Master Assassin of the Ronan

Chapter 22. The Problematic Assassin (3)

Tina Kiruha.

The moment I heard that name, memories of my regretful mother surfaced.

The image of Seiren, filled with regret over past decisions.

The Day of Annihilation.

After we had fended off several of the Emperor’s massive assaults, led by his punitive forces, the war between the Emperor and the Assassin Blade Family fell into an uneasy lull.

Though it was only a few hours of respite.

All of the assassins Seiren and I had sent were already dead.

The only option left was to face the Emperor’s attacks head-on.

The aged Seiren and the battle-worn Rubin sat in the Dusklight Hall, awaiting the decisive battle.

“…….”

Rubin looked down at his trembling arm.

He was already exhausted.

Just sitting still made him gasp for breath.

Whenever he struggled to gather the Dark Ripple, it would dissipate almost immediately.

Then, Seiren broke the silence with a single statement that echoed through the Dusklight Hall.

“Seeing things come to this… it brings to mind all the wrong decisions I’ve made in my life.”

Rubin shook his head quietly at her words.

“‘In life?’ We’re not dead yet. And we’re not going to die, either.”

He said it, but he couldn’t shake the feeling of despair.

Rubin forced himself to look up at Seiren.

Anxiety and anger.

Just as he had, her eyes were filled with emotions she couldn’t quite hide.

“Tina Kiruha. I shouldn’t have let her live.”

As she said that, Seiren closed her eyes briefly.

“That’s the first time I’m hearing that name.”

“Tina was a girl I encountered on a mission. A child with a rare ability—a girl who had been a mere toy to my assassination target.”

Seiren continued.

“After killing my target and preparing to return, I found Tina trapped among them. I could have simply passed her by or killed her, but I didn’t. Even though she was fragile, I knew… she was ‘special.’”

Seiren bit her lower lip and paused in silence for a moment.

“So, I brought her back. I intended to raise her as an assassin. The ability that girl had… it was unlike anything we had.”

“…….”

“But blinded by her talent, I neglected her bloodline. Despite all my hopes, Tina could never become ruthless. It was the destiny of her people.”

Bloodline? People? Destiny?

At that time, I didn’t understand what it meant.

And then, my mother whispered softly.

“That destiny was the key.”

Doooooo!

Just then, the prolonged sound of a horn trumpet from the Emperor’s army echoed.

Seiren opened her eyes, and Rubin once again gripped the sword he had set down.

It was a signal that the Emperor’s assault had resumed.

* * *

‘So, this woman is that Tina Kiruha. The Blood-Transformation Tribe assassin my mother regretted.’

The puzzle finally fit together.

The Blood-Transformation Tribe, regardless of what lifeform they encountered, could at the very least perfectly mimic its appearance.

It was said that even when they slept, they did so in the form of another person.

This transformation ability was an unmatched weapon for an assassin.

‘If Tina had lived, could we have killed the Emperor that day?’

Mother had called her the key.

Perhaps she even knew the way.

At that moment, I understood my mother’s regret in severing ties with Tina.

‘But such a feat was only possible if she had become an assassin.’

Pacifism, reverence for life, humanitarianism.

These values of the Blood-Transformation Tribe were incompatible with the Assassin Blade Family.

When the Imperial Edict Office designated a target, killing them was our mission.

Eliminating a target without any moral judgment was the fate of every assassin.

But the Blood-Transformation Tribe inherently abhorred killing, despising even the act of fighting.

‘They’d probably rather take their own lives than harm another.’

According to ancient war histories, there were cases of Blood-Transformation Tribe committing mass suicide when forced into battle.

‘I see now why there was no choice but to kill Tina.’

At first, she had likely been spared due to Seiren’s hope to train her as an assassin.

But her true nature would have revealed itself on her first mission.

Once it became clear she couldn’t kill, there was no reason to let her live.

Even the Family Head, Seiren Ronan, could hardly withstand the Emperor’s pressure.

‘So, that’s why the Execution Unit had to step in.’

With these thoughts, Rubin focused on the Tina before him.

“Tina Kiruha.”

Whatever choices she had made or actions she had taken up until now didn’t matter. The past was the past.

What mattered was what came next.

From the moment he had heard her name, Rubin had started thinking from a completely different angle.

‘I have to save her.’

Before hearing her name, he had only been pondering how to finish off this Blood-Transformation Tribe assassin.

Whether to use the Execution Unit, who had no idea they were being deceived, or to wait for Grokal, who was probably busy tracking her by now.

Or whether Rubin himself should step in.

‘The problem is figuring out how to save her.’

At that moment.

Virko and Sharko lifted the tent flap and peeked in, their faces masked.

“Captain, we should move soon. If we delay, we’ll lose track of Tina completely.”

A startled Tina held her tongue. Her anxious eyes shifted back and forth between Rubin and the others. If Rubin revealed the truth now, she would lose any chance to escape.

But Rubin had no intention of doing so.

“We still have things to discuss. Could you wait just a bit longer?”

“…Fine.”

When the two members of the Execution Unit withdrew, Tina pointed her sword at him, asking fiercely,

“Why didn’t you tell them? Don’t you regret it? I could kill you right now.”

“If you were going to kill me, you would have done so already. And…”

Rubin approached her slowly, moving closer until her sword touched his throat. He then calmly disarmed her, tossing the blade to the ground.

“I’ve never once heard of a Blood-Transformation Tribe killing anyone.”

Astonished, Tina laughed in disbelief. Rubin drove his point home.

“You can’t kill me. You can’t even escape safely in this state. Now what will you do?”

Rubin already knew how Tina’s story would end.

Grokal wasn’t overpowered by Tina when she subdued him and forced him to reveal his true form.

He had simply let his guard down.

In the original story, the leader of the Execution Unit would eventually awaken and track down Tina.

Having received Seiren’s permission to kill her, Grokal wouldn’t hesitate to deliver a fatal blow to Tina. That would be her end.

Rubin continued speaking as he looked at Tina.

“Blood-Transformation Tribe have to transform into another lifeform at regular intervals, right? I don’t know how long it’s been since your last transformation, but it doesn’t seem like you have much time left.”

“Are you threatening me? Do you think I can’t escape?”

“Well, you could transform into something else again. But don’t you think the Execution Unit outside would pick up on the Dark Ripple you’ll release when you change forms?”

But Tina only laughed at Rubin.

“Doesn’t the bookworm prince realize how Seiren feels about all this theoretical talk? Let’s see how things play out.”

Tina stood up.

She intended to transform into another creature and escape from here.

“Tina, think carefully. You know that as long as you have the Dark Ripple, you won’t be able to evade the Execution Unit.”

“…….”

“Follow me. If you leave here like this… you’ll end up dead.”

As much as she wanted to deny it, Rubin’s words were true.

Tina trembled for a moment, as if suppressing her frustration.

Two weeks on the run.

A desperate flight, constantly changing forms to stay ahead.

But more than anything, what tormented Tina the most were the memories of her childhood as a Blood-Transformation Tribe, endlessly fleeing.

A child who had not yet mastered transformation.

Nights filled with terror in forests and wilderness.

The memory of being captured by a human slaver and sold off to a noble’s household.

And then, one day…

A woman had appeared and rescued her.

The masters and nobles, whom Tina had thought invincible, were slain in an instant by that woman.

In front of her, Tina had cried, begging to be saved, pleading to be taken in.

But now, that same woman was chasing her, determined to end her life.

“To survive when Seiren has decided to kill me? Do you think you’re influential enough to overturn the Family Head’s order?”

In response, Rubin picked up Tina’s sword and placed it firmly back in her hand.

“I’ll take that question as a sign you’re willing to follow me.”

* * *

Tap. Tap tap. Tap.

A gray silhouette raced through the forest. Each time the man passed, a breeze marked his trail.

‘How far did they get?’

The Execution Unit leaves a specific marker that only they can recognize when moving. It’s to make tracking and searching easier.

If you could read those markers, you could effectively pursue a target even if the team was scattered.

At that moment, Grokal Lang was following the signs left by Virko and Sharko, quickly closing in on his companions.

‘To think I got caught by such a pathetic trap.’

It was humiliating.

Tina’s trap hadn’t been anything sophisticated.

It was a basic setup, the sort any Assassin Blade Family retainer would learn as a beginner.

Yet Grokal had fallen for it precisely because of its simplicity. He hadn’t expected such a straightforward trick from someone being pursued by the Execution Unit.

Grokal clenched his teeth as he remembered Tina’s face looking down on him, trapped.

‘How dare she transform into me and impersonate the Execution Unit Leader?’

He could easily imagine what Tina had done while he was stuck. She was likely leaving traces all over, posing as him, to throw off the pursuit.

‘Cunning wench!’

He had intended to kill her from the start, but now even the faintest sympathy he might have felt for her was gone.

‘I’ll drive my sword straight through her heart the moment she appears!’

However, when Tina finally did appear in front of him, Grokal found himself unable to act as he’d planned.

“What are you all doing?”

When Grokal arrived, five assassins were watching something around the hillside.

“Hey!”

Virko spotted Grokal approaching and shouted. He acted as if he’d known all along that Grokal would make it back alive.

“Grokal! Are you the real Grokal? Where have you been until now?”

“Shut it, Virko. Where is that wench?”

Grokal Lang checked the faces in the group.

Among the five assassins gathered were Virko and Sharko. The other three were retainers from the main house.

“Why are the main house’s retainers here? Damn it!”

Grokal quickly understood the situation. In the middle of the group’s gaze were two assassins locked in combat, slashing at each other.

Both of them had the physique of a ten-year-old, with black hair fluttering as they moved.

They looked identical in every way.

That was why the Execution Unit and the retainers could only stand by and watch the fight.

“Grokal… We don’t know what to do. We can’t tell which one is Young Master Rubin, and which one is Tina…”

“If we interfere recklessly, we might accidentally attack the Young Master. Damn that woman!”

Ignoring his companions, Grokal drew his sword and growled.

“You idiots! There’s a way to…”

Just as Grokal was about to rush forward, Rubin’s personal retainers blocked his path.

“Execution Unit Leader! Are you willing to risk the Young Master’s life for your reckless gamble?”

Grokal shoved the retainer aside.

“What if the Young Master is taken down by Tina? Wouldn’t it be better to risk giving him a scratch than that?”

“A scratch?”

Without answering, Grokal leapt between the two identical Rubins.

Both of them, caught off guard by his sudden interference, froze.

‘Damn it, it’s really Grokal. We didn’t expect this.’

‘What do we do now?’

Rubin and Tina exchanged uneasy glances.

Their plan had been for Rubin to put on a show of fighting Tina evenly, before finally subduing her with a stroke of “nine-year-old Ronan bloodline strength,” combined with a little “luck.”

But with Grokal’s unexpected intervention, the outcome of this act was now unpredictable.

“Damn wench, did you think I wouldn’t find you?”