NOVEL NEXT Chapter 5 - The Fragile Extra in the Book (5)
Chapter 5 – The Fragile Extra in the Book (5)
“Who is it?”
I asked a question that would never be answered.
The novel doesn’t reveal who this assassin is in the end, and I didn’t particularly want to know.
But unexpectedly, the assassin spoke up.
“Did you think I would answer that question?” he asked.
I was mildly surprised by the assassin’s question.
I thought he was going to kill me without a word, but he had a bigger mouth than I expected.
There are many powerful monsters in his organization, but he is not one of them.
The assassin in front of me was just an extra who reported Prince Yuan’s death to the mastermind and was disposed of.
The person behind him is someone who cares about talented people.
The fact that he was killed just because he knew that he had killed me meant that he was not worth much.
A too-strong assassin would risk being picked up by the senses of the various monsters guarding the palace, so he deliberately sent a weaker one.
You don’t need a fancy cattle prod to kill something like Prince Yuan.
Honestly, Prince Yuan didn’t even deserve a chicken knife.
“Heh, you’re so heartless. Shouldn’t you at least tell the Lord of the Moon who sent you?”
I smirked as I switched from my usual habit of calling him King Yeomra to the god who presides over the underworld in this world.
This world believed that souls are born in the sun and go to the moon when they die.
I don’t really believe in God, but I don’t deny others their beliefs.
The assassin’s brow narrowed as I leisurely picked up my glass and bottle.
“What, you want a drink?”
“Are you trying to trick me!”
The assassin snapped at my question. I sneered in response.
“You’re insignificant. Don’t think too highly of yourself, you filthy little rat that crawled in without the landlord’s knowledge.”
“You…!”
He was so furious that I could see his face flush even though his mask covered it.
This guy is easy to tease.
“Take my advice. Inflated notions of yourself are one of the symptoms of mania, or megalomania.”
As if insulted by my kind words, the assassin drew the dagger from his hip.
It’s human nature to be angry when the truth is revealed.
“How dare you, you lowly wretch!”
The assassin shouted, the broken clock chimed, and the moonlight from the window reflected off the dagger in his hand.
As if favored by the moon god of death, the sharp dagger plunged toward my chest, aiming for the heart.
Boom!
Just like the scene in the prologue, red liquid splashed on the floor, and the moonlight shone mournfully.
Thus, Prince Yuan died.
…From now on, my life will be my own.
I grabbed the assassin’s arm with the hand that had lost its grip on the glass and gripped the handle of the dagger.
“Huh?!”
The assassin panicked as his arm was suddenly grabbed, and I laughed and shouted.
“Navi! Ears!”
At the same time as my shout, Navi moved as I had previously instructed.
Then, both of the assassin’s ears burst open and bled.
Navi is a wind fairy who manipulates the wind. So, what is wind? Wind is the movement of air in the atmosphere.
But why does air move?
Just as water flows from top to bottom due to changes in atmospheric pressure, air flows from higher to lower pressure.
This means that wind spirits can manipulate pressure.
What I instructed Navi to do was to create as much pressure difference as it could in the assassin’s ear.
The result was to burst the assassin’s eardrums and crush his semi-circular canals, a vital organ for centering his body and keeping his balance.
As the assassin flailed about, I struck him full force on the crown of his head with the bottle in my hand.
“Bam!”
A dull sound rang out, and blood gushed from the assassin’s head.
The assassin’s equilibrium organ was broken, and he couldn’t dodge the bottle swung by his frail arm.
But unlike in the movie or dramas, the bottle I swung is still intact. How come it’s only covered in blood?
Haha, no wonder movie props are fake. They were made of sugar craft for colorful visual effects.
“Uh, well, well, well….”
The assassin was stunned and could barely speak. I wondered if the blow had caused a brain hemorrhage.
“So you’re trained to be an assassin? Well, this is a world of monsters that can blow away mountains with their swords. I was wrong to think I could kill you in one hit with this frail body.”
If it were a normal person, they wouldn’t be able to speak, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they were killed by Navi’s attack.
The fact that he tried to stab me right through the heart, even in a state of rage, suggests that he was physically, if not mentally, an assassin.
“Ah, you asked how I’m alive, and the answer is my voracious reading habits. I always read.”
I pulled the dagger from my chest, unbuttoned my robes, and pulled out a thick book pinned across the top of my corset.
The dagger was almost through the hardcover, and it made my chest tighten.
I tossed the book to the floor and held the bottle high.
“I hope that answers your question. Good night. I won’t see you off.”
Then I slammed the bottle down with all my might.
This was my eulogy for the poor prince who had died.
* * *
Precia left her guard post for a moment to go to the waiting room to see her master, Prince Yuan, with some uneasiness.
Her actions would lead to her being sent to one of the worst places in The Sage of Winterwood, but she had no way of knowing.
When Precia opened the door to the waiting room and entered, her eyes were met with something red soaking the floor, a cloaked man on the ground, and Yuan standing there clutching a bottle dripping with blood.
“What the…! Prince, are you okay? Are you hurt?”
As Precia examined Yuan’s condition with a worried face, the slender prince she was serving spoke in a calm voice that belied his dilated pupils and flushed complexion.
“I am not injured. It was wine that spilled on the floor.”
“I’m glad to hear you’re unharmed, but what happened?”
Precia asked, and Yuan shivered slightly as he handed her the bottle of wine before answering.
“An assassin came looking for me, and I’ll credit my bodyguard, Sir, with disposing of him.”
“What?”
She took the flask, momentarily unable to comprehend the situation.
Assassinations are only done when someone is disliked or in the way.
Yuan’s behavior and demeanor were far from the sort of thing that would make someone target him.
Even the Queen Consort, who hated Yuan, considered him an eyesore and a weed.
“And hurry up and tell the people. There’s an assassin in the palace, and they need to move for His Majesty’s safety.”
“Ah! Yes, I understand.”
At Precia’s reply, Yuan gave a faint smile.
“Then I’ll ask you to do the rest. You will keep me safe… and if there’s anything you don’t understand, ask the servant… Heri… On… ….”
Unable to finish his sentence, Yuan fell asleep, as if the tension had been released.
“Prince, Prince, is there anyone outside, a doctor, someone fetch the court doctor at once!”
Precia shouted as she picked up the collapsing Yuan.
If Yuan were awake, he would have laughed at the scene, but he had already fallen into a deep sleep.
The only difference from the prologue was that it wasn’t Yuan who was dead, but an assassin, and that it was wine that soaked the floor, not the blood of a loved one.
Precia’s shouts echoed throughout the palace, people flocked to the anteroom next to the banquet hall, and rumors of the assassin quickly spread throughout the palace.
The banquet was naturally canceled, and the king hurriedly returned to his palace, escorted by his knights.
The entire palace was placed on lockdown, and the knights scrambled to find any other possible intruders.
It was Herion, Yuan’s personal servant, who calmed the people of the palace, and Precia spent the night at Yuan’s side, nervously blaming herself for not being able to protect him.
Along with stories of assassins, rumors began to spread in the frosty palace that Yuan had a scar on his chest that looked like a mark of abuse.
If it was abuse, who did it?
Everyone in the palace had one person in mind, but no one dared to speak up.
* * *
I woke up and opened my eyes to see a ceiling that looked familiar.
I rubbed my face and realized that this was my room.
I had hoped that if I opened my eyes again, I would find myself in the world of An Yuan, but I was wrong.
Well, my friend was dead, and I didn’t have any regrets about that world.
I didn’t have a family.
The only thing that bothered me was that I didn’t get to say goodbye to my friend.
“Mmm….”
I glanced toward the window, where the sunlight was short and not slanted.
It wasn’t hard to tell that it was around noon.
I’d been asleep for at least 18 hours by my rough calculations, since I passed out around 6pm.
“Wow, Prince… you’re awake….”
Precia sat up nervously and slammed her head into my bed when she saw me up.
“Precia?”
She must have fallen asleep because she was breathing heavily.
Precia had been a half-finished protagonist from the start, yet she only stayed up for a few hours, and now she’s passed out like she fainted?
I ran a hand through my hair in disbelief, and the changes in the lettering on the underside of my right wrist caught my eye.
‘0.0411 percent.’
I swallowed hard as I felt the urge to curse.
After all that shit yesterday, I’m only up 0.0004 percent?
I sighed, and the hand that ran through my hair felt unpleasantly greasy.
By the feel of it, it wasn’t something that would develop overnight.
How many days had I slept?
I pushed myself out of bed and tried to lay Precia down on the bed, who was still sleeping like she’d passed out.
“No, why are you so heavy, armor? Are you wearing armor?!”
I grunted and tried to drag her up onto the bed, but ‘my’ personal servant knocked and opened the door.
“Uh… well, shall I come to you later?”
Herion asked, and I motioned for him to come in.
“Don’t look, just listen. I swear she fainted as soon as she saw my face.”
At my request, the old, half-white-haired servant smiled warmly and helped me lay Precia down on the bed.
He was a beastman after all, and he was strong for his age.
“Sir Precia has every right to faint. She’s been at the Prince’s side for over three days without sleep, and her nerves are shot.”
At his words, I clucked my tongue.
“Three days? No sleep? There must have been other knights?”
No matter how poor I was, there were soldiers and knights who basically patrolled and guarded the palace.
Whether I could trust them is another story, but I don’t know why she didn’t take the time to rest when she could have.
Herion smiled broadly at my incredulous question.
“Lord Precia told me that the prince himself ordered her to guard him.”
That’s all it took for you to be so foolish?
My poor head, what shall I do with this foolish young lady?
I sighed deeply and pondered what to do next.
Even if I defeated the assassin, which was my immediate goal, I could not say that I had accomplished my goal of survival.
The bastard who sends assassins to the palace won’t give up after one failure.
Then my goal is still to survive.
And as a bonus, I will make those who dare to come after me pay.
My revenge has already begun.
“Hoo hoo hoo.”
I laughed happily and ruffled Precia’s hair.
Oh, she didn’t wash her hair either.