Assassin's Chronicle

"Anfey, what are you doing this for?" Christian asked quietly while watching Ahab and his merchant fleet hurrying away.

"Nothing. I just wanted to find a legal opportunity to kill someone," Anfey sneered. The money Anfey paid to Ahab gave him the opportunity to kill a person. Suzanna had not shown up yet. With only two junior magisters at the scene, they were not able to have control of the situation, especially when it was getting dark. As everyone knew, mages’ fighting abilities would get affected at night, which would give Ahab a lot courage to fight them.

"They may not dare." Christian had already known what Anfey would do.

"You take a close look at how they walk. What can you tell?" Anfey said with a pregnant pause.

Christian stared with his eyes wide, watching Ahab walking into the dark. He could not tell anything. "Maybe...nothing special."

"They walked away fast." There was a smile on Anfey’s face. "Why did they hurry away? Did they hurry to hide those three hundred gold coins or rush to plan something big?"

Christian tried to recall, and remembered that the speed of Ahab and his merchant fleet’s coming and going was quite different. The way they hurried away looked more like they were trotting. Christian heaved a sigh and looked at Anfey with admiration. "Anfey, I really do not know how to describe you in words. I think most people are not as good as you."

"Are you trying to say no one is as good as me?" Anfey smiled.

"Did you forget what you have promised me?" Christian curled his lips.

Anfey and Christian had been honest with each other. Christian had said clearly that he had some secrets that he could not tell Anfey. Anfey seemed ok with it. He never went after Christian for that reason. He only secretly tried to guess what Christian’s secrets were as if he was playing a guessing game.

In fact, Anfey could already guess what Christian’s secrets were. As he walked with Christian on the street, a wagon passed by them. A guy with a pair of bright and sophisticated eyes looked at them with a warm smile. Anfey knew he was an outsider in this magic world, and there was no way he would know that guy. Who was he smiling at? This was an easy question. By then Christian was quite shocked to see that guy and said without conscious thinking, "Why did he come?"

After Anfey persisted in asking, Christian told Anfey that the guy’s name was Baery, the commander of Roaring Dead Legion, the most powerful legion in the empire. He was also a famous master swordsman. Christian asked Anfey to keep the secret for him. He told Anfey that Baery secretly going back to Saint City must have something to do with military secrets. It showed Christian that the guy must have a special identity.

It was totally different wording when Christian said "He’s back" and "The commander is back." Even spoiled Niya called Ernest with a respectful title "Mr." or "Uncle". What did the "he" out of Christian’s mouth mean?

Anfey was so smart that he could even be called omniscient. If Christian knew what Anfey was thinking, he would have called Anfey omniscient. He did not think Anfey could tell so much from just one word.

In fact, thinking about it more deeply, it was not that hard to guess the way Anfey did. If Anfey could tell Ahab and his merchant fleet were anxious and acted on impulse from their trots, of course he could guess Christian’s secrets, even though they were unspoken.

Christian was quiet in thought for a while and suddenly smiled. "Anfey, it was not like you."

"What is not like me?" Anfey was confused for a second.

"If it were me, Blavi, or Riska seeing that scene, we probably would have fought with them, but you..." Christian said.

"What about me?" Anfey asked.

"You would never have gotten mad over two women. You are calm, way too calm. A few days ago, you proposed to assassinate the princess of Shansa Empire and ruin their political marriage. I was not so sure about your plan, but since it was good for the country. I did not say anything against it. Now you got mad over two women. Did these happen because of Tears of Stars," Christian said slowly.

"I would not get mad over two women, but I would do anything for hundreds of women," Anfey said.

"Bullsh*t." Christian rolled his eyes at Anfey.

"Haha, Christian. Think about what Ahab said. Where did he buy those female slaves?" Anfey asked.

"From Shansa Empire’s military. Shansa Empire? Weren’t they all supposed to be in this battle anyway?" Christian suddenly opened his eyes wide.

"Definitely," Anfey smiled.

"Are you sure you want to take risks for them?" Christian emphasized every word he asked.

"You are wrong. It is not taking a risk. It is assassination." Anfey strategically avoided Christian’s question.

With the desire to be part of this magic world and become a powerful man, there were three necessities: capability, political power, and fame. Ahab had more than eighty slaves. If all the female slaves were saved, they would go back to their hometowns with gratitude towards Anfey when the war ended. There would be no doubt that they would tell others about Anfey’s good deeds. Word would get around, and then Anfey would acquire some fame in those areas. Assassins needed both bright and dark lives and many more different identities. It was not contradictory with the need for the assassin to keep his real identity secret.

The fact that Anfey stirred up trouble between Tiger of Tawau and Glory mercenary groups needed to be kept secret, otherwise Anfey could be subject to brutal revenge. This story could be told in another book.

When one mercenary group violently attacked another one, the latter group had the right to fight back and was allowed to take over anything in the attacking group if the latter group won. This rule between mercenary groups was key for Anfey in making his plans. Anfey could take advantage of this rule to avoid some risks. This rule was originally made to punish those outlaws.

If Anfey initiated the fight and let anyone run away, Alibaba mercenary group would suffer from being on the wanted list. Even if Anfey could kill everyone in a merchant fleet and a mercenary group, a merchant fleet and a mercenary group disappearing would be a big news as well. The Country of Mercenaries valued catching gangs above all else, but they had no authority or ability to control whatever sh*tty things happened in the Forest of Death and Wild Prairie. They did care about the safety of the merchant fleets. Right then it was Tiger of Tawau mercenary group’s turn to be in power. Hotchbini in the Tiger of Tawau mercenary group hated those gangs to the core. Even though she was busy with many other things in Blackwater City, she still spared time to investigate those gangs. Anfey did not lead a merchant fleet in a quiet way. It was not hard to find something fishy about his merchant fleet after the investigation.

If the other party attacked Anfey’s merchant fleet first, the whole thing would be flipped. Anfey could wipe the other party out and legally take over everything that belonged to the other party. Anfey should be fine as long as he could give some unimportant people in that party to the mercenary union. In this magic world, if a person’s level rose above swordsman and magister, he could have some ability to defend himself in court. Those unimportant people he sent to the mercenary union would be very easy to deal with. A horror magic would scare them to death, and they would open up and explain the whole thing from beginning to end.

"What are you talking about? What slaughter?" Suzannna asked in low voice. Niya and Suzanna had walked out of the wagon. Niya had the little guy in her arms. If Ahab saw the little unicorn, he could have passed out. Luckily, he did not have the chance to see it.

"You will know it soon." Anfey smiled. "Oh, right, there are two more women in our mercenary group."

"Women?" Niya frowned.

"Two poor women. You can ask Christian about any details. He can tell you a vivid story about it," Anfey said.

Vivid? Christian did not know whether he should cry or laugh. How could he tell this kind of story vividly? He would be dead if Niya misunderstood him.

Feller trotted over and said, "Anfey, I have settled those two women in the east-side tent. Is there anything I need to pay attention to?" Feller did not know the story of those two women. He was not sure whether he should be aware of them, watch them, or treat them as friends.

"Just be careful. Don’t let them escape. Also, ask Blavi and Riska to come. I need talk to them." Anfey smiled. The possibility they could escape would be slim. He kept them in the tent just in case they wanted to escape. Isis had become crippled. The tendons on her knees were cut off. Walking had become a luxury to her. Seeing how the princess acted after she was bought by Anfey, she should not escape without Isis.

"I got it." Feller nodded.

"Feller, what do they look like? Are they pretty?" Niya asked loudly.

"Well, compared with the two of you, they are far less beautiful. Just regular girls," Feller said. He sounded pretty assuring. He totally forgot he had gasped when he had seen the princess for the first time.

"Oh, I see." Niya nodded. When she just turned around, she saw Christian trying to run away from the group. She called out immediately, "Hey, Christian, stop. You have to tell us the story. Why did Anfey say they were poor women? Tell us."

Christian stood there helplessly. He heaved a long sigh.

Anfey smiled. He took the little guy from Niya and went back to the wagon by himself. He had to admit Christian was a gentleman. Anfey wondered maliciously how a gentleman would not be able to tell a dirty story.

It was getting dark. Christian, Suzanna, Riska and Blavi ducked out of the wagon and then Anfey started to plan a battle. Although there was no doubt that they would win this battle, Anfey still wanted to be extremely careful about the safety of Niya and others.

Anfey leaned against the wall of the wagon and lifted the curtain to look out through a slit. There were more than ten little fire balls hovering above his palm. Those fire balls suddenly disappeared and then circled around Anfey with gusts. Maybe it was because of the unicorn blood or Anfey’s strong telephathy, or even Anfey’s hardwork in practice, the number of fire balls he was able to control had gone up dramatically. After he was able to control over two hundred fire balls, Anfey was trying to release another series of magic. These attempts had allowed him achieve more success.