Chapter 6

Half a year had passed since Kael entered the Aster mansion. The people of the estate regarded him merely as a servant taken in by the second young master’s whim. But in the dark, secluded corners of the mansion, a covert training that no one could have imagined took place every night.

“Again. Your footsteps are too loud.”

At Rian’s low voice, Kael held his breath and crouched lower. He was standing on the mansion’s wall in a narrow two-finger-width space. The full moon shone brightly, yet Kael’s body blended perfectly into the shadows.

“Breathe once every three counts. Your gaze should sweep the whole surroundings, not just straight ahead. Where you look becomes your blind spot.”

It was instruction from a seasoned assassin—hard to believe it came from a twelve-year-old noble young master. Rian had reconstructed the knowledge he’d absorbed from documentaries, films, and books in his past life to fit this world’s reality and fed it to Kael. It wasn’t mere stealth or combat technique. It included reading people’s psyches, blending into the environment, and deducing maximal information from minimal clues. It was the totality of skills to ‘survive and dominate.’

Kael grew at an astonishing pace. The wild instincts honed by hunger and scorn met Rian’s systematic training and produced explosive synergy.

One day, Rian summoned Kael to his room.

“This is your first mission.”

Rian handed over a small sheet of paper. It listed several people and their positions: the mansion guards, the stablemaster, merchants within the estate lands—figures who seemed ordinary.

“For the next week, record everything about them. When they wake, whom they meet, what they eat, even when they go to the privy. Do not miss a single trivial detail.”

“Yes, Master.”

Kael took the paper without question and melted back into the shadows.

A week later Kael appeared before Rian and presented a thick stack of papers. What he had recorded exceeded Rian’s expectations.

‘Guard Jerome. Yawns five times every night while on duty at the east post. His wife has been ill recently and he tends her through the night. Because of medical bills, he has secretly contacted the estate’s weaponsmith to scheme to divert old weapons.’

‘Stablemaster Henry. Gives good feed only to a particular horse. That horse is the baron’s, due to be sold to a neighbouring estate in three days. He’s taking bribes from the baron and covering for him.’

It wasn’t mere observational notes. It was living intelligence that pierced the motives and relationships hidden behind actions.

“How did you find that out?”

Kael answered Rian’s question calmly.

“You taught me, Master. Every action has a reason. Jerome’s lower eyelids are dark, and I saw his wife frequenting an herb shop. I glimpsed a silver coin stamped with the baronial crest in Henry’s pocket.”

Rian smiled with satisfaction. He had acquired the finest ‘eyes’ and ‘ears.’

That night Rian devised a new plan based on the information Kael had brought.

“Kael, find Guard Jerome. Tell him I will pay his wife’s treatment costs. In return, tell him to be our eyes and ears.”

“…Understood.”

“Leave Stablemaster Henry alone. The bribes and information he trades with the baron will someday become our weapon.”

Rian’s instructions were clear. Instead of seizing weaknesses to blackmail, show mercy to those needed to gain their loyalty, and leave those of use intact to paint a larger picture.

This was the beginning of the organization Rian envisioned, ‘Argos’—a giant with a hundred eyes to see and hear everything on the continent.

Rian looked out at the night sky. In the training yard, his elder brother Kaion was still swinging a sword, burning his aura.

If his brother becomes the family’s shining blade, then he will be the shield protecting the family in the dark.

The shadows of Rian and Kael stretched long beneath the candle. It was the first shadow of a vast organization that had only just begun to stir.