Finally, I can Retire, Or so I Thought

Dion leaned back against the sofa cushions again, his gaze glued to Marvin with a persistent smile playing on his face.

”So, you have a direct teleportation mirror leading straight into the king’s private chambers? Why haven’t you executed the king yourself then?” Dion asked casually.

”I lack the competent personnel to pull off such an operation. Everyone I sent failed, and from what I hear, they committed suicide rather than leak the plan,” Marvin replied, nonchalantly shrugging his shoulders.

”And what about me? Are you sure I’ll succeed?” Dion asked.

”Of course. I am completely confident in your abilities, after all, I saw you riding a dragon,” Marvin answered, smiling.

Dion paused to ponder for a moment, idly twirling the knife between his fingers. His brows furrowed slightly, his face turning dead serious as Marvin watched the intense calculation playing out in Dion’s eyes. Moments later, Dion locked eyes with Marvin.

”Fine. I’ll head to the king’s chambers tonight,” Dion agreed casually.

”I knew you would accept the deal,” Marvin said, looking visibly pleased and relieved.

”Before that, though, just so I don’t hit the wrong targets, tell me: who else is involved in this rebellion?” Dion questioned.

Hearing Dion’s question, Marvin’s smile froze, his eyes once again filling with cold calculation. But before Marvin could even open his mouth,

”Come on. Success or failure, I won’t be seeing you again, and I won’t interfere with your operation. You have nothing to lose by telling me. Besides, even if I succeed, it’s not like I’m making it out of the palace alive anyway,” Dion coaxed smoothly.

”Fine... Lord Devon of Lakewall and Lady Olga of Mageford. The lords governing all three regions are all aligned to replace King Theobald’s regime,” Marvin whispered.

Dion fell into thought once more, eying Marvin’s face with lingering skepticism, though the smile on his lips never faded.

”Alright. Lead me to the mirror right now,” Dion instructed.

”Follow me to the dungeon,” Marvin replied, standing up.

They exited the study together. Dion noticed plenty of armed soldiers standing on high alert as if ready to pounce on him, though Marvin raised a hand to hold them at bay. On the way down to the basement, Dion mapped out the manor’s layout in his mind. The interior was shrouded in darkness, illuminated only sparingly by magic crystal lamps that left large gaps of shadow across the halls.

Descending a long flight of stairs toward the basement, Dion kept his eyes on Marvin, who walked ahead flanked by two guards. Reaching the bottom, Dion observed line after line of empty prison cells stretching down both sides of the corridor. When they reached the end of the passage, a guard swung open a door to reveal a grotesque torture chamber filled with sadistic instruments.

Dion smiled, realizing something was amiss and confirming his suspicions. Marvin turned back to face him with a smirk.

”You really are gullible... capture him,” Marvin ordered.

However, the two guards standing behind Marvin didn’t move an inch to seize Dion. Marvin’s smirk wavered, and he turned to glare at his men.

”Hey... what are you standing around for? Capture him!” Marvin barked.

”Yeah... hurry up and capture me,” Dion added mockingly.

”Hey!”

Marvin grabbed his guards by their shoulders, but plop, the heads of both guards suddenly slid off their necks and hit the floor. ”Whoaaaaah!” Marvin gasped in absolute terror, scrambling backward and falling flat on his rear. His eyes widened like he was watching a live horror movie as he saw Dion holding a blood-drenched knife and casually licking the blood off the blade.

”Y-you bastard!” Marvin screamed.

”So? Where’s the mirror?” Dion demanded nonchalantly.

”Go to hell!” Marvin shrieked, springing up to lung at Dion.

”Aaaaaah... I’m dying,” Dion mocked, catching Marvin’s hand, which held a knife plunged right into Dion’s neck.

Marvin’s eyes bulged. Slowly, he looked down at his own right shoulder, only to discover his arm was completely gone. The hand pressing the knife against Dion’s neck was actually his own severed arm, held firmly by Dion, who was forcing the blade into his own throat with a sinister grin.

”Aaaaaaaaah!”

Marvin collapsed to his knees in front of Dion, clutching his bloody shoulder stump and screaming in agony. Dion crouched down before him, using Marvin’s own severed arm to lightly slap Marvin’s cheek.

”Where is the mirror? Did you really think you could outsmart a tired dude who’s been alive for 67 years?” Dion asked flatly.

”Y-you monster... what do you want?!” Marvin shrieked through the excruciating pain.

”I told you already: leave Luna alone and stay out of my territory... Even if you weren’t the one planning to invade me, I know for a fact you’d attack my land eventually because all my citizens are former slaves,” Dion replied coolly.

Marvin raised his head, sweat pouring down his pale face from the agony. Looking at Dion, he realized the man before him was a true monster, not someone who could be intimidated. He felt bewildered by Dion’s claim of being 67 years old, which would make him older than Marvin despite looking so young. His lips trembled as if trying to speak,

”Well? What about our deal? Ah, that’s right... because you were so sure you could kill me, you willingly blabbed about your co-conspirators. Too bad I didn’t believe a word of it,” Dion said.

”W-who are you really?” Marvin wheezed.

”Ah... that question again. Sorry, you don’t have the clearance to know who I am. Now, do you mind if I head back up to your study and dig around for some intel?” Dion asked politely.

”Y-you damn fool... I will... make you pay...”

Thud.

Bleeding heavily from the stump of his shoulder, Marvin collapsed face-first in front of Dion. Dion immediately checked on him, noticing Marvin’s face turning a purplish-blue.

”Whoops, he’s dead... I forgot my knife was poisoned. Well, at least this time I got the intel before killing him. Alright, back to his study,” Dion thought to himself.

Dion stood up and vanished into the shadows. He strolled out of the basement torture chamber, casually glancing into the empty cells before heading upstairs toward Marvin’s private study, completely unseen by any of the guards patrolling the manor.

***

The following morning, ”ugh,” Luna stirred awake in her room. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes, trying to clear her morning brain rot. Suddenly, her eyes went wide as she noticed her bed was covered in stacks of documents. She picked up a few files, her jaw dropping.

”W-what is all this? Rebel troop counts... army positions... involvement of the lords of Lakewall and Mageford... is this... the entire rebel force network?” Luna muttered out loud.

She grabbed another file and skimmed through it, discovering a detailed manifest listing secret holding locations where Marvin and his syndicate kept enslaved villagers captured from local towns. Suddenly, ”squish!” Luna’s hand pressed into something soft and squishy beside her. She glanced at her blanket and slowly pulled it back, revealing a neatly tied, blood-stained cloth bundle.

”What now...” she thought.

She unraveled the knots and ”Kyaaaaaaa!” she leaped backward out of her skin, catching sight of a severed arm clutching a dagger and wearing a ring engraved with Lord Marvin’s family crest. Blam! Hearing Luna’s loud shriek, Sheila, Mei, Aria, and Cleo burst into the room. They found Luna standing beside the bed with both hands clamped over her mouth, staring in horror at the severed limb on her mattress.

”A severed arm... whose is that?” Sheila asked Luna.

”I don’t know! When I woke up, it was just lying next to me!” Luna stammered, trembling.

Aria stepped further inside, her eyes locking onto the papers scattered across the bed. Her eyes widened as she scooped up the files.

”This is... intelligence on the rebel forces, slave trade routes... and the exact locations of their holding facilities,” Aria said, showing the documents to the group.

Mei approached the bed, carefully inspecting the severed arm. She noticed how clean the cut was and that no blood had spilled anywhere else on the sheets.

”This looks like the work of the Shadow Hand... who could have done this?” Mei murmured, analyzing the scene.

”Hmm... this makes no sense. We didn’t even have time to brainstorm a plan before crashing last night,” Cleo noted thoughtfully.

Suddenly, a sudden realization hit all five girls at the exact same moment. They turned their heads, exchanging wide-eyed looks.

”It can’t be...” Cleo muttered.

Without waiting for Cleo to finish, the rest of the group bolted straight into Cleo’s bedroom.

”Snore... snore... snore,” the five girls stood staring at Dion, who was fast asleep, tightly clutching a smothered-looking Gina like a body pillow.

”There’s no way, right?... He was sleeping right next to me all night,” Cleo said, though her voice lacked any real confidence.

”Are you sure?” Luna, Aria, Sheila, and Mei asked in unison, turning their glares toward Cleo.

”I don’t know... don’t look at me like that,” Cleo replied nervously, feeling increasingly suspicious as she stared at Dion’s innocent sleeping face and content smile.

The five of them crept closer, observing Dion up close. Exchanging knowing looks, subtle smiles broke out on their faces.

”Yep... this is definitely his doing. Thanks, Dion,” Luna, Aria, Cleo, Sheila, and Mei all thought in unison, staring down at Dion with deep respect and admiration.