In the present, Miyuki Hanado stood before the Little Robbers.
"Hey, don't run away," Miyuki said calmly. "I didn't come here to kill all of you. I only need to kill the four members from the photographs."
The Little Robbers didn't listen.
They immediately ran in different directions, using all their strength to escape.
Miyuki watched them for a moment.
"Huhh…"
She sighed.
"Brainless kids."
She raised one hand.
A powerful magical force spread through the area.
Suddenly, enormous chains appeared and caught the fleeing children. Before they could escape, a layer of ice formed around them, creating an icy prison.
Miyuki looked at them.
"You kids haven't changed at all."
She walked toward them.
"At least you should have learned how to run faster. You're still very slow."
The children struggled against the ice and chains.
Miyuki looked at the photographs again.
"Okay. Now let me match the four members."
She looked at the children one by one.
"Ohh. Good. Four of you are here."
She pointed toward them.
"Hey, don't worry. I'm only going to kill these four. The others will be safe."
The children became frightened.
Miyuki created several ice chains and bound all eight Little Robbers together.
Then she separated the four children shown in Egan's photographs.
"Hey."
Miyuki looked at them.
"Don't cry, Little Robbers. I won't torture you."
Her voice remained calm.
"I'll give you a simple death. Are you happy now?"
The four children began crying.
The remaining children immediately started begging Miyuki to forgive them.
"Please!"
"Don't kill them!"
"Please let them go!"
Miyuki ignored their pleas.
But suddenly—
She sensed something.
A strange aura.
Miyuki's expression became serious.
Three knives suddenly flew toward her from a distance.
She quickly moved aside.
The knives passed through the space where she had been standing and struck the ground.
Miyuki looked toward the direction from which they came.
"Who is there?"
Her voice became colder.
"How dare you throw knives at me?"
A man slowly appeared.
He was wearing assassin-style clothing, with his face hidden beneath a hood.
Miyuki looked at him.
"Who are you?"
She pointed toward his hood.
"Lower your hood. Show me your face."
The man didn't move.
Miyuki's voice became threatening.
"I said, lower your hood."
She glanced toward the children.
"Show me your face. Otherwise, I'll burn these kids."
The man slowly lowered his hood.
Miyuki's eyes widened slightly.
"Sir Julian…"
It was Julian Arkwright.
"Why?" Miyuki asked. "Why are you attacking me?"
Among Dark Shade Rank Assassins, it was customary to address one another formally with words such as Sir and Miss. Most Dark Shade Assassins also tried to maintain good relations with their fellow assassins.
Julian looked at her.
"Sorry, Miss Miyuki."
He paused.
"But I didn't want these kids to be killed."
Miyuki looked at him in disbelief.
"Hey, what's wrong with you, Sir Julian?"
She folded her arms.
"You know what our job is. Killing."
"We're Assassins. We aren't superheroes who protect people."
"I know, Miss Miyuki."
Julian looked at the children.
"But I have a relationship with these kids."
He paused.
"A big-brother relationship."
Miyuki stared at him.
"Sir Julian, are you mad?"
She then spoke more seriously.
"Sorry for my rudeness, but you have already killed many children and kids."
"You even tortured children with your girlfriend."
Julian remained silent for a moment.
"You know many things about me, Miss Miyuki."
He looked at her.
"I'm sorry for interrupting your mission, but I don't want these kids to be killed."
Inside his mind, Julian remembered the reason his mindset had changed.
I changed because of that person.
One Year Ago
At that time, Julian had been investigating the death of Zavinies.
He desperately wanted to know who had killed his big brother.
After a long investigation, Julian finally discovered the truth.
A mysterious woman connected to the Luxurer family had killed Zavinies.
Julian also heard something else.
That woman wasn't an ordinary person.
According to the information he gathered, she possessed power comparable to extremely powerful Adventurers and Oracles.
Julian became determined to grow stronger.
He wanted to fight her.
But he wasn't confident that he could defeat her.
Zavinies himself had been extremely powerful.
Yet that woman had defeated him.
Julian knew that if he confronted her, he might not survive.
Still, he had already decided.
I will kill that woman.
He became more careful afterward because he remembered that Zavinies had sacrificed himself to protect him.
But then Julian discovered something unexpected.
The woman he wanted revenge against had already been killed.
And she wasn't an ordinary woman.
She had been a fairy—a tremendously powerful being.
Julian was shocked when he learned the truth.
Then he discovered who had killed her.
Black ViSage.
Julian wanted to thank him.
So he went to the Nightglass Covenant.
Many Nightglass Covenant members noticed Julian as he entered.
He was already a famous assassin.
His reputation had earned him the title:
Cruel Assassin Arkwright.
Eventually, Julian met Black ViSage.
Black ViSage looked at him calmly.
"Why does a famous assassin want to meet with me?"
Julian lowered his head slightly.
"Sorry to disturb you."
"I came here to thank you."
"You killed that fairy, didn't you?"
Black ViSage remained calm.
"Huhh…"
"Looks like this news has become really popular."
"Everyone is talking about it."
He paused.
"But why do you want to thank me?"
"I don't understand."
Julian explained.
"I want to thank you because you killed that fairy."
"She killed my big brother."
"I wanted to kill her myself."
"But you killed her."
"Because of that, I'm finally free from my revenge."
"So… thank you."
Black ViSage was silent for a moment.
"Glad to hear that I helped you."
Julian immediately said,
"If there is anything you want, please tell me."
"I'll do it."
Black ViSage tilted his head slightly.
"Huhh…"
"Basically, I don't want anything."
"But…"
"Can you promise me something?"
Julian looked at him.
"What promise?"
Black ViSage spoke calmly.
"Promise me that you will never kill children."
"Never torture them."
"And if you ever see a child in danger, please try to help."
"Also, behave kindly toward children."
"Can you promise me that?"
Julian became silent.
He had asked Black ViSage to tell him anything.
And now Black ViSage had asked for something he couldn't simply ignore.
I was the one who asked him to tell me what he wanted.
Julian finally nodded.
"Okay."
"I promise."
"I won't kill or harm children."
"If I see a child in danger, I'll protect them."
"And I'll behave kindly toward children."
Black ViSage nodded.
"Thank you."
Present
The memory disappeared.
Julian looked at Miyuki.
"Miss Miyuki, please don't kill these kids."
"They're innocent."
"They only steal food and valuable things because they need to survive."
"They don't have bad intentions."
Miyuki sighed.
"Huhh…"
"I know."
"But they're my targets, Sir Julian."
Julian thought for a moment.
"Okay."
"For today, let's say these kids didn't commit any robbery."
"Let them go."
Miyuki stared at him.
"Huhh…"
Then she sighed.
"Okay, Sir Julian."
"For you, I'll leave them."
She looked toward the children.
"Happy now, Little Robbers?"
The children smiled.
Miyuki removed the ice prison and chains.
Julian bowed slightly.
"Thank you so much, Miss Miyuki."
"You understand my feelings."
Miyuki nodded.
"Yeah."
"But because of you, Sir Julian, I failed my mission."
"Huhh…"
Julian thought for a moment.
"Don't worry."
"Tell Egan that the kids have left their usual area, so you couldn't find them."
"And because you already discovered their location, Egan wouldn't dare refuse to pay you."
"He'll never see these kids again anyway."
Miyuki considered his words.
"Okay."
"That's a nice idea."
"Thanks for that."
Miyuki turned around and left.
After she disappeared from sight, Julian sighed.
"Huhh…"
"I thought I would have to fight her to protect these kids."
"But there was no fight."
He looked at the children.
"That's a good thing."
Julian smiled slightly.
"At least I protected them."
He turned toward the Little Robbers.
"Hey, kids."
"Come with me."
The children followed him.
Celixsa's Sister
Later, Julian brought the eight children to a house belonging to Leyi Thornhart, Celixsa Thornhart's sister.
Julian already knew Leyi.
When she opened the door and saw him, she smiled.
"Hey, brother-in-law."
"It's been a long time."
"I'm very happy to see you."
"Please, sit."
Julian sat down with the children.
"Thank you."
Leyi looked at him.
"I'm happy that you're healthy."
"So, how is my sister?"
"She is well," Julian replied.
"Don't worry about her."
Leyi then noticed something.
There were eight children sitting on her sofa.
She became irritated, but she didn't say anything because they had come with Julian.
Leyi looked at him.
"So why did you suddenly come here?"
"I think you want something."
Leyi Thornhart wasn't an ordinary businesswoman.
She was one of the five founders of Yilance, a large and wealthy company involved in many different businesses.
Yilance operated the underground fighting arena known as Yilance, where cruel and dangerous fights were arranged.
The company was also involved in drug smuggling and numerous other businesses.
It had smithing operations for sword creation, network services for Rolists, computer-related businesses, and many other commercial activities.
Leyi herself was extremely wealthy because of her position as one of the founders.
Julian looked at her.
"Hey."
"You can see that there are too many orphaned children here."
"I want to help them."
"But you know that I'm an assassin."
"I'm usually very busy."
"So, can you take care of these kids?"
Leyi immediately reacted.
"Ooh, sorry."
"Please, Big Brother, don't tell me that."
"I don't like children."
Julian frowned.
"Hey."
"Don't say that."
Leyi sighed.
"Big Brother…"
"I don't know why you suddenly changed."
"You never cared about children before."
"But recently, your behavior has changed so much."
She looked toward the children.
"However…"
"I don't want children here."
"But if you want, I can accept them as cleaners."
"You know that three cleaners died yesterday because they made mistakes and behaved badly."
"So I need new cleaners."
"Eight cleaners should be enough."
Julian was about to refuse.
But before he could speak, the children stopped him.
"We accept."
Julian looked at them.
"Hey, wait."
The children looked at Julian and smiled.
It was obvious they didn't want to create more problems for him.
Leyi smiled.
"Very good."
"Don't worry about money."
"You'll each receive five silver coins every month."
"And don't worry about food."
"I'll provide proper food for you."
Julian looked at the children.
"If you all agree, then I can't do anything."
He paused.
"Okay."
Then Julian turned toward Leyi.
His tone suddenly became cold.
"Listen, my little sister."
"I really love you as my sister."
"But don't make these children unhappy."
"And don't try to harm them."
"If I see something bad…"
"It will become a problem for you."
Leyi teased him.
"Ahhh…"
"I'm scared."
"Please, Big Brother Julian."
"Don't hurt me."
Julian ignored her teasing.
"The kids are in your care."
"Don't make them feel bad."
"Okay?"
"I'll go."
"But first, I want to talk with the children alone."
Leyi nodded.
"Okay, brother."
She left for her garden.
Julian turned toward the children.
"Why did you accept her offer?"
"Why?"
"Don't you know that she isn't exactly the kind of person who is good to poor people and orphans?"
The children looked at each other.
One of them answered,
"We accepted because we don't want to create problems for you."
Julian frowned.
"But why?"
"We're already in trouble."
"And we don't want to live without doing anything."
"So if we can work for her, that's better."
"We also want to quit our robbery job."
"Because of that life, we've already lost many of our friends."
"So please…"
"Let us do this job."
Julian was silent.
Then he nodded.
"Okay."
"But promise me something."
"If that woman ever tries to do anything bad to you, tell me."
The children nodded.
"Of course."
"But we have one request."
Julian looked at them.
"What is it?"
"We want you to take care of our little brother."
Julian became curious.
"Little brother?"
The children nodded.
"He's the youngest one."
"He recently came to us."
"He's only seven years old."
"He's still in our tree house."
"So you can go there and take care of him."
"Please."
Julian nodded.
"Okay."
"I'll take care of him."
"Don't worry."
The children smiled happily.
For the first time in a long time, they felt that they had someone they could trust.