Return of the Dragon-Devouring Assassin

Chapter 26

Chapter 26

The Black Hound—Kara Beilhart.

Captain of the Black Dog Knights and Batori Beilhart's loyal dog.

At his appearance, the gatekeepers' attitudes changed entirely.

"We greet the captain of the Black Dog Knights!"

"We greet Sir Kara, the captain!"

There was no need to prove his identity.

Kara—his very appearance and bearing were proof enough of why he was called the Black Hound.

'With that all-black look from head to toe, how could anyone doubt him.'

Moreover, the energy emanating from him was by no means light.

In Feyr's memory, his level was that of a fully mature 6th Star Tier knight.

He had never advanced beyond that, yet there was something about him that compensated for it.

He had lived a life of failure as a swordsman, but one of success as a knight.

Kara gestured and addressed the 2 gatekeepers.

"His identity has been vouched for—I can take this child with me, yes?"

The gatekeepers glanced at each other, then gave a nod.

Kara looked at Feyr and spoke in a low voice.

"Let's go in."

Feyr responded to Kara's words with nothing more than a quiet nod.

***

The 2 passed through the checkpoint and entered Fortress City Rehilicia.

The scene within the massive walls was brimming with life.

The marketplace was bustling, and the sound of carriages passing along the main road drifted to his ears.

Beyond that, many other lively sounds tickled at his hearing from all sides.

But Feyr's attention was not drawn to any of it.

How the Black Hound had recognized him.

And how he had come knowing, as if certain, that Feyr would be at that spot.

Those 2 things alone were what he wanted to know.

As Feyr was deep in thought about exactly that, Kara opened his mouth quietly.

"It seems you have questions."

Surprised that the Black Hound would speak first, Feyr asked what had been on his mind.

"How did you recognize me?"

"Because you made an oath."

He made an oath?

Feyr fell silent at Kara's words.

No further explanation was necessary.

'...I see. So that's what it is.'

The Blood Oath.

The one Feyr had made by bleeding onto a scroll when he had agreed to participate in the Exploration Operation.

A Blood Oath is not a simple promise.

It is an oath sworn by shedding one's own blood—a vow that one will absolutely keep one's word.

And so, once a Blood Oath is made, those who have sworn it can recognize one another or be aware of each other's location, among other effects.

However, Feyr had not been able to recognize Kara or know his location.

He had recognized him only because of Kara's distinctiveness.

Then the answer was one.

'Meaning it wasn't a Blood Oath.'

As far as Feyr knew, there was only 1 art similar to a Blood Oath.

'Blood Submission.'

It carried effects similar to the Blood Oath, but this one divided parties into a dominant and a subordinate.

If a Blood Oath was a bond forged through mutual connection, then Blood Submission was a relationship split between dominant and subordinate.

In other words, the relationship Feyr had been placed into was one of dominant and subordinate.

'And one where I am entirely the subordinate.'

‘So that's the trick they've pulled.’

Feyr let out a hollow laugh at the absurdity of the situation.

Of course, he hadn't thought they were taking him along out of goodwill.

But to put a leash on him from the very start—

'Can't be helped.'

If they were going to play it like this, he had no intention of staying docile either.

It seemed he would need to break this art.

Of course, breaking it abruptly would arouse suspicion.

'I can break it once inside the forest.'

If he broke it in there, they wouldn't be able to suspect him either.

They'd think he was dead.

And anyway, he had no need to return with them in the first place, did he?

'Your malice is plain to see. Did you really think I'd dance to your tune?'

Feyr thought thus and buried his anger.

There was still a silver lining, however.

Fortunately, the means to break it could be obtained right here in this city.

Though to manage that, he'd absolutely have to stop by the back alleys.

'I should be able to go at least once, either today or tomorrow.'

After all, if he was going to spend an entire month exploring the forest, he'd need to bring sufficient supplies.

Meaning they'd give him some time to prepare.

That was when he would head to the back alleys—what they called the black market.

'It'd be nice if those people were still there at this time.'

The people Feyr had met in the back alleys of Rehilicia.

If he could meet them, both the forest exploration and breaking the contract would become far easier.

'Only if I can actually get there, though.'

To do that, he'd first have to find a way to shake this one loose.

Feyr looked at Kara and asked.

"It seems there's still quite some time left—what do we do in the meantime?"

"We head to the assembly point."

At Kara's reply, Feyr shifted his gaze toward the clock tower.

Going to the assembly point when there was still time to spare.

"Isn't that too early?"

To Feyr's question, Kara explained his reason for heading to the assembly point early.

"I have never received instructions to do something with spare time. So I simply intended to arrive ahead of schedule and go to the assembly point first."

And that was that.

Kara acted purely passively, according to the instructions of his master, Batori.

His blunt, inflexible character combined with his passive disposition made him seem all the more like a machine.

'This is my first real encounter with him.'

‘This one is properly unhinged, too.’

It was easy to see why his epithet was that of a dog.

Leaving Feyr speechless with bewilderment behind him, Kara spoke about the instructions he had received.

"The single instruction given to me was this: escort Feyr Beilhart to Rehilicia first. That was all."

Going to the trouble of deploying the captain of a directly subordinate knight order just to escort a single Trainee.

It could only be seen as an unnecessary waste of capable personnel.

'To think the captain of the esteemed Black Dog Knights is being used for errands like this.'

The prestige of the Black Dog Knights was greater than one might assume.

How could it not be?

It was none other than Batori's own direct subordinate knight order.

'If they put their minds to it, they could turn this very place into hell right now.'

And on top of that, they would receive no punishment whatsoever.

Escape routes could be fabricated endlessly as needed.

'That's the power the name of Beilhart Family carries.'

At any rate, since Kara had decided so, Feyr could raise no further objection.

Time would come on its own soon enough, and everyone would gather before long.

And so, waiting at the plaza—the meeting point—for just a short while—

Cheolgeureok cheolgeureok—

From far away, the march of black knights heading in their direction began to enter view.

It was the Black Dog Knights.

At the very front of the knights' procession, a carriage bearing the Beilhart Family crest was advancing under the escort of the knights.

Most likely the carriage carrying Batori.

Feyr let out a hollow laugh at the absurd sight.

'A person whose individual combat power surpasses every knight in the order combined—and she's being escorted by them?'

As Feyr was painting that picture of disbelief, the knights' procession came to a halt.

When the carriage at the front stopped, Kara, who had been standing beside Feyr, made his way toward it.

Soon Kara opened the carriage door and took a step back with a bow.

"Thank you."

The being inside the carriage revealed itself beyond the opened door, accompanied by a young, clear voice.

A woman bearing the Beilhart Family's characteristic ash-gray hair and dark crimson eyes.

Long hair reaching down to her waist, a petite frame, a gentle-seeming face, and 2 swords hanging at her hip—all of it entered his view.

From the outside, she appeared neither particularly strong nor ill-natured.

If anything, her wholesome impression was enough to stir a feeling of wanting to protect her.

But Feyr knew her cruelty, and so he knew all too well that this was a mask.

For that reason, he resolved all the more to act by the rules.

As Feyr organized his thoughts, Batori spotted him and approached.

"Nice to meet you. You're Feyr, yes?"

"I greet the esteemed one of the Family."

The moment Batori approached, Feyr dropped to one knee and paid his respects.

Batori smiled at Feyr's action and praised him as if impressed.

"You know your etiquette well. How admirable."

"I am honored by your praise."

"Is that so?"

"Pardon?"

Chwaaak—

A motion of Batori's hand, as light as a butterfly spreading its wings.

Yet by it, the left side of Feyr's neck was sliced open.

"Kgh?!"

Blood surging up.

The one saving grace was that the wound was not too deep.

Feyr pressed his hand over the wound and raised his head, and Batori covered her mouth as she spoke.

"Oh my, I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd fail to block even that."

That was genuine.

Words spoken with absolute sincerity, without a shred of malice.

No hostility could be felt from her words or actions.

Batori jutted out her lip slightly, as if a little disappointed, and said.

"You're less than I expected. Did I overestimate you?"

"It would be difficult for even myself to react when Your Young Lady strikes without warning."

Kara, who had been quietly standing in the back, spoke in Feyr's defense.

At Kara's words, Batori thought it over and parted her lips.

"Is that so. Then I'll have to watch more."

Saying so, Batori smiled and looked down at Feyr.

Feyr forced a smile and said to Batori.

"I will strive harder."

On the outside he was smiling, but in truth Feyr's thoughts were different.

In his heart he wanted to trample that smiling face into the ground right then and there, but he did not have the strength for it now.

And so Feyr chose to swallow his immediate anger.

As Feyr suppressed the darkness inside him, Batori gave a nod in reply.

"Good. I'll look forward to it."

With that, Batori turned her back and was moving away from Feyr——

"Ah, I forgot to mention one thing."

Saying so, Batori turned her head to look at Feyr and smiled with her eyes.

She was clearly smiling, yet there was something terrifyingly lethal emanating from it.

It was felt instinctively.

That facing her now meant death.

And in that moment laden with tension, Batori opened her mouth.

"I dislike lies."

Having said her piece, Batori turned and went on her way.

After Batori had gone, Kara briefly tended to Feyr's wound and then gave a short briefing on the Forest Exploration Operation.

He said nothing about its contents.

The reason given was that it could unnecessarily cause confusion, and so it would be handled on-site.

Thus, all that was conveyed in the summary report was tomorrow's assembly time, the location, and the location of their quarters.

"That concludes it. Dismissed."

When Kara gave the order to disperse, the knights gathered in the plaza began to scatter in every direction.

Left alone, Feyr replayed the situation just moments before and touched the wound on his neck.

"I've really gotten myself into a mess."

Feyr let out a small sigh and lamented his situation.

Since it had come to this, there was nothing to do but make the best of it.

With that thought, Feyr set off to make use of the freedom he'd been given, heading to this city's back alleys—Pivelia.

***

Pivelia.

The place where every illegal act in Rehilicia occurred without exception.

Beyond the reach not only of Rehilicia's governance but of Beilhart's and even the Empire's control, it could truly be called a lawless zone.

At first, it was nothing more than a slum where the destitute gathered.

But as it gradually began to dip its hands into crime, various factions began to emerge one by one.

And among them, there existed 1 especially prominent figure.

'The King of the Underworld.'

Hearing only the epithet, it sounded utterly childish—but the reach it commanded was immense.

It couldn't be otherwise.

70% of all drugs and substances distributed across the continent had passed through his hands.

On top of that, his primary clientele were Imperial nobles, so it was inevitable that all the money there was to be made flowed to him.

With the wealth thus earned, he had been able to seize the title of King of the Underworld.

But perhaps it was because his eyes had been blinded by greed.

The Empire had placed a warrant out for his arrest.

Yet even so, he had stubbornly evaded capture—until, eventually, a request for disposal reached Beilhart.

And the one who had handled that disposal was none other than Feyr.

'It's been a while.'

Walking the back streets of Pivelia, Feyr made his way along the grimy roads and surveyed his surroundings.

Gaunt, skin-and-bones figures starving to death in the streets—a wretched sight.

A scene unchanged from then to now.

Feyr's purpose in coming to Pivelia was simple.

He had come to find the one who had yet to crown himself King of the Underworld——Murk.

'If my memory is right, Pivelia should be right in the middle of a factional war at this point.'

Pivelia originally had 3 factions.

The Grimter faction, made up of the poor and militia, and the drug-dealing crime organizations—Red Bell and Revolt.

An odd fit, but Murk was one who belonged to the Grimter faction among them.

'It's quite funny, really, that someone like that ends up becoming the King of the Underworld.'

Well, word has it he eventually built his own independent force, so it's not that strange.

Feyr thought thus and made his way toward Pivelia's District 3, where the Grimter faction's base was located.