The world was overflowing with people who needed to be killed. Even without counting the names Sien personally loathed, the Nightwalker Family’s hit list remained filled with an unfathomable number of targets.
“Count Henri de Calvados.”
With the moonlight at her back, the Mother of Assassin whispered the name.
“He is an old veteran known as the ‘Immortal Old Knight.'”
As an assassin of the Nightwalker Family, the mission assigned to Sien was the same as always: eliminate someone from the family’s blacklist.
“Is there a reason he must die?”
“Of course.”
Laila shrugged nonchalantly at Sien’s bold question.
“The fleet of the Seven Kingdoms has begun its invasion. They are scheduled to pass through the Dover Strait and land in the County of Calvados, within the Charlemagne Kingdom. A family member aboard the fleet just sent a falcon to notify us of the landing timing.”
The man Sien had to kill was Henri de Calvados.
In other words, he was the Sentry Captain of the Charlemagne Kingdom’s frontier, duty-bound to defend the County of Calvados — the very region where the Seven Kingdoms’ fleet intended to land.
“True to his nickname, Count Calvados is a veteran knight of many wars. If he leads his loyal knights to intercept the landing, the losses for the Seven Kingdoms will be immense.”
“So you want me to kill the enemy commander before the landing to minimize the damage to the Seven Kingdoms and their fleet.”
“Precisely.”
Of course, in the war between the Seven Kingdoms Federation and the Charlemagne Kingdom, Laila was not particularly taking the side of the Seven Kingdoms.
“It would be unacceptable for the expensive fleet our country lent them to fail its landing and turn back before the war even truly begins. It would be even worse for them to suffer damages.”
She had never been on anyone’s side from the start. She simply did not want the war to end easily.
To them, family was everything, and everything else was nothing.
They were merchants of death.
They lent fleets and military supplies to the invading Seven Kingdoms, while simultaneously lending swords, shields, armor, and various supplies to the invaded Charlemagne Kingdom.
They did this so that both sides could conduct the war ‘safely.’
For her and the Nightwalker Family, this war was ultimately nothing more than business. And the Mother of Assassin, Laila Nightwalker, did not wish for the business to end in such a hollow manner.
Sien, too, could not fail to understand the meaning behind this.
“This will be a very special mission.”
“Yes. It is a mission where you must observe Omerta.”
Omerta — the Law of Silence.
The assassins of the Nightwalker Family were usually far from quiet. They did not always wait for everyone to fall asleep in the darkness to kill their targets. Nor did they always vanish leisurely without leaving a trace after completing a task.
However, when necessary, they too performed the ‘assassin’s way’ in a conventional sense.
The method of killing a target in the dead of night while everyone slept and then vanishing.
In a war between two nations, it would be a bad move for evidence to emerge that the Nightwalker Family had directly intervened. However, in the midst of such a war, nothing that happened was considered strange.
“Initially, I was going to entrust this to a Highmaster, but I find myself wanting to place my expectations on you, since you have mastered the Pose of the Wraith.”
“Thank you for trusting me, Mother.”
Of course, there was likely another family member who had mastered the Pose of the Wraith.
However, there was no way a Highmaster of Yohan Nightwalker’s caliber would be deployed for a mission of this level.
At the same time, a mission requiring Omerta was something that could not be entrusted to anyone below the level of a Highmaster.
Performing a mission while maintaining Omerta was something even a Master of the family found impossible.
Entrusting such a mission to Sien meant only one thing.
Laila treated Sien as a combat force equivalent to at least a Highmaster.
“You will be alone,” Laila said. Her voice was more serious and filled with concern than ever before. “You will have no shadows to command, no brothers or sisters to accompany you, and you cannot even reveal your identity. Since you cannot fly a Nightfalcon, I will not even know if you die.”
This was the so-called ‘Black Service,’ a task that only those at the Highmaster level or above could perform.
“Until the final moment of your death, you cannot even claim the name of the Star and Dagger Crest. Even if you were to invoke the name of the Star and Dagger to beg for your life or demand a negotiation—”
“We would claim not to know who you are.”
“Yes.”
Sien answered, and Laila gave a bitter smile.
“Countless family members I never knew must have fallen that way,” Sien remarked calmly. Laila did not respond. “Would it be any different for me? I simply fight for the sake of my everything.”
And to them, family was everything.
At those words, Laila opened her mouth with a faint smile.
“Return safely.”
Her voice was as tender as a mother worrying for her son.
***
When an assassin of the Nightwalker Family performed a Black Service, several thorough preparations were required beforehand.
“Is there anyone else who knows you possess the Spear of Destiny?”
“The Faceless One, the high-ranking vampire Cesare.”
“Then, who knows you possess the Lightning Gloves?”
“The Faceless One, the Thief Master of the Veneto Thieves’ Guild — Monica Thirteen.”
“And the fact that you possess Kingslayer, the blade made of Dark Mithril?”
“…Quite a few crowds and powerful individuals have witnessed it,” Sien replied.
“Then leave everything behind except for the Spear of Destiny.”
To embark on a Black Service, a Nightwalker assassin needed to hide themselves completely.
Clothing, weapons, and various cherished items were no exception.
Whether it was something they usually flaunted like a trademark or something they had obtained secretly, if there were witnesses, it could not be taken on the mission.
The people of the Nightwalker Family valued truth above all else. It was the pillar of the trust they held.
Therefore, they never lied.
They simply remained silent about the truth.
That was precisely what the Black Service, known as Omerta, entailed.
Even if someone pressed them, the Nightwalker Family would never tell a lie. Instead, they never gave the family a reason to be questioned in the first place.
Especially in a war like this, the fact that the commander of a region designated for landing was killed by an unknown assassin was hardly surprising.
Furthermore, in this world built on justifications, suspecting the Nightwalker Family without proper evidence would instead provide the family with ‘justification’ to act, claiming their honor had been defiled and insulted. Therefore, whether people knew or not, they had no choice but to remain silent. It was the same no even if the suspicion was certain.
This was the way of their family.
“Follow me.”
After handing over the Lightning Gloves, which she had overpaid 500 gold coins for, and the Dark Mithril dagger Kingslayer, given to her by the Highmasters Hansel and Gretel, Sien followed behind Laila.
They entered a secret chamber in the basement of the Duke’s mansion.
“Are you already intending to make Sien observe Omerta?”
A woman’s voice, cold as a corpse with pointed ears, echoed through the room.
It was Luna, the Dark Elf — a member of a cursed race that could never see the sun, and the wisest person in the family.
“Oh, my dear Luna.”
Laila smiled calmly, showing no surprise.
“You must have already heard the story.”
“Do you believe she is truly qualified to be called a master of the Fourth Style just because she manifested Nevermore?”
“Of course not.”
As she said, the state of the Fourth Style, the secret technique known as Nevermore, was in a sense just the beginning.
Unlike ordinary curse magic, Nevermore took the form of a sword, and it was meaningless unless it touched or grazed the opponent. Therefore, unless one mastered the unique swordsmanship of the Raven Stance, its full power could not be drawn out.
Just like the dance-like movements Mikhail had once shown.
“There is no need to worry, Lady Luna.”
Nonetheless, Sien shook her head.
“I am already prepared.”
“Sien…”
“Lady Luna, you said it once before.”
“What did I say?”
“You asked what criteria we use to define the state of a Master.”
Luna gave a bitter smile at Sien’s words.
“Yes, I certainly did.”
“I think I’ve found the answer to that.”
Sien answered boldly.
“Ho, I would certainly like to hear it.”
At those words, not only Consiglieri Luna but even Laila perked up their ears in interest.
“What is it that defines a Master of a specific Sword Style as a Master?”
To Luna’s question, Sien replied:
“The result.”
“Are you speaking of victory or defeat?”
“No.”
Sien shook her head.
“The result justifies everything.”
After a pause, Sien continued.
“If one has the power to truly justify everything, then that itself is the result.”
An overwhelming power that could justify everything.
Luna’s lips curled into a faint smirk. It was a sincere smile that lacked her usual elegance—a smile that came from the heart.
“Are you saying you truly have such power?”
“I do.”
“Then how do you intend to justify it?”
“I will show you through the results.”
It was a contradiction. A logical tautology that made no sense.
Nevertheless, Luna burst into laughter. Laila also smiled as if satisfied.
“But do not forget, Sien.”
“Forget what?”
Sien answered with a feigned innocence at Laila’s question.
“The blood our family has shed to justify those results.”
*Creeeeak.*
With those final words, Laila opened the entrance to the sealed chamber.
Deep within the Nightwalker basement lay the most secret place, where even a Highmaster could not enter without permission.
It was a room where only family members ordered to perform a Black Service could enter, in the presence of the Head of the Family and the Consiglieri.
Prepared in that room was a treasury the family had built up to prove results and justify their means.
These were pieces of equipment that could never be carried on ordinary missions, and individual ownership was never permitted. They could only be worn during the brief period of a Black Service.
Each one was a treasure that even the Nightwalker Family, the wealthiest house on the continent, had to bleed to obtain.
“In accordance with family rules, take two items to replace the two pieces of equipment you’ve left behind.”
An assassin embarking on a Black Service could not use their usual cherished equipment. In exchange, they could temporarily take the family’s treasures from this place.
Excluding Divine-grade artifacts like the Spear of Destiny.
In the first place, regardless of its reputation, the Spear of Destiny was a very plain and ‘unnoticeable’ artifact. Just as the Imperial assassin and Sword Master who once targeted a young Sien had experienced, most people would not easily realize the Spear of Destiny had even been activated.
Sien glanced around the room. She ignored the mana that felt thick enough to suffocate her.
What she had to choose from that place had been decided from the very beginning.