Inside the Lord's Manor, in the county of Ishda, more than fifty people appear in a large, empty room. The moment they arrive, three dozen Assassins disappear into the shadows. They are shortly followed by the majority of guards and space mages, although they leave by doors. The Apprentice Categoriser is nowhere to be seen. Once they're gone, Dropper, Carrie and Noir are left with Lord Aldor and a handful of his closest guards.
"The Master will be thrilled with my efforts this time!" Noir breaks the silence, summoning his weapon full of determination. "She was pleased with you for your last mission, wasn't she?" Dropper asks as his partner rolls her eyes.
"Yes! She said I performed wonderfully. This time, however, will be even more spectacular." Noir shows off his skill with the golden spear before impaling it into the marble floor. The Lord's face whitens and his body shakes. His guards also show a touch of fear at the terrifying red-haired monster before them. Some even fall backwards. His aura is being suppressed as he was ordered to by Abi. The Lord and his men have already felt the full weight of Light's and know how strong the monsters actually are.
Even without his aura, Noir looks like a man you wouldn't want to pick a fight with. At almost six-foot tall and all muscle, the evolved Shadow Walker's body is more than enough to back up his extremely-large mouth. His white shirt is now open, his abs on full display for the world to see. Golden dragons run along his cuffs and bottom of his top. The dungeon insignia on the back. His white pants are now baggier than before and they feature the artwork as his shirt. A red sash is tied around his waist, the same colour as his eyes.
"You're not here to rampage, you know? Not yet anyway," Dropper reminds him. The Lord doesn't look any better after her words. He didn't want to ask a dungeon for help, but he had no other choice. Adventurers and regular citizens couldn't be allowed to know about all the problems he was facing. His reputation as a Lord would be ruined. Worse yet, what if the king found out? He would undoubtedly be de-seated from his lordship for not being able to keep his affairs under control.
"I can't ask for anything after enlisting your aid... b-but please... My daughter. The city can be fixed. Buildings can be rebuilt. Streets re-laid. My daughter... is irreplaceable. That is all I want. If you can solve my other problems then... I will owe the dungeon a great debt."
Hearing the Lord's words, Noir smiles and stores his weapon.
"Will someone show me to her room and I'll begin right away." Dropper asks.
"Yes. Yes. Absolutely. Gren! Have two of your men escort the lady to Estelle's room. Have two more accompany the second lady to Goode's office." The head Knight nods and does as he's commanded. "Goode is the current treasurer," he tells Carrie. Emphasizing that he wouldn't mind if that changed in the foreseeable future. His eyes move straight back to Dropper's.
"The coup is the last thing on my mind. No offence, sir," he bows to Noir before looking at Carrie. "There is a chance we could prevail throughout it. The embezzlement is a far more pressing matter. If the city's reserves drop further than they already have, then I doubt we would be able to pay the soldiers to defend against the coup. But even then, it is still trifling when compared to Estelle..." His teary eyes fall back on Dropper.
"I beg of you. Please, save my daughter, my city and my lands." With his hands clasped in front of him, a mage whispers in the Lord's ear. "Unfortunately, I have matters to attend to myself. Gren and his men are loyal to a fault. They will assist you with anything you need. Do not hesitate to ask. Thank you again."
Lord Aldor leaves the room with the mages and a handful of guards. Dropper and Carrie are also led off separate locations. Noir yawns as loud as possible, catching the head guard's ire. Gren and a few of his guards are all that's left with him.
"So! Where are these high-end ministers or whatever? My weapon needs to do some talking."
"Master Assassin. Please try to be careful and show some modicum of consideration. Some buildings are historical and almost as old as the city itself." Gren pleads with Noir as he leads him through the Manor towards the main gate.
"The noble district is located in the North. All of the ministers live in that section. This way please," the head guard motions for Noir to follow him.
As they make their way through the streets of Ishda, Gren explains that not all of the Lord's ministers are as evil as he had portrayed them to be. Noir barely pays him any interest as he inspects the buildings they pass by.
"Surely you understand, Master Assassin?"
Noir nods, unaware of what the head guard was actually talking about. It makes no difference what he said to the Assassin who is already thinking of home. "Whatever. Are we there yet? Is this it?" He asks as they come to a stop by a large stone fountain surrounded by beautiful homes on all sides.
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"It is. First, let's start with Duke Villiers. I've know him for a long time so it would be good to eliminate him from any suspicions." The house is surrounded by a beautiful flower garden. An elderly man and a young woman can be seen enjoying tea on the balcony as Gren leads Noir up the path.
They are met by a butler at the door who escorts them inside. He gestures for Noir to enter and he does so without hesitation. As soon as he is inside the door slams shut behind him and a small hatch slides open.
"Are all dungeon monsters so gullible?" Gren ask, grinning at Noir through a slate on the door.
"You would betray your master?" Noir can't believe what's happening. For a retainer to deceive and plot against their own master is inconceivable to him. The love and respect he has for his own master is nothing like that which Gren possesses for Aldor.
"That fool isn't a leader. We've slowly been testing the waters to see how far we could go and we've decided to go all in. It was unfortunate for you that we found out about your existence right before we enacted the plan."
"The plan?"
"I suppose there's no harm in telling you. There's no chance in hell you'll break out of that room anyway. The Lord is probably dead already. As soon as we got back, things were already in motion," he laughs. "You and your friends couldn't have arrived at a worse time, you see. We have just under a thousand people in our sphere of influence and quite a few capable adventurers too. There's even three people above level thirty."
He bursts out into more laughter, but that time he's not laughing alone. Noir can't control himself at the stray guards words. "L-Level thirty... Pfft.."
Gren isn't phased by the attitude shown by Noir. He's seen many strong people try to break out of the room the Assassin is being held in and is confident it should hold the red-haired demon.
He closes the slate and turns around before the colour leaves his face. In front of him is a grinning Noir. "What? Didn't you know I can teleport?"
"B-But... That's supposed to be a magic dampening cell. How did you..." Gren's words peak Noir's interest and he examines the metal cell built into the noble's house more closely.
"I think my master would like this," he says, storing the cell in his pocket dimension. The process carves a big chunk out of the house which begins to tilt before collapsing under its own weight. Noir teleports outside while holding Gren by his collar.
"Were those two people involved?" He asks the pale-faced traitorous guard, pointing at two mangled bodies buried beneath the rubble. A nod is the only response he's given but he smiles nonetheless. "I'm off to a good start," he chuckles, dragging green back down the garden. A gathering of people have turned up to see what has happened. No one says a word and they all make way as Noir walks into the middle with Gren.
"Ok. How many are here right now?" He asks, making sure Gren is the only person who hears him. "T-Twelve." He stutters through tears. The guard has given up. Gren knew that Noir was strong, but he had thought that if he was able to trap him in the cell then their plan would succeed. He didn't know that some monster could teleport outside the dungeon.
"Point. Or I'll start breaking fingers until you do," he whispers. Sixty seconds later and the street has emptied. Only Noir and Gren remain standing amidst a dark red sea of blood. It hadn't taken Gren long to rat out his accomplices after Noir's threat and it was quite a simple task. They had all grouped together to discuss the 'what ifs' about their fallen conspirator's house. From left to right, Gren singled them out. Moments later, anyone who didn't receive the finger had fled in fear of their own life. Not that they had anything to worry about.
"Good boy," Noir swings the blood off his weapon in a swift motion, startling Gren. "So, where to next?" Noir smiles, "You point, I swing. Sound good? If you do a good enough job, I might just let you off or hand you over to the Lord or whatever. We'll see. Now. Point."
Over the course of the next hour, Noir demolishes multiple buildings and establishments and leaves a trail of blood running through the streets of Ishda. Half of the dozen Assassins Abi had sent with him cleaned up any remains he overlooked. The other half had stayed to guard the Lord. Just in case.
Once he had finished in the city, Noir made his way back to the Lord's Manor with a Sorry-looking Gren in tow. He's escorted through the building to Lord Aldor as the ex-head guard is put in shackles and made to follow behind. Inside the audience room, the Lord's officials are lined up on both sides of the carpet.
"Is there anyone else in here I should know about?" Noir asks. Gren notions towards a few people before his eyes return to the floor. "If you tell me who they are, I'll bring you back to the dungeon to be... reformed. It will be brutal, but at least you won't die a miserable death."
Gren looks at Noir while debating his options. The one that screams out to him is that he's already turned traitor twice, why not see it through if it means he gets to live. The no-longer head guard then points to nine different men. Almost half of the assembled people.
Noir doesn't waste a second and je executes them on the spot before they, or anyone else, can even think about moving. He flicks the blood of the weapon in his hand before turning to Lord Aldor and smiling.
"The coup has been foiled. Anyone involved, or associated in any way, are now dead. Those were the last of the people plotting against you." Noir leaves out the part about the damages. Slightly remembering someone saying something about not doing too much but forgetting who it was.
"Already? You've only been here a few hours. I-I would have preferred to interrogate those people myself. W-Who else was involved?" He asks, clearly not expecting the well-dressed man to commit such atrocious acts as his face goes green.
"There were too many to remember names. The list of the dead should suffice when it's compiled. Are my companions back yet?" Noir's not a name person and didn't even ask for a single one. A simple point in the right direction was good enough for him.
"N-Not yet, sir Assassin. You are the first to return I believe." Lord Aldor steadies himself as his guards begin removing the bodies of corrupt ministers.
"I'm the first!?" He shouts. "Hahaha. I am the best!" Noir laughs as he strides out of the audience chamber. A sorry looking man follows along behind him to the ire of everyone left in the room.