Chapter 15

That day, the Queen’s Left Hands gathered together for an emergency meeting.

Aside from four of them who were on the night watch, every Left Hand in the royal castle was to attend.

There was only one subject.

“Complete absolution has been granted to the Right Hand from Sol. Leon. I would like to hear your opinions on this.”

While they were all shadows, Right Hands like Leon had different missions from Left Hands like Hif.

Left Hands guarded the Queen. Right Hands lived in towns and carried out assassination and infiltration missions.

In other words, Right Hands worked outside of the castle, and so they never worked directly with Left Hands.

Left Hands only ever worked inside of the castle, and they tended to see Right Hands as being outside laborers who were below them.

“I would like to know why it was done.”

Said an older man.

His name was Hitok

Hitok had served the queen for nearly 20 years.

“She said it was because we would not be able to stop him.”

It didn’t matter how strong their guard was. It would mean nothing if Leon was serious.

In that case, would it not be better to stop being cautious of him from the beginning? Hif told them that this was how the queen thought.

“Is he really that powerful?”

“Yotsuya should know. Tell them.”

“Yes. He got through the newest detection barriers that were set up in the underground waterway. And he also avoided triggering any of the barriers in the castle courtyard.”

“…Shadow Crossing, isn’t it?”

“It proves that detection barriers are meaningless to him.”

The barriers that protected the castle were the very best.

And now they had become meaningless.

They could not be replaced with superior barriers.

“Then we will have to protect her ourselves.”

“But how? How can we protect her when we can’t detect him while he’s Shadow Crossing either?”

“We have the magic sealing charms, don’t we? He will not be able to enter through Shadow Crossing if we use those.”

“About that. Hachina, continue.”

“Yes. We witnessed him using magic to disappear from the audience chamber. The magic sealing charm did not work at all. As his power was too strong, the charm could do nothing.”

“…You are sure of this?”

“I swear it. Her Majesty also understood this. She was the one that asked him to use magic there.”

Even though she was very careful, she was not always right next to someone who could guard her.

And of course, there were times when the Queen was alone.

In other words, if Leon wanted to harm her, he need only wait for the right opportunity.

And as a Right Hand with an Alias, he was not likely to fail.

So, the moment Leon came between them and the Queen, it would be over.

“So that is why.”

“I heard that he suddenly appeared in front of the Shadow door.”

Usually, regardless of which direction you came from, the detection barrier would have alerted the Left Hands of your arrival.

But there had been nothing at all. The signal that announced the presence of a visitor had come out of nowhere, and they had become very frantic.

“What can be done?”

It was the Queen who had given him complete absolution.

That could not be overturned.

However, it was impossible for them as Left Hands, to stand by and do nothing.

“Perhaps we could prepare a decoy for Her Majesty.”

Hif could think of nothing else.

They would be allowed to act after something happened.

But complete absolution meant they were not allowed to do anything in advance.

“No. She will find out. And I doubt she would agree to such a thing.”

“Then…”

“We have no choice but to watch for now. And if we see any suspicious activity, we will tell Her Majesty.”

It was not a very satisfying conclusion at all, but the truth was, there was nothing else they could do.

“We must share everything we know about Leon’s abilities. And then, if it seems like there is something we can do, we will plan from there.”

Everyone nodded at Hif’s words.”

“Still, this is most disturbing.”

“His father had also been granted complete absolution.”

“What!?”

“No…”

“I think he was called the Grim Reaper.”

“Yes. The assassin who was responsible for the Great Purge of Sol. They say that he has never failed during an assassination.”

“Why would someone so dangerous be granted that…”

“You youngsters may not know about it, but the Grim Reaper served Her Majesty since she was the princess. He has served her longer than anyone. And his magic is more powerful than even the rumors suggest. Yes, he is at least equal to the Thirteen Steps of Makoku. Don’t even think about antagonizing him.”

Hif said with a shudder.

The Queen’s Shadows were not allowed to fight or hinder each other.

If you did, you could be purged.

“Of course.”

“Aye, I would not do such a thing.”

“Good. We will protect Her Majesty. That is all we need to consider.”

“Everything we do, we do for Her Majesty…”

“For Her Majesty.”

And like that, the meeting was over.

It had been a meeting to discuss how they should react to the complete absolution, but they had not come up with a single idea.

Regardless, the name of ‘Shadow Crosser’ Leon, had become deeply engraved in the hearts of the Left Hands.

Had Leon known about what had transpired that day, he would have thought, ‘Uh, I wasn’t thinking about such things at all. In fact, I have no intention of doing anything troublesome.’