Chapter 114 Chapter 114 “Who did it?!…
The Sicilian chapter of the Brotherhood has been very puzzled lately.
Of course, they were no longer the same power they had been during Ezio's time. The European Templars, once severely damaged by him, had long since re-inflated themselves, once again brutally exploiting the Sicilians. The Assassins fought back, but the story was always remarkably similar, a tragic cycle of history. Unable to withstand the combined pressure of the Bourbon dynasty, the local mafia, and emerging financiers, the Assassins were forced to retreat deeper underground, lingering in the shadows, and finding every possible way to continue their resistance.
Even though they themselves knew that it was almost a drop in the bucket.
But things seemed to be turning around recently—though this was also a source of confusion for them. The rising Vongola Self-Defense Group was rumored to be quite good. Even if the Assassin Brotherhood were to ask themselves, they wouldn't necessarily outperform the Vongola, let alone the Mafia. Giuseppe Mazzini had even hinted that the Vongola might become their ally when the time was right.
This is interesting. Could it be that the Vongola were secretly supporting Mazzini? After all, the Assassins haven't always had the resources to lend generously. They barely have any money of their own, and they're nowhere near the glitz and glamour of Ezio's days—he was an aristocratic banker with an abacus-savvy sister, and they don't!
But the Brotherhood planned to observe the Vongola for a while before making a conclusion. This was mainly because they had found evidence of a secret relationship between the Templars and the Scalera family, and immediately decided to prioritize their old rivals: no matter whether they were from the Vongola or the Clams, the most important thing was to strike at Tempura first!
Thus began the entire plan. Since the Scalera family was housed in a castle—more precisely, a fortress so large that even bringing in artillery would take half a day to blast—the Assassins first observed from the shadows, then formulated a plan (during which there was considerable debate over whether to attack by water or directly by land), then assigned teams (another round of "Let me go!" and so on), then mobilized resources, prepared for the attack, and finally, stunned by the flames rising from the Scalera fortress, reined in their horses...
"This doesn't seem like the surprise attack method we agreed on," the assassin was stunned. "Who's responsible for the feint?"
The assassin next to him raised his hand silently, "We."
"How did you do it?"
"We haven't done it yet!"
"Who did this, then?!"
Now, "Who did it?" became the most pressing question for the entire Sicilian Brotherhood. They inquired and learned that the Vongola crew had arrived shortly afterward to put out the fire—really? They'd come all that far to put it out? They must be incredibly kind. After briefly suspecting the Vongola crew, the assassins debated their combat prowess: How had they managed to "sneak" into the town and the fortress behind it without alerting anyone, and then nearly burn it all down?
Even if it was done by the Vongola, who in the Vongola did it?
The Assassins, deeply skeptical of this conclusion, soon learned another piece of information. It was said that late in the evening after the burning of the Scalera family, a group of the elderly, weak, and sick emerged from the beach behind the fortress. They were victims of human experimentation, hidden underground by the ruthless Mafia—a true Templar style! Upon hearing this, almost all the Assassins booed—but they hadn't escaped on their own.
They were nearly roasted in the ground.
It was a black-haired young man who rescued them. The townspeople could guarantee that they had never seen this young man with a scar on his face (some assassins pricked up their ears when they heard this). He was only wearing a shirt and breeches, and his clothes were ragged, but it was clear that his clothes were made of good material and he came from a good family. He generously gave away his coat, scarf, and vest to those people. Even though his face was covered in black dust and he looked extremely disheveled, it was clear that he was handsome and even very popular with them.
("Why are you telling this?" one of the assassins asked.
"Because I was beaten up by them when I ventured into the Vongola area to gather information," replied Assassin Luigi.
——But most importantly, he was wearing a sword. Not only the long sword at his waist, but also a thick bracer on his arm (the assassins exclaimed: Oh!); he could even see in a pitch-black passage, leading them all the way to the light...
No one spoke for a moment. They were all exchanging heated glances.
"Sounds like Hawkeye." Someone broke the silence.
"Definitely Hawkeye."
"The wrist guard on his arm..."
"Definitely the Hidden Blade."
"The scar on his face..."
"Definitely an assassin!"
While they were excitedly discussing the "dark-haired young man," their mentor, Virgil Guida, simply sat there, watching them with a smile, without speaking a word. Soon, after their excitement wore off, someone raised the next question.
"But if he was an assassin, why have we never heard of him?"
"I heard he used French swordsmanship. Perhaps he came from there."
At the mention of France, the Sicilian Brotherhood fell into a strange silence. In the early years, even before Arno Dorian rose to prominence, the Italian Brotherhood had certainly supported the "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" movement happening next door. But with Bonaparte's coronation and the subsequent transformation of north-central Italy into a French annexed "kingdom," relations between the Italian Brotherhood and the French Brotherhood naturally plummeted.
"The last time the French tried to make friends with us," one assassin said coldly, "we had to work very hard to prevent their iron hooves from setting foot on our land."
At this moment, their mentor, Virgil, spoke at the right moment. As soon as he showed signs of wanting to speak, the other assassins' whispers quickly stopped, and they cast trusting glances at him.
"We don't know if he's an Assassin yet, let alone if he's French," Virgil said slowly. "But from what I've heard from Luigi, he's a generous and kind young man, not only skilled in martial arts but also willing to use that power to help others."
No one could refute this. After all, no matter which assassin was there, they couldn't have done a better job than this mysterious man. So, despite their grudges, this group of young and energetic assassins, who were not yet too proud to acknowledge the achievements of others, quickly came to a conclusion based on the common understanding that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."
They should go and see him, and in a friendly manner.
But then, problems arose.
How on earth could he resist not going out?
The assassins waiting outside were completely baffled. Out of caution and to avoid misunderstandings, they didn't want to get too close to the Vongola's core area. Furthermore, the manor nestled in the mountains was constantly guarded, and the closer they got, the more vigilant the townspeople became. While the assassins wouldn't engage in a fierce fight with the Vongola just to see him, this meant that as long as the mysterious young man didn't leave, the Brotherhood would have to wait patiently.
"If he doesn't come out," Assassin Luigi complained, "we'll have to write a letter to the Vongola in the name of the Brotherhood. We don't know if the letter will actually reach him."
"Be patient, Luigi," the Assassin Maria crouched beside him. "He'll eventually go out. Even if he decides not to, the Mentor will tell us what to do."
Luigi stopped complaining. But he still rolled his eyes, a way of expressing his patience with the word "patience." Maria smiled and gave his shoulder a quick squeeze, causing Luigi to yelp in pain. As usual, Maria ignored him.
But then, Luigi exclaimed exaggeratedly, "Oh!"
"Keep your voice down!" Maria whispered to him.
"Look there!" Luigi lowered his voice quickly, but couldn't hide his excitement as he stretched out his arm. "Does he look like the guy we're looking for?"
Maria perked up and looked in the direction his arm pointed. But in reality, Luigi didn't need to do that, because they could clearly see the townspeople swirling past like a stream, surrounded by a black-haired young man.
He smiled and often lowered his head to allow the older grandmothers to lovingly stroke his curly hair and shoulders and pat his back; the children chattered and tugged at the corners of his clothes, touching the scabbard hanging at his waist with envy; he also nodded to the young people who took off their hats to him and called him "Sir" and "Mentor", shook their outstretched hands, shook the children's hands, shook the hands of many people, and slowly walked through the crowd like a star that attracted many gazes.
By the time he pulled away from the enthusiastic greetings of "little guy", "Elio", "mentor", etc., biting an apple (the vendors tried to give him more food, but somehow, Elio, who was usually easy to catch, always slipped out of their hands like liquid at this time), and was alone again, the assassins watching on the roof were stunned.
"You never said that," Maria murmured.
"I've never even seen him go out," Luigi muttered, "Who knew he was so popular?"
"I mean," Maria said, "you never told me he was so handsome!"
Luigi stared at her in disbelief. But as if it were a joke, Maria laughed and quickly regained her composure, pulling up her mask. "He's alone. It seems they like him but also know not to bother him too much. This gives us some room to maneuver. Let's go, as usual."
Since it was about work, Luigi had to swallow all his words sadly. According to the old rules, they split up, one of them stepped quickly over the roof tiles to get ahead of Elio, and the other followed closely behind Elio, ready to block his retreat.
Elio walked slowly, and just as they had predicted, he entered the path, still chewing the bright red apple.
Luigi, responsible for blocking the retreat, leaped across the gap between the rooftops and landed on the slope without even a slip or a thud. He was already considered a skilled assassin, but as he did so, he took his eyes off Elio—just for a moment, he swore—and then, the target he was following was gone!
Luigi rubbed his eyes, puzzled. He stood up on the roof and looked down. Maria, not far away, must have seen him do this and whistled a questioning whistle. Luigi searched for a long time but couldn't find Elio. He whistled a bird-like cry, gently informing his companions: the target has been lost.
The two assassins searched the rooftops in confusion, but couldn't find Elio. Even after jumping to the ground and searching every possible blind spot, they couldn't find him. Finally, they had to huddle together to discuss their next move, but just then, they heard a sound of footsteps on the tiles above them.
It was crisp and sounded like it was done intentionally to get their attention.
Maria reacted instantly and looked up. Luigi was a beat slower, but he also looked up quickly. They were both filled with annoyance, the other with shock, to see that the person squatting on the roof was the one they had been looking for for so long. He even took a bite of apple flesh, chewing it with a puffy cheek, and just looked at them with a calm, understanding expression.
"Looking for me?" Elio asked vaguely.
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The author has something to say: Oreo: Follow me, it’s interesting
Also, I opened a Weibo account and if you search for "Jinjiang author I want to go home and play games", you should be able to find [Let me check in][Let me check in][Let me check in]. I will probably use it to post previews of new works or something like that. Although I had a Xiaohongshu account before, I can't find the phone number for that account, so I probably won't use it again TT…………
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