Stygia is a huge country located along the northeastern part of the world, with its northern up to eastern part of the land completely exposed to the sea. The modern cities comprising the whole country are highly urbanized and its technology is surely well developed and still progressing forward. Nature, on the other hand, is also well protected as abundant forest and lakes are cleaned and clear from pollution. This is the same scenario even on the country borders where the small city of Borquier is located.

Surely, even the wildlife animals are having a great time living here but that’s not the reason why forests and natures are being discussed. It’s because there’s a large number of armed mercenaries hiding in the forest waiting to assassinate someone. Among them is a scout wearing a mask who’s currently observing the road for vehicles above the giant trees and said,

“Are sure that the old king’s convoy will pass through here? Looking at my binoculars all day is tiring and boring. I even used a detection the whole day to gather crucial information.”

“Aren’t you trained for that kind of task? Based on your resume, you are a trained scout so stop complaining and keep your focus on the scopes for information. A scout complaining about scouting is something I don’t want to see.”

“Hey, no need for harsh words boss, I’m Just being cautious here since Stygia is such a powerful enemy to clash with. This set up for ambush is just so easy that I’m feeling something’s not right here, As if they just left the door wide open for us to go in and rob everything inside the house while they wait in the dark to subdue us.”

“That’s because we have someone inside the house to open the door for us the moment everyone’s asleep, In short, a spy within the old king’s side that made our task easier and faster.”

“You don’t say, boss? Of course, it’s our good old spy that made everything like a walk in the park but you know boss, we must not blindly trust a spy.”

“Care to explain why?”

“Because I’m worried that the spy over there was already been busted and just feeding us false information to save his life while the Stygian military is preparing themselves to finish us here.”

The skeptical scout has a point about being cautious. They are currently within the borders of the Stygian territory and they are waiting to ambush one of the most powerful individuals in the whole world. If they really got tricked by that spy then only death awaits them as no help will arrive just to rescue them. The mercenary boss is aware of this and as the leader of the pack, he needs to assure his member’s morale and make sure they are in the right condition to fight.

“That will absolutely not happen I assure you. I swear on my pride as the mercenary boss.”

“I see you are really confident about this boss but it's our lives on the line here so no offense but we need more than your pride to assure us here of success or maybe you know something that we people here don’t? Care to share that information for some assurance boss?”

“There is no secret of anything, It’s just like what I said, the spy just made everything easy.”

“Cmon boss, I believe there’s more to that, we are assassinating some powerful person here and I believe this is not just your typical job.”

He was right again. There must be a great power behind this if the target is the old king himself. The mercenary boss’ confidence in the operation was a giveaway to the scout that he knows something that they don’t. Ultimately, this big number of mercenaries just to ensure the kill of a single man was really suspicious.

“Damn this is rare, you are the only guy here to doubt this shady operation and asked me the necessary yet critical questions so I commend you for having a sharp sense right there lad. I will admit, you’re right when you said I know something that you don’t.”

“Heh, I knew it! It’s because I’m a scout, after all, sniffing through hidden things are my forte.”

He was still on his binoculars while he was speaking to his boss, Such discipline could be observed from the scout as he chit-chats with the boss. Perhaps that sharp sense of him made his image better in the eyes of his boss up to the point he could trust him.

“Ho Ho Ho, Now that's a scout I'm currently seeing and I want. I’m not supposed to tell anyone about this but since you’re nagging then I will tell you a secret.”

“Ohhh! I thought you will not say it and shrugged me off but I’m wrong. Rest assured that no one except the two of us is here. I don’t detect any people around or suspicious noise so reveal that secret of yours, boss.”

“Alright! Alright, just promise me that you stay quiet after this okay?!”

“How many times I will say it, boss? I will never tell anyone a thing. I also swear on my pride as a professional scout.”

That promise and swear of pride from the scout might not be that valuable to others when weighing whether they will trust them over this secret information but the mercenary boss knew that this scout would just keep sniffing on his back, therefore, he made a decision to just tell that guy about the secret and be done with it.

“It’s because this operation was both coordinated and carefully planned by a certain powerful individual from Stygia and its neighboring magic kingdom Egalor.”

“What?! Some guy from Stygia have a hand in this assassination attempt? I can understand Egalor pulling this stunt since those two are not on good terms but someone from Stygia trying to assassinate the old king during the ascension ceremony is just gonna create a disaster for the country.”

“You are correct there, this timing of assassination will surely give the most impact if it’s done on the same day as the ascension ceremony of the new ruler jin but we are mercenaries. We don’t ask for reasons and motives on why we need to execute this. We only do what we are tasked to do.”

“Wow… to think someone this big is behind this. Now I can understand why we were hired for this job. It’s because they mustn’t provide any clear reason for Stygia to wage war against them. Though I’m still curious about this secret person of Stygia giving us inside information. Why would he/she do it, boss?”

“I’m also curious and now that I almost forgot, I’m about to ask our employer about it but never had the courage to ask because I feel that it’s too dangerous to get involved any deeper.”

The mercenary boss remembered the meeting he had with his employer inside an abandoned house somewhere in Egalor kingdom, he was handed with a single letter with a magic seal. The employer never revealed his face and no talking happened either so no voice was heard too. Only written instructions were given to him and some pictures of the targets and strategic places.

“Damn boss, our employer must be a very ominous person for you not to ask some questions. I guess your mercenary experience and instinct save your life out there.”

“Hahaha, it really must be my survival instinct that ultimately saved me but if I’m given a chance to give a reason to his/her actions, I guess he/she don’t like the two factions and want to rule the country for his own agenda.”

“Now that’s a convincing reason boss, perhaps you’re might be even correct there. Why waste the opportunity if you have a chance of a lifetime to make the two factions fight over themselves while that you sneakily get to the throne and become the hero. Not bad at all.”

“Enough chit-chat. Are you focusing on your job scout? We’ve been talking here for some time now and I hope you didn’t miss anything because you lost focus.”

“Relax boss, everything’s fine and I got this. No one will escape my surveillance. I suggest you rest for a moment since I’m in a really good mood to scout after I heard everything from you, boss.”

“Okay then, just call me here if you find something.”

“Gotcha.”

The mercenary boss started to lean on one of the huge trees near him to temporarily relax after he discussed the secret information to the scout. Now, the scout finally figured it out why the boss is really confident on this operation, having a big backer such as the Egalor kingdom and a certain someone from Stygia would really give you the assurance of success. Although the scout still had some question in mind before had a chance, he saw something far away.

“Boss! I see the convoy approaching a few kilometers away. Multiple armored vans are escorting a jet black limousine located at the middle part of the line. I will go now and move now to my designated battle position.”

“Understood, I will inform everyone to get ready and stay alert.”

He brought out his communication device and started to inform everyone.

“Everyone go to your battle positions. I repeat once more, Everyone please go to your battle positions. The target has been spotted and will go through this point after around…”

“Twenty minutes boss.”

“Alright, twenty minutes. Prepare for the operation and make sure this goes without a hitch.”

“Yes, boss!”

Multiple responses were heard after the mercenary boss gave out the order. You would expect that rustling of leaves or breaking of twigs on the ground would be heard all around the forest but not a single noise was made. These are not your typical hired muscles that you can get anywhere. These people are professional assassins.