Boss direct recruitment

"Black Knife Assassins are a group of assassins who wield short black blades."

"They are said to be all women, well trained and exceptionally skilled at concealment and assassination. The infamous Night of the Black Knives was named after them."

"On that terrible night, Golden Godwyn-the eldest son of Goddess Marika and Godfrey, the First Elden Lord, the crown prince of the Golden Dynasty, the most perfect heir to the Golden Order, and the one who forged a friendship with the Ancient Dragons-was assassinated."

"This was the first death of a Demigod in history, and it directly led to the emergence of Those Who Live in Death. Many scholars even believe that Goddess Marika shattered the Elden Ring because the death of her beloved son drove her mad with grief."

"Of course, that theory remains highly disputed. Whatever the truth, Godwyn's death was indeed the beginning of all the turmoil, and the Black Knife Assassins were the culprits who made the Lands Between what they are today. Why they assassinated Godwyn, and whether someone else ordered them to do it, are the questions I have been researching and investigating."

Rogier gave a quick, concise account of the background. This concerned something he had pursued for years, and hearing that a Black Knife Assassin was in Limgrave made his eyes practically shine with excitement.

"If we can find this Black Knife Assassin, we might be able to get the whole truth out of her!"

D looked disgusted. "She's nothing but a despicable killer. Her assassination of a Demigod caused Those Who Live in Death to appear. If you ask me, she should be executed on the spot!"

Fia disagreed. After all, without the Black Knife Assassins killing Godwyn, nothing awaited the dead but quiet decay. She therefore completely forgave the assassin's attempt on her own life and said expectantly, "Why don't we recruit her to Stormveil too? Aren't we short on people right now?"

"Absolutely not!" D objected at once. "Stormveil doesn't need a despicable assassin!"

"Doesn't it?" Fia asked pointedly. "Considering our treasonous goals, a confrontation with the Royal Capital of Leyndell is only a matter of time. Our lady Black Knife Assassin successfully assassinated the Demigod Godwyn. She has extensive professional experience. A skilled worker like that is a very valuable talent."

Indeed, whether it was Tarnished's journey to become lord, the founding of a nation for Those Who Live in Death, freedom of religion, or inclusivity regardless of race, none of it fit with the original Golden Order. Stormveil was destined to follow a rebellious path, and having a Black Knife Assassin to persuade the Golden Order's old guard and diehard loyalists would certainly make things much easier.

At that thought, even D felt tempted.

He believed in the Golden Order, and firmly at that, but precisely for that reason, he was deeply dissatisfied with the Demigods who controlled it. They enjoyed the finest blessings and privileges the Golden Order provided and occupied all manner of important offices and positions, yet they had allowed monsters forbidden by the Golden Order, Those Who Live in Death, to appear. Afterward, they did nothing, leaving a "private citizen" like him to volunteer to clean up the mess. It was absurd!

When times were prosperous, it was all thanks to the Demigods' foresight and wise governance. When things declined, all they could do was tell everyone to tighten their belts and endure hardship. What the fuck were they if not complete wastes of space?

If Those Who Live in Death, who violated the rules, were what D hated most, then those idle, negligent Demigods drawing salaries for doing nothing came second. In his view, dealing with Those Who Live in Death was a top priority, and holding the Demigods accountable for their negligence and incompetence was also a top priority. Both fronts needed attention, and neither could be handled softly.

If you failed at your job, of course you deserved punishment. Even a dimwit like a Second-Generation Albinauric understood that. If ordinary people had to follow the rules, then Demigods had to follow them too. What was the point of having two sets of rules and two different systems?

In short, if the Demigods could do the work of maintaining the Golden Order, they should do it. If they couldn't, plenty of other people could. That was why D believed in the Golden Order while supporting Tarnished: compared with those who openly opposed the Golden Order, he hated the parasites eating away at it even more!

So when he heard that a Black Knife Assassin could be used against those Demigods, D was tempted too. Torn, he finally decided to ask his leader's opinion.

"Tarnished, what do you think?"

What could Tarnished think? Having been ravaged for an entire night by two girls not long ago, he sighed with heartfelt admiration. "Nine. Nine of them! Godwyn only died after nine girls had their way with him all night. Golden Godwyn? More like Golden Ginseng Godwyn!"

Rogier: "..."

D: "..."

Fia: "Pfft."

"I meant what we should do with that Black Knife Assassin!" D snapped.

"Oh, the Black Knife Assassin." Tarnished came back to his senses and said as though it were obvious, "She attacked someone in Limgrave. Naturally, we should screw her... arrest her according to the law."

"Arrest her? She knows the truth of the Night of the Black Knives, and she assassinated Godwyn. Shouldn't we recruit talent like that?"

"Good point." Tarnished scratched his head. "Then we'll arrest her first and recruit her afterward."

Everyone was speechless. How did such a complicated problem become so simple in Tarnished's hands?

Oh well. Perhaps that was a talent too. D asked, "How confident are you that you can recruit her?"

"Not very. About 98.794 percent."

D: "...Are you joking?"

"Of course not."

"Then how do you plan to recruit her?"

"Allow me to keep that secret for now." Tarnished smiled. "Let's head to the catacombs first. Whatever else happens, we can't leave someone who attacks people at will unchecked."

Everyone nodded.

About the time it took to eat a meal later, Fia and D returned to the depths of the catacombs. Rogier came with them. He had been investigating the Night of the Black Knives for so long, and now that they had finally found someone directly involved, he couldn't possibly sit still in Stormveil waiting for news.

"Huh? No one's here?" Rogier asked nervously. "Has the Black Knife Assassin already left?"

"Stay alert." D was on full guard. "She can conceal herself. I can feel it-she's still here, watching us from the shadows. Rogier, cast a light spell."

Rogier didn't move.

D turned his head. "Didn't you hear me? Cast a light spell."

Rogier said awkwardly, "I don't know one."

"You don't even know a light spell, and you call yourself a mage?" D's sharp tongue was at work again.

Rogier protested, "I'm a spellblade, not a mage. Besides, mages don't have a light spell either, only [Starlight]. That's an advanced spell developed by the Raya Lucaria Academy. Only its students can learn it. It's their exclusive technique!"

D clicked his tongue in displeasure, while Fia looked thoughtful. "The students of the Academy of Raya Lucaria sound highly capable. Perhaps we could contact them and work together, each making up for the other's shortcomings."

"That would probably be difficult." Rogier shook his head with a rueful smile. "The Academy of Raya Lucaria places tremendous value on knowledge, so it also maintains strict control over its students. It never allows students to use the academy's magic in service to others. Most of the mages out in the world belong to different factions within the academy. In simple terms, it's their internal struggle."

"Like Miss Sellen."

"Yes."

"I see." Fia looked disappointed. "What a shame. I was hoping to hold a campus recruitment event."

But the moment she finished speaking, a cold gleam thrust out from behind her. The Black Knife Assassin's slender figure appeared like a wisp of smoke, her black blade moving to take a life without the slightest hint of murderous force.

D had been distracted by their conversation and was now too late to help. Rogier was even less useful. He was a textbook case of biting off more than he could chew: he knew both magic and martial arts, but was half-trained and mediocre at each. He, too, couldn't intervene in time.

Just as the black blade was about to pierce the back of Fia's head, the Manor Towershield swept into its path. With a clang, it firmly blocked the fatal strike.

The recoil made the Black Knife Assassin stagger. She tapped the ground with her toes and drifted gracefully back more than ten meters like a falling leaf, then assumed a defensive stance and watched warily.

Rogier shielded Fia behind him. D looked toward the shield and complained, "You're far too slow."

"No shit. I'm wearing a full suit of heavy armor! I couldn't go fast even if I wanted to!" Tarnished's voice came out muffled.

With his endurance now at 30, Tarnished had finally put on a full set of Godrick Knight armor. It was genuine heavy armor, built to standards established at the height of the Golden Dynasty, without any corners cut. Its greatest feature was that it had no particular feature. Although it couldn't match certain custom suits designed for specific situations, Godrick Knight armor offered very good defense and damage reduction against physical attacks, magic, fire, lightning, holy damage, and more. It was a perfect example of having many trades without mastering them, yet never being burdened by having more skills.

Put simply, whatever enemy you faced, whatever environment you were in, and whatever battle confronted you, wearing Godrick Knight armor was never a wrong choice.

The armor's only drawback was its weight, but for Tarnished, whose strength had already reached 34, that drawback was no longer a drawback.

"What suddenly made you decide to wear heavy armor?" D asked curiously. "It affects your mobility a lot."

"Because I'm afraid of dying." Tarnished's answer was simple and direct. "I heard Godwyn was dragged out of bed and killed by the Black Knife Assassins. He wasn't even wearing underwear when he died. I don't want to follow in his footsteps. So when facing an assassin, a full suit of heavy armor is much more reassuring."

D considered that, then agreed. "You made the right choice!"

Rogier and Fia nodded repeatedly too.

A wise man didn't stand beneath a crumbling wall, and a leader's personal safety was paramount. Tarnished was strong but very cautious. Nice.

Thus, clad in heavy armor from head to toe, with the Manor Towershield in his left hand and the Great Epee in his right, Tarnished advanced on the Black Knife Assassin with heavy, intimidating steps. As he walked, he even twirled the Great Epee in a flourish.

Sensing the threat, the Black Knife Assassin attacked first.

She touched her toes lightly to the ground and glided forward at speed, delivering an eerily effortless slash straight at Tarnished's heart.

"Huh? It's one thing not to run when you see a heavily armored warrior who can twirl his sword one-handed, but you actually dare to attack first?" Tarnished couldn't help praising her. "Interesting!"

Clang!

Sparks burst out. The dagger struck as though it had hit a mountainside. The Black Knife Assassin's attack stopped, and Tarnished's began. His vicious shield bash tore through the air toward her, but the black figure had already drifted backward, merging into the shadows without touching the ground and leaving only a few dispersing violet afterimages.

Tarnished looked around, trying to locate the Black Knife Assassin.

The Black Knife Assassin kept moving, rapidly circling him with light, graceful footwork.

To D and the others, a black shadow was racing around a block of iron, and the shadow was clearly much faster than the iron. Soon, she created an opening, repeatedly flashing out of Tarnished's blind spots, darting in and unleashing a storm of rapid short-blade strikes!

All they heard was a flurry of metallic clinks and clangs as sparks kept blooming across the armor.

The Black Knife Assassin attacked with thunderous force, but unfortunately achieved nothing.

Clink! The dagger aimed at his armpit bounced off his shoulder plate.

Clang! The thrust aimed behind his knee was stopped by his leg armor.

Scrape! He turned his head to evade a thrust seeking his visor slit, and the dagger drew a trail of sparks across his helmet.

Tarnished remained rooted to the spot, like the eye of a storm. His heavy armor allowed him to ignore those attacks, every clash of metal proving its absolute defense. He could feel the tiny scratches the dagger left on the armor's surface, but not a single blow truly penetrated it.

In short, the Black Knife Assassin's moves looked absolutely godlike, but a glance at her record showed zero kills and five deaths.

The professionally trained assassin naturally knew this couldn't continue. She lunged forward and slammed into Tarnished's chest, using her entire body weight to make the heavily armored warrior sway slightly. In that moment, she turned her wrist, deftly spinning the short blade between her fingers from a forward grip into a reverse grip, then mercilessly stabbed toward the gap between his helmet and breastplate.

The gap had opened as he swayed and existed for only an instant, but the Black Knife Assassin caught that instant precisely. She was confident that if she drove her blade inside, she could finish this terrifying enemy immediately.

But, predictably, the unexpected happened.

Just as the short blade was about to enter the gap, Tarnished brought his hand back to cover it. The blade collided with his steel gauntlet, striking a spark with a clink and once again accomplishing nothing.

No, it hadn't accomplished nothing. To block that killing blow, Tarnished had been forced to drop his sword.

I didn't kill him, but at least I've disarmed him.

With that thought, the Black Knife Assassin pushed off the ground and swept in a semicircle behind Tarnished in complete defiance of physics. She kicked the back of his knee, making him stumble and drop to one knee, then unleashed another flurry of clanging slashes and thrusts, showering sparks.

Tarnished swung his shield around behind him, but the Black Knife Assassin dodged easily. That was exactly the move she had been waiting for. Taking advantage of his inability to bring his guard back, she immediately leaped high into the air, gripped her short blade with both hands, and drove it downward, adding gravity and her body weight to deliver a killing strike.

"Die!"

The Black Knife Assassin declared her intent. The black blade was like a demon's fang, determined to feast on living flesh once more.

D, Rogier, and Fia's hearts leaped into their throats. But in the next instant, a gauntleted fist clad entirely in steel plates shot out. Though launched later, it arrived first and slammed heavily into the Black Knife Assassin's lower abdomen.

"Are you done messing around?!"

With a thunderous boom, the Black Knife Assassin's slight body flew backward like a cannonball. She crashed through two stone pillars in succession and was instantly buried beneath the rubble, never moving again.

"You were right." Tarnished removed his helmet, let out a long breath, and told D, "Heavy armor really does affect your mobility."

D: "..."

Tarnished picked up the Great Epee, slung the Manor Towershield onto his back, and tucked his helmet under one arm. With his other hand, he rummaged through the rubble, caught the Black Knife Assassin by the ankle, and dragged her out.

Dragging the unconscious Black Knife Assassin like a dead dog, he told the three dumbfounded onlookers, "Let's go. Boss direct recruitment has concluded successfully."