The Path of Ruin

"What am I expected to do...?"

He had just woken up. Even the blurriness in his eyes was not completely gone... but he knew why Hakon was in his room.

Or rather, he knew why he might be here.

The fact that he was here... meant there was an emergency.

"Ahahah, you can figure things out so quickly... I really appreciate that about you."

Kael rolled his eyes, meanwhile Hakon simply squinted.

"There's something about the Lockhend case. I told you and Matthew yesterday that this was out of your league, but... I have just the mission for you. And it's supposed to be extremely secret."

A secret mission, huh...

For some reason, he remembered the mission Laen had given him in Greenveil Town. Those four merchants he had killed... he still hadn't forgotten them.

"And...?"

"I've been researching Feria Lockhend ever since you gave me her name, and about half an hour ago I realized that she corresponded quite frequently with a baron."

Kael paused, more or less realizing what the mission was.

"I'm going to go to the barony secretly, then inspect the letters... And if I find anything troubling, I'll take it with me as evidence, right?"

"Exactly."

Kael sighed deeply.

"I also won't have anyone else with me this time, I guess."

"You guessed right."

Kael didn't say anything for a while. His brown eyes lingered on Hakon for a few seconds, then narrowed and focused on his black eyes.

"Why... me, though? Even if it suits me... you said this matter could become too big of a problem. Wouldn't it be better to give it to someone more trustworthy, a Pursuer or something? You going there yourself, for example... You have a camouflage skill, after all."

"That's exactly the problem, Kael."

Kael frowned, waiting for Hakon to continue, listening to what he had to say.

"This matter... could become quite serious. So the fewer people who know this information, the better. My sudden disappearance would attract attention. And... I wasn't kidding when I said this mission is secret, not even the Empire knows about it."

And at that moment, Kael's eyes suddenly widened.

Basically, Hakon was giving him this mission himself. It was not an approved assignment from Empire!

Which meant...

'If I'm caught, I won't have an official assignment document behind me to defend me!'

They weren't giving him this mission because they trusted him.

This mission... was exactly the kind of mission they would give to someone like him whom they did not yet fully trust!

If he failed in the mission, it would do them almost no harm...

"Also..."

Hakon widened his smile, not averting his eyes even for a second.

"What makes you think I don't trust you? I have every confidence that you will accomplish this mission successfully..."

Kael tried really hard to keep his face from twitching.

'I bet you have, asshole!'

*******

With his horse beneath him, heading for his destination, Kael had a rather stoic expression.

But... the same could not be said for his mind.

'I cannot fail... I absolutely cannot...'

He was terribly nervous.

He knew he shouldn't be nervous, but he couldn't help it.

If he failed in this mission, if he was captured... everything he had worked for so far was for nothing. Hakon and General Loukan would just throw him away!

They wouldn't have a choice!

'Damn it... fuck this!'

He slammed the reins hard on his horse, making it go faster, even though it was already quite fast.

All the while, as he cursed Hakon incessantly in his thoughts, another kind of them appeared.

Like... if he succeeded, they would start to trust him a lot more. And he had no doubt that the reward would be good.

This mission... was as much an opportunity as it was a danger.

And he wanted to do everything he could to make the most of it. That was one of the reasons for his nervousness.

He gripped the reins even tighter, narrowed his eyes.

'No failing.'

And so... he kept moving forward.

*******

The Baron with whom Feria Lockhend corresponded was not governing one of the baronies within Uhron County, like Halve and Gran, but an entirely different county.

It was therefore quite far from the capital. Nevertheless, Kael traveled all this way quite quickly because he was traveling alone. Even though his curse was quite saturated, he hunted animals and creatures wherever he passed each day. He was never idle.

And so, at the end of twelve days... he stopped his horse when he had to go down a seemingly high hill.

He squinted, looking with interest at the town at the bottom of the hill.

The town walls were the smallest he had ever seen. They were barely four or five meters high.

But that didn't mean that its security was low... because he could see quite a few guards moving around on the walls. The entrance to the town was strictly controlled.

Much stricter than necessary for a barony, in fact.

'Dolcan Town... let's see what you're hiding.' Chapter Discover:

He dismounted and tied his horse to a tree, out of sight from the town.

Then he waited until night fell, for nearly two hours... all the while making plans to enter the town unseen by anyone.

The guards on the walls... were about fifteen meters apart. No matter where he approached the town, he would always be in sight of at least three guards. And he was too far away from them to use his ability.

Kael turned his eyes to the entrance on his side of town. A few carriages drove in and out. Their controls were solid and thorough, and they were all carefully inspected to see what they were carrying.

Kael began to examine each of the guards circling the walls, to see what kind of men they were.

What he was looking for was simple. He was looking for anyone who looked the least bit lazy, tired, careless... After all, with so many guards, there was no way that every one of them could be perfect.

And it was just as he thought.

'Those two... look pretty tired.'

He wasn't sure if it was a miracle, but the two guards advancing behind each other were exactly the types he was looking for. Both of them walked quite slowly, only quickening their pace when they realized they were falling behind. They also both looked rather careless.

As Kael watched them, another guard called out to one of them, and the guard... only realized it the second time the person called out.

'Wonderful.'

Kael moved quickly. He began to approach the wall diagonally so that he was on the same side as the two men.

He moved from tree to tree, careful of his every move as he made his way down the hill. So, keeping himself always in line with the two guards he had chosen, he sneaked closer, closer... and closer.

Finally, he came to a place where he was only twenty meters from the walls. Moreover, he was in front of a part of them that faced the hill, and it was also a bit curved.

But the most important thing was that Kael could now use his ability.

He focused his eyes on the three guards most likely to see him. Then he used his ability, completely erasing himself from the trio's view.

He ran quickly to just below the curve of the wall, then climbed up and moved to the center of the trio where he used his ability.

Out of the corner of his eye, he began to check the other guards. The trio he had chosen earlier continued to move through their rounds, soon moving out of the range of his ability, but Kael ignored it and stayed where he was. He used his ability on each new guard that came close.

Finally, after about three minutes... he caught a tiny gap in the line of sight of the guards outside his ability's range and quickly exploited it.

He climbed up the three-meter-thick wall so fast, jumped over it and into the town so quickly that even he could not observe what exactly was happening around him.

As soon as he jumped into the town, he threw himself between two buildings.

His breathing was even, every movement was silent, and it happened with perfect speed.

No one had seen him...

"Huh...?"

Except for the old man in the middle of the two buildings he had stepped between!

Kael didn't even hesitate as the man looked at him with a puzzled expression. His eyes quickly turned cruel.

Without even waiting for the old man to make a sound, he covered his mouth with one hand and placed the other at an angle behind his head. Then, he snapped his neck as fast as he could.

At first, the old man's eyes filled with astonishment, but then, slowly, all signs of life disappeared from his eyes... he just died like that.

Kael let out a deep, yet silent sigh. He had had to move so fast to avoid being caught that he hadn't had time to consider whether there might be someone in his hiding place.

He leaned the old man gently against the wall, laying him down so that it looked as if he were asleep. In any case... he was probably a homeless beggar. His clothes were quite dirty and his hair was full of dirt and dust.

He was sure that no one would look for him, that they would care if they saw him sleeping here.

"Huuuu..."

After taking care of the old man, he stretched, made sure again that no one was watching him, and turned his eyes to the tall building in the center of town.

It was much smaller than the mansions belonging to the other barons... but a little taller.

'Let's go...'

The clothes he was wearing were especially casual, specially prepared by him as he waited for the night to fall. He just needed to give it a little touch now.

He took off the piece of cloth that hid his face and tucked it into his clothes. Then he craned his neck, put on a casual expression, as if he were a normal person, and walked unnoticed out of the building to blend in with the crowd.