Karl no Tensei: Transmigrated as an Assassin with a Mana Meter-Chapter 46: Ch : Assassin Guild [2]

The kaleidoscopic beam of mana stopped as it finished its detection and a void like space appeared at the doorway.

The moment I walked through it, I found myself in a room that didn’t look what the interior of the small huts should have.

I was in a totally different place. In other words, I was teleported from the decaying place to another unknown land.

I glanced behind. At the void that was still present swirling in a dance of tangling shadows, guarding the entrance.

Suddenly I felt a dense breath on my neck, prompting me to turn back quickly despite the shivers that ran down my spine at the moment.

A man in a completely hooded cloak like me stood there, his height a little taller than mine. Only his lower face could be seen.

He spoke, "Don’t dally your time loitering around here. This room doesn’t wait for work to be done... it’s quite impatient."

I nodded as I went past him. He was the guard of this guild, stationed at the same place amongst the shadows of the dimly lighted room for nearly the entire day.

According to others, he was a retired veteran who still couldn’t get out of his obsession for this place which had given him everything in his life. And thus, he spends his life here watching over the entire guild and seeing legendary assassination plots originate.

On top of that, he doesn’t take a single penny for doing this job although the guild does cover for his food and his basic needs in here.

Just a proud senior looking after a bunch of juniors...

I stepped into a room full of secrets and lucrative plots.

Wide wooden boards hung on the roughened walls as hooded figures gathered in front of it. Within these caved space of the board were several notices, each containing assassin requests with the bounty written in neat, scribbled handwriting.

Bounty. The ultimate goal of these assassins.

Or for some, it was a secondary bonus. For them, the thrill in killing targets, in following them without the victim’s knowledge, into sneaking past very guard of their victim.... that was what they craved.

A psychotic mindset in the right hands.

And then there was me...who just wanted to get over his paranoia of killing humans. Though even for me that was secondary.

My pathway demanded I assassinate to progress in it.

Though even I couldn’t deny that thrill, that anticipation of following my own target...this was a sudden change for me, or maybe it was always, just not under the suitable environment of Earth to harness it.

I made my way to the counter where a fat receptionist with a scarred face sat.

Along the way, I saw occasional glances at my figure. Curious glances.

Arranged across the room were several small, round tables. In most of them, hooded figures like me sat with their clients, whose missions these assassins have accepted.

As I came near the counter, the receptionist raised his head and asked in a bored tone. "Code?"

"Code Azak." I replied, my voice a whisper in this room as I slipped a coin on the table.

The man picked it up and with the same laziness, held it in his palms. He then ran his hands over the curves of the coin as if he was examining something.

Then with a slight tilt of his head he returned the coin to me.

"Hmm...a genuine coin. So want to pick up a quest or do you already have one?"

"Actually I have one already. Today the client was supposed to meet here with me regarding it."

"Ohh..." The man’s mouth went into a slight O and he raised up his form.

"Wait let me find the quest. What was the index of your quest?"

Recalling the number, I answered.

"260815"

This was a sort of index number by which the quests here were marked with. On first look, it might seem that it was the 260815th quest that the guild had given.

However it wasn’t anything like that. In fact, the index could be broken into few fragments.

The first two numbers - 26 - represented the date on which the quest wws taken.

The next two numbers indicated the month in which the quest was marked. In my case it was on 26th August.

The last two numbers were unique. They indicated the nth number of quest that the guild had assigned that particular day.

Which means, 260815 indicates that my quest was the 15th numbered quest that was marked on 26th August.

Also there was a rule - a single quest can have a maximum tenure of only six months. Which also ensures that no two quests with same index can appear in the same year.

As the man across the desk was going through a thick ledge, I muttered under my breath.

"Any news on him?"

The staff paused, his hands tethering over the edge of the pages.

In a curious voice he answered. "Nobody by the name of Azak has appeared...are you really sure someone like that shall approach this place?You seem quite adamant on it."

My lips curled up.

"Of course, he shall...he just needs a catalyst. Actually since I am already here, let me create this catalyst."

"Alright do whatever you want. But remember the costs shall be high...since this looks like a favour from the guild itself."

"Doesn’t matter." I said as I walked away and sat at an empty table.

Taking up a blank sheet from the pile of sheets on the table, I started writing on it.

I wrote "Henry Mordant" as the target. Made up few lies regarding his schedule. And at the end inserted a meagre bounty on it.

’Let’s see if you still don’t show up here...afterall a person like you needs a sponsor that shall help you to kill me...’

Smiling I approached the counter and slapped down the bounty notice on the desk.

"Here, take this new quest. The moment someone takes it, inform me as soon as possible...and remember even more so if the person trying to mark this uses the codename Azak."

The man raised his eyebrows and asked in an incredulous tone.

"Don’t you know it’s against the rule to not allow two of our member from having the same name?"

"Don’t worry. Just for a day or so, let that guy have the same codename as mine. I mean...he won’t be living later to tell the tale."

The man smiled slyly.

"I can allow that...maybe something to shut up my mouth?"

I offered, "All my total earnings from the next two missions are yours."

"Deal."