Chapter 47: Three Muggles and Three Assassins

Morning light filtered through the high window (except she didn’t have one) and fell upon Adrian’s desk.

These were the lessons his Uncle Raymond had suggested he study.

Adrian, the Second Prince of the Versadis Kingdom, was 16 years old.

[Awakened Mark: Guardian Spirit (S), Sword Demon (B)]

Rank: Elite

Level: 22

Once his Marks were activated, his combat power was approximately 50% of Lucoco’s normal state.

In her full-power state, he was nothing more than an ant in her eyes.

He pushed open the window, and a crisp morning breeze rushed in, clearing the stuffiness of the room.

The royal capital was slowly waking up.

Looking down from the high castle, the distant marketplace was already bustling with noise.

Adrian’s gaze naturally drifted toward a line of figures dressed in plain habits, quietly exiting The Manor of the monastery.

He skillfully pulled out an alchemy telescope and made a slight adjustment, bringing the line of nuns into clear focus.

Every Monday, the monks and nuns would carry baskets filled with bread and fruit cakes.

Escorted by guards, they traversed the dilapidated alleys of the royal city known as “historical remnants.”

Why did such corners still exist in the glamorous capital?

It was already much better than it used to be.

Decades ago, the slums had occupied nearly half the royal city.

As for towns in other territories, they were only worse than the capital.

Adrian searched the long line eagerly for that unique figure.

However, he failed to find her even after the nuns followed the guards to disperse into the city’s streets.

“Maybe I won’t run into her today…”

The young man’s sigh followed a soft click as he set the telescope on the table.

He put away the telescope and turned back to his desk with a hint of regret.

He grabbed a handful of silver and copper coins from a drawer and stuffed them into a new pouch.

Opening the wardrobe, he changed into plain civilian clothes, picked up his longsword and training bag, and pushed open the door to head to his private training ground.

The sound of clashing metal, the youth’s shouts, and the instructor’s reprimands continued for one hour before stopping.

Applause rang out, marking the end of the day’s mandatory training.

From now until the afternoon, he was free.

No one would bother him, as Raymond had strictly forbidden any interruptions.

At this moment, the castle corridors were at their liveliest, making it the easiest time to slip away unnoticed.

Crowds surged as noble guests arrived and departed, while guards and servants bustled about.

Today, Adrian easily blended into a certain noblewoman’s entourage and quietly left the castle.

A precious alchemy mask capable of hiding many facial features had been brought back for him by his sister, Link, who frequently traveled to other kingdoms for negotiations.

With this mask, Adrian could wander freely through the city marketplace without fear of recognition.

***

He dove into the busy market with practiced ease, a sliver of hope hidden in his heart as his gaze drifted aimlessly.

Whether by chance or intent, Adrian passed the stall from yesterday and suddenly stopped.

The vendor froze for a moment before recognizing him.

Their eyes met, and both remained still…

The corners of Adrian’s mouth curled up as he leisurely counted twenty shiny silver coins from his pouch.

With his chest puffed out, his slender fingers placed them one by one onto the clean tablecloth in front of the stall with a faint clinking sound.

He deliberately raised his voice, adopting a tone that sounded somewhat theatrical, as if he were exacting vengeance.

“Come, man! Push your cart and load everything up! Come with me. We’re delivering this fruit to the elderly and the children in the slums!”

“Oh, absolutely! You are such a kind-hearted master! Whatever you command!”

The moment the merchant saw the silver coins, his expression shifted to one of fawning servility.

Bowing and scraping, he moved nimbly to load the cart.

Followed by the envious looks of other vendors, he pushed the cart behind the proud Adrian toward the slums.

‘Maybe she’s there,’ Adrian hoped.

…

As it turned out, luck had blessed him for once.

Lucoco was indeed in the slums.

There were no weaklings being bullied who needed a hero, nor were there any stranded beastgirls to pick up.

Feeling slightly bored, she was secretly dripping a few drops of liquid into a well.

By now, almost all the water sources in the royal capital had been tainted by her domain…

She was unaccompanied by guards.

To be more precise, no nun or monk with actual strength was ever accompanied by guards.

“Thank you, Sister.”

“You’re welcome. May the light protect you.”

The food in the basket had already been distributed.

She was preparing to return to the market to buy the basic materials needed for her alchemy schoolwork.

Furthermore, the mission icon indicated that the target had moved from the castle to the market…

“Huh? Why is he over here?!”

Lucoco looked up and realized that the golden arrow floating in the sky was only a few streets away.

Faintly, she could hear an increasingly noisy commotion, sounding like many people scrambling for something.

Lucoco didn’t dare delay.

She immediately put away her basket and activated **[Levitation]**, flying toward Adrian’s location.

To prevent that fellow who liked to stalk her—Adrian—from seeing her, she had specifically used **[Perception Block]** to hide her tracks when she left.

She wasn’t ignorant of the existence of alchemy telescopes.

But why was he still here?

A Prince appearing in the slums… she wondered if he had guards.

Not just patrolling soldiers, but real Royal Guards!

‘Does the royal family have a tradition of helping the poor on Mondays? I’ve never heard of it. Regardless, I should go check it out!’

Lucoco muttered in her heart as she hurried through the alleys.

She chose not to fly over the rooftops to prevent certain people from becoming desperate.

Perhaps due to her haste, she actually forgot that she could turn on **[Perception Block]**.

Instead of activating her **[Demon King]** authorities, she enabled the relatively gentler **[Saint]** aura.

This was the royal capital, after all; who knew if there were strange devices capable of detecting the Demon King’s presence?

The authority took effect.

Depending on the quality and number of enemies, her attributes increased by 33%.

‘Three Level 35 Elites? That’s quite a heavy investment… and three Muggles…’

She opened the **[Map Radar]**.

Because of the **[Saint]** authority, the friend-or-foe markers on the radar had returned to normal.

All those green dots couldn’t possibly all be from the **[Demon Race]**, after all.

Three red dots were already mixed in among them.

From another direction, another three red dots were slowly approaching the cluster of green dots.

Adrian was marked with a translucent heart.

The bottom of the heart was already about one-third red.

There was also a text prompt: **[Adrian’s favorability toward you is 26]**

Lucoco couldn’t help but twitch her lips.

‘Favorability is rising so fast. Is he really a Prince, or some kind of fledgling raised in a cage who blushes as soon as a girl smiles?’

‘There are so many noble daughters flitting about the court! Where is his resistance training?’

‘But… that’s fine too. It makes completing the mission easier.’

‘Wait… what if the mission objective is to do that with him…’

**[Risk of world line collapse detected due to Player’s thought orientation: The System solemnly reminds you that this immersive module offers high freedom of play. Completing character missions does not require involving intimate interactions that exceed limits.]**

**[Of course, deep interaction is an effective way to speed up mission progress (harmless recommendation).]**

‘No! I never thought about destroying the world!’

**[Based on simulation results: Your mother would!]**

‘…’

***

While she was thinking, Lucoco had already reached the street opposite Adrian’s location.

As expected, a crowd of slum residents was restlessly surrounding the fruit-laden cart, nearly on the verge of pouncing to snatch it.

Ignoring them, Lucoco lunged directly toward Adrian.

The young Prince currently had a pure, albeit somewhat clumsy, smile on his face as he distributed fruit to the surrounding poor along with the merchant.

“Thank you! Thank you!”

“No need, no need! Here, this is yours.”

He was completely unaware that someone had already circled around to his side…

In the next second!

A dagger gleamed with cold light.

The hurried sound of boots hitting the ground echoed as a figure that had been gathering strength for a long time lunged at Adrian!

The smile on the youth’s face instantly froze into a terrified blankness.

Instinct drove his muscles to grip his sword for a counterattack, but his movements were a split second too slow!

He could only watch as the deadly cold light stabbed toward his heart.

“**[Magic Field]**!”

*Hum… Thud!*

The dagger was blocked by a translucent field, the cold blade stirring up dense ripples!

*Squeltch!*

Adrian’s longsword, which he had drawn instinctively, also pierced into the attacker’s chest at almost the same time!

The cruel discipline of his palace education was etched into his blood; even when trapped in a desperate situation, he would drag his enemy to the grave with him!

*Swoosh! Swoosh!*

Two sharp wind blades whistled past him!

*Thud! Thud!*

The two figures behind him, who had just exposed their killing intent before they could even move, had their heads severed from their bodies and collapsed into the mud.

“Huff… huff…”

The youth shook like a leaf, gasping for breath as he pulled the blood-stained sword from the corpse.

He stared fixedly at the face on the ground, whose eyes remained open in death.

Deep in his pupils, immense fear surged along with a frantic rush of adrenaline.

His ears buzzed incessantly, and the sound of the world seemed to have been stripped away…

This was the first time in his life he had killed someone!

After a brief silence, the pungent smell of blood jolted the brains of the slum dwellers.

They erupted into chaotic screams, fleeing in all directions with their heads covered…

“Don’t daydream!”

A crisp, calm shout broke through his confused thoughts.

That slender, familiar figure landed in front of him with a gust of wind.

“Morning Light?!”

Adrian was both surprised and delighted, instantly realizing who had just saved him.

However, the danger was far from over!

Without time for a second thought, Adrian gripped his longsword tighter with both hands.

Three masked assassins had already leaped out from the end of the alley.

Secret technique fluctuations rippled out as their speed exploded.

Overlapping afterimages turned into black lines that slammed into them boldly!

*Thud! Thud!*

In the rush, Lucoco didn’t have time to expand a **[Magic Barrier]** large enough to cover both of them.

She could only quickly condense small sections of the field, precisely blocking the attacks from the two nearest directions!

The thought of manifesting tentacles to cast magic for a counterattack flashed through her mind, but she immediately dismissed it.

“AHHH!!!”

Adrian let out a roar to bolster his courage, swinging his longsword to meet the final assassin.

*Clang!*

The longsword precisely intercepted the dagger.

But a sinister smile appeared on the visible portion of the assassin’s face.

*Whiz, whiz, whiz!*

Dozens of fine needles glinted with an eerie light as they shot out from his sleeve!

“Field!”

“**[Guardian]**!”

Two shouts rang out almost simultaneously.

*Puff, puff, puff!*

A thin curtain of light condensed from magic appeared, successfully intercepting half of the poison needles!

The remaining needles struck the invisible field on the inner layer of the light curtain, letting out a series of tinkling sounds before finally falling away.

Adrian’s face instantly turned as pale as paper.

He staggered back subconsciously, instinctively standing back-to-back with Lucoco.

Having failed their strike, the three assassins didn’t hesitate.

They threw down smoke bombs and retreated immediately.

The sudden ambush and battle had lasted only a few seconds from beginning to end.

The fleeing residents hadn’t even made it out of the street yet…

‘Now those are assassins… much more experienced than those other guys,’ Lucoco thought to herself, then looked down at the three corpses on the ground. ‘I’m talking about these three Muggles.’

She quietly tucked a dagger away.

Judging by their combat styles, these two waves of attackers were clearly not from the same group.

If those three amateur assassins hadn’t acted prematurely and triggered a chain reaction, the three professional assassins who had undergone rigorous training would never have revealed themselves so hastily.