Chapter 2 – Volume 1
Edited (poorly) 4/11/23
The thick door opened and Radan reflexively raised his head. Not all of the iron gates were open. The side door, which was made by cutting a hole in the iron gate barely big enough for a small dog to get in and out of, was open.
“It’s your meal.”
Radan walked over to the door on his knees, but even that had limitations. The chain that was tied to Radan never allowed him to reach the door.
“Thank you.”
Radan spoke softly to the one who brought the meal.
“…….. Your Highness.”
“……”
Laud said nothing. The one called Laud was the Second Prince of the Kemened Kingdom.
Radan was all too familiar with this. He already knew the bitterness of not getting an answer. But it still made him sad.
He lived in a room without a single light, and over his eyes, he wore an iron blindfold that covered his eyes and a heavy chain around his neck.
The side door that had been opened for a moment closed again, and the bar was lowered into place. After hearing the sound of the heavy metal falling, Radan fumbled on the floor to find the bowl. It was the same meal as always. A glass of milk, a little water, and dried snake meat.
Radan drank the milk first. It was distinguishable from water by the shape of the bowl. The water had to be conserved. Meals were given only once a day, and he could not drink much water because it would run out too quickly. After swallowing a little milk, Radan picked up a piece of dried snake meat, he didn’t like the taste or smell, but Radan was never allowed anything else.
He chewed and swallowed the strong fishy smell. Then, suddenly, the sound of a door opening was heard again. Radan turned his head in surprise.
“Radan.”
Laud is back!
Radan hurriedly wiped his milky lips with the back of his hand.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Are you wearing the iron ring?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Can you swear to God?”
“Of course.”
“Good.”
The iron door, not the small side door, opened. Radan felt his heart pound.
In the past, this iron gate had been opened more frequently. Like he when was young and Laud had not yet reached the age of majority. At that time Laud even brought candy to Radan.
Even when he was growing up, candy was the most delicious food in his memory.
“Good.”
Laud, who came in with the iron door kept open, repeated the same words again. Radan knew what he wanted. He was referring to the fact that the iron ring was definitely covering his eyes. The iron ring was also covered with a black cloth so as to calm their anxieties.
Radan sometimes wanted to tell them that even without an iron blindfold or black cloth, he would never open his eyes to them. But no one, including Laud, would have believed Radan. To convince them, Radan always used the iron band and the cloth sack to cover his eyes.
“I have confirmed that Count Custer is dead, great job.”
Radan nodded.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Laud, who was watching Radan from a distance even greater than the chain allowed Radan to move, spoke to him aggressively.
“Then why didn’t you kill Leshak Caliph?”
”… …”
Radan’s head stopped shaking. Laud’s furious voice continued.
“It was said that Leshak Caliph went out to find Count Custer who had left the camp. Radan, have you really not seen Leshak Caliph?”
The answer continued after a couple of gasps were swallowed.
“My eyes…… were covered…… Until someone tells me, I don’t…know……”.
He had difficulty speaking long sentences properly.
Radan, who had been locked up behind an iron gate since he was very young, had no one to talk to. Unable to learn to speak properly, he slurred like a child.
“Shit! Missing such an opportunity!”
Laud stomped his foot. He knew that Radan was not wrong. The current king of the Kemened Kingdom, Alsanu III, has dementia, and the First Prince (his older brother) was to succeed him, but now he has been devastated by a serious injury suffered in the war. At the young age of twenty-three, it was the 2nd Prince, Laud, who had been at war with the Ibeden Empire for over three years. Even when dealing with five countries together, the power of the Empire was terribly strong.
Through the Seven Years’ War, the Kemened Kingdom reached the point of starvation, but the Empire did not budge. Radan knew why Laud was stomping his feet. He was terrified. Prince Leshak’s army is pushing the border with a wave-like momentum. The day will come when they will march to the capital of Kemened and tear down the gates, gather all the royal family, and nail them to those ruined walls.
“Radan.”
Radan looked at him with a sad expression on his face. No, the term ‘looking’ couldn’t apply to someone with two blindfolds on.
Radan wanted to watch over Laud, he wanted to protect him.
He wanted to watch over his little brother, who was two years younger than him, with affection and console him as a normal older brother would.
“Help me.”
“… …”
Radan bit his lip. It reminded him of the alley in the brothels where he accidentally bumped into Prince Leshak.
‘Should I have killed him even if it meant I would die there?’
Thinking of his father and his brothers, no matter how good Leshak made him feel, he had to kill him. One thing was for certain, if he had tried to kill Leshak, he certainly would have died as well.
There was a Guardian Knight by Leshak’s side. Seeing that he did not hear footsteps at all, he could guess that he was as excellent a knight as much as Leshak himself. It wasn’t that he didn’t kill Leshak because Leshak was a kind man, Radan wanted to return home alive so he might be with his family.
“W,What do you mean ……Your Highness.”
“Kill Leshak Caliph!”
“… …”
Radan had to say the same thing. If you want to kill Prince Leshak, he had to die too. He had twelve Guardian Knights who never left his side. They were knights who could make up an army with just twelve of them alone. Prince Leshak’s army, which was led by them, had never been defeated. People called Prince Leshak’s Guardian Knights the fortress guarding the Empire.
“You can do it.”
To assassinate Prince Leshak he had to create an opportunity for them to be alone. However, Leshak never went to brothels or called on prostitutes. He hadn’t figured out a way to hide his identity and approach him. If that hadn’t been the case, Radan would have been sent to kill Leshak earlier.
“I, ca…n’t, do that……”
“I can’t stand this war anymore. Everything is at its limit. Money, food, and father too! Other countries that have started this war together are only concerned with filling their own stomachs! You don’t know anything because you’re being served all your meals here!”
“… … “
It was Alsanu III who imprisoned Radan here, along with his eldest son. They were Radan’s father and older brother. He said that it was because Radan was born with basilisk eyes.
The first to die was the Queen. The Queen died suddenly while holding her youngest son in her arms and trying to look him in the eyes. No one knew why. It was only after the nurses died one after another that the curse was revealed, it was in Radan’s eyes. As soon as he was born, Radan became a murderer who killed his own mother.
From then on, he lived in darkness with a black cloth tied around his eyes. The only time he could see the world was when he killed someone. When he had grown up to some extent and was able to think for himself, he thought ‘Then, you don’t need to see’. He wished the basilisk eyes would disappear.
Then the war with the Empire began. Alsanu Ill, who had suffered defeats from the beginning of the war, realized why God had created a monster called Basilisk and sent him to be born in the Kemened Kingdom. That little monster could have killed all the humans in the world with just one eye open.
Radan learned that to remove the cloth that covered his eyes, someone died. By wearing tattered robes and setting him up on the battlefield, Radan was able to kill the Empire’s most famous knights whom the Kemened army could never kill. Alsanu Ill comforted his youngest son who was afraid to open his own eyes, with these words.
“If you listen carefully and this country wins against the Empire, then I will accept you as my son. There will be four seats next to my throne, just like my brothers.”
So Radan became the youngest assassin on the continent. Sometimes disguised as an orphan who lost his parents on the battlefield, as a newcomer, or as an older prostitute, Alsanu III killed those he wanted to kill. Alsanu Ill fed Radan only snake meat. It was to strengthen the curse of the Basilisk. No one knew whether that statement was true or not, but no one could provoke the king’s name.
Murder, battlefields, and the fishy smell of snake meat. Now everyone is used to it. Sitting behind an iron gate without a single light, waiting for the occasional sound of family footsteps.
They never said, “You can call me brother now.”
He was already used to them never saying that. He was so used to it that he couldn’t get used to it anymore.
Laud took one more step. Radan wrinkled the tip of his nose without realizing it. Laud always had a strange smell of grass. Radan didn’t know that it was because the maids always burn herbs for Laud, who couldn’t sleep at night.
“Radan,” Laud spoke again.
“I know you are afraid that going after Leshak Caliph may be different from the other people. Maybe you won’t be able to come back safely.”
“I, know…… “
“But if we kill Leshak Caliph, we can end this war.”
Laud was tired. The reason Kemened has been able to continue the war so far is that there was an assassin called Basilisk. On the other hand, the assassination attempt of Prince Leshak was a very slim gamble. Even Alsanu III did not think of throwing that dice, in trying to assassinate the Crown Prince Leshak Caliph. If this assassination fails, the war will end in a triumphant victory for the Ibeden Empire. But if he succeeds……
“…..we can be done with all these damn things.”
It wasn’t just warring he feared. Even if they were able to end the nightmare of the war, Radan might one day raise his eyes toward them. If Radan kills Prince Leshak, then the Ibeden Imperial Army kills Radan. Laud opened his eyes widely in front of his blind brother.
“Are you going to do it, Radan?”
“I…… under…”
“Please.”
Laud bit his teeth and spewed out a lie he never wanted to tell.
“If you kill Leshak Caliph, then I will recognize you as the Third Prince of the Kemened Kingdom.”
“… …”
Radan swallowed his saliva. Laud let out a silent crooked laugh. This little monster didn’t understand lies. He didn’t even know the taste of food except for snake meat yet.
“Are you going to do it, Radan?”
Laud knew that Radan would soon nod his head. The die was thrown. It was a die that had never been thrown against the Empire before.
“The Unknown Assassin.”
It was the barracks of Prince Leshak. Twelve guardian knights gathered in one place. They were encircling the corpse of Count Custer in a coffin. Sidris, one of the Guardian Knights, pointed to the corpse’s eyes.
“Without a doubt.”
Where the corpse’s eyes use to be was now just a hideous pit. It was the characteristics of a corpse killed by The Unknown Assassin.
“They would have disguised themselves as a prostitute. There in that street, no one would have been suspicious.”
“Damn it. We’re getting hit like this again. I need a break.”
A Guardian Knight named Karum scratched the back of his head as his stiff short hair fell loose. Abadd then shrugged his shoulders to signify that Karum was in trouble. As Karum tilted his head as if asking why, Abadd pointed to the half-melted face of Count Custer. Karum opened his eyes. Sidris let out a cold voice without taking his eyes off the corpse.
“You two. If you’re going to play around, go away.”
Karum and Abadd stopped moving and looked at Sidris.
“The Unknown Assassin is not a joking matter.”
Karum turned pale and bowed his head. Abadd looked as if nothing had happened.
“Right, I’ve been fed up with the Unknown Assassin for the last seven years!”
The Unknown Assassin was called that because no one knew anything about them. They didn’t know their age or gender. They didn’t know who ordered them, or how they killed their opponent. Only a body in this same condition was ever left behind. A corpse with both eyes melted black.
However, the impact of the Unknown Assassin on the war was enormous. The primary reason why the Empire could not end the war with a small country for seven years, in spite of its enormous power, was due to the Unknown Assassin. In major battles, assassinations that accurately eliminated the key figures of the Empire at critical points in time were always an effective way to overthrow the victor. As a result, the Empire, which should have ended the war earlier, would lose a decisive victory every time, and the enemy country was breathless.
“This is really amazing timing. When Count Custer’s troops of five hundred join the war, then the western border could be pushed to the other side of Merv. If that happens, Leshak’s army is only half a day away from Kemened’s capital. I would have assassinated Count Custer to avoid that too.”
It wasn’t a very happy notion, but Sidris nodded.
“I think so.”
He turned his gaze and spoke to Leshak who had been quiet until now.
“Now what? Shall we shut down the brothels?”
“No.”
Leshak shook his head. The ferocious expression on his face the whole time was trimmed with a cool reason.
“It is already too late. If they had been such a predictable person they wouldn’t still be called ‘The Unknown Assassin’.”
“Then are you going to leave it like this?”
“No, not that either.”
The straight forehead, which is perfectly symmetrical from side to side, was distorted by adding the weight of his thoughts.
“It ‘s been less than a week since Count Custer joined us. Yet the unknown assassin knew he was going to find Merv’s brothel today, that’s something we didn’t even know.”
Sidris added a soft word.
“The information was too fast…… it must be another way?”
“There’s a contact, or the Unknown Assassin belongs to a brothel. Either way, they’re not going to be far away.”
Leshak changed his expression. A clear smile appeared on his lips.
“We’ll try using that. Let’s see how quickly information will spread that Prince Leshak visited the brothel alone.”
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