Wolves of Hader

Chapter 143

The squad leader hurriedly left.

I sat with Donnie on a garden bench.

There wasn't a single sign of anyone on the rocky mountain.

"Wouldn't it be better to postpone the wedding?"

"If we postpone, they'll come again at that time. Our family can't live in constant anxiety. We don't even know their faces, so we can't go chasing them all around Mouk."

"If we can't stop them, it'll get too dangerous."

"We will stop them. Don't deploy the special forces or the knight order. If they notice something, they'll give up immediately. That's no different from postponing the wedding."

"Understood."

For this matter, the Landan house would mobilize all the family's personnel and resources. They probably knew we suspected them. They must've staked their house on this operation.

"Don't tell anyone except Ross and Russell. If too many people start watching the rocky mountain, they'll realize we're onto them."

"We'll have to get ready at the lower levels too."

"Of course we will."

I looked at the tent.

"I have a way."

I told Donnie the plan.

Only then did Donnie nod.

If it's not a sure opportunity, they would give up and withdraw. There would be no meaning in killing just the VIP and sparing our family. The same goes for our knight order.

At minimum, myself and my family, and the Berserkers were their targets. If they missed our brothers, the attempt would be a failure for them. Thus, if the perfect opportunity vanished, they would give up.

If they still tried—

That would mean they were ready to die, all of them. They'd throw poison like they wanted everyone to die.

We had to trust the intelligence squad.

Some guests might die, but all the assailants would perish as well. No one would escape. We wouldn't let them.

/ / /

"With this, the wedding ceremony of Ross-nim and Jena-nim comes to an end. Dear guests and attendees, please send your congratulations and blessings to the bride and groom."

"Wow!"

"Congratulations, family head!"

"The bride is truly beautiful!"

Dressed splendidly, Ross and Jena in her pure white dress bowed in response to the thunderous applause and cheers. The guests filling the first floor of the mansion threw flower petals, and Goose volunteered as the manager for this ceremony.

"Now! Ladies, please dine inside the mansion! Gentlemen, please enjoy your banquet in the garden!"

"Thank you for coming!"

"Congratulations! Young Master Ross!"

Ross and Jena bowed again and headed upstairs, presumably to change clothes. Ross caught my eye and nodded—assuring me not to worry, he was prepared.

The guests proceeded out into the garden.

Goose spoke once more.

"Your names are written on the tents; please check and find your places! Enjoy your meal first, and later take time to greet those in the other tents!"

"Parde, mals, this way, please."

"Merchant leader Barako, you look well today."

"Hahaha! Life's been good lately, that's why."

"Come now, let's talk as we eat."

Urke guided the VIPs to the tents. There were large square tents, each with a stove chimney over the roof. The VIPs entered the largest tent.

Six large tents and eight smaller tents.

Inside each small tent was a pile of firewood. The knight order and special forces had been instructed to dine here on purpose—they didn't know the reason.

If poison spread, oil was to be poured on the firewood in the eight tents and set ablaze. As the great blaze rose, the poison would be drawn upward. Guests would have to hold their breath and lie low.

Once the VIPs had seated themselves at the dining tables, staff dispatched from Mouk's restaurant started bringing food. Kudo and Goose sat next to each other, looking awkward, which was amusing.

"You've worked hard, Young Master Roger."

"Not at all. Thank you for coming."

Everyone was partly here for business discussions too.

There had been much they wanted to ask, but exchanging letters for business had been frustrating.

The VIPs began to dine.

The inside of every large tent had been lined with extremely sturdy fabric, triple-layered. From within, so the enemy wouldn't notice.

Thus, discussions of business occurred, and everyone congratulated Ross's marriage while we continued our meal. We didn't relax, since the intelligence squad could still fail.

* * *

The rocky mountain overlooking the six mansions.

There wasn't a tree in sight, only rough, jagged rocks covering the slopes.

And at the mountainside, figures wrapped in camouflage cloaks the color of the stone huddled together. They peered below, only their eyes visible through small holes in the thin membrane. In total, there were twenty-nine of them.

Loud laughter and chatter drifted up from below, enough that the hidden figures didn't need to be perfectly silent.

"How is it?"

"The guests have entered the tents."

"What about the Hader siblings?"

"Roger Hader has entered the central tent, while Ross Hader has not yet come out of the mansion."

"The elders too, are they all there?"

"Yes, all in the same tent."

"That's good. Assemble the arrows."

The camouflaged cloaks stirred.

Someone spoke again.

"We'll begin when Ross Hader enters that tent. The other tents don't matter. Burn the tent instantly with flame orbs, then immediately use the poison orbs."

"Understood."

Those hidden beneath the camouflage took out bows and opened boxes from their backpacks. Taking out red orbs, they fitted them to the ends of arrows instead of arrowheads.

After crafting two flame orb arrows, they took blue orbs from the box and assembled them to other arrows. Ten such blue-orb-tipped arrows were made.

The twenty-nine assassins held their breath and waited in their hiding spots. Since everyone was under a cloak, while they could see to the sides, behind them was blind.

As the twenty-nine waited—

A loud commotion rose from below.

"The bride and groom are coming! Everyone! Bang on anything! Make the loudest noise you can to drive away all mischievous and nasty faeries!"

Bang bang bang bang bang—

Thud thud thud thud—

It was just then, as the loud noise echoed up.

From behind the row of twenty-nine, the rocks suddenly shifted, creeping right up behind the assassins.

In the same instant, hands holding daggers emerged from within the moving rocks. They clapped over the mouths of the camouflaged assassins and slit their throats with a dagger.

Eight positioned at the back and edges collapsed silently where they knelt. None of the remaining twenty-one realized what had happened.

"Louder, please! There are still wicked faeries lingering! Lazy faeries! Insomniac faeries! Drunkard faeries! Begone, all of you!"

Bang bang bang bang bang—

The rocks moved again.

Without a sound, they edged right behind the assassins.

Again, hands and daggers emerged, stifling and killing the assassins. Some let out faint groans or caused rocks to fall, but even then, no one noticed.

Thirteen remained.

Sixteen right nearby and at the back had fallen, but outwardly, all still seemed just to be sitting there.

As the din died down, the moving rocks settled right up behind the rest.

Of the remaining thirteen assassins, the very last one was their leader. A rock had crept up behind him too—inside it was the youngest of the Hader intelligence squad, Bran.

He and his seven comrades had sneaked up the mountain the morning before and hidden. Wearing magical cloaks with rock patterns, they lay in wait for the assassins.

As night deepened, they saw the twenty-nine shadowy assassins climb up.

The assassins moved to vantage points overlooking the mansions and took up positions. Bran and others almost got discovered as the assassins headed for the same hiding spots.

Assassins tried to settle near the place where Bran and his squad hid, and Bran nearly got exposed as an assassin crouched beside his rock.

Assassins and intelligence squad both held their breath, waiting for morning. Unlike the assassins, the intelligence squad could not move at all.

They could hardly breathe.

It was a long and painful night.

But they all endured—because if the intelligence squad failed, the family head, the master, and the guests would die.

Bran waited behind the assassins for a chance. It was tricky to take out eight at once this time; there were seven at the very back, and six a little up ahead.

Now that the commotion was over, if the seven behind fell, the six in front would sense it instantly. There was a high chance those six would start shooting arrows immediately.

Just then, the assassin leader said,

"Has Ross Hader gone in?"

"Not yet. He hasn't come out."

"I'll count to ten. Five will set fires, and the rest shoot poison bombs."

The sound of bowstrings being drawn was heard.

The leader was about to count—

Rustle.

"What was that?"

Whoosh!

All the assassins turned and looked behind them, to the right.

One assassin was ablaze—his corpse, as it fell, shattered a poison orb arrowhead.

"Was a mistake at such a critical time even possible?"

"It wasn't a mistake! He's already dead!"

"What?"

"Po, poison is spreading!"

It was at that moment.

The intelligence squad rushed and attacked the seven remaining assassins. Even after hearing the sound, the assassins couldn't avoid it. Because of their cloaks, they couldn't see to the back or sides.

Thwack—

Thud, thud, thud—

A desperate assassin took a dagger to the chest. Bran thought he could take the leader at once, but the leader was different.

The leader dodged Bran's attack and stopped the next thrust with his left hand, counterattacking with his right. But by then, the eye-holes of his cloak had spun away.

Suddenly blinded, the leader slashed with his dagger and tore off his cloak.

At that instant—

A dagger stabbed and withdrew from the leader's neck.

"Ghk."

The leader clutched his spraying neck and tumbled down the slope. Just as Bran finally took out the leader—

The intelligence squad was in a standoff with the six remaining assassins. Poison had seeped from the spot where the assassins had been, forcing the squad to hold off on attacking.

The six assassins, daggers in hand, moved slowly. They cared nothing for the intelligence squad—failure of their mission concerned them more than their own deaths.

In their original positions, poison was spreading. Even if it meant dying, the assassins were seeking any chance to shoot their arrows. By holding their breath, maybe they wouldn't die immediately.

The intelligence squad had to stop them. Even if they threw daggers, perhaps two could be blocked. If they rushed in up close, the squad too would perish.

Meanwhile—

Bran had already vanished. He, too, anticipated blocking two, with the other four firing arrows. There was a large rock just below those four.

Bran hid where he could see below the rock, holding two daggers in his right hand. He needed to target the archers. Only two attacks.

He practiced imagining quickly throwing both daggers, and waited. Even if they threw poison bombs, he trusted the master to stop them.

As Bran prepared, tense, he spotted something to the right and flashed four fingers in his left hand.

At that instant! The assassins dove into their original, poison-filled spot. Two jumped onto the rock, four slid below and snatched up bows.

Clang, clang—

Thunk—

The intelligence squad rapidly threw daggers, but two assassins deflected them with their weapons and blocked with their bodies. Two others were hit but endured. Finally, the squad rushed in.

"Trust the young lord!"

The squad froze with a shout.

At that same moment, as the assassins tried to unleash their arrows—

Thunk, thunk, thunk—

Arrows pierced the chests of three assassins. And one had the Spirit's sword-dagger lodged in his brow.

All the assassins tumbled forward.

Along with the poison orb arrows they'd tried to fire.

"Phew."

Bran let out a sigh and stood up.

Only then did the intelligence squad finally relax and sit on the rocks.

It had been an incredibly long day and night.

* * *

Tuji, the brothers, and Lok lowered their drawn bows.

The Spirit's sword-dagger, which had flown to the rocky mountain, returned to hover beside me.

We'd simply waited for the assassins to show themselves. At Lok's report that he'd seen a flare on the rocky mountain, I'd hurried up to the mansion roof.

"Tuji, Uson, thank you for your hard work."

"Not at all."

"Is it time to eat now?"

"Yep. Good job to you too, Lok."

I climbed down from the mansion roof.

And headed back to the tents.

Ross and the VIPs were laughing and drinking. I signaled to Ross with my eyes that it had been a success, and sat down.

"What's so funny?"

"Hahaha! Don't even ask. Kudo's story had us laughing so hard, my stomach hurts."

"Well then, shall I tell you the story of how two foolish brothers saved the world's most beautiful princess?"

"Go ahead, let's hear it."

"Once upon a time, in the midst of the continental war, there lived a cobbler north of Tris, whose two sons were called the foolish brothers..."

Kudo launched into his tale.

I listened and finally relaxed.

We ended it without anyone knowing.

We truly accomplished something difficult.

All thanks to our intelligence squad.