Homicide on the Prairie

After the Congress of Nobles, Will and his family took a month's holiday in Lezhe. It was a much-appreciated break. The whole family was anxious to return to normalcy. Katherine and her children most all appreciated the beach fun and sun. And Kalista functioned as a great older sister to the children teaching them how to swim.

After the Congress, Katherine decided to move her family to Gadreel. Now, the only family members who didn't ask for an allowance from Will were Jason and Rebecca.

When the family returned to Gadreel, Will introduced Kalista to a dying Elder Thaddeus and fading Archimedes. She knelt and prayed for him before leaving him behind with a nurse Will had hired.

Without fail, Will and Kalista would do Tai Chi after breakfast and spar after lunch every morning, and meditate at night. When she wasn't practicing martial arts or sparing, Kalista studied magic and history with an elvish tutor.

In her free time, Kalista enjoyed Gadreel's diversity. She soon found a mixed-race group of teenagers her age. However, Elizabeth did not allow her out of the house without supervision. Elizabeth hired a human maid for Kalista.

For two months, Will's life returned to normalcy. He managed his company, and oversaw his city, at least until three major events converged.

Will hosted his weekly meeting with his city planners (Kurosawa, Landen, Gideon), senior clerks (Mei, Vanessa, Miles, Elliot, Jesper), and Vincent; when Micheal interrupted the meeting,

"My lord these came by posts today, they are marked urgent," Micheal said.

Will read the first letter from Marcus. It said he was not able to enter the dragon's domain because the Great Eastern Emperor refused to give him the location. Marcus wrote that he flying back to pick him up since the emperor would only meet with him.

The second letter was from Duke Francis. He wrote Fermion was running out of copper. The kingdom had trouble finding the old Albanian currency to transmute. After the invasion Albanian coin became worthless and was discarded, now Fermion need those coins to increase its money supply.

The third letter was from his majesty, informing him Duke vont Khan's family had been assassinated. And the likely suspect was Samuel. The letter carried his arrest warrant and an order to kill on sight. It turned out Samuel family's once worked for the duke.

Each news seemed more implausible than the earlier.

…

The day before the Congress of Nobles ended, Samuel vont Rohan killed his estranged former employer's coachman. Using the Assassin Guild connection and money Samuel paid information, to bribe his way into being hired as the new coachman.

When the Duke and children left Tirana by coach, Samuel's innocently helped load the luggage and offered his arm for his duchess to climb aboard.

No one suspected Samuel of malice. No one ever suspects the help.

Moreover, the Congress of Nobles was peaceful. Other than the occasional duel, there were no other instances of violence. That peace lulled people into a false sense of secure out and stability. For which, Samuel planned to capitalize.

Duke vont Khan and his family left Tirana and visited Durres and Vlore before heading home to Rohm.

About 50 from Rohm, the vont Khan family decided to spend the night. Although it was summer, the moonless, cloudy, night air felt cold. Duke vont Khan was concerned by the drop in temperature.

They provided Samuel with the engage in sabotage and assassinate the rotten vont Khan family. To Samuel, the family was cancerous.

Samuel grew up in the vont Khan family. His mother was Duchess vont Khan's lady in waiting. And his father was a respected horse trainer for the duke's prized stable. Samuel had a happy childhood and was raised in a loving home. Both his parents were prominent commoners.

However, his life turned for the worse when the Duke raped his mother.

For some reason, the Duke began to fancy his mother. His mother caught the Duke glaring at her and undressing her with his eyes. The staring became more uncomfortable and common. The Duke would find moments to grope her breast and butt.

His mother begged the Duke to stop. She told him, she was happily married. Yet, the rejection only increased his desire. It was during this time, Samuel first noticed his mother's mood change. His happy mother became lonely and depressed.

Yet as hard as she tried, the duke's pressure on her only increased, until he raped her in his wife's bed. The duchess forgot her needlepoint in her bedroom. She asked Lily, to bring it to her in the lady's drawing-room. When his mother, when to the bedroom to get it, the Duke locked the door and trapped her in the bedroom.

The Duke was a Marine, he knew how to use body strengthening magic. His mother couldn't even fight back as she was repeatedly violated.

Henceforth, his mother became a broken woman, and his father cuckold. The Duke repeatedly violated his mother, and his parents' marriage suffered. His once happy home crumbled, and his parents neglected him. The love he cherished vanished.

When his mother found out she was pregnant, his parents planned an escape to Fermion. They made it to Tirana before they were caught a forced to return. During the skirmish, Samuel's father was killed. The night they returned to Rohm, Samuel's mother hung herself.

With his mother and father gone, Samuel stole his father's prized horse Rohan and fled to Yorkshire. With the death of his favorite concubine and horse trainer gone, the Duke didn't care about Samuel running away.

When Samuel arrived in Yorkshire, he joined the Thieves Guild until his mana pool was assessed positively for body strengthening mana. It was then he designed his plans for revenge.

Back at the inn, Samuel stabled and groomed the horses as his father taught him. Horses had always liked Samuel, they enjoyed being in his care.

"Hey new guy, tonight is your night to sleep in the barn!" the junior butler reminded him.

"Yes mister," Samuel said feebly in his disguised voice.

As the butler left, Samuel faded into the shadow. Samuel knew the vigilant senior butler would have to be the first to go sleep, after the guards.

Samuel bribed the barmaid to lace the guards' meals with strong sleeping narcotics. When the guards drifted off to sleep, Samuel stealthily walked behind them, and checked their breath and pulse, before slicing open their throats.

The guards on watch duty were harder to kill, but not by much. Samuel's black assassin attire gave him camouflage. Which allowed him to move up stealthily behind them. Between the camouflage and stealth skill that he learned from the Thieves Guild long ago. Samuel walked around the inn without making a sound and being seen.

Samuel covered the guards' mouths with his hands, slit their throats, and then moves the corpses to the campfire with the other dead guards. When all the guards outside were dealt with, Samuel killed the guards posted inside the inn next. From a distance, it would appear like all the guards were asleep.

Next, Samuel crept inside the innkeeper's room and gave him a horse tranquilizer that his father patented. And with a dream, the innkeeper died in his sleep.

Before Samuel could kill the Duke, he had to take care of the vigilant senior butler. He noticed the senior butler's candle was still lit in his room. Samuel made a cup of warm milk laced with a narcotic and knocked on the butler's door.

"Come in," the senior butler said putting down his book.

"Mister, I saw your light on and brought you some glass of milk. I want to thank you for hiring me and to express my gratitude I thought I take this cup to you instead of the barmaid," Samuel lied. His cover story was an unemployed coachman after his lord lost a duel. Thanks to his small frame, even as an adult he still looked like an adolescent child.

"No, need to grovel. You came highly recommended," the butler said drinking the glass empty.

Samuel kept speaking with the butler until he fell asleep. With the senior butler asleep, Samuel painted the butler's bedsheets red with his blood.

His outfit tinged with blood, Samuel moved on to his next target. The only people same did not kill were the junior butler and barmaid.

Samuel only wanted to kill those who didn't speak up for his traumatized mother. He spared the junior butler because the junior butler didn't live at the mansion while the Duke raped his mother and killed his father. That was also the reason why he didn't kill the barmaid.

He killed the innkeeper because he helped the Duke track down his parents after they escaped.

Samuel stole the junior butler's clothes and went to the Duke's daughters' room. His cold unremorseful eyes stared at the unsuspecting sleeping women. Samuel was a mass murderer, he had already forgotten how many people he killed but he knew it was more than 50 people.

With a flick of his blade, the youngest daughter woke and tried unsuccessfully to scream. She flipped around in bed before she suffocated, her windpipe slit. The girl's eldest sister tried to scratch Samuel, but the young women need her hand to press against the wound on her throat.

With the daughters dead, he killed the duke's sons. Samuel was a Journeyman Assassin. But, Duke Ahmed vont Khan was a Master ranked Marine. Samuel knew it would be difficult to kill him.

When Samuel crept into the duchess' room, she was already half dead. She cut her wrist and was bleeding to death.

"I told Ahmed I recognized you, but he didn't believe me. How could I forget you? You have your mother's eyes and look just like your father.

Please forgive me. I should have tried harder. I begged Ahmed to stop sleeping with your mother, but he ignored me.

And now look, you're out for revenge. Just answer me a question before you kill me, are my children alive? They are innocent! I'm to blame, not them. I beg you please spare my children!" the duchess begged.

"They are dead," Samuel smiled coldly and pierced the duchess through the heart.

Afterward, Samuel stealthily walked to the duke's room.

When he arrived, the Duke was still asleep. Samuel stood behind the Duke and placed his blade on his neck.

But before he could slice the Duke von Khan's neck open, the Duke's lips turned into a smile.

"You thought you could surprise me? I've killed Master and Grandmaster assassins, boy. Compared to them, your steps sound like you're walking on leaves," the Duke said sitting up.

"What?" Samuel spoke for the first time in shock.

"You're probably wondering why I didn't stop you? It's because you did me a favor. My wife was the old king's sister. She and her children are a hindrance now under King Roland Godwin.

I was wondering, what to do about them before you decided to help me. Once I kill you, I'll morn for a month and then find a more socially acceptable wife.

Maybe I'll pursue your classmate Will's eldest sister. I hear she's back on the market. I'd look like a good man, providing for the bitch's children. What do you think?" asked the Duke, spreading mana into his muscles.

The old man thin man now looked like a deadly bodybuilder.

"Before I kill you, let me say, Samuel, it is Samuel, right? Your mother was still the sweetest fruit I ever tasted. And your father, well his loss was a shame. I still can't find a trainer as good as that cuckold," the Duke laughed villainously.

"Keep my parent's name out of your perverted mouth," Samuel said with a cold gaze, attacking the Duke head-on.

A Journeyman rank attacking a master rank head-on was folly, pure madness. But Samuel was now controlled by rage. All rationality was gone. He was like a rabid dog out for revenge.

The Duke was elusive for an old man, not that he needed to be. It was just that he wanted to play with his prey, like a sanguine snake.

As Samuel attacked with knives, the Duke casually blocked them barehanded. The knives were not even able to pierce his flesh.

The Duke laughed cheerfully, watching Samuel's determination start to succumb to weariness, and better yet panic.

"Little mouse, did you think you come into a snakes den and leave? You know what snakes do to their prey after they get tired of their fun…don't you?" the Duke asked punching Samuel in the chest, breaking three ribs.

"Argh," Samuel screamed coughing up blood.

"I'll avenge my parents. You monster, I'll send you to Tartarus!" Samuel yelled.

With his prey injured, Duke vont Khan relaxed a little. Assassins need two things for their quickly deadly strikes and killing capacity: their lungs and feet.

Samuel's feet had welts and his rib cage was broken. Samuel was a lame mouse waiting to be killed.

"I must thank you for my fun! But alas, my prey never seems to entertain me long enough," the Duke said approaching Samuel maliciously.

Samuel for his part came to his senses and tried to stumble away out the door.

Samuel fumbled to the bedroom door, to run away.

"Oh, does the little mouse want to run away now? But you are trapped, how can I let my prey leave my lair after it's entered?" the Duke asked, his bloodlust feeling the room.

With one last strike, Samuel shoved the knife laced with horse tranquilizer into the Duke's leg, piercing his femoral artery.

"You bastard, that hurt! Do you honestly think your throws of desperation can save you from the death that awaits? All you've done is increase the amount of torture I'll give you—

You? What have you done? What was that knife laced with?" the Duke said feeling his body going numb.

"You dropped your guard too soon," Samuel wheezed as he triumphantly stood.

"That knife is laced with my father's secret horse tranquilizer. It won't kill you, but it'll paralyze you for 10 minutes. Which is more than enough time for me to slit your throat," Samuel said coughing up blood.

He slowly walked towards the Duke who collapsed on his knees, his arms dangling loosely at his sides.

"Stop! Don't! I apologize. I'll give you want ever you want. If you kill me, the king shall have your head," the Duke warned.

Standing behind Duke vont Khan. Samuel once again placed the blade on the Duke's neck and slowly began to move his dagger across his throat.

"This is for my mother. This is for my father. And this is for me!" Samuel panted, gifting the Duke a bloody smile along his neck.

The Duke tried to respond, but all he could do was gurgle blood.

With the vont Khan ducal house killed. Samuel burned the inn and stable. All the corpses were charred beyond recognition.

With that done, Samuel changed clothes and rode to Rohm where he was healed.

After being healed, Samuel began terrorizing the city. He blew up the grain silos. He burned down the von Khan ancestral ducal home to the ground. Every business legal or illegal owned by Duke vont Khan or his associates were burned.

Samuel's scorched earth terrorism was effective. By the time King Roland received word of Duke vont Khans passing Rohm was already burning.