Chapter 3: The Young Genius of the Assassin Family (1)

Sien

It had been half a year since I last heard her voice after coming to this manor.

Without the slightest hint of presence, she always revealed herself from a blind spot that no one could sense. Her movements were beyond anything Sien could yet perceive.

An utterly restrained, masterful presence that was hard to believe belonged to the head of a ducal house that could sway an entire nation.

“It’s been a while.”

“…Your Grace, Duchess of Nightwalker.”

“Don’t call me so formally.”

Laila Nightwalker tilted her head at Sien, who was paying her a polite greeting. Unlike her usual self, she wore a gentle and affectionate smile.

“I’m not yet a member of the family.”

“But you will be soon.”

Laila cut off Sien’s words and continued.

“Sir Hyde reported that you’re already ready to undergo the baptism.”

“I’ve been ready from the beginning.”

Sien replied calmly.

“It was only that they couldn’t accept me.”

“Oh my, is that so.”

Laila let out an unintentional laugh at Sien’s words.

Whether to call it bold or arrogant, Laila knew it was neither. This child merely stated the facts as they were.

“It does seem that you really are ready.”

When the children brought to this manor survive the harsh training and prove their worth, they must undergo a ritual to officially become members of the family.

That is the so-called “Baptismal Sacrament.”

It was not the religious ceremony of the Order of the Church where one washes away sin with water. The term “rebirth” was meant quite literally.

Through the family’s secret arts, bones and muscles—indeed, even nerves and cells—are artificially strengthened and reconstructed. An induced transformation, in other words.

To obtain such a completed body through normal means, even a supremely talented knight would have to dedicate decades of grueling effort, and even then, nothing was guaranteed.

But if successful, one could obtain a body and power far beyond the limits of human beings.

Yet even such a strengthened body was only the bare minimum requirement to even stand at the starting line among those who walk the night. Even then, there was no guarantee they could fully handle the techniques or Sword Styles used by the Nightwalker Family.

For this reason, all the training the children underwent at this manor was, in truth, a preparatory process to withstand this brutal bodily transformation.

No matter how late, the baptism had to be completed before the age of fifteen. Yet, even those who survived the fierce training and were tempered by it, most could not endure this extreme transformation and died.

—But Sien was not even ten yet; only around nine years old.

For such a young child to undergo baptism was unprecedented in the family’s entire history.

No—there had been one.

“Nightfather” or “the First to Walk the Night,” Kasan Nightwalker.

The old founder of the family, Kasan, was recorded in ancient documents to have undergone baptism at the same age as Sien—nine years old. It was a story from centuries ago, so old its truth could no longer be confirmed. Even within the family, his tales were often treated as exaggerated myths or legends.

In fact, his childhood was not here, but in the far eastern continent, where he was known as “Hasan Sabakh.”

Yet here before her stood a child embodying that centuries-old, incredible legend.

It was too fast. Perhaps it would be better to proceed more cautiously, rather than let impatience ruin things?

When Laila thought so, she could now understand why Shadow Master Hyde had exercised such excessive caution.

“It’s miraculous.”

There was, literally, nothing more to teach.

To Laila’s eyes, Sien’s body was not that of a mere nine-year-old child. Not only in terms of growth, physique, muscle mass, or bone density—though those too were exceptional. But those were minor details.

Sien’s true value was inside.

“…Your Mana Accumulation and circulation are astoundingly proficient.”

The control of mana within the body was perfectly efficient and flawless.

Sien’s inner world had been polished many times more intricately than the outwardly perfect body.

Even the children who had trained for years after coming to the manor had not reached this level. Not even among the renowned prodigies of the Holy Empire’s knight orders or the Mage Tower would one easily find a child with such precise mana breathing and circulation.

This was not something a young child could accomplish in half a year.

Unless born of perfect bloodline in a high-ranking mage family, raised on elixirs from infancy and put through the pitiless Elixir Course, such an accomplishment was impossible.

“I saw the poison you concocted.”

Moreover, Sien’s talents did not end there.

“It was transparent and clean. Even if mixed in a clear soup, there was barely any aftertaste—a taste even a master would struggle to notice.”

“That’s thanks to Professor Fabio’s guidance.”

“It seems Sir Hyde’s words were not mere exaggeration, after all.”

As he said, there was something to Sien that couldn’t be explained by observation skills or even prodigious talent.

This child was special. Incomparable to any other child at this manor.

“That child is a real genius.”

Recalling what Hyde had said just before, Laila smiled wryly.

“A real genius.”

It was true. Before Sien’s genius, all the other children at the manor were like a flock of chickens.

Of course, the children here were not chickens. Each was a raw gem of talent with the potential to soar like a crane.

But even the brightest of these children, before Sien, was like a dull stone. The difference was overwhelming.

“Would you like to hold a sword?”

“Yes.”

With the chill night wind at her back, Laila spoke. Sien, without hesitation, drew a stiletto from the sword belt at her side.

The slender, needle-like blade shimmered with a cold, blue gleam.

“Your grip on the hilt is remarkably clean.”

Laila spoke as she observed the sword’s edge. As if to say, that was enough.

“Sheathe your sword.”

“Oh… Aren’t we going to test more?”

At Sien’s disappointed question, Laila smiled gently, as if understanding that there were mountains more Sien wished to show her.

“Is there something else you wanted to show?”

“Ah, well—”

“You haven’t shown the Aura Blade to the knights yet, have you?”

“!”

Sien flinched, startled by how precisely Laila had struck the point.

“Certainly, for someone your age, reaching that realm is unprecedented. Is that why you hid it?”

That’s right.

Sien nodded carefully. That was why she hid it. In fact, what Sien kept secret was not just that.

“Quick-wittedness is a fine virtue. Sometimes, knowing when to remain silent is important, too.”

“But I really wanted to show it to you.”

“I’ve already seen enough.”

—She did not ask how such a young child could unleash the Aura Blade, nor did she express doubt whether it was truly possible. She simply smiled, trusting Sien’s words, like a mother believing her child.

“And for those things you haven’t shown yet, let’s save them as pleasures for another day.”

That was all. There was no need to ostentatiously demonstrate the advanced Sword Styles or unleash the Aura Blade before the Shadow Knights. With a single, subtle gesture, Laila could perceive an ocean of things.

Sien knew this, too. But in the desperate effort to impress her even just a little more, Sien’s face reddened.

Not just in body, but in spirit as well, Sien felt like a “real child” for once—embarrassed and bashful.

“I would be overjoyed if you became my child.”

“I will.”

Sien answered, her ears turning red.

“I wish for it, too.”

“Indeed.”

In a voice different from before, Laila smiled in amusement.

After the short exchange, Laila turned her back without hesitation. She asked nothing more.

Sien, too, watched Laila’s retreating figure for a while before turning away in silence.

“Have you been waiting long?”

While Hyde and the Shadow Knights were amazed by Sien’s miraculous talent, for Sien herself, the past half year had felt like an eternity.

Sien already knew everything they were teaching. In fact, Sien knew more than they did.

“That’s not how it’s done—”

Sien had once already reached the pinnacle of the family, a realm that only four in history had attained—the realm of the “Grand Assassin.”

From Sien’s perspective, the instruction given by the Shadow Knights, mere hunting dogs of the family, was painfully crude and inadequate. The tutors were no better.

Still, even with accelerated learning, the years-long training process could not be completed in a single morning. One could not suddenly display techniques never before taught.

Besides, with Sien’s still-frail body, it was impossible to handle even the most basic training of the Nightwalker Family, let alone their Sword Styles.

So Sien endured those days in silence.

A genius with an unnervingly ominous talent.

Regardless of how others looked at Sien, it did not matter. To bring forward the timing of the baptism, Sien did everything possible.

Once the baptism was safely completed and Sien obtained the family’s superhuman body, much would change.

That long-awaited moment was now before her eyes.

***

That dawn, on the order of Head Laila, the summons for a “family council” was sent throughout the estate.

Soon, the baptismal ritual for three children would be held.

Except for a few performing missions in remote parts of the continent or those on critical assignments, it took little time for the members of the family to assemble.

“—It’s been a while, sister.”

“Welcome, Mikhail.”

Around that time, a young man with blood-red hair arrived at Laila’s office.

“Did things go well at the Archipelago of Seven Kingdoms?”

“Regrettably, not so well…”

The man bowed with theatrical exaggeration and kissed the back of Laila’s hand.

“First King Nuada and his eldest son both perished in ‘unfortunate accidents.'”

“Oh my, what a tragic bit of news.”

Laila smiled coldly.

“By the way, I hear a remarkable child has appeared at the manor?”

“A fascinating child indeed.”

Laila answered with a smile.

“Hard to believe she’s only nine—so clever and precocious.”

“Is her age accurate?”

“Her record is in the criminal guild’s ledger that raised her.”

Laila continued.

“As of today, it’s been exactly nine years and five months.”

“Are you trusting the records of back-alley criminals?”

“Sien’s actions have been cross-verified through various channels in the city. Her notoriety has been considerable since a year ago.”

“Notoriety, you say?”

“Not only rival crime guilds, but even the city guard mistook her for a highly-trained professional assassin. They thought some high-ranking assassin from the upper circles had been hired at great expense.”

“…A mere nine-year-old child, you say?”

“Fortunately, we weren’t too late.”

That child was so exceptional, she was abandoned. Laila gave a bitter smile.

“There are a lot of suspicious things.”

“Hmm, perhaps so.”

Sien’s deeds were, by any common sense, beyond belief. Not finding it suspicious would itself be strange.

“Perhaps so.”

But Laila only shrugged.

“Nevertheless, she’s a truly special child.”

Bathed in the backlight, Laila smiled faintly. Mikhail blinked in surprise at this unexpected look.

Perhaps because it was the smile of a mother quietly proud of her child.