Chapter 4: Unknown to All!
Had it been days? Or had it been weeks?
Not much time has passed, but how much exactly wasn't something Ken could easily answer. After all, his time was spent trying to master the art of assassination.
With neither a master nor an example to use, he could only rely on his instinct, his memory, and his power to become a skilled assassin.
Using the techniques he had mastered so far, he was sure he could take down the guard and get changed with his clothes in barely a minute.
This was exactly what he meant when he said fully prepared. He was a perfectionist, the type who wouldn't move until he was sure the rate of failure was in the decimal.
And so he hid and waited.
One hour, two hours, three hours, and before the 4th could come to be, one of the guards couldn't hold it in anymore and got up to use the toiler.
"Aye brother, wait for a bit; I need ta leak."
"Aye, Aye!" Seeing his friend leave made the second guard also feel the urge to do his business, not knowing that if he ever did it, it wouldn't be in the right place.
After all...
"Now!" Ken came out of his hiding space, his feet miraculously making no movement and his speed far higher than it should be.
He, as a young man of 17, had a battle-hardened body and mentality. His physique was well-toned and his muscle power explosive, but having never had proper guidance, he could only rely on basic movement to survive.
But now, everything changed.
The guard held his mace on his hand and cleaned it with a white cloth while looking at the ground, waiting for his comrade to come back so he could go.
The two of them had two boxes they were sitting on next to the door, and they were stationed in the middle, giving Ken enough room to hide and move without being caught by the side of the guard's eyes.
In addition to the mask they were wearing, such things proved fatal.
Neither eyes, nor ears, nor feelings could save a relaxed heart in the middle of an assassination, not to mention in front of a skilled blade.
Ken had thought hard on this, and so, instead of wasting his time trying to use a dagger, he trained to use his body's muscle power explosively.
By delivering a rapid twist of the neck that would ensure the death of his enemy, no trace of the act will be left that could get him in trouble.
3 full days of repeated training with an ability so utterly broken in perfecting a skill was, in all honesty, going overboard.
This was fully represented when it was actually used on a living being.
*Fwsh* *Crack*
Ken looked with slightly wider eyes than normal, as even he, who had trained in this same skill, wasn't expecting such a result as not a single sound left the dead body that was in front of him.
And what did this mean exactly? It meant that he had successfully carried out the mission. Not just that, he had done it to perfection.
Not allowing himself to be surprised for longer, he quickly dragged the body over to the closest hiding spot he made, changed the clothes, and went back to clean the mace the same way the guard was doing it.
'Good! I'm all set now; all I have to do is continue carrying out this until we're called for rotation.' Ken rejoiced in his heart and waited patiently for the guard to come back.
And come back, he did.
Just a minute after Ken had finished his mission, the guard came back with renewed energy.
"Aya, that was so refreshing, ay' mate? Ya wanna go at it?" The guard came back, and Ken waited for him to sit down so as not to make him suspicious of the change in his body stature.
Being the other crewmate's comrade for a few days was enough for him to notice if he suddenly got shorter or taller or even buffer.
Seeing that the guard sat down, Ken thought that he could use this chance to go to the bathroom to get a look at the situation outside.
And so he decided to speak.
"Y-"
"Hmm? Ya going or not?" Noticing how his crewmate stopped midway, the guard was weirded out.
But Ken didn't reply. He couldn't. After all, if the guard couldn't know him because he was sitting, he would immediately find him out from his voice.
'W- what do I do now?'
-----End-----
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