The Law of the Silent Gentleman

The hero's story begins in the tavern. The story of the assassin begins on the street.

In our time, every bard loves to sing about heroes. "It was a stormy evening" is often the beginning of the story, sometimes "on a slanting morning with a drizzle", or "it all started in the middle of a snowy night". In short, it seems that there must be something in the sky, otherwise it will not be able to bring out the shock of the hero's first appearance. On such a day, due to the unfavorable weather, there are few pedestrians outside, only the tavern is full of people, and the warm lights and laughter flow out of the small window. In the tavern, people exchanged glasses and talked loudly, the waitress carried the wine glass and passed between the tables, and the poet sat cross-legged in a corner and played the harp (or lute, or whatever). Suddenly—the story always uses this word as a shocking turning point—the door of the tavern gave a loud "bang" and was pushed open with force. Everyone was quiet because of the sudden noise, and their eyes turned to the door. A young man in a cloak bathed in the eyes of everyone, strode into the tavern, and walked into the legendary place that the poet will tell you next. middle.

This is the beginning of the hero story.

The story of the Assassins is quite different.

There is no specific weather, no warm tavern, no earth-shattering turning point, no poet who tells the story, and no audience to listen to the story of an assassin.

Nothing legendary.

There are only gorgeously dressed and masked ghosts wandering the streets and alleys of the city-state. Anyone who sees them can come forward to chat. Sometimes the deadly contract is simply and straightforwardly reached on the street, followed by Conspiracy, blood, death, war and more death. Like an avalanche, the death of one begets countless deaths, all intertwined in a long, cold, heavy chain that hangs like a noose around the neck of our city-state. And the gorgeous ghosts, as always, stalk the streets, looking for the next employer, or being sought out by the next employer.

No one tells their stories, no one writes their legends, even though each of them has more than a legend. They are just a sentence in the most insignificant page of the history book, and what is wrapped under the gorgeous and luxurious clothes is always just one nameless dead soul after another.

This is the beginning of the assassin's story.

Giuliano's story of the assassin, like all assassin stories, begins in the street.

He was seven years old that year. In summer, the Vanessa city-state is extremely hot and dry, and the scorching sun scorches the streets, as if even the roads paved with white stone slabs can melt. The civilians had no choice but to work under the scorching sun, while Giuliano, like all nobles, went to his country house to escape the summer heat and would not return until the weather changed from hot to cool. He was seven years old that year, and in his short life memory, this year was no different from the past six years, but in Vanessa city-state, this year was worthy of special mention. In the spring, due to the spring drought, a large number of hungry people flooded into the city and occupied the streets, bringing congestion, crime and protests from citizens one after another. At this time of summer, the governor, who was cornered by public grievances, sent city guards to disperse the refugees. There were several small fights, and the conflict intensified. The gates of the Upper Town were temporarily closed due to "unfortunate bloodshed," so that the Giuliano family had to take a long detour down the town if they wanted to get out of town in a carriage. Of course, for a young boy it doesn't make much difference which road to take, every gate is so grand and every road is so wide in his little world. He lives in the courtyard of the Shenzhai Gate in the upper city, and is well protected by his loving parents. He doesn't know everything that has happened, is happening, and is about to happen outside. Later, due to poor harvests in autumn, more refugees flooded into Vanessa City, and food prices soared. Many refugees and the poor in the city were unable to survive the winter because of starvation. Until another spring came, although this spring was a good year with plenty of rain, there were a large number of dead bodies piled up in the city of Vanessa. The dead bodies attracted carrion-eating crows and rats that ate everything, and the crows and rats brought plague. In the following year, the plague raged in the city of Vanessa, and the black robes of death floated from the noble mansions in the upper city to the dilapidated shacks in the slums. No one from the noble governor to the humble beggar could escape His harvest. The scythe of all things. The Grim Reaper floated in chariots and ships to the other city-states of the Jod region, to "white" Dorothenia, "elegant" Akdon, and "magnificent" Xanodia. The shadow of death has shrouded this beautiful seaside for three years, and it has become an indelible mark of terror in the memory of a generation.

For the boy Giuliano, the plague is nothing more than the carefree three years he spent in the countryside, and his longing for the young female governess who was "suddenly called back to her hometown by her parents to get married". (Later, even this longing gradually faded away.) After he went to the countryside with his parents to escape the summer, he did not return to the city. It was not until the great plague passed that ten-year-old Giuliano was taken home by his father. Of course, his governess never came back.

Giuliano's story of the Assassins begins in the streets of the Lower Town leading to the city gates. A seven-year-old boy was suffocated by the sweltering heat of the carriage in summer. His beautiful and loving mother fanned him with a folding fan covered with lace. But this weak wind doesn't help. The naughty boy pushed open the car window, longing for a bit of cool breeze to bring him some comfort—there was no cool breeze, but hot wind poured into the compartment, but it was better than airtight.

It was the first time Giuliano had seen the Lower Town. This place shocked him a lot: the roads were dilapidated, the houses were low and old, pedestrians wore patched shirts, beggars huddled in the shadows, and everyone looked sad and wary. Giuliano almost thought he had come to another world! Where did the clean and tidy marble pavement go? Where are the lush street trees, clear fountains, and smiling men and women who are always dressed in the world? Is this really his city, their "great" Vanessa?

The boy turned his head in bewilderment and asked his mother for help. The lady put her arms around the boy's shoulders: "Don't look, kid, there's nothing to see. The upper class shouldn't come to this kind of place. Blame those refugees, otherwise..." She snorted disdainfully, and then seemed to realize that When he lost his composure, he quickly covered his face covered with makeup with a folding fan.

It's really nothing to see. It was dirty, poor, run-down, like a swamp full of rubbish. However, this smelly swamp is less than fifteen rounds away from Giuliano's neat and beautiful home. ]distance. It's hard to imagine such a stain in their city.

Giuliano's young mind was greatly shocked. At the time, he was just amazed at the difference between downtown and uptown, and it wasn't until much later that he realized what lay behind the difference.

Suddenly, something bright and eye-catching on the street caught the boy's attention. He involuntarily looked in that direction, and then let out an exclamation—

It was a woman in a gorgeous dress, her graceful body was wrapped in golden satin, the skirt was dragged to the ground, and the neckline was raised high, like a pair of wings stuck behind her. Around her neck was a prominent necklace of pigeon blood stones, containing a cerulean gemstone. This dress looks like she is going to a ball, or a salon held by some high-class people, and the mask on her face seems to confirm this-in the Yod city-states, people use masks as a kind of decoration, Attending a formal event without a mask is as rude as going without clothes. However, the social mask only covers half of the face, but the woman wears a white mask that covers the whole face. The mask is inlaid with gemstones and inserted with bright bird feathers. Only a pair of deep eyes are exposed, which is very impressive. I can't see her face and expression. This kind of mask is only used in Fengyue every year [Note: The prototype of the calendar of Vanessa city-state is the French calendar. Moon, Portuguese Moon, Foggy Moon, Frost Moon, Snow Moon. The pastoral month is May. ] will only be worn during the carnival. However, the eyes poking out of the hole in the mask are not carnival. They were so cloudy that Giuliano shivered, and even the summer heat faded away.

"Mother, look!" Giuliano tugged on his mother's gorgeous gauze gown, "That lady is so strange, it's the Harvest Moon, but she's wearing a carnival mask! Also, why is she dressed so So pretty? Is she going to a party?"

Mother glanced quickly out of the window, a mixture of horror and disgust on her fair face.

"Don't look!" She scolded in a low voice, "That's not a decent person!"

"But she doesn't dress like..."

The carriage passed by the woman in fine clothes, and Giuliano saw that, in addition to the luxurious decorations all over her body, there was also a plain long sword on the woman's waist, with a black scabbard hanging on a belt embellished with pearls. The contrast is stark—like the contrast between the beautiful Uptown and the run-down Lower Town.

The woman looked at Lin Lin's approaching carriage, lifted her skirt, and curtseyed to the mother and child in the carriage, her posture was elegant and perfect, not inferior to any famous lady. When she raised her head, Giuliano clearly saw a deep smile in those dark pupils.

Mother closed the window with a bang.

"Mother, I'm so hot!" Giuliano complained.

"Hold it! You're a little man, can't you even endure this bit of hardship?" Mother waved her fan irritably.

Giuliano bit his lip. He understood that his mother was angry because of that gorgeous woman. But why? Does mother know her? She wears a mask, how does the mother identify her? Why would a lady wear a sword? Why is mother so angry?

Giuliano sat in the closed carriage, cut off from the strange place that had been glimpsed. Not long after, he heard the sound of the city gate opening, which meant that they had left the city. After leaving Vanessa, his mother allowed him to open the window again to breathe. Huoyue's outskirts and fields are so beautiful, but Giuliano's mind is full of the figure of the gorgeous woman in the lower city. He dared not question his mother in detail for fear of offending her again, so three days after their arrival at the country summer house Giuliano secretly told his governess what he had discovered.

"That's not a lady, Giuliano." The female teacher lowered her voice, her expression was mysterious and strange, "I shouldn't have told you this kind of thing, but as a Vanessa, you will know sooner or later. The woman you saw is An assassin."

"Assassin?" The term was unfamiliar to the seven-year-old boy.

"It's a killer, someone hired to kill someone."

"Kill!" The boy was taken aback by this terrible word, "But isn't murder illegal? Why did that woman...that assassin dare to act in broad daylight? Isn't she afraid of being caught by the guards?"

"My little master, it is indeed against the law to hire a murderer, but in Vanessa and in the city-states of Yord, it is another situation. I will explain it in detail when I have the opportunity, but it is not suitable for you to know these things now. .I can only tell you that anyone who roams the streets wearing a carnival mask, ornately dressed and armed, is an assassin. They call themselves 'silent gentlemen and ladies' and specialize in The work of collecting money and eliminating disasters. Master Giuliano, you are a decent person, and you must not have any contact with them. However, you must learn to guard against them... Oh, what am I talking about, this is not you It's something to worry about." The female teacher smiled and continued to explain to Giuliano an obscure grammatical problem in the Imperial language.

Later, the female teacher left without saying goodbye, and it is said that she "returned to her hometown to get married". When Giuliano was older, he realized that the female teacher probably died in the great plague at that time, and the so-called "going home to get married" was just an excuse for his mother to comfort him.

The memory of the female teacher gradually faded from the boy's mind, but her words about the assassin remained deeply rooted in Giuliano's heart. The first time he met the assassin was on the streets of Vanessa during the day. He often thought that as long as he was still living in this city, as long as he was still walking on the streets, one day, he would meet them again.

Because an assassin's story always begins on the street.