Free Web NovelChapter 49: Chapter 49: The Assassin’s Rules of Survival_1
Killing someone is a very simple matter.
Slit the throat with a sharp blade, shoot through the heart with a bullet, strangle the windpipe with a rope, snap the neck with your hands, pierce the eyes with a long nail... or sometimes, it just takes a drop of your own blood.
Numerous killing skills had long been deeply engraved into her bones.
Just as a lumberjack fells a tree, just as a fisherman hauls in a net of fish, taking a life is an assassin’s job. freewebnovel.cσ๓
Since the time she could remember, there was only this one path laid out before her.
"Vannie, this is today’s target."
"Okay, Mom."
"Good child."
Just listening to Mom was once the only rule that could keep her alive in this world.
"Don’t kill me, please! I can give you money! I’ll pay double whatever your employer is giving you—"
The target, kill.
Anyone in the way, also kill them all, Mom had instructed her that way.
"The assassin has appeared! Protect the target!"
The bodyguards protecting the target, kill.
"I beg you, don’t kill my son... I’m begging you!"
The family of the target, blocking in front of the target, kill.
"It’s ’The Filthblood Reaper’! Kill him and let’s divide the bounty!"
The Bounty Hunters drawn by the bounty, pursuing to kill, kill.
"Filthblood Reaper, you’re surrounded! Surrender and lay down your weapons!"
The police and investigators who came to capture her, kill.
The only thing she needed to do was kill, just like that, repeating a way of life washing away the bloodstains with new fresh blood, until she fell into an ambush and was captured, then trapped in prison.
After being thrown into jail, she was at a loss—there were no more commands from "Mother," and she suddenly didn’t know what to do.
"Pleasure to meet you, prisoner 3201. I never expected the legendary ’Filthblood Reaper’ to be such a young child. I’m Aiden, the warden here, prisoner 3201, I want to ask you, would you work for me?" the man said to her, shackled in handcuffs and leg irons, through the iron table.
"Is that an order?" she replied subconsciously.
Following Mom’s words, that was her way of survival.
Only now, "Mother" was gone.
The man before her seemed to be planning to replace "Mother" to give her orders—that was her first thought.
However, the man uttered something unimaginable, "It’s not an order, I’m asking for your opinion. This is just a proposal, you can refuse."
"Then should I refuse?" she didn’t understand the meaning of this "order."
"That’s not what I mean either..." The man seemed a bit helpless, "What I mean is, you can choose for yourself."
After a long thought, she asked, "Like deciding the method to kill someone?"
"Uh... well, sort of." Aiden sighed, "Personally, I would suggest you work for me. After all, you’re probably going to spend quite a long time in this prison, and to survive here, you need to learn the rules of the prison."
"Are the rules here different from outside?"
"They are different."
"Okay, then I can." She agreed without much thought, "Who do you want me to kill? I only know how to kill." freewebnoveℓ.com
"The first rule I’m going to teach you is that you can’t kill people here," Aiden suddenly said earnestly.
"Can’t kill?"
"Right, you can’t. If you don’t kill, don’t break the rules, you can lead a secure life here."
"Okay, I will obey," she had said.
And so, the rules for survival changed from heeding her mother’s words to obeying the rules Aiden taught her.
Aiden had not lied to himself; by following the new rules, he indeed had started living a stable life.
No need to kill anymore, nor was there anyone hunting him down.
Until "Mother" appeared before him once again.
...
"Prisoner 3201!!"
A sharp call snapped Avansa out of her reverie.
Standing before her was the usual prison guard responsible for her lessons.
"What are you daydreaming about again? Class is over, why are you still standing there zoning out?" The guard stood at the door with a stern face, knocked on the door frame, and said, "Hurry up and come out, it’s time to go back!"
Outside in the corridor, the underage criminals like her were already lined up in a row, and among them were the twins, unmistakably present.
"Got it," Avansa said as she got up and followed them outside.
Ever since "Mother" appeared, her mind had been in turmoil, like a tangled mess she couldn’t clear up.
This was an unfamiliar feeling for her. Until then, all she had needed to do was to comply simply, whether it be the orders from "Mother" or the rules taught by Aiden—that was the law of survival for Avansa.
Leaving this prison was "Mother’s" command.
But the new rules Aiden had taught her stated she absolutely must not leave this place.
Using obedience as her principle of survival, she now found herself caught in a logical contradiction.
If she left the prison, she would have to return to her previous life, endlessly killing under "Mother’s" orders.
To stay meant continuing this "stable life" Aiden spoke of, where she didn’t need to kill or fear being killed.
Could it really be that she had to make the choice herself?
What was her own opinion... then?
"I’m not commanding; I’m asking for your opinion," Aiden seemed to say to her often.
Just like deciding how to kill her target—those were the past instances where the only decisions that were hers to make.
"Sister."
A whisper from ahead brought Avansa’s attention back to the present.
Addressing her was the elder of the twin assassins, who were trained by "Mother" just like her and were now standing right in front of her.
Avansa looked at the twins in front of her, recalling Aiden’s past instructions to keep an eye on the twins’ movements.
From her observations, the twins had not done anything out of line so far. Just like her, they attended classes, abiding by the rules of the prison.
The only noteworthy detail was that both had come down with a fever the day before yesterday, spent the entire day in the infirmary, and then returned to class this morning as usual.
"What is it?" she responded indifferently. She felt no special sentiment toward these twins who had emerged from the same training as herself.
As the perfect product of Meiruki’s minions, she never had contact or interaction with her other siblings.
She had always operated alone when it came to killing; helpers who were far less skilled than her would only hold her back.
Joint training and competition were even more out of the question; no sibling could touch the shoes she wore.
"This is, Mother’s command," finally, the younger of the twins turned her face towards her.
"Command?" Avansa paused for a moment.
Had "Mother" sent them to relay a message to her?
However, in the next instant, the devil’s claws, bound by bandages and shackles, swung towards her face, their tips aimed directly at her eyes.
