319 Chapter 319: Let Everyone Down (2/2)
”Uh, this is…?”
”I've highlighted the cities where the qualifiers are supposed to take place,” Cecilia explained. Indeed, there were several cities that were tinged in weird colors. ”Sadly, even my intelligence network doesn't know which city you will be assigned to for your qualifier match, but suffice to say, this portion will emphasize on teamwork. Instead of individual battles, you will be tasked to accomplish a goal together. That's all we know for sure. I'll send you a copy, but suffice to say, I'll leave you in charge of the city you're assigned to.”
I cocked my eyebrow and pushed my glasses up as I studied the colored cities. ”You don't seriously expect me to watch an entire city by myself, do you?”
”No,” Cecilia admitted. ”Just do the best you can and watch over your team…”
”Just hand it to him straight,” Kureha interrupted and turned to me, her expression hard and ruthless. ”I'll be blunt, Richard. I'm sure you'll figure it out anyway. Your team…you and your friends are bait. The Assassins Guild recognize you as a threat because of your multiple run-ins with them, and they will most likely target you. Furthermore, most of your friends in that team have also fought Assassins before. If I'm not mistaken, you and your friends survived against the Umbra Assassin Rei and his disciples. The Assassins Guild will see this as an affront, an embellishment on their honor. They will seize this opportunity to correct it…and target your team.”
I rose to my feet with a scowl. ”If that's the case, you shouldn't be telling just me about this. You should have invited the whole team and let them know.”
”Hold on.” Cecilia raised a hand, looking concerned. She glanced around, as if to confirm something, and then nodded. ”Don't forget, this is the Assassins Guild we're talking about. They have eyes and ears everywhere. It was already risky contacting you in this manner. I'm sorry, but I request that you keep this to yourself, at least until the qualifier match itself. We can't afford to have any leaks.”
”If the Assassins Guild know that your team knows, and they are prepared for an ambush, they will likely change targets and attack the other teams in the qualifiers instead,” Kureha explained, her ruthless façade disappearing and being replaced by an apologetic expression. She then gestured all around us. ”This place is secure, we had our teams sweep the place to ensure there are no bugs or nobody listening in. the walls are warded with silence enchantments, and even the hotel staff can't hear the details of our conversation.”
”It would have looked extremely suspicious if your whole team showed up here,” Cecilia agreed. ”And when you return, take care not to leak this out unless you have no choice. Let your team know once the qualifiers begin, and when your team is deep within the…location they choose to place you.”
From the way they were speaking, they seemed aware that we wouldn't be conducting urban warfare, or the Assassins would definitely overhear if I told my teammates the moment the qualifiers began. Then…the qualifiers were most likely taking place in the wilderness outside the cities, huh? That made sense. Any fighting inside the city would disrupt civilian life and cause trouble for the poor residents.
Furthermore, I recalled how Feng Hai conducted that special intensive training camp where he basically threw us out in the forest to complete missions. You know, the one where my friends and I had to fight Crimson Spiders in their nest? Don't tell me Feng Hai and his trainers had already foreseen this, and were aware of what kind of qualifiers this year's tournament would hold?!
Either that, or the leader of the Silver Wolves was a visionary with uncanny precognitive abilities.
”I understand.”
As much as I hated this, I had no choice but to accede to their request. No wonder they approached me directly and went through the trouble of having me meet them here, in Stuart Hotel. They didn't want this getting out. They informed me because they trusted that I would prepare the appropriate countermeasures and lead my team preemptively against the Assassins – especially since I was the one with the most experience against them.
”The Federation will employ mercenaries to keep watch over the students,” Cecilia continued. ”But as you will be the Assassins' most likely target, we thought we should inform you, and you can prepare. I know it will be harsh on you, to not be able to tell your friends, but given that you are the vice-captain of your team, you should know their abilities very well, and devise a strategy that will allow them to quickly adapt to the situation and adjust accordingly. Just don't leak that strategy until the qualifiers themselves.”
”…I'll do my best.”
Heaving a sigh, I nodded reluctantly. It still irked me that I had to keep this from my friends for now, but I at least understood the reasoning. Yue Chu, in particular, would blabber this out, and Craig was too direct and touchy – he would give us away eventually. Only Harrison could particularly be trusted to keep this a secret, but…as Cecilia and Kureha pointed out, the Assassins had eyes and ears in this city. Even if the Assassins weren't present themselves, they most likely had support staff and intelligence agents to gather information for the actual Assassins to make the strike.
”Speaking of which…we are under the pretense of something in order to arrange this meeting without looking too suspicious.” Kureha grinned mischievously, glancing at Cecilia, who sighed heavily. The Sword Saint, on the other hand, looked as if she was enjoying this too much. ”Go on, Cecile, tell him.”
”I will if you don't want to!” Adrian piped up, but Kureha glared at him.
”You keep quiet!”
”…all right.” Adrian fell silent sullenly. Cecilia gave him a sympathetic glance, but she made no move to help him. Instead, she looked squarely at me.
”We're making use of certain dumb rumors to camouflage our meeting.”
”…dumb rumors?” I repeated, unsure of where this was heading. Cecilia gave me an apologetic expression, before looking distinctly uncomfortable.
”Um, well…apparently, there are rumors that I wish to engage in a romantic relationship with you.”
”That scoundrel, Hei Gui, certainly thinks so!” Kureha giggled, only to fall into silence when Cecilia glared at her. ”Well…you don't have to worry about him. He's currently warded in a psychiatric institution.”
”At least we're not going along with those stupid clichés of young arrogant masters from powerful and rich clans sending Assassins after the protagonist just because,” I muttered under my breath.
”Well, Hei Gui might be one extreme example, but he's…just one of many rich and powerful young masters who are interested in wooing Cecile.” Kureha glanced at her good friend, who was clutching her head in dismay.
”They can try, but they won't succeed.”
”They all want to marry into the Stuart family, or in the case of the other Great Families, establish a connection to form some sort of alliance.” Kureha then pointed at me dramatically. ”So this is where you come into play.”
”Oh, come on…” I groaned when I realized what she was hinting at. However, before I could protest, Cecilia smacked Kureha in the back of her head before turning apologetically toward me.
”Don't worry. It's not what you're thinking at all.” She rolled her eyes. ”This isn't a manga or an anime. I'm not going to use that as a ridiculous pretext to request that you masquerade as my fiancé or fake boyfriend to get all those horny guys off my back. That's cliché as hell, and highly impractical. If anything, it would only cause you too much trouble, and idiots like Hei Gui will really start trying to cause uh, 'accidents' or find some sort of way to eliminate you. And no, it won't be as anything as blatant as hiring Assassins. They will dig up some dirt on you to smear your reputation, frame you for a crime you didn't commit, or all sorts of things.”
This was how the real world worked. Assassinations were just a myth, a lazy cliché that most Chinese webnovelists resorted to when they came up with obstacles for their main characters. However, in reality, the rich didn't do anything as blatant as that, because such drastic measures could often be traced back to them, and only an idiot wouldn't be suspicious if someone died all of a sudden from unnatural causes. Their weapons were not of poison and daggers, but the law and money. It was much more effective and safer to just sue and slander the target, destroy him socially and financially, and wreck his reputation.
”Plus I'm not selfish and self-centered enough to drag a completely unrelated person into my own problems.” Cecilia shot an irritated glare at a disappointed Kureha, who was wishing for some romantic comedy manga moment to happen in real life. ”I'll reject each and every one of them myself, and I will handle my own personal problems on my own. Not resort to stupid manga or webnovel clichés that wouldn't work in real life.”
”Uh, okay…” I wasn't sure how to respond to that.
”That said…” Cecilia sighed and lowered her head. ”I must apologize in advance, because for this particular case, we're making use of those rumors to camouflage the true reason for our meeting. Don't worry, I won't expect you to play along or do anything concrete with regards to my…personal situation. But for now, just put up with the rumors. That will throw the Assassins' inteliigence off our backs for now.”
”Gotcha.” Now I understood why Cecilia opened up the discussion by first apologizing about Hei Gui's attempt, even though I had never heard about that. Standing up, partly because I was aware that the time to Southampton's match against Manchester United was drawing ever closer and I needed to leave soon in order to make it, I bowed. ”I'll begin planning for this…mission, as soon as possible.”
”We're counting on you.” Cecilia stood up and offered me a hand and a smile. ”Make sure you kick those Assassins' asses.”
”Oh…” I smiled grimly, a plan already formulating inside my mind. ”I'll do much more than kick their sorry asses, you can be sure of that.”