Chapter 156: What a beautiful night...
After taking a brief tour of the city and buying several items that caught his eye, Kael returned to the luxurious inn to continue refining his mana essence and reach rank 6 as soon as possible.
Upon arrival, he saw an unexpected guest waiting for him at the reception, accompanied by a maid, a beautiful woman with black hair and ruby-red eyes.
It was the third princess of the kingdom of Aragon, Audrey Augustus, and at her side was her maid, Martha.
Kael watched them for a moment before heading for the stairs to go up to his room, but he was quickly intercepted by Martha, who was glaring at him furiously.
"Do you have a moment? My mistress would like to speak with you." She spoke in a respectful tone despite her anger at being ignored by her mistress a few seconds earlier.
Kael simply gestured for them to follow him to his room and continued calmly up the stairs, without looking back even once.
Not long after, they arrived at the room where Kael sat at his desk, looking at the two women standing in front of him. One of them had an indifferent expression, but he could sense her annoyance.
Silence fell in the room for a few minutes, as none of the three had said a word, until Audrey broke the silence.
"Was it you who sold my information?" She didn’t beat around the bush and got straight to the point, as she felt it was useless to mince words with the young man in front of her.
Kael raised an eyebrow. "Why do you think it was me who sold your information? I’ve just been cruising around town," he said with a small smile.
"The only person I know who knows my identity is you, and since I arrived in this city, I’ve been watched. Aren’t those reasons enough to suspect you?" Audrey crossed her legs as she explained her reasons for suspecting Kael.
"Hmm, so that’s why." This confirmed Kael’s idea when he saw so many people from Royal Mountain here in the city and all those mercenaries and weapon caravans. "But I wasn’t the one who sold your information; I don’t see any benefit in that."
In addition, he planned to spend a month on this mountain before continuing his journey to the Holy Empire.
"I see, so my information was leaked elsewhere..." Audrey murmured, her words barely audible. A guess began to form in her mind, and with it came clarity. A cold smile appeared on her lips.
"So this is all a trap... a trap to kill me or take me hostage, either by one of the two kingdoms."
Martha opened her eyes in surprise; a shiver ran through her body as she heard her mistress’s words.
"My lady, are you saying that your arrival was already known?"
Audrey nodded, without bothering to give further explanations. It was too obvious to her. Ever since she had arrived at the mountain, she had felt eyes on her. At first, she thought it was just because of her beauty, as she was used to attracting that kind of attention.
However, upon observing the presence of so many mercenaries and caravans, she immediately dismissed that idea.
Her first suspicion fell on Kael. She considered the possibility that he had sold her information, revealing that she was actually a princess. But the more she analyzed it, the more implausible it seemed.
No... If her information had been leaked from the beginning, everything would fit together much better.
If it had been Kael who leaked her identity as a princess, the information would need to be authenticated. The spies, the intermediaries, the confirmation process... everything would require time, manpower, and resources.
The timing didn’t add up. The answer was clear: the leak had occurred long before Kael could have had access to it.
Audrey firmly dismissed the idea that Kael had sold information about her.
Someone had targeted her even before she arrived at Mount Vigerth.
In short, she was like a pig that didn’t know it was going to be slaughtered.
Audrey let out a long sigh. Her eyes hardened; a cold gleam appeared in them. Without showing any haste, she turned her attention to Kael, who until then had remained silent, observing every detail of her behavior.
"Jasper, I need your services. The pay will be high."
Kael replied without the slightest hesitation, his tone dry and definitive: "I refuse. There is no benefit in helping you. Besides, you still haven’t paid me."
The refusal was as natural as breathing, devoid of emotion.
Audrey showed no anger or surprise. Her lips barely curved into a slight grimace, as if she had anticipated that response.
"But you’re involved in this, too. When you came to this inn and entered your room, they already had you under surveillance."
Kael remained unperturbed. His eyes narrowed slightly, but his voice retained the calm of someone who had already anticipated every possibility.
"I knew that from the start." He paused for a second, his gaze fixed on her, cold as a sheet of ice. "But even so, I refuse."
At that moment, his words were not a simple refusal, but a calculated statement: he was testing how far Audrey was willing to give in.
Audrey, for her part, understood the game. Every breath, every word, was nothing more than a piece moved on the board.
She got out of bed and said casually, "I understand, I can’t force you."
Without further ado, she left the room with her maid, Martha, following silently behind her. Their footsteps faded away in the hallway.
Kael did not move from his seat. He remained still, a small smile playing on his lips. It was a slight smile, barely a trace, but there was not the slightest sparkle in his eyes.
"Hmm..." Softly, he brought his hand to his chin, as if evaluating a trivial detail.
With a precise gesture, one of his space rune rings lit up. From inside, he extracted the coin sword and the coin mask. Both objects glowed with a discreet radiance.
Kael knew that tonight he would be attacked. It was not a suspicion, but a certainty. The movements of the others were so clear to him.
"And I was thinking of taking a few more days to enjoy the city and its cuisine..." he murmured, calmly crossing his legs as he looked outside.
Through the window, the black city stretched out like a sea of stone.
...
Time passed quickly, and night fell over the city. That city, whose natural color was already a deep black, seemed to vanish completely under the cloak of darkness, as if it had been swallowed up by the void.
Only the scattered lamps, with their dim, yellowish light, traced small islands of clarity in the midst of a sea of shadows.
The streets, silent and deserted, stretched out like hidden passageways. In that darkness, every corner and every roof became a hiding place, every shadow could conceal a murderous gaze.
At that moment, the city had become the perfect setting for killing without leaving a trace, for blood to flow without anyone else noticing.
On the roof of the luxurious inn, Kael sat on the edge, gazing out at the city, where not a single shadow could be seen; his long hair moved in the night breeze, while in his hand rested the coin sword, glistening in the moonlight.
"What a beautiful night..." Kael looked up at the moon, which stood alone high in the sky, and then added calmly, "You don’t feel the same way, do you?"
Several figures appeared on the ceiling, each with their bodies covered in an aura. They looked at Kael with slight surprise that he had noticed them, but their gazes hardened..
Before he knew it, Kael vanished from the spot, leaving behind only an afterimage. In the next instant, he appeared behind one of them: the coin sword descended rapidly, splitting him in two. Organs and blood splattered the floor.
Kael moved again and appeared in front of another enemy. The enemy tried desperately to defend himself, but the coin sword slid smoothly, cutting off his arm before piercing his eyes and sliding down to his throat.
The body fell heavily, lifeless.
The others finally reacted and launched their attack. Kael, with his hands behind his back, moved calmly, dodging each attack with smooth, precise steps. Suddenly, he jumped and delivered a brutal kick to the stomach of one of them.
"Agh!" the attacker groaned in pain. It was as if that kick weighed more than a hundred pounds, crushing his insides.
Another enemy passed by his side and lunged at Kael, wielding his daggers with a series of quick cuts. When he got close enough, he attempted a low blow, straight to Kael’s testicles.
But Kael reacted with an agile leap, dodging the attacks as he moved from side to side. In midair, he stretched out a hand and, without hesitation, landed three direct punches to the attacker’s face.
The impact was brutal: teeth flew out, blood stained the air, and the man fell backward with a muffled scream.
Before the two attackers could get back up, Kael moved so quickly, decapitating them that their heads took a few seconds to fall, leaving a trail of blood as they fell from the ceiling of the luxurious inn.
With the corpses behind him, Kael gazed at the moon, letting the breeze ruffle his hair.
"It really is a beautiful night."