Assassin's Chronicle

Commander Ozzic did not fool around. His order was short but made sense. The mages on the mage tower had already seen the signal, but they did not do anything about it. Ye stood at the exit of Moramatch with over a dozen of mercenaries. They did not stop anyone coming in, but no one was allowed to get out. The new mercenaries were under Ozzic’s control as well. Motley crews were asked to go back to their tents under Ozzic’s order. Only those loyal to Ozzic were in charge of everything.

When everything was set up, Ozzic walked next to Anfey and said quietly, "Lady Alice is in a meeting now, Master. Manlyn should be there too. Do you want to go over there now?"

Anfey shook his head. "No, I need go to see someone first."

"Who are you going to see?" Ozzic asked.

"A woman named Shinbella. How is the security at the jail? Can you get us inside?" Anfey said slowly.

"Well..." Ozzic looked like he did not know how to answer the question. "Master, it is pretty hard to take you to the jail. Except for those loyal to Manlyn, no one else can even get close to the jail. Master, can you think of a different plan, or at least we need have a detailed plan."

Anfey shook his head. "I do not need to think anything up. As long as you can show us where the jail is, I can handle the rest." He was not worried at all, since he was a lot stronger than his opponent. He went quiet for a while. He did not think about how to handle Manlyn, but with the bow in his hand. He had grown attached to it, like it was part of him. It seemed like the bow had feelings as well. He suddenly remembered the day when he applied extra force to pull the bow and his finger was cut by the bowstring. His blood had soaked into the bowstring. At that time, when Anfey saw Suzanna was caught by Slanbrea, he was too angry and worried that he did not pay attention to the bow. He had not practiced archery since then, so he only noticed the changes now.

"Let’s give it a try," Ozzic said, scratching his head, "but, Master, you should be ready for the fight, since you might come into conflict with them at any time."

"Sure," Anfey said. "Suzanna, can you wear your senior swordswoman badge?" Anfey put on his earl badge as well. Suddenly he looked quite different. He walked with pride. He looked arrogant and frivolous, a total makeover of a wealthy playboy. Anfey’s act should get great reviews. The way he looked and behaved without saying anything totally showed a wealthy playboy.

After passing a street corner ahead of them, they were officially in Moramatch. They saw more mercenaries as they walked further into the city. Those mercenaries stopped when they saw Anfey and his group. Only a few of them looked excited, since they recognized Anfey. Most mercenaries whispered to each other, trying to guess who Anfey was, or they just stopped walking to take a look at Anfey and his group.

"Is the jail behind that fence?" Anfey asked quietly.

"Yes," Ozzic answered, looking around nervously. They were getting close to the foot of the mountain, which had the highest security under Manlyn’s order. There were a few mercenaries from Jagged Rose mercenary group, but the badges Anfey and Suzanna wore tricked many people. In the Country of Mercenaries, there were not many earls. Mercenaries could have money, powers and fighting ability, but would not be accepted as royalty. There were not many senior swordsmen either. Few senior swordsmen enjoyed fame in the Country of Mercenaries. No one wanted to have conflict with a mysterious and powerful fighter, so they all stepped back into the shadows, even though they had just been walking around like they owned the place.

"Not many guards here." His unusual vision was very convenient for Anfey. Ozzic was only able to see as far as the fence, while Anfey already knew how many people were patrolling inside the fence.

"I do not know. I have never been here before," Ozzic said.

As they talked, they had approached the fence. There was a crack in the wooden door in the front. Three mercenaries walked out. They acted like they did not see Ozzic. They all laid their eyes on Anfey. They sensed something different about Anfey. Mercenaries travelled a lot and were pretty knowledgeable. They saw many people like Anfey in big cities. They could only stay away from them, trying not to have any conflict with them, otherwise they would find themselves in trouble.

"Master, this is a restricted place. You..." a guard said.

Anfey looked beyond those mercenaries, and looked absentmindedly up at the sky. He hooked his finger to signal Suzanna to come over. Suzanna acted like the most obedient maid, walking one step forward and tossing a handful of gold coins at the guards. Anfey said sluggishly, "This is your reward. You are welcome. Open the door and let us in."

The guards stared, wide-eyed, not at gold coins, but at Suzanna. They had seen senior swordsmen. Their two commanders were influential top powers, but they had never seen them ordering a senor swordswomen like a maid. They had seen nothing like this.

"Master, without the permission from Master Manlyn, no outsider is allowed in," a mercenary said politely.

"Oh?" Anfey finally laid his eyes on those mercenaries. He looked glassy-eyed. "Which outsider are you talking about? Manlyn’s order? Do you think I have to follow that Manlyn’s order here?"

"That Manlyn" definitely did not sound nice. The mercenaries became angry, but dared not show it on their faces. If a person could treat his own senior swordswoman as a maid, he might be able to look down upon their commanders. They looked at each other and then at Ozzic, hoping to find some answer from him. Unfortunately, Ozzic had already moved to the side and bowed respectfully. They could not even see his face.

"Master, we cannot go against Master Manlyn’s orders." The mercenaries felt terrified, but they had to follow orders. They still blocked the entrance with their bodies.

"Let’s put it this way. I am the brother of Alice. Right now Alice has agreed to marry that Manlyn. I would not interfere with Alice in her decision, but I have to make sure Alice is going to have a good life. Do you understand?"

The mercenaries looked at each other. They looked excited and happy. "You are the brother of Alice, but..." Their commander definitely had good eyes. They did not know Lady Alice had such a powerful family background, which also meant they could rely on them and not worry about that Anfey come back and cause trouble.

"What don’t you understand?" Anfey asked impatiently. "I have to make sure that my sister is going to have a good life so I have to take care of any potential threats. I heard Manlyn used to have a good relationship with Shinbella. If Alice agreed to this marriage, then how could I allow Shinbella to continue living?"

There were about eight mercenaries on the other side of the fence. Anfey played them hard. At first, they were shocked when they saw Anfey, a powerful person, suddenly came here. Later they felt excited when they realized Anfey was one of them. They were startled when Anfey said he wanted to kill Shinbella. Their commander was cruel. He only put Shinbella in jail, but Anfey wanted to kill her. They wondered if all powers were like this—never thinking others’ lives were important, not even their beautiful and powerful vice commander, Shinbella.

The mercenaries were so disturbed and confused that they lost their ability to think. They muttered, but could not come up with a word.

"Master, we..." One mercenary finally said something, but he looked like he was about to cry.

"Ok, ok. I do not want to give you a hard time. I am going in." Anfey waved his hand. The mercenaries felt so relieved, but before they could thank Anfey, he said, "You guys go in now. Cut off Shinbella’s head for me. I will leave after that."

They were again startled by what Anfey said. The grateful look they had displayed suddenly froze on their faces. This was too much to take! They wondered what kind of person Anfey was and why he changed his mind so fast and in such a unpredictable way. They could not cut off Shinbella’s head. Commander Manlyn would tear them into pieces.

"You cannot do this either?" Anfey’s face changed. He looked cold and ready to kill people. He said, threateningly, "Is it because Manlyn wants to protect Shinbella? It has to be like that. I did not want to interfere with Alice’s decision, but I am changing my mind now. To be frank, I did not want Alice to marry a mercenary anyway. Manlyn does not deserve my sister."

"Master, it is not like that," a mercenary yelled bitterly. If this bigshot really wanted to change his mind and stop the marriage of Alice and their commander, the commander would tear them to pieces as well. No matter what, it did not look like they would survive their punishment.

"Let’s go." Anfey coldly glanced at that mercenary. He did not want to negotiate any more. "Ozzic, take me to Alice and that stupid Manlyn. How could he say sweet things to Alice but protect his ex at the same time. He is not allowed to stay here anymore. Hmm... Do you think you can handle Manlyn?" Anfey looked at Ernest.

Ernest was shocked for a second before he said with a smile, "Master, I am a top power. Manlyn is nothing more than an ant. I will take care of him."

Ernest grabbed his sword shaft, a gust of combat power flashing like a string of liquid.

Seeing a top power among Anfey’s subordinates, the mercenaries froze. As they saw Anfey turning around to walk away, one of the mercenaries who had some sense left made a decision fast. If it was not okay to interfere with the commander’s wedding, or kill Shinbella. They only had one option left: to allow the earl to kill Shinbella himself. They would only be punished for a misdemeanor if they allowed Anfey in. After their commander married Alice, it would be unknown whether they would get punished for that. It would be better than going against Anfey.

The mercenary pushed the wood door open firmly and yelled, "Master, hold on, hold on..."