The Assassin and The Blind Saint

Arc 3 Chapter 3: Duke Penrose's Proposal

"Georgy von Ritterburg, what is the Empire's strongest Knight to do with a commoner like me?"

Hearing my question, he grinned as if humbling me.

"Why are you staring at the Saint like that? Don't you think you can walk side by side with him? You—A savage savage murderer." Hearing his words made me more alert.

Does he know my real identity.

"When you were knocked unconscious after fighting against the Apostles, I was about to kill you because of your identity as Assassin Ouroboros." His expression turned ghastly as he said the name of the organization I had previously worked for.

"But the Saint stopped me. Listen to this Assassin, just as you try to change your life." He then walked over to me. "Your hand is still stained with the blood of the innocent."

After saying that, he then left me alone. I then fell down to think about his words.

He is right, changing himself and doing good deeds is not enough...

If Georgy knew my true identity, would he have told Chairman Serena? It seems that my relationship with Lena allowed me to roam freely in this Empire.

Otherwise, I would have already been chased by the Imperial Intelligence Unit.

I then left the main Hall to walk around the Palace clearing my mind.

There were still a lot of people outside the Hall even though there the guests reached hundreds.

"Ohhhh!" I heard a scream coming from the direction of the Palace Balcony.

I then rushed to the location to check what was going on there in the two man Patrol Guard.

Arriving at the source of the voice, I saw a middle-aged man lying in the arms of a woman.

The skin of the man's face turned purple, his mouth frothy and his ears were bleeding.

"What's going on, Miss?" I asked while helping the woman stand up.

"I-I don't know, suddenly her body collapsed and her face began to change color," the woman replied in a trembling voice.

"It's okay Miss, we'll handle this." I handed the woman over to one of the Guard Patrols for safekeeping.

I then knelt down to check on this man's corpse.

If it's not wrong... This man is Major Landa.

I checked his body for clues. On the back of his right thigh, there was a needle stuck. I pulled it out and smelled the needle.

This is... A poison.

We then evacuated Major Landa's body to the Palace's interrogation room in silence so as not to panic the other guests.

After waiting for a while in the interrogation room, suddenly the door of the room opened.

"Explain what really happened to me, Sirius," asked Chief Serena.

I then explained the events that had just happened to the Chief.

"I think the poison used by Major Landa's killer is called Purple Vein." I gave the needle used by the killer to the Chief. "If exposed to this poison, if not given the antidote for three hours, then the victim will die."

Hearing my explanation, the Chief looked at me suspiciously. "How do you know this?"

I guess I should be careful in speaking so that my identity as the former Assassin of Ouroboros is not easily known.

"When we were in the Rodea Forest, I once told the Chairman that I often collected medicinal plants before becoming a Patrol Guard" I reasoned.

"Ah that? I'm sorry I forgot about it."

"No need to think, Chief."

Chief Serena then sat down beside me.

"Sirius, do you think Major Landa's murder had anything to do with the murder of One of the Board Members of—Georg?" ask Chairman.

If you don't remember wrongly, Major Landa and Mr Georg are members of one faction in the City Council. They both include a faction that wants to punish business people who cheat to lower the price of their products so as to damage the market price.

Could this murder be based on differences in political camp?

"Tomorrow we must form two investigative teams to investigate this drug trafficking and murder case" said the Chairman.

***

On the other side of the Palace, Georgy who had just had a confrontation with Sirius was talking to his younger brother—Duke Franz.

"Sister, what do you need nights like these to my room?" ask Duke Franz.

"It's about Serena, have you decided who will be the couple to marry her?"

Hearing his brother's question, Duke Franz closed his eyes.

He knew why his brother asked him that. At present, in the territory of Duke Franz—Duchy Ritterburg is experiencing an outbreak of a disease that is still unknown cause.

Moreover, the land that was in a quarter of Duke Franz's territory suddenly became infertile. This caused the income received by Duchy Ritterburg to decrease.

economic activity in the region also declined.

"Duke Penrose visited me one week ago."

"Duke Penrose and Reginar? That little whiny boy?" Georgy had trained Penrose when he was a Ward at the Ritterburg family residence.

"Yes, he sent a marriage proposal to Serena with a 300,000 Golling dowry" Duke Franz said.

"300,000 Golling!? Where did the boy get that kind of money!?" Georgy was surprised.

For Duke—-level Nobles The income he had for a year was usually only 100,000 Golling alone and that was gross income.

"Wait for Franz, this is very suspicious you know. Has the Empire done an audit on how he got that much wealth?" ask Georgy.

"The Empire has the right to audit the wealth of the nobles from the proceeds of their taxes against their respective territories. However, they have no obligation to report the wealth of the business they built themselves" he explained.

Duke Franz wants to investigate Duke Penrose. However, the 300,000 Golling bid was too tempting to refuse. With that much money, he could restore the economy of his slumped region.

"Then, what are you gonna do, Franz?" ask Georgy again.

Duke Franz was silent.

"I'll answer his offer in a few weeks. At least until the Hero trial ends at the Arch duchy of Astria."

***

Western Region Empire—City Hainut—Capital of Duchy Reginar.

At his residence, Duke Penrose was meeting with his man.

"Mr Penrose, the Geneva City official we had bribed, was finally caught by the city's Patrol Guard. What do we do?" ask the man.

Duke Penrose did not answer. The man could only look at Duke Penrose's back who was behind him.

"Kill the official, lest our tracks be smelled by the Guard Patrols" he ordered.

"Good, Milord. Your wish will be done!" The man then disappeared without leaving a trace at all.

Duke Penrose then turned around. He was holding a painting of a woman in his hand. The woman had a sharp and solemn expression, long black hair like the darkness of night. However, the woman's cold expression still could not erase the beauty charm she had.

The woman in the painting is Serena von Ritterburg.

"Ah Serena, soon you will be mine." He smelled the painting.

"I've been planning it for years! This time, we can definitely unite!"

Duke Penrose von Reginar, he was the mastermind behind the drug trafficking that was poisoning the inhabitants of the Habsburg Empire.