Chapter 31 — Shadow Guard

The Shadow Guard on the floor suddenly wore an expression of agony—so those hellish training courses had been left behind by this man...

Though seven hundred years had passed and all the courses had been revamped more times than anyone could count, only the courses regarded as foundational had never been fundamentally replaced, no matter how they were revised—and physical training and two-handed swordsmanship were two of them.

Seeing the change in the Shadow Guard's expression, Gao Yang knew that the courses from his memory were still in place...

"Francis II sent you, didn't he?" He looked at the young man on the floor with a kindly smile. "But I doubt that king of yours is so muddled as to send an assassin while half the kingdom knows I'm in the capital, so his orders to you should have been surveillance?"

The Shadow Guard remained silent.

"But he should have reminded you to keep your distance—after all, this is a huge risk. Even if House Cecil has declined, Gao Yang Cecil hasn't declined along with it. So was this overconfidence... or failure to obey orders?"

The Shadow Guard finally spoke his first words: "To fail one's mission is to accept death. You needn't trouble yourself."

"Like hell I'm a thief!" Gao Cen's palm cracked across the other's face. "Truly, peace has lasted too long—look how far you've all sunk!"

The shadow guard stared at Gao Yang in bewilderment, seemingly unable to grasp what the other meant.

"What is the Royal Shadow Guard for? To protect the king, to protect this country, to protect this land! Your duty is to deal with villains who scheme to overthrow this kingdom—not to help a muddled king spy on your founding archduke! If you'd been captured on a battlefield in an enemy realm and said such a thing, I might still credit you with some backbone. But you are here, in my home! You spout this drivel about disgracing your mission to my face—does that mean I intend to overthrow this country, or that Gao Yang Cecil catching you is somehow an affront to Ansu's dignity?! Can it be that in the hearts of Ansu's people today, the founding archduke and the kingdom he founded have already come to stand in opposition?!"

Faced with Gao Yang's righteous denunciation, the young shadow guard at last grew flustered: "No... that's not what I..."

"It doesn't matter. Your opinion is of no importance," Gao Yang cut him off and rose to his feet. "I'm not so petty as to trade barbs with my own junior, so you may leave now."

The young shadow guard had never imagined things would unfold this way (though tonight, it seemed, everything had unfolded beyond his expectations), and he stared blankly at Gao Yang, hardly able to believe his own ears.

Even Amber and Rebecca, standing nearby, looked scarcely composed themselves.

So Gao Yang repeated: "I said, you can go. Or do you want me to see you out?"

The shadow guard slowly climbed to his feet: "Are you certain?"

"Of course. I cannot kill one of Francis II's men here, and I have no intention of parading you through the Silver Fortress before a crowd tomorrow—though I'd rather like to, alas, I'm past the age of acting on impulse. So I have no choice but to let you go."

Rebecca seemed about to say something, but under Gao Yang's stern gaze she choked it back.

The shadow guard edged slowly toward the window, and just before he left, Gao Yang spoke again: "I've no interest in telling anyone what happened tonight, so how you report this to your king once you're back... that's up to you."

"...I thank you for your mercy."

Leaving those words behind, the shadow guard's figure gradually dissolved into the air.

Gao Yang curled his lip: "...Another one who goes out the window."

Only then did Rebecca find her chance to speak: "Patriarch, you're truly just letting him go?"

"Of course," Gao Yang stood up. "Of course I'm letting him go."

"But doesn't he have to be punished? And the king sending someone to spy here—that in itself could be..."

"Rebecca, remember this: if you want to gain greater advantage, you must learn to look further ahead," Gao Yang patted her on the head. "Letting one common soldier go costs us nothing, but the potential gain is certain to come."

"Potential gain?" Rebecca blinked. "Like what?"

"It depends on how that young shadow guard chooses to report once he's back, and there are only two outcomes," Gao Yang spread his hands. "Either Francis II won't get a wink of sleep for the rest of tonight, or from now on there'll be one more... not-quite-loyal shadow guard at his side."

With that, he turned and looked out at the moonless night of this other world.

"'Relative loyalty is absolute disloyalty'—there's a great deal of truth in those words."