Lord of Caldera - Chapter 55

Chapter 55: Chapter 55
“Fortunately, it seems the assassin didn’t know how to fight head-on.”

Assassins weren’t soldiers or knights. They didn’t need to know how to fight in open combat—using poison or striking in the dead of night was enough to get the job done. The assassin sent after Sylas had likely relied on the latter tactic, or so the count thought, sighing in relief.

“No, my lord,” Werner interrupted.

“What do you mean, no?”

“The assassin may not have been on the level of a knight, but he was still quite skilled. If it had been an inexperienced squire or even an ordinary soldier, they would have been in serious danger.”

“…!”

The count’s eyes widened in shock. His son, who had only been training in swordsmanship for a month, had managed to subdue an assassin who could have been a serious threat even to a seasoned soldier?

“Is this true?”

“There were dozens of exchanges, my lord. Not only I but many other knights witnessed it,” Werner confirmed.

The count glanced around, and the other knights nodded in agreement. Feeling a mix of awe and disbelief, the count sank into his chair, letting out a deep breath.

“What is that boy going to do next to astonish me?”

“He’ll likely continue to surprise you for quite some time,” Werner said with a hint of amusement.

“It doesn’t feel like a joke. He’s already done so much more than I could have imagined,” the count muttered, a bitter smile tugging at his lips. Under different circumstances, he would have been overjoyed at his son’s talent. But now, the looming threat of the assassin cast a shadow over any pride he felt.

Thinking about the assassin again, the count’s expression hardened.

“They said the assassin is Max?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“I’ve never once treated my servants poorly, and yet that wretch dared…”

Max had served the family long before anyone knew of Sylas’s potential. He couldn’t have infiltrated the household from the start with the intention of killing them. It had to be a spur-of-the-moment decision, likely instigated by someone else’s order.

“Bring Max before me! I’ll begin the interrogation in front of everyone!”

A short while later, Max was dragged out of the warehouse. Bound tightly, he was thrown to the ground in front of the gathered knights with a thud.

Thud!

“Ugh!” Max groaned in pain, but no one showed him any sympathy. The count, with Dani and Sylas standing on either side of him, ground his teeth in fury.

“Max! I can’t believe you’re an assassin!” the count shouted.

“M-My lord…” Max muttered, his voice trembling as he lifted his head to meet the count’s gaze, only to quickly lower it again in shame. His entire demeanor screamed of guilt and regret.

But to the count, this display only seemed like a further insult.

“You hid behind the guise of a cripple for years! What, after killing Sylas, were you planning to kill me next?”

“N-No, my lord! Never! I would never dare harm you!”

“Silence! You dare to pretend loyalty after accepting money to kill me?”

“It wasn’t for money, my lord! I was threatened! If not for the blackmail…!”

“What? Blackmail?” The count blinked in surprise, having expected a mercenary motivation. But now Max was claiming he had been forced into it?

Immediately, murmurs spread among the servants and knights nearby.

“I am an assassin, that much is true. I was trained to be one. But I gave up that life over a decade ago!”

“What are you saying? Explain yourself!” the count demanded, his voice thunderous.

Max, with a pained expression, began to tell his story. How he had been an orphan taken in by an assassin organization, how he had endured agonizing days filled with blood and pain, how he had befriended others only to watch them be killed one by one. He told of the heartless overseers who forced them to mutilate the corpses of their friends during their final tests. When Max had refused, he’d been marked for execution, but the hideout had been raided by soldiers. He had narrowly escaped and had gone on to bury his friends before walking away into the sunset, leaving the life of an assassin behind him.

This heart-wrenching tale, though over-dramatized, was delivered with tearful emotion, a tear jerking blockbuster of sorrow and tragedy.

“All I wanted after that lucky escape was to live a quiet, ordinary life… but then… then they found me again… and…” Max’s voice broke as he began to sob.

“Hmm.” The count, though still wary, found himself cooling off as Max’s story went on. His intense anger gave way to a more measured response. The surrounding knights clicked their tongues in disapproval, while some of the more soft-hearted maids dabbed their eyes with handkerchiefs.

“I understand your situation. But then why did you return to the life of an assassin?”

“I was blackmailed. They said that if I didn’t kill the young master, they would expose my past and desecrate the bodies of my friends. I had no choice… sob… no choice!” Max wept, his face pressed against the ground. His nose was running, and his forehead hit the floor repeatedly, clearly overwhelmed by his emotions.

And truly, he was close to losing his mind.

‘Young master, I asked for just a little bit of wasabi, but you brought way too much!’

The wasabi’s spiciness was unbearable. Max had taken a huge bite of the wasabi ball and was now fighting off the intense burn in his mouth, making his emotional display all the more convincing.

“Who is the one that blackmailed you? Name your conspirator!” the count commanded.

“Khh… That… It’s…” Max’s eyes flicked toward Dani, who was standing nearby, gritting his teeth in anger.

‘This bastard! He’s really trying to drag me down with him!’

Dani had anticipated Max would try to implicate him somehow, but this level of audacity was shocking. Still, he was prepared. As a noble skilled in scheming, he had already laid the groundwork to discredit any accusations.

‘Go ahead, say my name. I’ll refute it right away,’ Dani thought confidently, his mind prepared to tear apart any inconsistencies in Max’s fabricated tale.

Dani waited, certain that he could handle whatever was thrown at him.

“The one who’s behind this is… sob My lord, please just kill me!”

But to everyone’s surprise, Max broke down mid-sentence, pressing his face to the floor again. The count, growing impatient, clenched his fist.

“Why did you stop? Tell us who your conspirator is!”

“But if I do, they’ll… they’ll desecrate my friends’ graves! They’ll seek revenge…” Max cried out.

“If you tell me, I’ll make sure to stop them! Trust me and speak!” the count urged.

Max’s tearful eyes once again drifted toward Dani. His lips trembled, and his whole body shook as he struggled to speak.

“The one behind this is… sob Count… please… just kill me!”

He glanced at Dani again, sobbing, then looked up at the sky and broke down even more.

“The one behind all this is… sob…” he began, before bursting into even louder cries. His eyes flicked toward Dani once again, drawing everyone’s attention to him. Even the servants, the knights, and the count turned to look at Dani.

Now feeling the weight of everyone’s gaze, Dani’s face twitched with irritation.

“The one who threatened me with revenge is… sob, sob… they… cough, cough…” Max’s incessant sobbing and coughs were now even more extreme.

With all eyes now on Dani, his face flushed with frustration. His jaw clenched tightly.

‘Just say it, you insane fool!’ Dani thought, his hands balling into fists, ready to explode at any moment.