Chapter 220
Assassin's Guilds are Weird
That night, all the Herbalists turned Alchemists in Cairula gathered in Ethel’s store. All of them had gained much from their contracts with Connie, thus they saw that answering to her call was of utmost importance.
They were discussing among themselves about the reason why they were gathered there when Connie entered, silencing them.
“Good evening, everyone. It’s nice to see that you are all here. Meaning that you are keeping your part of the bargain,” she began. “You all must be wondering why I called you here.”
“As you all might already know, I was recently given a land in Southern Calendia as a reward for my efforts a few months ago. It’s a harsh land, but the amount of Alchemic Materials that could be harvested there is incredibly bountiful. With that in mind, I want to turn it into an Alchemist Town. A place where all Alchemists can practice their craft freely!”
A few of the Alchemists eyes glinted with interest while some seemed to be more apprehensive.
“To achieve this goal, I need a lot of Alchemists. And as the first generation of Alchemist Cultivators, it would be remiss of me to not extend this offer to you. Housing will be provided. So does regular supply of materials at a lower rate. Any questions?”
“Excuse me,” an old man with pockmark on his face raised a hand. “Is this mandatory? Only I’ve got three kids and I don’t think I can just up and take them away.”
“Yeah. And we’ve already got a good business here. If we move, it’ll be hard to start from scratch,” another one asked.
“As I’ve just said, this is an offer. You are welcome to stay. And if you do, the contracts stay as before. But for those that are willing to move to Greyvault, I will give them extra benefits, including tax free for the first three years. And a few Alchemy Recipes exclusive to me.”
Connie clapped her hands. “Now, I understand that all of you need some time to think. I’m going to give you three days to decide. I hope that I’ll receive favorable responses.”
At the end of her speech, five people quickly voiced their agreement. Connie saw in their eyes the same maddened need for knowledge that she had. And she made sure to take note of that, lest they stray in that pursuit of bliss.
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The next day, Connie visited Ethel’s store, watching the day-to-day work while snacking on pine nuts.
“So, Ethel. Have you decided on whether you’ll move to Greyvault or not?” She asked as she munched on a handful of nuts.
“Oh? You didn’t ask me personally last night, so I thought you don’t need me in your new town.”
“Are you kidding? You’re the person I can trust the most when it comes to Alchemy. Otherwise, I’d never have taught you the cure for the Infidelity Disease,” Connie said. “You’ll get everything you need there. Material, housing, food. Materials. I’m saying this twice because it’s the most important thing.”
“Well, darn it. If you ask me like that…” Ethel scratched her head. “If you asked me that a few months ago, I would’ve refused. But now, I’ve seen the good things we can do with Alchemy. The impact it has for the people. Not just the few fortunate ones, but to those who really needs it.”
The old woman shrugged. “Yeah. I’ll take your offer. On one condition. I want my tools moved to Greyvault. Including my kitchen.”
“Granted.”
Then, Connie felt a tug on her sleeves. “Is…Granny Ethel…going to go away?”
Sen’s mother quickly put back the bottle she was arranging and drew her back. “I’m terribly sorry for this.”
“No. It’s fine. Actually, I was also about to ask you if you are willing to relocate to Greyvault. This bitter old crone here’s not the type to get along with people easily. Having someone she could trust like you two will be of great help. I’ll also support Sen in getting proper education.”
Ethe let out a disapproving grunt.
“So, what do you say?”
“Duchess. I – I don’t know what to say. It is very kind of you. But…I have another daughter who work as a Hunter. She’s been missing for a few months now. I’m afraid that if we are not here when she returns, she’ll think that we abandoned her.”
Connie remembered that Sen did mention her before, but that was already a few months ago. For a Hunter to be missing for a few months with no news did not bode well. Though Connie was concerned, she did not show it on her face.
“…how about this then? I’ll hire some Hunters to track her down. Probably she’s in a prolonged mission or something.”
“That…would be great! Thank you so much! But can I answer you later regarding relocating to Greyvault?”
“Of course. I’ll be leaving for the Temple of Saint Lorena in four days, give me your answer then.”
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As the evening grew darker and the people crowded the local taverns, ten men with untoward intentions surrounded the Steelheart’s mansion. Four were perched on top of trees and rooftops, while the rest were scattered nearby, disguising themselves as passersby.
One woman and one man who disguised themselves as a pair of lovers enjoying the night breeze were speaking as their eyes darted towards the mansion.
“Five men on patrol. Expected, but not a problem,” The man whispered with a loving smile. Are we still good with the plan?”
“Yes, Horner. We’ll start in five minutes,” the woman said, laughing as if she just heard the funniest thing.
The couple rounded the corner and slipped into an alley. The male Assassin kept watch while the woman took out something from her purse.
“It’s safe, start the signal,” he said. After a few seconds and no response, he turned around peevishly. “Ann? What’s taking so long?” The man asked again. “Why are you just standing there?”
The woman coughed. Blood spurted out from her mouth, eyes, and nose. Her eyes frozen in disbelief as she fell onto the dirty alley floor and breathed her last.
A dark figure stood behind her, a faintly glowing palm was slowly withdrawn. A mark with the same shape was on the dead female Assassin’s back. It was the effect of the second move of Raksha Blood Palm Art: Heart Ripper. Sending Energy into the chest of the target, the heart burst from within, and death came in an instant.
Horner, still unable to reconcile with his partner’s sudden death, drew his knife too slowly, which became his undoing. The reddish palm moved forward, slapping the Horner’s hand that was brandishing the weapon, leaving a trace of red in the air, and struck the side of his neck. He then slumped backward like a ragdoll upon impact and lost consciousness.
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“So, these are the ones disturbing our supper this night?” a female voice spoke. Horner felt the texture of a leather shoe against his cheek, lifting his head slightly, before he was kicked with a disdainful grunt.
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“Gagh!” Horner cried out as he felt his front teeth broke. He spat them out and shouted. “Fuck!!”
“Take off his blindfold.”
As soon as the cloth was taken off, he blinked, trying to get used to the light and saw the most beautiful face he had ever seen in his life. Her silver eye looking down at him as if he was garbage; a frown upon her delicate face.
He quickly took in his surroundings. He was in a shed, judging by the sack of compost and the gardening appliances hanging on the walls. Two of his partners were there also. Both kneeling on the floor with bruised faces. Behind them were three black-clothed figures, all of them wearing eerie masks.
“What the fuck are you doing?!”
The silver-haired Dark Elf hand shot towards his jaw and she spoke. “You will only answer what I asked.”
“You are all members of the Assassin’s Guild. Who hired you?” she asked.
One of the two men kneeling answered quickly. “We aren’t members of the – “
Before the man even finished talking, a short sword had already gone across his throat, opening a red line which gushed blood within seconds. The man let out a painful gurgle before breathing his last.
“Wrong answer,” the Dark Elf said. “My men found the Guild’s badges in your clothes. All ten of you.”
Hearing the number she voiced, Horner’s heart jumped. She took out all of them? Shit!
“Hahah! Fine,” Horner said through his bloody mouth. “Then you also know that we won’t reveal the names of the ones who hired us. Revealing that means we’ll be terminated.”
“Yes. I know that. The rules of the Guild,” Illumca said, putting her hand on the man’s shoulder. “But you see, I’m the kind of person that likes to test the boundary,” as she spoke, the hand on his shoulder become hotter and hotter until it let out a smoke.
“AAAH!!! AAAHH!! Get your hand off me!!”
“Do you smell that, Arryn?” The Dark Elf asked. “Smells like a roast pig, doesn’t it?”
The masked figure standing by the door coughed awkwardly.
“God! Please!!” Horner cried out. The pain was so unbearable that he started to cry. Illumca ignored it and kept raising the heat.
“So, this is what we’ll do. We’ll try some fun things on both of you. Whoever answers the fastest…gets to end the fun early. Don’t worry about the noises you’ll make; we have Silencing Runes planted here.”
Only then did she let go. Horner slumped over and whined in pain as the burning pain seared his mind. The other man pissed his pants when he saw the burn mark that had exposed fat and bone.
“Get him to the other room with Martell. I’ll handle this one. Tell him to be thorough.”
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About an hour later, Illumca exited the shed and saw Connie lounging on a garden chair, enjoying the night breeze. A cup of wine was in her hand.
“Connie, there is something I need to report to you.”
Connie gestured to the chair in front of her. She poured Illumca a glass and shared with her one drink before continuing.
“The Assassins we caught tonight are from the Vorzenny Branch of the Assassin’s Guild. It seems that many of their members also had made their way into Calendia.”
“Didn’t you say that Mr. Butters and his men were also making their way to Vorzenny?” Connie spoke. When she saw her nod, Connie sighed. “So, Assassins for Assassins… I still don’t get it though; don’t they belong to the same Guild?”
“Technically, yes. But not when it’s wartime. Each branch will act purely in the interest of the country it is in. It saves the Guild unneeded confusion when it comes to tallying the numbers.”
“…The Assassin’s Guild is weird.”
“Weird, but fair,” Illumca replied, understanding her lover’s confusion. “Guild Assassins are like mercenaries, only with better education. Give them enough compensation, and they’ll do what you asked them to. In a way, it’s safer than signing a contract with a loan shark.”
“Hmm…” Connie leaned back into her chair and tapped her glass. “Just out of curiosity. What are the ranks of the Assassins aiming for my life?”
“Well, they are…C-Ranks.”
“C-Ranks? To kill me?” Connie gave a slight frown. “I am offended.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I think they just haven’t updated our information. Sending C-Rank Assassins to kill Unrestrained Candidates is like trying to break a rock with eggs. But just in case, I ordered the Silence to keep vigilant.”
“Good,” Connie took a sip of the lukewarm wine. “Don’t forget to tell them to store the bodies in the Item Ring. It’s time for them to learn about anatomy.”
“What’s…anatomy?” Illumca asked.
“Oh, you will love it,” Connie answered with a wink.
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Before the deadline arrived, most of the Alchemists had responded positively to her invite. Only two refuses for reasons beyond their control. Connie did not pursue any further as she needed only those willing to take the plunge to follow her. On the last day, Annelinde agreed to Connie’s proposition and would come with Ethel when she was ready to move. It seemed that she was also thinking of Sen’s future.
With everything that needed to be done in Cairula wrapped up perfectly, Connie and her companions began to make their weeklong journey to the Temple of Saint Lorena.
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Six whole days had passed since they departed from Cairula. On the morning of the seventh day, they could finally see the end of the back-breaking journey.
As soon as they were free of the monotonous hills, directly after almost two hours of going through a forest, Nick, who was holding the reins called out. “Look to the East, everyone. That there’s our destination!”
“Is that the Temple of Saint Lorena?” Akula said with eyes gleaming with wonder. “It’s…so big! I can even see it from so far away.”
“Do you not have temples in the Grasslands, Akula?”
“No we don’t.”
“Then where do you worship your God?” Lihua asked.
“For large ceremonies, usually anywhere we can see the sky and the earth is plentiful. But usually, most believers just build an altar in our houses. We do have a portable shrine that we carry when we have to move called Teepak. Usually stored in the house of our shaman.”
“Only Stonemen would create a whole town purely for worship,” Illumca added. “In Dark Elves’ village, they hollow out a large tree and used it as a place to pray for Menakis.”
The Dark Elf, who had been mostly silent the first two days due to shock of what Connie called Anatomy Lesson, spoke for the first time in a while. She was used to seeing body parts that should be inside spilling out to the outside, but they were merely a passing thing. She never expected to ever see each part of the body being taken out and explained like they were cuts of meat in a butcher.
“The small town surrounding the Temple of Saint Lorena is called Grottenstadt. A decade ago Grottendstadt only had a few small inns where people can rest while in their pilgrimage, but it had since become quite a busy town,” Nick explained as they approached the gate alongside pilgrims wearing white and blue cloths around their waists.
Their arrival was anticipated and their entry to the town was unimpeded. Which for some reason made Connie feel disappointed.
The pilgrims looked on curiously at the carriage. Most of their eyes fell upon the Centaur. She saw how they whispered among themselves. Akula knew these eyes well. It was just like when she came onto her first Calendian settlement. Which was also the first time she ever experienced discrimination.
Being a small town, it only took them about ten minutes to arrive at the feet of the temple.
The Temple of Saint Lorena was a magnificent building with two massive towers that rose to the sky, the front-facing parts of which had a large, circular stained-glass window. Each of the towers were supported by flying buttresses that protruded from the dome structures below.
The stone that made up the temple were not local, as the colors were much lighter than the ones used by the other buildings here. Statues of lesser gods and goddesses adorned the façade of the temple. Many of which seemed to have been elaborately colored at one time, but had been slowly stripped off its color by time..
As a lover of the arts, Connie could not help but voice her admiration. “What a beautiful temple.”
“Thank you for the compliment,” a mass of blob and fat descended from the stairs, helped by a pair of members of the clergy. Two teenagers. A boy and a girl.
“Haha. Welcome, Duchess Steelheart. Welcome to our humble temple.”
Although their first meeting did not go well due to a misunderstanding, Connie learned to tolerate the man as she thought it would be better to have more allies in high places in the State Religion.
“Archdeacon Babblebrook. It’s nice to meet you again,” Connie greeted him.
“The pleasure is all mine. When the Maiden of Water received your letter, she was much elated. Unfortunately, she is in a meeting at the moment so I took it upon myself to greet you,” the fat clergy said, his pudgy hand gestured at the marvelous arch above them. “How do you like our temple? I think this is the first time that you’ve been here, correct?”
“I suppose. Or maybe I have been, a long time ago,” Connie waved the question off. “The design is much different to the one in Courandhel. With more angular and curving shapes.”
“Ah, you understand,” Babblebrook smiled ear to ear. “Yes. This temple is a full century older than the one in Courandhel, and only fully finished about two hundred years ago. The design went through not just one architect, but three. As for the statues, each statue was made by different sculptors. Some were donated, while some were commissioned. All in all, this temple was the result of collaboration of many talented people.”
“Speaking of,” Archdeacon Babblebrook’s voice became sombre. “I have something to ask of you. While you’re here, might you be willing to…not have any intimate conversation with your. Or at least, keep it behind closed doors. And…perhaps,” he paused. “There’s no good way to say this…keep the Beastfolks in your party from entering the Temple?”
“Excuse me?” Connie felt a sudden anger in her heart. “Did I just hear you right?”
“Please, hear me out first,” Babblebrook raised his arms in a show of helplessness. “I’m aware what you might think of me for saying this. But most of the people in this temple are old-fashioned men. Some even still believe in Human Supremacy. I am asking you this only to keep your visit comfortable and trouble-free. If it was purely up to me, the more believers in Junnaveil the better, Races be damned.”
“Well, you can shove that – “
“Mistress,” Lihua interrupted her with a small hand gesture. “This is just a small thing. Let us not make it bigger than it is.”
“Right,” Akula said with a strained smile. “Let’s just follow the fat man’s advice.”
“…Good!” Archdeacon Babblebrook clapped his hands. “
He then introduced the red-haired girl. “This is Matilda Bauer, an aspirant Cleric from our Order. She’ll be taking care of you while you’re here. Now, you must forgive me, I am supposed to lead a prayer in ten minutes.”
The man patted Matilda’s shoulder before hobbling up the stairs with the help of the boy that came with them.
“G-greetings, Duchess Steelheart and companions. My name is Matilda Bauer. Please, don’t let what Archdeacon Babblebrook just said to heart. He’s trying to be considerate in his own ways.”