玉蒲团之云雨山庄

But even though the place is not crowded, which means that the sales today will be sour, the waitresses are still lively and serves him enthusiastically. They kindly lead him to the most comfortable spot with a view from the window to see the capital in rain, give him the suggestions for the food, and some even stay to converse with him to help him wait for the food.

The waitresses are a bunch of sweet and cute girls, at a normal occasion, he will take the chance to seduce them, but his senses are telling him to have his guard up.

It feels like his senses are telling him, that as the skies continue to darken to night, there will be a danger.

*********************************************************

The loud sound coming from the heavy rain accompanied by the strong winds suppress other sounds from the surroundings. The sounds of the rustling leaves, the sound of the closing doors, and the sounds of the steps of the shady people lurking in the shadows clad in black.

Inside a deserted inn, a person is having a big smile as he looks at the big bag filled with coins from today\'s transaction. From the sly and greedy smile on his face, it\'s visible that he\'s a merchant with a big ambition.

"Man, today was a great day. To think that I would get such a huge sum of money in just one deal. Going to the Astellia capital is the right choice, after all. There are lots of stupid people with lots of money here," The man happily gazes at the raining capital while holding a glass of wine in his right hand.

He\'s a fraud merchant that preys on unknowledgeable people that would believe his stories of magic items and sacred items that brings luck and prosperity.

Using his wits and eloquent tongue, today, he managed to trick a small noble to buy his \'magic item\' that brings luck for tens of gold and a hundred silver coins.

"Fufufu... Hahaha!!!" As the man laughed, suddenly lights died out.

"Huh? This supposed to be a high-quality inn. I\'ve paid lots of money to rent this room and yet this happened!? Where\'s the innkeeper-" Before the man could shout out, his body jolted as he suddenly sense a tinge of pain from his cheek, and the cold metal pressing towards his neck.

"H-h-h-huh!? W-w-who are you!? W-what do you want from me!?" His voice breaks, and a pathetic squeal-like voice appeared as he questions the figure who has his knife on his neck. He tried to move his body but the knife presses even tighter to his neck.

"Answer my questions if you want to live," A deep voice appeared from his back.

"Y-y-yes! I\'ll answer whatever you want!! J-j-just don\'t kill me!!!" The man pathetically pleads. His knees shake vigorously, sweat soaked all over his body, and pathetic tears run down to his cheeks.

"Are you Evocatore? The goblin king slayer?" The deep voice inquires.

"N-n-n-no!! T-The goblin king slayer? A-as you can see, I look rather b-bulky, but I\'m not strong!!" The merchant tried his best to explain in order to save his own life. And the assassin\'s response is-

"I see," A voice filled with disappointment and loss of interest appeared from behind him.

At that moment, a hint of relief struck all over the body of the merchant, and his legs went limp as he fell to his knees. But as he let out a sigh of relief, another shadow appeared from the other direction.

"Is it the wrong one?"

"Yeah. It\'s another flop," The assassin said as he withdraw the knife.

"I see..." The man that has just appeared stared at the merchant.

Looking at the bloodshot eyes sends shivers all over his body, but the most shocking thing is the words followed by his bloodshot gaze.

"Silence him," Ordered the man.

"Understood," The assassin once again ready his knife and raise it up above.

"W-Wait!! P-Please!! I-I\'ll give you money! I\'ll give you everything!! I\'ll give you all of the money and information you want from me!! Please! Please don\'t kill me!!" The man continues to plead as his whole body trembles in fear. But the assassin doesn\'t seem to have any intention of stopping.

As he raises his knife, the merchant shut his eyes tight as he hopes to the gods.

(Please!! God help me!! I\'ll swear I will stop making sins and donate most of my money!!!)

And right at that moment-

*Thud!*

The door got forced open, and as the light from the fire lamp outside lights the room, men clad in beautiful armor rushed inside the room with unsheathed swords and entered the merchant\'s view. Just by looking at the special armor and the crest engraved on it, the merchant immediately knows whose knights are they.

"The royal knights...?"

*Clank!*

A single knight dashed inside the dark room and swings his sword at the assassin behind the merchant, but the assassin swiftly blocked it. But the knight\'s slash is too strong, the assassin\'s hand felt numb after blocking the strike, but he grit his teeth and takes a defensive stance to block the next upcoming strike, but-

"Ugh!!" The assassin growls in pain.

The knight\'s slashing pose is just a pain, and he suddenly raises his legs and threw a powerful kick with an unexpected speed, catching the assassin with his guard down.

"Stay down, you\'ll get hurt if you move," The knight warns the merchant with a firm tone.

"Y-Yes!" (Merchant)

"You there. Aren\'t you going to save your friend?" The knight asked towards the assassin that entered the room last. The other knights that barged inside the room together with him circled around the remaining assassin.

At the time the first assassin got attacked by the knight, the assassin remain calm and did not even make any effort to help him.

While looking at the knight with a cold gaze, the assassin let out a snort.

"They are nothing but just disposable puppets. Why should I save him? But sure, I\'m quite surprised," The assassin scoffed.

"Surprised?" (Knight)

"For the royal knights to have guessed our objective clearly is plausible, but the most intriguing thing is how the royal knights got mobilized just because of a single man. Very interesting," (Assassin)

"What with that arrogant tone, don\'t you understand what kind of position you are in?" Another knight commented, irritated by the assassin\'s tone.

"Hm... It\'s true that it proves difficult to defeat four royal knights alone. But fleeing is never have been a problem. So long, knights!!" The window suddenly got opened, and the powerful winds let the heavy rain to enter the room, soaking the room and catching the royal knights off-guarded.

The assassin immediately took the opportunity to flee and left the window without even batting an eye at his comrade that is lying unconscious because of the knight\'s kick before.

"Should I chase over him, sire?" One of the knights asks the person that seems to be the captain of the team.

"No need to do so. He\'s quick and nimble, it will be very difficult for you to even match his speed with that heavy equipment all over your body, let alone catch and defeat him," The knight captain replied calmly before giving a sign to close the opened window and shifted his gaze towards the merchant.

"I-I\'m so glad you saved me, great sir!! P-Please, give me your name!! I\'ll definitely give you a huge sum of money for saving my life! I will-" As the merchant\'s smile gets wider, the knight captain stares at him with firm eyes and cuts his words.

"Paul Edveral. Reports about your fraud dealings with the residents of the capital city of the Astellia Kingdom have been reported. You\'re coming with us,"

___________________________________________________________________________

Name: Lyan Arkanium Evocatore

Occupation: Mythril-ranked Mercenary

Money: 3,797,710,950 Elnes / 3797 gold 71 big silver 9 big coppers 5 coppers

Weapon: Magic Glaive, 1 (Decent) One-handed Sword, 2 (Good-Quality) One-handed swords, 1 (Decent) bow

Equipment: Black leather cloak, Leather Armor, Breastplate, 2 Health Potions, 2 Poison Vials

Grimoire\'s Companions: 8 High Spirits, 3 Valkyrie, Shadow Goblin Lord (Lv. 5), Papilio Slime (Lv. 45), Galewing Butterfly (Lv. 45), Rock Golem (Lv. 50), Deadlight (Lv. 63), Moonlight Butterfly (Lv. 45), Ice Golem (Lv. 50), Acid Ant Queen (Lv. 9), Magma Bear (Lv. 1), Fey Mammoth (Lv. 1), Arcane Retriever (Lv. 1)

Grimoire\'s Army: 6 Shadow Servants, 800 Skeleton Army