7 Chapter 6 Conspiracy Theories

Shinta and Rosa conversations went on for hours, Shinta explained his situation about his battle with the mage order, his clan's betrayal and his memory loss and where he had been all this time and touched a little on his wife's misconduct towards him.

Hearing his explanations Rosa was trying her hardest not to laugh, biting her lip while trying to keep a straight face " I see, so that's what happened" she said nervously.

Shinta could tell the woman was trying not to burst in tears of laughter after he relayed how his wife mistreated him, he sighed "its ok you let it out, get it out of your system,"

When Shinta said that just a few seconds later, Rosa lost it "Ha ha ha ha ha ha! The great Assassin god reduced to a mere boy toy for mere wealthy merchant girl!? Hhahahahahahahahahah, this is just too funny ha hahaha ha." she started gasping for air then continued" ha ha ha and that same girl took your place as leader of the Assassin faction ha aha hahaha!"

Shinta didn't get angry because he knew if he were in her shoes right now he wouldn't be able to control himself either. after a few minutes of laughter Rosa finally calmed down and went back to her usual self; she coughed." I'm sorry my lord forgive my rudeness."

Shinta waved his hand "its fine now that your clear-headed I need information about what's been happening in the Crane clan the past 14 years while I was asleep."

Rosa nodded "I don't know much, but after your disappearance, our empress had all the current leaders of the crane clan executed and sanctioned them from trade for the cultivations resources which lead to a massive decline, so currently the Crane clan is at its weakest its ever been. but after hearing your explanation, it makes sense why she was so angry with the Crane clan."

Hearing this, Shinta was livid, he didn't know whether to laughed or cry "she apparently doesn't want a repeat of what happened with the eagle clan, so she tried to appease my anger by doing this, and she even had me married to her daughter hoping that she could control me, by becoming my mother in law.' he pondered to himself.

Shinta scratched his head then asked, "what of the mage order?"

Rosa paused for a bit, trying to find the right words to explain the situation, she took a breath then spoke: "the remnants of the mage order have subdued and absorbed by the shadow sword and forced to work for the order like slaves as a newly formed mage faction."

Shinta frowned "oh.. is that so? so tell me how did the empress accomplish this and who is the leader of the faction?"

Rosa started to feel nervous" the empress ordered held all their families as hostages to force their complete obedience, and as for the leader of the faction, it is Linra Valtina."

Shinta snapped "what did you say!" he yelled murderously "is that bitch of an empress trying to make me break my oath! Does she want to me destroy the shadow sword order and unleash chaos in this world!" Shinta's aura exploded out, leaking bloodlust and killing intent

Rosa cowered before him, prostration herself "forgive me, my lord, this was all the empress's order's I did not mean to upset you" she said trembling with fear.

Shinta's aura dissipated and went calm and composed again "raise your head," he said

Rosa slowly raised her head and looked Shinta in the eyes.

"lady Rosa you will tell me everything you know about the mage faction, and you will prepare new equipment of black mithiral armour and new weapons, am I clear?" he said sternly.

Rosa quivered in fear "yes my lord! ill arrange everything for you!"

Rosa spent over one hour explaining to Shinta all she could about the mage faction. She told that not all mages are under the shadow sword order's jurisdiction and the way they recruit mages in the wing. Over ten years ago the shadow sword order started a new system of recruitment; this method entailed the establishment of guild's that serve as hubs where rogue warriors and mages and other specialised fighters go to work for money by accepting jobs requests. Rosa explained that the mage faction is currently involved in researching the magic art learning how to become more powerful for the sake of the shadow sword order's rule.

after hearing all Rosa had to say he asked one final question "where is Linra Valtina?"

"She lives in the crane clan and is currently married to Barrick Crane; only she chose to keep her Family name, she also has a son named Darian." She said.

Shinta felt an awful taste in his mouth after hearing that 'just you wait for me whore ill show you the true meaning of fear ' he pondered to himself.

Shinta looked up at Rosa "ok I understand what's going on, now Rosa I want a list of every powerful mage in Slovark who isn't affiliated with the shadow sword order but has a considerable influence over the populace, worshipped by commoners and so on,"

Rosa bowed respectfully "indeed my lord but may I ask why?"

Shinta sighed "from what you have told me, on the surface our empress Kenoria has the families of the mage faction held hostage to keep them in line. And also has the wing itself under massive surveillance, to make sure they don't pull anything funny yes?"

Rosa nodded in agreement " that is indeed the case my lord."

Shinta continued ", and the empress has been giving them funding to improve their magic arts, but I wonder if anyone in the order ever thought that what if the mages had magic methods to communicate long distances with each other that cant be noticed by the human eye's or people who aren't mages them selfs."

Rosa was stunned after hearing what was said. "I.. I.. never would have thought of that but even so, I don't think the mage faction would take this risk."

Shinta smirked "if those people thought I was dead for the past 14 years then, of course, they would take that risk, also after I killed the mage order leaders back then do you think they would just let that go, all their hard work for nothing? They built there cult up for years under the nose or the shadow sword order and wanted to destroy us. but the one thing that destroyed all their plans was the fact that they underestimated me deeply."

Rosa was still a bit sceptical about Shintas theories" so my lord what do you intend to do with the names and locations of the influential mages?" she asked nervously.

Shinta face went seriously "if things are the way I believe it to be. These mages who have a lot of influence and are high in number across the six kingdoms. Then my guess is for the years I went missing they have been building a new mage order in the shadows and on a higher scale, they could turn the people of all country's against us on a massive scale. So as for what I plan to do starting with Slovark, I'm going hunt down those powerful mages, kill them then search them for clue's, and if it turns out I'm wrong, it's only a few mages who cares, better to be safe than sorry right?"

Rosa felt a chill down her spine this man indeed was a demon "ill get everything you need right away my lord, in the meantime ill have Kelly escort you to our best VIP room until everything is ready" she said nervously.

Shinta grinned "now-now I couldn't possibly have your work for free" he pulls out a golden bank card " here this is my wife's bank card take all the money you need feel free to take half the money on this card if you like, go nuts."

Rosa Trembled in fear " my lord did you perhaps steal that card from your wife, the Demon Queen."

Shinta frowned "yes indeed I swiped it from her when she wasn't looking, and also told her I was going to a shopping spree using her money; what of it?"

Rosa dropped to her hands and knee's in front of Shinta "please my lord I dare not accept any money from you my branch will cover all your expenses, just please don't make me take money that belongs to the Demon Queen I beg you!"

Shinta was taken aback 'what the hell has my wife done to warrant such fear from Assassins of the shadow sword' he thought,

"Rosa why are you so frightened, you look like a traumatised child?" Shinta asked curiously

Rosa raised her head looking at Shinta "taking money from the Demon Queen is the ultimate taboo. Three years ago when I reported the earnings of our faction my self and a few other Assassin leaders skimmed a few hundred gold coins for our selves, we didn't see the harm it considering the amount we took didn't even equate to one per cent of the yearly earnings. but when the demon queen found out, she took away our human rights for a year, and we had to serve as her playthings for a whole year within her mansion in the silken city, and when she was absent from silken city we were forced to be slaves to the maids and they made us..."

"ok stop! I don't want to know; you win I won't make you do this!" Shinta finally interrupted her; he couldn't bear to hear any more. 'for crying out loud demon queen is a fitting name for her as much as I hate to admit it.

Shinta stood up and was about to leave but suddenly he just remembered something, he turned and looked back at Rosa "by the way Rosa over 20 years ago I place a woman under the care and protection of the assassin faction, her name was Cassandra, I trust that despite my absence she was still taken care of?" he said sternly.

Rosa pondered for a bit and then replied " ah yes my lord this woman has been living a happy life, she adopted two children and had become a strong businesswoman, she runs a few inns and restaurants here in the Silken city. She has been well taken care of my lord" she said with a smile.

Shinta sighed in relief then smiled "I'm glad I'm glad she has been living well."

Rosa was shocked beyond belief the assassin god Demon Smiled so lovingly. over a woman who was old cleanup to be his mother she couldn't help but ask "um my lord may I ask who is this Cassandra that you went through so much effort to ensure that she lives such a prosperous life of luxury and cause you to smile like that?"

Shinta snapped back to his senses and coughed "before I answer that, do you know the truth behind the Eagle clans destruction?"

Rosa's face paled a little "um.. yes, as a branch leader of this faction we were allowed access to certain information about you, my lord."

Shinta grinned "since that's case the woman Cassandra is the reason why I annihilated the Eagle Clan and left no survivors!" he said murderously as his face turned vicious.

The bloodlust in Shinta's eyes caused Rosa to tremble; she had never felt such darkness and hate before in her life. she bowed her head "forgive me my lord this servant has spoken out of turn."

Shinta calmed himself "it's fine I shall retire for the night to my chambers let me know when all I have requested is ready" he stood up and walked to the door, the doors opened instantly both Karn and Kelly stood there bowing.

Kelly raised her head "please my lord follow me ill show you to your room" Shinta nodded and followed on as Kelly was leading him to his chambers.

Watching him fade in the distance Rosa sighed in relief "Karn head over to the weapon smith's, and armour smiths tell them to prepare there finest equipment then deliver it to lord Demons room as soon as possible."

Karn nodded "yes my lady right away" Karn ran off without delay. Rosa sat back at her desk and opened a bottle of wine, poured a cup and downed it in one go. ' I better send word to the empress about what just happened today' she thought.'

Flashback on Shinta's childhood trauma

Later that night Shinta was sitting in his room sipping wine while lost in thought.

he began reminiscing the last time he saw his mother when he was still a young boy. "Mother! Why! Why! Did you kill father! Why did you kill everyone here is what father said true! Did you just marry into the clan to destroy it from within!" he cried out in such sorrow watching his mother who he loved with all his heart, murder his father and family servant's who he regarded as his kin.

Shinta's mother Diana Eagle stood before her son staring in his eye's with a passive look. She knelt to her son's ear whisper to his ear " one mile east of the Crane sacred grounds; you will find a Hut with black door and brown roof, made out of hai and wood. Inside you'll find the answer's you seek, Good by my son " she stood up looking her son in the eye's one last time than shedding tears of true remorse" I love you " Diana spoke her last, then raised her dagger and pierced her throat.