Answering The Challenge (1)

The sun was setting, I returned to my office after I inspected the territory and went to my desk to do some work.

The most important thing I had to do was to make a decision regarding the budget.

Even though there were many treasures in the basement, money would disappear in a flash if I used them without a plan.

Just as I was about to grab a pen and start filling out the paperwork, I was interrupted. Suddenly, the window shattered.

"...huh?" <Julius >

What came through were five enemies.

Do assassins these day's only know to come through the window.

First Yuri and now these guys

"Die!" <Assassin 1>

They attacked right away without any greeting.

There were four C-class warriors and one A-class statwise according to my [Unit Inspection].

There are about 40 A-class warriors on the continent for now.

What's really rare is the S-class, of which there are only five in the continent at the moment.

Of course, 40 is not a large number.

Besides, the 40 or so A-level warriors in the continent were all in the low 90s in terms of power level.

There were no more than 10 people in the continent with 95 martial force or above, at least till the wars truly began and their levels increased.

In any case, an assassination team with A-class warrior was not an ordinary group.

It would be dangerous if I were caught by surprise.

My strength without my perk blade was as low as ever.

Even so, I was able to remain calm thanks to Yuri, who jumped in from the window at almost the same time.

"Who are you people?" <Yuri >

Yuri went straight to the masked man nearby and swung her sword mercilessly at him.

The blue mana penetrated the masked man's chest sharply.

At the same time, she swung her sword from left to right, and the body of the masked man next to her was cut in half.

Blood gushed into the office.

"No, Yuri...You don't have to fight so aggressively." <Julius >

I don't know why, but the corners of her eyes rose in anger as she dealt with another masked man who attacked her without answering.

I couldn't just sit back and watch.

After all, there's an A-class enemy.

The man also thought that he had to kill me first, so he left Yuri to his men and attacked me.

With 90 martial force he's the most powerful person in this group of assassins.

However, when equipped with my Perk Blade, my power level is 101, which is the highest among the 40 or so A-class warriors on the continent.

100 being the breakthrough to enter S-class

So this guy is no match for me.

Fighting the enemy with Heavenly Demon Rain was too easy.

I swung my sword 2 times and the enemy died with a look of disbelief in his eyes.

"Wait, Yuri!" <Julius >

I wanted to keep one of them alive to find out who was behind it, but Yuri had already annihilated them when I shouted.

With Rossade equipped she had 91 power level, it was too easy for her to dispose of them.

"What is it?" <Yuri >

She replied with an oddly refreshed look on her face.

She looked as if she wanted to be praised for a job well done, or was I mistaken?

"I wanted to keep one of them alive. To find out who's after me." <Julius >

"What?" <Yuri >

Yurasia puffed out her cheeks lightly.

I guess she thought I had a point, because she sat down and started slapping the cheek of the masked man who fell in front of her with an expressionless face.

There's no way that's going to wake him up, he's already dead.

She puffed out her cheeks even more and said as she threw the dead masked man out the window and stood up.

"I was just pissed off and couldn't adjust my strength." <Yuri >

"Why were you so angry?" <Julius >

"I don't know." <Yuri >

"Were by anychance watching me?"

"Of course not!" <Yuri >

Yuri said and disappeared through the window where she had come in.

Yeah right, how else could she follow the assassins through the window if she wasn't.

Is she still suspicious that I'm a vicious lord like my reputation or is it...

＊＊＊

The vassals gathered in the office of the lord's castle.

Since the lord had been attacked, it was inevitable that everyone would gather.

Yusen frowned when he saw the dead body and asked.

"Was he strong?" <Yusen >

"Yeah. He was a mana wielder." <Julius >

"Oh, no!...Then someone with a lot of power must have sent him to...Do you have any idea who it was?" <Yusen >

That rang a bell.

I killed everyone I had to, Ronen and the King still needed me, so there was no way they were going to do this.

Of course, there were people who had a grudge against me.

Not that I had any idea.

"Not particularly." <Julius >

But I couldn't be sure, so I just shook my head.

"I guess I'll have to look into it." <Yusen >

I nodded at Yusen's words. At that moment, Zeff, who was examining the corpse with a serious face, lifted the corpse's wrist and said.

"This is ...." <Zeff >

"What is it, Zeff?" <Julius >

"They said assassins, so I looked it up, and it's...them." <Zeff >

On his wrist was a tattoo that looked like a spider.

"Them?" <Julius >

In response to my question, Zeff showed me his wrist.

There was a tattoo of a spider, just like theirs.

I looked at it and realized.

"You mean the slavers who took Miri?" <Julius >

Zeff nodded strongly, a fire rising in his eyes.

It was only natural.

That slaver company was his archenemy.

"They're called the Doro Trading Company. At least that's their public name." <Zeff >

The Doro Trading Company, I knew that name.

Since the fall of Lunan, they've been active in the Visigoth and Sarmatian kingdoms, trafficking people, kidnappings, and assassinations.

"The Doro Trading Company? Is there such a thing?" <Yusen >

Yusen, who was also from the royal capital, looked as if he had never heard of them before.

The other retainers had the same reaction, even Haddin, a local nobleman, was the same.

"Think of them as black market dealers. As far as I can tell, if they are after me, the one who sent them is a noble from the capital who is not to please with my rising fame." <Julius >

"You think a noble from the capital tried to assassinate you?" <Yusen >

Yusen asked back with a surprised look on his face.

"That's what I'm thinking but I need to go out there myself and check." <Julius >

It wasn't hard to get rid of the Doro Trading Company.

I had even destroyed the Bridget Kingdom.

The current me is more than capable of taking care of them.

If someone is targeting me, I have to take revenge.

They deserved to disappear but there was something I had to find out.

If I was right, I could use that to get Hero Elheat on my side, since the Doro Trading Company had deeper ties to the Lunan nobility than I had imagined.

If I could get my hands on Hero Elheat, there I had no reason to hesitate.

The problem is that I don't know where their headquarters is.

In the game, they moved their headquarters when Lunan was destroyed but until then their headquarters was in Lunan's capital.