[Vol. 8] Chapter 302: A Dark Shadow in the Night
The red-haired little thug froze again. Her eyes looked fierce, her voice was loud, but clearly her experience and knowledge could not keep up with the quick thinking of the priestess. She was completely played with. When she finally realized what was happening, her baby-round face had already turned red.
“Y-you! How dare you…!”
“What are you all doing?!”
Before the girl could continue shouting, another loud voice rushed over from a distance. As soon as she heard it, the fearless look on her face changed at once. Her followers reacted even more strongly. Almost instantly, they scattered like frightened birds, vanishing without a trace.
With no one left to back her up, the little red-haired thug had no way to deal with Violet and the other girl. She looked nervously toward the source of the voice. Even though she was so angry her teeth itched, she could only throw out a harsh line.
“Consider yourselves lucky this time! Don’t let me see you outside the training grounds again!”
Then she ran away as fast as she could.
“Master… what was that girl even trying to do?”
“Forget it. She’s just a greenhouse flower, someone raised in comfort who hasn’t faced any real hardship. Arguing with her would only lower us to her level. Let her go.”
As Violet spoke, she turned toward the direction the voice had come from. A neat group of more than ten people was quickly approaching.
The leader was a young man dressed in a different style of the Swift Wind Sect robe. On his shoulder was a special sword mark. He wasn’t especially handsome, but his face was clean and bright, with a hint of intelligence not often seen in warriors. A long sword was strapped to his back, but at his waist hung another an old, black, broken sword. At first glance, it looked a little strange.
The young man reached Violet and her companion first. The dozen disciples with the same sword mark followed closely behind. Their eyes moved across the calm faces of the two girls, then quickly spotted the little red-haired thug disappearing into the night. Their brows furrowed as if they recognized her.
“Captain, I think that was Princess Cheng and her followers.”
The young man frowned, then sighed helplessly.
“It seems that lady is throwing another tantrum. Since we didn’t catch her on the spot, the Law Committee can’t really punish her for this. After all, she is part of the imperial family…”
“For now, let’s end it here. I’ll report the situation when needed. As for—hmm?”
He stopped suddenly.
By this time, night had fully fallen. The magic lights inside the lecture hall gave little light outside. Only the pale glow of the three moons and the small lanterns in the disciples’ hands lit the area. Because of that, the young man had only now gotten a clear look at the faces of the two girls standing nearby. His expression shifted slightly.
But he quickly recovered, cleared his throat, and waved to his men.
“Go spread the word. There’s nothing wrong here anymore. The brothers guarding the area can stand down. Do another patrol to make sure nothing is missed.”
“Yes, Captain!”
The Law Committee disciples believed him and left with their lanterns. Soon, the shadows outside the lecture hall were empty except for Violet, Xiao Guang, and the young man carrying two swords.
When the others were gone, the young man looked again at the two girls, who were also watching him with interest. He seemed to be studying them but also looked a bit uncertain.
“You two are… Miss Violet and Miss Xiao Guang, right? We meet again. Are you here to see my master? But… why do I feel something about you both is a little strange?”
“Oh~ so you could recognize us right away?”
The priestess’s face lit up with joy.
This young man, who happened to drive off the little red-haired thug, and whose clothes were clearly different from the others was, of course, Rowan Nillin, the “cheap disciple” that the Sword Saint had picked up from the Chaos Magic Valley.
Before joining the Swift Wind Sect, Rowan had been a student at the Imperial Royal Academy. He was born and raised in the Frederick City, from a family of medium standing. Having been away from home for a long time, he naturally returned to the capital when the priestess and the Sword Saint traveled here, and so he was brought back along with them.
It now seemed that the Sword Saint had not let his young disciple stay idle. It was natural for Violet and her friend to recognize Rowan, but the fact that he could see through their disguise so quickly left Violet surprised.
After all, before leaving, the two of them had put on the [Cognitive Obstruction Mask], which, even though only a low-level spiritual tool, was still more than enough to fool any ordinary person below the “Transcendent” level.
Rowan had only just started his path of cultivation not long ago. Even if his progress was amazingly fast, at most his strength should only be around Level 10–20. In the eyes of a legendary expert, this mask would look like a perfect disguise. Yet to him, it only looked “a little strange”?
Could it be that… that thing inside his body had already started working?
Thinking this silently, Violet did not waste time. She took off her [Cognitive Obstruction Mask], explained its effect briefly to the shocked Rowan, and then returned to the main topic.
“We really came here to see Bevis. There are some things we want to ask him, though it’s not urgent. But by the way, what’s going on with that little… um, girl just now? Your Swift Wind Sword Sect even takes in imperial princesses as disciples?”
Since the priestess had asked directly, Rowan could only give an awkward smile and explain simply.
“This place is known as the number one sword sect in the world. And because the Swift Wind Sect never takes part in worldly politics, it’s actually not strange at all for members of the imperial family to come here for training. In fact, it’s very common. Even Prince Xiluo, the current Regent, was said to have studied swordsmanship here in his youth.”
“The training hall is the perfect place to avoid political struggles and assassination attempts. My master has an extremely high position in the empire. No matter which emperor is in power, none of them dare cause trouble here. Because of that, princesses like Her Highness Cheng, who have little influence and no strong backers, actually find this the safest and best place to grow up before adulthood.”
“So that’s how it is…”
The priestess nodded thoughtfully, then suddenly grew curious.
“By the way, just how many children does the emperor have? From the way you talk, it sounds like they’re everywhere, like cabbages in the market… That Xiluo prince and this Cheng girl, at least they're ten years apart, right?”
Rowan thought for a moment and answered.
“Well… I didn’t know much before, but after coming here with my master, I did hear some things. His Majesty Leonis Frederick, the current emperor, is fifty-three years old. He has twenty-one princes and fourteen princesses. The oldest is already thirty-seven, and the youngest… was just born last year.”
“What the—?! That many?!”
Even though she had mentally prepared herself, the priestess was still shocked by the number.
One man, more than forty children, and the number was still growing? Was he an emperor or a breeding pig? Compared to him, the so-called “Harem Kings” Minchen looked like pure-hearted saints!
The young swordsman, who was also new to this kind of upper-class gossip, nodded helplessly and continued.
“But the empire has always valued results. They don’t raise useless people, not even in the royal family. Most of those princes and princesses are already working across the country, managing different regions. Only a small number of those underage are still allowed to stay in the capital. Princess Cheng is one of them.”
“She was born from a concubine. She has no background, and her talents aren’t anything special. Apart from the glow of being royalty, she’s not much different from normal people. After finally using her status to enter the Swift Wind Sect, she put all her focus on training in swordsmanship. It’s said she especially worships [Sword of Purity]…”
“In that case, for Princess Cheng to skip such an important lecture, gather her followers, and come here to give you two trouble… what exactly did you do to make her so angry?”
“Uh… hahaha…”
Violet glanced at her dragon companion, whose face showed no concern, and gave a slightly awkward smile. She then quickly explained the events that had just happened. But before she could finish, a sudden sound of urgent, hurried footsteps came closer and closer!
The three of them turned to look. It was the same group of Law Committee disciples Rowan had earlier sent away with an excuse. But now they returned, their faces pale with fear and panic, as if they had seen something terrifying. They stumbled and almost fell as they rushed over.
“C-c-c-captain! Something terrible! Something really, really terrible has happened!!!”
Rowan frowned, turning toward the trembling disciples holding lanterns, a bad feeling already rising in his heart.
Even though he hadn’t worked in this position for very long, Rowan already knew a bit about the Law Committee members, disciples chosen from the elite of the Sect, whose job was to handle sudden problems and keep order. Unless they had run into something extremely serious, something far beyond what they could imagine. There was no way those disciples would show such terrified expressions.
But inside the Swift Wind Sect, with the [Sword of Purity] and even these two mysterious powerful figures present… what kind of frightening event could possibly scare them like this?
No matter what doubts filled his heart, Rowan didn’t show panic on the surface. Instead, his face hardened as he scolded them in a deep voice.
“Don’t panic! Where did all your training of the mind go? Speak clearly, what happened?”
Before the breathless disciples could even answer, Violet raised an eyebrow and calmly said, as if she already knew.
“Most likely… someone is dead.”
“Oh, so it’s just—wait, what?!”
Without giving the shocked Rowan any explanation, the priestess gave a look to the Dragon God beside her. The dragon girl nodded in understanding, stepped back, and disappeared into the night shadows in an instant.
As a Spirit Fox Shrine Maiden and ruler of the Underworld, Violet was extremely sensitive to the breath of death. Using her [Yin-Yang Eyes], she could clearly see a faint, lingering aura of death wrapped around the disciples—an aura that only appeared when someone had just died. But when they left earlier, that aura had not been there.
Thinking of the direction they had come from, Violet suddenly felt a bad premonition.
It can’t be that much of a coincidence, right…?
The next second, one of the disciples finally caught his breath and blurted out in fear, shattering Violet’s last bit of hope and making Rowan’s face change completely.
“Captain, it—it’s Princess Cheng! Princess Cheng has been killed!!!”
A short while later, in a bamboo grove not far from the lecture hall.
The night was still quiet. Many Law Committee disciples had already set up a cordon, sealing off a section of the grove completely. Rowan Nillin, who had hurried there with his men, looked at the few bodies covered with white cloth. His face was as dark as water, his expression grim to the extreme.
“So this is where you found the bodies? Did you see anything suspicious nearby?”
The disciple who had run to report earlier shook his head nervously, his face pale.
“No, Captain. We just happened to be passing by outside the grove. One of the brothers noticed something strange with the shadows, so we brought a lantern to check… but who could have thought it would be like this…”
“…”
It seemed the man was telling the truth. Rowan waved his hand to dismiss them, then turned toward the black-haired girl who was crouched down, lifting the white cloths one by one without hesitation to check the bodies. His voice was heavy.
“Miss Violet, is there any way to save them?”
“…No. They’re completely dead.”
With no expression, the priestess delivered the news of death, then added:
“These are indeed some of the ones who picked a fight earlier. As for the killer… it seems only one person struck.”
Violet inspected each wound carefully. Finally, she pulled back the cloth covering the face of the little red-haired princess, Cheng. Her round cheeks, still soft with baby fat not long ago, were now completely pale, drained of all life. Violet felt a small sigh in her heart.
This troublesome girl had caused arguments and was hardly pleasant, but Violet had never actually wished her harm. Yet in just a short moment, the girl had died so suddenly and pointlessly.
The fatal wound was at the throat. The killer used a sword, delivering a perfect, classic killing strike. The attacker’s strength was clearly far above theirs. With incredible speed, they suddenly attacked and killed everyone present, including Cheng, in an instant. The five victims likely had no chance to resist, maybe not even realizing they had been attacked before they died.
Violet had many ways to investigate or even try reviving the dead, but she had neither the reason nor the right to do so here, and this was not the time to draw attention. So instead of acting, she quietly covered the bodies again, patted the dust off her hands, and stood up.
“The killer’s real target was probably only the princess. The others were just unlucky to be with her and died as collateral.”
“You mean… this was a planned assassination against the royal family?” Rowan asked.
Violet shook her head.
“I don’t know if it was planned. But among these victims, only the princess has a second wound. That extra wound is very likely the real reason the killer attacked her.”
“To put it more clearly, the killing itself wasn’t the purpose. The true goal was to take something from her.”
“…Her heart was dug out.”