Lament of the Slave

Chapter 24: Not a Flight

I tried to get up, intending to face them while standing. However, the assassin did not like that. Thanks to my domain and reflexes, I avoided the stone thrown at my injured leg, hissing in pain the sudden movement caused me.

"Sit on your ass!" the woman growled at me, pointing her dagger at the ground where I should have sat.

I looked at her defiantly, but that was all I could do besides sit down. But before I did, the two men arrived. When I looked at them, especially at the mind mage, my heart sank even deeper. My fears have been confirmed. Now I wished I would sit down when the assassin told me to, because the sight of Imperial Agent Hal made my knees weak.

The man to his left looked at me and snorted, "Is that her?"

"Who else!" the woman barked at him, pointing a dagger at him. "Did you see another half-terran look like this freak of nature?"

"Stop bickering! We don't have time for that," shouted the man I knew as Agent Hal.

The woman smirked, "Says the one who bickered like a couple all the way here."

I guess I wasn't the only one who heard them. The assassin must have heard them through the skill, though. Otherwise, I couldn't explain how she could hear them with normal human ears. But my envy had to wait as I didn't have time to think about things like that. I needed to figure out how to get out of this situation, so I didn't end up with a collar around my neck.

I looked at the two men.

[???: lvl ??]

[Swordsman: lvl ??]

For some reason, I still couldn't see Hal's class. When he was introduced to me as an agent, I was surprised, but it was understandable given his position. Now that I doubted his position with the imperial agents, it bothered me. How was that possible? Mind magic?

"Whatever!!" Hal replied, not commenting further on the assassin's remark, pointing at me, "That's her, take her and let's go!!"

"Dead or alive?" the assassin asked, half-joking, taking my breath away with her question.

"I don't care!" Hal said, surprising both of his companions. "We have to get out of here as soon as possible!"

This time I did not have time to react to the assassin's movement, and before I knew it, she stuck a dagger in my chest. Even without [Inner Perception], I knew the assassin had hit my heart.

In pain and gasping for breath, I fell to the ground, feeling strange magic escaping from a dagger and surrounding my pierced heart. It stopped beating within seconds.

"What the ..." the swordsman asked, but the assassin stopped him, pointing to Hal, "According to him, we do not have much time. Corpses don't make trouble. This way, it'll be easier for you to carry her."

"Why should I be the one to carry her?!" the swordsman asked, pointing at himself. Then he looked at Hal, "You've been pretty useless since we met the little captain. You'll carry her!"

"Fine!" he shook his head at his companion without complaining and turned nervously back to the burning building.

"Are you really that scared of some city guard captain?" the assassin asked, smirking, "Should I kill her to make you sleep better at night?"

Hal frowned at her. "Feel free to do so. But if it's who I think it is, you don't stand a chance."

He looked at the night sky, pondering, "If she's here, so will be her right hand ... fuck!"

"You keep talking about her, but you haven't said who you think the little captain is? Would you like to share this information with us?" the swordsman asked, taking Hal's concerns seriously. "After all, you are the reason that we're here!!"