‘There are sixteen presences, with half at 9th-stage and the rest between 5th and 8th stages…’

With their formation and the composition of their assault group, I guess they have quite a fair chance of taking my life. Well, that’s if they could take me by surprise, though.

Of course, I can’t simply call the girls here, asking for backup. If I did that, with the large fluctuations in space caused by teleportation, the assassins would quickly notice and retreat. To avoid that, I decided to do it a little bit differently.

“Fang, Ember, listen…”

I briefed the two of them through the Mental Scape of the Taming System about the current situation. Ember was busy with her multiple tasks, but Fang was mostly idle. After the two of them finished listening to my orders, both of them moved immediately.

With that out of the way, I resumed my careful walk forward, making sure not to glance at the assassin’s general direction.

“… And so, this town used to be famous for their carpentry. They’re the best in the entire kingdom as long as it was related to woodworking!”

Princess Hazel kept on talking, preaching to me about the former glory of the town we were headed to. I listened to her attentively, making sure not to show any suspicious movements. Just like that, we finally stepped into the town’s vicinity, marked by the ground becoming a paved road.

The structures around were practically destroyed, with a few still standing. The damages vary per building, but it was obvious at a glance that repairing it would be next to impossible. Rebuilding them from scratch would be the only solution here.

I carefully looked around, acting as if I were checking the damages, but I was actually gauging the assassin’s location. Of the sixteen, eight of them are within the town’s premises, hidden behind the buildings, and spread all over.

‘It would be difficult for me to catch them all at once.’

With their positioning, if I attacked someone, then the others could retreat and escape or provide backup, depending on the situation. Of course, that’s if I alone were the one to do it.

A smile crept across my face, making Princess Hazel turn a quizzical gaze toward me. I coughed lightly, trying to act as if nothing happened, before walking forward once more.

“By the way, Will, what is it that you want to see in this town?”

Unable to hold her curiosity back any longer, Princess Hazel asked directly, her brows furrowed lightly. Right, I didn’t tell her the reason, did I?

“Actually, I wanted to assess the damage to the town. After all, if the damage is light, we can simply fix everything. But seeing the current destruction level, I think it’ll be faster to just flatten everything and rebuild it from scratch.”

As I spoke, I let a small ball of flame float atop my palm. As I did that, the assassins’ presence fluctuated. Did they think I’d flatten the entire place right now?

“Sh*t!”

I realized my error a little too late. I ended up provoking them with my casual remark!

The assassins moved quickly, approaching the two of us from all directions. There were eight of them that moved, with the rest staying in place as if just observing the situation.

The attacking team quickly reached our vicinity, and I could feel their cold killing intent touching the back of my neck, my forehead, temple, chest, and right side. Each one of them targeted a vital organ, while the rest moved to seal off escape routes while aiming for Princess Hazel.

In another second, their attacks would connect and probably take my life…

“Well, I guess that’s enough. Fang.”

With a casual call, a shadow zipped across the town.

“Ugh!”

“Ack!”

“D-Dam—!”

Cries of pain escaped the assassins as they were attacked by someone they couldn’t see. The shadow that flashed past them was none other than Fang!

She, who had been in Heaven’s Republic at the Debauchery Hall, resting, was teleported by Ember straight to the Cleaver Kingdom’s gates. From there, Fang didn’t even need a minute to reach my side, hiding her presence with the same method as the other assassins.

In short, Fang had been with me before I even reached the town’s vicinity.

“Fang, don’t kill all of them. We’d need two or three alive to interrogate later.”

I shouted at her, who was busy waving the two daggers in her hand, slicing the assassins while parrying their attacks.

“Alright, Leader!”

Although she replied in the positive, she had already killed four out of the eight attackers. At this rate, they’d be wiped out sooner than later. It’s a little troubling if they get wiped; after all, dead men tell no tales.

Before I could move, as expected, Fang finished up the rest of them. Just as she turned to look behind her, she also noticed that she ran out of enemies to fight, causing her ears to flatten down on her head.

“L-Leader… Sorry, they were weaker than I thought and…”

Fang was about to apologize, but I quickly tapped her shoulder, shaking my head.

“Don’t worry about small things like that. Rather, why don’t you catch those eight rats there? This time, make sure to leave some alive, okay?”

“…!”

Fang turned toward where I pointed. She couldn’t detect any presence there before, but after I pointed it to her, she finally realized where the rest were hiding.

A fierce grin appeared on her face for an instant before she vanished from my view. She’s as fast as usual, literally leaving only a black flash behind.

“…”

I turned to Princess Hazel, shaking by my side as she stared at the corpses lying around. Although she did see quite a bit of carnage before, she’s still a child. I guess this scenery isn’t good for her education.

“Shall I send you back to your mother first? I’ll follow soon after I clean up these guys.”

Her eyes flickered upon hearing my suggestion, her grip on my arm tightening, before shaking her head slowly.

“No. It is my duty to watch by your side, President Will.”

Seeing her change back the way she calls me to President, I guess she means that right now, she’s acting as the Cleaver Kingdom’s princess and not just a weak girl who needs protection.

“… Alright. Then make sure not to leave my side.”

I had no reason to force her back, seeing that most of the assassins were already handled. I held her hand, cold as ice from anxiety and fear, as we headed forward, where Fang was, and four men tied up by black tentacles were present.

“…”

Looking behind Fang, four heads were present, still rolling along with the wind. Well, she did fulfill my requirement of keeping some survivors, so that’s a pass, I guess…

“Now then…”

I muttered as I walked beside Fang, looking at the faces of the four captured guys. All four of them were wearing all-black clothes, a typical image for assassins or thieves. I kneeled before them, leaving Princess Hazel to Fang’s care, as I took off their masks one after another.

“…”

They aren’t familiar faces at all. Well, not that I was expecting an acquaintance among them, anyway. After throwing their masks a short distance away, I stood up and nodded to Fang.

Without much effort, she sent the four rolling along the ground until they were lined up with ample distance between each of them. With that, I moved to the rightmost one first and activated a soundproof barrier.

“With this, nobody but I could hear your voice.”

I explained to him, who had a pale face.

“I’ll be asking you questions, and I’m expecting you to answer them truthfully. Alright?”

“…”

The assassin merely stared at my face, not daring to blink or open his mouth. It looks like they’re well-trained, at least. .𝒎

“First, who sent you?”

“…”

“Do you have other allies lurking nearby?”

“…”

“Looking at your build, you must be quite popular with ladies. Do you have a wife? Children, maybe?”

“…!”

Oh, that got him to react. A smile crossed my face, probably an evil-looking one, seeing the disgusted look Princess Hazel was giving me.

Anyway, I ignored their reaction for a moment, pushing the man before me toward his emotional edge, until he finally broke under my “persuasion.”

Without much trouble, I managed to get all the information I needed from him before I moved on to the next person.

The next one was similarly a tough nut to crack. He had no family, so I had to push him to his physical limit. In short, I had to perform a bit of torture. Of course, I hid the view from Princess Hazel, protecting her from the blood and gore of the entire procedure.

It took quite a while, but in the end, he also gave up information. As he did, I quickly patched up his severe injuries and cleared up the bloodstains on the ground before taking down the barrier that was hiding us visually.

“Ugh…”

Still, Princess Hazel felt lightheaded at the sight of the man. I turned to look at him and saw how his face became a lot more handsome compared to before. He did lose quite a lot of his teeth and nails, but at least his head is not crystal clear, without a single strand left.

“Maybe I overdid it a little.”

Well, no use pitying the enemy. They’re already lucky enough to live a bit longer. When I moved to the third one, however, things changed. Rather than me talking first, it was he who opened his mouth before I could even start.

“I will tell you everything. In exchange, I want to defect to your country!”

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