Episode 19: This Bastard Deserves to Die Even Without a Contract!
The children were dumbfounded at the mention of ten nyang of silver. Having lived only in the mountains, their understanding of money was stuck at a six-year-old's level.
In a self-sufficient farming household, ten nyang of silver could last a year and still have some left over. Even in a city without farming, a family could live frugally for half a year on that amount.
But ten nyang of silver a month...
It was no wonder the children were so intrigued.
"If you become a top-tier assassin, the treatment changes drastically. You can get a small estate and thirty nyang of silver a month. Plus, your commission rate jumps to thirty percent. In just a few years, you could be called a wealthy man."
"Wow!"
The children exclaimed in awe.
"Moreover, first-tier assassins are required to undertake four missions a year, but top-tier ones only need to do two. So, if you leave here as a top-tier assassin, your life will be set."
'Hmph! Why don't they mention that once you leave here, you'll have to endure all sorts of missions for two years?'
Won Seung, who had spent time in the upper house, knew more than the other children. He had heard that even after leaving, most apprentices die assisting in various missions for two years. Even if one survives and becomes a first-tier assassin, the end is predetermined.
In ten years, they will die from the effects of the Blood Drying Powder. The only way to survive is to swear allegiance to the Red Blood Mountain within five years and become a member. Then, they will receive a medicine that can completely detoxify them before the poison reaches their bones.
Yet, the current assassin was blatantly lying to the children.
At that moment, someone raised their hand and asked.
"I heard there's also a Ten-Star Assassin. What kind of treatment do they receive?"
"Ten-Star Assassin? If someone becomes a Ten-Star Assassin, even I would have to follow their orders. They would instantly gain the highest status and position at the main base. They'd be assigned a large estate, a hundred nyang of silver a month, four bodyguards, and ten servants and maids. They only need to undertake one mission a year and receive half of the success fee."
This was also a lie. There had never been a Ten-Star Assassin, so there was no precedent for such treatment. It was clear he was just making things up.
However, as the current assassin said this, he glanced at Won Seung.
The moment their eyes met, Won Seung felt a foreboding sensation.
'I'm being watched by the main base!'
He thought it was the price for killing Instructor Ag.
*
Winter came again. This winter, instead of harsh training, the focus was on elevating each individual's main martial arts to the highest level.
With the end of the assassination strategy classes, even the current assassins didn't visit. The children practiced their main martial arts from morning till night.
Despite taking numerous classes, the main martial arts held the most weight in their graduation results, so it was only natural.
Won Seung mastered the Splitting Light Sword Technique, the Taeul Sword Technique, and the Heavenly Middle Sword Technique to the highest level. With over forty years of internal energy as a foundation, it wasn't too difficult. After clearing the Ren and Du meridians, the speed at which his internal energy accumulated seemed to double.
With ten lines marked at the head of Won Seung's bed, the final spring finally arrived.
'It's time for the effects of the Blood Drying Powder to manifest...'
Won Seung added a mild poison to the dining hall's drinking water.
That night.
"Ugh!"
Jang Chil, clutching his stomach, ran to the restroom in the middle of the night. There was already a long line. In his urgency, Jang Chil dashed into the forest to relieve himself.
Other children also suffered from stomachaches or diarrhea.
Exactly one year after taking the Meridian Cleansing Pill, Instructor Sa gathered the children.
Since his appointment, Instructor Sa had been holed up in his office, drinking. His complexion was gaunt. He looked at the children with bleary eyes from his hangover.
"You've worked hard for nine years of training. Now it's time for field practice. Each of you will be given three assassination missions. Your task is to complete them within six months. Even if you can't complete them, you must return within six months."
The children's faces lit up. They were thinking of escaping once they got outside. Instructor Sa, knowing their thoughts, chuckled.
"I know what you're thinking. Heh heh. Haven't you been having stomachaches or occasional nausea lately?"
The children's faces turned pale. Having learned all sorts of tricks in the assassin training process, they immediately thought of poison.
"The Meridian Cleansing Pill you took was laced with poison. If you don't take this antidote every year, you'll vomit blood and die within ten days."
Instructor Sa shook a large wooden box.
The children's eyes filled with malice. But having suffered from stomachaches, diarrhea, and vomiting due to the poison Won Seung had added a few days ago, they had no choice but to believe him.
"Did you think the main base would let you go so easily? What would they trust to send you out into the world? But don't worry. After you graduate and complete ten years of missions, you'll receive a complete antidote, and then you can choose to stay or leave the main base."
After lying to the end, Instructor Sa distributed the antidote.
Once the children took the antidote, the instructors handed out envelopes containing their missions.
"Open the envelopes here and memorize your missions, then burn them. The first step of an assassination mission is to keep your mission a secret from everyone. Each mission is top secret. Don't tell anyone about your mission, and don't try to find out about others'. If your mission is exposed, you're immediately disqualified."
At Instructor Sa's warning, the children sat scattered around the training ground.
"Tomorrow morning, the instructors will escort you to the foot of the mountain. From there, you must go to your respective mission locations and return. Remember, the Red Blood Mountain's eyes are everywhere. If you act recklessly, you could die immediately."
After finishing his speech, Instructor Sa looked around at the children and smirked.
"Once again, the given time is six months. If you want to live freely for another six months and then die, you don't have to return."
Instructor Sa finished speaking and went up to the upper house.
Won Seung sat in the training ground and opened his envelope. Inside were three more envelopes. Each envelope was labeled with the words "High," "Medium," and "Low."
The practice missions were divided into three levels based on difficulty, with different points assigned.
Won Seung opened the envelope labeled "Low" first. It contained a brief background, name, and crimes of the assassination target.
'What a despicable bastard.'
Won Seung read and fumed. The target was a county magistrate, a truly vile person. Especially the part where he took money to imprison the victim's family instead of the murderer made him curse involuntarily.
'This bastard deserves to die even without a contract.'
When he opened the second envelope, it contained the name of a local landlord's son.
'The magistrate is low-level, but a commoner is medium-level? That's strange.'
However, after reading, he understood. The son was the only child of a wealthy family, guarded by skilled martial artists and numerous bodyguards.
This guy's crimes were even worse. He was a complete scoundrel, involved in all sorts of schemes, threats, and kidnappings of women.
The third envelope contained the name Hwa Cheon-gang from the Clear Water Sect. The crime was murder. It was recorded that he massacred a family while expanding the Clear Water Sect's business.
After reading the missions, Won Seung was impressed by the mind of whoever assigned them from the Red Blood Mountain.
The targets were people who deserved to die. For children embarking on their first missions, they were chosen to avoid any moral conflict. If they killed these targets, it would be more like a chivalrous act than an assassination.
'This way, they'll get a taste for blood and gradually become addicted to assassination missions.'
At the same time, he wondered if the information was accurate. What if the heinous crimes were fabricated?
The children would gather information about their targets before the mission. They would then know the truth of the crimes. But what if they ignored the truth and killed an innocent person?
'That person would become a fitting asset for the Red Blood Mountain.'
Won Seung pondered for a moment before standing up and moving forward with the envelopes. In front of him was a large brazier, and the children who had memorized their missions threw their envelopes into the fire.
That night.
When it was his turn for night watch, Won Seung quietly slipped out of the dormitory and went to the opposite dormitory to find Jang Chil.
"What is it?"
Jang Chil, rubbing his eyes after waking up, asked.
Won Seung took him to a corner and whispered.
"There's a secret in this practice mission."
Everyone knew that Won Seung, who had once lived in the upper house, knew a lot about the assassin training process.
Jang Chil's eyes sparkled.
"What secret?"
"One of the three missions might have information that's different from reality. The basics of an assassination mission are to verify the information, right? If you ignore the difference and carry out the mission, you'll lose points."
"Why didn't they tell us that?"
Jang Chil wondered. He was excellent in lightness skills and stealth but a bit slow in grasping situations.
"Of course, they wouldn't tell us. The practice is to test the qualities of an assassin. You have to figure it out and act accordingly. Before the mission, verify the information about the target. If it's different from the truth, you have to back out immediately. That's how you'll be recognized for having the qualities of a top-tier assassin."
"Oh! Thanks."
Jang Chil, eager to succeed as a top-tier assassin, was satisfied, but Won Seung's gaze shifted to a nearby bed. He saw the head of a lying child slightly move.
'Perfect.'
Won Seung knew all the children well.
The lying child had a loose tongue. He couldn't keep anything to himself without spilling it.
That's why he deliberately brought Jang Chil to this corner to whisper.
'Red Blood Mountain, things won't go your way.'
Won Seung returned and continued his night watch.
The next day.
Before breakfast, all the children knew the secret information. Some even came to Won Seung to confirm it.
Won Seung feigned ignorance and said he heard it from the late Instructor Jang.
The children, knowing that Instructor Jang had called Won Seung several times, believed him.
'This way, no one will die unjustly, right?'
*
Fifteen days later.
In a shabby inn on the outskirts of Choyang County, Hunan.
A deep sigh escaped from a small room.
On the table lay one nyang of silver, a bundle of copper coins, and five vouchers.
These were the remaining funds after paying for travel expenses and the inn room.
'How am I supposed to carry out the mission with this? It's nowhere near enough.'
Won Bu longed for the hundreds of nyang of silver hidden in his room. Would it still be there?
The vouchers were worth two nyang of silver each. They could only be exchanged on specific dates each month. This meant he would receive two nyang of silver monthly. So, the immediate funds were one nyang of silver and about a hundred copper coins.
To other children, this might seem like a fortune, but to Won Seung, it was merely a meal's worth. In fact, when he was younger, a meal at Ilsunru cost him three nyang of silver.
Originally, Won Seung planned to start with the medium-level mission. That way, he could gauge the difficulty of the low and high-level missions. However, after seeing the funds he received, he changed his mind and decided to start with the low-level mission of eliminating the corrupt magistrate.
The magistrate's room was likely to have a stash of hidden money.