Now that things had progressed this far, Merrick felt the job was mostly done. His main concern was getting out of there, disappearing without a trace before anyone realized what had happened. If the target's death was discovered, the entire Castle Katlin would go into lockdown, making a clean escape nearly impossible.
And yes, Merrick never even considered that he might fail.
In his mind, the hardest part of assassinating someone as important as Kay was bypassing the perimeter security. Once he got close to the target, the rest was inevitable.
Kay was indeed a formidable opponent, but that was a wide-awake Kay. The current Kay was deep in sleep, and killing him would take nothing more than a single dagger thrust. There was no need to overthink it.
That's what Merrick thought, and that's exactly what he planned to do.
Kay's room was on the highest floor of the castle, with only one entrance: a hallway. It didn't require many guards, so only two soldiers were stationed at the hallway's entrance. Merrick peeked around the corner and confirmed that this hallway was the only way into Kay's quarters. He noted the two soldiers seemed alert, likely having just started their shift.
The hallway entrance offered no cover. Trying to sneak past them would only work if the two men were blind.
Therefore, he would need to resort to some unconventional tactics.
Merrick smiled at the thought and retreated. A little while later, he reappeared, wearing a servant's uniform he'd found somewhere. He walked toward the guards with a bold, natural stride, as if he owned the place, betraying no sign of anything amiss.
Merrick walked right past the two guards.
The guards spotted Merrick the moment he emerged, but his casual demeanor made them hesitate. They initially assumed he was just a castle staff member. It was only as he got closer that they realized this was Sir Kay's room, and absolutely no one was allowed through at this hour.
They were about to call out to Merrick to question him when he suddenly raised a finger, signaling them to be quiet, and then pointed toward the room at the end of the hall.
The two guards immediately understood. He means be quiet, Sir Kay is sleeping. The guards didn't think twice; they actually appreciated the gesture, agreeing that it wouldn't be good to wake up Sir Kay so late. They cooperated by silencing themselves and motioned for Merrick to come closer so they could whisper their questions and then send him on his way if he had no business there.
This was exactly what Merrick wanted. As a seasoned assassin, he understood human nature. If he had approached aggressively or suspiciously, the two guards would have definitely yelled for him to stop—that would clearly look wrong. But by walking out confidently and matter-of-factly, the guards wouldn't immediately suspect foul play.
After all, these soldiers had only recently arrived in this small town and weren't familiar with the local castle staff. Given Merrick's servant outfit, they naturally assumed he was one of the castle's employees.
Merrick approached the two guards with a big smile.
"What are you doing here?" one of the soldiers quietly asked.
Merrick pointedly glanced at the room at the end of the hallway, then beckoned the two soldiers to come closer. His expression and movements were completely natural. The two soldiers, not thinking anything of it, leaned in.
The instant the two guards' heads came close, Merrick swung his arms. Two daggers instantly slashed across the soldiers' necks. Suddenly attacked, the two guards instinctively tried to yell, but Merrick's move was too fast and brutal. The daggers had already severed their vocal cords, giving them no chance to make a sound.
After slitting their throats, Merrick, ever so considerate, immediately supported their bodies and clamped his hands over their mouths and noses to speed up their demise. In under ten seconds, the lack of air combined with rapid blood loss sent the two men into shock. At this point, shock meant they were practically gone, past saving.
As the "shhh" sounds of spurting blood slowly diminished, Merrick gently lowered their bodies to the floor, making barely a sound.
After dealing with the two men, Merrick didn't rush off. He stood still for a moment, listening for any sign of movement, anyone coming to check. Finding the surroundings still utterly quiet, Merrick gave a satisfied, quiet nod and headed toward Kay's room.
The door was easy to open. Locks in this era weren't complicated; most were simple bolt mechanisms that could be picked open with a few pries of a dagger. That kind of work was child's play for even a third-rate thief, let alone the "King of Assassins."
However, Merrick was unlike any common thief. He wasn't in a hurry to pry the door open; in fact, he worked very slowly. He knew the man sleeping in that room was the strongest knight in all the Celtic kingdoms. Making too much noise could easily wake him, and if he were discovered, Merrick wasn't sure he would ever get another chance like this.
So, he preferred to be slow and cautious.
Of course, "slow" is relative. For a master assassin like Merrick, his skill was far beyond that of a petty burglar. Even working slowly, he picked the lock in no more than five seconds. Merrick gripped the doorknob, gently lifted up, and slowly pushed the door open to prevent it from squeaking.
As the door gradually swung inward, Merrick quickly located his target.
Merrick didn't hesitate. Ditching his previous caution, he bolted to the side of the bed, plunged his short sword down fiercely into the bulk of the blankets!
But the moment the blade pierced the bedding, Merrick felt a jolt of alarm!
The sensation from the short sword felt wrong. It wasn't the feeling of steel slicing through flesh and bone! There was no one under the blankets!
Merrick instantly knew he was exposed. He immediately dropped the sword and prepared to bolt. Unfortunately, he was a fraction too slow. A long sword silently shot out from under the bed and sliced through Merrick's legs just below the knee, as easily as cutting butter!
"Agh!!" Merrick was a tough guy, but having his legs severed only made him cry out twice. He still tried to fight back, but the intense pain had stripped him of his strength. His dagger was completely unable to reach his target.
Merrick collapsed onto the floor. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure slowly crawling out from under the bed. It was his target—Kay! Now, Merrick realized that the man had known about him the whole time and was simply waiting for him to show up!
"How did you find me?!" This was the one thing Merrick couldn't figure out. He believed he hadn't made any mistakes and shouldn't have been discovered.
Kay rubbed his nose and said with a contemptuous tone, "You shouldn't have killed the guards at the door. The smell of the blood was too strong."
Before Merrick could say anything more, a foot appeared in front of his eyes. Then, everything went black as he passed out.
---
Although Merrick passed out quickly and was a tough cookie, he still managed to let out a couple of screams. In the dead of the night, a sudden scream was jarringly loud. Furthermore, because Kay was so strict with military discipline, the sentries and patrols were tight even in the early morning hours. These two screams quickly alerted the guards downstairs. In less than a minute, a squad of soldiers rushed over.
When they arrived at Kay's room, they found Kay standing there in his nightshirt, holding a sword, with a dark-skinned man nobody recognized lying on the floor.
"It's an assassin. He's not dead yet. Take him away, get him treated, and make sure he lives. I want to know who is trying to kill me!" Kay didn't fly into a rage when the soldiers arrived; instead, he gave calm instructions.
The soldiers, however, didn't have Kay's cool nerves. They were terrified to find that someone had tried to assassinate Sir Kay. They knew what their fate would be if Sir Kay had actually died under their watch.