| Author: Cherish the World | Original Source: SFACG |
| Translator: raltzero | English Source: Re:Library |
In order to cooperate with Evergreen’s actions, I let Moon publicly release news about the assassin being inside West-Resisting City and how Shiloh tried to burn the grain and fodder, as well as how she left a note before doing so. At the same time, I told everyone that although the assassin is very cunning, Bai Huang and her patrol team nearly caught her several times. This way, the people wouldn’t need to worry too much.
“If you see a suspicious person, you can come report it to the City Lord’s mansion. If the assassin is smoothly caught, the informant will be rewarded 10 gold coins.”
This is what I added at the very end.
The reason why I released this piece of news is because the previous matter with Shiloh was only known by her and a few of us from my City Lord’s mansion. If Evergreen went to ask about this without the news being public, his identity would be exposed immediately, so we need to give him some cover.
But even if we’ve given him some cover, Evergreen’s progress still isn’t so smooth.
Shiloh didn’t lower her vigilance towards him. She wouldn’t say a word no matter how he probed her. Approximately a week later, Evergreen came to look for me and told me:
“Shiloh’s gone.”
I opened my eyes wide in shock. Possibly realizing that there were several meanings his words could have, Evergreen hastily waved his hand and clarified:
“I should’ve said that she’s left our side and has gone somewhere we don’t know. Her condition should be better……in fact, we already knew that such a day was coming. She’s used to being a lone operator and will not journey together with someone with the same occupation for long. But there’s also some good news. The night before Shiloh left, she had a little chat with me.”
Evergreen was still as unkempt as before, making him seem incompatible with the precious items in the surroundings of my City Lord’s mansion.
Sitting on a chair, he folded his hands together and said:
“Shiloh admitted to being an assassin dispatched to West-Resisting City. But she wasn’t willing to speak of her origin, but she did give an answer to the question you wanted to ask.”
Evergreen paused for a moment, then whispered:
“Her superiors wish for West-Resisting City to cease outward expansion. She’s been dutifully carrying out this order, but her superior once explained to her that she cannot be seen and can’t tie an unsolvable hatred with West-Resisting City. This is the reason why she sneaked into Fang Thirteen’s military tent to steal a glance at her formation at first, then secretly conveyed the information to Li Neng’s subordinates, thus often thwarting Fang Thirteen’s offensive. But Fang Thirteen’s ability to adapt to changes was much higher than she had imagined. That day, Fang Thirteen calmly lured the enemy away from his territory, then suddenly raided Rivet City. Shiloh had no choice but to take the initiative to assassinate Fang Thirteen. However, she still had to keep her superior’s command in mind, to not create an unsolvable hatred with West-Resisting City. As a result, she didn’t kill Fang Thirteen or Aleya. She simply threatened them a little to force Fang Thirteen to retreat.”
I asked:
“But she didn’t expect Fang Thirteen to not retreat?”
Evergreen nodded, narrowed his eyes, and continued:
“Fang Thirteen chose to gamble. She bet that the assassin wouldn’t kill her and continued launching an offensive on Rivet City without a care for her life. At the same time, she sent back Felita and Aleya to guard against implicating them if she made the wrong call. There was nothing Shiloh could do about it, so she chose to burn down army provisions in West-Resisting City and use this as a means to fulfill her mission.”
Now comes the important point.
I tapped my index finger on the table as I queried:
“Then why did she first leave a note before doing it? Most people wouldn’t expose their own movements like that. To be honest, if she had quietly infiltrated into the granary that day, perhaps she would’ve already succeeded. West-Resisting City is currently unable to deal with an assassin of her calibre and the guards around the granary exist in name only.”
Evergreen responded with a complicated look:
“She said……if she burned the granary like this, too many people would die this winter.”
I was originally using one of my hands to prop up my cheek, but when I heard this, my face smashed onto the table. I didn’t feel like getting up, so just like this, I asked:
“Gone?”
Evergreen answered:
“Gone.”
I lifted up my head with difficulty, then propper it back up again with my hand. After finding a comfortable angle, I inquired:
“How does the amount of people dying in West-Resisting City concern her? What use would it be for her to leave a note? She was still able to easily enter the area and almost burned the rations and fodder that day.”
Evergreen replied:
“I asked her that too. She said that she was reminding you guys that if you aren’t able to protect the granary well, you only have yourself to blame for your incompetence and that it isn’t her being despicable. She even said that she didn’t know what the correct thing to do was, so she did something like this to make herself feel a little more relieved……even if it is merely hypocrisy.”
Evergreen added:
“When she said those words, she appeared a bit sad. I can’t really tell if she really was, it’s just the feeling I felt from her. Her demeanor didn’t change from the beginning to end of the conversation; she had a cold face on the entire time, the type to repel anyone from approaching. But when she said those words, her mood obviously lowered. This is something that I wouldn’t make an error of judgement in. Over the years, I’ve seen too many changes in human emotion.”
I thought to myself in silence.
I don’t doubt the words that Evergreen has said. He was once a spy dispatched to West-Resisting City in his early years, so he must’ve received some professional training. Then, in the past 10 years, he’s been wandering the streets as a homeless person, so he should have an even deeper understanding of people’s expressions and psychology.
“So when she went to assassinate me the other night, she didn’t choose to pierce my heart, but rather——”
Kill the ‘chicken’ to warn the monkey! 1
This is the real kill the chicken to warn the money!
Now that I think about it carefully, the dagger indeed wasn’t aiming for my life. However, if I allowed her to truly succeed, West-Resisting City would’ve had to halt its expansion for a long time. This is because I would’ve closed myself up and made West-Resisting City have to select the next successor. This would have perhaps led to a power struggle.
Evergreen waited for me to finish pondering. When I lifted up head back up, he continued:
“Sir City Lord, I advise you to give up on Shiloh. Even though she appears very simple, she can clearly distinguish between good and evil in this world. Perhaps it would be better to say that those eyes of hers are able to see a person’s heart.”
I questioned:
“Why do you say so?”
Evergreen pursed his chapped lips and suddenly asked back:
“Isn’t sir City Lord baffled as to why she didn’t say so much before and only spoke this time?”
I looked at Evergreen for his explanation. He sighed and elaborated:
“It’s the ‘settle debts’. Before she leaves, she made me give sir City Lord a warning. She said sir City Lord’s very strong, but wonders if sir City Lord will be able to watch out for danger every night. From this day onwards, she won’t leave advance notice for her actions and also won’t hold back. She will do her utmost to kill sir City Lord.”
Evergreen bitterly smiled as he lamented:
“I thought I had already concealed myself very well. But she’s too vigilant. In front of her, it appears that all disguises have no significance. In the beginning, I approached her with pure goodwill, so she accepted my goodwill. But later on, when I went to communicate with her with other purposes in mind, she instantly sensed the difference. I don’t know how she was able to find out that everything’s related to sir City Lord, but I request sir City Lord to be careful.”
