Chapter 100

Chapter 99: "The Shadow" (Seeking Subscriptions! Seeking Monthly Votes!)

At the top floor office of the Franzel family's villa.

Rig had already returned here and was sitting at his desk, recounting everything that had happened tonight to Yuli.

Ain and Ian stood behind Rig, occasionally adding a word, while Yuli stared straight at Rig, who sat across from her, without saying a word.

"What are you looking at me like that for?"

Rig felt a bit uncomfortable under Yuli's gaze and could only say this.

However, Yuli continued to stare at Rig intently, as if trying to see through him.

Unable to bear it,

"Do you not want an explanation?" Yuli asked Rig with a tone that was neither happy nor sad: "Mr. Rig, who can easily defeat a True Swordsman?"

Indeed, Ain and Ian had told Yuli about Rig defeating the leading thug.

This made Yuli's gaze at Rig even more peculiar, and Marilyn, standing to the side, also stared at Rig, giving the impression that she was ready to interrogate him.

Rig, however, remained calm.

"What do you want me to explain?" Rig smiled and said to Yuli: "How awesome I am?"

"Awesome?" Yuli looked puzzled.

"It means very powerful," Rig paused, then changed the subject: "Besides, you didn't ask, so I can't just tell you how powerful I am, can I?"

Rig wasn't that narcissistic.

"But isn't this a bit too much?" Yuli muttered: "I've never heard of you practicing sword skills before, let alone being a master who can easily defeat a True Swordsman."

This was what puzzled Yuli.

She had already investigated Rig and knew all about his past.

In all those records, there was nothing to suggest that Rig had ever practiced sword skills.

In fact, Rig's attitude towards swordsmen in the past was quite different from that of other mages. He had always looked down on them.

Mages were noble beings, while swordsmen were merely laborers who knew only how to fight and kill. This was a common, overly arrogant view among mages.

Rig had been the same in the past, aiming to become a tactical or even strategic mage to gain a noble title from the kingdom, and he had looked down on swordsmen who could only serve as the kingdom's and nobles' henchmen.

In the magic academy, Rig had even been somewhat lazy, so how could he have practiced sword skills?

This was completely contradictory to the impressive strength he had displayed this time.

Therefore, Yuli was genuinely surprised and shocked when she learned that Rig could easily defeat a True Swordsman-level assassin.

Rig, of course, understood the situation.

Given his past behavior, suddenly displaying such strength would naturally surprise and confuse those who knew him.

But Rig didn't want to hide it from Yuli.

"I just had a bit of good fortune," Rig smiled faintly and said: "I'll tell you about it if there's a chance in the future."

In other words, this wasn't the right time to talk about it.

This was understandable.

Rig didn't want the dimensional cube to become common knowledge.

Although Yuli was his savior, such an unbelievable story might not be believed even if he told her.

Therefore, Rig didn't plan to explain too much.

Yuli seemed to understand. Although she found it hard to accept, Rig's unwavering gaze and steady eyes softened her heart.

"Alright, let's not talk about this for now," Yuli sighed and changed the subject: "If we only consider the outcome of this incident, it's still something to be happy about."

Indeed.

Although Rig had been attacked, he was unharmed and had suddenly gained great strength, which was reassuring.

At least, Rig now had some ability to protect himself, unlike before when he was completely at the mercy of others.

This was a good thing.

"It's just a pity that the attackers all committed suicide. It will be very difficult to find out who was behind them and whether they were heretical assassins."

Yuli said this.

"Can't we investigate?"

Rig asked.

"Of course, we will investigate, but whether we will get any results is hard to say," Yuli pondered for a moment and then said: "According to your account, they all chose to commit suicide without hesitation once they confirmed the mission was a failure. This shows they have a well-established response mechanism to hide their secrets in the moment of defeat."

In such a situation, even if they investigated, they probably wouldn't find anything satisfactory.

The enemy had a well-established response mechanism and a set of guidelines. They must have considered what kind of investigation would be conducted if the bodies were taken away after the mission failed.

"Based on this, I personally believe that even if we ask the court mages to use special magic to trace the memories of the deceased, it probably won't be very effective."

Yuli thought this, and it made sense.

If they could so easily sacrifice a True Swordsman-level expert and make all the assassins commit suicide after the mission failed, the people behind them must have considered the possibility of the bodies being investigated and magical clues being gathered.

"If I'm not mistaken, the bodies must have been implanted with countermeasures against perception magic, mind magic, memory magic, and so on," Yuli said: "So, we probably won't find any useful clues."

Hearing this, Rig frowned but wasn't disappointed.

"If we can't investigate, then we can't," Rig said: "At least we're not without gains."

Through this attack, Rig understood two things.

One, the enemy hadn't given up on taking his life.

Two, he currently had the ability to protect himself.

Rig, who now knew his strength in this world, wasn't in a hurry.

If he could easily defeat a True Swordsman, the enemy would probably need to send a Sword Saint or an equally powerful mage to deal with him.

Rig didn't think that someone would send a Sword Saint-level existence to deal with a "somewhat talented" minor figure like him.

This was a matter of cost and whether it was worth it. The person behind this would likely hesitate about whether to target Rig in the future.

This gave Rig some peace of mind.

"I will ask the court mages or the high priests of the church to come and see if they can do something," Yuli didn't want to give up and said: "If there are any clues or information, I will inform you."

"Alright," Rig nodded in agreement.

They discussed some more details, and then Rig got up and left.

The office was left with only Yuli and her group.

The relaxed attitude Yuli had shown to Rig disappeared, and her face became expressionless.

"Speak up," Yuli turned her gaze to Ain and Ian and said: "What did you two discover?"

Yuli had keenly sensed that Ain and Ian had something to say.

Otherwise, they would have left after completing the mission instead of staying to listen to her and Rig's private conversation.

Ain and Ian exchanged a glance.

"Miss," Ian lowered his voice and said to Yuli: "The skills of those assassins were somewhat similar to those of 'The Shadow.'"

Upon hearing this, not only did Yuli's expression change, but Marilyn's also changed abruptly.

"Are you sure?"

Yuli leaned forward unconsciously.

"Not entirely, but it's very similar," Ain also spoke, unusually talkative: "I fought the leading True Swordsman. Although he used a heavy broadsword, his speed, which didn't match his physique, and his fighting style, which minimized all movements and sounds, were very similar to the 'The Shadow's' favored stealth sword techniques."

Hearing this, Yuli's face darkened, and her hand on the desk clenched tightly.

A terrifying magical aura slowly emanated from Yuli, making her face cold.

"So, the ones who attacked Rig were not heretical assassins but the royal shadow knights, right?"

The words Yuli spoke were chilling.

But this was a secret known to some high-ranking individuals.

The Kingdom of Ginass had a secret assassination unit.

All members of this unit were called shadow knights, and only the royal family knew of their existence and had the authority to command them.

Since Ain and Ian said the attackers were similar to 'The Shadow,' it was likely that the attackers were shadow knights.

So, who could send shadow knights to carry out an assassination?

The answer was clear.

The only thing Yuli didn't understand was why someone in the royal family would target Rig.

Before she could figure it out, Marilyn, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.

"The previous Mr. Rig seemed to be very close to the daughter of the Leiat family."

With this simple statement, Yuli understood everything.

The Leiat family was a vassal of a certain duke.

And this duke had been very restless in recent years, seemingly harboring improper thoughts about the current king and the throne.

In such a situation, a promising future great mage suddenly becoming close to the daughter of the duke's vassal would naturally cause some overreaction in the royal family.

In other words, Rig had been caught up in political struggles and nearly became a political sacrifice.

"Marylin, call the carriage."

Yuli said expressionlessly.

"I'm going to the palace."

(End of Chapter)