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One was, as expected, to Count Arsene, who was supposed to buy us.

[ – We regret to inform you that the contract has been broken due to an unexpected attack from outsiders.

In exchange, we will hand over the remaining twelve female slaves free of charge, along with the principal amount, as the fee for the breach of contract.

The slaves are mostly mid-grade goods.

Expect to receive at least 30 gold per slave.

Request standard delivery to Count Arsene.]

And the other letter.

[ – A mysterious killer has made his appearance.

Believed to be a professional killer, systematically raised by an assassin organization.

Even Sir Thomas, a C-class knight, was killed.

Can’t rule out the possibility that the killer was hired by another rival family.

Destination is the Marquis of Foltaine.

Request express delivery.]

The two letters contained different stories.

It seems that the plan was to make me, whose identity is unclear, appear to be a killer sent by a rival family to silence me.

After all, dead men tell no tales.

“That slaver bastard and his tricks…….”

Immediately afterward, I held up the two letters and thought for a moment.

“……I should send this after I make some changes.”

First, I tossed the letter to Count Arsene into the fire and burned it.

Then I quickly rewrote the letter on a fresh piece of parchment.

Keee-aah!

The black hawk, carrying my letter, quickly took flight.

I stared at it for a moment, then looked back.

“Harun, you take the girls and go back to the tent with the pig.”

“Huh? What about you, Master?”

I pointed to the fire with my eyes.

“We need to put out the fire before it spreads to the forest.”

“O-Okay.”

Soon Harun led the children back.

I stared at the raging flames for a moment.

As I stood there, I suddenly remembered something I wanted to test.

A sword known to cut through flames.

‘The Sword of Blazes.’

It was the swordsmanship of my nemesis, Theorg, now known as one of the Three Heavens.

Despite our personal enmity, I recognized his skill.

‘A swordsmanship capable of slaying a thousand enemies with a single blade.’

That’s why he was once even called the Swordsman of Slaughter.

But how well can I imitate Theorg’s swordplay at my current level?

‘If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles’

Vrrrrrr!

My mana, the size of dog feces, resonates in response to my will.

Soon, the energy was coursing through my bloodstream.

It awakened every cell in my body.

For the single blade I would bring down now.

The key to Blazes is not simply creating flames.

The external flames are already there.

Even the flames in front of you must be completely controlled to become what I consider true Blaze.

One.

Slice! Fwoosh…….

“……Is this my limit for now?”

Although I expected it, it didn’t work as I wanted it to.

I sighed in frustration.

With one swipe of my sword, the flames split in two.

I’ve only managed to catch a small portion of the flames.

In my previous life, I should have been able to extinguish the flames in one swipe.

For exercising ‘rule’ over even the embers is the true essence of Blaze.

‘Theorg would have been able to contain this flame with the snap of a finger.’

No, it’s been twenty years, so he can do even better.

“……Damn it. I guess I’ll just have to be diligent about cultivating water from now on.”

Automatically, my mouth watered, and I quickly shook the thought from my mind.

“I should have known better than to put oil on it.”

It would have been better if I hadn’t sent Harun away.

Two is better than one.

On the plus side, the distance between the tents and the surrounding trees was considerable.

The area where the teepee was set up was a vacant lot, with dirt all around.

There was even a small lake nearby, perfect for shelter.

“Haa.”

For a while afterward, I diligently drew and carried water.

All the while trying to shake off the feeling of frustration that was rising deep in my chest.

***

Hours later.

“Hm?”

Soon, I tilted my head to the side.

Back at the original tent, the kids were shaking.

“You lunatics! You’re all done for. How dare you kill a knight of a noble family. Do you think my father will stand still once he finds out?”

I understood the situation with one glance.

“……But before that, Pig, don’t you think you’ll die first?”

Flinch.

The pig, who had been yelling at the top of his lungs, noticed me, and his whole body trembled.

Harun, who had been trying to figure out how to handle this, turned to me with a big grin.

“Master!”

“You should handle something like this yourself. Why are you just standing there? Can’t you see they’re all scared?”

“Well, part of me wanted to beat him up a bit to shut him up, but this pig keeps saying things that bother me.”

“What’s he saying?”

I looked at the pig with a puzzled expression on my face. At that, the pig spoke up.

“I’m an aristocrat! You’re all dead, you sons of bitches!”

“Yeah, well, I guess you’re a nobleman, too. A bastardized offspring of a horny dog’s seed.”

Another flinch.

At my frank retort, the pig quivers with shame.

“W-Wait and see. You’re in real trouble now, because the head of the Marquis of Foltaine, one of the three most prestigious families in the Heart Kingdom, is my father!”

“Gasp! M-Marquis?”

Unlike Harun, who gulped, I wasn’t too surprised, as I already knew this.

And?

I’m royalty.

“So?”

“Wh-What?”

“I was going to slowly let you go, but this won’t do. Stay there like that for a little longer.”

“Y-You’ll let me go? W-Wait…… Mmph! Mmph!”

I gagged the noisy pig’s mouth again.

“Oh, never mind that pig. And what should you guys do now……. Where are your homes?”

The children, freed by my question, only looked at each other as before.

Eventually, one of them, the older girl, raised her hand.

“We…… We all have different homes. Some of us live in the neighboring villages, and some of us even crossed the border.”

“…….”

My teeth clenched with pity.

Part of me wanted to give them some money and tell them to go on their way, but that would be irresponsible.

Besides, the beasts of the night were very dangerous for children like them.

“What’s your name?”

“Oh, my name is Anne.”

“Okay, Anne. Continue to stay with the rest of them and take care of them. I’ll do my best to find a way to get you back home.”

“Th-thank you.”

Even as I spoke, the children’s faces were still filled with disbelief.

They still couldn’t believe what had happened.

It couldn’t be helped.

The ones who made them like this were none other than adults like me.

“Harun, you know where all that food the bandits left behind is? Give it to the children. They must be hungry.”

“Ah, yes, Master!”

I left the tent after filling the children’s stomachs when a mask fell from a tree.

Mask.

True to the word, the opponent who suddenly appeared in front of me was wearing a green mask.

“Oh, dear……. Looks like there’s been a change of clients.”

“You don’t seem too surprised.”

“I expected it somewhat. I saw the bodies piled up nearby, you see.”

“Are you here from the Mask of Night?”

“Yes. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am…….”

“Good. If you’re green, then that means you aren’t of the lower grade, at the very least.”

“……!”

The green mask, seemingly forgetting what he was about to say, shuddered.

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet— the rainbow.

In other words, the Mask of Night used these seven colors to identify their ranks.

The arrival of a green, a mid-level, in the middle of nowhere showed how important they must have considered the pig to be.

‘Well, slavers have a lot of uses for the Mask of Night, from intelligence to commissions.’

I was lost in my thoughts when a monotone voice pierced my eardrums again.

“……It seems you’re familiar with our organization.”

“To some extent.”

At this point, it was time for the questions to come out of the other person’s mouth.

He must have a lot of questions about me.

This was not the slave trader they saw every day, but a complete stranger, a mere speck of blood in their eyes.

And yet, they don’t ask even the most common questions, and they don’t show any disrespect.

The reason is simple.

Because ‘that’s’ how they’ve been trained.

‘That’s likely why the Mask of Night is considered the best intelligence organization on the continent.

My conversation with him today will likely determine whether the next one will be the lowest red rank, or a higher one.

“May I ask what the client’s name is?”

“Ancelot.”

The green mask stiffens for the first time at the words.

“……It’s a strange name. Does your client know the meaning of it?”

“As much as you know.”

Is there anyone else in the world who knows as much about me as I do?

“I don’t know if you’re aware, but for organizations like ours that deal with information, the name Ancelot is a bit special. In fact, even within the Mask of Night, it’s a piece of information that’s only accessible to those of green rank and above.”

“I see.”

“We categorize information according to its importance: heaven, star, and earth. Heaven is the highest, and earth is the lowest. Of course, that’s for high-level information that’s worth at least a hundred gold. Below that, we just call it general information.”

“A hundred gold is the minimum for premium information? Well, the Mask of Night has always been fond of categorizing. And this seems to be similar to the system that separates the Masters.”

“Yes. However, we have set a separate tier for information that is off-limits.”

“Is the story of Ancelot considered off-limits?”

“You’re sharp. We call it the ghost grade.”

Ghost.

I liked that.

Wasn’t that the perfect word for me?

“They say Ancelot was a great hero.”

“If we knew as much as everyone else did, we wouldn’t be able to call ourselves an intelligence organization.”

His voice was meaningful, as if he had something to say.

“Do you know something?”

“One hundred gold.”

“What?”

“The story of Ancelot, the ghost-grade knight forgotten by the world.”

“…….”

It was indeed the Mask of Night.

The money I had on hand was enough.

The money I took from the slavers alone is worth several hundred gold.

However, I cannot waste this money on a single piece of information.

Even if it’s just to build my own power in the future.

“But what’s this weird criteria? Isn’t 100 gold the minimum standard you set for high-level information? Though it’s ghost-grade, I don’t think it’s any more important than heaven- or star-grade information…….”

At my question, the corners of his eyes behind his mask curved gracefully.

“Correct. You can’t say that a ghost-grade is any more important knowledge than heavens or stars. In fact, there’s quite a bit of it that’s inferior in quality.”

“As I thought.”

“Information is always more valuable the fewer people know about it.”

That was also plausible.

How many of them were there the day I was betrayed?

It took hundreds of imperial knights to build the encirclement, and thousands of common soldiers to guard the outskirts.

Rumors travel far and fast the more ears that hear them.

“But why did you still classify them as ghost-grade?”

“Because they’re dangerous to the client.”

“Huh?”

“Information one can’t handle can be one’s undoing.”

“Oho, is that so.”

An exclamation escaped my lips.

“After all, we do have a duty to protect our clients.”

“How kind of you.”

“That’s why the Mask of Night is trusted.”

I nodded.

“……Okay, I’ll buy it. In addition, I’ll also need some information on the Marquis of Foltaine here in the Kingdom of Hart.”

“By my rough calculations, it would be quite a bit of money…….”

It was as if he was asking, ‘Do you think you can afford it?’

“The Mask of Night is an organization that sells information, but also buys, right?”

“But of course. In fact, we value the information we don’t know more than money, though I don’t know how much of it there is in the world…….”

It was an arrogant statement.

We’ll see.

What would his face look like behind that mask when he heard what I said?

“Okay. First, I’ll sell you the information I have.”

“Hmm…….”

And then the masked man let out an unidentifiable sigh.

Of course, I’ve thought about this many times.

He’s right.

Information and knowledge are only meaningful if you have the power to protect them.

That’s why they’ve organized themselves into groups to protect it.

‘But isn’t the other party the Mask of the Night?

The largest intelligence organization on the continent.

To uphold their values, they will never harm their clients.

If there was a bad rumor, no good would come of it.

There’s another reason why kings and emperors turn a blind eye to such eyesores.

They only tolerate them because it’s convenient for them, but if they made treachery their bread and butter, they would never let it go.

‘But the human heart is a deceitful thing.’

Code of Ancelot, Chapter 6.

Careful, careful, careful.

I’ve got a lot of information in my head right now that can be considered heaven-grade.

In other words, I’ll only reveal information that I can handle at the moment.

In that sense, revealing information about my enemies from the three heavens was risky.

What if, in the unlikely event, the Mask of Night gave them back the information?

I might come face to face with an enemy I can’t handle right now.

“Mr. Ancelot?”

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at him.

“……I’ll give you one of the things that the Mask of Night is most curious about right now.”

“Interesting. I don’t have many clients who would pay me for information. Of course, most of them are high ranking people in their respective countries.”

“I suppose that’s true. With high status comes access to sensitive information.”

“Yes. And even the trivial details of other nobles’ lifestyles that they discuss over drinks are valuable information for us.”

With that, the green mask straightened his posture.

“So, what information does your client wish to sell me?”

“…….”

My mouth opened after a long pause.

“I wish to sell information about Purple Mask, your leader.”