Volume 2, Chapter 22 – The Assassin of Unknown Identity

“I don’t know either. When I found Estelle, she was already in this state,” Fia said, answering Anastasia while using [Cleanse] magic to clean the blood off Estelle. The wounds on her smooth skin instantly became glaringly obvious. “We can only find out what happened after she wakes up. Don’t make a big deal out of this. Go get Liti. In the meantime, avoid being alone as much as possible. The sanctuary is not as safe as we thought.”

“Okay.”

Nodding in agreement with Fia, an expression of hesitation appeared on Anastasia’s mature face. Fia couldn’t help but ask.

“What’s wrong?”

“Did Your Highness use a high-tier magical potion on Miss Estelle? Not only are the wounds healing, but the color of her skin underneath is also recovering. Even with the faith magic of the Goddess of Life faction, only a Sixth-Tier spell can heal wounds and restore color to the skin at the same time. It’s incredible.”

In Fia’s eyes, as a person who was used to seeing flesh wriggle and heal, Estelle’s healing speed was perfectly normal. But for Anastasia, it was bizarre. Pink muscle fibers and blood vessels, as if possessing a consciousness of their own, accumulated and stretched. First, they pushed the blood clots and impurities out of the wounds, then they stitched themselves together, forming a complete tissue, and finally, the skin also quickly healed.

Except for the fact that the skin at the healed areas was exceptionally delicate compared to the surrounding skin, the new tissue was no different from the original tissue, as if she had never been injured. If it were someone seeing this for the first time, they would surely feel nauseated by the rapid healing of the wounds, as the sight of the flesh wriggling was too gruesome.

“This is the effect of my blood. The specific explanation is a bit complicated. Anastasia, just understand it as my blood having magic that can make people recover quickly,” Since Anastasia still had an incredulous expression, Fia had to continue explaining. “This is an ability I got after being hit by the Unsinkable Moon. Hurry up and go find Liti. We won’t be following Norton’s advice and staying at that house tonight—also, bring Norton here. He’s Estelle’s biological brother, and he has the right to know about this.”

“Mm.”

Nodding in agreement, Anastasia turned and left the carriage. Liti wasn’t far from the carriage. Although Norton had told Fia’s group that they could stay in the two-story house left by the merchant, just like Estelle, Fia had not gone to the house as soon as it got dark because she wanted to check the situation of the chaos.

And Anastasia and Liti, respectively, were taking care of the horses and comforting the refugees. Unlike Fia, who was a latecomer, Liti, as a princess who had been raised in that role from the beginning, had a very strong sense of what a princess should do. Comforting the suffering at a time like this perfectly matched the expectations outsiders had for a princess.

In fact, Liti was quite popular in the Elf Kingdom. Her gentle personality, beautiful appearance, and weak strength, combined with her ability to read people’s expressions, made her a favorite even among the more difficult nobles and ministers. In addition, Liti treated children kindly and was willing to pay to take in orphans, providing them with food, clothing, and an education. Liti had always been regarded as a model of gentleness and kindness by the people of the royal capital.

The reason Liti was not more famous was simply that she had a sister who was countless times more outstanding than her.

As for whether this reputation was something Liti deliberately cultivated, only Liti herself knew the answer. But one thing was for sure: Liti’s Second-Tier strength was a deliberate act. With her talent and experience, she could have reached a much higher tier long ago.

With Anastasia’s departure, the carriage quickly became quiet. Fia began to tidy up Estelle’s dress and the bloodstains in the carriage. By the time everything was almost cleaned up, Estelle finally woke up from her slumber.

The nanomachine body’s repair was complete.

“Mm…”

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A barely audible moan.

Clearly not yet recovered from the confusion before she fainted, Estelle’s first reaction after waking up was to try and struggle to get up. Her slightly immature face was filled with fear and confusion.

Fia, who was sitting at the side, immediately went over to help Estelle sit up.

“Shh, you’re safe now. Calm down. Have something to eat first, and then tell me what happened.”

As she spoke, Fia took out water and bread from her spatial backpack, but Estelle did not take them. Instead, she stared blankly at Fia’s calm eyes. The panic in her eyes gradually subsided. As if she had just had a nightmare, she let out a long sigh and closed her eyes with a look of exhaustion.

“Did I have a nightmare…?”

“It wasn’t a nightmare. Everything you saw was real. I’ve already healed you. Can you tell me what happened?”

Fia gestured with her eyes for Estelle to look at her body. Her well-proportioned and smooth body was now covered by a pink blanket.

“It wasn’t a dream…”

Estelle stared blankly at Fia, placing her right hand on her forehead, a slightly painful expression on her face.

Fia could only comfort her gently.

“There’s plenty of time. You can take your time to remember.”

“Ah, ah, give me a moment.”

A full three minutes passed before Estelle came out of her state of confusion and somewhat regained her usual dignity and calmness. She held the cup of water Fia had given her, her brows tightly furrowed.

“It seems someone doesn’t want me here.”

“It’s good that you’re okay. I was worried you would become timid and lose your will to fight after what happened.”

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“If it weren’t for the disaster that destroyed our city, I might have lost my will to fight. But the situation is already so bad it can’t get any worse. This is nothing. The Blood Oath has been made. As long as I am alive, no one can stop me from getting my revenge.”

By the end of her sentence, Estelle’s voice was filled with hatred.

Although hatred was a negative emotion, it was undeniably an excellent motivation for a person to get out of a desperate and difficult situation. Fia raised her eyebrows and skillfully changed the subject.

“Then can you tell me what happened? Who was the assassin?”

“I didn’t see his face,” a hint of unwillingness welled up in her voice. Estelle said resentfully. “I was trying to write down the situation of the territory to report to His Majesty the King and ask for his assistance when someone suddenly stabbed me from behind. I wanted to see the person’s face, but he didn’t give me the chance… No, it was mental magic.”

Frowning even more, Estelle thought back carefully.

“I was first cast with mental magic, and then I was attacked without being able to react. I saw the person… a black shadow, tall and slender. The weapon was a sword. I wanted to call the guards and take out my weapon to fight him, but he didn’t give me the chance. The mental magic prevented me from reacting. I could only find a way to escape from the room.”

And she failed.

Fia finished Estelle’s words in her heart.

Estelle must have had her tendons in her hands and feet severed while trying to escape, and the multiple stab wounds on her body also came from that.

Since it was mental magic, it was understandable that Estelle couldn’t make a sound. The question now was, where were the guards in the house? The fact that the assassin could easily sneak in could be explained by the incompetence of the guards, but the sounds Estelle made while struggling should have been heard by the guards, and they should have come. The fact that they had no reaction was bizarre.

Fia voiced her thoughts, and Estelle answered calmly.

“It must have been a spell that obscured their perception. A qualified assassin would have that kind of skill. If they made a sound during the assassination and drew the guards, the assassin would be in danger. So before carrying out the mission, they would first set up a barrier to block sound, to prevent any commotion from being known.”

“But how did the assassin know Estelle was in that room? And how did they open the door to get in without making a sound?”

“Are you suggesting there’s a traitor, Fia?”

“I’m just making a reasonable assumption. Based on the current situation, if there really is a traitor, he must be someone who is often with you and is at the Second Tier. They would know which room is yours, and as your confidant, they would also know your weaknesses. The only thing we don’t know is their motive.”

“Are you talking about Norton? Impossible, absolutely impossible!” Estelle flatly denied it. Her blood-colored eyes stared at Fia, a hint of anger in them. “You can suspect anyone else, but you must not suspect Norton. He is my biological brother, my only living relative now. If not for Norton, I would have died in the castle. He was the one who desperately brought me out of this city. If he wanted to harm me, why would he have saved me? It makes no sense!”

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If not for the fact that I just saved Estelle, Estelle would have already stood up and snapped at me, Fia had a feeling. For Estelle, who had just lost her father and sister, Norton was her only blood relative. If Norton were also gone, the House of Oro would only have Estelle left.

More importantly, Estelle would lose the last person she could rely on and who supported her. The thought of living all alone was enough to make a person want to flee. It was precisely because of this that she had been so indecisive about whether or not to become the elf princess. Not to mention, Estelle was still constantly faced with the problem of people questioning whether she was the Count’s biological daughter. It was too difficult to ask a young girl to face all of this alone.

I made an assumption I shouldn’t have.

The carriage was silent for a moment. Fia pursed her lips.

“Okay, let’s try a different line of thought. The assassin was elusive, skilled in mental magic, and had a strength that completely crushed Estelle. Combining these three traits, only the Despair Demon General fits the description.”

“…Are you angry, Fia?” ¹ smh dum… tsk.

The anger from just now was gone. Estelle, with one hand holding the blanket to her chest, secretly looked over.

“No.” Fia spread her hands. ² yes. me.

“But this assumption,” Estelle bit her lips in distress. “It sounds like you’re angry. The Despair Demon General is already dead… I’m sorry, I was too agitated just now. You were thinking for my sake, yet I spoke to you in that tone…”

“Hah,” like an elder, Fia let out a long sigh. “I wasn’t trying to blame you, Estelle, but to seriously think about the other party’s identity. This is also something I wanted to say to you before. The Despair Demon General has a doppelganger ability. I don’t believe the Despair Demon General is truly dead. Maybe the three Despair Demon Generals I killed yesterday were not all of them, and there are still other Despair Demon Generals in the city. If so, it would be consistent with the current situation.”

“But even if the Despair Demon General has a doppelganger ability, I don’t think he would come looking for you again. His strength is too far below yours. And if the assassin was the Despair Demon General, why didn’t he just kill me? It makes no sense. Fia, you are really angry with me…”

Estelle, feeling guilty, lowered her head, biting her lip, and her hands were clenched together.

“What if it was a challenge to me? For example, to anger me by torturing Estelle. If I were the Despair Demon General and wanted revenge, the next thing I would do is constantly cause death in the sanctuary to put my opponent in a difficult position.”

Fia stood up and walked to the back of the carriage, taking out some of Anastasia’s clothes from her storage treasure box.

“Let’s stop guessing here. Continuing won’t make the person who attacked Estelle appear before us. In the end, the very fact that the assassin spared your life is something that is hard to figure out. Unless he really was just trying to create pain, as you initially suggested, because he didn’t want you to stay in the sanctuary. But why he wouldn’t want you to stay in the sanctuary is another thing that is hard to figure out. After all, I am the key to threatening the chaos and restoring order to the city. He should have targeted me.”

“Estelle, change your clothes first, and hurry up and clean up the bloodstains. Don’t let your subordinates find out you were attacked. If news of your attack gets out now, the people in the sanctuary will surely become anxious. Also, you should sleep in the carriage tonight. I bet you don’t want to go back to that room to sleep.”

Having had her tendons in her hands and feet severed just a short while ago, there was no way Estelle could fall asleep if she were to go back to that room now.

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Fia’s words made Estelle recall what had just happened in the house. Her shoulders trembled for a moment, and she answered with difficulty.

“Mm…”

“Then change your clothes here. I’ll go outside and have a soldier bring some paper and a pen.”

Handing Anastasia’s clothes to Estelle, Fia prepared to leave.

“Wait.”

Estelle grabbed the hem of her dress.

Fia turned back.

Estelle was currently only covered by a blanket. Although it covered her body below her shoulders, even so, her fair shoulders and clearly defined collarbones were exceptionally alluring, leaving Fia unsure where to place her gaze.

“F-Fia, can you stay in the carriage…?”

Estelle raised her eyes, showing a timid, animal-like gaze.

This expression made Fia realize that Estelle had not completely come out of the trauma from before—hatred and fear were not contradictory. Rather, Estelle was already a person with an extremely strong will. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to form words and speak to her just now, and she would have lived in the shadow of fear for years or even decades to come.

Of course, it was also possible that it was too much of a shock, making Estelle feel that it was just a dream.

Fia pulled her foot back and sat down, with her back to Estelle.

“Okay, I’ll stay here. But you have to hurry up and pull yourself together. Don’t let the soldiers see that you’re afraid.”

“Th-thank you.”

Her voice was filled with a sense of relief and comfort. Estelle responded softly and began to change her clothes with a rustling sound.