Chapter 45 : Or Not, Whatever

“Huuh…”

I exhaled slowly and opened my eyes after finishing my breathing exercise.

My understanding of martial arts had deepened.

Step by step, it felt as smooth as climbing a staircase.

At this rate, I’d soon reach the realm of Moonlight.

The Heavenly Demon snorted in derision, but I decided to take it as a sign of encouragement.

Well done, me. Growing stronger with each passing day.

I nodded in satisfaction.

Blinking, I looked around. Sushruta was hugging her knees, staring silently at the flickering campfire.

“Not sleeping?”

Without moving her eyes from the fire, she replied, “I can’t.”

Her heart must’ve been in turmoil.

After all, she’d just learned that the brothers she trusted were trying to kill her.

I’d thought she was too strange to have any friends at all, but it turned out she did—friends who came to murder her. Lucky her.

Since it didn’t feel entirely unrelated to my own life, I decided to meddle a little to lighten her mood.

“You know why you feel cold when you sleep?”

“…?”

“Because you doze off—cool, cool.”

“……”

Her face hardened.

Not one to give up easily, I tried again.

“What happens when a shrimp sleeps standing up?”

“……”

“Shrimp nap.”

“Ashuban.”

Her face turned to stone as she said flatly, “Go to sleep.”

“Got it.”

Leaving her like a statue by the fire, I leaned against a rock some distance away and closed my eyes.

Crackle, crackle.

After some time—sleep didn’t come as easily as I thought.

Just as I was about to get up and share the rest of my hilarious jokes, drowsiness finally crept over me.

Sleep was as fickle as I was.

I dreamed of sleeping with shrimps.

One shrimp tapped my shoulder.

“Ashuban. Wake up.”

I said to the shrimp shaking me,

“How do shrimps greet each other? Annyeonghaseu—[Hello-shrimp].”

The shrimp suddenly smacked me hard on the head.

Thwack!

I jolted awake, head throbbing.

Funny thing—I could still feel where I’d been hit.

Sushruta’s voice, brisk and chilly, reached me.

“It’s four o’clock.”

“Roger.”

I got up, stretched, and sat with my back to the fire to chase away the remnants of sleep.

That way, my eyes adjusted better to the darkness.

Yawning, I gazed at the night-wrapped lake.

Sushruta came over.

“Ashuban. I’ll pretend to flee. They’ll split into two groups. One will chase me, the other will attack you.”

“Mm.”

Sounded right.

No one knew who had the dagger.

She corrected me slightly.

“Even if I don’t have it, they won’t stop until I’m dead. They must keep me from informing the Guild.”

“Ahh.”

“So, as you said, the ten assassins will likely pursue me. The other two will leave me to their men and come after you. If you want to make sure you face them, you could use the dagger to draw them in. Their main target is that blade, after all.”

“Got it.”

I nodded, eyes still locked on the dark lake.

The moon was hazy, the night thick, the lake brimming with shadow.

No moon reflected, only faint stars drowning in the water.

When my eyes finally adjusted, Sushruta whispered, “They’re coming.”

Moments later, rustling sounds echoed all around.

She spoke quickly.

“I’ll go. They’ll first try to extinguish the campfire—it’s the only light. Keep it burning and fight near it. If you lose the fire, the battle will change completely. In the darkness, they’ll have the advantage. Remember that.”

I nodded without shifting my gaze from the shadows.

And I gave her one last warning.

“Sushruta.”

“What?”

“Don’t speak to your brothers. Don’t even look at them. Just run.”

“…Understood.”

Whoosh—

She vaulted into the air, vanishing into the trees.

The rustling followed her, fading away.

I stayed seated, watching the star-flecked lake.

As I counted them, one by one, a man came to mind.

A man who always told bad jokes.

Now I realized why I’d blurted out jokes to Sushruta earlier—subconsciously, I’d remembered him.

He used to brag he’d once been a top assassin.

According to him, assassins fall into two categories: those who give orders, and those who follow them.

The way to tell them apart was simple.

If they look like assassins, they’re the followers.

If they don’t, they’re the ones in charge.

I’d been confused when I first heard it, but his explanation made sense.

The followers were the stereotypical silent assassins. They had to be, otherwise their leaders would beat them.

The leaders, on the other hand, weren’t quiet at all. With no one above to smack them down, they flapped their mouths freely.

Many of them were witty, talkative, unafraid to run their mouths—because they had the confidence they’d never lose their target.

It broke my stereotypes, I admit.

Naturally, the ones who commanded were far stronger.

And the higher up they were, the freer they were to talk. Their chatter grew with their strength.

So, in short, assassins were stronger the more they talked.

[…Interesting. And oddly believable.]

Well, like the Heavenly Demon said, it was worth keeping in mind.

Silence didn’t necessarily mean weakness. But if they talked a lot, odds were they were strong.

Come to think of it, Sushruta had been chatty since the moment we met.

Hmm. Maybe there was something to this.

So—would these enemies be quiet, or talkative?

Quiet ones were boring and probably weak. I wanted loud, strong ones.

As I waited, excitement thrumming in my chest…

Voices emerged from the darkness.

“Red Eye Devil.”

I immediately turned, answering with a grand greeting, both to test their strength and set the stage.

“Observers of shadow, rulers of shadow, walkers of shadow, eaters of shadow, breathers of shadow, lickers of shadow, gropers of maidens in the shadow, mosquitoes whining in the shadow, moles burrowing in the shadow, children of shadow playing catch with shadow—adorable little shadowlings, welcome.”

Silence.

Then, again, a voice came from the dark.

“Red Eye Devil.”

They ignored my grand greeting, so I snapped back curtly.

“Why are you calling me?”

“Do you have Ophosis’ dagger?”

Before I could answer, another voice cut in. If the first voice was heavy, this one was lighter, almost airy.

“I pray you weren’t foolish enough to give it to that thieving wench.”

“…Wench?”

My eyebrow twitched.

These bastards. How dare they talk about my little sister like that.

It occurred to me that maybe only Sushruta thought fondly of them. She hesitated when I asked if she could kill her brothers, but these two? They didn’t seem like they’d hesitate at all.

Given her awkwardness and lack of social grace, maybe she never even realized they resented her.

I recalled her sitting all night, staring blankly into the fire.

I decided to protect her dignity.

“She’s not a wench. She’s the Phantom Thief.”

The voice replied coldly.

“The name Phantom Thief is far too grand for her. Don’t you agree?”

I frowned.

“I heard you trained under the same master. Who was your master?”

“That, we cannot tell you.”

I barked, furious.

“You worthless bastards! I don’t know who your master is, but with what you just said, you’ve brought shame to him. What kind of senile old fool raised brats who call their sister a wench?!”

A brief silence followed. Then the first voice spoke.

“You speak the truth. Second Brother, you went too far.”

The lighter voice answered at once.

“…Forgive me.”

“Be careful next time.”

“I will remember.”

I blinked, dumbfounded, listening to them scold and forgive each other.

What the hell is this?

They’d come to kill their sister, yet that was what they called excessive?

So killing her wasn’t too much, but calling her a wench was?

The heavy voice addressed me again.

“Red Eye Devil. Do you carry the dagger?”

I glared into the dark.

“What if I do? What if I don’t?”

The lighter one answered.

“If you have it, we’ll kill you and take it. If not, we’ll kill you first and then go for our junior sister.”

“Think you can manage that?”

“It won’t be difficult. While she wasted her days playing, we crossed death’s threshold countless times, enduring brutal training. Isn’t that right, Senior Brother?”

“Indeed.”

From his words, I caught a familiar emotion.

Jealousy.

So that was it. Now I understood why they hated Sushruta so much.

The gap between mediocrity and genius.

No matter how hard the ordinary chase, they could never catch the shadow of someone born extraordinary.

Why does she get ahead while we suffer? It’s unfair. Unfair!

I could understand that feeling. I’d felt it once myself.

But that didn’t make it right. It was no excuse to kill her.

They didn’t even know the value of family.

“Pathetic.”

“What was that? If you have the dagger, show it now. I’d rather not kill my junior sister with my own hands.”

“Do you feel inferior to her?”

They laughed far too loudly.

“Ridiculous.”

“We’ve never felt such a thing.”

“To feel inferior to that odd creature? Never. Senior Brother, isn’t that right?”

“Indeed. The Master may have shown her favor, but only because she was lacking, erratic, unreliable, and pitiful.”

“That’s right. She grew up among beasts. She couldn’t even speak properly. Ate with her hands. She was practically an animal. And now? Look at her, pretending to be a dragon.”

“Indeed. When I first met her, I was astonished.”

“And our Master, to pick up a thing like her…”

Now it was clear—they were both talkers.

The so-called Senior spoke in a more dignified tone, but he was just as verbose as the other.

According to that ex-assassin’s rule of thumb—assassins who talk a lot are the stronger ones.

These had to be Sushruta’s senior brothers.

I pulled the dagger from my robes and showed them.

“Oh…”

“Ophosis’ dagger…!”

“It’s real.”

Voices of satisfaction echoed in the dark.

I rose slowly to my feet.

“Are you so ashamed of your faces? Don’t worry, I won’t make fun of your looks. Show yourselves. Let’s talk face to face. Even assassins should know some manners.”

They replied.

“Indeed. You showed the dagger willingly. We should return the courtesy.”

“We’re not discourteous assassins, are we, Senior Brother?”

With that, both descended lightly into the dim firelight, landing like falling leaves.

Their movements were as graceful as Sushruta’s.

If it were me, I would’ve ignored the talk and struck from the shadows. But they must have been very confident in their strength to reveal themselves so openly.

They pushed back their hoods, revealing their faces.

I looked them over.

“Mm. Ugly. No wonder you hide in the dark.”

“……”

Their faces stiffened.

“You’re not exactly handsome yourself.”

“You’ve got the kind of face women would despise.”

I snapped.

“Shut it! Did you come here to talk about faces?”

“……”

I studied them more closely.

They looked to be in their early to mid-thirties.

And for thieves skulking in the shadows, they still tried to look stylish.

One had hair down to his shoulders. The other wore a cap that made him look like a petty thief.

Definitely commanders—no one had dared to cut their hair or snatch their hat.

The long-haired one was the Senior Brother. The capped one, the Second.

I stared at the one with the cap and said, “Take that underwear off your head, idiot.”

“…It’s not underwear.”

“Oh, it’s not? Fine then. Forget I said anything.”

“……”

The air grew heavy.

Tip: Tap/click the left or right side of the screen to go to previous/next chapter.