Ancient Imperial Calendar Year 1810
A week had passed since the wedding.
Ricardo's oldest brother Seth had entered the senior year, and the War of the Heirs had officially begun.
Mothers and fathers raised their arms to the heavens and prayed to the Spirits of their Ancestors so that their children could return home safe.
This year, the oldest brothers Seth and Arlous would fight each other, and Ricardo would fight his brother Xanros, who was a year older than him.
The Academy Masters distributed the annual calendars to the students. There would be duels and training matches between the classes.
That's how it was on paper, but everyone was aware of the truth.
This was the beginning of a bloody war.
Xanros had chosen three men from the assassin clans. Eric Kervin from the assassins.
"Order me, Young Lord. Let us kill Ricardo for you."
Eric was the son of Yurik Kervin, who was slain by Brian Ashbrum.
Along with his brothers Jogan and Clark, they had sworn an oath of loyalty to Xanros.
Now it was time to receive their first mission from their Master.
"You only have one task. Kill Ricardo. Even if you can't kill him, kill his lover."
The three brothers who received the order took action at three in the morning.
When they arrived at Ricardo's room, they couldn't understand why there was not a single guard at the door.
"Brother, why are there no guards in Young Lord Ricardo's room?"
Eric, who was as surprised as his brother Jogan, said in a low voice.
"I don't know. Even Young Lord Xanros' room is guarded by ten people.
Either Young Lord Ricardo is very brave or a big fool."
The three walked silently into the room. Clark prepared to break the lock on the door, but it was not locked.
The three brothers thought they were about to carry out the easiest assassination of their careers.
Eric opened the door, and at that moment, cold water poured over his head. He saw Ricardo about to attack.
"GET AWAY!"
As he shouted to warn his brothers, he noticed Ricardo had moved behind him.
"Whe—" Before he could even finish his sentence, his head was separated from his body, and he faced death without even getting over the shock.
The three sons of Yurik Kervin, one of the martyrs of the Kislavein-Ashbrum war, died that day.
The three brothers were born on the same day and died on the same day.
Those who heard the voices jumped out of their rooms and ran towards Ricardo's room.
The students who came to support saw three lifeless bodies lying headless on the floor, covered in blood.
Their Young Lord Ricardo was cleaning the blood from his sword. Marco approached Ricardo.
"Are you okay, Young Lord?"
Ricardo cleaned the blood off his sword and put his sword back in its sheath. His face was expressionless.
He looked like it was a very ordinary event.
"I'm fine, Marco. Probably Xanros' men."
Marco was furious. How dare that bastard send assassins to his master?
"My Lord, let me bring you Xanros' head."
"No way, Marco. I heard the assassins talking. Xanros has ten dogs waiting at his door.
Sending you there would be the same as telling you to commit suicide."
Marco's anger grew even more, but he did not compromise his respect and manners.
"But my Young Lord, we must retaliate. If you remain silent, they will send more assassins."
"Don't worry, Marco. We will retaliate. And against Xanros's closest man."
"Who is that, my Young Lord? Order me to take his life."
Ricardo did not answer. There were too many eyes around; it would not be right to answer in front of everyone.
After all, the Inter-Class Group Wars were still a long time away.
The current war was a war of assassins and spies.
Ricardo signaled Marco to follow him, then turned to the crowd waiting around.
"Listen, clean up these bodies and blood. You know what will happen if I see even a drop of blood on the ground in the morning."
Everyone was trembling. Ricardo had been killing them for a year in the name of education.
Of course, they had also reaped the fruits of this harsh training; they had all become strong enough to cope with their superiors.
As Ricardo and Marco entered the room, those outside began to clean up the bodies and blood.
Ricardo cast a silence spell to create a soundproof barrier in his room.
He turned to Marco.
"Your target's name is Qrey Fraus. A smart and arrogant man from a great House.
He caught Xanros' attention with his intelligence, then ruined Xanros' already shitty personality with women, alcohol, and various substances.
Marco, as your Young Lord, I command you to go and kill Qrey."
Marco knelt down and bowed his head.
"Yes, Young Lord."
As he was leaving the room, something started to bother him.
"I wonder how Young Lord Ricardo knows all this? Or is there a spy?"
He wanted to ask this question, but then he realized something.
"Honestly, if Young Lord Ricardo wanted me to know, he would have told me already."
As Marco was leaving the room, Ricardo called out to him.
"Marco, didn't you forget something?"
Marco felt a dark energy behind him. It was Giskar. An involuntary smile appeared on Marco's face.
"It's been a long time, Giskar."
Giskar flew to Marco and looked happy.
"It's been a long time, Marco."
Ricardo was surprised by what he saw. He raised an eyebrow and looked at Marco and Giskar with surprise.
"They've only been on one mission together, and they've already become such good friends."
When the two finished their conversation, they greeted Ricardo and left the room.
Ricardo lay down on his bed and started to sleep. While he slept, some people wouldn't sleep.
Marco and Giskar approached Qrey Fraus's room with an invisibility spell to kill their target.
"There are no guards at the door," Marco said.
Giskar chuckled.
"Wouldn't it be ridiculous if there were, Marco? As if he were a Young Lord, ha ha."
Marco was a little angry. He left Giskar behind and approached the room. The door was locked. He thought about forcing it open, or even breaking it.
When Giskar realized what Marco was about to do, he flew to him.
"Don't even think about it. You'll wake everyone up. Leave it to me."
Giskar entered the door lock. Since he was a Spirit, he could move objects without making a sound.
When the lock opened, Marco entered and saw Qrey sleeping in his bed.
He approached Qrey with silent steps and put his sword to Qrey's throat.
Marco wanted to see the fear in Qrey's eyes before he killed him. He cast a small electric spell and woke Qrey.
When Qrey woke up, he was terrified. There was a demon-like man in front of him with a knife to his throat.
He couldn't move. His hands and legs were tied with aura ropes, and when he couldn't break free, he started screaming.
"HELP! HELP! HELP!"
Marco, hearing Qrey's screams, brought his face close to Qrey's with a scary smile.
"Scream as much as you want. No one can hear you, Qrey. You will die here."
Qrey said with fear.
"What did I do to you? What is my crime?"
"What? Um, honestly, I have no idea. But your master sent assassins to kill my master.
We came to warn him and to kill you, the man closest to him."
Marco didn't want to waste any more time. He quickly cut Qrey's throat.
Blood spilled from Qrey's throat like it was pouring from a glass, splattering left and right. The room was painted red.
Marco went to his room with the pride of completing another task.
The next day, the Academy was talking about the assassination events that had happened last night.
Xanros was extremely angry about the killing of his three most trusted assassins, and he was taking it out on those around him.
"DAMN BASTARD, SON OF A BITCH! I WILL KILL YOU EVEN IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!"
Xanros beat those around him, torturing those most loyal to him just for fun.
He molested girls, raped some of them when he was drunk.
"Haa haa, I'm a little relieved. Arnheid, my dear Arnheid, come here."
Arnheid, who was trembling in a corner, walked towards Xanros with fearful eyes.
Xanros pulled Arnheid to him, squeezed her breasts, sniffed her neck. Xanros had a disgusting expression on his face.
Arlek saw all this but could not intervene.
He could not touch the sons of the Dynasty Leader; he could not oppose them.
Otherwise, even the most distant relative would be killed with horrific tortures, and the people in his homeland would be put to the sword.
The only way out for Arlek was for Ricardo to kill Xanros.
At some point, Xanros stopped harassing Arnheid and punched Arnheid hard in the stomach.
Arnheid lost his balance and fell to the ground.
"Arnheid, my dear Arnheid, you can't belong to anyone else. How much more stubborn will you be? Be mine, and I will give you great pleasure."
Arnheid wanted to spit in Xanros' face and kill him, but like her brother, she couldn't make a sound.
Arnheid was not weak, but the hierarchy in the Western Lands was clear.
The Dynasty Lord and his Family were at the top of the western hierarchy; the slightest disobedience and rebellion was unforgivable.
Even killing a member of the Dynasty Leader's family in self-defense was enough reason for the entire lineage to be brutally murdered.
Arnheid said in a shaky voice.
"You promised me. You can't have me unless I let you."
Xanros squeezed Arnheid's throat hard.
"Yes, I did, but it was just for fun. I wanted to see how long you could take it.
Look, Arnheid, if you become mine, I will end these tortures and even make you my first wife after I ascend to the throne. How's that for an offer?"
Arnheid's killing intent, spreading throughout the room, was so intense that even Xanros got nervous. He stood up, turned around, and left.
Arnheid's facial veins were about to burst with anger.
"I'm tired of being harassed by him every day, every day. I want to kill myself."
Arlek knelt down and approached Arnheid.
"Don't worry. Young Lord Ricardo will kill Xanros soon."
Arnheid stood up, her head bowed, her voice trembling.
"I hope so, brother. Otherwise, neither I, nor you, nor anyone else can endure this torture any longer."
Xanros had taken control of all the second years the previous year and was subjugating the students through fear, cruelty, and tyranny.
To him, absolute loyalty came through fear.
Later that night, Arlek snuck into Ricardo's room.
He was surprised to see Ricardo waiting ready.
"Good evening, my Young Lord."
"Good evening, Arlek. Come and sit."
Arlek sat across from Ricardo.
"Young Lord, by killing Qrey, you have angered Xanros. I will give you different names.
These are the names of those most loyal to Xanros. They also help Xanros control the third years.
You can think of them as a kind of tyrannical gang."
Ricardo took a piece of paper and a pen and wrote down exactly what Arlek said.
When they were done, Arlek asked permission to leave and stood up. Just as he was about to leave the room, Ricardo said.
"Arlek, I heard what happened today. I promise you, Xanros will not get away with what he did.
I want you to gather those who hate Xanros until the Class Wars begin.
Come to my side that day, and let's kill Xanros."
These words touched Arlek's heart.
His sister, who had been abused by Xanros for a long time, would soon see her suffering end.
Arlek turned around, drew his sword, knelt, bowed his head, and with both hands, he extended his sword to Ricardo in a respectful and submissive voice.
"I am Arlek Payrist, Successor of the Payrist Dynasty.
I swear by the name of my House that I will serve you with all my loyalty from this day until the day I die, Young Lord Ricardo."
Ricardo took the sword Arlek offered him, pressed it to his heart, and looked at Arlek.
"As Ricardo Kislavein, son of IV Orsman Kislavein, the 65th Lord of the House of Kislavein, I accept your oath of loyalty.
I swear by the name of my House that I will avenge you and your sister, end the oppression you have suffered, and
I will sever the head of Xanros from his body."
Oaths were made, promises were given. Arlek took his place among Ricardo's most loyal men.
Until the date of the inter-class wars, many assassinations were carried out; there were deaths on both sides.
However, Xanros suffered the heaviest losses. His most trusted and loyal men were slaughtered by Ricardo's assassins.
Ricardo did not suffer serious losses with the precautions he took.
On the other hand, although Jack Johanson was wounded in the arm with a poisoned dagger, he did not suffer any serious injuries because he was treated in time.
A few months passed. The war of the Assassins had given way to swords and magic. The Inter-Class War had now begun.
These wars would bring Ricardo one step closer to the Kislavein Throne.