SWY 33

The peddler who stopped by Gagos and paid for his stay with Paphun tea, the soundless footsteps, and the ability to sneak into the cabin without a trace, Sharhan pieced everything together quickly and came to a conclusion.

Hadn’t Lord Luhas disguised one of his trained assassins as a peddler in order to spread Paphun tea across the Empire? That was something he had inferred from his conversation with Yuel. And this man, he was clearly one of those assassins in disguise.

“You… you’re an assassin from Luhas, aren’t you?”

At Sharhan’s low murmur, he felt Parel flinch. Both Lestel and Derry turned in shock. Derry’s eyes went so wide it looked like a flick on the back of his head might make them pop right out.

“A-An assassin? From Luhas?”

Apparently, Derry hadn’t known that Lord Luhas trained assassins. Well, he had referred to those who spread the tea as “private soldiers.”

“Clever, aren’t you? But… how did you know I’m one of Luhas’s assassins?”

Parel, briefly flustered, regained his composure and gave a low laugh.

“Does it matter?”

“Not really. It’s not exactly a secret. Anyone who’s in the know already knows the damn emperor used Luhas’s assassins to eliminate his enemies and grab power. Keep walking.”

Parel kicked Lestel’s thigh as he slowed for a second. Sharhan clenched his fists reflexively as he watched Lestel stagger, then asked while still limping forward,

“Did you know what Paphun tea really was? That people who died of addiction would rise again like those things?”

Parel was genuinely surprised.

“Hah, incredible. You even know that? Who the hell are you two really? From a distance, you just looked like a merchant and a mercenary. Was I wrong?”

“You were watching us?”

“I was tailing Ralph and James when they ran, and I saw you kill one of the walking corpses outside the cabin.”

“I see. Well, as you saw, we are just a merchant and a mercenary. Now answer the question. Did you know?”

“Of course I knew. I knew the world would soon become hell.”

Parel spoke with no hesitation, no guilt in his voice at all.

“You spread it even knowing it was a poisonous herb that would doom innocent people to hell?!”

“Pah. As if they were anything more than the emperor’s wretched subjects. Do you know what kind of bastard the emperor is? After using us and the lady to the fullest, he discarded us the moment we were no longer useful. He’s the scum of the earth. It was the lady who made that powerless puppet prince into the emperor. That bastard came to Luhas himself after hearing rumors of the assassins, seduced her, made her crown princess. He wanted the throne, so the lady used us to eliminate his enemies. And what was the first thing he did once he seized power? He killed her.”

His voice rose, filled with hatred. Sharhan scoffed. Through Derry, he had already learned that Lord Luhas had gone mad from grief over his daughter’s death. Though he hadn’t known the emperor was the one who killed her, it didn’t change much.

Turning the entire empire into a land of hell out of revenge… Lord Luhas was far more deranged than the emperor. The emperor was merely a coward and a traitor, he wasn’t insane.

“So what, you want sympathy? If you wanted revenge, you should’ve snuck into the palace and assassinated him yourself.”

“You think we didn’t try? Over a dozen of our comrades went into the palace and never returned.”

Now that he mentioned it, Sharhan recalled hearing that palace security had drastically increased under the current emperor. It must’ve been to guard against Luhas’s assassins.

“Plenty of our comrades died eliminating the emperor’s enemies. The lady and they were our comrades, our brothers, our friends, our family. Lord Luhas is our father and our master. We’ll do anything for him and the lady. He told us, he told us to give our lives for her.”

“You’re insane.”

“Dozens of us died fighting monsters. Of the more than a hundred assassins we once had, only ten remain. Those of us who survived made a vow, on the morning of the lady’s birthday, we would each escape the estate and make our way to the capital, survive however we could, and witness the emperor’s death.”

“Then why hide in Gagos instead of heading to the capital right away?”

“Hide? Last time I stopped by to hand out Paphun tea, I overheard the village chief talking about the old site. Sounded like it could hide an ancient relic, so I came to check. I volunteered to go yesterday, but it was a bust because of the corpses. Turns out the chief was hiding mana explosives. Just a few of those could blow up the palace.”

Parel sounded almost ecstatic. Now that Sharhan understood the reason he was after the old site, he let out a dry laugh. He planned to take the mana explosives the chief had hidden and head for the capital. Their blind obsession with revenge was absurd.

“I heard the capital is overflowing with addicts. That means you flooded the place with Paphun tea. Which means the corpses must be overflowing there too. And that’s not enough?”

“We made sure to distribute more to those near the palace and those coming and going from it. But you know how people with power are. They’ll crawl into any hole they can find to save their pathetic lives.”

“Damn it, you could’ve just killed the emperor! Send ten, twenty, thirty assassins if you had to!”

“The thing the emperor loves most is this vast empire. Lord Luhas said the most beautiful revenge would be to bring it all crashing down, then send the emperor to the lady’s side once he’s utterly broken.”

“Those were Lord Luhas’s words?”

“Yes.”

“To sacrifice the empire and its innocent people for revenge… Lord Luhas is insane. And so are all of you.”

“Shut up!”

With a sudden roar, Parel stabbed the dagger deep into Sharhan’s thigh and yanked it back out.

“Kh…!”

Blood spurted from the wound along with a stifled groan. Lestel’s eyes rolled halfway back in fury.

“Shan!”

“Silver hair, unless you want to see your lover’s neck get a hole in it, back off.”

Lestel’s hands trembled where they gripped the axe. His jaw clenched so hard it bulged. He was clearly struggling to hold back his rage. He turned his head with difficulty, then started walking again.

The group continued to follow behind James. Sharhan had no choice but to limp along. Luckily, the bleeding eventually began to slow, though the pulsing pain persisted.

Along the way to the old site, every walking corpse they encountered was brought down by Lestel’s axe. He swung with a fury as if unleashing his wrath on Parel.

Sometimes the axe crashed into their heads, sometimes it sliced clean through. When it did, the corpses’ necks would dangle grotesquely to the side.

“Hmm. There are quite a lot this time. Think silver hair can handle it alone? He fights better than I expected. Good thing I picked him as my shield.”

Parel hummed to himself as the horde swelled. But the hand gripping the dagger at Sharhan’s throat remained tense, ready to throw the whole group to the corpses at a moment’s notice.

In fact, as a corpse neared, Parel shoved Sharhan forward as a shield behind the frenzied Lestel.

“Lestel, over here!”

Sharhan raised his good leg and kicked the corpse in the chest to create space, then called out. Just as the creature lunged for him, Lestel cleaved through its neck. As the immediate danger passed, Parel yanked Sharhan back and kept the dagger pressed to his throat, urging Lestel to keep fighting.

James and Derry were busy fleeing. Derry at least had a lever in his hands. James had nothing. Driven to panic, he stumbled around sobbing, half-mad with fear. When he seemed in danger, Parel shoved Derry forward.

“James can’t die yet.”

Derry staggered, gritting his teeth to keep from screaming, and ducked just in time to dodge a corpse’s grasp. It stumbled and fell.

“Derry, strike its head!”

Sharhan’s shout spurred the trembling Derry into action. Eyes shut tight, he swung the metal rod at the creature’s skull. He wasn’t strong enough to kill it in one hit.

He kept striking, again and again, until the thing stopped moving. Then he sniffled and broke into sobs. When he saw the mangled head beneath him, he retched. Lestel, having just finished off the remaining corpses, patted Derry’s back.

“Keep moving.”

After several more desperate encounters, the outline of a few cabins built on the wasteland came into view. They had arrived at the old site. Had they passed by unknowingly, it never would have occurred to anyone it was a ruin.

“T-There. That’s it.”

James pointed toward the cabins.

“Aaaaah!”

“Uaaaagh!”

Suddenly, from their left, came a series of shrill screams. Around twenty-something people came running as if their lives depended on it. And behind them, an overwhelming horde of walking corpses. Even at a glance, there had to be hundreds. It was far too many for Lestel to handle alone. Even with Sharhan helping, it wouldn’t be enough.

The black swarm rushing toward them turned Sharhan’s face pale. James, paralyzed by fear, collapsed on the spot. Derry hastily yanked him up.

Then Parel shoved Sharhan aside and bolted toward one of the cabins.

Sharhan fell hard. With his hands tied behind his back, he couldn’t get up alone. Lestel quickly pulled him to his feet. The fleeing people and the corpses chasing them were now right upon them.

“W-We have to get to the cabin!”

At Derry’s cry, Lestel grabbed Sharhan’s arm and took off running. Sharhan hobbled after him as best he could. The bleeding he thought had stopped began to flow again, trailing down his leg.