The days that followed returned to a quiet routine.
Hel spent most of her time working with Neve in the goblin ruins, tinkering with their mechanical puppet.
Sebas and the others, however, had a far more eventful week.
One day, as Hel was busy at her workbench, Sebas appeared carrying a corpse over his shoulder.
"Another assassin?"
Hel glanced up at the body and sighed.
"How many times has this happened this week?"
"This makes the fifth, my lady," Sebas replied calmly.
"But unlike before — when they sent low-level, first- or second-tier assassins — this time, they sent a third-tier."
"These people must have steel for skulls…"
Hel looked utterly speechless.
Ever since Gerhard left Heim City, Heim Castle had been plagued by repeated assassination attempts.
At first, the assassins had tried simple tricks — poisoning the food or water.
But Hel hadn't even been staying in the castle recently, and there wasn't a single living person left inside it.
Their careful poisoning attempts had killed no one and had even exposed the few spies they'd planted in Heim City.
So, the attackers had escalated, sending stronger extraordinary assassins — yet the moment they entered Heim Castle, Sebas sensed them.
The result, as always, was the same.
"My lady," Sebas said gravely, "this time, I managed to extract some information from the man's soul."
"Oh?" Hel raised an eyebrow. "Let's hear it."
"They belong to an organization called the Assassin Brotherhood.
They're said to rival the Thieves' Guild in power — only, their methods are far more secretive and ruthless.
Rumor has it, if you pay them enough gold, there's no one they can't kill. They even succeeded in assassinating a king once."
"Assassinated a king?"
Hel frowned slightly. If they could kill a monarch — someone of royal or even king-tier strength — then this was no small organization.
But her expression soon relaxed.
"Still… any group rich enough to hire them to kill a king wouldn't bother targeting a minor count like me.
From the assassins they've sent so far, it's obvious the client has no idea how strong we really are.
So it's probably not Gerhard."
"Could it be those nobles you turned away from the city before?" Sebas suggested.
"There's a chance," Hel admitted, "but not a large one. They left in such a hurry that they couldn't take much wealth with them.
Most of their assets are in land and estates — not exactly liquid funds for paying assassins.
But…"
Sebas noticed her tone shift and leaned forward. "You've got a suspect, don't you, my lady?"
"Just a theory."
Hel nodded and continued,
"My guess? The culprit is once again our late duke. I suspect he told Brenda about the secret mithril mine in Heim before he died.
And unlike the old duke, Brenda doesn't have his patience.
Once she took power, she'd immediately start looking for a way to claim Heim back under her control.
If subtle schemes don't work, she might even resort to open warfare."
"If it's Brenda, that's possible," Sebas agreed, "but I doubt she'll send troops outright.
Once nobles turn their swords on one another, the pressure from the Noble Council — not to mention the Church — would crush her.
Remember, it's written in the constitutions of all three empires: human lords must not slaughter one another. It's also a divine decree."
Hel smiled faintly. "Sebas, sometimes evidence doesn't matter at all."
"What do you mean, my lady?"
Sebas frowned, unsure where this was going.
"Reports," Hel said softly, "are written by people. And people can write whatever they please.
When their armies break into my city, they can easily 'find' fake evidence in my chambers — forged reports, false letters — whatever they need to justify it."
Sebas's expression darkened.
"As long as I still draw breath, my lady, such a thing will never happen."
Hel chuckled and waved him off. "Calm down, Sebas. I'm only saying — that sort of thing only happens when one side is too weak to fight back.
That's why I founded the Heim Knight Order in the first place."
She rested her hands on her hips, her confidence radiating.
"After all, strength is only a deterrent when it's visible.
But honestly, I hope Brenda sends her army. That would give me a perfect reason to eliminate her openly.
I've no intention of spending my days guarding against snakes in the dark."
Sebas couldn't help but smile faintly at his young mistress's boldness.
Then Hel suddenly snapped her fingers. "Oh, right — are there any of their people still in the city?"
"None left," Sebas said proudly. "I've captured every member of the Assassin Brotherhood within Heim. Most are still alive — under control.
My plan is to feed false information to their Mandrake branch, lure them here, and wipe them out in one move."
"Good. Do it your way."
Hel nodded, stepping toward the corpse Sebas had brought. She extracted a glowing rune fragment — a word node — from its chest.
That, too, was part of her plan.
She was currently forming an intelligence network of her own, and these assassins carried the perfect traits and skills to build its foundation.
Unfortunately, there just weren't enough of them.
While Hel and Sebas discussed strategy in relative calm, things were far less peaceful in Mandrake City.
Duchess Brenda was drowning in endless political affairs and nearly losing her mind from frustration.
And just when she thought it couldn't get worse, news arrived from the Assassin Brotherhood — infuriating news.
Every assassin she'd sent after Hel had failed.
Worse, the Brotherhood had the audacity to claim her information was inaccurate and demanded more money before they'd continue their work.