The Sword and The Shadow

If I knew I would be up to this, I should've learned some stealth skills from that stinking brat, Kurdak thought with some annoyance. It was really hard for him to perform any infiltrations or assassination with his huge body.

Long ago, Cyranos would be the one to head missions like these. After he died, Leguna took up the mantle for it. When he became commander of his own company, he also had other subordinates who could do the job for him. Little did he know he would actually have to do something like that himself as brigade commander.

Kurdak went to a quiet alley and attempted to climb, but a blade was pressed against his neck immediately.

I was too careless! He was fussing over his many troubles and let his attention waver. He didn't think he'd be that easily caught by someone before he entered Alan's mansion! Did Alfreid set him up? What would happen if he was caught? What about Vera or Lamir?

Leguna would definitely laugh his teeth out if he heard about it, right?

Kurdak didn't know something even more awkward happened.

"Give me your money!" the man armed with the blade hissed.

"Darn you!" Kurdak almost broke down. It wasn't Alfreid's ambush at all, just some lowly mugging thug!

He gave off a slight burst of impetus to blast the poor sod unconscious. Furrowing his brow, he took a rope out from his dimensional pocket to tie the man up to prevent anyone from noticing what was happening. He sadistically gave the back of the man's head another knock to make sure he would remain out cold for long.

When it was all done, he climbed over the walls of the mansion.

Thud!

The sound of Kurdak landing sounded like a heavy sack of flour falling onto the ground. Even he was startled by it. Thank the goddess nobody was in the garden to pick up on the fall.

"Darn…" he whispered a curse under his breath, before he got into a cat stance, mimicking Leguna. Anyone paying attention would notice that Leguna seemed like a graceful hunting leopard in that stance whereas Kurdak looked like a constipated, tip-toeing bear.

To make it easier to move around, Kurdak had kept Lava Blade into his dimensional pocket. That big thing was only useful for swinging around on the battlefield. It was terrible for stealthy missions.

So, he took out a far smaller dagger which looked out of place in his huge hand.

The outer courtyard was incredibly quiet. It seemed that most people had fallen asleep, save for the yawning night watchers. Even though Kurdak was huge and clumsy, he still easily crossed the courtyard thanks to the cover of night.

The guards were far more numerous in the central yard. Kurdak packed his huge body in a dark corner and felt that he was occupying every square cube of space there was to stay hidden.

Patience… wait… silence… swiftly… my ass!

Kurdak felt every inch of his bone creaking, but he had no choice but to stay hidden to identify the patrol routes. He felt his impulse building to rush in with Lava Blade for a chaotic extraction.

But he couldn't do so. In a certain sense, everyone in the city was his enemy. If he revealed his identity and nabbed Alan, he might be putting countless innocent lives at risk.

Though he wasn't a saint, he didn't want to bloody his hands if he could.

He stayed in the dark corner for nearly an hour. Only after he fully grasped the patrol routes did he come out and continue making his advance.

His huge shadow was painfully apparent under the moonlight. If it were Leguna, he would definitely have a breakdown at the sight of such a clumsy infiltration. However, Kurdak knew his limits and was aware such movements were suited to him, so he was extra careful to perfectly grasp the timings of the guards. Despite his huge body, if he could grasp their blind spots perfectly, he wouldn't be spotted either way.

Perhaps his infiltration technique could also be made into a training manual for the bureau's agents. This kind of timing grasping was incredibly accurate.

Kurdak rushed towards the wall and rammed into it, shaking it a little. It was another dark spot where he could hide. Before he came, he made sure to get a grip on the structure of Alan's residence from an underground pathway, so he was reasonably certain where Alan's room would be.

He only had to cross another garden to make it to Alan's bedroom.

He gripped the dagger in his hand and decided to patiently make his way forward. He didn't know how he could make his way out, however. He supposed he could think about it after capturing Alan, but it seemed rather obvious that he would have to fight his way out with Lava Blade.

Alan, like Alfreid, was someone who didn't know magic or impetus. However, he was said to have a good mind, so Kurdak knew he had to be extra careful.

It was almost dawn, but Kurdak was still filled with energy from his nap. He looked around and set his sights on a sleepy looking guard.

He would interrogate the man first before killing him.

But at that moment, the door to a room opened not far away. Kurdak darted into the shadows, hoping that he wouldn't be discovered.

The one who opened the door seemed afraid to be seen as well and carefully poked a head out. It looked like a girl in her late teens, a rather pretty looking maidservant.

The reason Kurdak could be sure of her identity was her clothing, but she wasn't wearing them properly. Instead, it would be more apt to say that they were put on her messily. Her buttons were done wrongly and the collar was wrinkled. The parts of her skin that were exposed under the moonlight sent him in a slight daze.

The maidservant looked around and quickly left when she was certain nobody else was around.

Kurdak smiled as a man only would. It seemed that his search was over.

He picked a good time to sneak to the bedroom. Even though the door was closed, it wasn't locked properly due to the maidservant leaving in a hurry. Kurdak prodded the door carefully with his dagger, made sure it wasn't locked, and pushed it open as gently as he could.

The fire in the room burned rather brightly, letting out a wave of heat. He peeked through the seam of the door and saw a man lying on the ground. That should be Alan, based on his figure and the fact the maidservant served him.

He continued to push the door open and it creaked ever so slightly. Kurdak kept his eye on Alan and decided he would burst in to capture him if he moved.

However, Alan seemed to be in deep sleep. He muttered and turned in bed, causing Kurdak to tense up all his muscles. But even though he was facing Kurdak, the man didn't wake up, much to his relief.

He closed the door after he entered and walked towards Alan slowly.

But at that moment, Alan's eyes shot wide open as he pressed a normal-looking button next to his bed. Shocked, and just as he tried to subdue Alan with force, a huge steel cage fell from the top and accurately trapped him.

Kurdak realized that Alan had been awake all along. But he was far too calm. He knew calling out for help would be pointless, so he feigned sleeping and only acted when he was certain Kurdak had walked into his trap.

Alan breathed a sigh of relief and mocked, "Even though I don't know who sent an assassin like you, given your size, I doubt the person who hired you is that smart."

Kurdak grit his teeth and tried to pull the cage open.

"Don't bother," Alan said with a smile, "My uncle had the court magi association make this. Even if you're a high-order warrior, you won't be able to escape."

Wordlessly, Kurdak took Lava Blade out of his dimensional pocket.

To increase the area the cage covered, it was made to be huge, but consequently, that allowed a huge man like Kurdak to stretch himself freely in it.

A hint of fear appeared on Alan's face when Kurdak took out such a terrifying weapon.