Part 8: Alright (4)

As they walked, a small village came into view.

It was along the road to Centum.

Since night was falling, the two decided to find lodging.

The inn also doubled as a tavern.

Sitting at the bar, Aiden ordered an especially expensive whiskey.

“You drink now? I thought you didn’t like alcohol,” the master asked, eyes round with surprise.

“I drink sometimes. Turns out, it doesn’t feel too bad. And I have a pretty high tolerance.”

“What if someone ambushes you?”

“They’d die. Not me.”

“The more we talk, the more I feel like you’re not the Aiden I know. Be honest. You’re not Aiden, are you? Just something pretending to be him?”

“Maybe.”

Aiden shrugged.

The master’s joke made perfect sense.

The Aiden of the past, the assassin—

And the Aiden of now were two entirely different people.

Maybe that’s why.

Aiden found himself wondering—

If he were to return to the Thieves Guild now, how would he fit in with the guild members?

Clink!

Their glasses clashed.

The two downed their drinks in one go.

“Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you drink before, Master.”

“I don’t handle alcohol well.”

“That’s unexpected. I thought you’d be a heavy drinker.”

“That’s just another stereotype about the Rogue Master.”

The master poured more whiskey into Aiden’s glass and then filled his own.

A gentle stream of liquor trickled down.

As they talked, Aiden began to learn things about the master that he had never known.

On the way here, he had heard about the master’s first love.

Surprisingly, the master had been clueless about romance.

Expressing emotions made him uncomfortable.

His first love had been an unspoken, one-sided affair.

A devoted heart—

He still carried his first love in his heart.

Aiden had assumed he was a heavy drinker—

That, too, was far from the truth.

You never truly know someone until you experience them firsthand.

A short conversation followed by a long silence.

As if they had planned it, both men absentmindedly toyed with their glasses.

The conversation had dried up.

With nothing more to say, the air between them grew dry again.

“Because the more you speak the truth, the lighter it becomes. But the more you lie, the heavier it gets.”

For some reason—

Fei’s words from not long ago surfaced in his mind.

Maybe that was why…

Aiden suddenly wanted to lighten his heart.

And there was only one way to do it—

Speak the truth, deep down to its core.

“Master. Do you know why I’m this strong?”

“Because you were born with talent. And because you went through hell to hone it.”

“Then what do you think my real talent is?”

“Hmm… Never really thought about that.”

“I can absorb Death Qi.”

“Death Qi? You mean like… fraud? Scamming people?”

“No. The energy of death.”

Aiden began explaining.

The talent he had awakened upon joining the Thieves Guild—

The ability to absorb the deaths of others and make their powers his own, an ability as absurd as a scam.

Finishing his explanation, Aiden spread his palm wide open.

Fwoosh!

Black flames flickered and danced atop his hand.

“Th-that’s…”

“Yeah. One of Astaroth’s signature powers—Black Flame. I killed him and absorbed it.”

The master’s eyes widened in shock, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.

“Then… are you saying you have all the abilities of everyone you’ve ever assassinated?”

“Yes.”

“Can you use 8th-class magic, too?”

“Not perfectly. But my mana sensitivity, manifestation, and resistance are all at the level of an 8th-class mage.”

“……”

“Same goes for other abilities. Some I can fully replicate, while others I only inherit in part.”

The master fell into silence.

He was always deep in thought.

Even Aiden couldn’t tell what he was thinking right now.

Was he seeing him as a monster?

Or as something to be kept in check?

“Why tell me this now? Wouldn’t it have been better to keep it hidden forever?”

“A friend is someone you can share secrets with.”

Having spoken his truth—

Aiden felt lighter.

Fei had been right.

Since becoming an assassin, he had hidden everything.

His name, his true identity, his abilities—everything.

And that kind of life was a false one. He had barely felt alive at all.

No wonder he had never minded thinking of himself as a cockroach.

But after retiring—

And colliding with people, he realized something.

There were things in the world that couldn’t be hidden.

And things that shouldn’t be.

He wasn’t just himself.

He existed only as much as he revealed to the world.

“Now it all makes sense. Why you’re absurdly strong.”

“Aren’t you afraid of me?”

“What, of you? You’re just a tavern employee.”

The master chuckled.

Aiden laughed as well.

“And no matter how great a talent you have, that doesn’t erase all the hardship you went through.”

“……”

“You’ve been through a lot.”

The master gave Aiden’s shoulder a light pat.

It was the first time he had ever heard those words.

He had heard ‘Well done’ more times than he could count—

But ‘You’ve been through a lot’? Never before.

Aiden parted his lips slightly, then emptied his glass.

His chest felt warm.

It was because the whiskey was strong.

“Since you spilled your secret, I guess I have to share one of mine, too.”

“What is it?”

“I’ll tell you my secret. That way, it’s fair.”

The master’s secrets came pouring out.

Why he had joined the Thieves Guild.

Everything he had gone through to become the Rogue Master.

There was no need to use any special ability.

Every word the master spoke was pure truth.

Aiden just… knew.

He quietly listened to the master’s past.

He didn’t nod along or make any unnecessary comments.

They simply exchanged drinks.

One bottle of whiskey ran dry.

Then a second bottle emptied as well.

By the time the master’s story ended, Aiden realized something.

There’s no such thing as a person with nothing to say.

There are only people who speak freely and those who do not.

That applied to both himself and the master.

They had been keeping far too much hidden.

At their core—

They were the same kind of people.

“How about we get some fresh air?” the master suggested.

The two left the tavern and made their way to a small mountain nearby.

They stood at a spot overlooking the village.

Midnight was silent.

The thick moonlight gently wrapped around the village.

“I like high places. From up here, even things that look like walls turn into paths.”

“That’s surprisingly poetic.”

“If I hadn’t joined the Thieves Guild, maybe I would’ve been a poet.”

“Or a cartographer.”

“That’s not a bad idea either,” the master nodded.

‘Balancing the continent was never supposed to be the Rogue Master’s duty.’

The master had always loved looking down at the world from high places.

That was one of the secrets he had kept hidden.

“Have you ever imagined it?”

“What do you mean?”

“If we had never met. What kind of life do you think we would be living?”

“I have thought about it before.”

“And?”

“We probably would have…”

*  *  *

A clearing in the forest.

The master watched Aiden, unable to hide his amazement.

He had just passed down the five secret techniques of the Rogue Master to Aiden.

Aiden absorbed them instantly.

No, he did more than that.

He refined them into something even more advanced.

Supernova.

An ultra-fast movement technique that only a Rogue Master could use.

It was said that the third-generation Rogue Master once defeated a Grand Swordmaster with this technique.

But the Supernova Aiden had unleashed had evolved into something even greater—Hypernova.

The light trail characteristic of Supernova had become even sharper and faster.

It was truly the power of a Hypernova descending upon the earth.

“You just reached the top of that mountain and came back?”

“Yes. Not just once—three times.”

“……” the master was at a loss for words.

If Aiden were to attack someone at that speed, who could possibly withstand it?

If this had been a real battle…

The master would have lost his life at least three times already.

Indra’s Net.

A dagger technique that created a web of countless thrown blades, shredding enemies to pieces.

But when Aiden performed it, Indra’s Net became Indra’s Wave.

The number of daggers thrown at once reached over a hundred.

The spectacle was like a meteor shower descending upon the earth.

One might dodge a net, but one could never avoid a wave.

The moment Aiden unleashed Indra’s Wave, everything in the vicinity would be reduced to ruins.

And the remaining three secret techniques?

Aiden had mastered them to an awe-inspiring level as well.

“You were keeping all these incredible techniques to yourself? If I had known earlier, I would have surpassed you by the time I was thirteen.”

“That’s exactly why I’m only teaching them to you now,” the master clicked his tongue as he answered.

“But why are you suddenly passing down these techniques to me?”

“Why? You don’t like it?”

“No, I love it. That’s the problem,” Aiden answered honestly.

These techniques fit his combat style perfectly.

Although he had absorbed many abilities through Death Qi, the ones he actually used in battle were few.

After all, assassination was his foundation.

He had always avoided flashy or cumbersome techniques.

“You still haven’t told me why you’re teaching me these techniques.”

“Just in case.”

“In case of what?”

“If something happens to me… I want you to take over.”

“That must never happen.”

“Who knows? No one can predict the future,” the master’s words carried a heavy meaning.

“As I said before, if you’re in trouble, tell me. I’ll help—not as a guild member, but as a friend.”

“Just hearing that makes me feel reassured,” the master smiled faintly.

“But don’t you think you’d do a better job leading the Thieves Guild than I do? Maybe even better than me?”

“That’s quite the expectation to place on a tavern worker.”

“I told you to try thirty different jobs in your mission report, didn’t I? Being a Rogue Master is a profession too, you know?”

“It’s not exactly an ordinary profession, is it?”

“Did I seem special to you?”

In the past, Aiden wouldn’t have hesitated for a second before saying ‘yes.’

But now, he couldn’t.

He now knew that even a Rogue Master had a past filled with regrets and guilt that he couldn’t shake off.

The master’s title was extraordinary, but he himself was just an ordinary person.

“There are no special people, nor are there special jobs. Everyone is just trying to get by in their own way.”

“Even so, I can’t be a Rogue Master.”

“Think about it. Maybe you’ll change your mind later—just like you have changed, and I have changed.”

As their conversation momentarily paused, the master reached into the pocket of his robe, which was connected to a subspace, and pulled something out.

The moment Aiden saw the object, his eyes widened in shock.

“This is…”

“The music box you liked. It’s a limited edition—impossible to find now.”

“You’re right. I did want this music box.”

“You couldn’t afford it back then, right? I saw you hesitating at the store one day.”

“You bought it but never gave it to me?”

The master gave a bitter smile.

“You know why. Back then, I wanted you to become a killing machine. I’m sorry. It feels like I’m just trying to cover up the wounds I caused.”

For a moment, Aiden saw an overlapping image.

The crumpled retirement order the master had once handed him… and this music box.

The truth was, the master had never changed.

“Thank you for the gift. I’ll accept it gladly.”

“Before we part ways, why don’t you curse me out? Tell me I ruined your life.”

“Master.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry, too. I never once considered how you felt.”

Aiden wanted to say more, but he stopped.

The words kept tangling on his tongue.

For once, even his sharp mind failed him.

“We both made mistakes. Let’s just call it even.”

“Yeah… That works. Live well, and let’s not see each other again if we can help it.”

“I can’t make that promise.”

“Annoying brat.”

The ,aster was the first to walk away.

Aiden only turned his back and started walking after he was sure the master was gone.

And as he made his way down the mountain, he passed by the very place where he had spent the previous night with the master.

“I like high places. From up here, even things that look like walls turn into paths.”

The master was right.

When he traced the stone wall encircling the town with his eyes, he could see the entrance.

A sight that would have been impossible to see from the front.

Because of the master… Aiden thought he might come to love the view from high places.

Even when faced with obstacles…

He might be able to see them as paths instead.

He didn’t rush on his way back.

Three days later, in the evening, Aiden returned to Centum.

Ding!

The doorbell chimed as he stepped into the tavern.

Carl was wiping down the bar counter with a cloth, but the moment he met Aiden’s eyes, his hands froze.

Aiden smiled first, his expression gentle.

“I’m back.”
 

To be continued

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