Chapter 32: The Creed

Once they are far away from Horan city, Yuna pat her chest and exclaim "That scared me, why did the guard suddenly stop us again? Even checking our belonging thoroughly once more"

Aria also gave a confused expression "It can be that something happen to the city lord, the alarm bell just now can mean three thing, the city is under besieged or something happening to the city lord and imposed martial law on the city"

Aria tap her chin and gave an analysis "Since the city is not under attack, the other reason can only be because something happen to the city lord"

"What happen to the city Lord?" Grandpa Orion inquire, it was the first time the old grandfather who live his whole life in a small town encounter such thing.

Aria frowns and said "I'm not too sure; it can be that someone tries to harm the city lord, maybe the city lord really encounter an assassination attempt"

"Assassination attempt, that's not good" Grandpa Orion eyes open wide, he sigh and exclaim "This assassin....."

"Your Right" Aria lightly agreed, looking at Grandpa Orion, her gaze holding unknown meaning.

Yuna paying attention to the conversation took note of the peculiar expression that Aria quickly concealed, trying to think deeper Yuna was but distracted when she saw Austin quietly clenching his palm. He was scrutinizing his 'Grandfather'

Yuna heart palpilate…..something is not right.

As she thought so, the 'Grandfather' suddenly cough up blood.

He was clearly walking normally when they board the carriage.

"GA….Grandpa" one of the male from Eagle team hurriedly went near the 'Grandfather', the carriage came to a stop.

"I'm so sorry, grandpa is not in a good health and the main reason we want to reach capital city quickly is to acquire the potion that is only available at the capital, please, while we administer medication, can you get off for the time being" Aria came forward, her voice urgent.

Grandpa Orion and Aunt Mela with worried look get off the carriage, repeatedly asking the situation.

"It should be another relapse, please rest assured, after drinking potion and a rest, grandpa should be fine"

Aria reassured.

Only then the two expression ease.

When they sit down, Austin quietly whisper in her ear "That Grandfather, he smell of blood as if he was gravely injured somewhere, the bloody smell seem to be coated with thick herbal and perfume scent so I fail to perceive from the start"

Although he fails to perceive right away, he was able to perceive a minute later. After all, he was all too familiar with the scent.

This people seem to be very good at hiding scent, if he was not highly suspicious of them and his intuition keep telling him something is wrong, he might not be able to caught on the rustic scent of blood.

Thinking a bit, Yuna seem to link things together.

She silently mouth 'Assasin' at Austin and Austin also seem to come to the same conclusion as her,

"They should be injured and will not want to arouse suspicion with how they act as of now, after all, they are sandwich between the Capital city and Horan city, the other geographical path is not suitable to travel and they will likely want to treat their teammate wound as soon as possible and get rid of any suspicion on themselves"

Austin sigh "But we get implicated in the process, Don't know if this will have an impact later but..... you don't have to worry, we are innocent and didn't know any of this"

Though when the times comes, will the authority believe it?

But Austin did not say the following word. Yuna don't need to worry about it, all he has to do is to become stronger such that no authority can harm his person.

If it was her in her past life, Yuna believe that she will panic and not even able to maintain a calm demeanour as if there is nothing wrong, just like how she is currently doing now. It seems, she has change a lot and the past years spending in this world have tempered her.

Also, having Austin, the main character by her side is also strangely comforting.

Since there is a 'sick' person that needed rest, it was not convenient to continue travelling, so they camp early.

Aria came out of the tent after feeding the 'grandfather' the evening meal.

A bonfire was lit and the travelling group sit scattered around the bonfire.

"With the blessing from God of Light, I'm sure your grandfather will get better soon, have faith my friend" Grandpa Orion console, perceiving the adventurer team downcast mood.

Aria smile stiffly and nod her head, neither agreeing nor denying the old man consolation.

"Grandpa, your sleeping hour is approaching, you should go rest, I will sleep later as well" Yuna nag her grandfather, not wanting him to interact much with who seem to be an 'assassin'.

She does not have a particular good feeling when she think about the fact that they are being used to cover up their track and suspicion. Grandpa Orion readily agreed and went to sleep inside the tent, same goes for Aunt Mela whom Austin nags her to sleep.

An assassin has no faith.

The Light God temple have spurned an assassin profession, those high nobles and knight look down on assassin that only know how to do sneak attack or back stabbing people, like a rat in a skewer.

Filthy and despicable, they are linked to deaths and all kinds of filthy business. Lowly and despicable as the mice.

An assassin made up of children who grew up in the slum or poor and uncivilised background. And those who have grievance towards the nobles and to the temple..

They did their dirty work in the night, crawling between shadows, hiding in the nook and cranny of dark places. It was a profession link to darkness and death. Be it the temple of God of Light or any other God temple, they are frowned upon.

"Speaking of which, what do you two think of an assassin?" Aria does not expect much answer aside from labelling an assassin as bad. It was the answer she gets every time she asked, wonders why she still cannot help but asked an opinion of others even though the answer is more or less always the same.

What did she expect? Later, it was her mood that always gets to suffer. Seeking abuse for no reason, Aria scolded herself.

"…hahaha.. don't mind me, I was just curious when thinking about today, obviously, an assassin will be bad" Aria said before the two children answer, laughing at herself.

"…Not really"

"Hmm…??" Aria didn't expect someone to refute her word, normally, the other person should agree with her condemning the assassins treacherous act.

"Why would that be?" Aria heard herself asked that.

Yuna bit her tongue, scolding herself for saying her thought. But she felt quite jittery, peeved of what might transpire if she talk badly of assassins so the current predicament.

If she talked about an assassin being good, this people will not seek trouble with them? She really didn't know what to do with this seem to be secret of knowing their identity and Austin, that bkockhead kept his silence, not one to rely upon in a conversation. Sigh....

"It depends on why they try to assassinate the person, is it because of the crime he committed or merely want to take the person life and cause disturbance for money"

"What if its' because the person committed an unforgivable crime?" Aria asked, looking intently at Yuna.

With that answer, Yuna can be sure that this group of assassin seek to kill for a reason. Probably for justice… she hopes so because it will mean that they do not kill arbitrarily and they won't harm the innocent?

"In that case, it must be because the said person is not punished and protected or that the person is good at hiding his crime, if so, the assassin did what the law cannot do, I won't say they are bad people"

Yuna consciously expressed her thought, wording her word as best as she could.

Aria chuckled "You know, your opinion clashed with the norm and many will be against it"

Yuna shrug her shoulder "Everyone has their own opinion and I am not forcing my opinion on them"

"Hahaha…Assassin work in the darkness, don't you know they are sometimes link to creature of darkness? They should be bad people, filthy and despicable" A bitter feeling well up inside Aria heart but she play it cool, she don't understand why she continue this fruitless conversation.

"Then they work in the darkness to serve the light" Yuna state simply, she again emphasised "For the assassin, it should be 'We work in the darkness to serve the light'"

So don't do bad things and thought of disposing us, the 'witness'.

Aria eyes open wide and stuttered "We w…work …in the darkn..ess..to serve the…Light…??"

She turns her head and look at her companion who are also having the same shock expression as her. Never has she heard such a noble sounding sentence describing an assassin, nor were they ever link to light.

After a while, Aria calm down, her expression cold "That can't be, an assassin is hated by the Light God temple, how can they be good when they are hated by the Light God"

Yuna tilt her head "Huh…I am not talking about the God of Light, I am talking about light"

Yes, she is feeding the same chicken soup she feed to Lucion and Erebus. She seems to get better and better at spouting nonsense. Anyway, she has no better other option but to only be far-fetched with the concept of light in itself.

"Light?" Aria look puzzled "Miss Yuna does not have faith in God of Light?" She joked and does not believe to get a positive response.

"Hmm…compare to God of Light, I have more faith in Light in itself"

"Then what is light?" Aria mumbled, she was confused…this conversation is making her more and more confused.

"Light comes in many forms, the morning sunlight that spills through the early morning, bringing new life, a new day and a confirmation that we live another day, the warm sunlight in the cold winter, the moon light that lighten our path in the dark night, the stars that point our way when we get lost, it can also be as far-fetched as friendship and family, light is everywhere and even here, in our heart"

All those years of reading novels is not in vain, Yuna inwardly pat herself

Yuna then thought of Assassin creed, the game and movie have impacted her life a lot. Their belief and the thing they fight for. Maybe she can use that as a reference too? She's already bullshitting, might as well go all in. And so, Yuna continue her bullshit without changing her expression.

"Maybe..for assassin, their light is freedom, freedom is the light the assassin believed in, they fought for freedom and their firm gaze never wavered"

"Freedom…" The man who asked what their faith was mumbles quietly.

"You make it sound as if being an assassin is a noble profession" The man said, he rarely spoke, but he say more than a few word tonight.

"Why not?" Yuna asked back "They did things that the law can't"

"Doesn't that make them savage and lawless?" he questioned back

Yuna look at the man straight into his eyes and spell out word by word, the creed she memorised, sounding exceptionally sincere.

"When other men blindly follow the truth, Remember, nothing is true.

When other men are limited by their morality and law, remember everything is permitted.

But even so, you should remember that this does not mean you can act wilfully and be arrogant. You must understand that we're executors of our own actions, and we must take the consequences of our acts, regardless if it brings us glory or a tragic ending"

Yuna felt the goosebumps that form all over body, she was cringing so hard but hide it very well under her impassive expresssion, she continue while rubbing her arm "The creed of a true assassin should be one, Stay your blade from the innocent"

So stay your blade from us, Yuna quietly thought

"Two, hide in plain sight, three, never compromise the brotherhood. These are the creed, follow it and obey it, if you break it, you must bear the consequences. Even an assassin should have their own code of conduct, they are noble beings who work in the darkness to serve the light…

Filthy and despicable, well, everyone is equal before hidden blades. Don't you think so?"

Wow, Yuna even feel impassioned.

"Everyone is equal before hidden blades…. Haha… Haahahaha… .HAHAHAHA hahahaah" The man laugh uncontrollably, as if something switch inside his head.

"What is wrong…" Yuna look at Aria, seeking help, but Aria gaze was vacant, lost in her own thought, the same goes for the people of her team.

Ughh…. The chicken soup for the soul seems to be more potent than she thought, they are not allergic to chicken soup… right?

Yuna then look at Austin, confused at the weird behaviour of the Eagle team, seeking desperate help.

However, Austin also seems to be weird tonight. He look at her with a very very soft gaze, his eyes gleaming brightly, smiling lightly at her making her feel conscious and uncomfortable.

"I'm..just expressing my opinion, did I say something wrong?" Did I speak too much? That's it, over sharing is always never good.

"Hah.." Austin chuckled, he shift nearer to Yuna, pull her hand and hug her tightly, lightly whispering in her ears, his breath tickling her ear "You don't say anything wrong, my Yuna is amazing"

Tonight, it was only Austin who understand what it means to give faith and hope to the desperate.

That night, Yuna sleep uncomfortably, feeling as if something she will not like have been done but she cannot pinpoint what exactly it was. It was an uncomfortable night.

Then again, Yuna does not understand the severity of people believe in GOD and the Divine, that is why she can casually used faith and divinity and even introduced a new doctrine and concept. As cautious as she maybe, after all, she has never really come in contact with a very religious person and she has not yet discarded her casual impression of religion and God from her previous world.

Everyone bear responsibility for their words and deeds, that, Yuna will learn painfully soon enough.