Bargan appeared in Kangki’s thoughts.
He was one of the Fighters who had persistently stood in his way when he was trying to expand his business. That had been decades ago, but there was a reason why he could still remember him even now.
This was because he felt that Bargan’s skill and talent would be fairly eye-catching. Therefore, he’d tried to win him over.
But in the end, he failed.
Bargan was unable to look at the bigger picture. It was said that Fighters were usually ignorant, but Bargan was an extreme case.
If he had continued to grow steadily, with proper support, it wouldn’t have been hard for him to have a win rate ranking among the top 10 in the Lirua arena.
“Tch.”
In any case.
The fact that Lukas was Bargan’s master meant that there was a very high chance that he knew about the match-fixing in the Lirua arena.
Even though he came to this realisation, Kangki’s expression didn’t change in the slightest.
‘This is pretty interesting.
Even if Lukas had made a great contribution during the subjugation of the Ancient Dragon, he was just a Sorcerer anyway.
In front of Fighters who could be said to be experts at fighting other people, Sorcerers were at a major disadvantage.
In addition, this was Lirua.
This was the territory that he’d shed blood and sweat for decades in order to develop to its current state.
Even if the opponent was another Major City Lord, they would not act carelessly in his territory.
‘It’s said that he left the skull of the Ancient Dragon at a smithy.’
He wondered if he should continue to spend money to advertise him, or if he should do something else instead.
After thinking for a while, Kangki looked at Padudu.
“Call ‘Hubi’.”
* * *
‘The target is hiding his real strength, so be careful.’
The assassin, ‘Hubi’, thought about the advice Kangki had given him before he left, but he didn’t really take it to heart.
It wasn’t that Kangki’s advice had entered one ear and left through the other. It was just that he felt that even if his enemy was strong, it would not impact the completion of his mission.
Sss.
The window opened with a soft sound. Nevertheless, Hubi didn’t immediately enter the room. Instead, he remained in his position and waited for a while.
…No movements could be felt from the room. This proved that the inhabitant hadn’t noticed his intrusion. Even after coming to this conclusion, he still waited a while longer before finally entering the room.
His movements were as silent as a shadow.
“…”
The target, Lukas, was laying on the bed, sound asleep.
The dim moonlight from the window dimly revealed an outline of his face.
Indeed, this wasn’t the face of a Dragonman, but an outsider from some distant place.
Shing.
Hubi slowly drew his dagger. The dagger seemed to gleam slightly in anticipation of what was to come.
Quietly, he took slow, measured steps until he reached Lukas side. Then, he covered his mouth with his left hand.
It was only at that moment that Lukas opened his eyes.
“…!”
Confusion, urgency, and fear were easily discernible in the man’s wide eyes.
But Hubi didn’t pay any attention to it as he carried out an action that he’d done many times before.
Without the slightest hesitation, his dagger skillfully slid between the ribs and penetrated his target’s heart in one clean motion.
Groan.
The convulsions of the man beneath him were enough to cause the bed to creak slightly. This was the final struggle that could only have been seen at the moment before death.
It was a bit noisy, but this was an inn that also took the role of a bar. Even now, the shouts of Dragonmen could be heard from the floor beneath them as well as the clinking of their glasses being hit against each other.
No one would be able to realise what this creaking was.
Pushing his dagger deeper, Hubi counted in his head.
One, two, three.
“…”
It was over.
After confirming that Lukas’ eyes had rolled back, he finally took his hand away from his mouth.
Thick saliva coated his hand, but he roughly wiped it away on his clothes as he looked down at Lukas’ body.
If he were to leave like this, it would certainly cause a commotion when the body was found. This was something his master didn’t want.
Fortunately, he knew of a few ways to quietly dispose of a body.
Of course, the sudden disappearance of a person would surely attract some attention. But Lukas was an outsider who currently had the lowest reputation in the entirety of Lirua. It was safe to say that there wasn’t a single Dragonman who looked at him favorably after his streak of consecutive losses.
Even if someone were to notice and point out his disappearance, others would simply curse at him. They wouldn’t try to look for him. They would loudly declare that he had quietly run away at night out of shame.
With that thought, Hubi wrapped Lukas’ body in his blanket before sliding out of the room again with his cargo in tow.
Creak-
Unlike when he entered, there was a subtle noise from the window as he left.
But that was all.
After his figure completely disappeared into the dark night, silence fell in the room once again.
* * *
“You already completed your mission?”
“Yes.”
“…”
Kangki looked down at Hubi.
The assassin in front of him was the sharpest and truest of all the daggers he had created.
Up to that point, the number of people that Hubi had killed for him probably exceeded 20,000. And despite the number being so large, this man had always completed his missions with perfection.
Naturally, several of the missions he had been tasked with could be considered difficult.
And in Kangki’s opinion, this mission should have been similar.
He looked at Hubi again.
There wasn’t a single wound on his body. Except for the fact that his clothes were a bit wrinkled, there was basically no difference from when he’d left.
“Were there any problems?”
“No.”
He answered shortly, then, thinking that an explanation might be necessary, he continued.
“The target only became aware of my existence after it was too late. He might be a powerful Sorcerer, but he is ignorant of the silent dangers of the night.”
This meant that Lukas had died without even realising that Hubi had broken into his room.
If that was the case, then it could even be said that Lukas was the easiest task Hubi had ever had to complete.
“The corpse?”
“It has been dealt with.”
“Where is your proof?”
“Yes.”
Hubi stepped forward and took something from his bag. It was a severed finger. Perhaps an index finger.
Kangki glanced down at the finger. It was definitely not a Dragonman’s finger. It also matched the skin color of the target. He touched it, he smelled it, then at the end, he put it in his mouth and chewed it.
This was the surest way. The tongue was the most sensitive part of the body. With it, one could easily find a single grain of sand on a piece of meat.
‘The strange thing is…’
There wasn’t anything strange.
Frowning, Kangki spat the finger onto his palm. It looked like a chicken bone that had its flesh removed.
Seeing this series of actions, Hubi couldn’t help but ask in a cautious tone.
“Is something wrong?”
“It ended too easily.”
Even if it might just be a small doubt, Kangki wouldn’t let it go. Even if it was only a feeling that stemmed from his instinct without the slightest bit of proof.
No.
He believed it even more because it came from his instincts.
This kind of warning had saved him many times when he faced dangerous situations.
‘It shouldn’t have been completed so easily.’
After having this thought, Kangki gave Hubi new orders.
“Think that the thing you killed was just a doppelganger and search the entire inn. Investigate every trace of the Dragon Hunter. And if you find something strange, no matter how trivial it might seem, make sure to report it right away.”
“As you command.”
Hubi bowed his head without any complaints. Even if he had absolute confidence in himself and his skills, orders were orders.
After taking a step back, he bowed politely once again before his body gradually merged with the darkness of the room and he disappeared completely.
“…”
Alone now, Kangki slowly lowered his head.
He was looking at the bottle of wine he had been drinking just before.
“I hope it’s just a delusion.”
He muttered those words with sincerity.
Kangki was never the type to leave a bottle of wine unfinished but he was no longer in the mood to drink.
After thinking for a while, he decided to call someone.
Bargan appeared in Kangki’s thoughts.
He was one of the Fighters who had persistently stood in his way when he was trying to expand his business. That had been decades ago, but there was a reason why he could still remember him even now.
This was because he felt that Bargan’s skill and talent would be fairly eye-catching. Therefore, he’d tried to win him over.
But in the end, he failed.
Bargan was unable to look at the bigger picture. It was said that Fighters were usually ignorant, but Bargan was an extreme case.
If he had continued to grow steadily, with proper support, it wouldn’t have been hard for him to have a win rate ranking among the top 10 in the Lirua arena.
“Tch.”
In any case.
The fact that Lukas was Bargan’s master meant that there was a very high chance that he knew about the match-fixing in the Lirua arena.
Even though he came to this realisation, Kangki’s expression didn’t change in the slightest.
‘This is pretty interesting.
Even if Lukas had made a great contribution during the subjugation of the Ancient Dragon, he was just a Sorcerer anyway.
In front of Fighters who could be said to be experts at fighting other people, Sorcerers were at a major disadvantage.
In addition, this was Lirua.
This was the territory that he’d shed blood and sweat for decades in order to develop to its current state.
Even if the opponent was another Major City Lord, they would not act carelessly in his territory.
‘It’s said that he left the skull of the Ancient Dragon at a smithy.’
He wondered if he should continue to spend money to advertise him, or if he should do something else instead.
After thinking for a while, Kangki looked at Padudu.
“Call ‘Hubi’.”
* * *
‘The target is hiding his real strength, so be careful.’
The assassin, ‘Hubi’, thought about the advice Kangki had given him before he left, but he didn’t really take it to heart.
It wasn’t that Kangki’s advice had entered one ear and left through the other. It was just that he felt that even if his enemy was strong, it would not impact the completion of his mission.
Sss.
The window opened with a soft sound. Nevertheless, Hubi didn’t immediately enter the room. Instead, he remained in his position and waited for a while.
…No movements could be felt from the room. This proved that the inhabitant hadn’t noticed his intrusion. Even after coming to this conclusion, he still waited a while longer before finally entering the room.
His movements were as silent as a shadow.
“…”
The target, Lukas, was laying on the bed, sound asleep.
The dim moonlight from the window dimly revealed an outline of his face.
Indeed, this wasn’t the face of a Dragonman, but an outsider from some distant place.
Shing.
Hubi slowly drew his dagger. The dagger seemed to gleam slightly in anticipation of what was to come.
Quietly, he took slow, measured steps until he reached Lukas side. Then, he covered his mouth with his left hand.
It was only at that moment that Lukas opened his eyes.
“…!”
Confusion, urgency, and fear were easily discernible in the man’s wide eyes.
But Hubi didn’t pay any attention to it as he carried out an action that he’d done many times before.
Without the slightest hesitation, his dagger skillfully slid between the ribs and penetrated his target’s heart in one clean motion.
Groan.
The convulsions of the man beneath him were enough to cause the bed to creak slightly. This was the final struggle that could only have been seen at the moment before death.
It was a bit noisy, but this was an inn that also took the role of a bar. Even now, the shouts of Dragonmen could be heard from the floor beneath them as well as the clinking of their glasses being hit against each other.
No one would be able to realise what this creaking was.
Pushing his dagger deeper, Hubi counted in his head.
One, two, three.
“…”
It was over.
After confirming that Lukas’ eyes had rolled back, he finally took his hand away from his mouth.
Thick saliva coated his hand, but he roughly wiped it away on his clothes as he looked down at Lukas’ body.
If he were to leave like this, it would certainly cause a commotion when the body was found. This was something his master didn’t want.
Fortunately, he knew of a few ways to quietly dispose of a body.
Of course, the sudden disappearance of a person would surely attract some attention. But Lukas was an outsider who currently had the lowest reputation in the entirety of Lirua. It was safe to say that there wasn’t a single Dragonman who looked at him favorably after his streak of consecutive losses.
Even if someone were to notice and point out his disappearance, others would simply curse at him. They wouldn’t try to look for him. They would loudly declare that he had quietly run away at night out of shame.
With that thought, Hubi wrapped Lukas’ body in his blanket before sliding out of the room again with his cargo in tow.
Creak-
Unlike when he entered, there was a subtle noise from the window as he left.
But that was all.
After his figure completely disappeared into the dark night, silence fell in the room once again.
* * *
“You already completed your mission?”
“Yes.”
“…”
Kangki looked down at Hubi.
The assassin in front of him was the sharpest and truest of all the daggers he had created.
Up to that point, the number of people that Hubi had killed for him probably exceeded 20,000. And despite the number being so large, this man had always completed his missions with perfection.
Naturally, several of the missions he had been tasked with could be considered difficult.
And in Kangki’s opinion, this mission should have been similar.
He looked at Hubi again.
There wasn’t a single wound on his body. Except for the fact that his clothes were a bit wrinkled, there was basically no difference from when he’d left.
“Were there any problems?”
“No.”
He answered shortly, then, thinking that an explanation might be necessary, he continued.
“The target only became aware of my existence after it was too late. He might be a powerful Sorcerer, but he is ignorant of the silent dangers of the night.”
This meant that Lukas had died without even realising that Hubi had broken into his room.
If that was the case, then it could even be said that Lukas was the easiest task Hubi had ever had to complete.
“The corpse?”
“It has been dealt with.”
“Where is your proof?”
“Yes.”
Hubi stepped forward and took something from his bag. It was a severed finger. Perhaps an index finger.
Kangki glanced down at the finger. It was definitely not a Dragonman’s finger. It also matched the skin color of the target. He touched it, he smelled it, then at the end, he put it in his mouth and chewed it.
This was the surest way. The tongue was the most sensitive part of the body. With it, one could easily find a single grain of sand on a piece of meat.
‘The strange thing is…’
There wasn’t anything strange.
Frowning, Kangki spat the finger onto his palm. It looked like a chicken bone that had its flesh removed.
Seeing this series of actions, Hubi couldn’t help but ask in a cautious tone.
“Is something wrong?”
“It ended too easily.”
Even if it might just be a small doubt, Kangki wouldn’t let it go. Even if it was only a feeling that stemmed from his instinct without the slightest bit of proof.
No.
He believed it even more because it came from his instincts.
This kind of warning had saved him many times when he faced dangerous situations.
‘It shouldn’t have been completed so easily.’
After having this thought, Kangki gave Hubi new orders.
“Think that the thing you killed was just a doppelganger and search the entire inn. Investigate every trace of the Dragon Hunter. And if you find something strange, no matter how trivial it might seem, make sure to report it right away.”
“As you command.”
Hubi bowed his head without any complaints. Even if he had absolute confidence in himself and his skills, orders were orders.
After taking a step back, he bowed politely once again before his body gradually merged with the darkness of the room and he disappeared completely.
“…”
Alone now, Kangki slowly lowered his head.
He was looking at the bottle of wine he had been drinking just before.
“I hope it’s just a delusion.”
He muttered those words with sincerity.
Kangki was never the type to leave a bottle of wine unfinished but he was no longer in the mood to drink.
After thinking for a while, he decided to call someone.
