“What exactly did I do?”
Leni frowned.
Like a reflection in a mirror, a furrow appeared and disappeared between Blayden’s eyebrows.
His hand slowly rose and settled on her head. Leni instinctively recoiled as the warmth gently pressed on her crown.
“Tonight, it seems the moonlight is mine.”
The memory of Blayden touching her hair in the Forie Forest came back to her.
His eyes, dark and gazing at her as if he’d read her thoughts, deepened.
“What’s on you, what’s draped over you, what’s seeped into you—it’s all mine.”
His slow, low voice flowed like a warm breath.
“I am not a slave.”
Leni held her head high and answered resolutely.
“If that’s the case… Solenia Radelyon.”
Blayden slowly closed and opened his eyes, then lowered his face a little more.
His rough cheek, with its short beard, came so close it seemed to brush hers.
Leni swallowed hard. Blayden’s gaze swept down her face.
Then, a soft whisper pierced her ear.
“Then why don’t you tell me what you are?”
“Excuse me?”
“If you’re not mine, then whose are you? I have no way of knowing, so will you enlighten me?”
Has he figured out I’m the prince’s spy?
No, there’s no way.
How could he know that?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but…”
What should I say to avert his suspicion?
Leni’s hair stood on end. Just as she clenched her fists, trying not to panic, the rustling of leaves came from beyond the darkness.
“Shh!”
Blayden placed his index finger on her lips.
His eyes, locking her startled gaze, moved to the dagger at his waist.
Don’t make a sound. Don’t move.
Leni understood the words Blayden conveyed with his eyes.
Yes.
She blinked in response and held her breath.
Swish, a light, sharp footfall scratched at the darkness.
Blayden turned, putting Leni behind him, and drew his dagger.
As his body shielded Leni, the moonlit blade flew into the darkness.
Thud, a sound echoed from in front, and the ground vibrated.
“Stay here.”
Blayden instructed Leni and followed the trajectory of his dagger.
A man with his face covered by a mask lay sprawled on the dirt.
Blood flowed from his thick neck, where the dagger was embedded, and his breathing had ceased.
Blayden grasped the edge of the mask, which covered the man’s chin.
He was about to lift the coarse fabric to reveal the face.
Whoosh, the wind howled.
“Master!”
At Leni’s sharp cry, Blayden looked up.
A pale light, like a beast’s eye, was flying towards him.
It was an arrowhead, bathed in moonlight.
Blayden curled his body and rolled sideways.
But then there was a dull thud, and the arrow, which had been flying towards his face, suddenly changed direction and plummeted.
An apple was impaled on the arrow that had fallen to the ground.
An arrowhead piercing an apple.
No, an apple that had swallowed an arrow.
The apple that had hit the arrow had clear bite marks.
Blayden drew his sword and scanned the direction from which the arrow had come.
“Leni.”
Only darkness filled the spot where they had stood just moments before.
“Solenia.”
Where are you?
Are you alright?
A figure cut through the darkness.
A streak of light aimed at his chest.
A second assassin!
Blayden twisted his body, evading the sword.
The masked enemy charged.
Blades clashed fiercely.
This foe was fast and strong.
He used footwork that extended a front paw and brought a hind paw to follow.
Blayden judged the enemy’s movements by the sound of trampled grass.
His sword slashed at the enemy’s shoulder.
He felt thin cloth tear, but the attack aimed at him didn’t stop.
The enemy’s footwork and sword movements were still dazzling.
Blayden blocked the incoming sword with his own, then thrust his leg out diagonally.
He feigned a stab at the opponent’s flank, then tripped his leg.
The enemy swayed but didn’t lose his balance.
He let out a ragged breath and charged again.
Despite his large build, his movements were like the wind.
Is he not human?
A horizontally held sword flew towards his head.
Blayden again blocked the sword with his own.
Holding strong, he drove his knee upwards.
The enemy, struck in a vital spot, fell backward.
The sword floated in the air, and his defenses were down.
Blayden aimed his now free sword at the opponent’s neck.
The blade bit into stiff leather.
It was a neck guard, the kind mercenaries wore.
Blayden feigned withdrawing his sword, then swung again.
The enemy, stabbed near the eye, screamed and fell to the ground.
Blayden held his sword upright over him.
As the blade was about to come down, the opponent rolled his body, and dry dirt was suddenly scattered in Blayden’s face.
Seizing the fleeting moment his eyes were shut, the opponent got up.
Blayden spun, drawing a path that enveloped the opponent with his movement.
Using the enemy’s back as a shield, he changed position and slashed at the back of his neck from behind.
The blade passed over the straps of the neck guard.
The moment a groan echoed in the darkness, there was a thud.
A stone, which had struck the back of the enemy’s head, fell to the ground.
Ha, Leni!
To think I’d get such help from you.
Blayden slashed at the flank of the enemy, who had flinched from the surprise attack.
The enemy’s blade aimed at the outside of his thigh.
A lure.
Take it.
Blayden offered his leg and plunged his sword into the enemy’s back.
“Gah!”
His knees buckled.
The enemy, who had slumped to the dirt, exposed his neck.
Blayden drew his dagger from his chest.
But the final blow missed.
No, he attacked, but the opponent vanished.
The moment he thought the dagger had cut the neck, his arm sliced through empty air.
What sorcery is this?
There was a presence behind him.
Blayden let out a ragged breath and turned.
The enemy was staggering, holding Blayden’s sword in his hand.
It was the sword I’d just plunged into his back, how…
Blayden picked up the enemy’s sword, which had fallen to the ground.
He and the enemy stood facing each other, their weapons exchanged.
Tonight, one of us will die by our own weapon.
The hilt of the sword felt unfamiliar in his grip.
The enemy charged.
The strength in his sword wasn’t like before.
He must be mortally wounded.
As Blayden thought this, his eyes were dazzled.
The enemy’s sword seemed to split into several, emitting light and disrupting his vision.
Black magic!
Blayden closed his eyes.
In such situations, sight was a trap.
It was better to gauge the sword’s movements by sound.
This was a lesson learned after being mortally wounded by the Shadow Wolves.
Thwack, the darkness was torn.
Blayden aimed his sword at the sound, then paused.
This smell.
His eyes opened, and he saw the enemy collapsing.
A dagger was embedded in his neck.
Behind the body, which flowed down like ashes under the moonlight, a figure emerged.
Hair fluttering in the wind.
The outline of a body radiating light.
Blayden froze, as if enchanted.
The figure’s arm moved.
A small hand pulled the dagger from the enemy’s neck.
And then it slashed the exposed neck.
A single movement, utterly merciless.
Blood splattered everywhere.
“Gasp!”
With a faint cry, the figure collapsed.
Blayden violently shook his head to clear his mind.
“Leni!”
His rushing body found Leni slumped behind the assassin.
Leni was hunched, holding her hands clasped together, holding her breath.
The sword that had just slashed the assassin’s neck lay discarded at her feet.
Blayden gripped her trembling shoulders.
He checked her nape, lifted Leni’s face, and ran his hand along her cheek.
He pushed her disheveled hair back and stroked her forehead.
His heart pounded fiercely as he ran his hands down her arms.
There were no injuries.
Not on her face, nor on her body.
Her slumped legs also didn’t seem to be cut by a knife.
“Hahh.”
Only then did a sigh of relief escape him.
From her expression, Leni seemed more startled by his rough touch.
Her eyes, looking at him with unfamiliarity, shimmered with moisture and wavered.
Blayden frowned and withdrew his hand.
He was about to ask if she was okay, but the wrong words came out.
“How did you think of throwing an apple?”
“If an arrow can hit an apple, then an apple can also hit an arrow.”
It was a surprisingly clear answer for someone who seemed terrified.
Forgetting his worry for a moment, Blayden almost burst out laughing.
“And the dagger?”
“I pulled it from the first assassin’s neck. You killed him by throwing it, didn’t you?”
Leni frowned.
Don’t you remember?
Her eyes, gazing intently at him, seemed to ask that.
Blayden curled the corner of his lips.
“Not bad, kid.”
Leni fluttered her eyelashes, as if she had witnessed a strange sight.
“You were quite useful.”
As Blayden placed his hand on Leni’s head, the loud crunching of leaves was heard.
Both his and Leni’s heads simultaneously turned towards the sound.
“Captain!”
Led by Sharino, the squad members emerged from the darkness.
I didn’t mean to disturb their sleep, but I seem to have woken them up.
Blayden removed his hand from Leni’s head and stood up.
“Are they robbers?”
Sharino approached and asked.
Lenz, who was behind her, stepped forward, examined the scattered corpse on the ground, and said, “Looks like assassins.”
Blayden nodded and explained the situation.
“There’s one more over there. Both seemed to be trained assassins.”
His voice was calm, and his expression was composed.
Leni stared at Blayden’s calm demeanor with a sense of wonder.
Was the smile he showed her just moments ago an illusion?
She put a hand to her head; a warmth still lingered on her crown.
Gabriel brought the apple with the arrow embedded in it.
“Be careful, Gabriel.”
Blayden took the apple from Gabriel and pulled out the arrow, holding it upright.
The sharply honed, rhombus-shaped tip emitted a pale white light.
“It’s made from the teeth of a Shadow Wolf.”
The squad members gathered around Blayden, forming a semicircle, and examined the arrowhead.
“If you’d been hit, your mind would’ve blurred, and you would’ve seen hallucinations,” Blayden explained, sending shivers down Leni’s spine.
There was a moment when she felt Blayden’s movements had become unusually sluggish.
Could it be the black magic of a shadow spirit manifesting?
Will we experience more of this as we get closer to Shadow Land?
William, who had searched the assassin’s body, found a dagger at his ankle.
He turned the blade over and over, examining it, then presented it to Blayden.
“This weapon is made in the traditional Akilium style.”
“Oh, really?”
Blayden’s gaze went to Lenz.
Lenz bent down to examine the dagger and nodded.
“That’s right. It’s mainly used for hunting beasts.”
“Hmph. To bring a weapon for beasts, it seems they didn’t even treat me as a human.”
Blayden sneered, looking down at the assassin.
A weapon made from parts of a spirit and another crafted in the Akilium style… what does this mean?
Did this person target him with the same intent?