Her fingertips trembled.
The past flashed before her eyes like a movie as refined as sand flowing through her fingertips.
“—Are you loyal to the Grand Duke?”
When Vladmir picked her up, he also asked him this way when he was still “Thoreau Nick”.
His parents were both murderers. His father was an elite assassin capable of assassinating official wizards, while his mother was a follower of the Black Widow, skilled in concocting potent poisons. Both of them had the blood of innocents on their hands.
There was no value in regretting their deaths. Objectively speaking, Thoreau Nick also knew this.
However, he witnessed his mother being killed by enemies, and his father never returning. He was then expelled from the village by the villagers… In the howling blizzard, alone, clutching his father’s used short sword, he was driven out of the small settlement.
Young Thoreau Nick was filled with fear and restlessness.
He walked across the snow and reached the big city.
He wanted to join the Winter’s Hand, but was not accepted due to his parents’ crime; he was attacked by the Frost Beast, raised by Spirit Thief and almost died in the snow; he held his sword and wanted to join a caravan as a guard, only asking for a stable job and a decent meal, but he was rejected because of his young age and lack of sword skills.
He begged and worked odd jobs in different places, but his money was swindled clean. Furious, he beat up a thief and tried to use the stolen money to learn swordsmanship, but he was rejected by the swordsmanship dojo instructor.
“I heard about what happened in your hometown, Thoreau Nick. I won’t teach you swordsmanship. You are a natural killer. When you draw your sword, you instinctively attack others’ vital points.”
“You haven’t killed anyone yet, and there’s still a chance to turn things around. You’re in good health; you can work hard, and you won’t starve. There are labor jobs everywhere. Alternatively, you can learn to read and write; it’s also a path to becoming someone important.”
“If you learn swordsmanship… No, if you learn any combat technique, it might be used for killing. Once you kill the first person, you won’t be able to stop. What I teach here is Bodyguard Swordsmanship, not the art of an assassin.”
The old teacher’s comments about Thoreau Nick quickly spread throughout the city.
This skinny and rebellious boy who came from elsewhere, always carrying a sword, appeared like a lone wolf in this small town and was quite well-known.
However, after the word spread, no one even hired him to work.
—I will die if I continue to stay here.
Thoreau Nick was well aware in his mind.
However, he also knew that the old teacher’s comments were not accurate.
That was because he was not an unruly person. Instead, he was making himself inconspicuous. Unfortunately, his presence was so glaring that no amount of concealment could nullify its negative effect.
In the end, he killed someone — it was on his 9th birthday.
Thoreau Nick did not learn swordsmanship.
However, it was not necessary to have a sword to kill someone.
When his father used to play with him, he would point out the human body’s weak points on him. Thoreau Nick would chuckle, subconsciously engraving them in his memory.
A fierce duel that didn’t require sword-fighting.
Just pour a puddle of slippery oil in the dimly lit alley entrance. People walking by would slip and fall.
He would hide nearby, holding a heavy stone. After that person fell, he would rush forward, smashing their temple, the back of their head, and neck with the stone. Then, using the dagger from the person’s waist, he would pierce their heart and cut their throat.
—Thoreau Nick planned this.
However, he soon discovered that the human body was so fragile.
His plan didn’t work at all.
His mind went blank at the time.
He just hit the back of the head with all his strength. When he regained his senses, the man was already dead.
Murder was so easy.
Thoreau Nick thought.
He took the victim’s wallet and wanted to escape town. However, he was robbed by a much more veteran criminal.
Neither the stone nor the sword could prevail against a gun. He obediently handed over the stolen wallet. Only a subconscious act left a silver coin hidden in his mouth. Even his sword was taken away.
If he hadn’t knelt and begged for mercy in time, saving the other party a lead bullet… maybe there would have been no future for him.
With a silver coin in his mouth and empty hands, he left the town alone under the watchful gaze of the thugs.
—This time, he was not as lucky as before.
Or was it his punishment for killing someone? This snowstorm was particularly harsh.
When he was almost unconscious, he vaguely saw a pair of boots and a cane.
The man, holding a cane, without a trace of pity, and with no regard for his dignity… used the cold cane to turn over his feeble body, tore open his clothing, and pressed it against his left chest.
“Homeless puppy? Has he killed anyone?”
A low, emotionless voice sounded, “The desire is very strong…”
“So? Let me ask you — if you have another chance. Who do you want to be?”
…Is this person a fool?
At that time, the dying Thoreau Nick had this idea in his mind.
He didn’t have the energy to respond.
This was how it should be.
However, a warm current was introduced into his heart through the cane.
His chest became extremely cold, but his body gained strength.
He came to life.
Realizing this miracle belatedly, Thoreau Nick stood up, knelt in the snow in disbelief, and looked up at the middle-aged man wearing a thick cloak.
At that moment, the man was as great as a deity.
“If you had another chance, who would you like to be?” The middle-aged man’s deep voice sounded again, “Or… do you want power?”
“Ah? I want to! Master Wizard!” He blurted out, “I want power! Please give me the strength that I can use to kill people!”
In Thoreau Nick’s mind at the time, only wizards had this magical power.
However, at the moment he said these words, he already regretted it.
However, at that time, he was blurred and could only tell the truth instinctively.
“Oh?” After hearing Thoreau Nick’s words, the middle-aged man chuckled, “Is it power used to kill people?”
“So… for this power, to what extent can you go?”
“Sir, you saved my life.”
Little Thoreau Nick said without hesitation, “If it’s for the master, I can kill anyone… If you have any enemies, I will kill them for you! I will never reveal any information about you. If I fail, I will suicide with poison— as long as it’s for the master, I would even give up my life!”
He learned these words from his father.
“[As long as it’s for the master, I would even give up my life.]”
The middle-aged man repeated the sentence and laughed out loud for the second time, “Then, remember this sentence, puppy.”
“Yes!”
“So—are you loyal to the Grand Duke?”
Grand Duke…
To be honest, Thoreau Nick didn’t have a clear idea about this.
He didn’t even know how many levels there were in the nobility, and he had never even seen the mansions of nobles. He only heard about it occasionally and knew that Grand Duke Ivan was a good man… That was all.
—But what did the Grand Duke have to do with him?
Thoreau Nick was the child of a murderer, and he was also a young murderer. He was not a subject protected by Austere-Winter’s Grand Duke and perhaps should be sent to the gallows.
“Whether I am loyal or not… you have the final say, sir.”
Thoreau Nick replied without hesitation, “I listen to your command.”
“Great answer.”
“Then take my cane and stand up. Homeless puppy—”
The middle-aged man replied calmly with a voice without any emotion, “From now on, you are a human being.”
—From now on, I am a human being.
This voice sounded in Thoreau Nick’s ears.
He took a deep breath, held the cane handed over by the middle-aged man, and expressed his submissions.
…Even since then.
He also never cared about the political situation in Austere-Winter after he joined Winter’s Hand.
Thoreau Nick had not been trained in torture techniques and counter-torture techniques, nor had he studied the doctrines of military, political, and interpersonal communication. Even these courses were taught within Winter’s Hand.
The border nobles, the divine bloodline nobles, the wizard family, the ritualist family… Thoreau Nick didn’t care about those at all.
His teacher Vladmir said that whoever was a traitor and betrayed the Grand Duke, he would kill that person. His most talented and irreplaceable asset was his assassination.
Everything within reach could be killed – with talent and a hundred times worth of diligence, his assassination had become more and more sophisticated. Even the “Ten Fingers” were not as good as him.
Just like the old teacher said, he was a born killer.
From the moment he killed the first person, his talent could no longer be hidden.
He was able to easily kill people much larger and stronger than himself. Not just because the other party underestimated him, but because he acted without any scruples.
The blood of [Murderer] flowed in his veins.
Other than that, he was useless.
It wasn’t until…
Until that “Professor Wolf” gave him a second life.
“I…” Celecia’s voice trembled.
She was silent for a moment.
Under Zoya’s invisible gaze, she lowered her head, “I am naturally loyal.”
“‘Thoreau Nick’ is fine for anything, he is just a stray dog…”
Professor Wolf’s magnetic voice seemed to echo in her ears, “However, the respected and beloved ‘Miss Celecia’ is not necessarily…”
“She is a human being. A free person… A beauty who owns everyone’s liking.”
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