a hundred of them were far from enough. Anfey put the arrowheads in his Dimensional Ring and then he grabbed a knife. Maybe it should not be called a knife anymore. It looked more like an awl because it did not have any blades. It could only be used to thrust, not slay. The tip of the knife looked very sharp. Anfey touched it with his finger.

“Don’t…” Hagan screamed.

Hagan reminded Anfey a little too late. Anfey felt the pain on his finger. His finger was cut by the knife and then he felt an unusual feeling. His blood circulation and heartbeat slowed down. He felt chest pain, exhaustion, dizziness. He could not even move any of his fingers. These were symptoms of paralysis.

Suddenly, Anfey felt something different. The spirit crystal in his chest started to tremble. Anfey knew well that it was fighting with the paralysis. In about five seconds, the symptoms of paralysis disappeared and the spirit crystal calmed down. It seemed nothing had happened.

“It’s so wasteful!” Hagan shouted. “I have changed the properties of the knife and increased the rate of paralysis, but it also shortens the lifespan of the knife. You shouldn’t have tested it on yourself. Every time you use the knife, its lifespan will get shorter.”

“What is the rate of paralysis?” Anfey felt rejuvenated. He thought he was lucky to have a knife with such a strong paralyzing effect. He gave credit to Hagan.

“About eighty percent, or even higher, but it could only be used 30 times at most. You just wasted one.” Hagan rolled his eyes. He was not too happy with Anfey wasting his product.

“Great, wonderful!” Anfey looked happy. He patted Hagan’s shoulder forcefully.

Christian and others looked at Anfey in surprise, because Anfey used to have only three facial expressions: frown, calm and smile. They all had different meanings. This time Anfey seemed he had lost himself. This was their first time to see him losing himself.

They did not know how much eighty percent paralyzing effect meant to Anfey. It meant that he could kill twenty tough opponents. Hagan had helped Anfey with his biggest problem. How could he not be happy? He had taken the tears of stars for a while, which had gradually changed Anfey’s personality in an unnoticeable way. Anfey used to hide his emotions well, but this time he lost himself a little bit.

“Your Majesty, here is what you asked me to look for,” a shadow said. He appeared in front of Yolanthe and handed him a scroll.

“You’ve always been amazingly fast,” Yolanthe said, smiling. He took the scroll and began reading. As he read on, his smile slowly disappeared. In the end, he was frowning, and tossed the scroll down on the table with a single word, “Bastard!”

“I agree, Your Majesty,” the shadow said.

“The poor girl,” Yolanthe said, shaking his head. Had he been twenty years younger, he would surely swear to avenge her, and send in his own men to correct the wrong. After twenty years of court intrigues and political struggles, he found himself numb to injustices like this. He rarely used words like “bastard” anymore.

“I did not find her teacher, Your Majesty. However, I think anyone that could train a young girl to be a senior swordsman is someone to be reckoned with.”

“Stop the research. It is not necessary anymore. As long as Suzanna stays with Niya, we will have two powerful allies.”

“Then…Your Majesty, should I do something about the Duchy of Gus? Surely Suzanna would want to return for revenge. If we help her, we can earn her allegiance.”

“No,” Yolanthe said calmly. “You know Entos? He was born in the Country of Mercenaries, but why would he fight for us?”

“Because he studied under Master Saul.”

“So do we need to gain his allegiance?”

“Of course not,” the shadow said. He was, of course, the leader of the empire’s spies. He understood Yolanthe immediately.

“It is impossible to control everything and everyone,” Yolanthe told him. “We need to prioritize our goals. If we earn Suzanna’s loyalty, it may not affect Anfey. If we get Anfey’s loyalty, then Suzanna will be influenced, as well. We need to accomplish the most with the least amount of work.”

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

“Tell Black Eleven that he needs to cooperate with that group, and keep them safe no matter what. Especially Anfey. I am very interested in him.”

“Your Majesty, the southern front just sent their fifth plea for help. Anfey is assassinating Shansa’s princess. Shouldn’t we focus on the southern front?”

“This is all I can do,” Yolanthe said. “Destroying Ellisen’s Dark Moon Legion is our utmost priority, and I will do anything to achieve that.”

Yolanthe had his own troubles as well. His lie was so successful that it had fooled everyone, including Shansa Empire. Otherwise Shansa would never have broken the nonaggression pact and invaded Maho. It had hurt Yolanthe to think his allies were so unreliable, but he had to keep going with the plan, or else everything he had done so far would go to waste.

“Another thing, Your Majesty. People from the Mist are especially interested in Anfey and his group. They’ve always been active in the Country of Mercenaries. They will catch on eventually. Should we warn them?”

“Yes. Another thing Black Eleven should do. Tell Black Twelve to go, as well. The Mist shouldn’t make any move if they are there.”

“As you wish, Your Majesty.”

Someone knocked on Anfey’s door.

“Come in,” Anfey said. His dagger spun around a few more times in his hand before disappearing into his sleeve.

“Anfey, our man wants to see you,” Clark said, poking his head into the room.

“Alright,” Anfey said. “Let’s go.”

Anfey had known a bit about the rules and organization of the secret spies. His job was similar to that of a spy’s. He knew what he should ask and what he should not, and when to keep quiet. So he sat in the carriage with his eyes closed and did not even move to gaze out the window.

Clark sat next to him nervously. He was afraid Anfey would ask things he should not ask, and that he could get in trouble for answering. Anfey had saved him from punishment last time, so it felt wrong to lie to Anfey or not answer a question. Of course, Clark was only in charge of communication and was not a full-fledged spy.

Anfey did not open his eyes until the carriage stopped. “We’re there?” he asked.

“Yes,” Clark said as he got off of the carriage.

The carriage had stopped in front of a large courtyard. It was quiet and appeared abandoned. Weeds grew out of the cracks in the pavement, and there were piles of rocks around the yard. They shined dimly under the moonlight.

Across the yard was a large building. A black clad man was standing there, looking at Anfey.

“Have you gathered everything I need?”

“It is impossible, I have already told you,” the man said, frowning. What Anfey needed was too extensive, and there was no way any organization could find all of it in three days.

“Get as much as you can,” Anfey said, stepping into the building. “This is where the princess will live?”

“Yes. I have notes throughout the building.”

The house was only a model. If a real princess was to stay in the city, her living quarters would be much more lavish than this. There was a broken, dirty bed in the room with a piece of paper on it. Clearly it was a note the man spoke of.

Near the bed was a nightstand, and near the door was a round table with four chairs around it. To the left was a large wardrobe, and to the right was a wooden rack for decorations.

There were two sticks on the wall labelled “light,” and the ceiling had a circle drawn on it to represent another light. The ground was labelled redwood floor.

This obviously was a very crude version of the actual house, but Anfey studied it carefully. He bent down and studied the bed carefully. He then turned to the man and said, “Is this bed the same height as the princess’s?”

“I am not certain,” the man said. “Why?”

“Not good enough,” Anfey said, shaking his head. “Do you have assassins under you?”

“The best in the world.”

“What a joke,” Anfey said.

“What do you mean?” the man asked coldly. He had always prided himself in his self control, but even the best would get aggravated.

Anfey did not reply. He circled the room a few more times, then turned to the man. “Give me a stake,” he said.

The man waved his hand, and in a few minutes he handed a stake to Anfey.

Anfey placed the stake on the bed and took a strip of fabric. He tied the fabric to the stake and stared at it for a few moments before turning and leaving the room.

The man did not know what Anfey was doing but followed him anyway.

Anfey walked about fifty feet before stopping and taking a deep breath. He leaped into the air with a bow in his hand. As he began descending, he started to draw the string open. When he landed, the bow string was already drawn to its fullest. He released the string, and the arrow flew towards the building.

The arrow hit the wall with a loud thud and made a large hole in it. When Suzanna released the wind arrow the day they had discovered the bow, the arrow was strong enough to break the wall of the cave. It was much more powerful than the wind arrows released by mages. If he could pair the wind arrow with an actual arrow, it would be double the power of the bow.

There was a huge explosion in the room. The beams on the bed were hit by a blasting arrow and exploded immediately. A guy in black rushed into the room. He saw the beam flying towards the wardrobe. The upper part of the beams tied with a sheet were blown away, the rest of the beams and bed were burned with bright flames.

The guy in black was so shocked that he stood still there with cold sweat on his forehead. If the princess of Shansa Empire had been sleeping on that bed, she must have died. Even if it were him, he would have died in this attack. No wonder the king had asked him to work with Anfey and sent Black Twelve to him. Even Magic Fog organization was interested in him and tried to track him down. He suddenly realized all of these things happened for a reason. He had become a witness to Anfey’s exceptional power.

“I have to redo it. The height of this bed is not the same as the princess’s,” the guy in black heard Anfey say behind him.

“I will send someone to check on that,” the guy in black said quietly. His tone had changed and become more polite. A few days before, he had thought that the senior swordswoman was going to lead the assassination and Anfey was just an advisor. He was even not sure if Anfey was actually smart. He thought Anfey had asked about too many details. He even thought of Anfey in a bad light: thinking that Anfey might secretly want to know the princess’s panty style and color. Now he knew how ridiculous he had been.

“There are many things you need to double check. For example, the thickness and texture of princess’s bedroom wall and whether there are any hollow areas underneath the floor, especially under the furniture. They all need to be double checked,” Anfey said.

“I got it.” The guy in black nodded eagerly.

“I am not trying to give you a hard time. I did not know what would be useful or harmful for me. The more information I can have, the better control I will have. Would one day be enough for you to double check everything?” Anfey asked slowly.

“It will take at least two days.” The guy in black showed a bitter smile on his face.

“Ok. Then two days.” Anfey calculated in his mind and figured that he still should have enough time left.

“I have checked on the princess’s wagon route. Do you want me to tell you about it now?” If Anfey had not shown what he could do, this guy in black would only tell him a rough story when he was asked. It seemed that having strong power and ability was the easiest and most effective way everywhere to win others’ respect.

“Yes, tell me about it.” Anfey turned around and walked outside. The black smoke in the room seemed to get stronger. He did not bother to put the fire out. This room was picked by the princess’s bodyguards to trick Anfey, so the size and standards were quite different than the real princess’s room. Anfey just let it burn down.

The guy in black followed Anfey. He said to Anfey, “I could only get so much information. If you think the information was not sufficient and needs to be reinvestigated, I am afraid that would take a long time.” The guy in black wanted to let Anfey knew the situation in case Anfey was not happy with his work. It would put him in an awkward situation if he was asked to do the investigation again.

Anfey nodded. “It is fine. Just tell me what you have.”

“There are about three thousand crew members along the princess’s wagon route. Most of them do not have combat powers. About six hundred of them are Shansa Empire warriors. They are very tough, and their mission is to take the princess to Blackwater City. They will go back to Shansa Empire once they complete their mission. There are two senior swordsmen, and some palace bodyguards in the retinue. They are nothing. Her servants are all muggle girls. We do not have to worry about them,” the guy in black reported.

“Anything else?” Anfey asked.

“It’s pretty difficult to get the magic images you want. Maybe impossible to get,” the guy in black answered.

“What do you mean: maybe impossible to get? Aren’t your crew still working on it? Can’t you even get the magic image of the princess?” Anfey asked.

“The princess’s magic image will be sent in tomorrow. I meant the magic images of powerful people,” the guy in black replied.

Anfey was quiet for a second and said quietly, “Tell me more.”

“The princess is a polite and quiet girl. She never dated anyone before. We got different information on the food she likes. If we put all the information together, it seems that the princess eats everything, but does not particularly like to eat anything. She admires the sealed barbarians’ archmage Richard in Ahdibaijan and hates her brother. She also likes to wear blue clothes,” the guy in black said.

“Keep going.” Anfey nodded.

“The princess’s wagons do not go very fast. They only travel about sixty miles a day and then they rest. I have marked every place they have rested. Here is the map.” The guy in black took out a scroll from his shirt and passed it to Anfey. He continued, “About eight days ago, the princess’s wagons seemed to have some problems. They stayed three days in one place before restarting their journey. Her people kept what happened secret. My guys were not able to find out. We need more time on that.”

Anfey opened the map and look at it under the moonlight. He pointed at the map and asked, “Is this the area where you think they will rest tomorrow?”

“Yes,” the guy in black said.

“I have to do something tomorrow. If I have time, I hope we can go to a place together the day after tomorrow,” Anfey said.

“Where?” the guy in black asked.

“To welcome the princess,” Anfey said.

“Ok.” The guy in black nodded.

“Any other information? If not, I will be going back now.” Anfey put the map in his Dimensional Ring.

“I will let you know immediately when I know anything new,” the guy in black said in a serious voice.

When Anfey got back to the hotel, Riska and Sanchez were talking on the stairs to the third floor. It was their turn to be on watch that night. After experiencing some tough times, they all knew how to protect themselves. Even on the nights Anfey did not tell them to have someone on watch, they still voluntarily had someone on watch. On the days that Anfey kept himself in the room for the training, they did not let their guard down. It just showed they were maturing.

Riska smiled at Anfey and then shook his head, which meant nothing had happened.

“Where is Vonmerge? Did he come back yet?” Anfey asked.

“He came back shortly after you left.” Riska smiled.

“Where is he now?” Anfey asked.

“Where else could he be? He is in Suzanna’s room.” Sancheze ginned.

For the guys, some of them were jealous of other guys who could attract affection from girls. Some of them did not even dare to go after the girls they liked. Sanchez knew himself well. He admired the beauty of Niya and Suzanna, but he just thought about them and would never take action to go after them. Everyone knew there was no way Vonmerge could get Suzanna’s affection, but he kept trying, which bothered them.

“I am going to see him. You guys can continue your chat.” Anfey nodded at them and walked in big strides to Suzanna’s room.

Anfey stopped at Suzanna’s room and knocked lightly on the door. Then he pushed the door open and walked in. Suzanna looked bored on the chair while Vonmerge was pacing back and forth, excitedly telling some story. He did not notice the unexpected guest, Anfey.

“Vonmerge, did you get the information I asked you to look for?” Anfey interrupted Vonmerge’s story telling.

“Huh, Anfey, I have looked for you several times. Don’t worry. I, Vonmerge, never make any mistakes. I got it,” Vonmerge replied. In this potential mercenary legion, Suzanna was the first one he needed to get along. Anfey was the second one. Hagan is an alchemist. Every mercenary would like to recruit someone like him. Vonmerge was different. If Anfey wanted to kick him out, feeding himself would be a problem, not to mention seeing Suzanna again. Once he had accidentally stumbled into a dragon cave. He passed out 35 feet away from the dragon while the dragon release his dragon power. Later, when he woke up, he found his combat power was affected greatly. He was no longer able to gather all his combat power. He only had less than thirty percent of his combat power left. This was his secret. Since then he tried to avoid conflict with others. He had always been trying to convince his opponents by talking. Therefore, his sword skills had not improved, while his talking skills were fantastic.

“Let’s talk in my room.” Anfey smiled.

“Ok.” Vonmerge did not really want to leave, but he had to.

Suzanna heaved a long sigh and also stretched. “Vonmerge finally left,” Suzanna thought to herself. She did not want to hurt anyone, but she did not realize that she might hurt him more by giving him hope.

Seeing Suzanna’s reaction, Anfey playfully winked at her. Suzanna blushed a little. She was surprised to see Anfey making any moves like this. She could feel the change in his personality. “Was it because we are getting more comfortable with each other?” Suzanna wondered.

“Vonmerge, take a seat and tell me about it.” After they went to Anfey’s room, they immediately got to the point. “Did you draw anyone’s attention when you were trying to dig up the information?”

“No, I was very careful,” Vonmerge answered quickly. “You have told me that it would affect the fate of the whole mercenary and Suzanna. I would not mess with it.”

“Then tell me what you have found,” Anfey said.

“They take a lot of missions every day. They assign many other things to themselves as well. We are not able to make it today, but they will have about thirty mercenary groups doing assignments tomorrow. Some of them will go to Forest of Death, some to Wild Prairie, some to White Mountain City, and some will escort businessmen on their trips. Anfey, what do you want to know?” Vonmerge asked.

“Let’s start with the weakest mercenary group,” Anfey said.

The Wilder Plain was covered by six foot tall grass. Whenever the wind was strong enough to part it, it would reveal thousands of boarbeasts. These animals were native to the Wilder Plain, and was the food source for most carnivores living there. Boarbeasts were very mild in nature, and rarely attack other animals. Whenever they were attacked, they tended to run instead of fighting back. They were herbivores, and reproduced very fast to prevent extinction. If there were no boarbeasts, the other beasts would starve to death. If there were no other beasts, the boarbeasts would destroy the plain.

The Wilder Plain was large, but for the mercenaries that depended on this plain for a living, they already know the plain like the back of their hands. They were very familiar with things like where the high-level magic beasts resided and where they should not go. Only powerful people dared to go to the plains, because if they were not powerful, they would simply become another body in the plain.

With Vonmerge as their guide, Anfey and the group did not waste much time looking for their target. It was a nine-person mercenary team made up of seven men—six swordsmen and one mage—and two women, a mage and a priestess. With the Eyes of Sky they could see that this other team was harvesting the magic beast’s body.

Anfey approached them quietly. He was good at disguising himself, and did not worry about being seen. When he was close enough to hear the mercenaries’ voices, he took out two top tier magic crystals and knocked them together.

Soon the mercenaries heard the sound and began making their way over. “Hey, kid, what are you doing?” one of them asked.

Anfey turned, acting like he was surprised by them and had forgotten to put away the crystals.

“You…” the man who was speaking stopped mid-sentence, his eyes falling on the crystals. Their team was only mediocre, but they had seen top tier magic magic crystals before. The man’s eyes gleamed with greed.

Five other people came through the grass, and all of their eyes were immediately drawn to the crystals in Anfey’s hands. Magic crystals meant wealth. It meant that they could live like kings and have something to brag about later. There were so many mercenaries that never get to touch top tier magic crystals.

“Where did you get that?” one of the men asked. He nodded to the others, and they began surrounding Anfey.

“I’m not obliged to tell you,” Anfey said, taking a few steps back.

“Don’t worry, friend,” the man said. “We are part of the Tiger of Tawau Mercenary. Our lord is about to marry, and we must come up with some gifts. If possible, we hope to buy your crystals. Five thousand coins, how about that?”

Five thousand coins was a fair price, but the man looked like he was worth not even ten coins, let alone five thousand.

The group kept smiling and surrounding Anfey. Anfey took a few steps back and kept a certain distance between himself and the mercenaries. “What do you want?” he asked. “These belong to my friend. I cannot sell them.”

“What is his name? Maybe we know him,” the man said. His smile was wider now, but his forehead was covered with sweat.

Anfey placed the crystals into his pocket and ducked into the grass.

“Crap!”

“Don’t let him get away!”

“Sir, let’s contact the main group. We gotta catch the kid!” one of the men called while pulling out a scroll from his ring.

Larger mercenary legions had the advantage of numbers, and each member had the same scroll in case backup was needed.

“Idiot!” the first man barked. “No! How will we divide up the crystals then?”

“Yeah. The kid had no combat power. He won’t get away.”

A small search quick ensued. The two mages lifted themselves into the air with levitation magic, searching for Anfey’s trail. The others fanned out and began searching. In the face of the temptation of top tier crystals, they had already forgotten the low tier crystals they were harvesting. If they took those crystals, they could live for a few years with no financial troubles.

Anfey walked through the grass quietly. He had brought the entire group to the plain, but he had sent them away before he approached the mercenaries. It didn’t matter how good the plan was, they could still fail. If the men had used their scrolls, and the men from Tiger of Tawau had surrounded them, he could ensure his own escape, but not everyone’s. Plus, Tiger of Tawau would not be the only mercenaries coming. The larger mercenary legions all had treaties with each other, and would lend each other help. This place was far from Blackwater City, and if someone used a scroll, there would be thousands of mercenaries here within minutes.

Anfey stopped backing away and crouched in a bush. He removed the top layer of his clothes and revealed a layer of clothes made for easier movements. It was in fact a military-style camouflage suit with a hood made by Anfey himself. People could get as close as fifteen feet without noticing him.

Anfey retrieved a dagger from his dimensional ring. It wasn’t made by Hagan. Instead it was made by a blacksmith Anfey found in the city. Swords were made for fighting in places like this, and using the altered dagger was too much of a waste.

The sound of boots on ground was getting closer and closer. Anfey picked up a small stone and waited until the man was close enough. He flicked the stone out and hit another patch of grass. The man turned his gaze towards where the stone landed.

Anfey jumped out of his hiding place and dashed towards the man, his dagger swiping across the man’s throat.

The man fell to the ground without making a noise. He slumped on the ground, but was still alive. He dug his bloodstained fingers into his wound in a desperate attempt for air.

Anfey returned quietly and buried the dagger into the man’s chest. Humans had big hearts, and someone as well trained as Anfey would never miss it. The man was still before Anfey could pull the dagger out.

Anfey listened for a few moments before approaching the second man. Before he could approach him, however, the man began screaming.

“I see you, kid!” the man called. “Get out here before I burn you out! Kid, this isn’t a fun place! You’re gonna get eaten by beasts!”

He was loud enough for his friends to hear, and if his voice disappeared, his friends would be suspicious. Anfey turned to look for another target.

These mercenaries thought they were the hunters, but they did not know they had already became the prey. Anfey’s presence was too undetectable, and the mercenaries thought he was just a normal kid. No mercenaries would be too concerned about a normal person.

The man’s target was focused on something straight ahead, and he did not pay attention to movements around him.

As soon as he was close enough, Anfey reached out and, covering the man’s mouth and nose with his hand, slit the man’s throat with his dagger. The man’s body spasmed and fell still. Anfey placed him on the ground softly. The two mages flew by, but the grass was too tall for them to see anything.

One, two, three mercenaries were killed by Anfey one by one when they hunted for the magic beasts. The throat of the last guy with the loud voice was cut deep by Anfey. That mercenary died immediately. Anfey had six mercenary badges with blood in his pocket.

Two mages, one female and one male, were still in the sky and the priestess had not shown up yet. Anfey took a bow out from his dimensional ring. He loaded a regular arrow on it, pointing at the sky. He had been watching those two mages when they were hunting. He found they had been circling around in the sky with a radius of 800 yards. This was his only chance.

If Anfey were a swordsman, he could have attacked those two mages with sword radiance. If Anfey were a mage, he could have attacked them easily from long distance. It was unfortunate that Anfey was neither. He had to use the bow to attack.

There were two mages in the sky, so no matter which one was shot down first, it would take Anfey two seconds to reload the bow and shoot at the second mage. Anfey did not dare to underestimate mercenaries. He actually never underestimated any opponent. The opponents’ powers were largely related to their talent and dedication to their practice. This mercenary group was not great in general, but living in danger had trained them to be alert for danger. Anfey thought that two seconds were long enough for a mage to release the magic scroll. To shoot two targets down perfectly, he had to choose the very moment when one body was blocking the other one when they circled around. Luckily, the route of their movements was traceable.

Anfey did not worry about being surrounded by the opponents. Instead, he was more concerned about covering the news of this mercenary group being wiped out. It was common for the whole mercenary group to be attacked and die when they were out on missions or hunting. However, it was rare that no one in the group was able to send out rescue signals. It was rare, but could happen.

Anfey’s held his arms steady. His eyes showed his determination to kill those two mages. He stared at his targets. Finally, those two mages lined up, one mage blocking the other one. Suddenly, a strong wind blew over the prairie. The grass bent down as the wind blew over. The male mage seemed to see something in the grass out of the corner of his eye. He hurried to turn around to check. Suddenly he felt pain in his chest and saw blackness in his eyes. He fell like a big piece of stone from the sky. The arrow pierced through the male mage’s chest and hit the female mage. Two mages fell one by one from the sky.

Anfey rushed over to where they had fallen. Those two mages rolled together. From a distance, they looked like a couple holding each other rolling on the grass. This scene reminded Anfey of a saying, “May we be a pair of inseparable lovebirds in the sky, and two trees with interlocking branches on earth.” Those two mages had been like lovebirds a few seconds ago, and they were “two trees with interlocking branches” now.

Anfey easily found his way back with the eight mercenary badges. He went back to the area where that mercenary group had been cleaning up magic beast bodies. He had a good sense of direction, especially when he was on assignments. He rarely made any mistakes in finding the locations where he needed to be.

The only survivor, the priestess, was sitting on a rock, zoning out as she watched the clouds. From Anfey’s angle, he could only see her side. She was showered in golden sunlight. She looked like an angel. He could not see her face from his angle, but she seemed to be cute. Anfey sighed and reloaded the bow again.

Once the bow was loaded, he had to shoot it no matter what. As a killer, once he started a mission, he had to make sure that no one could trace back, so had to finish it without any potential dangers left. If this priestess were not killed, everyone else in this mercenary group was killed for nothing. If the commander in Tiger of Tawau mercenary legion noticed these mercenaries were killed with a scheme, he would strengthen their defenses. It would make it a lot harder to kill the Shansa Empire princess.

Anfey shot the bow in a speed that a human eye could not even detect. Suddenly an eye-blinding flash passed by that priestess. With a huge exploding sound, the arrow disappeared, while the light cover around her shattered into millions of light spots.

Damn! There was a magic array. Anfey blamed himself for not being careful. Regular priests did not have combat power. There were dangers everywhere on Wild Prairie. Her peers undoubtedly set up a magic array to protect her. He should have thought of this when he saw her sitting in the rock unalert.

While he blamed himself for not being careful, Anfey reloaded the bow. It seemed the priestess had very little experience in direct combat. After the magic array was attacked, she jumped to her feet and nervously watched around her, looking for the attacker. She even forgot to release the magic scroll immediately to save herself.

“It was dumb luck,” Anfey thought to himself. Anfey heaved a sigh and let his fingers on the arrow go. The second arrow shot out so fast that it looked like a bolt of lightning. The priestess’s magic cover was destroyed. Anfey shot at her head. The priestess flipped backwards and rolled onto the grass.

When Anfey got back to the hotel, Christian and Riska were standing on the roof waiting for him. They glanced at Anfey with questioning looks as Anfey walked upstairs. Anfey nodded at them with a smile, which signaled to them that everything was fine.

“Anfey, let us join you when there are other assignments. We can help,” Christian complained. He never openly said anything against Anfey to his face after Anfey had made a decision, but always offered his suggestions afterwards.

“Too many people on this assignment would not have helped,” Anfey said, smiling. In fact, he was more concerned that Christian could not be as cold as needed. Some people were not born to certain professions. Christian could not be a killer. He was too upright to be a killer.

“What if something happens to you? There must be someone to help you,” Riska said.

“Watch your mouth. What if? Do you want something to happen to me?” Anfey said.

“No, I did not mean that.” Riska smiled bitterly.

Clark walked downstairs and gave Anfey a look.

“You guys can go and get some rest. I need to go somewhere with Clark now,” Anfey said.

“We have rested for a while,” Riska said.

Anfey and Clark walked to Clark’s room on the first floor. A guy in black was quietly sitting on the chair, looking at Anfey.

“What happened?” Anfey knew the man was direct, so he talked to him in a simple and direct way and skipped any courtesy greetings.

“These are the architectural drawings of the princess’s bedroom.” The guy in black passed Anfey a package. “Everything you want to know is in this package. If it is not in the package, I don’t think I can get it for you anyway.”

Anfey unpacked the package, looked through it, and put the items back in their original order. “I need someone to explain these to me. I do not understand this kind of diagram.”

“No problem,” the guy in black said.

“Anything else you would like to tell me?” Anfey asked.

“You asked me to collect information about Glory mercenary. I have some information about them with me now,” the guy in black said.

“Great.” Anfey smiled. “Can you brief me on it.”

“The commander of Glory mercenary, Antonio, is a master swordsman,” the guy in black said. “He is the most powerful one among the commanders in the four largest mercenary groups. It’s hard to tell his personality based on the information we collected. Some people said he is a gentle man, while others said he is hot-tempered. They all can prove their claims. Antonio rarely shows up in public. It has been very hard to track him.

“The second important person in Glory mercenary is Chantley. He is a senior swordsman. He is very smart and mature. He is a helper for Antonio. If we have options, I hope we do not have to confront him. If Antonio is the king of Glory mercenary, then Chantley is his advisor, a very good one. He has solved many difficult problems with his intelligence. He was a formidable opponent. Antonio is in White Mountain City, so Chantley is in charge of everything here.

“The third important person in Glory is Davison. He is a senior swordsman. He became a senior swordsman before he was 35 years old. His sword skills are above Chantley’s. I heard he might become a master swordsman in the future, then Glory mercenary would be the only mercenary group with two master swordsmen. Davison is the opposite of Chantley in terms of personality. He is more willing to take risks, but also likes to act more on instinct. Chantley has solved a lot of tough problems for Glory mercenary while Davison has created many problems. However, Davison has one advantage, that is, he is a very loyal follower of Antonio. Antonio has been very tolerant with the mistakes he has made and rarely blames him.

“Here is a report on Chantley’s and Davison’s families and important people in Glory mercenary. You can take your time to read it.” The guy in black passed Anfey another scroll.

“Thank you very much.” Anfey smiled.

“You’re welcome. You said I had contributed to your mercenary.” The guy in black hesitated a little bit. “I have already received new orders from the commander that I need cooperate with you.”

“Really? Does it mean you would help me if I need your help?” Anfey asked.

“Yes,” the guy in black said.

“How many people can you give orders to?” Anfey asked.

“Depends on your needs,” the guy in black said calmly. “I believe you have heard of Entos?”

“Of course.” Anfey was shocked for a second. Entos was one of Saul’s best students. He was a senior magister with strong power.

“Entos is the third important person in Brothers Union mercenary,” the guy in black said.

“You mean…” Anfey said.

“After the political marriage between Glory mercenary and Ellisen Empire, many countries realized they were falling behind. Shansa Empire has been trying to have Tiger of Tawau mercenary be their alley. Our country has had a good relationship with Brother Union mercenary. As long as we are not against the principles of the Country of Mercenaries, they are willing to help us,” the guy in black said.

“This is marvelous news for me,” Anfey said, smiling. If the four major mercenary groups had been tightly allied, he could not have devised a plan to come between them. Now, however, he realized that the mercenaries had only appeared to be friendly. They had their own fair share of infighting as well. After the marriage with the Shansa princess, Tiger of Tawau mercenary legion would surely make a name for itself. Its ranking among the major groups would likely go up as well. It was likely that it could potentially threaten Glory mercenary legion. Surely the other three groups did not want the situation to come to this.

A super mercenary only sounded intimidating in name. It did not matter how big a mercenary group was, none of them could take on a full-fledged nation. There was hardly any nation without a master swordsman or archmage, but out of the four mercenaries, only Glory mercenary had a master swordsman in its service.

As far as Anfey was concerned, the world was simple. There was a saying: Learn your craft, then serve your king. Royalty tended to have an upper hand when it came to recruiting useful men and women. A king could offer everything a mercenary group could offer, and everything a mercenary group could not offer. People like Yagor and Ernest were, in the end, oddities. Their fates only proved that being politically neutral could only end in disaster.

If Yagor had worked for a king, surely Anfey couldn’t have killed him as easily. Saul and Ernest wouldn’t have dared look for him, either. If Ernest had worked for a royal family, he wouldn’t have ended up in such a terrible place after Jerrofick had played his tricks. Now his reputation was so terrible even Suzanna had called him a coward.

Anfey was not joking when he came up with the plan to assassinate the Shansa princess. For someone like him, joking around was no longer an option. All he wanted was to do some good for Maho Empire and ensure a better future for himself.

There were only so many directions he could take. One was to leave the team and live anonymously until he achieved what he wanted to achieve, but what good would that do? His reputation would be ruined as well, and perhaps worse than Ernest’s. He was the one who wanted to kill the princess and had led the group into trouble. He should have the guts to shoulder the consequences as well. Abandoning his friends would turn him into a laughingstock and ruin his relationships with Saul and Ernest. Not only that, it they would likely turn into his enemies. He could not forget Phillip, either, who was still trying to find him and his group. He could, theoretically, return to being an assassin. Practically, though, business would be very slim. This was not his world any longer.

Another option was to seek refuge with Ellisen Empire or other nations. Anfey may have been coldhearted, but he couldn’t bring himself to betray Maho Empire. There wasn’t much he could do, anyway. No one would take in someone with no combat power and little-to-no magical surges, much less someone who had offended three of the most powerful men in Maho Empire.

The last option was to serve Maho Empire. Help in the time of need was the most precious, and now with Shansa Empire invading Maho, it was the perfect time for Anfey to deliver what Maho Empire need. Both hunting magical beasts and assassinating his opponents were for practice, and the benefits of the latter were much greater. Even if he did not achieve everything he was aiming for, he had grounds to argue if the future leader of Maho Empire wanted Saul to hand him over.

If he was lucky and achieved some of his grander goals, the future king of Maho Empire would have to consider his contribution to the war. If Maho Empire lost the war, he could still join Ernest and travel the world.

“Don’t get too comfortable. The alliance will only help us with small things,” the man in black said.

“I know,” Anfey replied.

“Do you know how to ride?” the man asked abruptly.

“Yes, why?”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to welcome the princess? Get ready. We are leaving in a few moments.”

“This early?”

“If we leave today, we can catch up to my caravans by tomorrow night, and encounter the princess on the way.” The man looked at Anfey and added, “Do you have any other things you need to take care of?”

“No. Have a few men stick around. Keep an eye on them.”

“I would have done it even if you hadn’t asked.”

The secret spies were very efficient. After Anfey had told Christian about some things to look out for, he got into the carriage with Suzanna. There was another man in the carriage who was clearly important, because every time they encountered a checkpoint, the man would stick his head out and talk to the patrol. This got the carriage out of the city without anyone checking.

When they were about five miles out of the city, Anfey and Suzanna left the carriage and climbed onto their horses. The man in black arrived on horseback as well. He had taken his mask off. Anfey understood why he had kept that mask on at all time.

The man had a long scar across his face and two very distinct eyebrows. Blackwater City had a lot of guards, but guards with such special features were hard to find.

It was as if the man was testing Anfey’s ability. He rode forward without looking back or waiting for Anfey and Suzanna and did not stop until his horse was exhausted.

By sunset the next day, they had reached the caravan. There, they changed into the attire of men of the Snow Fox Mercenaries who protected the caravan.

They pushed forward all the next day and finally encountered the princess’s procession on the outskirts of a town. The princess may be important, but there was only one major roadway in the Country of Mercenaries connecting Blackwater City and White Mountain City. Ellisen Empire was to the south and Shansa to the north. It was the most important roadway in the country, and shutting it down could cause immeasurable loss.

Plus, the other three mercenary groups were very unsatisfied with Tiger of Tawau’s alliance with Shansa Empire. Glory Mercenary Group was worried that it would threaten their position of power, while the other two did not want Tiger of Tawau to get too powerful and tip the balance. If Tiger of Tawau had closed the roadway for the arrival of the princess, the other three groups would have protested. So the road was still crowded, and the princess’s servants pretended none of them existed.

Of course, all the mercenaries knew who the caravan bore, and had made way for her. Snow Fox’s mercenaries were no exceptions. They stood by and watched the carriages go by.

There were thousands in the procession. Flags with vibrant colors fluttered in the wind. Stallions neighed as they marched by. Armor gleamed under the sun. Everyone in the procession looked serious, since they were representing an entire nation.

There were more than a dozen identical carriages, led by twelve stallions. The carriages themselves were large and beautiful, and shone gold under the sun. There were groups of knights behind every carriage, and two armored women guarding.

Clearly it was a way to decrease the chance of assassination. The princess would be in one of the carriages, and it was likely that her placement changed everyday. No one except for a few trusted people would be aware of her exact location.

When the third carriage passed, Anfey picked one of the women and whistled at her. The princess’s carriages had a lot of observers everyday, and the guards had gotten used to whistling and howling. Anfey stood towards the front, but his presence did not alarm anyone. At most he made some of the men curious as to why any mercenary groups would accept an apprentice like him.

The woman next to the carriage turned curiously. Seeing that she had saw him, Anfey whistled again, louder and sharper this time. He smirked at her. He was a good actor, and he was confident that he had fooled her into thinking he was trying to catcall her.

The woman frowned and appeared angry. Every woman would be angry in a situation like this. The weaker ones would hide, but the stronger ones would face it head on. The woman turned her horse and galloped towards Anfey. She raised her horsewhip and sent it cracking through the air.