Chapter 163: The Reaper’s Pursuit

  To Padin , the city lord’s decision seemed like a rash rea stemming from grief over his son’s death. However, his perspective shifted when he arrived at the lord’s mansion upon invitation.

  “What is this?”

  Padin , clearly puzzled, stared at the eborate letter before him. He raised his head to look at the old man in front of him, then gnced back at the letter.

  “This was found in my poor child’s pocket.”

  The old man looked utterly haggard, as though he had aged a decade ht. At the man’s gesture, reached out, took the letter, and ope. But as he read, his expression turned increasingly strainged with anger. Even so, he forced himself to suppress his emotions. After finishing the letter, he looked at the old man again.

  “May I ask if what’s written here is...?”

  “...It should all be true.”

  The old man lowered his head deeply, his face marked with remorse. Padin ’s expression shifted between pale and flushed as he struggled to find words.

  The letter detailed a series of heinous acts itted by the city lord’s deceased son: assaulting womeing and injuring oners, and even murdering aire family of farmers after exploiting their daughter, disguising it as an actal fire to cover his tracks.

  Padin had only been back as the local sheriff for two days, but he was already aware of a few is mentioned. He simply hadn’t had time to iigate. Now, it seemed someone else had already tied up the loose ends.

  That bastard got off easy by falling to his death! If the Temple had caught him, he would have faced a public execution!

  “What is the meaning of this letter?”

  Suppressing his inner fury, Padin addressed the old man. He doubted the city lord had summoned him just to fess his son’s crimes.

  “Allow me to expin.”

  A man dressed as a butler, standing behind the old man, stepped forward.

  “This is the ‘Death Judgment.’”

  “...I don’t uand what you mean.”

  “Perhaps you’re unaware, Sir Padin, as you’ve only retly arrived.”

  The butler bowed slightly before tinuing.

  “Lately, a mysterious assassin known as the ‘Reaper’ has appeared in this region. No one knows who they are or even if they truly exist. All we know is that whehey accept a ission, the target dies in an ‘act’ within days. he victim, a letter doting their crimes is always found, as though passing judgment on their sins. Thus, the term ‘Death Judgment.’”

  “So, this was truly an assassination?”

  Padin was dumbfounded.

  “Could it be some kind of magic? Perhaps we could sult a prophecy mage or...”

  “It’s useless. We’ve already tried prophecy mages and even time-reversal spells, but no clues were found. It’s only natural—after all, we don’t even know if the Reaper is human host.”

  The butler gave a self-depreg smile.

  “No magio physical intervention?”

  was even more incredulous.

  “ this still be called assassination?”

  “heless, every issioake ends iarget’s death, and the ission is marked as pleted. By definition, it is assassination.”

  “So, you’re saying...”

  “I hope Sir Padin request the Temple’s involvement to uhe assassin’s identity.”

  The old man lifted his head, his gaze fixed firmly on .

  “I know my son itted unfivable crimes. If he had been caught by the Temple and executed, I could accept it. But I ot accept that my child was killed by a despicable, cowardly assassin! I want the Temple to help me find the culprit and bring them to justice!”

  “This...”

  Faced with the furious old man, Padin didn’t know how to respond. For some reason, the se reminded him of ander Brandt of the Temple. Was this blind parental love? , unmarried and childless, couldn’t uand. He had already struggled to prehend ander Brandt’s as when he rebelled against the Temple for his daughter’s sake.

  And now...

  “Five me, Lord City Master, but I’m retired. I’ll report this matter to the Temple, but I ot guarantee how they’ll respond.”

  “Thank you, Padin . But I will not rest until I find the murderer who killed my child.”

  “...”

  Padin remained silent.

  Upon hearing the old city lord's response, Padin found himself at a loss for words. After a moment of silence, he rose, bowed respectfully to the grieving man, and took his leave.

  "Sir... do we really o report this matter to the Temple?"As they exited the city lord's residence, 's attendant, Bart, hurried to his side and whispered his question. remained silent for a long time before suddenly turning to his attendant.

  "Bart, if I recall correctly... you’re married, aren’t you?"

  "Yes, sir," Bart replied, startled by the seemingly ued question, and quickly nodded.

  "Do you have children?"

  "One... a mischievous boy. He has no i in swordsmanship and only dreams of adventures. I really don’t know what to do with him…" Bart sighed.

  "Then what do you think of the city lord’s as? Was he right ?"

  "This..."

  Bart hesitated, frowning as he tried to process the question. After a while, he answered with a flicted expression.

  "To be ho, sir, the city lord's son was an awful person. Frankly, knowing he’s dead feels somewhat satisfying. But... I uand the city lord, too. After all, that was his only child…"

  "I see..."

  Padin paused in thought, then shook his head.

  "Follow standard protocol. File the report—it’s our duty."

  "Uood, sir."

  While the city of Keha bustled with specution about the ret events, the true orchestrator of it all was already far from the chaos.

  "Not much of a challenge, but the pay was det enough," Alex muttered, ting the white gold s in his pouch with a satisfied nod.

  Ihe so-called "Reaper killings" pguing the region were entirely his doing.

  Alex had employed the abilities granted by one of his Bronze Soul Stones: "Agent 47."

  In Alex's eyes, Agent 47 epitomized the essence of an assassin far better than the "Assassin’s Creed" archetype. While many glorified fshy bat with phrases like, “Who has time for stealth? Go loud o home,” Alex knew such tactics were useless in the real world.

  Here, ates bristled with magical traps and arms. Charging in headfirst would only lead to being surrounded in uhirty seds. Even if one mao kill the target, trag spells would quickly reveal their location, leading to relentless pursuit. Assassination wasn’t a simple matter unless one had a way to ceal their identity entirely.

  This was why Alex had chose 47, whose two key abilities—[Master of Disguise] and [Improvisation]—suited his needs perfectly.

  [Master of Disguise] allowed Alex to mimiy identity fwlessly, much like Agent 47 donning disguises to infiltrate restricted areas. This skill enabled Alex to seamlessly blend in and carry out covert operations.

  [Improvisation], oher hand, reflected Agent 47’s signature assassination style: using his surroundings to devise creative traps and elimiargets. For instance, in the ret assassination of the city lord’s son, Alex hadn’t id a finger on him. He merely disguised himself as a er, meticulously mopped a specific area, and subtly loosened a railing post.

  Did he it murder? No. He simply anticipated the victim’s steps using fht a gravity do the rest. ing a floor wasn’t a crime, after all.

  Simirly, even high-ranking mages posed no signifit threat to him. With the help of his angelipanion Ikaros, who could manipute magic, Alex didn’t o act directly. Instead, he allowed Ikaros to seize trol of spells during casting, causing them to backfire spectacurly.

  These abilities, bined with his fht and Ikaros’s magical support, allowed Alex to carry out assassinations effortlessly, as if moving through ay battlefield.

  The motivation behind his as was simple: he needed money.

  Though the Temple had rewarded him with 5,000 gold s, that amount was far from suffit for Alex’s ambitions. While it could sustain a leisurely life, Alex had no i in living as a tented drifter.

  More importantly, the gold couldn’t be used for system upgrades.

  This was the crux of the problem.

  No matter how much wealth Alex accumuted in the real world, it held no value unless verted into system-patible currency—Soul Crystals.

  But acquiring Soul Crystals was no simple task.

  Much like strategic resources in his world, Soul Crystals weren’t freely avaible. Bulk purchases required official approval and ht. Previously, Alex’s position would have allowed him to bypass these hurdles, but his current status plicated matters. Avoiding the Temple’s scruti finding alternative methods.

  In the Holy Nation, only lised spellcasters, alchemists, and reized manufacturers of ons and armor were authorized to purchase Soul Crystals. Despite his mastery of Tier Five spells, Alex hadn’t registered his credentials, leaving him without official reition even as an apprehe identity of a Temple Padin was no longer usable—it would only irouble.

  Thus, Alex’s only option was to borrow someone else’s identity.

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