"You're here."
As soon as Rhode and Lilia entered the small tent, Duke Jorach greeted them warmly.
The four black-clad men stood silently behind the duke, their hands clasped behind their backs, without moving a muscle.
Though the tent was small, it had almost no furnishings-not even anywhere to sit-so it still looked fairly spacious.
"May I ask why you summoned us, Your Grace...?" Rhode asked tentatively.
Jorach smiled faintly and said slowly, "You did an excellent job on this ambush mission. I simply wanted to meet you and give you a reward while I was at it."
Ah, just what you'd expect from the head of the assassins. He got straight to the point.
"A reward? Great, great! What kind of reward?" Lilia asked happily, even going over to take Jorach's hand.
The white-bearded old man looked quite kind and approachable.
The four black-clad men stirred slightly, ready to step forward and stop her.
But Jorach waved them off, indicating that it was fine. Then he stroked his beard and smiled at Lilia. "It's nothing much, really. You're both very capable, so I'm going to raise your assassin rank to master. And I'll also give you an extra reward in private..."
"Oh..." Lilia blinked, then turned to ask Rhode, "Ronaldo, does being a Master Assassin mean you're super strong?"
Obviously! That's the highest assassin rank at Ravenholdt Manor. How could it not?
Rhode also noticed the eyes visible above the four black-clad men's masks flickering. Clearly, Jorach's words had surprised them.
That was only natural. For anyone at Ravenholdt Manor to rise from Novice Assassin through Intermediate and Senior to master rank, they presumably had to endure countless grueling battles and trials.
Yet their "Peerless Pair" had skipped so many ranks after just a single battle to stop the