Assassin's Chronicle - Chapter 262

Chapter 262

The carriage was going at a controlled speed . If it was too slow, it would seem suspicious . If it was going too fast, the necromancers may not react fast enough . Bruzuryano could only decide how fast the carriage should go based on his feelings .

Except for math, most things in the world lacked a proper formula . A general could predict his enemy’s moves using thousands of pieces of information available to him . A merchant could find opportunity in an extremely competitive market . There was no formula to success . The only thing a man could do was to trust his instincts . No one knew exactly how they succeeded .

The carriage reached Buenos City by noon . Black Eleven and Apa appeared outside of the city and stopped the carriage . Their job was to stand guard and wait for Anfey, Suzanna, Christian, and Niya . When the four did not show up, they became worried . Buenos City did not have a transmission portal, and after the city gate was closed, the two were practically stranded in the city without any source of information . They did not have the authority to reopen the gate, and even if they did, they could not travel back during the night . In the morning, Black Eleven and Apa received the news of the four being involved in a conflict in Punk City, but did not know the details . They had been very worried about the safety of their four companions .

Even though they were no longer worried, the two were still frustrated . Christian, Niya, and Anfey were all very important, and if they were hurt, Black Eleven and Apa would be responsible . Whenever something went wrong, everyone wanted to contribute to overcoming it . Black Eleven and Apa felt left out and were frustrated .

The two greeted Bruzuryano first, then turned to Christian . "Are you hurt?" Black Eleven said . He knew that no one was seriously hurt, but he wanted to show that he did care about their wellbeing .

"Don’t worry about me," Christian smiled . He glanced at Anfey and lifted an eyebrow . "I told you that would make them angry," he said .

"I think we should change our carriage," Bruzuryano said with a smile . He did not know how popular he was . Compared to Slanbrea, he was clearly winning .

What had happened earlier was already fading from Bruzuryano’s mind . Since he was purposely trying to forget about it, it was not hard . He had seen too many deaths in his life, and knew that sadness could not bring the deceased back . He knew that it was better to prepare to avenge the dead than to keep thinking about the deaths .

"We’ve already prepared everything, my lord," Apa said quietly . He waved his hand, and two men in blue appeared with a carriage behind them . They handed the reins of the horses to Apa and disappeared into the crowd .

"You’re efficient," Anfey praised .

This praise was intended to lighten the mood and work as an apology, but Black Eleven ignored it . Instead, he turned to Bruzuryano and said, "Please, my lord . After you . "

Bruzuryano glanced at Anfey but did not wait for him . It was Anfey’s fault for changing the plan and inconveniencing others, including Bruzuryano and Slanbrea . What made Bruzuryano even more unhappy was Anfey’s clash with the believers of Goddess of Nature . Even though the keeper of the temple was a just woman, and she had explained the situation, Bruzuryano still felt uncomfortable .

Of course, Bruzuryano still did not want Christian, Niya, or Anfey to get hurt or die during the conflict . If if was them instead of those followers of Goddess of Nature, Saul, Ernest, and even Yolanthe would react badly . It could be disastrous to his religion .

The temple keeper also told Bruzuryano about Anfey using the Heart of Nature . Because of this, Bruzuryano decided that he could not talk to Anfey about it . Keeping everything in made Bruzuryano uneasy, however, and so he was happy to see the others getting angry at Anfey as well .

The conversation and changing of the carriage took only a few minutes . Soon, the carriage began moving again . Black Eleven thought that Anfey’s actions were inappropriate, but he still trusted him . His attitude towards Anfey softened significantly before the carriage even left the city . He found a package in his bag and handed it to Anfey . "It’s for you," he said curtly and gestured at Apa .

Anfey understood Black Eleven’s gesture and nodded . He leaned back against the wall of the carriage and hid the scroll from Apa’s sight .

The scroll contained information, though Anfey wasn’t sure which information would be useful to him . He skimmed through the scroll, and a small paragraph on the last page drew his attention . He recognized Black Eleven’s handwriting instantly .

Black Eleven did not write a lot . It was mostly about Marquis Djoser . A day after Shansa Empire withdrew its army, the marquis went to Sacred City with some of his guards and met with Yolanthe . He immediately returned to his own house after the meeting, and did not meet any other important nobles in the city . He appeared at a feast the eldest prince, Wester, hosted, and was seen speaking with the prince like an old friend . The two had a private meeting after the feast, and it was unclear what they had talked about . According to the marquis’s servants, the marquis was happy enough that when he returned home that day, he was humming a song .

Black Eleven underlined the servants’ words . It was not hard to imagine what made the marquis so happy . He had always wanted to be the city lord of Violet City, and the prince must have promised him that .

Anfey tapped the paper lightly and flipped back to the front . The last page had a different texture compared to the rest of the scroll . Clearly, Black Eleven added the last page by himself . This was not something Anfey should know, which was why Black Eleven did not want Apa to know .

Anfey frowned, then relaxed . He knew what to do . If he was in conflict with the emperor Yolanthe, Black Eleven would never take his side . If his opponent was the prince, he knew where Black Eleven’s allegiance lied .

As long as he did not create any major conflicts, he was certain that he had Black Eleven’s support . Anfey was not worried about this . No one wanted to follow the wrong leader . Anfey knew that Yolanthe was a wise king, and he would not change his mind, unless he ran out of options . Yolanthe was smart, and he was much better than Anfey at avoiding unnecessary conflicts .

"Did you finish?" Black Eleven asked under his breath . "Destroy it when you finish . This was delivered under the order of His Majesty . " He paused and added, "He really trusts you, Anfey . "

"Yes," Apa agreed . "Even the prime minister may not have access to that . "

Anfey smiled and handed the scroll to Suzanna, who summoned her combat power and burned the scroll .

Anfey stretched himself on his seat, then closed his eyes . He did not realize how easy it would be to make himself an enemy of the prince . Even though Yolanthe had planned everything and he had nothing to do with it, Prince Wester would not blame his own father . Anfey was nothing more than a scapegoat .

The prince may not hate Anfey yet, but he must have disliked him . What would Prince Wester think when the news from Violet City reached him?

"Anfey, what’s wrong?" Suzanna asked quietly . She was alarmed by Anfey’s frown . "Are you unwell?"

"Don’t worry," Anfey said . He looked at Suzanna and smiled at her . "I’m just tired . I think I’m going to take a nap . Don’t worry about me . " Whenever he was under pressure, he often chose not to think about it too much . He liked napping or meditating to temporarily avoiding dealing with the problem . He found it easier to find a new perspective if he was calm .

Anfey relaxed himself and let his mind float . He filtered out the sounds of conversation around him, and could not hear anything . Everyone was already used to Anfey’s meditation and did not say anything, but Bruzuryano kept staring at Anfey .

After a while, Suzanna suddenly asked curiously, "Why did the carriage behind us stop?"

Bruzuryano peered through the curtains and glanced about . "Stop," he said quietly .

Anfey opened his eyes as the carriage came to a stop . He sat up and peered out the window .