“So, what do you think?”

“You should be fine. It won’t leave a scar. On a normal person it might, but your assassin genes will help with the regeneration,” Rafael grunted. He sat down again, his back rigidly straight. “So, once again, please tell me exactly what happened.”

“Wait. Do our genes really help with that?” Nathan asked.

“Well, kind of. You won’t regrow a limb or a finger, but scars and minor injuries heal comparatively faster. Now, back to what happened.”

“Of course. As I said, I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of Roy screaming somewhere in the distance. I immediately went after him. After observing him for a while during our trip, I came to the conclusion that he wouldn’t be shouting that way just because he got scared by a bat.”

Nathan paused to take a sip of water. “I heard his shouts get muffled, so I knew he must’ve been abducted. While I was approaching the place where Roy was held, I suddenly got attacked from above. I felt an intense danger. I suddenly got really sweaty, and I got goosebumps all over my body,” he said, shivering. “He must’ve been an assassin. You said he wasn’t from Occidendum?”

“No, he wasn’t. Please, finish your story. I need to make sure we’ve got every detail before we continue.”

“Right. Well, after we had a small exchange, and after this happened,” Nathan continued, pointing to his forehead, “I created a plan that would help me beat the assassin. He was a lot stronger than me, and definitely more experienced. I didn’t want to fight him head-on, especially with Roy’s life on the line.”

Rafael raised an eyebrow, to which Nathan promptly added, “He’s my bargaining chip in Occidendum, of course.”

“Sure.” Rafael gave a faint smile.

“Whatever. The plan was to grab a knife from the ground and vanish without the man seeing where I went. Since he most likely assumed I used Quickstep, the sharp turns I made with my Shadowsteps allowed me to lose him in the dense forest. After that, I waited for a while and then followed Roy’s shouts. Eventually, I found where they, not he but they, were holding Roy. I hadn’t counted on multiple attackers, but in retrospect, I should’ve known. . .” Nathan trailed off, sighing.

“Well, it worked out, so no need to be pessimistic. I climbed up a tree. Climbed, mind you, not Shadowstepped, because I wasn’t sure if that would work. Do you think it would have?”

“Hmm, that’s a good question.” Rafael ran his fingers through his beard thoughtfully. “I suppose it wouldn’t if you’d just jumped up. If you’d used the tree trunk as a way of propelling yourself, though, that should have worked fine. Maybe we can test it out today?”

“Sure! That would be amazing. Do we have something we can use here?”

“We’ll think of something,” Rafael smiled. “Please, continue.”

“Ah, yes. So, I had to adjust my plan a little because I saw that there were actually two assassins, not just one. I picked up two rocks and as I said, I climbed up the tree. I had to be really careful, not to make any sound. Luckily, they were too busy bickering, so it went smoothly. I threw one rock at the first attacker, hoping he would mistake it for a knife. I used the brief window where he was concerned with the flying rock to throw the knife I picked up earlier. I aimed for the kidney, and it worked. I would’ve had a hard time if he hadn’t been completely stationary.”

“But you’re saying he didn’t die, right?”

“No, I couldn’t kill him. I mean, physically, it wasn’t possible for me,” Nathan added hurriedly. “I was bleeding from my forehead and I was becoming extremely lightheaded. I had to finish the second one quickly. Otherwise, they would have realised it was all an act.”

“I see.”

Rafael paused, lost in thought. He still wasn’t sure that Nathan was ready to take someone’s life. That was the only thing he couldn’t prepare him for.

“After that,” Nathan went on, “I dropped the second rock I had into the bush below me. The rustling attracted the second assassin, whom I’d also dealt with. After that, they were too battered to go on, and so was I, so I let them escape.”

“Did anyone see you fighting?”

“Apart from the two assassins and Roy, nobody.”

“How did Roy take it?”

“Surprisingly, he didn’t seem to care at all. Kind of like he expected it. But then again, it wasn’t a full fight. I only threw one knife and kicked once. It was fast and perhaps he didn’t even see all of it properly.”

Rafael fell silent again. Nathan waited, giving him time to think. It seemed that Rafael was finally going to tell him what was going on.

“How much do you know about Rhitrea?” Rafael asked at last.

“The country? Not much,” Nathan admitted. “I never paid much attention during geography lessons, so my knowledge is limited when it comes to other countries. Even our country, actually. Now that I think about it, how could I have been so idiotic?” Nathan realised, with a pang, that he’d berated his classmates for similar things. He’d ignored most of the instruction at school, thinking that fighting would get him through.

“You mentioned that,” Rafael said. “And honestly, if I can give you a piece of advice, it would be to catch up on all of that. Knowing history and geography will help you a lot. Even in the scheming you love so much.”

“Yeah, you do have a point. . .”

“Well, in that case, let me go into detail about what’s going on. I think you deserve to know.”

As Nathan watched Rafael, he saw something he hadn’t expected to see—slight fear. Albeit slightly, he was scared of something. Was it a strong enemy he was scared of, or just changing times?

“The assassins you met weren’t from our country. They were foreigners from Rhitrea. Currently, our whole country is filled with rats from Rhitrea trying to destabilise our company.”

“Wh—”

“Because if they can destabilise Occidendum, they can do the same thing Daeril did to the other two companies—take over them and expand their territory exponentially.”

“Holy shit. That. . . how long has this been going on?”

“A couple of months now, maybe longer. We found out a couple of months ago when they completely abandoned subtlety and went all out. They started targeting our assassins, sabotaging our missions, and even infiltrating our ranks.”

“Why don’t you attack back?”

“It’s not so simple. We can’t do that.”

“Because Rhitrea is bigger than Raelethe?”

“Exactly. Our country is not only smaller in terms of population and size, but also in terms of assassins. Do you know the current situation in Rhitrea?”

“Kind of ashamed to admit it, but no. I have no idea.”

“Rhitrea now is similar to what Raelethe was twenty-five years ago. There isn’t one company holding a monopoly, but four of them. Two of them are weaker, but still, a force to be reckoned with. If we went into a full-on war with either one, we would have a high chance of winning. If they grouped up on us, they would have a slight edge.”

“I presume they aren’t the ones sending their assassins here.”

“No. That would be one of the other two. We also don’t know which company they’re affiliated with.” Rafael sighed and clutched his head. “This is kind of a bother, but also a lot of fun. I wish I was young again. I could just ignore the underlying problems and go all out.”

Nathan decided to remain silent.

“So, that’s the gist of it, pretty much,” Rafael said after a while. “We’re being invaded by a foreign country, or rather its assassins, who want to take over Occidendum and rule our country. After all, taking over the assassins of a country makes it a lot easier to control from the inside.”

“Is there anything we can do? I mean, I highly doubt Daeril would fall for this.”

“He’s already setting up some plans. I don’t know the details—he only tells me what needs to be done.”

“Anything I can do to help?”

“For now, just concentrate on becoming an assassin. That’s when we can talk about you helping out.”

“All right,” Nathan sighed. As much as he wanted to help, there wasn’t much he could do right now that would be of any use.

At a sudden vibration from his pocket, he reached for his phone. His eyebrows rose as he read the message on the screen.

“What’s wrong?” Rafael asked curiously.

“That’s the thing. I don’t know myself.” Nathan turned his phone around and showed the peculiar message from Roy.

“Hey man, could you please come to our place? I want to ask you something. It’s nothing urgent, so no worries. Thanks.”

“That’s weird,” Rafael said. “Maybe he wants to confess his feelings for you.”

“Fuck off!”

“But. . . you’ve got to admit. . .” Rafael laughed, “. . . that would be funny.” He clasped his hands in front of his face. “Oh, Natey!” he said, wheezing in an absurdly high-pitched voice, “I really love you!”

Rafael was howling, but Nathan didn’t find it funny. “I swear to god, you and my father are like two sides of the same coin. I bet if you’d send a video of this to the assassins that are invading your old ass, they would fall dead laughing.”

“I might. . . just do that.” Rafael wiped his tears. “Oh, dear lord.” He took a moment to calm down before he spoke again. “So, do you want to go find out if he loves you right now, or will you go tomorrow?”

“You know what? I planned on going tomorrow, but oh—what’s this?” Nathan took his hand out of his pocket with a middle finger standing up like a lone soldier. “Oh, yeah. It’s a ‘fuck you’.”

“Off you go, then. I’m gonna go take a nap before I head back.” Rafael stood, grabbed his deck chair, and walked out to the training room. “See ya, Nathan.”

Nathan sighed. What had he done to deserve this?

***

Nathan arrived at the Moore mansion a few hours later. Roy opened the door as soon as the bell sounded.

“Were you waiting behind the door?” Nathan demanded.

“I mean, I knew you were coming any minute, so I waited here. Nothing else to do, really.”

“I see,” Nathan replied warily.

“Come in. Let’s go to my room.” Roy wasn’t beaming as he spoke, but Nathan could tell he was still happy to see him.

“So, what did you want to discuss?” he asked.

“Not here. I think we better talk about it in private.” Roy looked around him and turned to Nathan, whispering. “I don’t want Dayla or Mum knowing about this. You’ll understand.”

“Ah. . . Okay?” Nathan suddenly felt lightheaded as he remembered what Rafael had said earlier.

When they arrived at Roy's room, which was uncharacteristically tidy, Roy plopped into his chair and motioned for Nathan to sit on the bed.

“So, what was it you wanted to discuss?” Nathan asked with a crack in his voice.

“Ehm. . . how do I say this?” Roy's eyes were darting around the room. “After what happened during our trip, I realised something that I should’ve known a lot sooner. I’m weak and pathetic. I mean, look at me.” Roy flailed his skinny arms around. “I should start doing something about it. And that’s why I want to ask you, Nathan, if you could help me become stronger. I want to know how to fight. I want to know how to defend myself and my family.”

“Oh, thank god!” Nathan released the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. “What do you mean by ‘thank god’?” Roy crossed his arms. “It’s not funny that I’m weak, you moron!” “That’s not what I mean. It’s just that for a second there, I thought you were going to say something else.”

“What was I supposed to say?” Roy said, visibly confused.

“For the sake of our friendship, I would rather not disclose that information.”

“English, please?”

“I won’t tell you.”

“Ah. If you say so. Well, whatever.” Roy shrugged. “What do you think about that? Would you be willing to train me?”

Nathan considered the repercussions, but he couldn’t make such an important decision on the spot. “I don’t know if that’s the best idea. That’s why I need to consider it,” he said at last.

Roy’s shoulders dropped and his smile disappeared. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t help you for now,” Nathan said quickly. “I can give you a training plan that will help you gain some muscle. Either way, you can’t start doing much fighting looking like a Halloween prop. You’ll need to gain some muscle, and only then can I possibly start training you in martial arts.”

“R—really?” Roy beamed. “That’s amazing! Thanks, Nathan!”

“No worries. We’re friends, after all.” Nathan’s lips curled up. “Are you fine with going to the gym every two days? It won’t be easy. I can go with you every now and then, but for the most part you’ll have to work alone.”

“Sure, that’s fine.”

“I don’t know where the nearest gym is, but I suggest you find—”

“We have a gym on the second floor.”

“Ah, yes. My bad. I forgot. It’s right next to the private dock and airport.”

“We don’t have an airport or a dock. What are you talking about?”

“Never mind. Now that I think about it, we also. . . yeah, whatever.” Nathan had suddenly realised that he also had a huge training facility exponentially more expensive than a gym. “I don’t really feel up to the task today, but I can stop by tomorrow and we can go through your first training. You’ll go full-body, three or four times a week for around forty minutes.”

“Okay. I have no idea what full-body means, but sure.”

“Like you’ll train all the body parts. The ones that are supposed to be trained,” Nathan added, just to make sure Roy wouldn’t think about his head and toes.

“Ah, I see.” Roy paused and an awkward silence lingered for a while before he finally spoke again. “Wanna play some pool again?”

“Why not? You better not lose this time. I beat you on my second game last time.”

“You’re either a freak or a liar. I don’t believe your bullshit about never playing pool before.”

“I swear, it’s true.”

“Yeah, sure.”