Forming a Team

Team Up

Doug spotted Dole as well. He recognized him and was slightly surprised. This kid Kadiya had introduced had some real tricks up his sleeve.

Fele was dead. The authorities announced that he had been murdered and that they had caught the culprit—a thief, who had already been executed. But only people from the Assassin Guild, such as Doug, knew that Fele had been assassinated.

He hadn't expected the kid to truly have the makings of an assassin—silently killing someone without leaving himself to bear any responsibility.

Watching Dole approach, he raised a thumb and said, "Nicely done. Even I can't help but congratulate you."

Dole sat before Doug, expressionless. "No need for courtesy. It was my duty. I'm here to turn in the mission."

Doug looked at Dole and took out two gold coins. Then, remembering something, he put one of them back and brought out eighty silver coins instead. "As the introducer, Kadiya gets a commission of twenty silver coins. The commission ends after you complete three missions."

Dole blinked. The introducer got a commission too?

Still, he didn't ask. He pocketed the money and said, "Let me see if there are any other missions."

Doug took out the notebook and handed it to Dole. "These are all Level One missions. Under the point system, you need to complete more than three Level One missions before you can access Level Two missions."

"Assassinating Fele was only a Level One mission?" Dole's eyes widened.

Doug nodded, looking as calm and composed as an old sage. "That's right."

The rewards for Level One missions started at gold coins. Then what about Level Two missions?

Dole said nothing. He stared at Doug, then lowered his head and began looking through the book.

Just then, Dole sensed someone standing behind him. The fragrance of orchids drifted into his nostrils. It was a woman.

"I have a Level Two mission. Would you be willing to help me?" A husky yet magnetic female voice came from behind him.

Dole turned and glanced back. The person wore a hooded cloak, her entire body shrouded in black, her face impossible to make out.

He turned back around and looked at Doug.

Doug shrugged. Looking at the black-clad person, he naturally knew who she was and what mission she had accepted. "If you trust others, you may invite them to work with you. You'll have to negotiate the reward distribution yourselves, though. Our Assassin Guild permits teams."

Dole's doubts were cleared up. He glanced at Doug, set down the book in his hands, and said to the woman, "Shall we talk first?" Though the woman had disguised her voice to sound weathered and hoarse, she didn't sound very old. Dole felt it was worth hearing her out.

The woman said, "All right."

Dole followed the woman to a corner and soon sat down at a table.

At that moment, Dole discovered a strange force around the table that blocked sound from carrying out.

Emmm, this Assassin Guild had some real methods.

The woman across from him lowered her hood, revealing a girl of eighteen or nineteen. Her appearance was quite ordinary, but her eyes shone brightly. Her skin was very fair; she didn't look like a warrior. Could she be another profession? Or perhaps, like him, a wizard?

Dole grew more wary. Who knew whether she had been sent by the Empire's Ability Society to probe the Assassin Guild? He had never encountered such a thing himself, but he had seen similar plotlines in Naluye's novels.

The human heart was complex and unfathomable. It was always good to keep a few more eyes in the back of one's head.

The woman watched Dole, studying him as well. But she soon determined that she had indeed never seen him before.

She raised a hand to her lips and coughed softly. Her voice returned to normal as she spoke in a clear, calm tone. "I have a mission here that I can't complete alone. I want to invite you to do it with me. The reward is ten gold coins—five for each of us."

"What mission is worth ten gold coins?" Dole was somewhat astonished.

An ordinary person wouldn't earn that much money in their entire life. Converted into copper coins, that was a hundred thousand.

The woman gently pursed her lips. "Kill a down-and-out noble."

Dole frowned.

Fele, an ordinary man living near the noble district, had already been difficult enough to kill. Killing a true noble was another matter entirely. That meant operating near the Northwest District.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "Do you have detailed intelligence?"

The woman fixed her bright gaze on Dole. "I do, but I can only share it with you after you confirm that you'll team up with me."

Dole felt that was pointless. Killing a noble was no joking matter.

What was a noble? In this world, nobles were understood to be people born inherently exalted. Every month, the Empire granted them a stipend. Though it wasn't much, it was far more than commoners received. Nobles had the right to participate in political affairs, the right to stuff their own people and informants into military and police offices. Most importantly, nobles had the right to raise troops, maintain private guards, and were protected by law. For many warriors, their final destination was becoming a guard under a noble.

The corner of Dole's mouth twitched slightly, and the smile on his face gradually vanished.

"I won't do anything I'm not confident about. Find someone else."

The woman bit her lip. She had paid a great price for this intelligence. If Dole saw it and went off to kill the noble himself, wouldn't all her efforts be like drawing water with a bamboo basket—nothing but empty air? Having spent so long in the Assassin Guild, she understood certain things.

But Dole's demand wasn't wrong. He needed to weigh the gains and losses.

The situation between them was clearly a paradox.

Seeing that the woman would not compromise, Dole apologized and left his seat, heading for the counter.

Just then, a burly man at another counter stood up and invited Dole over with an unfriendly look.

"Kid, join my team. I'll give you twenty percent of the mission reward."

Though he had revealed his face, his body remained hidden beneath a black robe, making his build impossible to discern. But Dole disliked him the moment he saw his face, so he shook his head.

The man's expression immediately turned extremely ugly. "You don't know what's good for you."

Dole narrowed his eyes and looked at the man as though he were already dead. "Say that again?"

By now, Dole had several lives on his hands. Killing intent and murderous aura naturally seeped from him. Combined with a mental strength far greater than that of an ordinary person, his killing intent crashed toward the man, instantly frightening him into stillness.

The man was startled. No one dared underestimate Dole anymore. He shut his mouth and sat back down resentfully.

Watching this, Doug found it rather interesting. This kid Kadiya had introduced was quite interesting indeed—a wizard, huh. Heh.

In the corner, the woman watched the conflict between Dole and the man, biting her lip.

This guy was pretty strong. He had actually made Black Dog compromise. If she wasn't mistaken, he should be a wizard apprentice, just like her?

But what was with the killing intent around him? It seemed like he had killed more than one person.

Though the Assassin Guild had an impressive name, most assassins did not survive beyond three or four missions before dying. The ones usually seen were basically all newcomers. For a newcomer to reach this level was already extremely impressive.

Gritting her teeth, she rose from her seat. Before Dole reached the bar, she hurried over and said, then caught her breath and said, "I'm willing to share intelligence with you." This time, she used that hoarse voice again.

Dole curled his lip. "I'm not interested. Find someone else." He could tell that this girl had reservations and did not trust him. Someone like that could not become a teammate.

He continued walking slowly toward the bar.

Just then, he felt something in his hand—soft and warm, sending a sensation through him like an electric shock. Turning around, he found that the woman had reached out and taken his hand.

Dole was somewhat puzzled.