Chương 60: Chapter : 60

If Princess Iris, Naomi, and Sayma fought their way to the top of the Doom Tower tomorrow, expecting the fight of their lives against an invincible Curse master, only to find an old man bleeding out on the floor, they were going to ask a lot of questions. Sayma was incredibly smart. If she saw a perfect, high-level sword slash across Vane's chest, she would instantly know that a third party had interfered. She would launch an investigation.

She would start looking for the mysterious shadow swordsman who had saved them in the forest.

"I really hate investigations," Ken thought, flipping onto his back again with a heavy sigh.

"If Sayma starts poking around, she might eventually connect the dots back to me. I just wanted to give them a heavy handicap, not solve the whole mission for them. I really hope Vane has some kind of emergency healing potion in that penthouse, or tomorrow is going to be incredibly awkward." Ken rubbed his eyes. There was nothing he could do about it now. What was done was done. The three top lieutenants were out of the way, and Vane was heavily crippled.

The B-rank mission was basically wrapped up with a neat little bow. The 13th Unit was guaranteed to get their 20 points, and Princess Iris would stay in the Succession War.

"Everything is fine," Ken promised himself, letting his eyes slide shut.

"Tomorrow, we will just walk into the tower, tie up the bad guy, and I can finally ask the palace chef for that cheeseburger. Now, it is time for some serious, high-quality sleep." He took a deep breath, letting his muscles completely relax. The room was quiet. The crumbling estate was totally peaceful. But just as Ken's brain began to drift off into a happy dream about a quiet potato farm, his incredibly sharp ears picked up a sound from outside. Clang. Swoosh. Pant... pant... pant. Ken's eyes snapped open.

He frowned in the dark. The noise was coming from the courtyard, right beneath his bedroom window. It sounded like heavy metal hitting stone, mixed with the sound of someone breathing incredibly hard.

"Are you kidding me?" Ken mumbled out loud, throwing his thin blanket off his legs in total frustration.

"It is the middle of the night. Who is chopping firewood at two in the morning? Is the universe actively trying to stop me from sleeping?" He dragged himself out of bed. He slouched over to the window and peeked his head out, looking down into the dim, moonlit courtyard. He expected to see a stray cat knocking over some old armor, or maybe one of the guards doing a late-night patrol. Instead, he saw a flash of bright red hair and the swirling, glowing light of green wind magic. It was Naomi. Enjoying this book?

Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Ken blinked his sleepy eyes, watching her. She was not just doing a light midnight stretch. She was in the middle of a brutal, high-intensity training routine. She was pushing herself to the absolute limit. Ken leaned his elbows on the windowsill, his annoyance slowly fading into quiet curiosity as he watched the fiery warrior torture herself in the dark.

Down in the stone courtyard, Naomi was moving like a hurricane. She dashed from one side of the open space to the other, her combat boots hitting the ground with loud, heavy thuds. Bright green wind magic wrapped around her legs, boosting her speed, but she was clearly exhausted. Her movements, which were usually so perfect and graceful during the day, were starting to get sloppy. She stumbled slightly as she changed direction, her breathing coming out in loud, desperate gasps.

She gripped her twin daggers tightly in her hands. She launched herself at a thick, wooden training dummy standing in the corner of the yard. Slash! Slash! Stab! She hit the wood over and over again with absolute fury. But she wasn't just tired; she was hurting herself. Ken could clearly see that her hands were shaking. She was gripping the handles of her daggers so hard, for so long, that the rough friction had torn the skin on her palms.

Tiny drops of dark blood were trickling down her fingers, staining the metal handles of her weapons. But Naomi didn't stop. She gritted her teeth, letting out a frustrated cry, and forced her tired legs to dash to the other side of the courtyard to attack the air again. Ken watched her from his window for a full minute. Usually, when Ken looked at Naomi, he just saw the loud, angry "boss lady" who yelled at him for having his shirt untucked and called him a useless farm boy.

He usually found her anger completely hilarious. But right now, there was nothing funny about what she was doing. She wasn't angry. She was desperate.

"She is going to completely destroy her muscles before the sun even comes up," Ken thought to himself.

"If she keeps pushing her wind magic like this on an empty stomach and zero sleep, her legs are going to give out during the actual raid tomorrow." Ken let out a very quiet, very rare sigh that had no jokes attached to it. He turned away from the window. He didn't bother putting his cheap shoes back on. He just walked out of his bedroom in his socks, making his way down the dark, creaking stairs of the old estate. He didn't use any fancy Sovereign magic to hide his presence.

He just walked with his natural, slacker stealth. He reached the heavy wooden doors leading out to the courtyard and pushed them open. He made sure to drag his feet just a little bit so he wouldn't startle her too badly. Scuff. Scuff. Naomi spun around instantly at the sound of his socks on the stone. She raised her bloody daggers, her green eyes wide and wild, ready to attack whoever had snuck up on her.

When she saw it was just Ken, standing there with his hands shoved deep into his pockets and his hair looking like an absolute disaster, she slowly lowered her weapons. She was breathing heavily, her chest heaving up and down. Sweat was pouring down her forehead, making her bright red hair stick to her face. Ken slouched his shoulders, offering her a casual, completely normal smile.

"You know," Ken said lazily, his voice breaking the quiet of the night.

"Usually, people use beds at this hour. They are these really great rectangular things with pillows on them. You just lie down, close your eyes, and suddenly it's morning. It's a fantastic invention. You should really try it sometime." Naomi glared at him. She opened her mouth to yell at him, to tell him to go back to his room and mind his own business. Ken fully expected her to call him an idiot or a farm boy. But she didn't yell. The biting, explosive anger she usually carried was completely missing.

She just looked incredibly, deeply exhausted. Naomi let her arms drop to her sides. The daggers suddenly looked way too heavy for her to hold. She turned away from him, looking down at the stone floor.