Chapter 493: The Assassin’s Guild
“Welcome home?” Vanessa asked as she stepped forward into what looked like a giant meeting room. There was a massive oval table in the center that was surrounded by chairs. On the table was what looked like a map, not only of the Kingdom of Cydaria, but of the entire continent. Even the Dwarven Kingdom of Vallum was there in all its glory. “This place has never been a home to me, and you know it. Some may have chosen this life, but as you well know, I am not one.”
That sparked Derek’s interest, but currently, his interest was more focused on the table. He stored what Vanessa had said in his mind for the moment and took a step forward.
“Sure it has,” the Guild Leader said, ignoring Derek, who was no longer standing beside Vanessa. “The guild was your home for some time. You moved all the way up the ranks to eventually become the Vice Leader of the Cydarian branch. If this life was not for you, you would have never been able to accomplish as much.”
“Cydarian branch?” Derek’s attention finally moved away from the map, and his eyes moved up to look at the man who had just spoke. It was interesting, as there didn’t seem to be a head seat. Instead, four seats were arranged around that part of the table—three of which were occupied. The seat furthest to the left was occupied by a woman with silver-gray hair and dull, white eyes. The one next to her was empty. The third one was occupied by the man who was speaking with Vanessa, and another figure who was wearing a cloak covering all of their features was seated in the final chair.
Derek ignored the other two and focused his attention on the man carrying on with Vanessa. He was completely bald, with the same black eyes that Vanessa had. Apparently, it wasn’t uncommon for someone who was raised in the Assassin’s Guild to earn a class related to darkness or shadow. Even the man from before, Lazrus, seemed to have some kind of dark based class—according to his eyes. Derek’s eyes looked over the man for a few more seconds, then back down at the map imprinted into the table. I see… he thought to himself.
“You know exactly why I worked my ass off to get to where I was,” Vanessa said, breaking Derek out of his thoughts. “The higher your rank in the guild, the fewer restrictions. Since I wasn’t able to choose a different lifestyle, the only other way to live was to gain enough power to get some modicum of freedom.”
“Such potential…” the Guild Leader muttered. “It is a shame… truly.”
“Yeah… right,” Vanessa said. “I had so much potential that I’m sure you were plotting something well before my capture. I was growing too powerful and influential for you.”
“I would never.” The man reached up with one of his hands and scratched at his face. “You are my niece, after all.”