Chapter 8 – The Assassin

“Is this the reason you called us?”

“Yes, because it doesn’t seem to be a normal murder case. There are over dozens of victims from last night alone.”

If it had been a simple murder case, the Security Bureau would have handled it on their own.

However, there were cases that even they could not handle.

In such cases, it was customary to send a cooperation document to the Holy Order or the Magic Tower, but due to the nature of the Magic Tower not cooperating well, they mostly requested help from the Holy Order.

“Is it the work of a monster or a demon?”

“That is not certain. However, looking at the corpses, they were literally sliced to pieces. It’s the first time in my life I’ve seen corpses sliced so brutally.”

“Of course, it wasn’t a duel, right?”

“Since duels are usually fought between two people, it probably wasn’t. It was just a one-sided massacre.”

The introduction followed.

“Ah, I am Edgar Rohan, a Senior Investigator dispatched from the Special Crimes Department of the Imperial Capital Security Bureau. You may call me by name comfortably. As a Brother, of course you should.”

Since they belonged to completely separate organizations and clerics were generally monsters,

Edgar’s reaction was extremely natural.

“I would like to look around the crime scene.”

“Of course. Please follow me.”

Under Edgar’s guidance, Rashid was able to examine Pizarro Street.

“Has there been another incident of this scale recently?”

“No. A scene this brutal is a first for me as well this year.”

Rashid calmly reconstructed the crime scene.

The bloodstains scattered everywhere and the blood cross left provocatively were still vivid in his mind.

“I would like to see photos of the victims.”

“Ah, I will bring them shortly.”

Looking at the various photos the investigator brought, Rashid narrowed his brow.

‘It was definitely the work of an expert. It looks somewhat rough, but without a single exception, they were all blown away along with their vital points.’

That the culprit did not miss the victims’ vital points

was something he could know for certain with the help of his trait, ‘Critical Hunter’.

‘With this level of skill, it might be a named assassin I know.’

“It looks like they were struck by Sword Force.”

The investigator flinched in surprise.

“Sword Force?”

At that moment, another investigator came running hurriedly toward them.

“Investigator Edgar! The forensics results are out. It seems all the victims were massacred by Sword Force.”

“It really was Sword Force just as you said, Brother. But if it’s Sword Force… isn’t that a master-level technique?”

The culprit was identified.

It was someone who had reached the realm of a Sword Master.

Like this, finding the culprit becomes easy, but catching them becomes difficult instead.

“If they even handle Sword Force… wouldn’t they be a difficult opponent for you as well, Brother?”

The reason the reward was so generous for a mere sub-quest.

There was a reason for it.

‘Sword Force…’

Rashid silently began to move somewhere.

“Brother! Where are you going all of a sudden?”

Edgar only thought that perhaps he was moving to request reinforcements.

The opponent was not a common assassin, but someone who had reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship.

No matter how much of a cleric he was, he was a hard opponent to face.

“If you are requesting support from the knights…”

Rashid said firmly.

“There is no need for the knights’ help.”

“Then where are you going? I thought you were requesting support.”

“Unless it is a simple grudge relationship, they must have been commissioned by someone. The places that would commission such a task are not very many in this capital.”

“Ah…”

“It might be a dangerous place. If you are anxious, I will go alone.”

“N-no. Of course I must follow. I am strictly an investigator as well. I have a duty to resolve this matter together with you, Brother.”

Although he set out to follow,

Edgar was still worried.

“But will you really be okay? The opponent is a master who even uses Sword Force. No matter how great you are, Brother, to face a Sword Master…”

“No support is needed, it’s enough if I just release my seal. Though it is unknown whether they will permit it.”

A short while later,

Rashid, who contacted the monastery through a long-distance magic communication port on the street, had a conversation with the Abbot.

“I deny it.”

As expected, it was just as expected.

Even though the opponent might be a Sword Master-class assassin, the Abbot was resolute.

“Cleric. Rather than the seal, believe in yourself and the God who bestowed that mission upon you. You will surely be able to achieve it.”

Generally, a cleric’s martial prowess was lower than that of a master-class powerhouse.

Thus, if he had been worried about him, those were words that could absolutely never be spoken.

He would have sent support at least.

‘Looking at it, this guy is also crossing the line. Since we are just a passing connection anyway, I was going to ignore it, but I shouldn’t just let it slide.’

That was a bigger problem.

Just as Edgar had feared,

a Sword Master-class assassin was not an easy opponent.

Currently, his swordsmanship rank was A.

This was the power of one of his traits, ‘Eighteen Martial Arts’.

A cheat-like trait that raised the rank of swordsmanship, spearmanship, and all other techniques to A.

Thus, Rashid could be said to be at an expert level in all techniques.

Swordsmanship was also at an expert level.

However, it was not at the master level.

A master was fundamentally S-rank.

It was a whopping two ranks above expert.

‘If I clear this quest, my swordsmanship rank will rise to S-rank due to the Swordsmanship Expert trait. But for now, it’s A-rank. It will be a bit difficult for an A-rank swordsman to face an S-rank master. Unless there are other compensating factors.’

Even from the perspective of an ordinary person, a duel between an expert and a master was

overwhelming enough to show a clear difference.

Therefore, if he only relied on simple swordsmanship, Rashid had no chance of winning.

Because the difference in skill was a whopping two ranks.

However, he had stats, and he also had various traits.

‘I must not overlook the fact that I am a player.’

What filled the gap in skill was precisely items, stats, and traits.

Rashid opened his status window.

Body [H]: 12

Sense [S]: 16

Mana [A]: 8

Mind [M]: 11

◇ Traits: [Eighteen Martial Arts] [Critical Hunter] [Speed Demon] [Double-Edged Time]

– Use of mana is restricted due to the seal.

Among the various stats, the stat to prioritize most was mana.

Because even the Holy Order which rejected magic could not easily discard magic, and what determined the power of that magic was precisely mana. Furthermore, mana had a rather broad range of utility, such as physical reinforcement.

However, because the utilization of mana was restricted due to the seal,

he had no choice but to concentrate on the remaining stats excluding mana, and the result was this.

‘The overall condition is not bad. I have the all-stats increase obtained last time, and the traits I currently possess are not bad either. Covering a two-rank technique grade difference should be possible.’

Moreover,

‘I have a cheat item. As long as there are no eyes around, I can crush him with the magic armor.’

* * *

Red Cocktail.

Murder contracts, villain escort missions, or even kidnapping, theft, and human trafficking.

A neutral zone of the underworld where all the dirty deeds of the world were traded.

In that place, which everyone in the know knew, a person draped in a shabby monastic robe appeared together with an investigator.

The people in the shop recognized him at once, and they seemed not to welcome his visit.

Rashid, not caring about this, went straight to the shop’s bartender.

“Excuse me, Brother. Here is… a bit dangerous.”

Rashid, lightly ignoring Edgar’s concerns, asked the bartender.

“Among the jobs that came in recently, was there any work related to Pizarro?”

A giant with dark skin.

Impressive with his bursting muscles, he tore the corners of his mouth wide beneath his sunglasses.

“Hmph, hilarious. Do you think I’ll tell you just because you ask, Cleric?”

Rashid’s eyes growled like a wild beast for a moment.

“If you want to keep operating, you’d better cooperate quietly.”

Perhaps finding it laughable, the bartender contorted his expression threateningly.

“Cleric. The guts to come here alone is praiseworthy. But are you too stuck in the monastery to know how the world works? Did you come here thinking this is some neighborhood corner store? You entered on two legs, but I will make you crawl out on all fours.”

As the bartender gestured with his chin, six men scattered across the shop surrounded Rashid as if encircling him.

Their appearances were diverse, but all of them were experts hired by the shop.

“I-I! I will wait outside.”

Clatter!

The terrified investigator fled outside the shop, and Rashid, left alone, silently pulled off his hood, revealing his face.

The bartender delivered an ultimatum.

“Crawl out like a dog. Then nothing will happen. Hahahaha!”

Click!

The mechanical device attached to his combat suit activated, spilling small crosses from beneath his sleeves.

The spilled crosses were all caught in his hands, and Rashid, radiating a chilling murderous intent, unsheathed the blades hidden within the crosses.

Speaking volumes with his eyes, he scattered cross-shaped throwing stars and subdued the surroundings in an instant.

Other people in the shop aimed their gun barrels at Rashid.

Bang! Bang, bang, bang, bang!

Gunfire rained down, but in Rashid’s ears, those gunshots were not explosions but a long resonance.

Trait, Double-Edged Time.

The slowing time slowed down the bullet’s velocity and made even its sound dull.

The acrid smell of gunpowder dyed the air, and the scattered cross-shaped throwing stars rushed through the shop.

The inside of the shop became a mess in an instant.

The endless gunfire soon fell quiet.

In that place thick with groans and smoke, only a single cleric stood tall.

Rashid approached the bartender who was sprawling nearby and took a subduing posture.

“I’ll give you one more chance. Did someone commission work related to Pizarro here?”

As if he wouldn’t yield easily,

the muscular giant grinned.

“Go screw yourself.”

Rashid fitted knuckles engraved with cross patterns onto his fists.

Once.

Twice.

Thrice.

“This is the last. This time, I will gouge your eyes out.”

“S-stop!”

The meaningless resistance broke there.

“The day before yesterday, some guy came! He was looking for a master-class assassin to cause trouble in Pizarro! Fortunately, some el… who was in the shop…”

Sensing a momentary surge of killing intent, Rashid tore through time using his trait and reflexively threw his body.

Three daggers that failed in the surprise attack embedded themselves in the wall, and the next dagger that flew pierced the bartender’s neck.

Landing rather noisily on the bar counter, Rashid looked at the origin of the dagger aimed at him.

Someone escaping through the stairs leading to the ground level was spotted.

Rashid hurriedly chased him, going up the stairs and coming out of the building.

However, what he encountered outside was people he didn’t particularly want to run into.

“Whoa, whoa, look who it is?”

Two knights of the Holy Order intentionally stood in front of Rashid, blocking him.

“A cleric, I see.”

It wasn’t the guy who had escaped outside the shop.

Rashid looked around to find traces of him, and as if trying to obstruct this,

the two knights blatantly blocked his way.

“Hey, what are you doing with us here?”

“I was chasing the guy who targeted me. What on earth are you knights doing here anyway?”

“What does what we do here have to do with you?”

Giving up on the chase, Rashid faced them.

Scarlet eyes and pointed ears.

The two knights had typical features of a vampire.

“Cleric. Your attitude is extremely insolent. We will let it slide this time, but if you do that next time, you’d better be prepared.”

The two vampire knights departed.

The way they left right after hindering him was practically aiding the one who had fled earlier.

Rashid lightly laughed it off.

‘What ridiculous interference. Are they trying to advertise that they are the culprits?’

Once the two knights departed,

Edgar, who had been watching from a distance, approached.

“I’m sorry, Brother. Because the knights suddenly came and chased me away.”

“Did you happen to see a person of about this height escaping from this shop?”

Rashid placed a hand near his chest and waited for his answer.

“No, I didn’t see him. Watching the knights’ reactions, I was just smoking a cigarette from afar.”

He was of no help, but it was still too early to give up.

He slowly retraced the memory of that moment.

Although it was a split-second moment, because he had lengthened time using his trait, his memory of it remained quite clear.

He was short in stature, and a male.

And he was an elf with pointed ears.

‘I see. Now I know who the bastard who turned Pizarro into a mess is.’

The culprit was identified.