“Don’t listen to her,” Richard said, his voice firm.
“Speak. Who sent you?”
If Aurina hadn’t insisted on sitting on Richard’s shoulders, these two surviving assassins would already be facing trained interrogators in the Tyr’s Hand Knights’ torture chamber.
“We have nothing, serve the darkness, and have no ties,” the One-Egg Assassin said.
Ever since his piercing wound healed, he’d grown bolder.
Not only that, it was as if he’d been blessed by misfortune—now he seemed manlier than men with both eggs intact.
“Come on, I’d die before revealing the mastermind.”
The blue, jelly-like Domain of Truth flashed red.
The red light fell on the One-Egg Assassin’s face, accentuating his resolute expression.
Beside him, the coachman, who claimed to be Richard’s father, wore a similarly defiant look.
Richard turned to the coachman.
“And you?”
“I’m your daddy, heh heh heh.”
Under the red glow of the Domain of Truth, his grin was smug and mocking.
Sophia, with cotton stuffed in her ears, stood by.
She always despised interrogations, only showing up to go through the motions and prevent any mishaps.
The One-Egg Assassin smirked.
“Guess which of our words are true and which are lies, hahaha.”
“Sophia revived one of your men,” Richard said.
“He confessed it was the Emperor of the Yanting Empire, though the direct orders came from Thousand Crows, didn’t they?”
“No way!”
The One-Egg Assassin’s voice faltered.
“That was a drow poison-gland dagger with drow venom—blood clots instantly on contact! No one could survive that.”
His confidence waned as he glanced at Aurina, perched on Richard’s shoulders.
This dragon was still bouncing with life, only a faint scar on her neck.
When facing that deadly assault, she’d transformed into her dragon form, her size mitigating the damage.
As for the venom…
“Very valuable,” Aurina commented.
“One dagger’s worth twenty-three gold coins, and each of them had one.”
Richard’s eyes widened slightly.
His old magical longsword had only cost twenty-five gold coins—an ordinary one at that.
The magical longsword he now wielded, looted from the Black Beast Mercenaries, was valued by Aurina at fifty-one gold coins.
If the Yanting Empire equipped every assassin with one…
“Impossible,” the One-Egg Assassin scoffed.
“Seventy gold coins! Seventy per dagger—that’s drow craftsmanship.”
“Even I know you were ripped off,” Richard remarked.
“At that price, you could commission an enchanter to craft a fine magical longsword, let alone a dagger. Enchanted daggers are usually much cheaper.”
Yet their combat effectiveness might not even match an ordinary longsword.
The One-Egg Assassin fell silent for a moment, then laughed.
“What’s this? Bragging about your cheap magical trinkets?”
“Seven men, and just the poison-gland daggers alone cost four hundred ninety gold coins,” Richard said.
“Looks like your shadowy master spared no expense.”
“Guess again.”
“You have families, don’t you?”
Richard said.
“And because of those families, you’re resolute.”
The two assassins went quiet.
The One-Egg Assassin chuckled.
“I’m a woman, you got that right, hahaha.”
In the red glow of the Domain of Truth, his smile betrayed a flicker of guilt.
“Your comrade is willing to testify.”
“You plan to drag his corpse to court with ‘Speak with Dead’?” the One-Egg Assassin said, laughing.
“So lawful, tin can. As if legal clauses can protect you.”
“No, he’ll personally testify in the capital, before everyone.”
The two assassins stared at Richard in silence.
“Why so surprised?”
Richard asked.
“Didn’t I say he was revived?”
The coachman’s face glistened with sweat.
“It’s a trick,” the One-Egg Assassin said, trying to sound tough.
“You’re twisting ‘Speak with Dead’ into ‘revived’—that counts as revived in your book, doesn’t it? Using the Domain of Truth to fool us, right?”
“So, you’ve been trained to resist the Domain of Truth,” Richard said.
“Your intel’s lacking. You knew about my foster mother but never heard of Undying Sophia? There’s always someone willing to pay a fortune to have her resurrect a body.”
“That’s a scam!”
It was less a rebuttal and more a refusal to accept an unthinkable truth.
The One-Egg Assassin shouted, “I heard someone hauled a preserved corpse and a ship full of gold to the capital, begging her to resurrect it, and it didn’t work. Not just her—everywhere in the capital, they say the dead can’t be brought back. It’s just a money-grabbing scheme.”
Richard gently nudged Sophia, who was looking away with her ears plugged, and whispered in her ear, “Dear, want to explain?”
Sophia waved him off.
Richard continued, “Resurrection has limits. The dead can’t be gone too long, and Pharasma must not have judged their time has come. Sophia’s complained to me about clients with wild expectations.”
“They think they can storm Pharasma’s Boneyard, topple her scales of soul judgment, and force their will.”
“Luckily, your comrade was eager to return to the living, and his time hadn’t come.”
“Damn it!” the One-Egg Assassin cursed.
“You’re not human! How can someone just toy with life and death? Why doesn’t Lady Pharasma reap you with her scythe?”
Lady Pharasma was another name for the goddess of death.
“If I’m not mistaken,” Richard said, “once your comrade testifies, your families will suffer, won’t they?”
The One-Egg Assassin fell silent.
“Thousand Crows doesn’t care about you.”
The One-Egg Assassin laughed.
“A worthless life—who cares? What’s caring worth? Spare your pathetic, cheap pity, paladin.”
“You’re shaken, but you don’t care who cares,” Richard said, his eyes piercing.
“Thousand Crows isn’t just. He doesn’t care, nor does he bother to discern your loyalty or betrayal. The moment your revived comrade shows up, he’ll execute your families without hesitation, won’t he?”
The One-Egg Assassin stayed quiet.
The coachman’s lips trembled, opening and closing several times, but no words came out.
The makeshift interrogation room fell silent.
On their scales of value, heavy weights tugged at both ends.
Richard spoke, “Let’s talk about your families. If it’s within my power, I can try to conceal your comrade’s identity and then rescue your families.”
“Really?”
The coachman’s eyes lit up with hope as he looked at Richard.
“Bastard!” the One-Egg Assassin snapped.
“We’re worthless. If not for the boss, we’d still be scraping by in the sewers. Think about it—we’re useless to a paladin! Once we spill our intel, what use are we?”
“The Tyr’s Hand Knights are poor but not lacking in faith, courage, or trust,” Richard said.
“And, of course, justice. If I promise to save your families, you can believe me. I’ll place my hand on the Knights’ badge and swear to Tyr.”
On Richard’s breastplate hung the Tyr’s Hand Knights’ badge, depicting a single hand and scales.
The reputation of the followers of the god of justice worked its magic.
The two assassins trusted a paladin they’d known for less than half an hour more than Thousand Crows, whom they’d known for years.
After hearing their information about their imprisoned families, Richard nodded.
“I’ll try to save them.”
The One-Egg Assassin asked, “But can you guarantee their rescue?”
“I must be honest—if there’s mortal danger, we’ll retreat.”
“Damn it! Aren’t you a paladin? A do-gooder paladin?”
Richard replied, “That doesn’t mean I’ll sacrifice my life or my comrades’ for assassins who tried to harm my foster mother. Think about it. If I thumped my chest and guaranteed your families’ rescue without even asking where they’re held, wouldn’t you start to worry? The more cautious the promise, the more likely it can be kept.”
The coachman urged, “Boss, trust him. The Yanting Emperor’s palace? The Dread Dragon waltzed in, snatched the princess in front of everyone. And Richard? He killed that dragon.”
Aurina felt a pang in her chest, clutching it.
It hurts to hear of my kin’s defeat.
The One-Egg Assassin said, “If even the dragon-slaying hero can’t save them, then forget it. By the way, little girl, why’re you clutching your stomach? Poison kicking in?”
Now the assassin feared Aurina’s poison might flare up and anger Richard.
He hadn’t sworn to save their families yet.
Aurina stayed silent, clutching her flat chest.
“Aurina?”
Richard asked.
“What’s wrong?”
“Phantom pain,” Aurina said.
“The image of you slaying the Dread Dragon echoes in my stomach.”
“I recall it was the neck and heart.”
“Oh, I grabbed the wrong spot,” Aurina said.
“Maybe I ate too much loot earlier. By the way, when’s dinner? Roasted bugs tonight?”
“Aurina! Go write a reflection!”
“Gah.”
Aurina’s golden eyes swept over the two assassins, a predatory gaze.
The One-Egg Assassin trembled, haunted by memories of a dragon tearing and burning his comrades, the piercing pain of his wound searing his soul.
“What’s your name? What’s your name?”
It wasn’t until Richard called out several times that the One-Egg Assassin snapped out of his fear.
His gaze toward Aurina grew even more terrified.
He felt that any true dragon, even a young one, could plant deep fear in an assassin’s heart.
They signed a detailed contract.
The One-Egg Assassin shared more intel, and in return, Richard would do his utmost to save their families.
They would disguise themselves and travel separately with the Tyr’s Hand Knights, slowly heading to the capital.
By the time these matters were settled, it was evening.
The sky blazed with fiery clouds, and seagulls soared under the sunset’s glow.
Richard and Sophia walked side by side, Aurina dozing atop Richard’s head.
“Dear,” Sophia said, breaking the silence, “is it worth it? ‘Speak with Dead’ could’ve convinced them.”
“Three diamonds, that’s all. I can afford it,” Richard said.
“Testimony from ‘Speak with Dead’ pales compared to a living witness in court. If I’m doing this, I’ll do it right.”
Sophia had only charged Richard for the materials—three diamonds at two hundred gold coins each for the resurrection.
“I just think you’re too fixated on the law,” Sophia said.
“Even if the Yanting Emperor loses in court, he can still pressure the Knights with threats or bribes.”
“It’s about convincing the world,” Richard said.
“Otherwise, the Yanting Emperor won’t be the last. There’ll be an endless stream of harassers.”
Sophia said, “I hope you succeed.”
Feeling Aurina’s legs go limp, Richard quietly lifted her from his shoulders and handed her to Sophia.
“Take care of Aurina for me.”
“She’s a good dragon,” Sophia said, holding Aurina. “Must be your foolish influence.”
“If only,” Richard said, shaking his head. “Wait for my good news.”
Aurina, in Sophia’s arms, snapped her eyes open and, like a cat, leapt onto Richard.
“Gah! Trying to ditch this king and run off?”
Aurina clung to Richard like an octopus.
“Aurina!”
Richard said.
“Stay with Sophia. The capital’s too dangerous.”
“You think I’m as dumb as you?”
Aurina refused to budge, shouting, “The bug capital must be overflowing with gold and treasures! Even their poison bugs are loaded! You’re carrying me to the capital to stuff all my treasures into my stomach.”
Richard said, “Aurina, this isn’t a treasure hunt.”
“It’s the start of another legendary tale,” Sophia interjected.
“A young red dragon, a goblin tide with dragon blood, a dark underground kingdom, outwitting a false dragon for its hoard. Now, assassins sent to kidnap your family turn traitor, leading to clues in the capital.”
“Richard, oh Richard, I’ve stayed in Haisha Port and, in just two months, heard the legends you’ve woven.”
“Sophia?”
“Sometimes I feel so tired,” Sophia said.
“You’re always charging ahead, always running. We agreed after slaying the dragon, we’d go home and marry. I thought, surviving blood and fire, we’d live happily ever after, like the end of every story.”
Richard said, “Trouble always finds me.”
Sophia smiled faintly.
“Now I’ll reluctantly join you to write another legendary tale.”
“Really?”
“Aurina’s so lovable—how could we let the Yanting Empire’s shameless emperor take her?”
Sophia said.
“If she dares go with you, why wouldn’t I? I’ll go prepare.”
That night, under the nagging of Sophia’s one-legged, one-eyed father, Yuefu, Sophia packed her bags with cotton in her ears.
Seeing her resolve, Yuefu shook his head and instructed a servant to inform her clients that Sophia would be unavailable for resurrection or limb-reattachment services for a while.
Meanwhile, a letter from the Five Ports Alliance Guild, carried by magic, soared thousands of miles.
“I knew it,” Frostsilver said, her slender fingers pinching the letter, thin frost creeping over the paper.
“Laughable, foolish, lowly bugs… Aurina’s right beside you. I’ve known all along.”
A subordinate’s voice came from behind. “My lady, still no news. We’ll keep searching tomorrow…”
Frostsilver turned, her icy glare silencing the subordinate instantly.
“Hmph,” Frostsilver said.
“That wooden-headed fool is walking right into my web, as planned. Ignore her for now. Pack your bags—a distinguished guest is coming.”