Before explaining everything, the gray-haired man first took a deep breath, then looked up at the sky with a wistful expression.
"Since your departure twelve years ago, the Guild has been in chaos. They all rebelled against Leader Edgar, then split apart and abandoned the Guild just like that." He exhaled heavily while lowering his head, then looked at the girl in front of him, "Then your father—Leader Edgar also disappeared without a trace. I and the others tried to look for him, but they all vanished as well. Now, I am the only one left from the Assassin Guild. That is why I don't know where they all are, or what happened. We—are truly separated, Princess."
The girl fell silent for a moment, watching hundreds of people passing by in front of her. Both of her hands clenched so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
As a people-pleaser by nature, Serelith felt touched by Samael's words. Whether it was because this body was Serelith's body, or simply because of her naturally sensitive feelings.
"If I've been gone for twelve years, how could you recognize me?" Serelith asked without looking at Samael.
"Your appearance. Princess, your age may have increased, but your looks remain the same as the last time I escorted you at the age of fourteen."
A faint smile formed within her. She became somewhat sensitive to this topic, as if the story Samael told was truly her life story.
"Samael," the girl called, "why was I exiled back then? What was my reason for leaving for such a long time?"
Now it was Samael's turn to clench both fists tightly. "It seems Leader Edgar was right when he said you would lose your memories after undergoing that trial."
Samael continued, "Princess, you were sent to the Island of a Thousand Blades to undergo the greatest trial of your life as a Holy Princess. There, you would be alone. Without parents, without friends, not even me, your own right hand. At first, I thought the Leader was cruel for sending a fourteen-year-old child there. But later, I began to understand the reason. It seems the Leader had already predicted there would be a traitor inside the Guild."
The man paused for a moment, locking eyes with Serelith, "The Leader wanted to save you, Princess. You are the only heir of the Assassins left. You are his last hope to restore peace as it once was. Including rebuilding the Assassin Guild, which is now a stranger in this land."
They stared at each other for a long time, until Serelith spoke in her heart, "Is this the greatest mission in this game? I have to rebuild the Assassin Guild from scratch?"
"But I failed, Samael," she lowered her head, "I'm sorry."
Samael furrowed his brows in confusion, "What do you mean by that, Princess?"
A long sigh escaped Serelith's lips, "I didn't succeed in that trial. I restarted everything from the beginning. Power level, skills, abilities, I don't even have talent. All of it—I failed."
At that moment, Serelith felt as though she was on the verge of despair. Maybe it was the emotions of this body she was inhabiting. But Samael only shook his head slowly and placed both hands on her shoulders.
"No, Princess. You made it out of there, which means you didn't fail. You must have succeeded, you just don't realize it."
Still despairing, Serelith brushed away those large hands from her shoulders, "You don't have to comfort me, Samael. I clearly realize that I'm back at zero again now. And you, you should also go and save yourself. Live with a new identity, I release you from the Guild. You don't need to return, and you don't need to protect me anymore."
After saying that, without looking back, Serelith immediately walked away from Samael. She descended the bridge and blended into the crowded masses below.
"System, why didn't you tell me about my past?" she muttered softly, so as not to arouse suspicion from passersby.
[ I am merely a tool created to measure your progress and that of every player. I cannot access anyone's past. ]
Hearing that answer, Serelith just clicked her tongue, "Ah, you're right. Forget it, I'd better return to that village to find the bandits before nightfall. For tonight, at least I want to sleep at an inn."
---
Her steps halted on a cobblestone street she knew very well. This was the village she had visited last night. But things were more difficult during the day since people were busy outside.
The girl's gaze swept around her, and even her body turned until several people bumped into her just like that.
"Hey, could you move aside? You're blocking the way!"
"Get out of there!"
Serelith was not a friendly or angel-hearted girl. When she was blamed for something that wasn't her fault, her ego would be hurt and make her angry. Because it reminded her of something she wanted to forget forever.
Serelith clenched both fists, then walked away from the crowd. She arrived at a small, rather dark, and fairly quiet alley. The girl took a deep breath, "I can't search like this. Criminals come out when it's quiet, not in the crowd. That means I might have to wait until night, and give up another night of sleeping at a comfortable inn."
The girl resigned herself to everything. She didn't expect to finish her first mission today. So she just walked casually, folding both hands behind her head while humming softly.
But then her eyes were drawn to two large-bodied men whose builds she knew all too well. She stopped humming and peeked out from the small alley.
"Aren't they the Bandit Leader's underlings? But they don't look like criminals. They're even doing business as usual," she muttered.
"Oh, I know. During the day they disguise themselves and blend in with the others as ordinary villagers. Then at night they strike to steal. That means I also have to disguise myself to catch them."
Serelith turned back and walked away. She glanced left and right to make sure the place was deserted. Then she whispered softly, "Inventory!"
Several small boxes appeared in front of her. Then she took out a purple potion. She hesitated for a moment, since she still needed it.
But for now, finishing the mission was more important. So Serelith took the potion and the boxes disappeared.
"I don't have another skin. So to get a new skin as a disguise, I need coins. And to get coins, I have to sell this potion."
Without waiting, the girl left the alley and walked past the rows of shops along the street. She kept checking each store name one by one.
And just when she saw a store with the sign Alchemy Shop, without hesitation she stepped inside.
"Welcome to the most complete Alchemy Shop in this village. Do you want to buy a health potion? Strength potion? Buy HP? MP? I can brew anything you want. So, what do you desire?" asked a woman wearing a pointed hat. From her appearance alone, Serelith could tell at a glance that the woman was a witch.
Serelith only replied with a smile. She reached into the small pouch at her waist, then handed a potion the size of a fist to the woman, "I want to sell this, how much can I get for it?"
The woman took Serelith's strength potion and examined it in detail. She even lifted it up high to check closely, "Hey, this is a level one potion, I can't give you much."
"You can't fool me. That's a level three potion. Even if it's quite common, there are some rare ingredients in it."
The woman froze, looking flustered. She didn't expect the girl before her to be so knowledgeable about alchemy, "But still, I can't give you much. Look, my shop is in a village. People don't often come here to buy. I could lose money if I buy your goods at a high price."
"Give me twenty gold coins."
"That's too expensive, Miss. Even level five potions aren't sold for that much."
"Are you kidding? I used to be able to buy a level two potion for twenty-five gold coins. So why can't I sell it for the price I'm offering now?"
"The world has changed, Miss. I don't know what era you came from. But now, everything has become cheap. And the selling price dropped as well. I can only give you thirteen coins. If you don't want it, fine."
Serelith thought hard. She looked outside, where the two bandits were already walking away. She had no choice.
"Fine, give me thirteen gold coins."
After receiving the coins, Serelith went to a clothing shop. She chose something affordable, then put it on. It was a tight mini skirt and a crop top with long sleeves.
Serelith removed the hair ornament from the right side of her head, then tied her hair up in a ponytail. She looked at her reflection in the large mirror provided in the shop. Not only that, she also changed her makeup to be bolder than before.
[ New skin detected! ]
The girl ignored the text in front of her, then immediately went out to search for those bandits again. She walked the cobblestone streets for dozens of minutes, then stopped when she saw the men she was looking for at a diner.
As she approached their table, Serelith deliberately fell right beside them, "Ouch!"
Her skirt slightly lifted, and the two men immediately helped her up, "Hey, are you alright, Miss?"
"It seems I twisted my ankle a little. Could you help me find a healer? I'm new to this village, so I don't really know the surroundings," Serelith replied.
The two men exchanged glances and smirked knowingly before nodding in unison, "Of course. We'll take you. After all, what man could bear to see such a beautiful girl in pain alone?"
Hearing that, Serelith smiled flirtatiously, "Ah, thank you. I knew you were good men."
The two men then supported Serelith as they led her away from the diner. And as Serelith predicted, they brought her through a deserted place. At that moment, Serelith broke free from their grip and uppercut both their faces.
They staggered, clutching their faces, "Hey, what are you doing?"
"What am I doing? Obviously finishing my mission."
Without hesitation, the girl kicked both of them in the 'lower' area while they were still covering their eyes in pain.
"Ahh!" Both of them screamed and instinctively clutched their groins.
Not wasting the chance, Serelith drew two daggers hidden at her waist and leaped high, "Wound Carve!"
After saying that, she slashed their heads off. But it didn't stop there—somehow Serelith even tore their bodies apart, blood splattering everywhere.
[ Mission accomplished! You obtained 45 gold coins and 25 stat points! ]
"Good," Serelith muttered, wiping sweat from her face, "Add all points to mana points. It seems last night's fight already consumed too much of my mana."
[ Request accepted! ]
[ Would you like to check your stats now? ]
"No. I need to quench my thirst first," she muttered, staring straight at the pool of blood on the ground.
This time Serelith didn't think twice. She immediately grabbed one of the bandits' heads and sucked out all the blood, gulping it down like an oasis in the desert.
"Holy Princess?"