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Chapter 31: The Shadow Guard

It was true that Amber’s shadow techniques were superb, hence it was expected that she would be able to spot an assassin or spy… however little did anyone expect her to capture the person directly.

Just as Amber captured the man, hasty footsteps came from the outside of the study. Immediately after, Knight Byron opened the door and rushed in. “Your Excellency, what happened here?”

He was supposed to be guarding the main door downstairs but he was alarmed by the commotion upstairs.

In contrast, when Melita visited and punched Amber right in her face, not much commotion was caused…

“It’s okay, just a little thief and I have captured him,” Gawain waved his hand at Byron and continued, “you may go back and guard the place because tonight may not be so peaceful.”

Bryon looked at the study with confusion and saw Amber feeling proud of herself and the rogue collapsed on the floor. However, due to the command issued, he nodded and said, “Yes.”

“How did you capture him?” Gawain looked at Amber with surprise after Knight Bryon left and said “Did you win?”

“What does that expression mean?!” Amber was frustrated due to Gawain’s reaction. “Although my combat ability is relatively weaker, but I’m not so terrible that I can’t beat anyone at all, okay? Previously, I managed to tackle a monster called the ‘Mutant’.”

Gawain continued staring at her.

“Of course, this fellow is stupid.” It was expected that Amber had something else to add on. “He could have won if he tackled me face-to-face but he insisted on showing off his shadow moves. I took him down with one kick. He passed out after his spirit shook between the shadow and physical realm.”

Gawain looked at her with shock and thought to himself. “Only a monster like you could think of such barbaric attacks.”

Shadow Walk was the signature skill of the rogues and almost every one of them was skilled but their ability remained incomparable to that of Amber and the difference in their abilities made their skills seem like two completely different skills. Normal rogues could only hide temporarily in the physical realm and shuttle back and forth between the physical and shadow realms(the mages call this the “edge of shadow”). It was an extremely dangerous technique and one had to be as precise as dancing on the edge of a knife. Any mistake could cause one to fall into the shadow side and be pulverized by the unknown things in it. As for Amber… who knew what ability she had.

Under normal circumstances, rogues only need to focus on their footsteps and they did not have to worry as long as they did not take the wrong step. As the “Shadow Walk” was also known as the lonely road, hence every rogue knew that even the most powerful master of shadow would not be able to enter someone else’s path. Therefore, every skilful rogue was able to perfect the skill of “dancing on the edge of the knife”, however that was the usual case…

Things would have been different if you were dancing on the edge of a knife and a monster with combat ability of as high as 1.5e kicked you suddenly.

At this time, Amber was still full of complacency. “It was so interesting at that time, this fellow was in a stupid position and went into the shadow mode with a flash. However, I saw him clearly and he wanted to sneak beside me while waving a small knife. I pretended as though I did not see him and kicked him when he stood next to me…”

Rebecca did not entertain Amber and squatted beside Gawain to examine the unexpected visitor together. “Don’t tell me that he cannot wake up.”

Gawain shook his head and said, “It is hard to say, normal people would become an idiot even if they didn’t die when they got a shock on the edge of the shadow realm.”

As they were speaking, the rogue lying on the floor twitched and he started to slowly regain consciousness.

Under normal circumstances, a trained rogue would pretend to be dead at this moment and control his heart rate and breathing so that others would not be able to tell. However, this rogue could not control himself due to the huge blow and before he realised that there was something amiss, he was already staring at Gawain.

The nameless young man had a dull look in his eyes and everything before his eyes seemed to be unexpected. Immediately after, he wanted to bite the poison hidden in his mouth to kill himself only to realise that the poison had been taken away.

He could only choose to keep his mouth shut and remain quiet.

“What is your name?” “What is your motive?” “Who sent you here?”

Gawain asked him a few questions but did not get any reply and the man pretended to be deaf.

Amber took out her little dagger and spun it. “Should we extort a confession using some torture? Although I’m not very professional, but I have witnessed some techniques in the past, when I sneaked into the dungeon to steal things.”

Rebecca was confused. “What did you steal from the dungeon?”

“I bet you don’t know about this.” Amber started sharing happily. “Many prison officers would hide the treasures which they got from the prisoners in the secretive corners and transport the things away when they are changing shifts to avoid being discovered by the patrolling officers or leaders. I pick those times to do it…”

“Don’t think about it, there is no use torturing him.” Gawain interrupted Amber who was complacent. “The shadow guard of the royals are trained to serve the King hence they are the cream of the crop. Other than outstanding combat ability, their willpower is impressive too. Thankfully you could capture such an expert and I think you can boast about it for more than half a year.”

As he was talking, he looked at the stunned young man and said, “However, when I was alive, the royal shadow guard was only a personal bodyguard and the most they would do was gather information from dangerous places. Why is that they have degenerated into having to pilfer after 700 years?”

The captured shadow guard looked at Gawain in shock and Gawain continued before the former spoke. “You want to ask me how I managed to tell your identity?”

The shadow guard nodded.

“Rubbish, I was the one who came up with the title and set up your training system,” Gawain pat the shadow guard’s face and continued, “I was the training officer of the first batch of royal shadow guards!!”

Amber was dumbfounded and looked at Gawain who was almost 2 metres in height. “As a knight… you became the training officer of the rogues? You taught them how to move stealthily?”

Gawain smiled and said, “No, I trained their stamina and fencing.”

Amber was confused. “Why do rogues have to learn fencing?”

“Obviously, to kill all witnesses when they are exposed.”

“As a rogue, isn’t being exposed during a mission the same as failing?!”

“No, for Anzu’s rogues, being exposed is only the start of the mission… however, the one before us didn’t seem to have completed the courses well. Perhaps the courses which I have left behind 700 years ago are no longer in use?”

The shadow guard lying on the ground looked miserable because he found out that all those torturous trainings were left behind by the person standing in front of him.

Although 700 years had passed and the courses had been revised so many times, the foundation courses did not change drastically. Stamina training and fencing were two of the trainings which had remained.

Seeing the changes in the shadow guard’s expression, Gawain knew that the trainings in his memory still remained.

“Francis II sent you here right?” He looked at the young man lying on the floor and smiled amicably. “However, I believe that His Majesty the King wouldn’t send someone to assassinate me when more than half of the capital knows that I’m here. Hence he asked you to come and spy on me?”

The shadow guard remained quiet.

“However, he should have reminded you to stay further away because there is too much risk and Gawain Cecil did not falter even if the Cecil Clan did. Are you being overconfident… or did you not follow the instructions?”

The shadow guard said something. “You are insulting my mission, I’ll kill myself and you don’t have to worry about me.”

“Nonsense!” Gawain slapped him. “Your life has been too comfortable, how did you degenerate to this stage?!”

The shadow guard looked at Gawain in confusion as if he did not understand what Gawain said.

“What is the use of the royal shadow guards? They are meant to protect the king, the country and the land! Your responsibility is to tackle the villains who want to tear the country apart and not help the muddle-headed king to spy on a pioneer who built the country! If you were captured by the enemies on the battlefield, I would have respected you for your courage, but you are here, in my house! Are you suggesting that I am a traitor who wants to tear the country apart by saying that I am insulting your mission?! Or are you saying that capturing you is an insult to Anzu?! Are you saying that the people of Anzu are now against the pioneer who built the country?!”

The young shadow guard was at a loss after hearing Gawain’s scoldings. “No… That’s not what I mean…”

“It’s okay, your opinion does not matter.” Gawain interrupted him and stood up. “I am not so petty to be angry at a junior so you can leave now.”

The young shadow guard never expected things to end this way(he probably did not expect any of the events that happened tonight), he looked at Gawain in confusion as he could not believe his ears.

Even Amber and Rebecca were shocked.

Gawain repeated his words and said. “I said, you can leave, do you want me to send you off?”

The shadow guard got up slowly and asked. “Are you sure?”

“Of course, I can’t kill Francis II’s man and I do not intend to bring you to the the Silver Castle under everyone’s attention although I feel like doing so. It’s a pity that I have passed the age to let my emotions sway my decisions and I can only let you off.”

Rebecca seemed to have something to say but she kept it to herself because of Gawain’s stern expression.

The shadow guard moved to the window slowly and before he left, Gawain suddenly said, “I don’t intend to tell anyone about what happened today, it’s up to you… how you want to update His Majesty about this matter.”

“…Thank you for your mercy.”

After saying those words, the silhouette of the shadow guard disappeared in the air.

Gawain pursed his lips and said “…Another one that leaves by the window.”

Rebecca finally found a chance to say something, “Lord Ancestor, are you really going to let him off so easily?”

“Of course.” Gawain laughed. “I definitely have to let him off.”

“Doesn’t he need to be punished? The fact that His Majesty sent someone to spy on this place suggests that…”

“Rebecca, remember this, if you want to get a larger benefit then you have to be farsighted.” Gawain patted her head and continued, “It is nothing to let a small pawn get away, there are still potential benefits.”

“Potential benefits?” Rebecca blinked her eyes. “For example?”

“It depends on what that young shadow guard tells the king and there are only two possibilities.” Gawain opened his hands. “Either Francis II doesn’t get to sleep in peace in the later part of the night or… he has another shadow guard who is not loyal.”

He turned around and looked at the moonless night sky as he was speaking.

“Relative loyalty means absolutely no loyalty and this sentence makes a lot of sense.”