Chapter 50: Murder and Arson
Murder and arson.
Despite the desecration of life he committed, he walked away happily with 3,000 gold coins.
A standard gold coin was about 6 grammes, which means he was carrying kilogrammes of gold coins on his body. He walked carefully, not wanting to alert anyone to the jingles of riches around him.
‘I need to hide this somewhere, finish my mission, and take it back to my territory.’
Levi left the City, and after making sure that nobody was following him, he ran towards the wilderness in one direction. After running about 10,000 steps, he came to a dense forest, and on the ridge of the mountain, he found a big tree and started digging.
After hiding the stash of gold coins, he messily patted the soil and covered it with some rocks to cover up his traces.
He climbed up another tree and waited as he surveyed the surroundings. After an hour, nobody appeared.
He felt relieved and ran back down the mountain.
It was about time to meet Graff and his party.
It wasn’t until Levi heard about Knight Bernard’s house being set on fire that he knew that his assassin was named Bernard.
Bernard’s house was located far from the City, so it was difficult to gather witnesses. Levi was sure that he wouldn’t be discovered by the public, so he didn’t care about the gossip too much.
In the morning, near the western exit of the City, a carriage set off slowly. Around the carriage, five Knights rode the horses pulling the carriage, while some of the Knights among them walked.
“Everyone, before the start of this operation, I would like to re-emphasise our roles. I am in charge of finding the beast; the Blue Falcon is in charge of distracting the beast; the Black Rhino is in charge of fighting and restraining the beast; the Black Widow is in charge of poisoning the arrows; and the White Wolf will shoot the crossbow once the beast is weakened.”
“Understood,” the Blue Falcon muttered.
“I hope you don’t miss the shot,” the Black Rhino said as he stared at Levi. The Black Rhino was confident he was the strongest among the five, and he doubted the White Wolf’s ability to pull his weight.
“The beast’s territory is located at the junction of the Emerald Kingdom and the Tuva Empire, so we should be careful,” Graff reminded.
Levi was on guard the entire time they walked. He didn’t want to be assassinated again.
After two consecutive assassinations, he was more cautious than ever.
Hence, he bought a brand-new pair of high-quality chainmail in the City for a huge sum of money. He figured that plate armour would be difficult to manoeuvre in.
In addition, his quiver was filled with arrows. His dagger was in his left hand, and his Frostmourne was in his right. He had quicklime stored in his pocket, ready to give the assassins a taste of their own medicine by blinding them.
After marching for about three days and three nights, Levi and the others soon arrived at the territory of the Earth Dragon.
It was a huge valley, and in the centre of the valley was a dense jungle. A snow-capped mountain could be seen in the distance, towering over the valley.
That is the dividing line between the Emerald Kingdom and the Tuva Empire. After crossing that mountain, the vast seaside hills and plains is where the Tuva people call their home.
Unlike the Emerald Kingdom, the Tuva Empire is a centralised, feudal empire, so they are more united in terms of strength compared to the Emerald Kingdom. Before the Millennium War, the Tuva Empire often invaded the Emerald Kingdom.
The Emerald Kingdom declared war upon them as the millennium struck, and they won, but not without suffering heavy losses.
The main habitat of the Earth Dragon is in the Tuva Empire. Since the road became more and more treacherous, Graff and Black Rhino carried the crossbow.
Finally, they placed the crossbow on stable, high ground. Standing on high ground, they could have a panoramic view of the valley.
“Up ahead is the territory of the Earth Dragon. Now, Black Widow and White Wolf will remain here, and we will lure the Earth Dragon closer.”
“Remember,” Graff continued. “The weak point of the beast is its eyes, and hopefully, you can penetrate its brain. Aiming at other parts is futile since they are too large to be affected by our attacks. Please perform your best, or this valley will be our graveyard.”
Graff’s face was serious. There was no doubt that the key to this battle lay in Levi’s aim. If Levi makes a mistake, they may fail.
“If you fulfil your roles well, then I will have no problems here,” Levi replied confidently.
“I sure hope so,” Black Rhino huffed as he left with the Blue Falcon and Graff.
Black Widow remained by Levi’s side, and she produced a small bottle of poison that exuded a strange fragrance.
“This is the strongest poison, which I refined from six precious and highly poisonous substances. I only have one bottle, so you have to make sure you shoot accurately,” she explained.
Levi nodded, and she smiled, turning around to apply the poison to the arrows. She continued to explain that if she applied the poison too late, its efficacy would be reduced, so she had to apply it now.
“Believe me, with someone as beautiful as you by my side, my shots will definitely be more accurate than you imagined,” Levi boasted.