Chapter 69 - The Three Assassins

[266 Days Remaining]

After I had filled my stomach on human flesh, I called out to the three assassins to stand up and lead me out of here. I had been a little surprised to see that the three assassins had barely moved an inch from their spots while I had been eating. They had not even tried to run away or even speak to each other after I had purposely disabled the pillars of flames surrounding us.

Having stripped the body of a male assassin who had been close to my height of five feet and nine inches. I was dressed in their black garbs, a somewhat tight-fitting garment for my body, which had changed back into human form. The clothes were relatively unbloodied since I had wiped away most of the blood on my body with a towel I had found on one of the tables. The tables that had not been broken into pieces, that is.

Stepping over the various corpses and body parts, I moved toward the three assassins who were standing close to each other.

“We shall speak at a later time, after we have gotten out of here, humans. Now, lead the way.”

The three assassins led me through various rooms of different sizes, and through various passageways. Most of them were filled with a few human guards and assassins, some of them Novices, children in training. One of these rooms even contained sleeping chambers.

I collapsed all of them though, stifling the screams of humans who were buried alive under the weight of the falling rocks.

Since I was deep underground, where the earth element was strongest, it was quite easy to use earth magic to collapse the rooms. I only needed to manipulate a few weak parts and rooms and passageways would easily be buried under great, crushing rocks.

Places that did not have even a trace of earth in them, I would have to consume more magic power to use earth magic. Likewise, the same goes for the other three common magic affinities: water, air, and fire.

“How does it feel to betray your fellow assassins?” I asked the three assassins leading me, just loud enough to overcome the avalanche of falling rocks.

The slim, red-haired female assassin looked backward to address me while the other two were fighting a few guards. She was the wielder of the gauntlets with the three-pronged knives attached at their ends. She shrugged a little at me. “We do not really care for others. Just us three surviving is enough.”

“The other two are your friends?” I asked, stepping over the gurgling male guard who had a dagger stuck in his throat.

“I suppose. Why the interest in our relations anyway, monster?”

I was a little surprised at myself. The assassin had asked a good question. Why was I interested in these three anyway. No, in these humans?

I was sure that the only thing I could feel was indifference.

Then it hit me.

The influence of my counterpart was beginning to integrate with my own personality. I wondered at what this would entail. Would I become more like him as I gain more foothold?

I fell silent, unwilling to answer her question. “Just lead on, human,” I said, shooting a jet of fire at a stray guard who had managed to get past the two.

The three of these assassins, I had found out, were the elites of the elites. They were part of Veena's father's personal handpicked potentials. This was why they were easily killing the other human assassins and guards remaining in this branch of Malice.

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When we finally got out of the underground facility after climbing the ladder leading to the small hut, which was just one of the three locations to enter the facility, I collapsed the entrance.

There was no need to collapse the other two entrances—I had destroyed every living thing and almost every room.

This branch of Malice no longer existed.

Thus, I led the three assassins whom I had spared toward one of the major cities in the eastern region of Shail Kingdom. It took a little more than three days of walking and on horseback after stealing a few horses from some raiders and thieves we had found.

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Discourse #12

Let me halt the story here for now, Marius Whitewill, as I am sure you must be somewhat confused. I have revealed to you that my name is Verath and have told you of my other self. So you may address me with that name from now on.

The details I tell you at this point of the story are from my connected memories with my other self. That said, I am sure you are wondering as to what happened with the both of “myselfs.” You shall find out though, as I continue my tale.

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{263 Days Remaining}

The city of Avea, otherwise known as the city of merchants. It was home to Shail Kingdom's many merchants and was governed by one of Shail Kingdom's factions: the Council of Merchants.

It was also home to Merchant Zafer, father's main rival.

To be honest though, the city of Avea was governed by the Zeke family nobles, but that was only in name. The true power behind the city was the Council of Merchants and its five seats, with one of the seats belonging to Merchant Zafer.

Another faction in the eastern region that was also its main ruler was the Guardian of the East, or Baron Ashcroft, who ruled most of the eastern territories and guarded it from outsiders. Like Baron Serle, he was one of the four barons who were answerable only to the king.

King Balan Shail, the magnanimous ruler who was at the ripe age of forty-seven.

During the two days I spent traveling with the three assassins, I had found out their names.

Kal: a twenty-one year old male assassin with short, black hair. He has a plain face and a slim but wiry body. He is about an inch or so shorter than me and has brown eyes.

Gwen: a twenty-four year old female assassin with bright red hair of medium length tied into a ponytail by a black band. She has light, blue eyes and would probably be considered beautiful. She also wields the gauntlets with the three knives attached at the ends.

Ilana: a twenty-five year old female assassin with similar colored hair as Gwen. They are most likely sisters since their features were reminiscent of each other, though I did not ask such questions of them.

The three assassins, after all, would die as soon as I finished eradicating Malice.

The city of Avea, being home to many merchants, had an entrance fee of seven silvers, which was quite expensive. It was one more silver coin than the fee for Asolance, the capital city of the northern region. This was understandable though, since the entrance fee kept the rabbles out. After all, if you could not even afford seven silver coins, you should not be able to enter Avea, the famed merchant city.

The four of us were dressed in the clean clothing we had bought using the money we took from the underground facility. And at this moment, we were passing through the entrance gate to Avea.

Had self-preservation not rule my logic, I would not have cared for such a wait and would have barged into the city, and burn it down into ashes, along with Merchant Zafer. But since my own life was more important and I had other plans on my mind, I took the time to go through the gate, each one of us paying seven silvers.

The sun had reached its zenith and the time was slightly past noon. The city squares and streets were wide, each of them bustling with activity. Not being the least bit narrow, the streets and squares easily allowed us to lead our horses toward the closest stable, where we paid some coins to have our four horses stabled for three days. The city did not allow normal people other than its guards and other officials to ride horses, since rampaging mounts could be dangerous.

The smell, sight, loudness, and the variety of people in Avea were familiar to me. It was as if I was clearly remembering a vivid dream. My past human memories told me that I had been in this city multiple times due to my father being part of the Council of Merchants. By being part of the council, I do not mean that my father had a seat on it. He was just a very well-established merchant who was somewhat equal to the five seats of the council.

My father, Falin Mead, had obtained this reputation and wealth ten years after my mother had died, after I had been born. As a merchant, especially a reputed and wealthy one, you needed to join the Council of Merchants or risk isolation.

This was why I remembered the city's famed Silk District quite distinctly, since father and I often traveled to this city of Avea.

I had, you could say, as a human child, often browsed through that famed district. Rather, I should call it infamous, since the Silk District was a pleasure district. Harem houses, brothels, and every pleasure inducing sin could be found in that district. The darker parts of trade were also found there.

I took the three assassins to the slave section of the Silk District. They were not surprised and had willingly followed me to a darkly-colored shop titled “Dark Needs.” Had the three assassins tried to run away thinking that they would be safe inside the city, they would have been sorely mistaken, their lives cut short.

“Since I do not trust all three of you as far as I can piss, you shall be made into my slaves.” I said in a soft, directed voice. It was a voice that would brook no objections to my command. Death and torture would be their only alternative if they did not obey.

It was strange of me to do this, letting these three humans live. I could only think that my counterpart's personality was influencing me. Both of our personalities were starting to merge a little. I had noticed the obvious hint of curiosity and other unknown feelings I had for these humans. Such weak sentiments they were. Damned counterpart.

“Will you kill us afterward then? After you have obtained the information needed?” Gwen said, replying back in a softer voice. “I would rather kill myself now than to live with a hope that would never come true.”

“You may be right, Gwen. His words that he would spare us are not to be trusted,” Ilana said, switching her gaze from Gwen to me. “Just like you said to us, monster. I also do not trust you as far as I can piss.”

“I also agree, big sisters,” Kal murmured, putting in his agreement. The male assassin, I was beginning to think, had a docile and subservient personality, hanging on to almost every word Gwen and Ilana had said the past three days.

I thought to myself for a while. They were right to remain vigilant toward me. I had been planning on killing the three afterward. It was perhaps a little naive of me to think that they would not suspect me. A few more seconds of silence passed as the three assassins looked at me with wary eyes, before I finally came to a decision.

“Very well,” I said. “You have my word that I shall not kill you.” It was an honest decision because I knew that my time controlling this body was limited. I only had perhaps seven more days or so before the chains I had bound my counterpart with would weaken. The time depended on how much resistance my other self could put up.

“Your words mean nothing, Verath. We do not trust them,” Ilana said in a harsh voice, her hand straying toward the curved sword strapped to her waist.

I looked at Ilana with indifferent eyes, almost as if I was making an attempt at disdaining her. It was in a cold, emotionless voice that I said this. “Do you really think that you could harm me? Almost twenty of your brethren have failed in that attempt. I suggest you do not draw your weapon, else you shall die the very moment you do so.”

“Forgive Ilana for this. Her temper sometimes get the better of her, despite the years of training she has endured,” Gwen said complacently, a hand rested against Ilana's shoulder.

A small frown formed on Ilana's face and she bit her small, lower lips in frustration.

I looked at each of the assassin in their eyes. One pair of brown eyes and two pairs of light, blue eyes met my own twin orbs of dark red—the color of fresh blood against newly-fallen snow.

I said, “You have no choice but to trust my words.” All three fell silent at that. “Now let us go before we become a spectacle for these humans.” I could already feel the gazes of some of the merchants straying toward our group. They were probably beginning to wonder why we remained standing in front of the double doors of the shop called “Dark Needs.”

I opened the double doors with both hands, the three assassins silently following me from behind as I entered the shop.

The interior was spacious and dimly lit. All the windows of the shop were closed and even if they were opened, the dark velvet curtains would have certainly blocked any light from coming through.

Manning behind the counter of the spacious, first floor of the shop was an old man dressed in a brightly colored tunic of purple. Behind him, there were four cabinets filled with dozens upon dozens of strange objects, jars, and bottles. Next to the counter, there was a door that led to the second floor of the shop.

I could see by the price tags that the objects in the four cabinets behind the old man were the most expensive items in the shop. The “normal” items of the shop were placed inside the rows of shelves where only a few customers were browsing through, their nervous and secretive manners telling me that they were most likely inexperienced customers.

The shop, as ever, looked familiar to me—even the old man manning the counter. The old man was the shop owner of Dark Needs. He was also the person whom I had interacted quite often in my human life. We had been close acquaintances during the seventeenth to twentieth year of my past human life.

“Welcome to Dark Needs, the shop for all your dark fantasies.” the old man said in a smooth, confident voice. It was a persuasive voice, a voice that could persuade you into accepting a deal, one which could drop you into an infinite downward spiral of deprivation. A deal that would leave you copper-less.

I strolled toward the old man until I was in front of the large counter; the old man was what one would call a dark merchant, a merchant who solely specialized in the darker aspects of trade. He had a friendly looking face, just what one would expect from a normal, kindly old man with grey hair soon turning white.

“I wish to put basic slave binding marks on these three,” I said, gesturing a hand toward the three assassins behind me.

“Very well, good sir. It shall cost you twelve gold coins, four for each basic binding mark,” the old man said in an unsurprised voice. His expression was neutral and unjudging, the face of an experienced dark merchant. No questions would be asked.

Had this been a normal city instead of the merchant city of Avea, the dark trade would have been looked closely by the military and city guards. Questions would also be asked. But since this was a city which was governed by a puppet noble whom the Council of Merchants controlled, trade, in all aspects, was given free reign.

Of course, there were still laws to outlaw thievery and murder and other such crimes. There were also some small fees to be a merchant too. All of this contributed to the power and wealth of the council.

And if I remember correctly, the three motto of the dark merchants were:

“The shit humans do bring us much gold.”

“Would you like to buy some 'remedies' along with that purchase, good sir? They have great medicinal values.”

“We shall never betray your confidence, good sir... until you run out of gold.”

These were the three sayings of the dark merchants. At least, I think they are, though I believe the old man might have been joking with me during my past conversations with him.

As per the price, I counted out twelve gold coins from the large money sack I had made Kal carry. The brown linen sack contained all the gold and silver we had looted from the branch of Malice and from the few stray thieves we had found on our way here. The sack was about the size of five fists of an adult human male.

“Well then, good sir. Please head up to the second floor and tell the lady there that I sent you for three slave binding marks.”