Surviving as the Emperor's Assassin

Chapter 18. Stabbed Wrong.

“Ready!”

Pol shut his eyes tightly and puffed out his chest.

Keeping his eyes open might cause him to move instinctively, so it wasn't a bad decision.

‘Need to stab an organ that’s moderately fatal but not deadly. Hitting the lungs or heart would likely kill him before he gets treatment.’

Trying to actually carry it out, I hesitated.

It's extremely common sense; unless I'm a doctor or a psychopathic serial killer, how could I possibly have a thorough understanding of the human body?

Cleanly incapacitating someone was dozens of times harder than simply killing them.

If I made even the slightest mistake…….

‘Huh? Even if I stab wrong, it just means Pol dies, right?’

Come to think of it, it wasn't a huge loss for me.

Hadn't I been thinking that just killing him wouldn't be so bad?

If Pol dies from this, well, can't be helped.

Unfortunately, it would just mean Pol was unlucky.

My heart felt considerably lighter.

“Ah, is it still far?”

Pol asked in a trembling voice.

Though he had willingly agreed, facing the possibility of death apparently wasn't something he could be indifferent about.

“Here I go.”

I readjusted my grip on the sword and aimed for Pol's torso.

“One, two……”

Puk.

The sword blade easily pierced Pol's abdomen.

“……Uh oh.”

This, I think I stabbed wrong.

* * *

Dejong's Mercenary Guild, 'Thorn Shield'.

Normally bustling with mercenaries waiting for jobs, a silence hung in the air.

This was because numerous mercenaries had been deployed for a city-wide search, spurred by the possibility that the Emperor's assassin, 'Luke Ivers', might be in Dejong.

“This doesn't feel like a guild anymore.”

The Guild Master muttered, pushing a protruding chair with the tip of his foot.

A guild without mercenaries.

Isn't it ridiculous?

“How long will this operation continue?”

The staff member handling the guild's reception desk asked, yawning, echoing the Guild Master's words.

Dejong's higher-ups had released quite a bit of money mobilizing the mercenaries, and a significant amount had flowed into the guild as well.

Being unable to operate properly for a few days wasn't a problem.

However, fighting boredom while doing nothing was surprisingly difficult.

“Who knows. First, the culprit needs to be caught.”

The Guild Master clicked his tongue lightly.

He hadn't liked this situation from the start.

Mobilizing mercenaries to search for 'Luke Ivers', who might be hiding in Dejong, sounded like a simple mission, but in reality, it was extremely dangerous.

Luke Ivers, facing certain execution if caught, wouldn't surrender meekly.

The moment he was discovered, he would surely try to kill whoever found him.

‘Besides, there’s no way there are mercenaries here capable of catching Luke Ivers.’

Didn't they say he assassinated the Emperor and even escaped alive?

It was only natural that those protecting the Empire's apex, the Emperor, were carefully selected elites.

Skills to break through them and even evade the ensuing pursuit.

Even the Guild Master, once a renowned mercenary himself, lacked the confidence to even hold Luke Ivers down.

‘Those foolish mercenaries, getting all excited just because they were given some money.’

A sigh escaped naturally.

The city's higher-ups knew full well and pushed the mercenaries forward.

Go die, become a 'signal' that Luke Ivers is here by dying.

“I wish it were just a simple misunderstanding……”

If the one who left the sword marks wasn't Luke, but someone else.

Then the large-scale investigation would just be a waste of manpower and money.

The higher-ups who made the misjudgment might feel sore, but it was better than mercenaries dying one after another.

“Anyway, the result will come out soon. Dejong isn't that big.”

Even a wide loop around the outskirts would only take a couple of hours.

With hundreds of mercenaries and guards scouring the place, there couldn't possibly be a place to hide undetected.

News would arrive soon.

* * *

The Guild Master's prediction hit the mark; a mercenary returned to the guild shortly after.

One part that deviated from expectation was—he was carrying someone bleeding profusely on his back.

“Help! The bleeding won't stop!”

At Ben's cry, the Guild Master snapped to attention.

“Wh-What?! What happened to get injured like this?!”

The Guild Master immediately grabbed Ben and questioned him.

“It's a long story! More importantly, Pol……!”

Pol, carried by Ben, had suffered a critical wound to the abdomen.

It seemed an attempt was made to stop the bleeding somehow by wrapping cloth around it, but it appeared largely ineffective.

“What are you doing bringing an injured person to the guild?! This kind of thing should go to the church or a clinic!”

Treating the injured was the domain of clerics who could use healing magic or doctors skilled in surgery and pharmacology.

“Where, where should I go?! The church, where's the clinic?!”

Ben asked back with a dumbfounded face.

The Guild Master belatedly recalled that Ben had only arrived in Dejong recently.

Ben, who hadn't suffered any injury worth mentioning until now, had no need to find a church or clinic.

It wasn't strange that he didn't know their locations.

He likely rushed to the guild, the only place he knew might offer some help.

“Damn it……!”

The Guild Master checked Pol's condition.

His complexion was pale from blood loss, and he seemed to have lost consciousness long ago.

His body was cooling.

It was clear he was approaching death moment by moment.

Could Pol hold on until they reached the clinic or church?

What if they arrived alive, only to be told it was already too late?

“Letting someone die right in front of me gives me bad dreams!”

In the end, the Guild Master grumbled and took out a small bottle from his pouch.

Mercenaries frequently get injured on the job, but rarely receive proper treatment.

Therefore, veteran mercenaries usually carried a potion for emergency treatment.

Even now, far from the field, he kept one in his pocket like a charm.

“I'll definitely get the cost back for this someday, I swear!”

Potions were expensive.

So expensive he would hesitate to use it even when his own life was on the line.

But what could he do?

First, you have to save the person.

The Guild Master poured half the potion onto the wound and trickled the rest into Pol's mouth.

The potion took effect immediately.

Smoke rose from the wound, and the bleeding stopped.

“This won't be enough! Go to the church and bring a cleric!”

The Guild Master issued instructions to the remaining guild staff.

As the staff rushed out, the Guild Master took off his clothes and covered Pol.

“This is all we can do.”

“Thank you. Really, I thought Pol was done for……”

Ben bowed his head, his voice trembling.

‘Looking like this, he’s clearly a country bumpkin.’

The Guild Master sighed softly, looking at Ben.

His skills were outstanding, seeing as he took down a Hond Wolf on his first mission.

But he didn't even know where to take an injured person and panicked at his companion's crisis.

The typical image of a rookie mercenary.

However, Ben was thinking something completely different.

‘He said he’d get the potion cost back. That must be expensive.’

Furthermore, considering calling a cleric for treatment, the cost would balloon even further.

The price for stabbing slightly wrong was too high.

The money earned since coming to Dejong was peanuts.

He was indignant at the fact that instead of saving money here, he might end up spending even more before leaving.

* * *

“Calm down, and tell me what happened.”

The Guild Master patted Ben's shoulder.

He was late to realize due to the severely injured Pol, but Ben also had numerous minor wounds.

“Found the culprit who left the sword marks on the wall.”

“Luke Ivers?!”

The Guild Master's eyes widened.

If he encountered Luke, showing up nearly dead made sense.

Returning to the guild alive was a miracle.

But Ben immediately denied it.

“No. It wasn't Luke Ivers. 'Sleeping Wolf' Joshua. He was the culprit.”

“What are you talking about? They said there were traces of swordsmanship on the wall. A mere gangster living in Dejong's back alleys learned swordsmanship? Make sense.”

The Guild Master also knew Joshua.

Therefore, he knew better than anyone that Joshua was just an idiot whose skills only worked in the back alleys.

“It's true! I almost died because he attacked with swordsmanship! I don't know how he learned it, but he definitely used swordsmanship! I only managed to win because Pol threw himself in the way to create an opening……”

“Hmm……”

The Guild Master carefully observed Ben's expression.

The Joshua the Guild Master knew was no match for Ben.

Unless he had learned swordsmanship, it didn't make sense that he fought against Ben and Pol and critically injured Pol.

“So, you said you won anyway? What happened to Joshua? Did he escape? Or is he restrained somewhere?”

Whether Ben's testimony was true could be determined by investigating Joshua.

Joshua's whereabouts needed to be secured immediately.

“He's dead. The body, probably still there.”

“Hah. What do you mean you killed him? Now we can't prove he was the culprit.”

The Guild Master sighed at Ben's answer.

He needed to be alive to be interrogated or whatever.

Can't revive someone already dead.

“How could I think about that when my life was on the line!”

Ben flared up suddenly.

For a moment, Ben's gaze flickered towards the unconscious Pol.

“...Just feel bad about it. Feel bad.”

The Guild Master smacked his lips awkwardly.

Of course, how could one think about the aftermath when their life was in immediate danger?

“Anyway, if Joshua is dead, things get complicated……”

“We can find out by investigating their base!”

Ben felt slightly annoyed at the Guild Master spouting foolishness after he had diligently planted evidence proving Joshua was the culprit.

‘Idiot. Do I have to spoon-feed everything like this?’

This whole mess started because of those damn sword marks.

Physical evidence is more reliable than testimonies that can change here and there.

Joshua's death wasn't a problem at all.

Acting too proactively could raise unnecessary suspicion.

There was bound to be some burden even just adding comments like this.

Was it necessary to be so uncooperative when I was trying to handle things quietly?

“That's true.”

The Guild Master belatedly nodded.

He wasn't usually slow-witted, but the chaotic situation had narrowed his vision.

“Joshua has subordinates, doesn't he? They might try to destroy the evidence……”

“That won't do! We need to go immediately!”

Spurred by Ben's urging, the Guild Master shot up.

With Joshua dead, it would be a disaster if the physical evidence disappeared too.

“You stay by your friend's side. I'll explain the situation to the others!”

Someone needed to stay beside Pol, who was still hovering between life and death.

Leaving Ben behind was a natural course of action.

“Understood! Be careful!”

Ben saw the Guild Master off, hiding the rising corners of his mouth.

The Guild Master, hurrying out of the guild, failed to read Ben's expression until the very end.