Master Assassin of the Ronan

Chapter 23: The Problematic Assassin (4)

Grokal had a clever way to distinguish the real Tina.

Though appearances could be altered freely, there were things that couldn’t be changed.

“Skill.”

After crossing swords just a few times, one could see the true skill of their opponent. Skill never lies.

“Who should I start with?”

Two people, identical in appearance.

He would soon know which was young master Rubin and which was that damn Tina.

Just as Grokal’s sword was about to strike, a low, commanding voice halted him.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

It was Rubin. Or maybe it was Tina.

He couldn’t be sure.

Until they crossed swords, he wouldn’t know the answer.

So he would have to fight them.

The skilled one would be Tina, and the inadequate one would be young master Rubin.

Simple.

“If I can just clash swords…”

“I asked you what you’re doing, Execution Unit Leader.”

Yet, the voice stopping him had a particular strength to it.

A weight that forbade any attack—a force one could only feel from a true-blooded Ronan.

“Are you intending to cut me down?”

“…I apologize, young master. This is the only way.”

The Execution Unit members were raised from birth in a unique environment, training under the shadow of the Assassin Blade Family, Ronan.

Deep in their bones lay an instinct that nothing could replace.

“Absolute obedience to the Ronan family.”

In the end, Grokal froze in place.

He knew he should attack, but his body wouldn’t respond.

The dignity of the Ronan bloodline had triggered something instinctual in him.

“…We do not know which of you is the real young master Rubin. I must follow orders.”

“Who gave that order?”

“The head of the main family.”

“The family head? So by the head’s order, you’d dare strike someone who might be the future head?”

“I… I am not here to strike you…”

Grokal hesitated.

It was his first time faltering before a target.

The commanding presence of this child was impossible to reconcile with his mere nine years.

Could this child be the real young master Rubin? Or was it just an act?

Who really was the true young master Rubin?

“I need to focus.”

Gradually, his reasoning returned. He would have to overcome this pressure on his own.

Grokal was the Execution Unit Leader of the main family. He had to eliminate the target, no matter the circumstance.

For the head, for the Ronan family, even if the target were the emperor himself.

“My apologies, young master Rubin.”

In the end, Grokal swung his sword.

His first choice was the one who had stayed silent.

The attack ended in just three strikes.

Rubin clutched his bleeding thigh.

“Ugh.”

“This side took three.”

Now it was Rubin, the one exuding a menacing presence, who took his turn.

He swung his sword immediately.

Clang!

The counter was intense.

Even after a single exchange, the feel was completely different.

“So, this one is Tina!”

The strikes continued beyond three.

Four, five, even six exchanges followed.

This couldn’t possibly be a coincidence.

“It’s certain. This one is Tina!”

The force in Grokal’s stance began to exude killing intent. He was confident.

No matter how pure the Ronan bloodline, a nine-year-old child couldn’t withstand six strikes from the Execution Unit Leader’s fully-powered sword.

“Haaah!”

He raised his arm high, preparing to strike down.

“…?!”

Suddenly, Rubin dropped his guard.

The unexpected response forced Grokal to halt his attack in an awkward stance.

What was this target’s plan?

The target opened his mouth.

“Are you sure?”

“What?”

“Are you certain about your assumption that I’m not Rubin?”

“Don’t play games!”

“Three strikes on that side. Six strikes on this side. So you assumed I must be Tina because I withstood more attacks?”

“…!”

“Pathetic.”

Then, he tossed his sword to the ground.

Clatter.

“Go ahead, then. Let’s see if you can cut me down. I’ll watch closely with my own eyes.”

“…!”

That was it for the Execution Unit Leader’s nerve.

Clatter.

Grokal, too, dropped his sword.

It wasn’t that he lacked confidence in discerning the real one; rather, he couldn’t overcome the weight of cutting down a potential future head of the family.

“…”

“I saw your loyalty clearly, Grokal Lang.”

Rubin extended his hand to Grokal, who stood, frozen in dismay.

A small nine-year-old’s hand. Yet how vast was the authority of the Ronan bloodline that lay within it?

It was beyond reckoning.

“Grokal, take us to the head of the family. I’ll handle the rest from there.”

Whether the child before him was Tina or Rubin no longer mattered.

Grokal was, before anything else, a loyal servant, crafted from the core to serve the Ronan family, not a mere Execution Unit Leader.

Following his instinct, Grokal answered,

“…Understood, young master.”

“…That concludes my report.”

Finishing his words, Grokal swallowed without realizing it.

His gaze, which had been fixed on the ground, rose cautiously.

Seiren, who had remained silent throughout his report.

Grokal, who had glanced up to gauge the family head’s reaction, flinched as he met Seiren’s intense stare.

“So, that’s what happened.”

Grokal felt the enormous pressure that had been weighing on him dissipate in an instant.

Such intense Dark Ripple—just what level was Seiren at now?

The last time Grokal knew, Seiren was at a level of seven stars, but perhaps he had surpassed even that.

“Confessing the disgrace of falling into Tina’s trap… You wouldn’t lie about such a thing.”

“I have no excuse.”

“That will be enough. Whatever the process, you brought them before me.”

Seiren rested his chin on his hand as he spoke.

“Grokal, you may rest now.”

However, Grokal didn’t leave immediately.

“Family head. What will you do with Tina…”

“Whether Rubin can truly persuade me remains to be seen.”

Unable to continue speaking, Grokal simply nodded.

“Then I’ll take my leave.”

Grokal bowed his head, then slipped his mask back on.

He opened the door and stepped out.

In the hallway waited Seiren’s next visitors—Rubin and Tina.

“Grokal.”

Rubin greeted him with an innocent smile.

The moment of their standoff resurfaced vividly in Grokal’s mind.

“A son who isn’t intimidated by the authority of the head…”

Blocking the Execution Unit is equivalent to defying Seiren’s orders.

And for the Assassin Blade Family, Ronan, this alone would be grounds for death.

But Rubin had done just that.

Whether it was recklessness or courage, Seiren would decide.

“I didn’t report that you blocked my attacks. I assumed you wouldn’t want that.”

“Good. I’m still far from mastering my blade skills.”

“…”

Until the end, Rubin maintained his calm demeanor.

Grokal thought this might be the reason Seiren trusted her youngest son so much.

“Well then, I’ll take my leave.”

“We shall meet again, Grokal Lang.”

Rubin watched the retreating back of the Execution Unit Leader.

‘Grokal Lang. He’s definitely at a level of five stars or higher.’

Though it was a brief spar, it was enough for Rubin to grasp the difference between himself and the Execution Unit Leader.

If they had clashed swords even a little longer, his weaknesses would have been exposed.

He needed to grow stronger quickly.

Of course, that wasn’t his immediate concern.

Creak.

Rubin opened the door and stepped into the room.

Seiren’s office was large enough to occupy a significant portion of the mansion.

It was wide enough that voices echoed, and the ceiling was high, comparable even to the mansion’s central Dusklight Hall.

“It’s been a while.”

The memory of his final struggle with his mother suddenly surfaced.

It was right here, where he fought until the moment of his death, bleeding out before his return.

Rubin raised his head.

In the center of the office, the head of the family, Seiren Ronan, sat upright.

Rubin formally greeted her.

“It is an honor to meet you, head of the family.”

“I doubt you came here just to tell me you enjoyed your tour of the tower. What do you have to say?”

That deep, intense gaze.

The head of the Assassin Blade Family was eyeing him like a predator, but Rubin did not falter.

“I wish to speak to you about Tina Kiruha, the Blood-Transformation Tribe, head of the family.”

“I heard a bit about it from the Execution Unit Leader. You said you wanted to spare her life? Rather bold of you.”

At that moment, Rubin sensed Seiren’s Dark Ripple surround him.

It coiled around him like a massive snake, pressing with such force that it could almost break his bones.

‘Like a raging sea, with a depth that seems endless.’

When he was an infant, Rubin experienced his mother’s overwhelming power firsthand through the “100 Days of Cradle.”

Confronted again by this enormous Dark Ripple, he found himself breathless.

“Answer me, Rubin.”

Even as her child, he couldn’t expect gentleness from her.

Feeling his life threatened, Rubin almost revealed the first Dark Ripple he had kept hidden, purely from a defensive instinct.

To avoid such a mistake, he concentrated intensely, meeting Seiren’s chilling gaze once more.

“Tina is too talented to kill off just like that.”

“She’s a runaway who fled after failing her assassination mission. That alone is reason enough for her to die.”

“But Tina’s abilities are enough to justify sparing her life. She could serve our family well.”

Rubin mustered his determination in each word, overcoming the pressure.

He knew well that asserting his own will to Seiren in the Assassin Blade Family could be a death sentence—even if he was her son.

But he had to persuade her.

Only by sparing Tina could he get closer to the emperor.

“Are you speaking of the Blood-Transformation Tribe’s shapeshifting ability? It’s no more than a mere trick. For Ronan, we don’t need assassins who fail to kill their targets.”

Yet Rubin remembered.

Before his return, it was his mother who most regretted Tina’s death.

Even now, she likely doubted whether killing Tina was the right choice.

All Rubin needed to do was give her a reason.

“I know a way to utilize Tina’s shapeshifting ability.”

Rubin’s gaze shifted somewhere else as he paused.

To one corner of the ceiling.

A long, thick spear was mounted there, and within the shadows, a pair of red eyes appeared.

“You’re talking about the Roincrows?”

Seiren’s Roincrow let out a rumbling sound and flew to her side.

Gruu.

There was no need to call its name.

The owner and the crow were connected through the Dark Ripple.

‘Mother’s Roincrow. Its name was Roho.’

With that thought, Rubin continued.

“I heard that Elder Gillifield raises Roincrows for assassins at his arboretum.”

“Go on.”

“However, I heard there have been issues there recently.”

The arboretum supplied Roincrows to countless members of the Assassin Blade Family each year.

Raising intelligent animals to assist assassins was a complex and challenging task, so issues often arose.

Each time, stories would spread through the family’s vassals, and Rubin would have likely picked up on them in passing.

If there were indeed problems in such an important place, resolving them should be a top priority.

Seiren’s gaze sharpened, perhaps agreeing.

“I’m aware. And so?”

“What if we send Tina there?”

A shadow crossed Seiren’s face.

Even for his mother, Rubin’s motives likely seemed baffling.

“Rubin, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but the problems at the arboretum are not that simple.”

“I understand that well. And I also know how to resolve them.”

Quite bold.

Without a word or expression, Seiren seemed to convey that thought.

“Is that so? And what if she fails?”

“In that case, do as you wish with Tina. I won’t object.”

“That’s not enough. The arboretum is a critical issue that must be resolved as soon as possible. If your actions cause a delay, you too will be severely punished.”

Caw.

The Roincrow let out a low cry, as if to emphasize the chill in Seiren’s words.

Yet Rubin responded with surprising boldness.

“Please don’t worry, head of the family. I will see it done. However, I have one request.”

“Speak.”

“Send only Tina and me.”

Seiren’s eyes narrowed.

“Why?”

“With vassals, it’s cumbersome and draws attention. It was the same when I visited the Tower of Light and Rebellion. The reason we encountered the Execution Unit was also because of this.”

It made sense.

Had Rubin traveled alone, he might have moved faster and more safely.

“Besides, the journey isn’t long or difficult, so I’d prefer to go with just the two of us.”

Seiren remained silent, appearing somewhat dissatisfied.

Rubin drove his point home.

“And more than anything, I have found a way to completely control Tina.”

Control, he said.

Tina was a Blood-Transformation Tribe who could transform into anyone.

How, exactly, did he intend to control such an unruly individual?

Still, he didn’t seem to be lying.

He appeared ready to prove it if asked.

Seiren couldn’t discern Rubin’s true intentions, but she could see his bold spirit.

“…You’re quite impudent.”

Though she spoke those words, a faint smile appeared on Seiren’s lips, almost too subtle to notice.

“Please grant me permission, head of the family.”

Seiren seemed to deliberate.

For one, she was exempt from the rule of limiting outside trips before completing her vows.

In any case, this was a mission.

As for safety, there were no concerns.

As Rubin had said, the route wasn’t dangerous or far.

Since the arboretum operated in secrecy, the journey would be safe.

Tina, too, had the nature of a Blood-Transformation Tribe who couldn’t kill.

Though she might run, she wouldn’t harm Rubin.

And if she tried to escape, it would be easy to secretly assign vassals to track her.

These two were the only major concerns.

She ruled out all other potential threats.

If her son couldn’t handle petty dangers, it would be better not to take him under her wing.

“Interesting.”

In fact, now she had something new and intriguing to observe.

Could this young boy solve the troublesome issues at the arboretum?

Only time would tell.

“Very well. You may leave.”

“Yes, head of the family.”

“Wait.”

Rubin’s steps halted just as he was about to leave the room.

“Rubin. Never mind the arboretum—how do you know of Elder Gillifield? There’s no one around you who would know of him.”

Rubin’s composed demeanor had been so convincing that even Seiren hadn’t caught this earlier.

‘Oops.’

It was a minor slip on Rubin’s part.

He knew of Elder Gillifield because of his past life, of course.

But he couldn’t say that outright.

“Ah, I read about him in a book in the underground archives. I can’t remember the title, but…”

When suspicion arose, the library was his best excuse.

It was one of the few truths he’d realized.

Rubin offered the answer like a child, and thankfully, Seiren’s suspicion stopped there.

“Hmm. They say you spend all your time buried in the library. Fine. You may leave.”