The Talentless Inheritor

It was a few days after Gilbert's defeat. The entire capital was in a state of festivity.

For the first time in two decades, a Sage was born. A Sage was the peak of power in contemporary times. When there were no Sages appearing in one decade, although people were bewildered, it was still acceptable. But, when two decades passed, people became nervous.

If there weren't any new Sages and the old Sages had died of old age, who would protect humanity?

That's why the birth of a new Sage was something to be celebrated. With that, at least the next decade or two was secured.

"A Sage..."

Sebastian muttered. He was in the library today as well. Usually, there would be at least three or four people in the library but now—save for the library aide—Sebastian was the only person here. Even though the Sage had yet to come to their city, there were already stalls and celebrations ongoing.

"Ah, there you are," Willow approached Sebastian, "we're going to the town and roam around some stalls, do you want to come? You can invite the president if you want too."

Sebastian wryly smiled. He had already roamed the town yesterday, wasn't going for two days in a row too much?

"I'm good. The actual person isn't even visiting yet, why are there already stalls?"

Willow shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. But, I'm not complaining. More festivities mean less school after all. We'll get you some food from what we can find."

Sebastian waved Willow goodbye and continued burying himself in the books. After ten minutes since Willow left, another person stood in front of Sebastian's table. If the person had just sat down immediately or left, then he wouldn't have thought much of it but the person stared at him.

"...?"

Sebastian looked up at the person. "Can I help you?" He asked.

"Mind if I sit down here?"

The man pointed at the chair in front of Sebastian. It was strange that he chose that as a seat when there were dozens of others but Sebastian didn't have any reason to refuse, "go ahead."

The two of them sat in front of each other and read their own respective books. Sebastian even forgot the existence of the person in front of him after just a few minutes.

By the time he finished, the man in front of him put down the book as well.

"You're quite studious," the man commented.

Sebastian waved his hands and started arranging the books, "not at all. I'm just trying to catch up on all the lessons I've missed and failed to understand."

There were quite a lot after all.

"Nevertheless, it's rare to see a comrade-in-arms. I've only seen a few people who can delve into academic books so deeply without muttering a complaint every few minutes."

'I get you.'

Sebastian chuckled for a bit and finished, "mind telling me your name? I'm Sebastian."

The man looked at Sebastian for a second before flashing a smile, "Simon. It's a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to meet you."

...

"I'm late..."

Sebastian wrapped the bandages around his arms even more tightly. He could hide them with gloves, but he still needed something to cover his burns from rubbing. He equipped the mask and cloak that he always wore at night and retrieved his weapons.

It was already past midnight but Sebastian sneaked out regardless. He jumped over the academy's walls and headed downtown. There was nary a person on the road he walked.

Even though he had done the same many times before, this was the first time he was doing it alone. Balanos was no longer with him and he had to rely on himself for any sneak attacks.

He walked towards a well-furnished building and walked inside without so much as a knock.

The moment Sebastian took three steps inside, his eyes flashed and he moved his spear to block the incoming arrows. The arrows landed on the floor but Sebastian didn't let down his guard and slowly advanced.

Although the building looked very new, the inside was quite dark. There weren't any lights on and Sebastian could only navigate using the moonlight. He managed to block several arrows coming towards him with just the b.a.r.e minimum of light with his tuned senses.

All of a sudden, he saw a glint. He only saw it for a fraction of a second but it was enough for him to see it. Sebastian lowered his spear and cut the tripwire on the blade.

CRASH

There was a loud crash accompanied by the falling of the chandelier on the room's overhead. It was placed right in front of the tripwire. If a person were to have triggered the tripwire, then the chandelier would drop in less than three seconds.

Sebastian calmly moved around the chandelier and moved towards the stairs. His goal was the main hall and he had to go through a couple more rooms to get there.

Contrary to expectations, the stairs didn't have a trap. But, as soon as Sebastian stepped onto the second floor, his foot went a layer down, accompanied by a cl.i.c.k.i.n.g sound. He turned around a huge cylindrical object was charging towards him. His first reaction was to duck, but there was no room.

Sebastian could only hold his spear out to block it.

BANG

He was sent flying through the wall. Though the spear took the brunt of the damage, his back still had to take the damage of breaking through the surprisingly hollow wall.

Sebastian's eyes flashed and he stabbed the spear into the wall and held on. There was a pitfall right below him and he could make out what seemed to be spikes.

"Isn't this a little too dangerous?!" he couldn't help but yell out.

Right now, he was in the lair of Blue Rose. He wanted to get stronger—and the only way he could think of was through them.

Sebastian gritted his teeth and pulled himself up. He walked back to his previous spot and breathed in deeply.

He consumed a fourth of the stigma's energy at once and took a sprinting position.

Accompanied by a flurry of wind, Sebastian ran through the hall. Any trap he saw would get destroyed by the spear. He threw caution to the wind and took the risk.

Maybe the assassins didn't foresee such a situation as none of the traps were designed to stop his advance, unlike the log.

BANG CRASH THUMP CLANG

The originally quiet and tranquil building became as noisy as people in a festival. There were guillotines, moving figures, poisoned arrows, and a variety of other traps. It took Sebastian five minutes to clear the rest of the traps on his way and end up in the main hall. Once he stepped inside, the entire room lit up and he had to close his eyes for a second to let himself adapt.

He navigated through the rest of the building in darkness, which meant that his eyes had already adapted to the darkness and exposure to any bright lights all of a sudden would hurt his eyes.

"Welcome to Blue Rose."

There was a long rectangular table with people seated by the sides and the forefront. The figure at the forefront stood up and bowed slightly.

The person that greeted him still wore the same suit they wore that day when they greeted Sebastian. That person was the third seat of the Blue Rose, and also the person who invited him.

Sebastian took out the faux blue rose that he had been given and threw it straight at the third seat who caught it splendidly.

"Your people told me to come to this building if I wanted to contact you, why was I met with more than a dozen traps?"

He couldn't act passively. If he planned to join them, then it wouldn't do for him to act so weak.

"It was a test. A test to see if you are capable of joining Blue Rose. Although you intrigue me, I can't say for certain that you're what the organization needs. Seeing as how you reached this place in less than ten minutes, you have a passing grade—just barely.

"We'd also need to remake all the traps you broke, couldn't you just have avoided them?"

'This person is either a woman or a very effeminate man...'

Sebastian silently thought to himself and removed his mask.

"I don't plan to join Blue Rose yet, but I am planning on cooperation. I'll remove my mask to show my faith."

The assassins surrounding the table all fell into silence and looked at the third seat. In response, the third seat removed their mask and Sebastian was stunned.

She was breathtakingly beautiful. If to his eyes, Amy seemed like the most beautiful flower—unblemished and pure, then this woman in front of him was a m.a.t.u.r.e rose. Her face had a healthy rosy glow and her eyes were of a striking red. Her crimson hair waved when she let down her cloak. If he had to describe her with one word, then it would definitely be 'temptress'. She didn't need to do anything to charm others into doing what she wants. A true femme fatale.

Those pair of eyes seemed to see through him completely.

"Charmed?"

Only after hearing her teasing tone did Sebastian recover his senses. That was dangerous. A rose might be beautiful, but it also had thorns for those who d.e.s.i.r.e more than admiring it from afar. To covet a rose would mean needing to face the thorns.

"The other people on this table will eventually reveal their faces to you when you officially join Blue Rose which I don't think is very far away."

Sebastian didn't say anything while the woman pointed at one of the chairs. Sebastian obediently sat down and waited for her to speak.

"As you all know, our guest today is Sebastian Sol. He took out one of our members that was sent after him and I extended an invitation afterward. Although 20 isn't a named, he isn't someone that a regular person can kill so easily.

"He has yet to show his intentions to become a full-fledged member. I gave him the option to become a temporary member. He can become a full-fledged member after earning our recognition and then accepting with his own will."

The woman moved her eyes towards the right side of the table—opposite of Sebastian.

"31, you are to be accompanied by Sebastian to escort the client. You are to teach him the guidelines and rules we have while doing so."

The figure called 31 stood up.

"You are temporarily granted the name of Hound for this mission. Sebastian will be granted the name Fox as per his mask to make things simpler. Fox, you will be briefed by Hound after this meeting. The mission will start in three days, I have high expectations of you two."