34 Unraveled

North Saint Kaballah gripped his scorched face and glared at the streak of fire in the sky flying off into the distance. His hand was trembling, still in shock at the situation.

"What the fuck was that!? Fire, Ice, Wind, Earth magic… was that incantation-less magic!? North Saint Notos, he has truly hidden himself well… Fuck that hurts!"

Not only did he fail in his assassination mission, he had actually let his target, who was a 7 year old child, escape! If word got out about this, he would be the laughing stock of the underworld and the Assassin's Guild.

At the start, he hadn't put in too much effort in killing his target. Though he might be an assassin, killing kids was just distasteful even amongst the usual crowd of killers and criminals he associated with.

Frankly, he was really impressed crossing blades with the young child. He hadn't reached the level of a Saint-rank swordsman yet, but he was definitely one step away from stepping into the Saint realm. The boy reached Advanced rank in all three swordsmanship styles, and was even able to blend them effectively to produce a flawless combat style.

Kaballah really did feel it a pity to cut down a budding prodigy. Still, he had a job to do.

Everything changed when the boy suddenly moved faster than he had previously shown himself capable of, and killed his subordinate Bronn out of the blue. Hah! What a clever boy, Kaballah had thought to himself. Even when faced with seemingly insurmountable odds, the little Saint was still able to hold himself back and hide what his true strength, only exploding out suddenly to catch his assailants off guard.

Those were the guiding principles of the North God style – trickery and subterfuge, winning through whatever means necessary. In that sense, the child embodied the essence of a North Saint perfectly, even if his techniques had yet to reach Saint-rank.

He is a warrior, not a kid. Kaballah acknowledged the strength of his target, and correspondingly adjusted his strength to go all out and kill him. Not holding back any longer, Kaballah engaged Rudeus with all his might, and sure enough, overwhelmed the child.

Yet, what shocked Kaballah at the same time was seeing the boy's swordsmanship improve with every time they clashed swords. The gap between them started shrinking, and Rudeus began evading, blocking and deflecting more and more of Kaballah's strikes. A prodigy. A monstrous prodigy. That was a scary thought, to be honest.

Improvements in the sword, once a person reached a certain level of expertise, would only be incremental at best that were few and far between. Seeing the child's growth, with every swing of his sword further perfecting his techniques… Kaballah only believed it was actually true by seeing it with his own eyes.

A year, maybe two. This was Kaballah's assessment of how long Rudeus would take to not only firmly enter the realm of Saint-rank, but become one of the top-tier Saint-rank swordsmen around. If Kaballah had not been contracted to slay Rudeus, he might have just offered to take him in as a disciple, and bring the kid to meet his master, a North Emperor.

But then, after Kaballah thought nothing else could surprise him even more, the boy had breathed fire into his face. Not just common, mundane fire either; it was magical flames filled with mana.

So he had been hiding a magic item, was Kaballah's second thought, which had followed after 'AH FUCK HOT, FIRE, PAIN, FUCK!'. Rudeus then proceeded to unleash multiple spells, all of them being activated instantly and silently, shattering all of Kaballah's preconceived notions on magic.

And now that the boy escaped, Kaballah felt immensely regretful he had not gone all out and killed him right at the start of the fight. But at the same time, there was a tiny hint of relief. Relieve that the monstrous prodigy had not died before his time, as well as excitement to see what that freak might achieve in the future.

"Boss! Let's go after him! That bastard killed Bronn!"

Kaballah ignored his other subordinate's words and fished out a glass flask filled with a bright red liquid. He uncorked the flask and poured the solution on his face and torso, hissing in pain as the liquid made contact with his burnt skin.

Once the flask was emptied, Kaballah tossed it away and let it shatter against the ground. He looked at his subordinate, his face rapidly recovering under the effects of an Intermediate Healing Potion. He handed another flask, an Elementary Healing Potion this time, to his subordinate.

"Chase? Are you an idiot? This was our one shot at killing the target. Now that he escaped, he will definitely be heading back to the Lord's manor which most likely has a fuck ton of magical formations and barrier magic."

"But we need to-!"

Kaballah silenced him with a glare, "What we need to do, is get the fuck out of this city. The guards we bribed before won't be able to hold the others back for much longer. If we get seen by them, it will become a lot more troublesome to leave Roa."

The brute frowned as he poured the potion's contents on the wound on his calf, "What about the mission, boss?"

The North Saint waved him off, "Mission parameters have been changed. Information given was inaccurate. Target designation changed to 'King-rank required'. The gold that was promised is not nearly enough for us to go through the trouble to assassinate that brat."

"King-rank required? Surely that punk is not as strong as a King-rank, right?"

"Moron. Defeating an enemy is one thing, killing them is a whole other issue. That brat can use magic without chanting incantations. Even if he can't win, he can run away easily. We will need a King-rank assassin to guarantee the kill. And not to mention, after this failed attempt, The Black Wolf will be on high alert. She is strong, even amongst King-rank warriors. This mission is not worth the trouble."

Kaballah whistled and gestured at the four archers on the roof tops that were awaiting his command. They nodded at the unspoken order and dashed away.

"Come on, let's get the fuck out of here. This mess ain't our problem anymore… And bring Bronn along. We won't let them defile his body."

"…Got it boss."

…..

Rudeus landed in the courtyard of the Boreas estate, nearly collapsing the moment he touched ground. His injuries weren't severe but he had still lost quite a bit of blood and he had yet to pull out the arrow head still stuck in his back.

"Huh? Rudeus? Wha- Lady Eris!" The guards noticed him landing in the courtyard and rushed forward after noticing the little noble held in his arms.

"She's fine. Just unconscious. Where's Master Ghislaine?" Rudeus asked. He held on to Eris protectively. He still didn't know who he could trust.

"Ghislaine? I'm not sure but, what happened to you!? You're covered in blood!"

Rudeus looked down, noticing that his previously pristine clothes were now covered in blood, though not all of it his.

"I'm okay. Go find Thomas. Don't let him escape!"

The guards looked confused, "Escape? Why would he-"

In pain and running out of patience, the boy glared and flared his Battle Aura, "No time to explain. Just go!"

The Boreas guards looked at each other, hesitant, but obeyed his instructions. They had a rather good impression of Rudeus in the first place, and it was quickly becoming apparent to them that the situation was way above their pay grade.

Still carrying Eris, Rudeus ran into the manor, covered in blood, to the shock of the servants and maids within.

He put Eris on the ground and yelled, "Young Master Philip! Lord Sauros! Someone, go get them!"

The servants inside scrambled, some bringing towels to tend to Rudeus and Eris while others followed his instruction and went to find their employers.

Soon after, Philip and Sauros descended from the stairs in a hurry, before noticing Rudeus and Eris.

"ERIS!" The normally soft spoken Philip cried out in a panic and ran to the pair. Similarly, Sauros, who was usually extremely vocal and boisterous, was now silent and tense as he approached.

Philip went on his knees and examined Eris while filled with worry, though he relaxed after seeing no obvious signs of injury on his daughter.

As Philip examined Eris, Sauros turned to Rudeus with a hard look, but softened after seeing him covered in blood and cuts.

"Rudeus! What happened!? Who did this to you!?"

Rudeus handed Eris to her father, who gingerly embraced her. He then began his explanation while activating incantation-less Healing magic to mend the numerous cuts on his body.

"Eris and I were walking along Adventurer Lane. Someone suddenly bumped into me and I realized I lost my coin pouch. When I turned back, Eris was missing. I thought that someone must have pickpocketed me on purpose, and used that distraction to take Eris."

Hearing this, Sauros who was already fuming started visibly boiling with anger.

Rudeus continued, "I managed to spot Eris being carried by a stranger and I started pursuing them. I followed them into an alley to cut them off. That was when I discovered… Eris wasn't the target at all. They had only used Eris as bait to lead me into an ambush."

Philip looked up, "Ambush!? Rudeus, what are you saying?"

The boy frowned grimly, "They were assassins sent to kill me."

"What!?" The patriarch of the Boreas family bellowed out his disbelief.

Rudeus nodded, "The main assassin introduced himself as North Saint Kaballah. He then addressed me as North Saint Notos, and told me directly that they there to kill me."

The father and son pair ruminated on the information they just heard as Rudeus continued.

"I was ambushed by seven assassins. One of them was the North Saint Kaballah. It was only by luck that I managed to escape. They had clearly underestimated me because of my age and they didn't know about my Magic Sword style. I managed to surprise them and was able to escape with Eris. Thankfully, they did not give chase."

Reaching the end of his story, Rudeus turned to Sauros, "What I want to know is… how did they find out I was a North Saint, and why would anyone want to kill me. You know everything about my history. I have never offended anyone to the point of them wanting to kill me by sending assassins. And the fact that they addressed me as North Saint Notos…"

He left the implication of his statement unsaid. Truthfully, Rudeus had also considered the possibility that the Boreas family had been the one behind this assassination attempt. But he wrote that off as extremely unlikely. They wouldn't endanger Eris who they loved and doted on so much like that, and if they really wanted to kill him, they wouldn't need to hire North Saint Kaballah to do it. Ghislaine was more than capable of chopping off his head without him even being able to resist at all.

"Notos…" Sauros muttered softly. His quiet, almost menacing utterance in vast contrast of his normal way of speaking.

"Oh, right! I had called out for Master Ghislaine during the fight, but that North Saint Kaballah told me that she would not be able to come to our rescue because she had been 'taken care of'. What happened to Master Ghislaine, where is she?"

Philip looked at Rudeus in surprise, "Don't you know? Ghislaine isn't feeling well. She has spent the morning sick in bed. I sent Thomas to tell you to not go out."

Hearing that name, Rudeus' anger fired up. The puzzle pieces in his head finally came together, unraveling the mystery he had been so confused by.

"Thomas was the one who told us Ghislaine was busy and that you gave us permission to go out without her protection... Master Ghislaine most likely isn't sick, but poisoned!"

At Rudeus' revelation, all three Greyrat men understood how the trap and ambush had happened.

"THOMAS!!!" Sauros thundered. His anger was reflected by his son, whose grip tightened on the unconscious Eris, and Rudeus whose mana leaked out imperceptibly.