AWDC Chapter 83

Chapter 83: Assassin

Seven years had passed since the new government was formed. The new government diligently carried out its administrative duties.

Thanks to agricultural guidance, crop yields in the suburbs of the capital had visibly increased. Farmers who were initially skeptical of crop rotation farming were now actively embracing it. Eventually, farmers across the country would likely imitate my methods.

Furthermore, the rail carriages were also thriving. The carriages were overflowing with passengers, repeatedly shuttling between the pier and the shopping district, transporting grains and vegetables from the suburbs to the market.

Three new lines had also been established, and there were plans to connect Midland in the east and Gregg in the west. In the future, the lines would likely be extended to the capital and Toriholi Village.

Amidst all this, Roy came to the capital.

I showed Roy, who had come to the capital after a long absence, around.

“It’s quite prosperous, isn’t it? I’m honored to be shown around by a high-ranking official of the capital.”

“No, it was Roy who first brought me to the capital and showed me around. I just wanted to relive those times.”

“That’s right, that happened. You were just becoming an adult back then and were still small, but now you’re someone to be reckoned with.”

Roy had come to assess what to do with the Robertson family’s residence in the capital.

The Robertson family had become a Marquis family and had expanded its residence in the capital, but there were limits to that.

Due to my achievements in suppressing the Bawa Roma unrest, I myself had become an Earl, but I still resided in the Robertson family’s residence in the capital.

Of course, I could have acquired a new residence in the capital, but in order to maintain the bonds of the Robertson family, it was necessary to stay in the same residence.

Furthermore, as a great noble family, the Robertson family was expected to maintain order in the capital, and for that purpose, it was necessary to station soldiers in the capital. The barracks and training grounds for these soldiers required a considerable amount of land.

However, there were no prospects for acquiring new land around the current Robertson family residence in the capital.

Finally, we found a property that seemed promising.

It was a vacant lot near the Mulan River, a bit far from the royal palace, but there were plans for a rail carriage line and a major street connecting to the royal palace, so it shouldn’t feel too inconvenient.

If we built a barge landing on the riverfront, we could directly travel back and forth between Toriholi Village using private ships. More than anything, the site was vast.

Although it was outside the walls surrounding the capital, this area was supposed to be incorporated into the capital, extending to the river. New walls would be built along the river, and if a major street and rail carriage line were built through the current walls, this place had the potential to become a new center of the capital.

Well, the rail carriage plan was something only I knew about, and if I were to plan something like this on my own, I would be criticized for distorting politics like in Japan. Building a residence on a vacant lot that is hardly used and connecting it to the city center with a wide road. A considerable amount of profit would flow into the Robertson family. But this is another world, and this level of vested interest is allowed.

While discussing the plan, I took Roy to the site in question with three guards.

As Roy and I were reminiscing about old times, we entered the vacant lot from the bustling plaza. That’s when we were suddenly attacked by a group of masked men.

Three assassins appeared before me. They were facing me with swords from the front, left, right, and behind, as if to surround me. I was fortunate to have been carrying a sword on a regular basis, but everyone accompanying me was also facing off against the assassins, so I couldn’t afford to help them. Even Roy was being targeted by one of the assassins, so it seemed impossible for me to come to his aid.

After confirming the surrounding situation, I resolved to protect myself. I didn’t think stalling for time would be advantageous. I had to carve a path with my own strength.

At that moment, my senses were strangely calm. In my previous life, my maternal grandfather was a former police officer and a Kendo master. Naturally, I had been trained, or rather, rigorously drilled, from childhood. At that time, my grandfather often said,

“Toma. When you’re at a disadvantage, don’t think about escaping. Just think about defeating the enemy in front of you.” “When you’re in a desperate situation, be prepared to fight to the death.” It was quite a violent teaching from my grandfather.

The opposing assassins each had a sword in one hand and a shield in the other. This was the fighting style of this world. I didn’t have a shield, so I was at a great disadvantage in terms of defense.

I grabbed the sword with both hands like in Kendo.

As I slightly turned my body to the assassin on the right, he quickly readied his shield and raised his sword. It was a slight feint.

I immediately turned around, and the two men were trying to approach me, trying to attack my back. I could see that they had slightly raised their swords and lowered their shields. The one on the left had lowered his shield a bit too much.

Without hesitation, I lunged at him and thrust my sword into his neck. The man tried to raise his shield to defend himself, but my thrust was too fast.

“Gueh,” the man made a frog-like sound and fell. I didn’t even bother to confirm it and prepared for the next one.

Immediately, the remaining enemies were attacking me. The descending sword was just a short distance from my face.

The wind from the tip of the sword could be felt on my cheek. However, the enemy’s sword couldn’t touch me anywhere, and the man’s body swayed slightly from the force of the swing.

As I passed the man, I turned back the tip of my sword. The tip hit the man’s neck, and an astonishing amount of blood spurted out from the cut.

It was just a moment, but I had defeated two men. The one remaining in front of me seemed shocked by the sight of his companions falling while spurting blood.

That shock stiffened his body. When I went towards him, the movements of his sword and shield were disjointed.

I jumped, and the sword I extended pierced the villain’s heart like an arrow.

The fact that I had finished off the enemies in such a short time seemed completely unexpected for the enemy.

The enemy’s plan was that three people would target me first, and the remaining three would restrain Roy and the guards.

If they could defeat me, they were planning to leave Roy and the guards alone and escape.

Therefore, they were only restraining Roy and the guards and didn’t engage in deep combat. If their companions had killed me, they were planning to escape immediately, so it was unexpected that they would be defeated by me instead. The moment the villains were concerned about me approaching from behind, the three guards attacked all at once and cut them down.

“Are you alright? I’ve taken care of my side.”

Startled by that voice, the villain who had been restraining Roy inadvertently turned around.

Roy didn’t miss that moment of carelessness. He immediately swung his sword at the opponent’s shoulder. Even though he was nearly past his mid-sixties, his movements were remarkable. He inflicted a powerful blow to the enemy’s shoulder.

And the three guards didn’t miss the enemy’s impatience either. Three people against two. Since they were outnumbered, the enemies were focusing on defense against the guards and were only restraining them. They had intended to run away as soon as their companions had killed me. The moment the villains were concerned about me approaching from behind, the three guards attacked all at once and cut them down.

“Is anyone injured?”

“No, we’re fine,” came the energetic reply.

“Seriously, you’re amazing. You’re killing them all with a single thrust to the neck or heart. You’re at the level of a sword master.”

Roy said, examining the fallen enemies.

“I was so caught up in the moment that I don’t even remember how I did it.”

This was probably thanks to the Kendo training I received from my grandfather when I was a child.

Instead of thinking with my head, my body seemed to move naturally in response to the enemy’s movements.

“What do we do with these guys?” Roy asked, pointing at the corpses.

“Could you smear their swords with blood and make it look like they were fighting each other?”

“You mean make it look like they killed each other in a quarrel. Are we just going to leave them there?”

“I’ll talk to the capital’s security officers. But we’ll hide the fact that we were attacked.”

“Well, we haven’t suffered any damage, and since we don’t know who attacked us or for what purpose, it might be better not to get involved.”

As expected of Roy. He immediately understood my thoughts.

None of the bandits had anything to identify themselves.

The only people who knew I was coming here were the people at the residence. It’s unlikely that information would leak from there.

Perhaps they attacked us at this place because they were following our movements and we came to a place where there were no witnesses.

The number of people was too small to attack us.

If they really wanted to kill me, they would have used more people. This time, it was just a coincidence that we came to this vacant lot, so they hastily planned the attack, but they couldn’t gather enough comrades.

They were rushing towards me, so the goal must have been to kill me.

But I didn’t know the identity of the enemy. I didn’t know what the enemy was aiming for by killing me.

Certainly, I am now in a position to be seen as a key figure in the government.

But politics are not done by me alone, there is Midland and Gregg, and Regent Raphael.

I didn’t quite understand the reason why they had turned their blades against me.