Mission Success

Ch 2

POV Charlotte

The idiot lord had commanded all of his soldiers to search for me, meaning that the treasury wouldn't have that many guards. This made my job much simpler.

An assassin should always be prepared. Before I went to assassinate the target I memorized the layout of the whole castle. This really came in handy right now as I followed shortest the path to the treasury. Luckily, there weren't any guards on the way.

As I approached the treasury I got another idea, instead of sneaking in, it would be much easier to just walk in directly.

I shouted. "I found her, she is running towards the treasury."

It seemed like my plan worked, soon multiple knights appeared.

"What happened? Where did you see her?" A seemingly strong knight asked me.

"That way. After I shouted she injured me so I couldn't chase her, but I saw her running that way. Could her real intent be stealing something?" I said in a deep voice.

Upon hearing my words, the knight's face paled.

"Good work. Don't worry I will check if anything is gone." The knight patted my shoulder and ran towards the treasury. I followed slowly acting like I was injured which wasn't very hard because I actually was.

When I reached the treasury, the doors were already open and the knights were searching every corridor.

I also acted like I was searching for the assassin while moving closer to the section where magic scrolls were kept. Entering the treasury of a rich noble always pulls at your greed. Potions, Elixirs, pills, and scrolls of varying levels were stacked from wall to wall. After fumbling around for a bit, I finally reached the place where healing scrolls were kept.

A 5th circle water healing scroll. Found it. There were only three of these.

In a swift motion, I took the scroll and put it under my armour, on the injury. Although there were knights around me no one noticed my actions. Then I channelled my energy into the scroll activating it. Soon I felt a comfortable sensation of my wound covered in warm water. In just a few seconds the wound was healed without a scar and even my body felt refreshed and full of energy. High-level spell scrolls are definitely overpowered. I imagined the lord's face when he got to know I used his precious scroll, sadly he wouldn't live long enough for that. With my injuries now gone and having a better understanding of the situation, there is no way I was going to miss.

I hurriedly left the treasury acting as if my injury got worse. After reaching an empty corridor, I discarded the armour and quickly made my way to the lord's bedroom. I was planning to plant a trap using the scroll. I stuck the 6th circle scroll on the underside of the bed and jumped out of the window to the roof. After making sure the energy threads were connected, I crouched into a comfortable situation, out of sight. Now all I had to do was wait.

And wait I did. Because the lord did not come to sleep for the whole night. Maybe it was because they found the body of the soldier I killed, or the discarded armour, I didn't know. All I did was patiently wait. During all this time I had to constantly output the same level of energy to maintain the thread, otherwise, it would activate the scroll prematurely. Finally, the next night I saw the lord coming in the bedroom. This was my chance. I waited for him to lie down on his bed, and only when he was comfortably asleep, I activated the scroll with help of the energy threads.

After 2 seconds of silence there was a deafening explosion, the walls crumbled, and panic ensued. Seeing the destruction caused scared even me. High level spell scrolls are really no joke. Thankfully I was far enough that the explosion didn't affect me. After breaking out of my reverie I quickly went to the sight of the explosion and searched for any remains before the guards could arrive. To my surprise, after digging around for a minute, I actually found the lord's body. I had thought it would have been reduced to ashes, or at least split into several pieces, but his body was still in one piece. I quickly severed his thumb and put it into a bag.

Mission accomplished. Now I have to return and report it.

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*Albrecht family manor*

"You did it."

A cold voice came from a handsome figure sitting at the head of the table.

"Yes father."

His voice softened a little at the confirmation.

"Good, The first prince will be happy to know another traitor is dead."

"May I know why the first prince wanted him dead?" I asked him. Recently there were a lot of targets given by the first prince. Something must have happened in the imperial family for this to happen.

"He had dealings with the Gretel Empire. As you know, our empire is currently at war with them. With the political situation rapidly worsening the presence of traitors could easily break the country."

My eyes widened at the information I received. All of those people are traitors? There was even a 7th refinement combat master the list.

"Father did you also have to…"

Although I did not complete my sentence, it seemed like he understood what I wanted to say.

"Yes, I also had to move. I am the only 7th refinement combat master assassin in the house afterall. It had been years since I last went on a mission. Thankfully my skills were still up to the mark."

Just imagining the assassination of a combat master sent shivers down my spine.

"What if something happened to you? What would happen to the Albrecht family."

"Charlotte. We are of the Albrecht family. The best Assassins in the Carnel Empire since it was founded. We serve not in war but behind the scenes. Assassination, spying, subterfuge, that is what we excel at. The ancestor stood beside the first emperor when they founded the empire and promised him to protect him and his empire while living in darkness. If we don't accept missions, there wouldn't be a reason for the existence of the Albrecht family."

"…" Seeing my silence, he continued.

"Listen Charlotte, although I am proclaimed as a genius, you are much more talented than me. Reaching the 4th refinement at 16 years of age is just impossible to believe. Even the third prince who is said to be the most talented among all the imperial descendants only reached 2nd circle Master Magician at 14 years of age. You might even be able to reach the 9th refinement like the family ancestor if you continue to grow. Only don't ever forget your duties and your family, and the order of priority between them."

"Was the task difficult?" I couldn't help but ask. I just wanted to break the silence. Only after saying it did I realize what was a stupid question it was, father came back without any major injuries, obviously it wasn't life threateningly difficult.

"He was a combat master that frequently used pills. He barely had half of my strength."

Pills and Elixirs. To break through to the next refinement or to reach the next circle many commoners use pills and elixirs. However, this makes the energy more dilute after breaking through and weakens the overall strength. This is why nobles strictly prohibit their children from using them at least in the early stages. The only time when it is deemed acceptable to use is it is at the ending stages of your life when you have no hope of reaching the next stage on your own.

I the past few generations of the Albrecht family, my father was the only one with enough talent to become a combat master without relying on any pills.

Just then I hears footsteps of somebody running and in a few seconds the door was blasted open by a woman in her late 30s.

"Charlotte!" the figure jumped at me with surprising agility. Before I could react I felt her arms around me.

"I was so worried about what would happen to you." She said as she cupped my face in her hands.

"Nice to see you too mother." I said with a smile while my lips twitched at the sudden change in situation.

"Are you injured somewhere?"

"No, I am completely fine." There's no way I am going to tell her what happened.

However, she paid no attention to what I said. She patted and inspected my body for a few minutes before being satisfied that there were no injuries.

"Catherine right now Charlotte and I were talking. You shouldn't just barge in like that."

That made her react. She turned to my father with an angry glare.

"You. How could you send her to assassinate a weapon expert alone? And that too without informing me beforehand?"

"If I did you would have stopped her from going alone, or sneaked behind her."

"Yes I would have, and there is nothing wrong with that. Do you not care about her life?"

"I do, and that is why I gave her a 6th circle spell scroll."

"That is not enough protection."

"She is now an adult and an excellent assassin and can take care of herself."

After staring at each other for a few seconds. Mother spoke up.

"Duel?"

"Duel."

Before me realizing what was happening the room was left empty.