“What do you mean ‘idle is idle’? Haven’t I been doing any work? Haven’t I made any contributions to House Maximilian?”
The girl’s mouth twisted in anger.
Fortunately, she had just acquired a squad of Assassins, like a child obtaining a longed-for novel toy.
That curiosity and urge to tinker immediately outweighed her dissatisfaction.
This “Shadow Brotherhood,” counting their leader Mr. Aijier, numbered only about fifty people.
As Elder Lord Enlaike had introduced before, they were a group skilled in infiltration, concealment, tracking, investigation, and assassination.
They belonged to the agility-type class and were very weak on the front line.
Lai En had never been fond of assassination, a method that was anything but glorious and righteous.
Moreover, the success rate of assassinating nobles and important figures was always very low.
Assassinating unknown small fry was meaningless.
This squad was completely superfluous to Lai En.
But since he had accepted them, it would be a waste not to use them, considering the money he had paid!
Thinking that Alicia was full of clever ideas and her loyalty was guaranteed, Lai En waved his hand and bundled this useless squad off to her, calling it “making the best use of everything.”
However, in Alicia’s heart, these people were not useless.
Having experienced the influence of modern technology, she held a different view.
Useless?
They were indeed useless for assassination.
But what does war depend on? Logistics and intelligence!
Especially in the age of cold weapons, timely and accurate information was often the key to tipping the scales of victory!
Moreover, House Maximilian was not at peace internally.
Gathering intelligence didn’t necessarily mean gathering information about enemies, right?
The smile on the girl’s face grew more sinister, her whole body exuding an air of conspiracy.
Coupled with the occasional creepy laugh, everyone except the accompanying leader Aijier kept their distance early on.
Andrew was driven to discomfort by the laughter, and finally couldn’t take it anymore.
“Lord and Master, I, Andrew, beg you, can you stop laughing like that? If you keep it up, I won’t be able to eat dinner!”
“What are you talking about!”
The girl frowned, casually touched her smooth face, and put on a hurt expression.
“With my stunning beauty, shouldn’t my smile make you happy enough to eat three big bowls?”
“Please, at least say something. What’s with this cold laughter? Look around, even dogs dare not come close!”
Alicia’s eyes widened.
“Fine, Andrew, you bastard. Just you wait for this month’s salary evaluation…”
Andrew immediately raised his hands in surrender.
“No, no, no, Lord and Master, I was wrong. But if you have some grand plan, why not tell Mr. Aijier? Besides, weren’t you going to recruit some guards?”
Indeed.
The girl cleared her throat and turned to look at Aijier.
To be honest, this brotherhood leader looked somewhat weather-beaten.
Lai En had mentioned that Aijier was about thirty years old, but the man before her had graying hair, deep fatigue lines etched on his face, rough skin, and eyes that held too many experiences.
He looked like he could be fifty and people would believe it.
He wore the most ordinary grayish-brown coarse cloth clothes, of medium build, completely unremarkable.
Without special attention, he looked like a common farmer you could see anywhere, not conspicuous at all.
How could Aijier not be weather-beaten?
He was bitter inside!
The so-called “Shadow Brotherhood” sounded mysterious, but in reality, it was just a group of people who couldn’t see the light, operating on the edges of the law, a underground organization that huddled together for warmth to survive.
According to imperial law, only nobles could legally form a group of more than thirty people.
Note that this didn’t mention armed groups, meaning if you weren’t a noble, gathering more than thirty people for a roadside picnic was illegal, and would be considered banditry.
Was Aijier a noble? Of course not.
Although in this chaotic era, anyone who could gather a team could fabricate a background and story to declare themselves a noble, Aijier couldn’t.
They were not warriors on the front lines; they needed to be low-key, anonymous, able to blend into the streets at any time, leaving no trace.
A conspicuous “noble” title was a fatal burden for them.
This doomed Aijier and his group to be an illegal organization, subject to encirclement if discovered.
What about seeking shelter with larger organizations? That depended on whether they would accept them!
After all, assassins were a lowly profession of underhanded tricks, with very low status in this martial world.
Nobles looked down on them, yet feared them.
Recklessly seeking shelter might result in walking right into the tiger’s mouth.
But in this war-torn world, there was no shortage of homeless people.
Unfortunately, Aijier was a bit of a soft touch.
They wandered, absorbing members and growing stronger.
Before they knew it, they had gone from a small group of about thirty to a large organization of over a hundred.
This brought disaster.
First, the Church discovered their whereabouts and sent a squad of Church Knights to raid their camp, costing them many comrades.
Then the local lord pursued them relentlessly.
By the time he led his brothers into the territory of House Maximilian, only fifty remained.
The world seemed vast, with no place for them.
At the point of despair, they heard about the deeds of the new Lord of Lide’an—Lai En Maximilian.
This young lord used talent without sticking to conventions, even promoting a woman with no background to be his retainer! And Aijier, lacking clothes and food, on the verge of extinction, had only one lifeline left—to boldly come and seek shelter!
Fortunately, they had bet correctly.
Lai En accepted them and gave them a patch of forest to live in.
And now, this woman before him was the legendary strange female retainer? Under his calm exterior, Aijier’s thoughts were complex.
‘This girl, so young and even a little eccentric, was our new Lord and Master?’
“Mr. Aijier.”
The girl cleared her throat and spoke in a low voice.
“His Highness has already introduced your situation. Before I get to know you further, I want to ask: how much salary did His Highness give you?”
Aijier never expected the new Lord and Master’s first question to be this!
Fortunately, years of professional conduct prevented him from showing any surprise.
He answered honestly in a low voice.
“Ten Cuini per month.”
Wait, how much? The girl’s eyes widened.
“Mr. Aijier, did you misunderstand? I meant for all your members, not just you personally…”
Aijier let out a bitter laugh.
“That’s for everyone. Our brotherhood, about fifty people, totals ten Cuini a month.”
The girl was immediately ashamed.
She, a mere Sergeant Major, received thirty Cuini every month.
These fifty people… only that much?
“I… I understand. I promise your monthly salary will be greatly increased, at least ten times!”
“Oh? Then many thanks…”
Mr. Aijier’s reaction was lukewarm.
Nonsense.
Who would believe such a pie-in-the-sky promise unless they were a three-year-old?
The brotherhood had wandered for years; how many empty promises had they seen?
Aijier’s meaning was clear—let’s talk about something real, not this fluff!
The girl keenly caught his reaction and raised an eyebrow.
“It seems… Mr. Aijier doesn’t believe me?”
She called it out directly, her tone not angry but somewhat understanding.
“Wouldn’t dare, wouldn’t dare…”
‘Nonsense, who would believe that? You say ten times increase just like that? Talk is cheap!’
Alicia looked at his respectful yet distant demeanor, then suddenly shook her head.
She casually found an old tree stump, unceremoniously patted off the dust, and sat down.
“I understand that Mr. Aijier doesn’t believe me. But I have my reasons for making such a boast.”
As she spoke, the girl’s gaze slowly swept over the busy people nearby.
“I don’t intend to have you do assassinations. On the contrary, I want you to take on the role of an intelligence department.”
“Intelligence… department?”
This term was rare in this world, and Aijier’s pronunciation was awkward.
“Your Excellency means… to have us be spies? Reconnoiter enemy situations?”
“Not just reconnoitering enemy situations.”
Alicia shook her head.
“Spies are only the most basic link. What I want is a comprehensive organization capable of infiltration, undercover, eavesdropping, analysis, building an intelligence network, and conducting a certain degree of counter-intelligence and covert operations! In the future, it will also need to handle darker work, such as secret arrests, interrogations, torture, and so on. I want to make you one of the most powerful organizations in the world!”
Her voice was not loud, but the ambition contained within still stirred ripples in Aijier’s normally calm eyes.
He looked up seriously to examine the girl.
‘Hmm, no matter how you looked at her appearance, she seemed harmless, even naive and cute. But who would have thought those words just came out of her mouth?’
Aijier carefully savored the girl’s ambition and quickly understood the grand and terrifying vision behind it.
This was not just about training a group of advanced spies; she was planning to build a system—a behemoth that could grow on its own, erode silently, control information, and even strike in the dark!
“I understand. We will gamble our lives for you, and for House Maximilian!”
“No, I don’t want you to die for me.”
The girl leaned forward slightly.
“You must do whatever it takes to stay alive and bring back intelligence. I want you to live for me!”
Aijier’s lips trembled slightly, and he bowed his head heavily.
“Yes!”
The girl let out a long breath, clapped her hands, and said, “Since the nature of your work is undergoing a complete transformation, no longer focusing on assassination, the name ‘Shadow Brotherhood’…”
‘What’s wrong with the name?’ Aijier’s eyes twitched imperceptibly.
Alicia touched her chin, looking contemplative.
“It sounds a bit chuunibyou. Doesn’t quite fit the new organization’s positioning and temperament.”
She paused, as if searching her mind, then her eyes lit up, she snapped her fingers, and announced confidently, “I plan to call you—Cheka!”
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