Chapter X: Yara's blade (Part 1) - Book 1: Heir of the Kingdom

The testimony of several children wasn't difficult to match. In their impression, Thales was already the hero who defeated Clyde. Thales made an excuse, lie to them that Yara would arrange everything, and to whomever came questioning, they would have to stick to "Thales stabbed Clyde's neck from behind". After everything goes well, they will be safe.

"They can't catch me," Thales smiled and said.

As a four-year-old and eight-year-old child, there was little doubt in Carina and Ryan. In their eyes, there's nothing that Thales cannot do.

Only Clint was a bit puzzled to see Thales leaving, but the transmigrator managed to keep him in compliance with the agreement - "I think, you do."

Then it's time for me to die - bah - to depart.

Ignoring the children waving their hands toward him, Thales walked out of the Sunset bar's back door and felt that there was something like a trace of solemn and tragic within his heart.

I can't take care of you anymore, kids.

Hope that my luck won't be that bad, well, see you guys latter then.

But really, this's such a heavy farewell.

After all, this could be considered me stepping forward bravely, alas, I do feel somewhat miserable - huh?

Thales widened his eyes and looked at the expressionless Yara, who swung her pair of slender legs and walked pa.s.s him from behind his back, armed to the teeth.

"Haizz! Shouldn't you stay behind in the bar and take care of the three of them? Without you, they -"

"Don't worry, I hid them in the secret room and left a note to Edmund."

Yara, wearing a dark gray skin-tight suit, pulled down from her forehead a transparent winds.h.i.+eld goggles and putted it on her face, then held down Thales's shoulders with an unpleasant look and squatted beside him.

"But -"

"There's no but! Little imp!" Yara indisputably interrupted him.

"Now that you've decided to take on Rhode's rage alone and try to find some luck or die at Red Lane Street, at least I should give you a ride - for the sake of this thing."

Yara patted on the wolfleg knife on her boots.

"Moreover, the Brotherhood's hidden patrols located in Undercity aren't what a seven-year-old kid can avoid. Even when I exhausted myself to point them out for you a hundred of times, you still can't get away in one piece."

Thales stared at Yara dumbfounding, a second after he could only muttered:

"But the fighting in Red Lane Street -"

"Just stop wasting time and climb on me, let's go!"

Yara didn't say any useless words and also disdained to explain further. Her arrogant expression pushed Thales's hesitation back to the depth of his brain.

It's just, climb on? On where?

Thales looked at Yara who was kneeling on one knee, the operative skin-tight suit of this short hair and valiant big sis made her original body appeared to be more conspicuous in a picturesque disorder, and the front of her chest was even more - cough cough - if I sat on her arm and clung around her neck, wouldn't it be - thinking of this, the transmigrator seemed to be a bit embarra.s.sed to lower and start scratching his head.

"Tuck!"

"Ah! Pain!"

All of sudden, Yara, with another fierce finger, poked the central of Thales's forehead to the point of shaking his vision!

As if seeing through the thoughts of Thales, Yara fiercely pulled out half of the wolf-legged knife with an "I'm not easy to mess with" glare emitted from her goggles, and viciously said:

"Stinky little imp! Stop thinking about those hideous things and lie on my back! I will carry you away!"

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The moon had gradually sunk but the sky had not yet brightened.

But this light, as far as Rhett's was concerned, was still as bright as day.

"Keep up the good work and watch your post, most of the elite forces went to the Red Lane Street today so the gentlemen up there grasped us even more strictly - our position here is the last crossroads checkpoint to the Red Lane Street."

It was also the first checkpoint that the Brotherhood would pa.s.s through while retreating, Rhett silently thought.

As a professional hidden patroller, Rhett's body was concealed behind the turning of the dark alley.

From this perspective, he could clearly see the general situation of the crossroad leading to Red Lane Street, except that a curfew tonight left the area empty.

His companion, another Brotherhood's hidden patroller, would be behind him in the dark with the same precautious observation of the other turning.

"No problem, I am in a pretty good shape now, not even a black fly nor a gray centipede can crawl through." His companion's sound echoed from the narrowed s.p.a.ce.

"Well then, the end of my 'vigilance period' is coming, just wait a bit more, I will immediately hand over to the next s.h.i.+ft and get Na.s.sir here - he should already wake up an hour ago."

Rhett then nodded to his companions, keeping a watchful and observing eye while leaving the covert alley.

At the moment of departure, he suddenly startled a bit.

Just now, he seemed to sense that there was something in the opposite s.p.a.cious and empty alley.

No, it is impossible. His ears, eyes and nose have all been trained by Sir Lanser. He can even recognize light refraction and color camouflage cause by mystical powers. If there is an intruder, that man cannot escape his vision and hearing as long as it is not a rare mixed ability (such as psychological influence)

But he still decided to go and see it.

Only after a round of inspection at the opposite side, Rhett came back, finally felt relieved.

It was probably because of his already pa.s.sed 'vigilance period', resulting in illusions.

Shaking his head, he went back to hand over to the next s.h.i.+ft.

Behind Rhett, a short-haired young woman in black bodysuit gently slid out with a child lying down on her back.

She looked at Rhett's back, leaned forward with her tiptoe touching the ground softly, then quietly yet very quickly headed outside of the alley and leaped toward the direction of Red Lane Street.

Obviously they were the ones who were going to Red Lane Street, the female bartender Yara and the fleeing beggar Thales.

"During the period when the dawn has yet to come and the night has yet to pa.s.s, ordinary people's cautions and nerves are the most relaxed. This is something even an ordinary Royal Military Academy student would know about."

For some unknown reason, Yara can still open her mouth to speak while in the middle of traveling very fast.

Thales clutched tightly on Yara's back, who pieced through the alley at an unprecedented speed on par with the wind, yet one after another her steps on the ground remained silent.

Facing the blowing wind, to cling on Yara's neck, Thales can only close his eyes and pressed his head in the back of Yara's neck. His nose was full of the fragrance from Yara's body while he was oblivious about surrounding.

But still, Yara's voice could be heard in his ear clearly.

"So one of the Great Six who's responsible for the Brotherhood's intelligence gathering, 'The Eye of Sleeplessness,' Bryant Lanser, trained a special hidden patrol squad, 'The Sleepless'."

"It's not like they do not sleep at all, but their schedules of working and resting are different from everyday people."

"I don't know the specific number of their force, but all of their daily working and resting schedules are staggered. From dusk till dawn, from morning to midday, they have all kind of periods. Thanks to that, Lanser's hidden patrol squad could operate in a s.h.i.+ft mode, every patroller on duty can be guaranteed to be in their most vigorous and alert state, during which Lanser calls the 'vigilance period'."

"From senses to experiences, from team cooperating to tracking, Lanser trained them to be even better than the purebred Rudor dogs from the City Watch."

"They have a detachment team responsible for stationing in the headquarter. During the day they disguise themselves and blend into the crowd, and at night they turn into hidden patrollers to watch and oversee all the crucial entrances and exits of Undercity Districts."

"The two whom we have just pa.s.sed by should be the last post of 'The Sleepless' before we reach the Red Lane Street."

Thales didn't speak.

He had been astounded by Yara's stealth skills.

Rhett wasn't the first Sleepless man they pa.s.sed by.

Every time Yara jump to a Sleepless' guard post, she would change from high speed das.h.i.+ng to slow walking, then, the things that most surprised Thales took place in these moments. As Yara moved with an extremely weird rhythm, she quietly walked behind the Sleepless man on tiptoe, hiding both her shadow and body into the blind spot of the Sleepless man' vision (sometimes in the blind spots of two Sleepless men) - and all of The Sleepless were unaware of them.

Thales didn't know that Yara was also very surprised about his performance. From start to finish, even when they were behind a Sleepless man, even if the other only needs to turn around to see them, Thales still remained motionless while his heart was beating steadily and his breath was kept faintly discernible.

This is obviously a bit overblown in terms of self-control for a seven-year-old boy.

Of course, if not for Yara using her strange rhymed movements and sheltered Thales's breath in just the right time, his supposed faintly discernible breath had long been heard.

But it is already not an easy task.

This child, he really isn't an ordinary person huh. Is it a mystical power or from a bloodline? Or both?

It can't be natural born, right?

Thales's original plan was to let Yara draw out the hidden patrols (Thales just only heard about the 'The Sleepless' for the first time, his previous estimate of the Brotherhood's was still too shallow), but also risked certain chances of exposure. Now it seemed that he himself also underestimated this female bartender, she isn't only agile and capable of using knives.

"Arrived."

In a corner beside the entrance, Thales gently (and reluctantly?) slipped from Yara's back.

Before his eyes was the Red Lane Street laying within the night, a few days ago, the scenery when he met that n.o.blewoman in goose feather was still vivid.

The Red Lane Street's area and dimensions are no less than Black Street, as its name implies, it is the West Ring Districts' famous land for pleasure seeking. In fact, not a small number of aristocrats, up to some all high and mighty Dukes on their way to visit Eternal Star, down to some country Lords from the outskirts of Eternal Star who can't enter political stage, will either anonymously or brazenly came here to form some voluntary or involuntary "super friendly" relations.h.i.+p together with a few adorable and confused girls (groups), or boys (groups). Of course, this is the congenial harmony between the aristocrats and the Blood Bottler of Eternal Star for many years.

Tonight, Brotherhood's hand stretched out here.

Unfortunately, it was a sinister trap to welcome this hand.

"The situation isn't good." Yara whispered.

Thales also saw it.

On the way to the entrance of Red Lane Street, there was a whole area of spa.r.s.ely lying bodies, missing limbs, decapitated heads, twisted bones, outflowing intestine, funnel chests, and fresh blood, all stained the night of Red Lanes Street a dark red color.

From a look afar, at least thirty people had fallen here.

Seeing bodies everywhere with all kinds of death made even Thales, who just happened to commit murder recently, couldn't help but take a deep breath and try his best not to think about it.

Indistinct fighting sounds even came from the distance.

Yara calmly reached out to put her hand on Thales's shoulders and force him to squat down.

"The last time I murdered someone… seems like from before I met you." Yara's tone sounded somewhat lonely.

Thales couldn't see the eyes behind her goggles, but he suddenly felt that Yara just became a bit more serious.

"Little imp, from now on, it's you who owe me a life debt."

Thales was dumbfounded, he saw Yara's hand reach to the knife on her thigh.

Next, using an extremely small voice like the sound of mosquitos, the female bartender repeatedly warned Thales.

"Don't speak, don't move."

"There are real masters in front of us, not the kind like those Sleepless' guard posts."

Thales's goose b.u.mps gradually rose. Not daring to take deeper breath, he felt somewhat dispirited, back then he himself just thought about randomly stumbling through the Red Lane Street alone and fleeing the Brotherhood, but only at the first post he would already - alas, I am still too naive.

A moment later, Yara suddenly pulled out from her left abdomen a decent looking thin black cloth, and gently covered Thales' mouth and nose.

"Use this while breathing to conceal your noise."

Yara didn't say any more words, with goggles on her expression can't be recognized. She then slowly pulled out the knife on her thigh.

Thales pressed the black cloth on his nose and mouth, this was really good - there was no unpleasant feeling while breathing under the black cloth, and the breath was also covered up.

In a game, this is definitely a "sneak +20" advanced equipment!

Thales automatically ignored a faint fragrance from Yara's body.

But in the next moment, Thales couldn't relax easily anymore.

"I found him."

He could only heard Yara said so.

Then her whole body shot up in a flash, stepped on the wall next to her as if she was an arrow plunged away from the string, and rushed toward the pile of corpses in front of the entrance.

The only thing that was faster than Yara was the Wolfleg-knife that she threw.

At this time, Thales, breathing under the black cloth, was surprised to find that in the pile of thirty or more people, there was even a corpse whose intestines were separated just moved.

"Ding!"

A cold light ray suddenly drawn out from behind the corpse and knocked out the Wolfleg knife from its intended route!

But the second wolf-legged knife was already in its owner's hands, came das.h.i.+ng along with Yara.

Her right hand gripped the blade in reserve and instantly slashed through the corpse!

"Ding - splashed!"

Thales recognized the sound in front of him. It was the tone of metal piercing the flesh.

But before he realized what was happening, being dazzled, he saw a figure stumbled out from behind the corpse, only to hear the clanging sound of a sword fell down immediately after.

Yara had landed lightly on the ground and pressed her left hand in a half-squatting position. The knife of her right hand was covered with blood.

And the shaking figure that came out from the corpse had already fallen to the ground.

Motionless.

The female bartender picked up the wolfleg knife that was thrown out and silently stood up.

In just a few seconds, Thales couldn't even open his mouth.

Thales knew that Yara was strong.

But besides killing the dog that year, until today, when he saw her killing move like a flacon instantly drops down on its prey, he could finally comprehend the strength of this female bartender.

Thales still didn't speak or make a move.

He vaguely felt that Yara was even more serious at that moment.

"This truly opened my eyes. Among the mortals' level, you could be considered an excellent a.s.sa.s.sin."

With the noise rose up, a fierce man with a large body and a bald head, carrying an exaggerated five-faced mace, came from a distance. He didn't look at the companions who had already died at his feet, but just kept an eye on the female bartender who was standing in the middle of the pile of corpses.

"You should know that your Brotherhood is already finished right? Every single one of you is in our trap, the whole force was decimated."

"Our mission is to stand guard - or to intercept the possible reinforcements of the Brotherhood, but I never imagined that from the mighty Brotherhood of the Black Street only came a little girl playing with knives."

The huge bald man walked toward them from the sunken moonlight of the west. Somehow, in such deep darkness, Thales could see his appearance clearly. This was a man without a half of his nose, his nostrils were direly pulled out, like a skull.

Thales suddenly recognized who he was.

It was baldhead Sebas.

The boss who was in charge of Blood Bottle's "black account".

And widely known as one of Blood Bottle's "Strongest Twelve."

End of chapter X.

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Translator's note:

Bryant Lanser the Black Brother's boss who was in charge of intelligence  was changed from Rance in Chapter 9 (first mentioned by Maurice, another boss)