Dick did as instructed again, pouring all his mental energy into it. He held his breath and focused entirely on that illusory red line.
Soon, the space before his eyes changed again. The red line vanished, and a fist-sized red glow appeared behind the tree.
With each thump of his master's heartbeat, the glow grew dimmer, then deeper, dimmer, then deeper.
It lay exactly where Master's heart was. The second activation of his Witcher Senses had marked another person's heart.
The next moment, his master stepped swiftly out from behind the tree and reached the boy's side in the blink of an eye.
"It seems you've done it. What did you see?"
"Master, there's a red mark on the left side of your body. It keeps changing between light and dark."
"Very good. This is how we track living people.
"Remember, people can sometimes be very powerful, but most of the time, they're fragile.
"Just hide and attack their heart from behind, or slit the artery on the side of their neck."
Master pointed at his neck. "Then they'll collapse, weak and helpless. Remember that?"
"Yes."
"That's my apprentice! Hahahaha!"
Dick withdrew from his thoughts and opened his eyes. He sensed the changes to the skill entries on his panel.
[Combat]: Swordsmanship (professional), Bow and Crossbow Shooting (professional)
The improved skills were all combat techniques useful for assassination.
As for why this memory fragment had not appeared in his mind before, Dick thought of one possibility:
Perhaps the original owner had already come to resent being the blade in his master Master's hand, and so had unconsciously sealed away this memory.
That did not mean the original owner wanted to turn over a new leaf. Rather, he had wanted to seize the chance to make one last score before fleeing or setting up on his own.
Doing business with the Broom Witch was the best proof.
Utterly stupid!
How would he run?
Where could he run to?
Now, Dick felt refreshed all over, his thoughts clear and unhindered. He knew this was a sign that he had received all the original owner's memories.
There would be no more free skill improvements like this.
Putting other thoughts aside for now, Dick drew the dagger at his waist.
Seeing this, Kebi exclaimed, "Dick, are you really going alone?"
Dick nodded, then stooped and headed down the slope.
Kebi stayed where he was, tightening his grip on his sword hilt. He resented his own weakness somewhat, unable to help. If he rashly went along, he might even hold Dick back.
He could only whisper, "Dick, save my father or Xiya. I'm leaving everything to you."
Dick paused slightly and nodded with his back to Kebi.
Thick weeds half a meter tall grew near the outskirts of Stony Town.
Thanks to those weeds, Dick could conceal himself.
Like a lynx, Dick crouched on tiptoe and padded forward, slowly parting the weeds as he moved toward the village, until he reached a stable.
Then he concentrated and activated his Witcher Senses.
In an instant, several faint red dotted lines snaked out from Dick's body.
Dick held his breath again. The dotted lines slowly vanished, becoming red marks that alternated between deep and dim over the soldiers' hearts.
Within this range of several dozen meters, the information fed back into Dick's mind confirmed the number of Jatu soldiers in the village-eleven.
Two of them were inside one house.
Of those two, one person's red mark was slightly dim, with somewhat faster changes in brightness, completely unlike anyone else's steady fluctuations.
The other had a heartbeat at the frequency of an ordinary person's.
The first person's physique was ordinary, unlike that of a battle-hardened soldier. They were probably a Jatu priest.
The second person was their captive.
The captive might have been brutally tortured, or weakened by hunger.
And the only valuable captives were the would-be sorceress Xiya and Baron Odin III.
After silently making his guesses, Dick focused and held his breath again, remaining utterly still, because a soldier was walking toward him.
Through a gap in the weeds, he saw the soldier carrying a feed bowl. The smell of plant juices wafted from it; it was probably horse feed.
The soldier muttered in the Jatu language, which Dick could not understand at all. He was probably complaining about his companions. Why had they made him feed the horses?
He had no idea that great danger lurked in the weeds half a meter away.
The soldier had just crouched and set the feed bowl beside the stable when he felt a pain in his neck.
His eyes suddenly widened. Enemy attack! The thought had barely entered his mind, and he was about to shout, when someone clamped a hand over his mouth.
Dick clamped his hand hard over the enemy's mouth, preventing him from making a sound.
Seeing that he had not died immediately, Dick stabbed him in the heart as well.
The dagger pierced the soldier's light armor and plunged straight into his heart. As Dick pulled it out, the soldier died on the spot.
He gently lowered the body to the ground, then continued silently along the edge of the house wall, making no sound at all.
At a corner, he used the blind spot to spot a soldier standing guard there.
The soldier stood idly in place, holding his spear upside down and looking utterly relaxed.
But that was only human nature. After all, they had just won a battle, so a little slacking was understandable.
Yet it brought about his death.
Suddenly, he felt a chill in his chest, followed by searing pain. Lowering his head, he stared in disbelief at the coldly gleaming sword tip protruding from his chest. Just as he was about to cry out, the tip abruptly vanished, then appeared again.
Dick gently lowered this soldier's body as well and wiped the bloodstained dagger on his sleeve, looking somewhat dissatisfied.
Having only just mastered this technique, he was still not proficient enough at assassination to kill with a single strike.
The thought flashed through his mind. Then Dick pushed lightly with his legs, facing the wall, and reached up, swiftly catching the beam beneath the eaves.
With a slight twist in midair, he landed lightly on the roof.
Hunching over again, he slowly moved forward.
When he reached a certain spot, he drew the short crossbow at his waist and aimed at the two soldiers guarding the village's outermost edge.
As he fixed his gaze on one soldier, time seemed to slow.
He could clearly see the swaying leaves around him and the opening and closing of the soldier's mouth.
This was precisely the effect of professional-level Bow and Crossbow Shooting-greater focus when aiming at an enemy, and faster movements.
The School of the Lynx's rapid reflexes translated effectively into Bow and Crossbow Shooting.
He swiftly fired a bolt, striking the marked soldier's alternating light-and-dark red mark with perfect accuracy.
The gleaming, bloodied bolt tip emerged from the soldier's chest, killing him instantly.
The soldier beside him saw this and was about to shout, but in the next instant, a bolt tip abruptly emerged over his heart as well.
After disposing of those two, Dick continued forward, advancing slowly and silently across the rooftop.
With a slight push, he leaped onto another roof without making a sound.
Upon reaching a certain spot, he looked down at three soldiers below, quietly loaded the crossbow, and tucked it at his waist. Then, reconsidering, he jumped straight down.
He drew his dagger in midair and plunged it downward. Driven by gravitational potential energy, it struck the gap between one soldier's neck and shoulder and sank all the way into his body. Then Dick yanked it out.
Before another soldier beside him could react, he spun and swept his hand sideways. Blood sprayed skyward, and the soldier could only clutch his throat helplessly as he fell.
Just as the third soldier was about to shout, Dick drove a vicious kick into his abdomen, sending him stumbling several steps backward.
Then he hurled his dagger, striking the center of the soldier's neck.
Dick retrieved the dagger and gave a gentle push. The third soldier fell, his eyes unfocused.