"Whew-the weather sure is nice today." Karen sat in a luxurious hotel, sipping expensive tea imported from another country while keeping an eye on the entrance.
"A guest booked out the entire thirteenth floor today. This is the Royal Hotel, you know. I can't imagine how important they must be."
"Nothing to do with us. Someone that important is way out of our league."
"True. Want some candy?"
"Sure."
Two men walked past Karen, their leather shoes tapping out a steady rhythm on the floor.
Karen glanced at them, then looked away.
He noticed that one of them had seven pieces of fruit candy clenched in his palm, their wrappers glinting in the light.
"Seven candies in his hand. Room 1307, then?"
Karen nodded slightly, then walked to the front desk. "Hello, miss. I'm Prussia. I have a reservation, and I'm here to pick up my keys."
The receptionist searched through the reservation list, her high heels clicking rapidly against the floor. Once she found the name, she respectfully handed him three keys. "Mr. Prussia, your room is 1204. We hope you enjoy your stay at our hotel."
"Thank you." Karen took the keys and headed upstairs, the staircase giving off a faint hum.
He had a clear view of the thirteenth floor. Two guards stood at the end of the corridor, the slight bulges at their waists betraying the presence of guns.
Since this incident was only a minor event that introduced Yor, he did not remember it particularly well.
But it made no difference which room he booked. He could easily climb up.
"There are twelve guards upstairs. If I remember right, Yor came at night. I have to finish this before she gets here." After a glance, Karen headed straight for room 1204.
He walked over to the window and surveyed the scene outside. Beyond the glass, waves of heat carried the clamor of the city toward him.
Karen could not help sighing. "The Royal Hotel's location is too good. It's still daytime, and there are too many people around. Climbing to the thirteenth floor without being spotted would be practically impossible."
"Do I have to wait until dark...?"
Karen really did not want to wait until dark to act. He had no idea exactly when Yor would arrive.
Running into her could make things tricky.
"I'll have to think of another way. If I can't sneak in..."
An idea came to him.
If a fire broke out in his room, 1204, and produced enough smoke, it could block the view from outside.
And with the floor so high up, even if the smoke was relatively thin, people below would have trouble seeing clearly. He could use the chaos to climb up.
"As for getting out, and whether I'll leave any witnesses..."
"As long as I kill everyone, I can walk down from the thirteenth floor in plain sight. There won't be any witnesses left."
What should he do if he was afraid of being spotted?
Simple. Just kill everyone.
He got straight to work.
As a competent assassin, it was perfectly normal to carry some gasoline around, right?
Karen pulled back the bedding and piled the quilt and wooden items in the room together. The gasoline hissed as he splashed it over them.
He tossed a lighter onto the pile. Blue flames instantly shot up, and choking smoke mixed with the pungent smell of gasoline filled the room.
Before long, people on the street noticed something wrong.
"Look! Is that a fire over there?"
"Call the fire department! Get them over here to put it out! That's the Royal Hotel-everyone inside is rich or important!"
The street immediately descended into chaos, with sirens drawing closer from the distance. Countless people scrambled to flee. No one noticed a dark figure use the thick smoke as cover to cross from the twelfth floor to the thirteenth in an instant.
Wind swept across the building's facade, blowing stray sparks into the air.
Upon reaching the thirteenth floor, the first thing Karen did was brush off the dust he had picked up climbing the wall.
After scanning the room, he lay flat on the floor and listened to the disorderly footsteps outside. Rather than gathering near the stairs, they were heading farther inside.
"Well, these guards are pretty alert. They know better than to run around at a time like this." Karen raised his eyebrows. These guards were professionals.
"But bunching up just makes things more dangerous..." At some point, two pistols had appeared in Karen's hands, their metal frames still warm.
He placed a mirror at the foot of the door and gently pushed it open. The guards' positions were plain to see. They stood back-to-back in a defensive formation, their knuckles white around their guns.
The heavy smoke on the twelfth floor kept anyone else from daring to come upstairs, and the thirteenth was the hotel's top floor. He did not have to worry about interruptions.
The entire hotel was in an uproar now, and his guns were fitted with suppressors.
"Easy."
Bang-
Two burly men crashed through the door to room 1307, smashing it apart in a spray of wood chips. A tall, thin figure stepped over their bodies and walked in.
Karen glanced at the people in the room. Since he never read newspapers, he had no idea which one was his target.
"Good afternoon. Which of you is Deputy Minister Bunanlun of the State Security Service?"
"You bastard!" One man instinctively reached for his waist.
The next instant, he flew backward with a red dot in his forehead. Blood slowly spread along the patterns in the carpet.
"I'll ask again. Which of you is Deputy Minister Bunanlun?"
"I am. What do you want with me?" A short, fat man with thinning hair stepped forward, sweating. His legs shook uncontrollably, yellow liquid trickling down from between them.
Contempt crossed Karen's face.
No wonder he was turned. He's such a coward.
"Whatever amount you want, I can give it to you." Bunanren pulled a bank card from inside his jacket, so nervous that he almost dropped it.
Not one of the twelve guards outside had come in yet.
That meant the man before him had already killed his guards.
Their abilities were on completely different levels.
All he wanted now was to survive.
As for revenge, someone with his status and position would have plenty of opportunities later.
Karen did not even glance at the bank card. "I want the classified document you have."
What an idiot. Once I kill you, your money will be mine anyway.
"Y-yes. All right, I'll give it to you." Bunanren pulled a document envelope from inside his jacket.
"No-"
Bang!
Karen casually shot the man who tried to interrupt. Blood splashed onto the wall in an irregular pattern.
His gaze swept across the others' faces one by one.
None dared meet his eyes. They all lowered their heads.
"Open it."
"All right."
Bunanren took out the document.
At that moment, several of the men with their heads lowered whipped guns from their waists. "Now! Kill him!"
A barrage of gunfire erupted in the room, spent casings clattering against the floor.
After the gunfire ended, Bunanren lay trembling on the floor.
Karen sat on the sofa examining the document. It contained Ostania's upcoming economic plans targeting Westalis.
Air from the air-conditioning vent ruffled the corners of the pages, and he put the document away again.
After confirming that the document was genuine, Karen looked at Bunanren lying on the floor and held out his hand.
"The card."
Bunanren felt a surge of joy. If the man took his money, did that mean he would get to live?
"Here."
Bang!
"Great. Another boost to my secret stash." Karen wiped the blood off himself in the bathroom, water washing the bloodstains from the gaps between the tiles.
Then he left without looking back, leaving nothing but a floor littered with corpses.
The fire alarm was already sounding in the corridor, and red warning lights bathed the entire space in the color of blood.
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