Chapter 8: A Not So Secret Organization
Lenier laid awake in his bed, staring at the ceiling of the barn.
It was a cool night and the blanket was soft and cool on his skin.
It was hard to think that Lenier just a mere few weeks ago, prior to the regression, had lived such a violent life.
Such peace and quiet was unthinkable for him.
Then, without any warning, Lenier abruptly sat up from his bed.
Despite his eyes blending in with the darkness, his keen senses observed every part of the world around him.
Lenier casually walked out of his barn where he slept and looked over at the farmer's house.
After a brief moment, he looked away and walked further away before he stopped and started speaking.
"You guys do know I can see you right? You guys aren't very good at hiding…"
The moment Lenier uttered these words, a shadowy figure immediately appeared behind him and tried to grab Lenier.
But before that could happen, Lenier grabbed the shadowy figure first.
It was a person wearing a robe, his face covered in the shadows of the hood.
"Hi there." Lenier greeted with a smile.
But the robed man didn't respond as nicely and tried to slash at him with a poison covered dagger.
However, this attack was also blocked by Lenier.
Just then, three more robed men appeared, and all lunged at Lenier simultaneously with weapons in hand.
Lenier used his foot to toss a stick that was on the ground into the air, which he grabbed and parried all the attacks with.
The robed men jumped back.
Although it wasn't visible due to their hood's shadow, beads of sweat were forming on the faces of these men.
This child in front of them, barely even a teenager, managed to parry the attacks of several trained assassins with nothing but a mere stick on the ground?
Unbelievable.
Such a thing was unthinkable.
And that was exactly why they needed to capture Lenier.
Perhaps individually Lenier was stronger than them, but they were assassins who were trained to take down powerful foes.
All the assassins surrounded him and walked in circles as their bodies started to seemingly duplicate.
While in sync, the assassins started to close in on him, leaving him no room to escape, like a snake slowly entrapping its prey.
Except… there is no world or timeline in which Lenier is ever considered prey.
Lenier just casually snapped his stick into two and held them in both hands like dual daggers.
The assassins drew close, thrusting their weapons at Lenier from all directions… but they were unable to press forward.
With nothing but a stick broken in two, Lenier blocked off the attacks from several assassins.
The assassins tried to overwhelm Lenier with raw strength as there were multiple of them and Lenier was a mere untrain child by himself, but despite using all their might, Lenier did not even budge.
No matter how much force they applied, even despite veins bulging from how hard they were straining themselves, Lenier's arm did not even tremble.
It felt like they were attacking a mountain.
He was immoveable, like an iron statue.
And he did this all with a stick.
With a swing, Lenier easily pushed away all of the assassins.
Then, Lenier began his own attacks.
He raised his stick into the air, and all the assassins braced for impact.
Lenier swung his branch downwards!!!!
'Here it comes!' The assassins focused intensely so they could predict where Lenier's attack would go!
But, to their surprise….
'Why is he attacking so slowly?'
Even after several seconds had passed, Lenier was still swinging his stick.
His swing was descending downwards at a snail's pace.
It looked like he was moving in slow motion.
The assassins were extremely confused, but they didn't dare to be careless.
They were carefully observing the trajectory of the stick and they were indeed the targets, but at the speed it was moving at, it would never land a hit on them…?
The assassins didn't know what Lenier was up to.
One of the assassins tried to raise his arm to block the slow-moving attack, when he realized something…
He couldn't feel his arm.
Looking over, the assassin saw that his arm had completely disappeared.
There was no blood, no wound, no traces of an attack, it just simply disappeared almost as if it never existed.
This was case for all the assassins.
They were all missing a right arm.
At the exact moment that they realized their arms were gone, Lenier's attack was completed.
The assassins had no clue what Lenier just did or what just transpired.
They got attacked by something they couldn't see or even feel.
It was a completely unavoidable attack.
No matter how far they ran, they wouldn't be able to escape Lenier's attack range.
The assassins had known that Lenier was more powerful than they were, but they had not expected him to be so overwhelmingly so.
In fact, it was a miracle they were still alive.
Lenier was the merciful one here, going easy on the assassins.
If he had wanted to, Lenier could've easily killed all of them, but he chose not to.
Lenier actually knew who these assassins were, he met them in his first life.
The assassins kidnapped him and brought him to a fun place with a lot of other kids where they played together.
He had fond memories, so he didn't want to kill them.
Lenier simply wanted to scare them away by showing them what he could do.
Of course, if they refused to leave, Lenier wouldn't hesitate to do the same to the assassin as he did to the goblin lord.
However, because of how powerful Lenier was, the assassins knew that they had to capture him.
Despite the situation, the assassins still had one last trump card.
The assassins looked at each other and nodded.
One of them let out a whistle, which was high enough pitched where humans couldn't hear it, but a certain individual could.
The air silently froze.
All the noise in the surrounding area completely went silent.
"You called me here… for a child?"
Suddenly, a voice seemed to echo from all directions.
From the shadows of the darkness, a man stepped out.
Unlike the assassins, this person was dressed much more casually with a hoodie and sport pants.
Despite his normal looks though, the world seemed to distort around him.
Lenier immediately recognized this person.
It was assassin Nile.
One of the legendary heroes who helped give Lenier the greatest pleasure in his previous life.
"He may be a child, but don't underestimate him!"
Nile scoffed and took a step forward without a care in the world.
However, Nile was only putting up a front.
In actuality, he immediately realized the threat that Lenier posed was far greater than anything he had ever seen before.
'Where the hell did this kid come from…?'
From a very young age, Nile was hailed as the most talented prodigy amongst his peers, surpassing even trained assassins, yet to think there existed another kid younger than him who not only match his level of talent but far exceeded it.
Nile had doubts, but as a trained assassin, he perfectly concealed his emotions and thoughts and acted casual.
He took a step towards Lenier and twirled a dagger in his hand.
"So kid, how's this going to be? You going to give up, or do I have to take you by force?"
In response, Lenier fearlessly took a step forward, causing Nile to sharpen his senses to counter any attacks.
Nile was completely prepared to immediately start combat.
But to his surprise, Lenier dropped his sticks and raised both of his hands up.
"I surrender," Lenier proudly stated with a smile on his face.
Frankly, even Lenier did not expect to see one of the 17 legendary heroes of his past lives so soon.
In his past life, this never happened and he didn't meet Nile here.
Make no mistake though, Lenier did not surrender due to a fear of losing. In fact, it was the exact opposite.
He was afraid he might accidently kill Nile.
Lenier was indebted to Nile.
Nile was one of the heroes who helped to give him the greatest pain ever, and for that, Lenier owed him his life.
As such, Lenier wanted to avoid a fight at all costs.
Plus, Lenier humbled himself by believing that there was a slim chance that if they fought, he might've gotten hurt, although that would never happen at their current strengths.
Nile was skeptical.
He had a hard time gauging Lenier's full strength but if they fought, it would certainly be very difficult.
It was hard to believe that someone of his caliber would so willingly just surrender like that.
Nile started having doubts about his judgement.
"What's wrong? I've surrendered, haven't I?"
The assassins looked at each other upon hearing Lenier's words and nodded.
They cautiously approached Lenier, attempting to restrain him.
But before they could reach him, Lenier spoke up again, causing the hooded assassins to jump back in fear.
"You guys are going to kidnap me, right? Before I get taken away, can I say goodbye to the farmer who were taking care of me?" Lenier requested.
"Do you realize the situation you're in right now? Do you think you can make demands?"
Lenier shrugged his shoulders.
"The farmers were nice to me. They gave me food, a place to stay and a job. I want to let them know that I'll be leaving. It's the least y'all can do for me before I get kidnapped."
"You don't get to make demands here brat! We'll just kill them and then drag you away!" One of the assassins boldly stated, feeling confident now that Nile was here.
"Haha, you won't touch them, because if you did, you'd die!"
Lenier's face was still smiling and remained unmoving, yet his words caused all the assassins to tense up.
Despite making such a threat, they could not sense any malice or bloodlust whatsoever, which was even more frightening.
He was simply speaking the truth.
Nile sighed.
"Fine. But you'll come with us after, right?"
Lenier's smile widened even further, causing his cheeks to extend from ear to ear.
"Of course, Nile! Anything for you! Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be back!"
Lenier hopped off into the distance, back to the farmers house to say his farewells.
"W-why'd you let the brat go?!"
"I think it'd be best to try to keep that kid satisfied for now. Plus, there was no reason to refuse, he had already surrendered."
"But what if he runs away?!"
Nile glared at them upon hearing the question causing them all to shut up.
'Well, truth be told, even if he wanted to run away, I don't know if I would've been able to catch him anyways…' Nile thought to himself.
Of course, he would never say that out loud in front of the other assassins though.
A few moments later, as promised, Lenier returned.
"Did you finish everything you wanted to do? You probably won't be returning here again," Nile asked flatly.
Lenier nodded, and then extended both his arms forward.
Nile raised his eyebrow in confusion.
"Carry me."
"What?"
"I'm getting kidnapped. Are the kidnappers going to expect the kidnappee to just walk? Carry me. Give me a piggyback ride!"
"…"
"Come on, I'm getting kidnapped here. At least give me a comfortable ride."
Somehow, a dangerous group of assassins trying to kidnap a random child had no choice but to cater to the requests of that very child.
"Fine, get on my back. But don't try anything, we're watching you."
Nile wasn't sure if his warning had any effect on him, but still said it anyways.
Lenier eagerly jumped onto Nile's back, swiftly positioning himself on Nile's shoulders as if he was mounting a horse.
"Alright! Off we go!" Lenier declared as he pointed forwards.
Almost as if on command, all of them immediately vanished from their location and started sprinting through the dark.
To an ordinary person's eye, they'd see nothing more than a flickering shadow.
Lenier on the other hand, was enjoying the breeze and passing scenery.
Suddenly, Lenier remembered something he wanted to ask.
"Hey Nile?"
"What."
"Have you heard of the name, Lenier, before?"
"No."
"Are you… sure?"
"Yes."
Lenier fell into mildly shallow deep thought.
Lenier had assumed that if anyone had regressed with him, it'd be the 17 heroes, but Nile didn't seem to have memories of his past life then.
Did that truly mean Lenier was the only one to regress?
Did no one truly remember him anymore… and his crimes?
"Well, Lenier's my name! Remember that!"
After saying that, he started humming a little melody that he once heard from his mother as a baby to pass the time since Nile didn't continue the conversation.
Eventually, Lenier grew sleepy from his own singing and softly closed his eyes.
His mind started to drift off to a wonderful land of dreams.
Meanwhile as Lenier was in his happy sleepy place, Nile's mind was sharp and on edge.
It had been a long time since had felt the need to be this wary.
'Where the hell did this kid come from? He is very suspicious… is he a spy? Doesn't seem like it though… he said his name was Lenier, maybe I should do a background check on him or something… wait a second…'
Nile's eyes suddenly widened.
He had just realized something very strange.
The kid. He called Nile by his name.
How did the kid know Nile's name?
The other assassins never said his name, so where would he have obtained the name Nile from?
"Hey, Kid! How'd you know my name!?"
However, Lenier continued peacefully snoozing on his shoulder defenselessly and showed no signs of waking up.
Seeing the kid like this, he almost looked like a normal child.
'Ah fuck it. I'll ask him later when he wakes up.'
After deciding to let Lenier sleep, Nile picked up the pace and started running faster, leaving the other assassins behind.
Almost as if on cue, the moment Nile arrived at the assassin's base of operations, Lenier also woke up.
"Ah, we're here! Man, this place brings back so many memories!"
"…"
'Honestly, at this point. I don't care who this kid is or what he knows, I'm just going to finish my job and go to sleep. In fact, it'd be nice if he stirred up a bit of trouble in the organization for me while I'm asleep.'
"What was the secret passcode again Nile? In the moon light darkness… the easy whispers of shadow… tells our purpose… something something… secret blades?"
"In the moonlit embrace of darkness, the ethereal whispers of shadows reveal our clandestine purpose. To the swords and arm of our gracious one, we pledge our loyalty, veiling our intentions in the dance of silent blades."
As Nile uttered the correct passcode, the abandoned farmhouse that stood in front of them disappeared, dispersing like a fog, revealing a small entrance down into the ground.
"Oh right, that's it! Well, let's go in, shall we?"
'He even knew about the secret code… well, he didn't get it right, but he was aware of it. Almost as if he heard it once before… where could he have heard it…?'
Nile silently wondered as he followed behind Lenier.
Wait?
Follow behind Lenier?
'Shouldn't I be the one leading the way?'
Nile brushed Lenier to the side and took a step in front of him.
With Nile now in front, they both descended deep into the earth, down into the secret headquarters of this unknown organization.
After a minute's walk, they arrived at large stone door where Nile once again repeated the secret code.
The door slid open, and they entered.
The surrounding walls around them changed from a rough stone cave to a futuristic and modern looking smooth steel.
"Hey there Nile. Back from the job?"
"Yes."
"Fresh meat? Oh my, he looks… scrumptious…"
A quiet slurping sound could be heard from the shadows, presumably from the person licking their lips.
'Tch. Disgusting as always. Wish I could rip out his tongue so I don't have to hear that revolting voice again.'
"Yes. He's going to the nurturing ward, but I have a feeling he won't stay for long," Nile responded in a monotone voice.
"Oh? Seems this little baby has caught the eye of the mighty Nile."
'Little baby. As if, this so-called little baby could probably kill you in less than a second.'
"Yes. He has potential, even compared to the others. He will likely be in the training ward within a few days."
"Wow, that's high praise. Alrighty then Nile, I'll send you on through then. Good luck little one…. Kekekekeke…"
The voice slowly got quieter as Nile and Lenier continued walking deeper into the heart of the organization.
Nile and Lenier eventually reach a large room, where they were greeted by a man dressed in a full black robe, similarly to the assassins who had attacked Lenier.
"Welcome back Nile. You've completed your task?"
"Yes. Those useless imbeciles called me out for a kid. But I'll let it slide this time since they caught a special one."
Nile responded while gesturing towards Lenier.
Lenier smiled warmly and greeted the man.
"Hey Ben! It's been a while!"
"It's nice to meet yo- wait a second, been a while? What do you mean by that…"
Before the man could start questioning Lenier though, Nile cut him off.
"He's for the nurturing ward, got a lot of potential."
"Why is he still conscious and walking around though?"
"Like I said, he's a special case. Don't worry about it."
"Okay then… well, the latest nurturing session ended a couple hours ago, so we'll have to assign him a room to stay temporarily."
"Oh! I want room A13! A13! Please!" Lenier suddenly shouted out.
"What?"
"A13! I want that room! It's my old room! No other room will do!"
"Wha- you don't get to…" The man turned to Nile, and Nile just shrugged.
"Just give him the room."
"Fine… I guess?"
"WOOHOO!" Lenier cheered, pumping his fist into the air as he ran off to find his old room which he spent many nights in his previous life.
"W-wait! You can't run off! You don't even know where the room is!"
"Just leave him be. I have a strange feeling he won't get lost here."
Nile narrowed his eyes, staring at Lenier's back as he continued running through the halls.
'Let's just hope he doesn't become a nuisance to my plans… if not… well, I guess I should come up with some counter measures…'
Nile's entire body blurred and immediately vanished, almost as if he ceased to exist.
Thus, Lenier's second life continues as he returns to a mysterious organization of which he once resided at.
Who knows what chaos that mischievous little monster will cause?