The Guardians' Throne - The First Magic Swordsman

Chapter 411 - Offer

            When the assassins arrived, they saw that they were too late. Zaos had already killed the instructor that had been training and giving them orders for years. Still, they didn't feel anything. They only wanted to kill Zaos because they had to obey orders. However, when they prepared to attack, Zaos raised his right arm and stopped them.

"There is nothing forcing you to kill me now, right?" Zaos asked. "This guy is dead, so the slavery spell should have no effect on your bodies."

          The assassins noticed that it was true… but then, so what? They no longer had to follow orders, but freedom was something completely alien to them now. Zaos noticed that not to mention, Aleni said that they might react like that. After all, before she met Ameria, years had passed since she thought about freedom. She only recovered because when they became friends, she was only sixteen… the idea of freedom for only five or just a few years was supposed to be fearsome for them.

"You don't have to do anything now if you don't want to," Zaos said. "This might be unexpected for some of you, but you need to get used to it. Maybe not now and maybe not tomorrow, but someday you will have to get used to it. Because I am going to kill all of those who trained you and took your eyesight."

            The assassins hesitated in confusion. Somehow, that would benefit them, but why would a stranger help them? It didn't make any sense… all those who knew who they were feared them. That might take a while, but Zaos had to convince them that he was an ally. First of all, he healed the broken bones of those he defeated, and then he reunited them at the entrance of their base.

"I know someone who has been in the same position as you guys, she is living a free life now and from now on, you will have the same chance," Zaos said. "This might be hard to believe, but if you give me a few days, I will show you."

            Again, the assassins didn't know what to do. They lost the ability to think for themselves, and just like Aleni once had been, just a slightly commanding tone was enough to make them obey him.

          Zaos looked around to see what he could find for them, but he didn't find anything aside from grains. There was nothing to do, and the food was way too plain… Maybe if Zaos tell them to wait there, they will obey, but what if someone else comes and give them the order to receive the slavery spell again?

"Do any of you know where that tunnel leads to?" Zaos asked.

          No one replied. Zaos had imagined that using a force of ex-assassins would be pretty useful, but now he was having second thoughts. It will obviously take a while before those guys recover their sense of self and begin to think for themselves. After a long sigh, Zaos made his decision.

"All right…" Zaos said. "Who among you wants to come with me?"

          Once again, the assassins looked very confused. They don't hear questions, after all. For them, there was only the mission and the Absolute orders.

"To those who might decide to follow me, I swear that I will give you a place to call home, where no one will treat you like tools again," Zaos said. "I want to create a place where someone important to me will always be safe, but I can't do that alone. I need the help of good allies… Do any of you want to become my ally?" 

          Things got even quieter than before. That was quite surprising, given that no one aside from Zaos said anything. In any case, Zaos realized that it was due to the fact that his words surprised the assassins. They had never been treated as human beings, and now someone said that he wanted them as allies…

"Well… I will give you guys a few minutes to decide," Zaos said and then began to check the hideout with more attention to detail.

            It wasn't surprising, but only the man who Zaos killed had a bed and a private room. All the others had to sleep around like animals. Still, thanks to the fact that he found his room, Zaos also found the place where all the things related to the organization were stored.

"I assumed that tunnel was an emergency exit, but that probably isn't the case…" Zaos rubbed his chin thoughtfully while looking at some documents on a table on the side of the instructor's bed.

            If that was really an exit, the instructor wouldn't have left those documents behind. Most likely, the organization was completely confident that no one could invade the place. That door was heavy and thick, not to mention, siege weapons would never reach that part in the hideout. So, nothing would destroy it.

"Hmm… names of victims, those who hired them, the places where the targets were killed and how…" Zaos muttered as he read the documents. "I thought they were a lot less active, but these dates are pretty recent."

          The prices asked for each victim were also listed. Apparently, those guys didn't ask for an exorbitant amount… as long as the target was rich and they could take valuable things from them. Unfortunately, Zaos didn't mention another base or other instructors, so his only clue was the tunnel.

            Zaos returned to where he left the assassins, and he found them whispering to one another. That was a good sign. While they were treated as tools, they still had the chance to interact with others.

"So, what is your answer?" Zaos asked.

              A single assassin stepped forward and then moved the hood from his face. As expected, he was relatively young, perhaps around Zaos's age. Still, he didn't have any hair on his head, and he also had numerous scars. Scars of recent wounds that haven't been healed properly.

"I want to ask you something," the man said.