NOVEL NEXT 86 – The Assassins’ Mission (Part 1)
Chapter 86 - The Assassins' Mission (Part 1)
Nathan Evenhart:
Days had passed since Adrihna arrived at the castle.
“You’re going to get me dirty!” Chloe complained.
“Get you dirty? Have you looked around at where we are?” I asked her.
I continued to carry a bucket filled with a brownish mixture that looked like leftovers from vegetables, meat, and grains. I dumped the contents into the feeding trough, and the pigs came running to eat their ‘food.’ Chloe followed behind me with her own bucket and did the same.
“I’m going to fall! Stop it, you idiots!” she said, trying to keep her balance in the mud.
“You know pigs don’t understand our language, right?” I teased as I jumped over the wooden fence.
She ran, trying to escape the pigs that were hoping for more food in her bucket, and hopped over the fence.
We were working on a farm far from the castle. My aunt provided jobs for poor children and orphans. They were brought to work on farms where they received a salary and training to grow up knowing a trade. We were sent undercover as commoners to blend in with these children and learn how to work. Of course, the woman responsible for bringing our group of children was one of our maids in disguise, and we had a carriage driver who was actually a soldier, though he was dressed in armor to appear as a ‘man of the law,’ being a subordinate of the baron of the region.
“You took your time; we still need to finish cleaning the barn,” Kinue said.
My cousin groaned at hearing that but picked up her straw broom.
“We just need to finish cleaning this, and we’ll be done with our tasks,” I said to reassure her.
At least with the common tasks.
I grabbed my broom and observed the workers as we headed to the barn.
This is a medium-sized noble’s farm, with an average of 40 workers employed on a regular basis.
Among the workers, I noticed three of them had expensive swords at their sides and maintained a military posture, despite being dressed as peasants.
I passed by some children carrying baskets of clothes. Some didn’t look happy and had bruises on their arms.
The orphaned children who were hired full-time aren’t being treated well...
I quickly glanced at a house where a man was standing guard at the front.
“Hurry up, kid,” an adult said, shoving me toward the barn.
“Sorry, sir,” I said with a smile and kept walking.
There are 40 workers dedicated to the farm, along with other men focused on securing the estate and the noble’s mansion.
In total, there are at least 30 guards outside, and there might be mages among them.
We kept walking until we reached the barn.
There had been reports of children and commoners disappearing in the region. The suspicion was that someone was engaged in human trafficking, likely involving other crimes. A slaver, in addition to committing the crime of slavery on our lands, would also be guilty of kidnapping and other offenses. My family had sent us to investigate the place to understand the structure. We already had the evidence, but this was our test. We needed to complete the mission on our own, investigate the place ourselves, and pass judgment—it was a mission for me as an Evenhart Legacy.
There should be at least 10 children employed full-time and 12 irregular children who arrived in carriages sent by the Evenhart free education system. The problem is, there are too many children here—some of them aren’t employed... they’re probably slaves.
The three of us had come as irregular children.
I entered the barn and stared at the filth.
“At least this time, we have some incentive to get the tasks done,” I said to Chloe.
“But it’s still… boring,” she replied.
Kinue appeared behind us, pulling a cart for us to toss the waste into.
“We’ve got a lot to do,” the fox-girl said.
We sighed and got to work.
As I carried out my task, I kept a close eye on the area outside the window, analyzing the guards’ armaments and trying to identify any potential threats.
This farm belongs to a wealthy noble, who doesn’t hold a political office, which makes things easier for us. On the surface, his wealth comes from his various farms, but he’s also involved in underground dealings with corrupt nobility.
There exists a corrupt nobility that collaborates with criminals in a black market. Almost anything can be bought in this underworld—from drugs and slaves to animals. In the nobility's underworld, there are those who sell services for theft, assassination, sabotage, and even kidnapping. My family deals with this kind of filth in our territory; after all, eliminating the world’s rot is the job of an assassin in our family.
Unfortunately, due to the losses we suffered in the last war, we’ve barely managed to handle basic tasks like supporting farmers and families who were affected, which has allowed the underworld to seep further into our lands. We are known as a duchy that does not forgive certain crimes, but the underworld is fueled by nobles, making our work even more difficult. Nobles have influence in their lands and connections. They can employ wanted criminals and move contraband mixed with other shipments. Nobles oversee the regulation of their territories, making it dangerous if a noble decides to use their influence for evil.
In this world, commoners are often viewed as inferior by most of the nobility, which is why corrupt nobles permit kidnappings on their lands, selling people off as human or sexual slaves in other territories. In our duchy, slavery is a crime, but there are those who kidnap commoners to sell them in another duchy. My family’s duty is to root out this evil and eliminate those who commit such acts in our lands.
A political noble has greater protection, requiring us to act through the justice system. However, in some cases, we create an ‘accident.’ After all, an assassin’s work is often dirty. When dealing with a political noble, my family prefers to follow legal channels and register the case with the kingdom’s court, which passes judgment on the noble. As superior nobles, our actions are rarely questioned, as long as we present evidence. Part of the political nobility in our duchy is elected by the kingdom to prevent a duke from inciting rebellion, as this keeps them informed. This is why my aunt can’t simply eliminate a troublesome political noble directly; she would break several kingdom laws and must follow the bureaucratic process.
Political nobles are protected by law and must be judged by the kingdom’s court, while a superior noble enjoys even greater protection, to the point of being immune to most accusations. This means I could kill a commoner without punishment, as, in theory, they are my subjects in my territory. The only crimes that could affect me are those of treason against the kingdom, which are diplomatic in nature. My family does not see commoners as inferior beings but as our people. This is why Chloe and I are raised doing common work—to instill this belief in us; it’s the way they’ve chosen to raise their children. This would have been the ideal way to raise nobility in my previous world if there had been any, but there was not. In my previous world, there was only one person in the nobility, only one emperor… and that was me.
We continued cleaning the place, and by the end of the day, we were finally done.
“Well done, it looks excellent,” said a woman entering the barn. I noticed she was in charge of the workers.
“Thank you, Miss Isabelle,” Kinue replied, and we followed her example, bowing since she was nobility and we were only ‘commoners.’
“I’m being sincere with my praise—you all did a great job cleaning the place. The irregular children usually take a while to learn the job.”
“We're used to it; we’ve been doing this since we were little,” my cousin said.
The woman approached us.
“Is it true that you’re from the village near the castle?” she asked.
I nodded.
“Have you ever seen what our rulers are like? I’ve always been curious about the family that governs and the young lords.”
Chloe and I exchanged glances.
“They’re very reserved and rarely leave the castle,” I replied.
“If I lived in a castle, I wouldn’t leave it much either. Imagine living a life with so many servants that you even have someone to put your shoes on or brush your hair.”
“I think it would be a nice life, not having to do chores,” my cousin added.
Hey! I noticed a bit of truth in that statement...
“They must be very hardworking and diligent with their tasks…” Kinue said.
Our fox friend is truly on our side, even in disguise...
“A superior noble doing chores? Haha,” the woman laughed. “It’s more likely for trees to walk.”
My mother can make trees walk…
“In fact, she and I are the two superior nobles of this duchy, and we spend our days shoveling animal dung because we’re taught to do these kinds of tasks,” I said.
Chloe and Kinue looked at me, shocked.
“Hahahaha,” the woman laughed again. “Alright, little one, you have a good sense of humor. But you shouldn’t call yourself a superior noble; that’s a serious crime,” she said, patting me on the head.
I looked at the two girls, who seemed relieved.
After all, what are the chances that the two only superior nobles in the territory would spend the day working on a farm? Even I would laugh if I didn’t know my family.
“I could hire the three of you—what do you think?” she asked.
Just as we were about to respond, another woman entered the room.
“Sorry to interrupt, ma’am, but it’s time to take the irregular children back to the city,” said the disguised maid.
“I hope to see you all again someday. If you come back to work on this farm, look for me,” she said, handing us a bronze coin.
“Ma’am, we’re already paid by the governing family of the duchy,” I said.
“I’m just giving you a small reward, that’s all,” she replied, handing the coin to Chloe.
“Thank you very much, madam,” my cousin thanked her.
“I love girls your age, and I worry about you being an orphan. Here on our farm, we take in young people and value them with a good salary. Think about what I said,” she added.
We headed to the carriage, and other irregular children also got in. These children were rotated between farms near their duchy, and we always switched farms to avoid creating a routine. In this world, schools last no more than three years, where children are taught to read, write, and basic math. Commoners have access to cheap schools that offer classes once a week, while nobles have private tutors who teach them about economics, laws, and other activities related to their family’s work.
As soon as we got into the carriage and sat down, I remembered the bronze coin.
So that’s how you do it. You lure commoner children with offers of work and high monetary rewards.
“What do you think?” Kinue asked.
“I think we’ve got it,” Chloe said.
There are at least 30 armed guards outside who might be experienced criminals. Then there are those inside the noble’s mansion… and probably some mages too.
I observed the two girls.
“I think we can handle it,” I said.
This would officially be my first mission as an assassin. In the past, we’d always been there just as support.
Kinue stood out a bit due to her demi-human traits and rarely joined us when we worked on farms that weren’t ours, but this would be our first mission where we’d do everything ourselves. This would be our test to become assassins.
As the carriage pulled away, I looked back at the mansion and saw the noble talking with his men.
The Evenhart Legacy is coming to your door—your time is up.
"Finally, let’s fucking do this!" Athena said.
I glanced around, watching the goddess.
Disappear again—I don’t need you bothering me right now.