Huk-…. Huuuah….. huuu…"
The lead assassin that had fled from Asher sat down by the trunk of the tree and collected his breath. As he put his glove marked with the insignia of the Motorala Assassins on the trunk, a crevice formed in the trunk of the tree and revealed stairs leading down to a room.
A dark voice rang out as the man entered the room.
(T/N : multiple unidentified people are speaking in the following dialogue)
[Results…Hm, I guess I don't need to be briefed.]
[I knew it would be too much. There's no way a Swordmaster could possibly pick some random child out with no talent. The kid must have been a prodigy, hiding his talent.]
"Shut up!"
The lead assassin shouted harshly. He clenched his teeth at the sight of the dark figures that filled every corner of the room.
"Those old cowards gave the order and didn't even bother to do their own dirty work…!"
[Silence, respect your elders.]
The lead assassin snorted at the words and giggled maniacally. Elders? Respect? What did they do to deserve that?
"You old bats are talking nonsense."
[Calm down, it looks obvious, but I'll still check first…. What was the result?]
"…it's a failure."
The lead assassin spoke in a rough voice. His pride as an assassin… no, even as a swordsman, had been shattered to pieces. Not only that, but he didn't have the willpower to even pick up the broken pieces of his ego.
"What is he doing? Why is he so…."
[I told you. You are still immature. You had enough talent to learn the great motorola's swordsmanship, but you're not mentally ready to face difficult opponents. In your state, it would be difficult to win against even the easiest of opponents.]
"Then why did you send me…."
[I thought you would be able to handle it and gain experience.]
The lead assassin paused at the words that resonated in the dark room. Eventually a different, yet calm voice rang out in the room from another cloaked figure.
[You are weak. He might be talented, but that's only a possibility. You were too absorbed in your own talent and ego to realize anything. But what is the reality of the situation? You have the talent and swordsmanship to defeat any great swordsman. All you need is the effort.]
"…okay."
The lead assassin nodded his head. Yes, he could be strong. Incredibly strong at that. The problem was that he had been too absorbed in the image of himself in the future that would become great, and hadn't been realizing that he needed to put in the hard work to get there.
[We have high expectations for you. You're not supposed to collapse and fall like this from one setback. By the way… you said the opponent used Imperial Swordsmanship?]
"Yes."
[…How did it feel to go against it?]
[Aren't you overreacting? Imperial swordsmanship itself is a common swordsmanship. There's nothing special about it for him to 'feel'.]
[I don't know about you but I don't have any good memories when it comes to the Imperial Swordsmanship. Remember that Swodmaster, the kids master? That swordmaster was good friends with him.]
[Oh, my god. Don't worry about him. He's already dead. It just means someone who knows our weaknesses is gone from the world. It's not like that man can come back to haunt us.]
It was a wary voice yet, also one of relief that rang out when he was mentioned.
He was the one that chased them down. That man had torn them from the roots up and forced them into hiding. The Imperial Guard Captain. The master of Imperial Swordsmanship. There were only bitter memories of when he was alive.
[He was only a human being. He didn't transcend, and he didn't leave behind any successors. You're being worried for nothing.]
[Hmm… how was it anyway? Tell me.]
"...."
The lead assassin was silent. The silence continued. When the dark figure who asked the question couldn't bear the silence any longer, lead assassin spoke up.
"I don't know."
[What?]
"I don't know. Are you sure he was really a kid? That was the question that ran through my mind the most during our fight. No matter how hard I looked at it, he wasn't some kid. He… had experienced swordsmanship… It was perfect. He knew the imperial swordsmanship to perfection, but also knew to improvise and kill like it was nothing."
It was like he had faced a bloodied and wounded warrior. They took advantage of their opponent's psychology and dug traps without panic even when surrounded. Even an inexperienced man like the lead assassin could know. It wasn't normal.
In addition, the lead assassin was no fool when it came to telling the level of ability of another's swordsmanship. And that boy… no that thing… he knew his swordsmanship like the back of his hand.
"And he seemed to know about our abilities and identity."
[What?! He knows?]
"Yes, he knew who we were and what happened in the past…. Wait- What the hell? Did that swordmaster even know that?"
[Hmm]
The murmurs between the cloaked figures spread as the anxiety and worry could be felt in the room, while several groans of annoyance, disappointment and wariness were heard.
[…We're in trouble.]
[We are going to need to kill him first. We manipulated the information and erased our traces for a reason. If the boy truly knows everything, it might grow beyond just a headache. Send support and kill him by any means….]
"You think I'm just going to sit by and let you do that?"
[!]
"Ugh!"
The door opened. A boy walked into the dark room. He looked around with a stoic and indifferent expression and looked at the dark figures within the room and grinned.
"Nice to meet you, leaders of the Motorola."