Kays Translations

Chapter 155: Confronting the Assassin

Beginning the day after the attempt on his life, Tauro took matters into his own hands.

More precisely, he began openly provoking the assassin.

To lure out the now-wary killer, Tauro rented the observation deck at the top of Soraki Tower, one of the Royal Capital’s tourist attractions, for several mornings and waited there alone.

On the third day, he sat on the edge of the rooftop, looking over the city, when a voice spoke behind him.

“You wanted me to reveal myself. Here I am.”

Tauro turned and saw a man standing beneath a hood pulled low over his eyes.

The man’s presence felt strangely indistinct, almost certainly because of [Presence Concealment].

“You still intend to carry out the request to kill me, don’t you?” Tauro asked.

“I believed I’d killed you and reported the job complete. Your survival has ruined my credibility. Today I’ll finish this properly and restore my reputation.”

The assassin swiftly raised a thin tube to his lips and fired a needle.

Tauro had expected the attack. He drew the Shortsword Tauro and knocked the projectile aside.

Clink!

The needle struck the floor.

At the same instant, however, a second needle embedded itself in the hand holding his sword.

The assassin had fired twice in rapid succession.

“This time I used our guild’s secret poison. Chance won’t save you again. I’ve won.”

Certain of his victory, the assassin waited.

…

…

…

“Um… Am I supposed to scream ‘Aaargh’?” Tauro asked.

“Why isn’t the poison working?”

The assassin stared in disbelief.

The poison wasn’t merely slow. It had no effect whatsoever. He had gone so far as to obtain the Assassins’ Guild’s closely guarded secret toxin, yet the child before him remained completely unharmed.

Tauro pulled the needle from his hand.

“I have poison resistance. It won’t work on me.”

“Impossible! In the entire history of the Assassins’ Guild, no one has ever resisted that poison. It’s lethal even to people with ordinary poison resistance!”

“Nevertheless, it doesn’t work. You lost the moment you failed to kill me last time.”

“Damn you! Then I’ll use another method. I know you chose this place to avoid involving bystanders, but renting it until noon was a mistake. You removed everyone who might’ve helped you!”

The assassin drew a dagger.

“If we fought normally, I’d probably lose,” Tauro admitted. “I know you’re strong. But the Royal Guard is waiting below. The moment I signal them, you’ll be trapped.”

“Then signal them. I can kill you before they reach the top. There’s only one entrance to this roof, and it’s behind me. You have nowhere to escape.”

Once again, the assassin was certain that victory was his.

“Very well. Light spirit magic: [Illumination].”

Standing near the edge, Tauro sent a flash of light toward the ground.

From above, he could see the Royal Guard knights rush toward the tower entrance.

“Then I have little time. Die!”

The assassin raised his dagger and lunged.

“Then I win. Goodbye.”

Tauro stepped backward off the edge of the tower.

He had deliberately jumped.

“What? You fool!”

The assassin froze in shock at the child who had declared victory while leaping to his death.

“Did he think preventing me from killing him counted as victory…? He killed himself just to deny me the target!”

After standing dumbfounded for several moments, the assassin rushed to the edge and looked down to confirm Tauro’s death.

Far below, Tauro stood unharmed and waved up at him.

“You’ve lost again! How unfortunate!”

Tauro had used [Levitation] to descend safely to the ground.

It had essentially been a bungee jump without a rope, and although the plan had worked, Tauro had been terrified the entire way down.

“I never want to try that again…”

While privately wondering what kind of person willingly went bungee jumping, Tauro loudly continued crushing the assassin’s pride.

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