Theron walked through the Imperial Academy, practically feeling the palpable heaviness in the air. It was subtle, but the teachers were just a little bit more on edge, and whether the students picked up on it consciously or not, they reacted in kind.
Stepping into class was more of the same. What Theron noticed immediately, though, was that Sawyer wasn’t here.
He didn’t really spare this overgrown bully much thought, but he was almost ruthlessly detail-oriented. When he noticed a Thistle missing, it was hard for alarm bells to not ring in his ears.
When he noticed that Sadie also wasn’t present, that settled things.
They knew.
This wasn’t too much of a surprise. Theron had already accounted for a soul lamp. What was more intriguing was Little Sadie’s absence.
This meant that things were much more serious. Even extended parties were getting involved.
‘Good.’
Theron took his seat as though he didn’t feel like anything was wrong.
All the while, Theron’s expression never changed.
Class went on much the same; however, midway through, Theron felt his heart skip a beat.
A burning sensation came from his chest, and he couldn’t help but narrow his eyes.
Why was Daggers of the Night summoning him now?
Unceremoniously, and without so much as a word, Theron stood to his feet and directly left the class. The students and Burne were so stunned that no one quite knew how to react. By the time anyone thought to say anything, Theron had already vanished.
A flare of rage sparked in Burne’s eyes, but even he couldn’t have expected that Theron would do something like this.
…
Theron had truly vanished.
He accounted for every variable when he did things, and though the possibility of Daggers of the Night calling him when he was in the middle of class like that was low, he was ready for it.
It seemed unplanned to walk out so abruptly, but he was leaning on his poor relationship with Burne to execute it.
Even with how oblivious the students seemed half the time, even a fool could tell that Burne had targeted him time and time again. For Theron to suddenly have enough of it wasn’t too much of a surprise, no matter how abrupt.
Of course, that was just one part of his plan. The rest required a large amount of Water Mana.
Theron returned to his dorm, but no one saw him leave it. Soon, he had already entered a familiar hotel room, his face having completely changed.
He slipped inside of the mirror and awoke in a stone room.
Theron moved quickly, the burning at his chest only increasing. Soon, he had made it to a gathering room, the very same location he usually handed in his missions.
A cloak adorned his body as he moved, taking his place amongst the sea of cloaks that looked just like his own.
Murmurs were already spreading through the group of Bronze Assassins. As far as Theron could tell, only they had been summoned, and their discipline was clearly lacking.
An oppressive pressure fell, encompassing the entire room. At some unknown time, a cloaked figure had appeared before them all, nothing more than a pair of burning red eyes visible within the darkness.
The murmurs came to an abrupt stop.
“The first rule.”
The voice echoed akin to a frigid wind, their spines forcefully straightening as goosebumps crawled along their skin.
“Never kill your fellow assassin!” They roared in unison as though puppet strings had been tugged through the depths of their very hearts.
“The second rule.”
“An assassin’s greatest weapon is their mind!”
“The third rule.”
“Adaptability is more important than strength!”
“The fourth rule.”
“By the Guild! For the Guild!”
Every time they spoke out these words, the searing pain in their chests grew more feverish. It felt like a spear was thrusting through them, pumping them full of Fire Mana and burning their blood to ash.
Theron spoke along with the others, his voice projecting and melding into the crowd seamlessly.
“Today, many of you will be facing your first crisis. The branch has called upon you to complete your duty. Protect the Guild with your lives.”
The words had hardly echoed when the ground rumbled.
Theron’s pupils constricted. He knew that whatever was happening had to be big, but he didn’t expect it to be this big. He had severely underestimated the situation.
But there was also nothing that he could do. In his current position, he had no choice but to listen to the orders of the Guild. He needed them because they would give him access to information he would only otherwise have as a noble.
Without status, there would be too much out of his control. It was only because he was part of the Guild that he was in the thick of an event revolving around Marquisettes. Without them, he would be another leaf blowing in the wind.
But with that benefit came its risks. And they had come to collect.
‘Why did they only call Bronze Assassins for something like this?’ Theron’s heart skipped a beat as the answer came to him in a flash. ‘A culling!’
When an organization like Daggers of the Night faced a crisis, the biggest issue they might face would be internal struggles. Bronze Assassins had yet to prove themselves as trustworthy and were the greatest liability.
‘But just how bad is the situation that a hideout of the Guild has been exposed?’
There were too many questions in Theron’s mind, but he could only bury them deep. He hadn’t even figured out how he would hide the burn to his hand, but he could very well come out of today with injuries even more difficult to hide…
If he survived at all.