Chapter 99

### Tower Master Assassination (1)

I was taken aback, never expecting to be discovered.

Through the gap between the books, I saw a woman staring coldly at me.

'...What did she just say?'

Did she just call herself "this one"?

That's a term used by royalty or the imperial family to refer to themselves, right?

In the silence, I stared at the woman's face, then my eyes widened.

I thought I knew who she was.

'Princess Armia, the 7th Princess.'

The blood of Emperor Grandios, the 7th Princess of the Saintea Imperial Family.

It wasn't hard to realize this.

Because at this point, she was the only woman among the Emperor's children attending the academy.

Moreover, she was a significant character among the Emperor's children in the main storyline.

It seemed like an incredibly coincidental encounter.

'No, rather...'

What should I do now?

It seems she must have mistaken me for an assassin, and the situation has become quite complicated.

Should I use spatial teleportation to move to the window and escape immediately? It would be hard to avoid causing a commotion no matter what I do...

"Didn't I already say you were discovered? If you plan to keep hiding like that..."

Since I didn't reveal myself, she began to gather her mana.

I had no choice but to use spatial teleportation to the first-floor window.

"......?"

At that moment, I sensed another presence near the window.

Click!

Just as I wondered what it was, the window suddenly opened, and someone in a black robe entered.

Princess Armia was startled and turned her gaze to the new intruder.

【Lv. 53】

The robed figure immediately drew a sword and charged at Princess Armia.

I watched the scene with a bewildered look.

'Who is this guy?'

Is he the real assassin?

The princess, hastily gathering her mana, cast a spell. Blue magic bullets shot out in a burst toward the assassin.

Boom!

The missed magic bullets shattered the library wall with a loud noise.

The assassin, who had easily dodged the attack, quickly approached the princess.

The defensive barrier the princess had cast was shattered in one strike by the assassin's sword, and she fell backward from the impact.

"Ugh...!"

Just as the assassin's sword was about to fall on the princess's neck,

I teleported between them and cast a stasis barrier to block the attack.

The assassin's eyes, visible through his mask, widened in shock. He withdrew his sword and stepped back.

I dispelled the barrier and immediately cast a blood spell, shooting a stream of blood. The assassin, unable to dodge in time, was instantly killed.

"......"

I stared at the fallen assassin, then turned my head.

The princess, sitting on the floor, looked up at me with a bewildered expression.

After a moment of eye contact, I averted my gaze and walked to the window. I could sense people approaching the library.

"Wait...!"

I heard the princess's voice but ignored it and quickly escaped outside.

***

The library door opened, and people rushed in.

They were guards and some faculty members who had come at the sound of the commotion.

"What's going on here!"

They were startled to find Princess Armia, the 7th Princess, sitting on the floor and a dead assassin.

Armia looked at them, then shifted her gaze.

The mysterious figure who had been hiding on the second floor.

She had naturally assumed he was an assassin, but he had suddenly appeared and saved her from another assassin's attack.

Then, just as suddenly as he had appeared, he vanished.

"......"

Who was he?

She looked at the spot where the man had disappeared, her eyes filled with confusion.

All that remained was the moonlight streaming through the open window.

***

After safely leaving the academy, I returned to the inn.

'What a day.'

Not only did I unexpectedly encounter the 7th Princess, but I also witnessed her being attacked. It was truly unbelievable.

Saving her was almost a reflex.

I couldn't just stand by and watch her die right in front of me.

Moreover, Princess Armia was an ally in the main storyline, so it wasn't a wasted effort.

With all my business done, I prepared to leave the city.

It would be fine to leave in the morning, but since there was already a commotion at the academy, I felt uneasy.

I quickly left the city with Ashel and headed to where I had left Tyongi.

The creature, crouched in the middle of the forest, approached me with a joyful expression.

"We'll rest for a moment and then set off."

"Understood."

We decided to get some sleep until dawn and then depart.

I leaned against Tyongi's body and closed my eyes.

When dawn broke, we set off for our next destination.

The next destination was the city of Gardlet, where the Flaveros Tower was located.

Although I had failed to find the mystery, the task of assassinating the tower master, assigned by the Grand Duke, was now my priority.

'How should I deal with him?'

The tower master of Flaveros, Ank Gindara.

His level in a few years was 90, so he was likely at the same level or slightly lower now. I suspected he was at the same level.

Honestly, simply killing him wasn't a difficult problem.

At level 90, even if he was a difficult mage due to his defensive barriers, I had Ashel.

Now that Ashel had grown to level 90, her joining the battle would make it much easier.

However, the problem was that I needed to assassinate him without causing a commotion. That was the tricky part.

'But I do have a plan.'

The information provided by the Grand Duke included the tower master's general living pattern.

Killing him inside the tower was obviously impossible.

So, I planned to wait for him to leave the tower. It would be even better if he left the city.

Therefore, I needed to contact the informant who was infiltrated in the tower to get real-time information on the tower master's location.

'The question is how long it will take.'

I didn't know when he would leave the tower, so it might take a considerable amount of time.

Since finding a successor was also a pressing issue, I hoped to complete this task as quickly as possible.

Gardlet was a city in the western part of Saintea, so it was quite a distance from here.

After a long journey, we almost reached our destination without stopping.

'There it is.'

I looked at the city of Gardlet, which was now visible in the distance.

The Flaveros Tower, towering in the center of the city, was visible from afar.

Since I had to leave Tyongi nearby and enter the city, I slowed down the flying speed.

"......?"

I sensed a disturbance from a distance. It was the sound of a battle.

'What is it?'

What kind of commotion could be happening in the middle of the night?

I could have ignored it, but my curiosity got the better of me.

I heightened my senses and directed Tyongi toward the source of the disturbance.

***

Magic lights illuminated the dark forest.

A woman and her pursuers were crossing the forest path.

The woman was in a terrible state. The blood covering her body was partly from the pursuers she had killed, but the rest was her own.

Boom!

She dodged another lightning bolt by moving to the side. The shockwave caused the ground to explode and nearby trees to fall.

Despite being in a state where she could collapse at any moment, she managed to evade the relentless magical attacks and continue her escape.

Panting heavily, she glanced back at the persistent pursuers.

Her name was Serun.

A Caldric spy who had been infiltrated in the Flaveros Tower of Saintea for a long time, following the orders of the Grand Duke.

The reason she was being pursued was that she had uncovered information about the tower master's secret research on demons.

Her mistake was one.

Underestimating the tower master, Ank Gindara, and his closest associates.

They were more perceptive and meticulous than she had anticipated, and she couldn't avoid their suspicion.

Despite gaining their trust over the past few years as a loyal assistant, she was eventually discovered.

But Serun wasn't giving up yet.

She was a seasoned spy, and she had noticed the signs in time.

The tower master hadn't appeared yet. If she could deal with the pursuers, she could still escape.

'Three, five, nine...'

She confirmed the number of pursuers again, tried to steady her breathing, and prepared for battle.

Continuing to flee wouldn't allow her to shake them off completely. She had to take a risk and finish them here.

Crack!

Serun suddenly changed direction and shot toward the closest pursuer like a bolt of lightning.

One pursuer's head was severed before he could react. The others were startled and began to prepare their spells.

Boom!

Serun squeezed out the last of her mana. She managed to cut down two more pursuers, leaving six.

She dodged a fireball shot from the side and cast a spell. A concentrated beam of mana pierced through a pursuer's barrier, killing him.

'...Just a little more!'

The remaining pursuers were still disoriented by the rapid deaths of their comrades.

Seizing the opportunity, Serun burned the last of her strength and mana to make a final move.

Swoosh!

Suddenly, a crushing pressure enveloped her, and she fell to her knees, gasping in pain.

Lifting her head, she saw a middle-aged man descending from the sky, his eyes filled with shock and despair.

The tower master of Flaveros, Ank Gindara.

The pursuers immediately stopped and bowed.

"Tsk... "

The tower master, now on the ground, looked at the pursuers with disdain and then turned to Serun.

"I suspected there was a rat, but I didn't expect it to be you, Serun."

He approached and leaned over her.

"Where are you from? Caldric? Of course, the Grand Duke sent you, right?"

Serun's face showed resignation.

It was over. With the tower master personally intervening, there was no hope left. Any further resistance was futile.

'...My body...'

Some spell had paralyzed her, and she couldn't move a finger or use her mana.

Even the option of suicide was impossible. All she could do was remain silent.

The tower master looked at her coldly and sneered.

"I wonder what the Grand Duke is thinking. Does he plan to eliminate me like Quan Sheng?"

"......"

"No, even the Grand Duke can't go that far, hehe. Anyway, it seems the information has already been passed on, but it doesn't matter."

He grabbed her chin and lifted her face.

"Since you were sent by the Grand Duke, you won't talk. I'll use you as an experimental subject. So, don't think you'll die easily."

An experimental subject.

Serun's face filled with despair, knowing the meaning of those words better than anyone.

The tower master sneered again and was about to give orders to the pursuers when he heard a faint sound from a distance.

He looked up, frowning.

A large, black shape was flying toward them through the night sky.

'...A black wyvern?'

The wyvern reached the sky above them at an incredible speed, and something fell from it.

The tower master, Serun, and the pursuers all turned to look at the falling object. It was a person.

Swoosh!

The person, who had been falling, suddenly disappeared mid-air and reappeared on the ground as if by teleportation.

It was a young human male.

The sudden appearance of this unknown man made both Serun and the tower master stare in shock.

"......!"

Serun's eyes widened in disbelief, and the tower master's expression slowly turned to shock and disbelief.

He muttered in disbelief.

"7... Lord?"