"Monster… Are you a monster, you bastard?!"
The leader of the men in black roared.
Bulging veins swelled across both his arms, making it clear that he had already poured every ounce of strength he had into the struggle.
And yet even so, all he managed to do was make the blade tremble more violently.
Those fingers remained unmoving, like a towering mountain range, silently declaring the futility of his efforts.
"Damn youuuuu!"
Ping!
With a sharp, splintering sound, the leader's sword shattered into fragments and scattered apart.
Even after losing his weapon, however, the leader of the men in black did not give up.
His hands moved quickly, grabbing two sharp shards of the broken blade and stabbing them toward the boy before him.
Noah merely blew lightly at the man in front of him.
In that instant, a gale swept out, carrying the fragments of the blade with it and engulfing the man completely.
The leader of the men in black was blown away and crashed to the ground, his body covered in sharp metal shards as blood continuously seeped out from his wounds.
He howled in pain, still struggling to stand.
Of course, if it had truly been nothing more than a breath, it would never have possessed that much power.
Such a thing would have been impossible even for a Level 5, or perhaps even a Level 6 adventurer.
Although on the surface it looked as if Noah had merely blown a breath, in reality, he had activated Weaver's ability.
"N-No way…"
"What did he just do? What an incredible impact…"
"Stop him!"
The men who had been knocked back earlier saw their leader fall and immediately charged forward, throwing themselves at Noah without hesitation.
Against opponents of this caliber, Noah needed only a few punches and kicks to deal with them all.
He deliberately avoided killing them. Until he obtained information, these people still had some use, so he merely rendered them powerless.
He walked over to the leader and murmured, "Now then, let me see where you people came from."
"Hmph. I won't say a word," the leader snorted, displaying remarkable stubbornness.
"I know. But this has nothing to do with your will."
As he spoke, Noah pressed his five fingers against the leader's face, his pupils faintly glowing blue.
Information seen through the soul corridor flowed into his mind, and Noah's expression changed slightly.
First, this group really had intended to assassinate the Prime Minister.
Second, even Noah had not known that the banquet was apparently divided into an outer banquet and an inner banquet.
Not many people were allowed to enter the inner banquet. At most, there would be fewer than twenty.
Among them were the Prime Minister himself, his trusted aides, family members, and acquaintances.
In other words, the number of people who could actually gain access to the inner banquet was extremely limited.
Among those people, Noah had merely been the one with the highest chance of being exploited.
The invitations had been made by the Prime Minister together with his newly wedded wife.
Outsiders could not possibly obtain something like the guest list.
The one who had leaked Noah's information was this new wife of the Prime Minister.
"I see."
Noah released the soul anchor.
The leader of the men in black also regained consciousness.
He could feel that something had been done to him, but he had no memory of what it was.
"You… What did you do to me?"
Noah looked at the man in surprise.
How rare.
His soul had been manipulated, yet it had not suffered any damage.
No.
'Has my technique improved?'
'As expected, everything comes down to practice making perfect.'
"Speaking of which, you really are loyal. You were only a butler, and your master has been dead for more than ten years, yet you were still willing to stake your life on revenge."
"...?"
The leader's pupils shrank. Though his face was covered, his expression was clearly full of disbelief.
He said in shock, "Why do you know that? So there really is a traitor among us…"
Noah lightly pressed a finger against his forehead.
In the next moment, the man's eyes rapidly turned bloodshot.
Blood streamed from his ears, nose, and mouth, and without even making a sound, he breathed his last.
Even before his death, he never understood where exactly things had gone wrong.
Noah was not patient enough to explain everything to him, either, because he was already going to be late.
"The daughter of the former Prime Minister disguises herself and risks her life approaching her enemy for revenge, not even hesitating to use her own body… It's practically the plot of a television drama."
Noah sighed once.
Good or bad aside, she just had to set her sights on him.
If they had not harbored killing intent, Noah would not have cared what happened to the invitation. Yet they had even planned to silence him.
"What makes you people any different from the Prime Minister?"
After silently killing all of the enemies, he left the scene.
No sooner had he walked out of the woods than he saw the carriage he had ridden in parked there.
The three noble ladies had all had their throats slit.
The coachman had also collapsed on the ground with his eyes open in death.
Before their souls dissipated, Noah read the information within them.
In the end, all he could see was a cold flash of light. Apart from that, there was no sound and no image.
'Hm.'
'An expert.'
There had been four people present, yet none of them had noticed the attacker's approach. Concealed presence.
One-hit kill.
A very professional assassin.
The current Empire had no shortage of such people.
Because the world was in chaos, it was precisely the kind of era where someone with those skills could make a living.
It was also in order to oppose these professional killers scattered among the populace that Gozuki had painstakingly trained those children.
...
By the time Noah arrived at the banquet, the Prime Minister had already begun delivering his speech.
Without drawing attention to himself, Noah went to the attendant in charge of reception and showed his invitation.
As expected, he was invited into the inner banquet hall.
However, his appearance caused the face of a woman seated beside the main seat to change drastically.
Noah smiled faintly at her, then took his seat.
Without minding anyone else, he picked up the hot towel placed on the table and began wiping his hands.
When the woman saw him cleaning his hands, countless thoughts tangled together in her mind all at once.
This woman was none other than the Prime Minister's bride today.
Her name was Loria.
Seeing that Noah had arrived late yet remained completely unharmed, Loria's thoughts fell into chaos, because this meant their plan had gone terribly wrong.
It might even have already failed completely.
Noah was a little hungry.
Seeing the table covered with exquisite dishes, he directly picked up his utensils and began eating.
Everyone else looked as though they had seen a ghost.
Even the outer banquet had not officially begun, yet this fellow had not only arrived late, but had also started eating before the Prime Minister had even taken his seat.
Was he not afraid of being killed by the Prime Minister?
Loria was stunned as well.
'Ah.'
'What in the world is this young man?'
One had to know that even family members would not dare do something like this.
Before long, the Prime Minister returned from outside.
The moment he stepped back into the inner banquet, he noticed that the seat he cared about most had finally been occupied by the person who should have been there.
"Hahaha! Professor Noah, you've arrived. When you weren't here earlier, I was worried for quite some time."
Under the shocked gazes of the others, Prime Minister Honest actually took the initiative to walk over to that young man, and he even looked extremely enthusiastic.
He personally picked up a glass of wine and handed it to the boy.
Noah also stood up at this moment.
Although it was clearly the first time the two had met, the smiles on both of their faces could only be described as brilliant.
"Prime Minister Honest, thank you for your invitation."
The two clinked their glasses and each drank the red wine in one gulp.
Then, as though they had known each other for many years, they began chatting nonstop, leaving everyone else completely unable to interject.
Because the Prime Minister had not taken his seat, the others did not dare touch the food on the table.
Finally, after hesitating for a long while, Loria became the first to speak.
Forcing a smile, she said, "Dear, Professor Noah seems hungry. Why don't you sit down and continue talking while eating?"
For such a short sentence, Loria had hesitated for ages.
She did not dare use her own status to pressure Honest.
If she said, "This is our wedding, Prime Minister," then in the next second, she might very well be slapped twice.
Seeing how much he cared about this young man, Loria knew that she had miscalculated.
She should not have chosen him as a target.
But it was too late to regret it now.
She could only take things one step at a time.
Since the Prime Minister cared so much about that boy, then only by using matters related to that boy as an excuse could she persuade the Prime Minister without angering him.
When facing this unpredictable, willful demon, every word and action had to be thoroughly prepared.
Sure enough.
After hearing Loria's words, the Prime Minister also recalled how Noah had just been eating.
He then said to Noah, "In that case, Professor Noah, please stay for a while after the banquet. We can continue our conversation then."
After seeing Noah nod, he laughed heartily and returned to the main seat.
"Everyone, welcome to my wedding. This woman here, Loria, is my newly wedded wife."
The Prime Minister opened with that, and instantly, the people at the inner banquet began offering blessings and praise one after another.
"As expected of Prime Minister Honest, only you could win the devotion of such a beautiful woman."
"Madam's beauty is something only a heroic figure like Prime Minister Honest could possess."
As Noah ate, he listened to those words and only felt his appetite getting worse.
Frankly speaking, based purely on his status, Prime Minister Honest could be considered the Empire's foremost eligible bachelor.
But the qualities these people were praising had absolutely nothing to do with him. It was all complete nonsense.
Those words were so shameless that it should have been difficult to say them even against one's conscience.
Yet these people were able to pour them out endlessly. No wonder they could sit here.
"Hahahahaha! Eat, drink, and enjoy yourselves tonight!"
With the Prime Minister's words, the inner banquet finally truly began.
"Oh, right. Professor Noah, did you encounter some trouble on the way here? Did the carriage I sent arrive late?" the Prime Minister asked.
When he asked the question, his expression was kind, but there was a restrained coldness in his eyes.
If the carriage had been the reason, then his next sentence would surely have been an order to kill everyone who had failed in their duties.
Noah set down the wine glass in his hand.
Calmly, he said, "Actually, on my way here, I encountered a group of bandits. They replaced the coachman and took me to the wrong place. Although the bandits themselves were not worth mentioning, the detour was rather far, which is why I arrived late."
He said it as though he were casually chatting.
A matter that others would have considered extremely dangerous was described by him as lightly as if he were talking about what he had eaten for lunch.
However, the others were not nearly as calm as he was.
The Prime Minister slammed his fist onto the table with a bang, his expression turning terrifyingly dark.
That single blow frightened everyone into silence.
Someone actually dared to lay hands on Professor Noah?
That was his hope for prolonging his life. What kind of bastard would dare attack him?
The Prime Minister, his face gloomy, suddenly shifted his gaze toward Loria beside him.
Swept by that savage stare, Loria felt as though her entire body had been seen through. Her heart seemed to stop for a beat.
She thought nervously, 'No way. That shouldn't be possible. I shouldn't have been exposed!'
Just as she prayed that she was overthinking things, the Prime Minister suddenly stretched out a hand and directly seized her pale, slender throat.
"Bitch. Was it you?"
Ghk—
Loria's expression changed dramatically as her throat was gripped.
'Exposed?'
'No.'
'Impossible!'
A look of pain filled Loria's face, and both her hands clutched at the Prime Minister's wrist.
"D-Dear, what's wrong? Why are you suddenly doing this…?"
"Pfft."
Looking at the woman's vivid performance, the Prime Minister could not help laughing aloud.
He sneered, "Idiot. Did you think I hadn't discovered your identity?"
What?
Loria's expression froze, then filled with disbelief.
"You… You…"
The Prime Minister grinned mockingly.
"I knew who you were from the moment you approached me. You wanted to avenge that dead old man you called your father, didn't you? Hahahahaha! I knew what you were thinking from the very beginning. I only pretended not to notice because I wanted to play with you, you fool!"
Looking at the Prime Minister's deranged expression, Loria's mind flashed through scene after scene of humiliation, followed by the faces of deceased relatives and friends.
This man had known everything, yet had only been toying with her.
When she had used her own body to seduce him, this creature had known all along.
Thinking of how everything she had done had been treated by this demon as nothing more than a clown's performance from beginning to end, Loria furiously drove her fingernails toward the man's eyes.
"Hooooooooooo! Neeeeeest!"
Bang!
The Prime Minister slammed the woman's face viciously onto the tabletop.
Blood mixed with broken teeth sprayed across the luxurious tablecloth.
At the same time, two squads of guards rushed in and instantly subdued the woman beneath two long spears.
The crossed spears pressed down on the back of her neck, forcing her to kneel on the ground.
Her blood-covered face no longer showed the beauty from before, but those venomous eyes still glared fixedly at the Prime Minister.
"What a pity. You reminded me of your mother. The two of you are simply too similar. Sometimes, even I could hardly tell the difference. I had originally planned to play with you a little longer."
The Prime Minister grabbed Loria by the hair and lifted her face.
"But you did something you absolutely should not have done!"
With that said, Prime Minister Honest turned to the guards.
"Kill her. Bury her under the third tree in the courtyard. Let mother and daughter reunite."
After giving the order, he even rubbed his chin and praised himself.
"Honestly, I really am too kind sometimes."
Noah watched Prime Minister Honest's every word and action, and one thought surfaced in his mind despite himself.
'This guy is a complete demon.'