[Silver Ash] - Become The Strongest In Another World
CHAPTER 272: The Dragoon Curtain

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A long time ago, there was a very powerful Imperial country.

So powerful that all the countries around him were extremely disinclined towards him.

The country was led by a very great Emperor. 'He' has everything; wealth, intelligence, strength, and prowess as a leader.

Without a doubt, he was an ideal leader.

Although the country he ruled was still very young, the Emperor who led the country had conquered many other countries around him, earning him the title of 'Eternal Emperor'.

However, even with all that power, the Emperor was only able to defend his country for seventy-five years.

The empire he had built with his own two hands collapsed, and everything he wanted to protect disappeared instantly.

And just like that, all the achievements and pride that the 'Eternal Emperor' possessed collapsed, then disappeared without a trace.

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"Residence of confirmed target. Location: market area and red district. Request permission to continue the observation."

"Izin given. All nearby units are allowed to continue surveillance of the target."

"Report, the target continues to run in an erratic direction. Maybe I'm chasing something."

"Report received, continue surveillance. All units are not allowed to intervene."

One by one the reports continued to enter his ears, and he focusedly tried to manage every report that came in.

The current surveillance target, Noah Ashrain, is seen running in an uncertain direction in the red district area.

One of the agents nearby moves forward to see what really happened, and soon discovers the truth.

"Target chasing someone. Likely a man, using a robe that covered the entire body. There's no reason why the target's after him."

"New report, target chasing a murder perpetrator. The victim was a homeless man with no identity."

The culprit was wearing a mask, and his body was also covered in a thick black robe. It was almost impossible to see the figure behind it.

However, from his movements alone all the agents already knew that he was a man.

"Continue to observe the movement of the target, do not interfere unless orders are given."

...****************...

(It worked.)

Noelle could not hear their telepathic channels, but she knew the essence of all those conversations.

The movements of all the agents clearly showed what orders they got.

Noelle kept running after Harold who was currently in disguise. Of course, his speed was slightly reduced, and this pursuit continued to be carried out by following the route Noelle had set up.

It might seem like a random move for outsiders, but if they think so, then that means Noelle's plan has worked.

The agents were unaware that they had been guided to the place Noelle was providing.

On the way, he collected back all the blood he had spread.

Now it was no longer needed, and Noelle had no intention of throwing her blood away.

Each drop of blood he transformed into a sharp little needle, which he then stored in a hard leather pouch.

Not far in front of him, Harold continued to run, following the route Noelle had set. Until finally, they reached the last point.

Harold realized that, and immediately turned around. His gaze that was behind the mask led straight at Noelle, and he immediately took out his long sword.

"Are you planning to fight now? Unfortunately, I don't intend to let go of a criminal like you."

Those words would match his identity as Noah Ashrain, thus making the supervising agents not feel that there was anything strange.

Harold did not retaliate, and instead directly lunged forward while slashing with his sword.

The slash Noelle was agile with her own sword, and she instantly deflected the direction from her slash, before finally moving forward to close the distance.

Noelle was right in front of Harold and was intent on attacking him, but Harold had stepped back first, and managed to dodge the attack.

Both keep their distance from each other, be aware of any moves the opponent will make.

Of course, it would be like that in the view of the agents.

In fact, all of these fights have been decided.

They only needed to fight, with the results already obvious from the start.

(This is where the results will be seen. From here on out, it won't be the same anymore.)

Noelle did not change her expression as her sword continued to clash slash with Harold.

No attacks managed to touch each other's skin. They fended off each other, and tried to find an opening to attack, only to be stopped afterwards.

Noelle and Harold jumped back together, and just as Harold was about to lung forward, Noelle raised her empty left hand, and a hand-sized fireball appeared from there.

The fireball darted rapidly towards Harold, and Harold slashed at him without hesitation.

As a result, the fireball split open and created a thick plume of smoke that covered the 'stage'.

Neither Noelle nor Harold were seen in the eyes of the agents, and they frantically tried to look through the smokescreen to find out the situation.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

The curtain for the drama 'Noah Ashrain' has been closed.

Smoke began to thin, and the agents' views began to recover.

They anxiously looked at the situation, but it was not as they had expected.

The one there, was a cloaked figure that thrust his sword right into the heart of Noah Ashrain.

Noah really did not move anymore, and the man immediately drew his sword.

Instantly, Noah's body fell, drawing a lot of blood from a stab wound in the chest that penetrated to his heart.

After confirming that he was not breathing, the cloaked figure rushed away, leaving the agents in a chaotic confusion.

"Check conditions! "

A few agents came out of their hideouts to check on Noah's condition, but it was a waste.

Noah was not breathing, and his heart had stopped beating.

Several other agents tried to pursue or even track down the perpetrators of the murder, but they did not have time. The person's whereabouts suddenly disappeared before they could place a tracker on him.

It's futile. The situation is worse than anyone thought.

"Take care of the body, and report to the superior that he died in the fight against a criminal. I'll take responsibility for this."

The one giving the order was the superior representative in Noah's surveillance mission.

You could say, he was the one with the highest authority here.

It was he who had previously given the order not to help, and ordered to continue observing from a distance.

"It's worse than I thought …. "

The death of a person is a very natural right in this world. Even so, the death of Noah Ashrain left the agents who witnessed it confused.

In their report, Noah Ashrain has a contract partner who wants him to stay alive.

King Tactics Minerva.

There is no record of the god, but the report they obtained was the result of an investigation into the subject of Noah Ashrain during the siege mission of the Swallow Life Order.

Anyway, the situation has changed.

He decides not to help Noah because he knows that Noah has the ability to defend himself. But, what happened to the point that he could just die in this place?

Was Noah not as strong as reported? Or is there another reason? Also, why did he suddenly appear after disappearing for a whole day?

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In his office in the church, Dolf read the emergency report letter that had just been sent by the agents.

The letter is very short, stating the death of a member named Noah Ashrain while trying to pursue a murderer.

For a moment Dolf did not show any reaction. He took a deep breath for a moment, then folded the letter before throwing it into a corner of the room.

He already knew this was going to happen.

Yesterday, during a party, Noah came to his room.

"You should have enjoyed your birthday party there."

Noah did not answer him, and only smiled wryly.

He then sat down in the guest chair, looking puzzled over something.

Dolf also did not worry too much about it, and continued working on the pile of documents that were on the table.

However, it only lasted until Noah suddenly opened his mouth.

"If ... the person named Noah Ashrain was not there, what would happen? "

Dolf did not understand why Noah suddenly asked that. However, his life experience tells him that Noah is currently confused about something.

But unfortunately, Dolf has no answer that could help Noah in overcoming his frustration. Even so, at the very least, he wanted to help out a little.

"If Noah doesn't exist? Everything will be different. You may not realize it, but you've played a big part, Noah."

Dolf quickly put the sentence in his head along with his increasing speed in signing the document.

"The search for the Swallow Life Order will not begin, and their plan will definitely go very smoothly without us knowing it. You're the one who made us able to stop it in time. Thanks to all your incredible reports we managed to protect this city."

Noah was silent and said nothing. His gaze fell on the nail lying on the floor.

"I don't know what makes you so distracted. But, don't ever think that everything's gonna be okay if you don't show up."

Noah smiled wryly, mocking to himself.

"Good to hear. But, what if .. Noah Ashrain never existed? What if there's no one with that name? "

(Ahh, so ..)

Dolf quickly understood what Noah was thinking.

For a moment, he stopped working on his documents, and looked at the ceiling of his office space.

"Nobody cares about that" he said, playing a pen on his finger.

Noelle frowned. "Whatchu mean? "

"For me, for everyone here, Noah is Noah. No one cared even if it was just a fake identity. Because basically, Noah was part of us, and believing him was our own choice, without any coercion from the other side."

" ……… "

"Therefore, even though the man named Noah never existed, for us he did. Noah has a place in everyone's hearts in this bar, this place is always open for him. Because otherwise, the departure of Tian, Rita, and Louen would have been a waste."

It was only after the sentence came out that Dolf could see the change in Noah's expression.

His eyes widened, but immediately narrowed uncomfortably as he bit his own lips.

"Louen ... has put a lot of trust in you, right? Then you don't have to bother thinking about it."

"He chose someone he trusted, and that was you. It was her own choice, so you don't have to bother. Of course, it would be nice if you could live up to his expectations, but .. It doesn't matter if you don't do that."

Because in the end, the choice was in his own hands.

It was the last sentence Dolf wanted to say, but he could not do it because Noah had already stood up.

A small smile formed on his face as he opened the door.

" … Thank you" he said before leaving Dolf's office.

...****************...

Dolf let out a heavy sigh and looked up to relax his neck.

"So that's your choice. I hope ... You won't regret it."

...****************...

Grandbell family mansion.

Nantz sil Grandbell was standing before a large mirror, with Robert bowing slightly behind him.

Without even looking at it, Nantz spoke.

"Is your preparation done? "

The one replying was not Robert, but rather a young man with a ghastly pale white appearance.

"Everything went well. I'm just worried because it's too smooth."

Noelle emerged from the empty air, manifesting her true form behind the man who became her 'brother-in-law.

His eyes then turned to Robert.

"So, will this servant of yours come? "

In response to Noelle's question, Nantz was about to answer, but was soon stopped by Robert who had turned around and looked directly at Noelle.

Robert bowed slightly, giving him a sense of minimal respect.

"I am Mr. Nantz's servant. My job is to serve him, not to serve this family. No matter what my Master plans, I will keep following him until the end."

Noelle blinked a few times, then smiled wryly.

Robert seemed to be a servant whose loyalty was to one man, Nantz.

"That's great, because I doubt this guy can take care of himself after being far from a luxury."

Noelle said it with joking intent, but Robert did not laugh in the slightest. Instead, the one who laughed was Nantz who finished tidying up his tie.

"I'm sorry for making your work grow."

"No problem" Noelle said as she waved her hand. "From the beginning, I've been preparing a few things just in case."

Fortunately Noelle took more bodies back then.

He could use it to fake Robert's death.

Initially, only three bodies would be used, with the first being a replica of his own corpse, the second being 'Aarold's victim', and the last being Nantz's corpse.

Noelle didn't expect that she would wear all the bodies in her shed.

Nantz smiled subtly, and turned back around.

He picked up a book from his desk, and walked back to Noelle.

"All preparations are complete. We can open this drama perfectly" he said in a strong and resolute voice.

Outside, all was still calm, unaware of the curtain of the stage that had been opened.

...****************...

It was a quiet night, but it didn't last long.

Flames lit up and soared high into space, accompanied by explosions that kept popping up.

Currently, the location around the Grandbell family mansion had been completely devoured by the fierce flames, so not a single structure of the building could be seen.

The people who were panicking about the situation gathered, and with all their might helped the officers who were trying to put out the fire.

The water magic kept shooting, but the fire never went out.

The explosion happened again, and the shockwave this time blew away everyone around.

It is not yet known where the explosion came from, but officials believe there was a leak in the gas and fuel pipes in the bathroom.

After all, none of them realized the truth.

When everyone was trying to put out the fire, a human who was still intact in the middle of the blaze actually swung his arm, making the fire become stronger.

Noelle's originally gray eyes were now lit up with a terrifying red glow, as several explosions continued to appear earthy.

The explosion was the result of all the explosives he had planted around the mansion. And the fire that keeps burning is because he keeps on lighting the fire that is about to go out.

(Not enough.)

The heat was not felt at all, but Noelle was sure that it was not enough.

Noelle stomped her feet against the floor, and a great shock returned.

The foundation of the building collapsed, and the flames became even stronger.

Currently, Noelle was standing in the middle of the flame that enveloped the Grandbell mansion which was now just a ruin.

(That's enough.)

Noelle stopped all her actions, and in an instant her body melted into a mist that the eyes could not see.

All the pawns are in position, and the task is done as well. All Noelle needs to do now is make sure that everything goes according to plan.

He again manifested his form on the roof of the surrounding buildings, and his gaze fell on the two charred corpses that were being enveloped in flames.

The two corpses had the exact same form and appearance as Nantz and Robert. Perhaps, the two bodies were a picture if both of them died from burning to charred.

Noelle had nothing to do with this plan. Also, the one who planned this part was Nantz himself, so he wouldn't interfere too much.

He was just doing a simple task; preparing a fake corpse, and creating a huge explosion that led to a fire.

Noelle's gaze then turned to the two figures standing not far from her.

The two figures were Nantz and Robert who were in disguise mode respectively.

The two of them did not say anything at all, just staring blankly at the mansion and all of its assets that continued to burn.

For a moment, Noelle realized that Robert was eager to make a move when he saw the Nantz Grandbell family painting burn quickly.

The painting is the only relic that makes Nantz remember all his family members.

For Robert, who had served Nantz for a long time, it was clear he knew that Nantz had a strong attachment to it.

Despite realizing that, Robert did not move. It's because he knows, and he understands it.

Nantz's fists clenched tightly as he watched one by one his assets being scorched. Even so, he showed no sign of resistance.

Instead, his heartbeat and breathing were extremely light, as if the two had indeed experienced nothing.

His memories were with his parents, and all the memories of Sirius Grandbell were there.

Nantz could have gone to get it. But he didn't do that.

Because, he had already strengthened his resolve.

These actions he did for the sake of one purpose, and there was no room for personal emotions to be involved in them.

As he saw the fire slowly extinguish, and everything in the mansion had been charred, Nantz could finally sigh in relief.

"I think it's time."

Nantz turned around, and walked a few steps before finally stopping again.

He turned his head towards the ruins of the mansion, and smiled sadly.

"Goodbye, Grandbell."

The words he had wanted to say for a long time were his catalyst. He was finally able to dismantle it; an invisible chain that kept on shackling him all this time.

The chain of shackles in the form of the surname, he was finally able to break it.

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