41. Dawn
As dawn approached, the assassins’ actions grew more and more violent.
Then, at one point, they stopped abruptly.
Hakken, who had been attending to him, was rather uneasy.
“This is strange. Why aren’t they coming?”
It was so quiet that it was actually scary.
“Did they give up, or are they all dead?”
The expression of Knight Olson, who was guarding him, also turned serious.
“They’re not the kind to give up easily.”
“Yes. Of course, they’ll try to use a different method.”
Dozens of assassins had already died.
They must have realized by now that assassination and poison no longer worked on him.
So there was only one method left.
“Surely… you don’t mean they’ll use mysticism?”
Olson’s eyes flashed for a moment.
“Bayner! Where is the wizard Bayner right now!”
＜Mysticism＞
It was a power that could perform miracles such as magic or sorcery.
And the wizard Bayner was currently the only man by Juyeon’s side who could use magic.
Hakken shouted anxiously.
“Bayner is nowhere to be seen!”
“Oh no… He must have gone to Earl Sanderson. I had forgotten that he was a vassal.”
Olson also looked furious.
The time when the assassins’ attacks stopped was similar to the time when Bayner disappeared.
However, Juyeon chuckled.
“As long as I hold his leash, betrayal is out of the question.”
“Leash?”
“Just know that there is such a thing. I hold something more precious than his life.”
If he betrays me, he will lose all his mysticism. Will he?
The fact that he was not here was entirely due to the favor that Juyeon had bestowed upon him.
“He must be hiding deep within the castle, avoiding Sanderson’s men. Because I told him to do so.”
Olson grew serious.
“Was it necessary to tell him to hide? He’s quite a capable man… Why not ask him to create a protective barrier that can block mysticism?”
Blocking mysticism with mysticism.
The reason why most nobles kept wizards by their side was to block the mysticism of hostile forces.
Bayner, a back-alley wizard, would surely be good at dirty tricks.
“With the wizard’s cooperation, Lord Juyeon can be a little safer.”
“Well, wouldn’t it be better if they cast a hex on me instead?”
“Pardon? Why would that be?”
Because of ＜Reflection＞, of course.
‘I wonder what trump card Count Sanderson is hiding.’
Joo-in was curious about this as well. Why had he stopped sending assassins?
Despite his expression, Joo-in didn’t lower his guard. One wrong move and he could die.
That was when it happened.
＜[Crisis Detection] has been activated.＞
Olsen stood up in a hurry, his expression changing.
“Joo-in!”
Olsen tried to use the power of ＜Submission＞ to protect him.
However, Joo-in stopped him.
“Wait.”
‘Detection magic? No… it’s more like a curse from the witchcraft system.’
Something dirty and sticky was wrapped around his body.
Joo-in had already experienced magic once through Vener.
‘It’s a little different, but the way to deal with it is the same.’
＜Reflection＞
He added a little bit of power control.
It didn’t completely reflect the opponent’s curse.
It was a weak force that the opponent wouldn’t be able to feel.
‘As if it’s connecting me to the opponent with a thread…’
Then, Joo-in’s vision changed.
He began to sense the other person.
A dark room.
A man holding up a ring with strange patterns.
His face was so familiar to Joo-in that he smirked.
‘As expected, Count Sanderson. This was your doing.’
An evil aura could be felt from the ring.
It was clear that it was a curse that had accumulated a huge amount of blood and resentment.
‘Anyway, these nobles… they always have one or two of these kinds of items.’
It was a hidden power that even Joo-in could barely feel.
It was definitely not a trivial item.
It was definitely an artifact that was close to being numbered, comparable to the Bloody Wine of No. 99.
Just then, a voice came from beside Count Sanderson.
[What happened?]
[The spell was a success. I can feel the curse seeping into his body.]
[As expected of an artifact. I didn’t think a curse would work on someone from the Edmer family… no, from the vicinity of the Sword King.]
[It’s a treasure I obtained for a lot of money. It would be troubling if it couldn’t even do this much.]
Count Sanderson’s eyes flashed with annoyance.
[It was something that should have been written to the previous Duke… but you’re making a slave like that write it.]
[Can’t he write?]
[He can write. But a huge amount of offerings must be made. It’s not an item that can be used for the time being.]
An item that could work on the Knight King?
A huge amount of offerings?
A considerable cool time after just one use?
Joo-yeon could roughly guess what kind of artifact it was.
However, there were many items with similar effects, so he wasn’t sure.
The important thing wasn’t the artifact.
[I don’t know why the Duke was dethroned and the previous Duke came to the forefront… …but I will kill that guy and Aiden and take over the Edmer Dukedom. Thus, I will have the North… no, the whole continent…]
The first thing was to read the purpose of Count Sanderson through the curse.
It was fun to watch him brag thinking he had won, like watching a movie.
But the Count’s happiness didn’t last long.
[Count, what will you do with the others?]
[Those idiots who couldn’t even move properly after taking my money?]
The story of the Edmer family’s vassals came out.
The guys who were kept on a pension by the Knight King but tried to help the Count kill Joo-yeon.
They were also traitors who betrayed their family for a huge amount of bribe.
[Many of the rats that we planted in advance are dead.]
[Have you lost contact with all of them?]
[Yes. Why do you think we even contacted the ‘White Assassins’, an assassin guild? We no longer have any more troops to deploy to the Edmer Dukedom.]
[Hmm…]
[Thanks to that, the Count’s treasury is completely empty as we had to prepare a huge amount of request fee…]
It couldn’t be a joke.
The ‘White Assassins’ were an assassin guild with Grim Reapers, who were the former warriors’ colleagues.
And assassins were those who moved for money.
‘They would have demanded an even more expensive fee to kill me, who is currently known as the warrior.’
It was difficult to ignore them just because they failed the assassination.
They were vicious guys who were determined to kill their target, so they were called the strongest assassin guild.
It was just that there were no high-ranking assassins among the assassins who could come right away because it was the remote North.
‘They’re also very prideful. They’re the guys who even think that [Grim Reaper] killed the Demon King.’
However, it seemed that the nobles in the remote frontier were weak to such circumstances.
[I have to give money to those who can’t even kill a lowly guy properly.]
[But there’s nothing we can do, right? If we don’t pay them… …what if the White Assassins turn their swords against us… …]
[Stop! Give them the money as they want. But since they failed the mission, we can’t give them half of the request fee.]
[Yes, I will tell them that.]
They were stupid.
Assassins moved for money, but they were prideful.
If you tried to cut their request fee like that, they would immediately turn their swords upside down.
‘They don’t know that the Count himself was the one who made the mistake that led to the failure of the mission.’
Originally, the client had to inform the assassins of the target’s abilities accurately.
However, there was no way he would have told them about Joo-Yeon’s abilities properly.
Therefore, no high-ranking assassins from [White Death] would have come.
‘You’ll soon pay the price in blood, Count.’
From Noble mtl dot com
Of course, this was good news for Joo-Yeon.
By the time the job was over, those guys would finish him off.
Unaware of this, the Count and his men were gradually stepping into hell.
[When do you plan to activate the curse? Are you going to kill him right away?]
[It’s almost morning anyway. Now that I’ve used the artifact, I can’t kill him until the seal is broken.]
[Is it because of the other nobles watching?]
[Yes. There are too many eyes watching. If the curse is revealed for no reason, I’ll be in danger. Instead, I’ll activate the curse the moment he obtains the Holy Sword.]
[Are you saying that you’ll…]
[I’m risking my life, so shouldn’t I be rewarded accordingly? The Holy Sword would be a great help to me.]
Heh, right.
He’s thinking about eating kimchi stew before he’s even been given the rice cake.
However, Joo-Yeon could see through the Count’s intentions.
‘Are you aiming for high risk, high return?’
If it was the Holy Sword, it was worth it.
Even if Joo-Yeon died, there was still the Sword King.
He would probably leave the Demon’s body or the Demonkin to him and run away.
And then he would use the Holy Sword to negotiate with the temple.
[But isn’t it the sword used by the previous hero? What good would it be?]
[You fool. Just as a hero is not a mere title, the Holy Sword is not a mere object. It is a divine weapon bestowed by God.]
Until now, it had been sealed for various reasons.
[The temple is trusted by the entire continent. Even the kings and emperors of each country acknowledge them and bow their heads first.]
Until now, they had no reason to act because there were no heroes or Demonkin.
But now, with the appearance of the Demonkin, the Holy Sword also appears?
[It’s the perfect excuse for the temple to make a move. It means that Count Sanderson can move with the temple behind him.]
[But the former Duke is still alive. Will he just sit still with his best friend’s sword?]
[It has been known for a long time that the Sword King’s body is cursed by the Demon King. He will go into closed-door training on his own, so there’s no need to worry.]
[So, time is on our side.]
Joo-Yeon chuckled.
‘What? Moving the temple?’
Count Sanderson was known as the fox of the north for his cunning.
But even he didn’t know one thing.
‘It’s true that the Holy Sword can move the temple. But there’s something crucial he doesn’t know.’
It was the fact that the Holy Sword did not exist alone.
Only the Holy Sword held by a hero could move the temple.
‘When a hero chosen by God wields the Holy Sword, it is as good as God’s will. That’s why the temple finally has an excuse to move.’
The hero was dead, but he only took the Holy Sword.
Rather, I should be held responsible for killing the hero… Wait a minute.
“Is this okay?”
Joo-Yeon’s eyes sparkled.
It could be more fun to torment him than to simply kill him.
Even if he tried to run away, it would be useless.
‘Moreover, the temple exists everywhere on the continent.’
It was also the only institution that could officially recognize him as a hero.
Perhaps I can use it to my advantage.
Joo-Yeon smiled wickedly.
And.
Coo-coo!
Morning had come.
It was finally time to head to .