38: Chapter 38 Infiltrating the Misty Castle! Assassination! Shapeshifting!

The Forest Traveler Tavern.

Rowan finished the last sip of ale and set down his glass.

He called the waitress over, settled the bill, and then took out two extra copper coins, gently pushing them toward her.

A flash of surprise crossed the waitress's eyes, followed by a grateful smile, but Rowan had already risen and headed toward the stairs.

Returning to the guest room on the second floor, he did not light any lamps, allowing the darkness to swallow him.

He stood quietly by the window and pushed open half of the wooden shutter; the night wind surged in, carrying damp mist.

Outside the window, the lights of Mist Town were like remnant stars in the wilderness, flickering uncertainly in the deep night.

Further away, past the low and cluttered rooftops, the silhouette of a behemoth occupied the southeastern horizon.

That was Mist Castle.

It stood silently in the night, coldly overlooking the small town at its feet.

He had already mostly figured out the situation in Viscount Gladstone's territory.

The Viscount himself, Fergus Gladstone, a Peak Knight, was undoubtedly the strongest person in this territory.

Beneath him were two knight vassals:

Senior Knight Derek, the Viscount's right-hand man, who had followed the Viscount since childhood, was meticulous and powerful, responsible for the core affairs of the territory year-round.

Knight Daniel, whose strength was slightly inferior, focused more on the territory's daily defense and training the guards.

Now, the Viscount's son had met with a mishap in the Mist Forest and his body was never found.

Viscount Gladstone, in a fit of rage, had personally taken Knight Derek and the most elite Black Armored Guards from the castle to venture deep into the Mist Forest overnight to seek revenge.

The castle was empty, and the highest combat force remaining was most likely that Knight Daniel.

"Knight Daniel..." Rowan's eyes flickered slightly in the darkness. An Official Knight was no match for him now.

He lowered his eyes, his fingertips tapping gently against the window frame, as he reviewed the plan for this trip in his mind once more, confirming there were no obvious errors.

Then, he nimbly vaulted out the window, landed, and dashed toward the direction of Mist Castle.

The castle's silhouette became increasingly clear in the night.

The outer wall was about seven or eight meters high, built from neatly cut gray-white boulders, shining with a cold, hard luster under the moonlight.

There were scattered torches and the figures of night-patrol soldiers on the wall, but Rowan could tell that these soldiers were not very strong.

He did not attempt to climb the wall but instead circled toward the side and back of the castle, near the stable area, where the wall was relatively lower.

More importantly, it was a place where low-level servants and handymen often came and went, so the defense was relatively lax.

He hid behind a dense bush near the castle, his battle aura flowing like silk toward his eyes as the [Insight] trait quietly activated.

The world became clearer in his eyes; details were magnified, and the flow of energy was faintly discernible.

He waited quietly for an opportunity.

Finally, the small door usually used by servants to enter and exit was pushed open.

A thin figure carrying an empty wooden bucket walked out, grumbling, seemingly going outside to fetch water.

When the servant passed by a patch of bushes.

Rowan moved.

The servant felt a chill on the back of his neck and, before he could react, collapsed silently.

Rowan dragged the unconscious servant deep into the bushes, then quickly changed into the servant's outer clothes and [Shape-shifting] into the servant's appearance.

Then he picked up the bucket, filled it with water, and mimicked the servant's footsteps as he entered the castle.

"What are you dawdling for! It took so long to fetch a bucket of water!"

Inside the door, a hoarse female voice rang out impatiently.

Rowan lowered his head, mumbled a response, placed the bucket by the door, and squeezed inside.

Then, taking advantage of when no one was paying attention, he slipped away.

He did not linger on the outskirts but followed the narrow, dim corridor toward the main castle area.

The structure and functional zoning of castles in this world were much the same.

The density of guards in the main castle area had clearly increased.

But Rowan was always half a step ahead, utilizing the shadows everywhere to perfectly avoid their line of sight.

Relying on the extraordinary observational ability brought by [Insight], Rowan soon arrived at the second floor of the main castle without anyone knowing.

The corridor here was covered with a gorgeous carpet, and the doors of the rooms on both sides were also more exquisite.

From the low chatter of two guards he had just passed, Rowan had confirmed that Knight Daniel was currently practicing in the quiet room on the east side of the second floor.

Rowan found the quiet room and sensed the aura inside.

Behind the door, a stable life energy was fluctuating slowly, which was the unique sign of a knight practicing battle aura.

He gathered a sliver of battle aura at his fingertips, gently probed into the door gap, and gave it a slight vibration.

"Click."

With a barely audible crisp sound, the bolt slid open.

Rowan slipped inside and turned to close the door.

"Who's there?"

Inside the quiet room, Knight Daniel was startled and shouted at the man in front of him, who looked like a castle servant.

Rowan bowed slightly and said in a slightly hoarse voice: "Lord Daniel, the master has returned and is in the study; he has summoned you urgently."

"The master is back?" Knight Daniel was stunned.

Then he realized instantly, his face changed drastically, and he shouted sternly: "No, who are you? How did you get in? Who allowed you to enter?"

Rowan did not answer.

He moved directly.

Frost Heart: Flash Snow Step!

Battle aura erupted beneath his feet but was restrained to the extreme; there was no violent explosion, only a bone-chilling breeze that rippled outward.

His figure seemed to melt from where he stood and re-condense in front of Knight Daniel, so fast that it left only a faint afterimage.

The eternal silence verdict flashed from the silver star ring. The moment it fell into his hand, the blade hummed, and the surrounding temperature plummeted.

Frost Heart: Flash Ice Stab!

A straight sword thrust, without any flair, only extreme speed and a bone-chilling cold concentrated at one point.

Knight Daniel's expression changed wildly; the deadly icy pain was already piercing his heart!

But he was an Official Knight after all. At the critical moment of life and death, he roared, and his surging crimson battle aura erupted, attempting to block while his body desperately leaned backward.

But it was too slow.

And too late.

"Puff!"

The muffled sound of a sharp weapon piercing flesh rang out in the room.

The eternal silence verdict had accurately pierced Knight Daniel's heart.

Rowan twisted his wrist slightly, and the pure, cold frost battle aura, like a breached glacial river, instantly surged in, completely freezing and shattering the heart that was still beating violently.

Knight Daniel's eyes widened to their limit, his pupils filled with incredulous horror and confusion.

He did not understand why someone had silently infiltrated this place to assassinate him.

He looked at the person in front of him, opened his mouth, as if wanting to say something.

In the end, he could only struggle futilely twice before the light in his eyes faded rapidly, and his body went limp.

Rowan withdrew the eternal silence verdict; not a drop of blood stained the blade.

Then he repeated his old trick, quickly changing into the other person's clothes.

[Shape-shifting], activated again.

This time, the degree of adjustment was greater.

His bones made an extremely faint cracking sound, and his muscles were kneaded and reshaped by invisible hands like dough.

His height increased, his shoulders broadened, and his face changed toward Knight Daniel's somewhat arrogant-looking face.

Everything was precisely adjusted under the influence of [Insight] and [Shape-shifting].

After about a dozen breaths, the person in the mirror was more than 99% similar to the deceased Knight Daniel.

He stuffed Knight Daniel's body into a large wooden chest in the corner of the quiet room that stored old armor and sundries, closed the lid, and dragged a heavy blanket from nearby to cover it slightly.

He carefully sensed, confirming that there was no obvious leakage of aura.

Then, Rowan walked to the high-backed oak chair where Knight Daniel usually sat and sat down.

He picked up half a bottle of red wine and a clean crystal glass from the table, slowly pouring himself half a glass of deep red wine.

He didn't drink it, just gently swirled the glass, watching the wine spin in smooth arcs along the wall of the glass.

Deep in his eyes, the last trace of fluctuation returned to calm.

Now, he just needed to wait quietly.