The Titan’s Intelligence Department, composed solely of highly skilled assassins from a group based in the mountains, mostly collects information about events happening in the Blade Mountain and submits it to the Titan.
Although made up of assassins, it’s extremely rare for them to actually receive assassination missions.
This is because the head of the Titan Family prefers to handle matters personally, rather than resorting to assassinations.
Compared to intelligence guilds or royal intelligence departments, the scope of their work is quite limited and their size rather small; however, they boast impressive strength in the area of Blade Mountain, being adept at navigating its terrain.
The Titan held a formidable secret close to its chest.
“… Are we really okay, Club President?” one of the intelligence members asked.
Everyone inside was nervously clad in black attire.
“I said we’re fine~ Don’t you trust me?”
The person referred to as the Club President, Ebony, was a man with unusually long hair for an assassin.
His facial features were akin to those of other Empire citizens, but his skin was a deep brown, possibly sun-kissed.
While people with similar complexion lived in the southern islands, their features tended to be thicker compared to those of Empire citizens, making it odd that the Club President did not share this trait.
“… Yes…”
“What, you little brat?! Is this insubordination or what?!”
When one of the subordinates expressed doubt, Ebony grabbed a dagger from the desk and threw it.
-Thwack!!
“What?!”
He threw the sharp dagger with a dull sound.
Considering the distance, he had accurately thrown it so that the ‘handle’ part made contact.
“It may seem harsh, but that position cannot simply be maintained by merely inheriting it. You must prove yourself to your retainers.”
The intelligence department had recently been reporting with certain key omissions.
If one had checked the existing records, they would have clearly noticed the missing parts.
At first glance, it may seem like meaningless bullying, but this was akin to an ancient tradition in the Titan Family.
The head of the Titan indicates someone who wields a sword.
Regardless of the methods used, as long as they can grasp their own leash, they will acknowledge their master without question.
“Hey, and I’m not the only one doing this! This was the initiative of the Royal Knight Order!”
“Did they really say that?”
“Yeah!”
“Then… it must be trustworthy.”
The newly appointed head of the family, Metios, wasn’t an incapable leader.
For someone suddenly thrust into the role, he handled things remarkably well.
Despite the Royal Knight Order and Intelligence Department supposedly testing their capabilities, they had yet to make any significant moves.
He only came by occasionally for discussions, mostly just to assess the situation.
After observing the circumstances, I was tense, wondering if there were any hidden measures at play, but fortunately, none had emerged yet.
Had she been born into another family, she surely would have left a mark in history.
She just had one glaring shortcoming.
She hadn’t properly learned from the previous head of the family, Cronos, so she didn’t wield a sword in hand, and she couldn’t execute her own subordinates when they challenged her authority.
This was a significant issue for those who lived in the wild mountains.
“You can’t master skills overnight… In times like this, shouldn’t we be the ones assisting him? If he crumbles, we’re in danger too.”
“Even if it’s not through his own might, if he could somehow sway the head of the Knight Order to his side, that would suffice. But if he can’t even grasp a sword placed right next to him, what then? We’re all looking to the head of the house. If the head is this weak, it means the Titan’s name only goes so far.”
With the nuance that we could abandon ship at any moment, the members began to murmur.
They’d only been told to be loyal to the family, and hearing a Club President say such things was understandably startling.
However, Assassin Leader Ebony was dead serious.
Despite having had several months, Metios hadn’t learned how to respond appropriately from Cronos and now faced the Six Noble Houses.
Meeting the wolves while being unable to command his own men; everyone must have been curious about how capable the new giant was, but if they realized that he couldn’t even manage his retainers properly, one could imagine how brazenly they would behave.
“Club President…! We just received news.”
At that moment, a member burst in with information that shook the room.
“The Knight Order has been ambushed?!”
Ebony questioned his ears.
The Royal Knight Order had been attacked? How was that even possible?
The strength of the Royal Knight Order was something Ebony knew all too well.
Who would dare to ambush the Knight Commander, who was second only to the previous head of the family?
‘Did a rock move?’
Carlos Russell, known as the ‘Sword of the Five Pillars,’ could have easily overpowered the Royal Knight Order.
But thinking about it that way felt odd.
What could Russell possibly gain by attacking the Order at this time?
If he were facing the current Titan, he could easily devour them during a meeting without needing to resort to brute force…
‘Could he possibly be planning to replace the head of the family?!’
If the Royal Knight Order were incapacitated, there would be nothing in the mountains to stop Russell’s advance.
“Are you sure you didn’t misread? Who in the world ambushed them??”
“… There’s a rumor that the Young Master has returned.”
Ebony doubted his ears.
This wasn’t the worst-case scenario he’d envisioned, but it was equally ridiculous.
“The Young Master? What nonsense is that? How could he possibly be in Narni? He hasn’t even been seen in this vicinity since he left.”
After all, they were an intelligence department.
They at least tracked people coming to Narni from outside, and yet they hadn’t heard once of the prodigal firstborn of the Titan returning.
“We haven’t received info regarding his return to Narni, but… some of the staff at the mansion reported seeing him.”
“An intruder!!”
Suddenly, chaos erupted outside.
‘As soon as the news about the Knight Order’s ambush spread, they’re now referring to it as an intrusion?!’
Dressed in black attire, the members rushed towards the intruder.
Armed with various daggers, slipping into the shadows, they appeared ghost-like.
Ebony shouted in panic.
“Don’t kill him! Subdue him!!”
One person suddenly came to mind.
-Bang!!
In an instant, all the members were wiped out.
It was a single attack.
Ebony could feel the immense aura from that blow through his skin.
‘So it’s true that the Knight Commander fell…!’
Though he didn’t understand why they were acting this way upon returning after so long, based on the info alone, Ebony confirmed two things: the opponent was stronger than himself and was hostile toward him.
It was clear that in a direct confrontation, Ebony could not defeat the Knight Commander.
He subtly slipped one foot into the shadows.
It was one of the assassin’s secret techniques, called Shadow Movement.
If he were to fully immerse both feet, he could escape at once.
“Where do you think you’re running off to?”
At that moment, a sword pierced Ebony’s leg.
Atlas, who had been six meters away, suddenly appeared right in front of him and stabbed downward.
“?!!”
“Hey, Intelligence Leader, I hear you’ve been up to some interesting stuff lately?”
Atlas’s blue eyes sparkled.
“Ha… haha, is that you, Young Master? How did you know to come here…”
Ebony recognized instantly that the person before him was the Giant’s heir.
Given that he looked just as he did the last time they met almost ten years ago, it was indeed a surprise.
“Intelligence Leader Ebony… I’m in front of a giant…”
Before the heir of the Giant, Ebony knelt.
“I saw everything you did to try to escape, and you think I’d let you off the hook now?!”
Atlas kicked him in the head.
——————
As soon as he subdued the Knight Order, he directly took down the Intelligence Department as well.
With the Club President present, there was no chance for anyone to escape, and he swiftly knocked them all out.
In just one day, he achieved the critical success of subduing the two most important positions.
The Knight Commander and the Intelligence Leader were thoroughly beaten and would subsequently pledge their loyalty to Metios in turn.
“Brother… You really are strong.”
“Of course.”
After receiving their pledges of loyalty and being handed two swords, Metios’s gaze toward me shifted.
He’d seen enough to know I had a certain level of skill, but he wasn’t fully aware of how strong I really was.
“I’m quite surprised you’re stronger than I expected.”
I hadn’t said how much I had trained with the Royal Knight Order.
“Little brother, this might sound funny, but you can search the entire continent, and there are few stronger than this elder brother of yours.”
“I’m truly grateful to have such a reliable older brother.”
“I suppose at least the minimum requirements have been met?”
“Yes. From here, I’ll have to do my part.”
Metios, holding the supplementary information from the Intelligence Department, spoke up.
“I’m confident in arguing.”
