Chapter 17: Chapter 17

The climate in Count Sogres’ territory in the southern parts of the Altheon Empire is excellent.

As for how excellent, the sunshine there is so good that the harvest in that region is over twice that of other regions.

That is why this place became a tireless driving force of the Altheon Empire even during the war.

Perhaps due to the weather and Count Sogres’ humane rule, the Sogres territory was always a peaceful and warm place.

After the war was over, a few rebel forces were repressed, resulting in what seemed like an eternally peaceful time.

Of course, even in such peaceful times, gossip would spread. And the center of all this gossip was the youngest son of Count Sogres, Dane Sogres.

“Hey, did you hear the gossip yesterday? The young lord has come to our area!”

“What? Really?”

“Like I said. He dropped by Tonane’s shop and bought something. Apparently, Tonane’s eldest daughter fell ill on the same day.”

“Oh dear. He’s looking more handsome as the days go by. I don’t want anything else but to meet him at least once! I heard he isn’t engaged yet so should I try to put myself out there?”

“Hey, get a hold of yourself. He’s only 14. Although, from what I hear, he doesn’t look like he’s 14 at all…”

As such, Dane was the center of the firestorm of gossip.

One could say it was a common topic of conversation in a region without really any other problems. There was no tyranny, taxes were not high, and there were no complaints about a war.

One could see why given how he not only showed tremendous talent in multiple fields at a young age, but also sprouted so quickly that it was hard to believe he was only 14 years old.

“They say he’s almost as tall as the count already.”

“Is it because the countess is tall?”

“Well, I’d definitely believe it if they said he was 20 and not 14.”

And so whenever Dane would venture out of the castle to various places in the territory, everyone who saw Dane’s silver hair and green eyes would constantly be exclaiming in admiration for him.

“Tenyu, you should have seen his beautiful silver hair and green eyes…”

“I need to see for myself next time, sis. When do you think he’ll come again?”

“I hear he’s going around to various parts of the territory. He also goes outside the territory sometimes. According to one of the forest keepers, he was once seen out training…”

She also said that Dane is currently outside the territory.

To be exact, he was wandering along the outskirts of the count’s territory in the ‘Forest of the Last Days’ where one can feel ancient magic.

“Have roughly three hours passed?” Dane mumbled while tying his silver hair back.

He had grown quite tall thanks to the mana core he had formed much earlier than others normally do.

His sturdy body built up through training was shining impressively under the sunlight filtering through between the forest leaves.

“Three more hours to go.”

Dane was currently carrying out a ‘mission’ given to him by his mother Lily.

It was a part of his assassination training.

What is most important to an assassin is assassination.

After that is tracking.

One of the important aspects of assassination is to not be caught by the enemy.

While assassination is about causing chaos amongst the enemy and inciting internal conflict, if the assassin were to be caught immediately, it would render that pointless.

The mission Dane was currently carrying out was just that.

To escape from the forest where traps, snares, and various other threats lurk.

He thought that this would probably be considered too dangerous for a 14-year-old to do, but Dane was neither nervous nor showed any agitation.

Because he had talent.

“The wind is blowing from the… south. I encountered a Cheryl spider at this spot before, so… I should go west.”

Dane tucked the rough map he had made in his clothes while exploring the forest.

Only three hours left now.

To complete his mission he has to escape the forest.

The Forest of the Last Days.

It was a place where ancient magic flowed, causing people who possessed normal magic to have difficulty wielding it.

However, it was not that difficult for Dane.

He was able to breathe freely and did not have much difficulty drawing out his magic.

It seemed as if the breathing techniques his mother had taught him were effective here.

“Whew…”

The key point was to take in the surrounding air and assimilate it.

If you focus on stealth and refuse to blend in with your surroundings, then that has the opposite effect.

And so by using breathing to take in one’s surroundings, like magic, you can then filter it within yourself and let it go again.

This was one of the fundamentals for an assassin. Dane was able to accomplish this perfectly.

Of course…

This was naturally possible because of his high affinity for magic.

It would otherwise be difficult for 14-year-old Dane to effortlessly pull off the breathing techniques that even skilled assassins make mistakes with sometimes.

And that is precisely the reason he is considered a genius.

Of course, Dane’s mother did not give him a real mission.

This was just a scenario to some extent. The real intent behind this training was to see how one can escape from dangerous circumstances.

It could be thought of as a test of what he had learned over the past few years.

“Whew.”

Dane took a step.

He took one step carefully at a time rather than rushing because traps can be found in the most unexpected of places.

Between leaves, between branches, and even a meaningless-looking blade of grass could be a trap.

Just like right now.

Whiiing.

He brought forth magic when he had a strange feeling of déjà vu. The moment he drew out his magic he could clearly see a nearly transparent thread.

It was a mechanism that triggered a trap the moment it was touched.

It was the most basic and rudimentary, but also the most frightening of triggers.

However, once you discover it, it is no longer frightening.

Dane put one knee down to carefully disarm the trap, when–

Sheek.

He could hear a sharp breathing sound.

Dane quickly left the trap he had been holding in his hand alone and moved away. Just before he was about to hide himself properly in the foliage, he let out a huge breath and left traces of himself behind.

Soon, one of the monsters of the forest, the ruselts, appeared.

Sheek.

What had been letting out that sharp breathing was a creature as small as a young child but incredibly fast and fierce.

It was always starving and afraid of sunlight so it could not live anywhere but the forest.

The ruselt soon reached the spot Dane was at and started sniffing.

It quickly looked around as if it thought it had found prey and discovered the traces Dane had left behind.

The foliage. Over there.

The scent trailed over in that direction. It could eat fresh meat today. The ruselt started moving there, before—

Ting!

“Grrr?”

It felt its leg trip something.

Very small projectiles flew simultaneously from all directions and embedded themselves in the ruselt’s body.

“Kyaaaak!”

It was the trap Dane had deliberately left alone.

The ruselt was in pain.

This was the first attack in its life it had suffered in this forest.

What could it have been? A bug so small it did not notice it? Or one of those humans who rarely appeared?

Before it could finish thinking, a human popped out of the foliage it was approaching thinking it would have fresh meat.

Thump!

In a flash, a spear had pierced the ruselt’s chest.

It was a stab fast and fierce enough that it would not have been able to react even if it was not caught in the trap.

“Krrrr!”

The last thing the ruselt saw while screaming its death throes was someone with silver hair tossed by the wind and green eyes.

Thud.

“Whew. It’s a good thing I didn’t disarm the trap.”

Dane pulled the spear out of the ruselt’s corpse and let out a sigh of relief.

A single ruselt was not an issue but the problem was its tendency to call for more of its kind.

And because of that, while it was important to approach it unnoticed and kill it with one strike, Dane had cleverly left the trap there and deliberately left traces of himself to lure it to the trap.

After that, Dane took care of the ruselt’s corpse and began moving, again.

He continued for an hour.

Finally, Dane reached what he guessed to be an exit.

“As I expected. It’s difficult because it’s the last trap.”

Dane looked at the trap his mother had placed.

The only thing that could be seen were two apparatuses installed on either side of the exit about as tall as Dane.

He had heard about these from his mother.

Because the trap was so incredibly complicated, most people who saw it for the first time would not dare try to disarm it even if it was installed properly.

In other words, it was a high-quality trap.

And that is why Dane had a very cautious look on his face.

“Hm…”

How long would it take for him to disarm it? An hour? Two hours?

Dane looked at the trap’s structure and tilted his head.

“Is it even right to disarm it if it is going to take that long?”

Dane looked around him.

The Forest of the Last Days turned out to not be as dangerous as he had thought.

However, a real situation would be different.

Was it right to be taking the time to disarm a trap when threats could approach at any time?

“No, it isn’t.”

To do so would be a good way to die.

At that moment, Dane thought of a good idea.

“What if I were to break it instead?”

Of course, because a trap is a trap, it would be hard to break.

Because unless the one who set the trap was a fool, they are made to not be destroyed easily.

For most traps, more than half the time, they are triggered accidentally before they can even be destroyed.

However, Dane was a genius.

“Here. Nope. Ah, this was it.”

Each trap has a ‘point.’

One can consider it a type of weak spot.

It is the main ‘apparatus’ that triggers the trap.

The one Dane’s mother had installed was no different.

At first glance, it looks complicated, and it is complicated in reality, but Dane could see that ‘point.’

Dane took out his short spear and drew his magic.

The mana cores, which he had increased from one to two a while ago, circulated magic to various parts of his body and began to react.

And the moment the magic that had dispersed throughout his body focused on the tip of the spear—

Thump!

Dane targeted a very small gear in the middle of the trap and struck it with his spear. The moment it touched the gear, the magic gathered at the tip of the spear flowed into the gear and caused a magic explosion.

Crack—

The gear split.

The technique injected magic from the tip of the spear into the gear and caused it to explode internally.

In the end, the gear split apart.

Creak…

A mechanical sound could be heard indicating the operation of the trap had ceased.

It had been disarmed.

Completely.

“There we go.”

Dane was grinning when his mother chose to appear.

“That was excellent, Dane.”

“Mother.”

Lily Sogres.

As the empire’s legendary (former) assassin, she specialized in various snares and traps. She looked proudly at her son.

‘Three hours and 30 minutes… who would have known you’d be faster than me.’

She thought about the test she had taken with a similar setup as this.

At that time, she had taken almost five hours to complete the test. And, unlike Dane, she never thought of breaking the trap like that.

“Were you watching?”

“Of course. I need to be able to reassure myself. I know more than anyone what kind of talent you possess… but as your mother, I can’t hold myself back from worrying.”

If he thought about it, no matter how rigorous the training, she would never have tossed her son into a place where various dangers lurk around every corner without any countermeasures in place.

“That was most excellent. You did very well. You were flawless. Especially that last part. I had no idea you would break the trap like that.”

“I didn’t feel it was right to waste so much time trying to break the trap.”

That was the right answer.

The goal of this test was not simply to disarm traps and escape the forest.

Another key element for assassins—adaptation to circumstances.

Even if it differs from what you have learned, think of a method that fits the circumstance and apply it.

Dane had executed on that point incredibly well.

“Son, you may end up being scouted as an assassin, don’t you think?”

Dane laughed at that praise.

Scouted as an assassin, huh?

He has never once imagined an assassin’s life in detail before.

“You were moving so well in the forest that even I find it difficult to move in for so long.”

Lily smiled widely.

“I still have much to teach you, but… I think you have proved yourself sufficiently. Take this.”

Dane took the wooden box his mother had handed to him.

“Open it.”

The moment he opened it, Dane gasped.

His first birthday.

The box contained his mother’s dagger which was seen then with a pitch-black blade, ‘Nighthorn.’

And just like on that birthday…

Vwooom Vooom!

The dagger reacted to Dane’s touch as if it had been waiting for him and began to emit a faint light.

“It looks like it’s more suited to be yours now.”

Nighthorn.

The dagger of Lily Sogres, the legendary assassin.

The dagger whose blade was forged from a mysterious ore called ‘aethril’ was something all assassins would want to get their hands on.

“Aethril, by nature, can absorb components as they are. And that is why it can absorb all of the poisons that exist in the world.”

It was for this very reason.

If the wielder wished for it, this mysterious ore could be made to absorb any poison.

Because it can absorb components as they are, if needed, poisons could be mixed and used.

“I will take precious care of it, Mother.”

Lily Sogres had a pleased smile on her face at Dane’s words.

‘I would have given it to him much later if I had gone with my original plan.’

Her son had grown up astonishingly quickly.

Even faster than her, who was educated at an institute for fostering assassins.

He was already well-versed in all of the traps that exist in the world, he had long ago memorized all of the types of poisons and was almost completely familiar with all the ways of combining them.

And then there was tracking and stealth.

She had not taught him everything, but she could be sure of one thing.

If her son chooses to officially walk the path of an assassin, he would far surpass her.

“May I use it now, Mother?”

Her eyes sparkled at her son asking for permission like a child and nodded her head.

“You may. This forest has several poisonous herbs so this is a good place for……”

It was at that moment…

“Mother. I hear something.”

Dane turned his head towards the forest.

“It sounded like a person groaning.”

Lily also listened. And she really did hear a sound. But a very faint one… so faint that even she would not have been able to detect it without focusing.

“Let’s go, Dane.”

“Yes, Mother.”

The two of them ran into the woods, flying. They could hear the sound gradually become louder. While they were running, Lily was thinking.

Her son’s senses were developing even more.

Much faster than hers at the same age.

Suddenly she had a somber thought.

‘It feels like he may have to leave me sooner than I had thought…’

In the middle of those thoughts, the two of them had arrived at the source of the groaning.

Below a large tree.

A middle-aged man was lying face down on the ground, groaning.

“Urghh…”

Exhaustion? Dehydration? Or a ruselt attack?

With various possibilities coming to mind, Dane approached him and examined his state.

After examining the man’s eyes, hands, and breathing, Dane said in a confident voice, “It looks like poisoning. He looks to be in a lot of danger. We’ll need an antidote.”

And what Dane said after that surprised Lily.

“Mother, I’m going to use Nighthorn to mix an antidote.”

Because she had not taught him anything about antidotes, yet.