Chapter 391

It didn’t take long for me to grasp the full picture of the situation.

Why Panam had turned against the Empire, what they were relying on to do such a thing, and what they were plotting.

Every time I pulled out the wrinkled fingers of the one remaining arm, the answers I wanted flowed out smoothly.

Among them, there was information that would make Leopold tear his hair out if he heard it.

“What were they thinking, pulling off such a scheme… a triangular alliance, you say?”

King Danon, like a cub whose mother had exploded before his eyes, convulsed and nodded his head in a state of panic.

“Huuuuk… Hoooooork!”

He might just pass out from this.

What a drama queen. I only pulled out one arm and a few fingers. I haven’t even started proper torture yet.

I looked down at Danon with contempt and organized my thoughts.

The most valuable piece of information I extracted from him was that there weren’t two, but three countries hostile to the Empire.

The triangular alliance.

Panam, Dane, and another country had united to pressure the Empire from multiple angles.

I’m not sure how much of his words I can trust, but if it’s true, Panam certainly had the guts to stand against the Empire.

Leopold, who had only been wary of Panam and Dane, was unaware of the third country. The name of the country that secretly proposed and led the triangular alliance was…

The Holy Kingdom, Elpireme.

—

…It was a terribly troublesome situation.

Panam, Dane, Elpireme. All human nations except the Empire were hostile to it.

In a time when the growing threat of other races and monsters should have united us, this was happening.

Of course, the goals of the three countries weren’t perfectly aligned.

Panam wanted to extract more wealth from the Empire, while Dane, surprisingly, wanted to expel or subjugate me from the Empire.

They couldn’t stand the sight of a Dane assassin thriving in the Empire.

I can understand their feelings, but…

‘Your karma is quite something. You suffered a lot during Knut’s time, and now an entire country…’

[If you have complaints, don’t use the power of life force. It’s convenient to use the power itself, but to refuse the price of that power, isn’t that a shameless thought?]

Hersela seemed determined to be shameless, just laughing and saying if you don’t like it, don’t use it.

‘This is no laughing matter. What are we going to do about this?’

[Well, I don’t know. Why not just kill them all?]

What an irresponsible maniac.

I wondered how Dane, which was constantly being plundered by Ka`har, had the strength to pull off such a bold move, but according to King Danon, they had more than enough power.

Thousands of soldiers who could use magic, and hundreds of warriors who had awakened to magic.

It was an unbelievable number.

Even the Empire didn’t have that many magic soldiers.

Creating one or two fire arrows is one thing, but proper combat mages aren’t that common.

Most mages prefer to work as researchers in magic towers rather than as dangerous combatants.

Anyway, it was clear that Dane could no longer be underestimated.

Thousands of mages would be more than enough to pressure the Empire.

But how is that even possible…?

Are they mass-producing mages in factories?

Even Danon didn’t know this.

Dane’s secret envoys who visited Panam showed him their magic, but he couldn’t understand the principles behind it.

Dane said they would share the method once the alliance deepened, but I arrived before that could happen.

—

The Holy Kingdom’s goal was also to eliminate someone from the Empire.

Unlike Dane, their target wasn’t me, but it wasn’t entirely unrelated to me either.

They wanted to eliminate the woman who had risen to the false position of Archbishop, along with the rootless diocese she had created.

Technically, calling it a rootless diocese isn’t wrong, but…

Still, to go so far as to coax other kingdoms into pressuring the Empire… The Holy Kingdom has really lost it.

Are they that wary of Lacey?

I’m glad I didn’t send Lacey first.

If she had gone to the Holy Kingdom alone, she might never have returned.

The Holy Kingdom’s methods were sneaky and despicable.

They secretly supported Panam and Dane, using those two countries to heavily pressure the Empire, while they themselves subtly extended a hand to the struggling Empire.

They would fully support the Empire, but in return, they demanded the dissolution of the Archbishopric and the return of Lacey.

If that happened, regardless of Leopold’s wishes, the Empire’s nobles would rush to dissolve the Archbishopric, using advice as a guise for pressure.

What a headache.

I don’t know how many Cardinals approved of this, but we really need to flip the script.

—

“Those screams…! Could it be, His Majesty?!”

“No way, Sir Andrea and Sir Marcello are guarding the third-floor chambers…!”

The sound of footsteps echoing down the corridor grew closer as the interrogation of King Danon was nearing its end.

“Imperial Guard, prepare for battle! We’re entering the chambers!”

Finally, they’re coming.

It took longer than I thought. Did they think it was safe with two masters on guard?

How naive.

With that kind of mindset, it’s no wonder they allowed such an easy infiltration.

Anyway, this means my time for a leisurely interrogation is over.

“What a shame. It seems your reprieve has come to an end.”

I twirled the black iron dagger in my left hand and approached King Danon.

It was time to bid him farewell. If I didn’t cut his throat before the Imperial Guard arrived, he might blabber unnecessarily.

“Hii, hiiiik! I, I told you everything! Please, spare my life…!”

The old man’s face, sensing his fate, was etched with clear terror.

His face, smeared with tears, snot, sweat, and saliva, was utterly repulsive. The state below his waist was a hundred times worse.

“Would you spare someone like you? After seeing this?”

I gestured to the woman lying beside him. A naked woman with dark brown hair and skin tone resembling mine.

Whether she was a slave or a concubine, the fact that she resembled me was reason enough to make Danon’s death excruciating.

“……!”

Danon, realizing he had no defense, trembled without a word.

But this woman, despite all this chaos, isn’t even trying to get up.

Two people are being hacked to pieces, and right next to her, an old man is spewing from every orifice.

Her breathing and heartbeat are steady, so she’s not pretending to sleep.

Did they drug her or something?

Well, it’s for the best.

If she’s staying quiet, I don’t need to kill her.

So, just this guy needs to die.

“Thinking about it again, it’s really annoying. Why the black hair?”

Clicking my tongue in displeasure, I lightly plunged the dagger in a reverse grip.

– Plop!

“Gyaaaaaah!”

The sensation of piercing a jelly-like ping-pong ball.

Danon, with the dagger embedded in one eye, convulsed and screamed.

“Huh? Why the black hair?”

I fluidly and swiftly performed a deadly makeover on Danon.

Twisting the blade to gouge out the eye socket, pulling out the other eye with my left hand, cutting off the nose and lower jaw, and even tearing off both ears.

“Ooooh! Gyaaaaah! Bruuuuuk!”

King Danon, now resembling a corpse raised by dark magic, wept bloody tears and wailed like a monster.

“Hurry! His Majesty is in danger!”

The knights’ voices grew closer.

They’ll probably burst in in about 15 seconds.

“I should be grateful for the Imperial Guard’s loyalty. If they had been five minutes later, I could have leisurely dismembered him…”

Unfortunately, there’s no more time to play.

“Uuuuh, uuuuuuh!”

“What are you saying? Can’t even make a proper last word?”

The black iron longsword sliced diagonally through Danon’s body.

The blade cut through the collarbone and exited through the side.

The severed upper body slid and collapsed onto the bed.

Such was the end of the perverted old man who had overreached.

—

Immediately after killing Danon, I began tampering with the scene.

It was a necessary measure.

Two masters who couldn’t even resist and were killed almost instantly, and an assassin without a scratch.

This would narrow down the assassin’s identity too much.

So, I had to at least create the impression of a hard-fought battle.

I had about 8 seconds left, but that was enough.

I quickly slashed Andrea and Marcello’s corpses, then cut up my own armor here and there.

As if a bloody battle had taken place.

Thanks to the enemies’ blood I was drenched in, I didn’t need to cut myself to fake injuries and bleeding.

Of course, it would be suspicious if there were no wounds at all…

– Plop!

I picked up Andrea’s longsword and stabbed my left shoulder.

“Ouch…”

Not life-threatening, but enough to make swinging my left arm burdensome.

A searing pain, as if a torch had been thrust into my shoulder.

I’ve long been accustomed to this level of pain… but that doesn’t mean I welcome it.

Being used to pain doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.

[…You’re suffering for no reason. If your identity mustn’t be revealed, just kill them all.]

‘That’s not an option. If the palace’s people were massacred overnight, my identity would still be exposed.’

Massacring the palace.

How many people capable of that would target Panam right now?

That took 7 seconds.

And the next moment, with a loud crash, the bedroom door shattered, and heavily armed knights rushed in.

“Gasp! His, His Majesty…! His Majesty has been assassinated! It’s the assassin!”

“This can’t be, Sir Marcello and Sir Andrea too!”

“How could the two of them fall to a mere assassin! This is unbelievable!”

The nightmare-like carnage in the room.

The Imperial Guard knights, beyond shock, were in a state of panic, pointing their weapons at me.

“How could you commit such a cruel and heinous act…! Reveal yourself! Who are you?!”

As if I’d tell them.

Ignoring the knight’s pointing, I aimed the black iron longsword at him.

“…No intention to answer, huh. You damn traitorous assassin…! Fine. All Imperial Guard, charge! Capture him and uncover the mastermind!”

The knights, drawing their weapons, roared and charged at me.

Falling for my feigned severe injury, they thought they could capture me with a joint attack. Just as I expected.

Now, I just need to buy time without revealing my identity until Eleonora is rescued.

No big deal.