Chapter 46

Thanks to the intel from the Guild, Leon had plenty of background information on Karen the Adventurer. Age unknown, race presumed to be half-elf, an A-rank adventurer of the rogue class. Her superhuman flexibility and heightened senses were believed to come from the elven blood running through her veins.

Her specialties as an adventurer were infiltration, tracking, and mid-range combat using daggers and ropes. Especially in the art of throwing, it was said there wasn’t another A-ranker who could rival her.

She’d been active for about seven years, and the number of requests she’d completed during that time was a staggering 132—without a single failure. She was a veteran with a record impressive enough to be personally recommended by Bernard, the Guildmaster of the Blaine branch.

However, Leon knew the other identity that hid behind that surface.

One of the three great villains of the slums and the city’s most formidable assassin, known as the “Keeper,” whose true identity remained a mystery even to the Fang and the Golden Pigs—that was her.

If it came to a fair fight, Bishop Caesare would win for sure. But if it was a dogfight...

Even Caesare couldn’t guarantee victory. Karen’s combat ability as the Keeper, and her Aura skill with the Shadow attribute, were terrifying. Throwing daggers faster than sound, solo combat using shadow clones, even instantaneous teleportation... With even a pinprick of an opening, she could sever a person’s lifeline.

“

Ah

, did I show up too soon?” Karen asked.

As Leon fell into thought and remained silent, Karen fiddled awkwardly with her fingers. “If you’re not up for talking, I can come back later...”

Was it a disguise, or not? Leon couldn’t tell. Not even with his sharp insight.

“It’s fine. This won’t take long anyway.”

He already knew that she was here to talk about her dual identity as the Keeper and an A-rank adventurer. During the raid of Evil, Leon had said he’d turn a blind eye—but that was merely a verbal promise, and those were easily broken. Karen had come to make sure of things.

The fact that she came straight to the recovery room the moment he woke up made it obvious. She’d probably spent the last three days fretting over this.

“Bishop Caesare...” Leon called out cautiously.

Caesare was trustworthy, but he couldn’t talk about Karen in front of him. Even if the Keeper was less notorious than the Fang or the Golden Pigs, being an assassin-for-hire undeniably made her a criminal.

Due to the nature of her work, she wasn’t well known, but the number of deaths presumed to be her doing was staggering. He couldn’t reveal someone like that to the bishop.

“My apologies, but could you...”

Just as Leon was about to ask Caesare to leave, Karen interjected, “No, it’s fine.”

She was the one who more than anyone should’ve cared about keeping appearances. Before Leon could even react to her surprising calm—

“He already knows everything,” she dropped the bomb without warning.

A member of the Holy Iron Inquisitors, feared by every villain in the world—and yet Karen said this as if only slightly inconvenienced. It wouldn’t have been strange if she had bolted the moment she was found out.

When Leon turned to her in disbelief, Caesare nodded with a faint smile and explained.

“It’s thanks to my Aura. Your Sun and my Moon have a resonance, so I’m especially sensitive to anything that interferes with that link, which the Shadow Aura did. Also, wouldn’t it be a bit too much of a coincidence for two rare Shadow-type Aura users to randomly be in the same place?”

“It was when she helped me cross space, wasn’t it.”

Caesare blinked once in confirmation. Leon, seeing him still smiling, grew confused.

“Bishop Caesare... why didn’t you say anything? Why didn’t you condemn me?”

Caesare replied without hesitation, “Why would I condemn you?”

“Because I hid her identity, even though I knew it.”

“Is it righteous to expose the truth to the world, or to protect someone’s chance to do the right thing?”

“That’s...” Leon faltered, unable to answer.

If he had revealed Karen’s identity, even if Khan didn’t care, Conrad and Caesare would likely have distrusted her. Hiding a double life for years would’ve only invited suspicion regardless of her previous reputation as an adventurer.

And Karen, being perceptive, would have realized it quickly. The rush team might’ve crumbled before they even got to the ritual.

Caesare offered a gentle conclusion, “And Karen did not run. She bled beside us, fought with us to the end. Her sins can’t be forgiven just because of that... but as a comrade, her actions were enough to earn my trust.”

Assassins didn’t know the meaning of camaraderie. If the odds turned against them, they’d flee without hesitation. They never fought back-to-back with others, always keeping the option of betrayal in their back pocket.

That was the assassin’s nature. Closer to vipers than humans—cold-blooded like reptiles.

Ah...

Only then did Leon’s eyes widen in realization.

Karen wasn’t like that. In that moment of desperation when people’s true natures showed, she hadn’t turned her back—she’d chosen to believe in him.

Some might say it was a calculated move, but assassins didn’t take such a risk. Even if they had a ninety percent chance of winning, they wouldn’t fight and instead would wait for a situation where they could fully guarantee a win. If Karen truly were a cold-blooded assassin, she could never have made that choice.

“I see...”

A soft smile finally crept onto Leon’s lips, and Caesare smiled as if he’d expected it. The only one who didn’t seem amused was Karen.

“What? What are you both smiling about? Don’t tell me you scheduled my execution behind my back or something?”

Even her flustered foot-stomping felt new. Maybe this playful personality was Karen’s true self all along.

After a moment of quiet laughter, the atmosphere sobered. It was now time for a topic that couldn’t be avoided forever.

Caesare spoke.

“Miss Karen.”

“Yes, Bishop Caesare,” she answered like a docile lamb.

“First, I’d like to hear your story. Why did you become an assassin, and why did you live under the guise of an adventurer?”

“I guess we do have to start there...”

Her face darkened at the bishop’s question, but there would be no retracting it. To decide what to do with Karen, they needed to understand the life she had lived.

Karen glanced between the two of them. Then finally, she began.

“It’s not a very entertaining story.”

And thus, she began to recount her past. How the “Keeper” came to be was a story that reached back several decades.

***

The ecosystem inside the slums was both complex and simple. No matter the form, you had to possess some kind of power—only then could you protect your life and preserve your dignity.

Be it wealth, violence, or authority; those without any of these were nothing but fodder for the law of the jungle. They were just victims of a merciless guillotine disguised as natural order.

“Want to guess who the most unfortunate people in the slums are?” Karen asked Leon and Caesare, but answered her own question without waiting, “Orphans.”

Children with no money for food or shelter, no parents to watch over them, and no one who would ask why they disappeared. They ranked even lower, way lower, than beggars with broken bodies—undisputedly the lowest class in the slums.

If you were pretty, you got sold off to the pleasure districts. If you had a knack for fighting, you were swept into a gang. There was no escaping that bottom.

“I thought I’d end up in the pleasure district too. A lot of guys came after me. Apparently, half-elves fetch a higher price than normal humans.”

In the midst of her fear, someone saved Karen. The ones who came to capture her were all turned into corpses in an instant.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t out of kindness. From beginning to end, that “salvation” was nothing but cruelty.

“It’s actually pretty common. They round up orphans no one would miss and train them to be assassins. If even one in a hundred turns out useful, they break even.”

However, Karen’s captor probably hadn’t expected her to be a half-Dark Elf. Unbeknownst to even herself, her lineage awakened a natural talent, and in just fifteen years, she climbed to an executive position within the organization.

It was around that time that her infamy began to spread throughout Blaine, and naturally, the organization rejoiced. They’d found a jewel in the muck—how could they not be thrilled?

The faster and sharper Karen’s hands became, the stronger the organization grew. Her rank rose higher and higher until only the Boss stood above her.

“It wasn’t much of a challenge, really,” Karen recounted the tale with a dry expression. “Guess his instincts had dulled since he wasn’t active anymore. My surprise attack probably played a part too. Only took seven seconds.”

She never wanted to be an assassin. Never wanted to kill. Regardless, she piled up resentment for decades, honed her blade, and finally succeeded in carving out the Boss’s heart. That was the moment when an orphan from the slums overturned everything.

However, Karen had no intention of continuing as an assassin. So she purged the rotten upper ranks of the organization and freed other assassins in the same position as her.

“If I shut it all down at once, it would’ve drawn too much attention, so I dismantled it gradually. That’s why I stopped showing up as the Keeper too. I figured living as just a regular citizen was already out the window, so I thought I’d give being an adventurer a try.”

Her identity laundering had been meticulous. If not for the recent incident with Evil, no one would’ve suspected a thing.

Over years, she laid the groundwork, faithfully completing over a hundred quests and earning the Guild’s trust. Not just any rank either—an A-rank adventurer was someone you didn’t question lightly.

“Well, I guess I got caught in the end, anyway.”

She shrugged with a self-deprecating laugh.

“I’ve done some good though, right? So I won’t be executed? I’m not deluded enough to think I can run from the Holy Church, but I’d really rather not go to prison. Could we settle for forced labor or something...?”

It was a strangely meek request from someone considered a top-tier assassin—but then again, the Holy Church was something even most Masters wouldn’t dare cross. They could traverse the continent without worrying about diplomatic interference. They had the Holy Iron Inquisitors, who battled monsters and exolaw wielders on the daily.

And after seeing the power Leon and Caesare had shown during the purge, Karen was more scared than ever.

Caesare, after some thought, turned to Leon.

“Brother Leon.”

Leon met his gaze, and when he realized what Caesare meant, his eyes widened slightly.

He’s leaving it up to me?

It was a complicated situation. What Karen had done as an assassin was wrong, but there were also understandable reasons behind those actions. Her desire to leave that life and start over didn’t seem genuine as well.

Leon had no right to speak of forgiveness as a Hero—but it didn’t seem right to raise a sword against someone who truly regretted their past.

“Karen,” Leon called as he lifted his upper body and looked at her directly. “I’ll give you two choices. It’s entirely up to you which you choose—and I promise to respect your decision either way.”

“

Huh

? What are you talking about, rookie? Can you really make that decision?”

“Yes.”

He answered firmly, then went on to explain the two options.

And Karen chose, without even a second’s hesitation.

***

Four more days passed after Karen’s visit before Leon was finally able to leave the recovery room. That made a full week of healing.

He now knew just how powerful the Grand Chariot really was. It felt like his own body had been the testing ground. Had he pushed even a half step further, he might’ve died—or ended up crippled.

It was a sword only allowed to those with natural talent. Perhaps this was the price of reaching that level through a shortcut.

“Sorry for calling you in the moment you got up,” a man said to Leon.

“It’s no trouble. I’m more sorry for keeping you waiting a week.”

Leon shook his hand and sat across from him. The pressure coming off him hadn’t changed.

Blaine’s Guildmaster, Bernard, the giant man with a metal prosthetic leg grinned and said, “Well then, let’s get down to business.”