Shinobi From Hell

Chapter 214 - Lucky Encounter?

"Colt Ackerman, huh?" Klautz whispered as his gaze travelled across the name.

Klautz doesn't remember him to be an influential figure. He had achieved some success in his earlier youth life but after he grew into an adult his achievements were overshadowed by his peers, until he ended up being a drunkard in self remorse. He was a failure in every way. 

But that didn't stop Klautz from knitting his brows,

What was weird about his name being here was that Colt Ackerman had never had any connections with the ninja organizations. He had nothing to do with either side of the coin.

That is when Klautz recalled something.

"Wait, Colt Acherman! Shouldn't he be among the second gen this time around?"

One of the key factors regarding Klautz's past life was that he his immaturity during his early years in hell. As such he hadn't paid much attention to the identity of the second gen that had participated with him in the newbie drill.

But was that all?

Klautz had assassinated many individuals belonging to the same generation as Colt. As such it wasn't hard for Klautz to put two and two together to figure out the year of his participation in the newbie drill.

Klautz held onto his chin.

"Akihiko, what are you planning?" Klautz asked himself, unaware of the whole situation.

Why would Akihiko tell him to stay away from a second gen? Klautz was deep thought. If at all, Akihiko should be encouraging him to build connections for the nature of his job as a representative.

'Is Colt Antagonistic to Mizukigakure. That doesn't make sense at all.'

One must note that Mizukigakure was a fairly new village. It couldn't afford to offend figures like Colt Ackerman for fear of its destruction. It was for the same reason that Akihiko was reluctant to deploy Maebi as Klautz's protector in the vicinity of the second gen. If Klautz were to incur their wrath it would be Maebi that would be suffering the most.

Klautz's past life experience wasn't helping him anyway here. In his first few decades in hell Klautz had almost zero involvement in hell's politics. So he had no prior information regarding most important matters. Even in his later life, he used to escort important figures for the political meetings instead of himself attending the same. 

As such Klautz's political information was limited only to the targets he had killed in his previous life. For the detailed information of his targets was always required for him to create plans to kill them.

But, Colt Acherman and Ueda Akihiko were certainly not his past targets. Akihiko had died a premature death and Colt had no involvement with politics or ninjas.

'Well, I will think about it after I deal with the pressing matter.'

"Verona," Klautz called out to her, "It's time to move."

The plan was to get Verona to the killer's attention. Klautz didn't know that time, that regardless of his interventions she was bound to get under the culprit's attention anyway.   

***

Klautz hid in the shadows making his presence almost merge with the surroundings. The room was empty with a deathly silence. And Klautz was waiting for someone.

'A hunch huh? Never would have I thought that I would follow my hunches.' Klautz thought.

He had little to no information on the culprit and was following according to his instincts. He had sent Verona off to the store to ask her to do what she usually did.

Technically speaking Klautz should have been with her at this hour ensuring her safety but his hunch called for otherwise.

'Under the watchful gaze of the guards, the culprit won't make a move anyway.'

He was ensured of Verona safety and was willing to follow his hunch, but it caused butterflies to be running amok in his stomach. Through years of grueling he had learnt that relying on hunches should be the last thing one should do. But today was an exception for he had far too little information and matters seemed much more complex than it looked like. Had Akihiko explained to Klautz better he wouldn't have been in such a dilemma.

'Hmmm. The hunch isn't to unfound either considering the possibility that the person might have requirements to fulfill.'

Klautz tried to somehow justify his own actions to cool himself down. There was nothing more to do than to wait.

There were several large scale spells in hell that required a person to create a magic circle from beforehand. The traps made by the ninjas could be a good example. These were the same traps that were used by the ninjas to hunt the [Giant Serpent] back at the [Ice Post] by drawing it out using its pheromones.

Klautz went with the assumption that since the culprit required its target to spend time shopping thus leaving the room empty, it had something to do with drawing out a similar magic spell. 

But, Klautz shook his head. For he knew that something was fundamentally wrong with his assumptions.

'There are no magic based skills in the tutorial zone!'

Klautz had even considered Kishigakure involvement in this. But Klautz refused to believe that such high level spells could be mastered by a mere newbie in a matter of days. Such a thing would be impossible even for himself! Not to mention that the ninjas should have no access to them.

'What if the killer is not a newbie?'

The thought plagued Klautz. If that were the case he was at an utter disadvantage here.

'If push comes to shove I will just take Verona and escape before he can figure out anything!'

That was what Klautz reminded himself. Though considering Akihiko's letter and his own calculations that hardly seemed to be the case.

It was then…

The knob on the door twisted, making Klautz on high alert. 

***

Author: 

Creation is hard for authors. Cheer me up with your power stones.

Let me know about your thoughts on the chapter in the comments sections.