Chapter 292 - Only One Chance (1) (1/2)
A tense cloud of war hung over the Ruford Empire and Duchy of Lunen. Lunen was a small state beneath the greater empire, but now it regarded itself as a completely independent country. Paveluc had secretly been preparing for this event, and with the powerful forces of the Kelt Kingdom now inside Lunen, there was no reason to ally themselves with Ruford anymore.
Cheogcheogcheog.
Inside Lunen castle, dozens of knights marched on patrol. Near a dungeon, a man emerged from the dark entrance. The guards near there were suddenly alerted.
“You there! Identify yourself!”
The knights were tense in preparation for the war. They pulled out their swords and pointed it at the man, who raised his arms immediately.
“I’m the servant that brings the meals to the dungeon.”
He walked slowly towards the knights as he spoke. The bright torchlight revealed his freckled face, and the first knight who shouted at him spoke again.
“This isn’t the time when meals are distributed. Why are you wandering around here?”
“The person in charge of the meals complained of stomach ache. He didn’t get the bowls back in time, so I went to do the job instead.”
There was a pile of bowls next to the dungeon entrance. The knight stared at the servant disapprovingly, then finally lowered his sword.
“…I’ll let you go just this once. Don’t let me catch you here around this time again.”
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
The knights returned to their patrol. The servant watched the men disappear around the corner, and returned to the entrance where the dishes had been gathered. The gloomy-eyed and freckle-cheeked man was Kuhn, disguised as a completely different person.
‘…The number of bowls and prisoners I checked are the same. Then the Empress must not be here.’
Kuhn had infiltrated the Lunen castle under Carlisle’s orders. In order to save Elena quickly, it was urgent that he locate her.
‘The only place left now is Blood Assassin’s headquarters.’
The headquarters was his first pick, but he deemed it too difficult to infiltrate, and so he decided to check the other locations first. However, it seemed that the Blood Assassins remained the only option left.
Kuhn recovered the dishes and returned them to the kitchens with an expressionless face. In fact, it was he who caused the servant for food redistribution to have diarrhea.
After Kuhn completed his work, he slipped back out of the castle. He returned to his secret residence inside Lunen and wrote down a brief report of what he learned. Next to him were several trained carrier pigeons. He tied the note to one of the bird’s legs with a practice gesture, then opened the window wide and sent it out.
***