Assassin's Chronicle

"That depends on you, sir," Anfey said softly.

Golman frowned and didn’t say anything. He did not know, nor trust Anfey, which was why he did not know where he should begin the conversation. Everything Golman did, he did for a reason. He chose Scarlet because he wanted to groom her into a ruler so he could challenge Minos and give necromancers a place to exist. He wanted to end the control Minos had on necromancers because that was the only way he could free them.

Since Scarlet was dead, he had to find someone else to cooperate with. Judging from the global affairs at the moment, Yolanther was his best choice. He was an acquaintance of Baery’s, but the two were not on friendly terms. Speaking with Anfey was easier than speaking with Baery. Having Hui Wei there also helped Golman.

Anfey could tell there was something on Golman’s mind. "You came all the way here to speak to me, despite the danger," he said quietly. "To me, that’s a sign of trust. You can speak your mind here, sir."

Golman smiled. "There wasn’t much danger," he said. "You see, I am not your enemy. It will do you no good killing me. If you do, you risk me using the Death Armageddon spell. Even if I don’t, Morgan and Desvidia are still out there and can instead. We are blessed with long lives, and I am sure they will avenge my death; not just the people who killed me, but their families as well."

"You have a point," Anfey said. Even if he could kill Golman, he didn’t want to.

"Baery wanted to kill me once," Golman said. "But he didn’t. People who spare my life tend to become my friends."

Anfey nodded but didn’t say a word. He knew that the best thing to do was to keep quiet.

"Despite what you may believe, we are not evil," Golman continued. "We were all humans. Despite our decaying bodies, we still have human emotions. You know Morgan as the man who killed dozens of top-level powers over the years, but you do not know that most of the time, he only kills out of self-defense."

"Most of the time?"

"Sometimes he kills to relieve his frustration," Golman said. "I am sure that if you were hunted constantly, you would become frustrated as well. Like I’ve said—we have emotions as well."

Anfey nodded. He remembered that he first met Burzuryano because he was there to hunt Morgan. Kamlin became a hermit because he lost his wife while hunting down Morgan. It seemed like hunting Morgan became a goal shared by all top-level powers.

"I know we’ve made a bad impression on you," Golman said. "But you do not hate us the way others do. You shouldn’t, either."

"What do you mean?" Anfey asked.

"The power you use... It is not from our world, is it?"

"I’ve never met someone else who uses it," Anfey said.

"Your mind magic is even more powerful than your teacher’s," Golman said. "It is very interesting to me."

"Because I have a different way of practicing it," Anfey said.

"This is just a word of advice, but you shouldn’t use mind magic as much as you do," Golman said. "If you keep using it this often, trouble will find you. Just like Morgan." Golman narrowed his eyes, which were blinking with red light.

"Really?" Anfey asked, surprised. "That’s what my first teacher told me."

"You mean, your first teacher taught you your mind magic? The supreme power?" Golman asked. He did not believe what Anfey said because he knew his own abilities. Scarlet’s death might have influenced him, but Golman knew he would never make a mistake while using his mind magic. Anfey had to be lying.

"He did teach me that," Anfey said. "But that was too long ago. I cannot remember if he was a supreme power or not."

Golman sighed. He had brought up mind magic because he wanted to see Anfey’s reaction. He decided to move on because this was a conversation, not an interrogation.

He was there to find a partner, not the truth. As long as Anfey could work with him, Golman did not care who Anfey really was or where he came from.

"I’m sure you didn’t just come here to warn me, sir," Anfey said with a smile. He didn’t show it, but what Golman said had made an impact. Clearly, Golman knew about the secret he was keeping. He only kept calm because that was how he dealt with things.

"Of course not," Golman said. "I came here because I have a proposal for Yolanther."

Anfey frowned. This was even more important than he thought. This wasn’t something he could decide. Not even Baery or Saul could make a decision on such a matter. Working with necromancers had fouled Edward the Eighth’s reputation. Would Yolanther take the risk?

"This is just the general outline of the plan. We can work out the details at a later meeting," Golman said. "In order to show my sincerity, I have something for you. You must know of Evil Mist."

Anfey smiled. "Of course. When I first arrived here with Master Saul, we were attacked by people from Evil Mist."

"You must be talking about things that happened recently."

"About two years ago."

Golman nodded. "By then, Evil Mist was no longer under my control."

"Why is that?"

"I’ve had the organization for two hundred years," Golman said. "After I betrayed Minos, the organization fell apart. Some people didn’t know the organization was controlled by necromancers. Those people left after learning the truth. The others knew I was behind the organization, but since I have no power or money, there was no reason to follow me."

"So you no longer control the organization?"

"I can control those that chose to remain with the organization," Golman said. He paused, then continued, "you were attacked at Tumen, weren’t you?"

"Yes."

"That must have been Douglas," Golman said. "He was always in control of that place. He was the son of the head of the Tumen Commercial Union, Sizen. Sizen didn’t want to be controlled by the Maho Empire and declared independence. Soon after, his entire family, save for young Douglas, was brutally murdered. Because of this, Douglas hated Yolanther. For him, Evil Mist is just another tool to get revenge. I kept him around because he is brilliant."

Anfey frowned. He had never heard of Douglas, but if Golman said he was brilliant, he must have been.

"You see, I am willing to give up my organization as a sign of sincerity. Even if Evil Mist is divided, I will still control a significant chunk of it. I can aid him in his effort to unite the world."

"How so?"

"It’s easy," Golman said. "A small-scale plague is all I need. Think about what losing their farmers and merchants will do to the Ellisen Empire."

"Why didn’t you do that for Scarlet?" Anfey asked, curious.

"Scarlet was young," Golman said with a sigh. "I wanted Baery to be a trial for her so she knows how to take on a strong enemy by herself."