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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: An Unlucky Assassination
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‘This is a problem.’
Calius watched the shadows spread out in all directions, approaching as if to surround him.
As they drew nearer, their forms became clearer.
They were armed assassins, swords in hand.
‘Of all the times for this to happen.’
Calius surveyed his surroundings and let out a soft sigh.
‘They don’t seem to be northerners.’
He could deduce as much without even facing them.
If they were northerners, they would never have chosen a place or weather like this for an assassination attempt.
Moreover.
*Woooo…*
*Wooooo…*
Especially not when such a strange sound could be heard so close.
The assassins seemed to think Calius hadn’t noticed their presence.
They must not have known much about the physical conditioning of a Ronheim native, born and raised in the northernmost part of the North.
Ronheim was almost constantly battered by blizzards, so its people were accustomed to this kind of weather. Thanks to that, they had developed an exceptional ability to discern their surroundings in a snowstorm.
‘Their research on the target was sloppy. It seems someone was in a hurry to get my head.’
Circumstances suggested that someone displeased with his marriage to Chloe had sent the assassins.
‘Who could it be?’
The assassins, hiding behind nearby trees and rocks, slowly tightened their encirclement.
Calius gripped his sword hilt with one hand and the horse’s reins with the other.
Just then, one of the assassins let out a sharp, loud whistle.
*Fweee!*
At the signal, the assassins rushed toward Calius from all sides.
As the distance closed, their figures became even clearer.
One of them, intending to block Calius’s escape, charged toward the horse, while three others swung their swords at Calius simultaneously.
“Hiyah!”
“Die!”
Even then, Calius did not draw his sword.
“…”
He simply stood still, his grip firm on the hilt and reins.
Believing their surprise attack a success, an assassin made a bold move, slashing his sword toward Calius’s neck.
But in that instant.
“Ugh!”
“Huh?”
“Gah!”
The assassins let out short screams as they vanished one by one, as if lifted into the air. Like fish caught on a line. It all happened in a flash.
“Heeeigh!”
The startled horse let out a long cry.
Calius, who had known all along what was about to happen, held the reins tight and soothed the animal.
“Shh. It’s okay. It’s okay.”
Soon, horrific screams echoed from all around.
“Aaargh! What is this! Aaargh! What is it!”
“Gah! Get away! Aaaargh!”
“Help! Help me! Gurgle!”
The sounds of something breaking and being crushed carried on the wind.
Calius clicked his tongue.
‘This is what happens when you attack in a place like this.’
He tied the reins to a nearby tree and walked through the snow, following the screams.
*Crack!*
“Aaargh! S-save me…!”
A whitish blur was tangled up with an assassin in black clothes.
Calius waved his scabbard at the white beast latched onto the assassin.
“Calm down, Whitey. Good boy.”
“Grrrr!”
The beast, its face covered in blood, was a snow cat, nicknamed the “Ghost of the Snow.”
When it stood, it was about Chloe’s size—the smallest feline predator in the North.
In Ronheim, where so many large animals roamed, it was treated as a cute little creature, but it was anything but cute when you met it as predator and prey.
Calius tapped the snow cat, which was growling to keep its meal from being taken, with his scabbard, just enough to get its attention without hurting it.
“Naughty, naughty. You should eat something healthier.”
“Meeowww!”
Licking its lips, the snow cat looked ready to pounce on the assassin again. Calius soothed and placated it, then took a dried fish from his bag and tossed it.
The snow cat darted with incredible speed and snatched it from mid-air.
In that moment, its form seemed to turn transparent, melting into the background and disappearing.
That was why the snow cat was called the Ghost of the Snow.
In the snow-covered mountains of the North, its coat of intricately mixed white and gray fur provided perfect camouflage, making it difficult to see from even a short distance.
Especially during a blizzard, it was hard to spot even if it was right beside you.
Snow cats had the trait of leaving almost no footprints on the snow and concealing their presence with astonishing skill.
Though a fairly powerful predator, it was fortunate for humans that the snow cat did not prefer human flesh, so it wasn't usually a threat.
However, a starving snow cat was a different story. A starving predator is never a picky eater.
“Hey. Wake up.”
Calius nudged the bleeding, collapsed assassin.
“Kh!”
The assassin, who had briefly lost consciousness, awoke with a groan.
As soon as he came to, he saw Calius looking down at him and swiftly reached for the sword that had fallen beside him. Or rather, he tried to.
His right arm was already gone, torn away by the snow cat’s sharp fangs.
The assassin screamed, flailing his empty right shoulder in disbelief.
“Uh, agh! Aaaaargh!”
Red blood splattered across the pure white snow.
“He’ll die on his own if I just leave him.”
Calius muttered loudly enough for the man to hear, then turned away.
“I wonder about the others.”
Leaving the spared assassin, he went to look for the others.
The screams that had been echoing from all directions just moments ago had now fallen silent.
‘Are they dead?’
As expected, the other assassins had already breathed their last.
“Spotty. Patches.”
Calius called their names, but the snow cats were too engrossed in the fresh meat with warm blood flowing through it to even pretend to listen.
“You must have been very hungry.”
Whitey, having already finished the dried fish Calius had thrown, rejoined the feast.
Calius gently stroked the heads of the snow cats as they buried their faces in the corpses.
“I suppose eating junk food once in a while isn’t so bad.”
What rotten luck they had, to ambush him just when the snow cats were this starved.
“I was planning to keep them alive.”
How else was he supposed to find out who was behind this?
“Still, it’s a relief I saved one.”
These snow cats were ones Calius looked after.
When he left Ronheim, they had followed him all the way to Avene and had been waiting for him near the teleportation circle ever since.
For one reason only: they knew that whenever Calius returned via the circle, he always brought dried fish as a special treat.
“I suppose I made you all starve for too long, for you to be tearing at such unappetizing human flesh.”
The clever snow cats had been waiting with empty stomachs to feast on the delicious snacks Calius would bring.
They had learned from experience that when Calius left, he usually returned after about a month.
This time, however, he had returned later than usual because of the marriage issue. How hungry they must have been.
So, they had been irritably demanding their dried fish when the assassins happened to attack Calius.
The agitated snow cats had lost all restraint.
Once they had a taste of blood, they seemed to have lost their minds.
Calius, on the off chance, briefly searched the assassins’ clothing.
He was hoping to find a clue to their identities.
Naturally, he found nothing.
‘They wouldn’t carry something like that on them while coming to assassinate someone.’
With no other choice, he left the scene.
‘I should get to the inn. There might be more of them.’
He trusted his men and wasn't overly worried, but just in case, he felt he should get to Chloe quickly.
Just then, Brentian’s voice cut through the blizzard.
“Marquis! Where are you! Marquis!”
“Brentian, over here.”
Calius rode his horse over to Brentian.
“Ah, there you are. What in the world is all that?”
Brentian asked, pointing in the direction of the corpses.
There was so much blood that the gruesome scene was clearly visible even through the snowstorm.
“Assassins showed up.”
“Assassins? Right during the cats’ mealtime?”
Brentian slapped his thigh in dismay.
“Damn, they must all be dead. We needed to follow them and find out who’s behind this.”
“I saved one. He should have been fleeing. Didn’t you see him?”
“We must have missed each other. If I’d seen him, I would’ve given him a ride to the city. I hope he doesn’t freeze to death on the way, right?”
“The fortress isn’t far, so he’ll live. It looked like he had a tourniquet.”
Calius asked as he guided his horse.
“I trust you’re protecting Her Highness the Princess well?”
“I ordered them to maintain an ironclad defense. Arental won’t stand by if anything happens to her.”
Brentian added in a less confident tone.
“But it looks like Hawick is having a bit of a headache because of the Imperial Knights. They’re blocking access, not even letting our men on the floor where the Princess is staying.”
Calius’s brow furrowed.
“Then there’s a hole in our defenses.”
