The Matter of How Only a Political Rival Duke, Not My Own Family, Recognized My Worth After I Was Disowned ~When I Turned a Remote Frontier Territory Into the World’s Greatest City, the Noble Lady Assigned to Supervise Me Became the Best Fiancée~ - Episode 28: The Assassin’s Value and the Beacon of Spring

Episode 28: The Assassin’s Value and the Beacon of Spring

The Shadowcat assassin was captured alive.

That single fact struck the people of Northrock more profoundly than the technological advances they’d built over the winter. Duncan’s legendary strength and my unfathomable power had become objects of reverent awe—and the absolute discipline of the camp.

The prisoner was confined in a cell made from a remodeled underground storage room.

Even when food was brought, the assassin didn’t speak. They sat in the corner of the cell. They were glaring at us with eyes full of cold murder.

That night, I gathered the leaders and held a meeting about the girl’s disposition.

“Count—this beast should be escorted to the capital immediately. Present her alive as proof to denounce the Silford family’s crimes!” 

Gilbert proposed, ever the practical merchant.

“No—master. We should torture her until she names the mastermind…” 

Gran grumbled. But I cut him off with a hand.

“Both are bad moves.”

I spoke firmly.

“One prisoner alone is weak as *evidence.* If it’s my father or brothers, they’ll pretend to be victims betrayed by an assassin they hired from the frontier and toss her aside. Torture won’t work either—considering the Shadowcat Tribe’s pride, she’ll bite her tongue before she talks.”

“So what do you propose?” 

They asked, puzzled.

I revealed my true aim.

“Her value is not as a witness. It’s as a personnel asset.”

“““Personnel!? ”””

Everyone gaped, frozen.

◇

I went alone to the cell.

On the other side of the iron bars, she glared at me with murderous eyes.

“…What do you want? Come to gloat?” 

“No. I came to recruit.”

“…Huh?”

I spoke plainly.

“Work for me, Shadowcat.”

“…What a joke.” 

She twisted her lips into something like a sneer for the first time.

“Not a joke. A rational offer.”

I continued.

“If your employer—my brother Alphonse—finds out you failed and were captured alive, he’ll send another killer to silence you. It might even be one of your own tribe. To your employer, the Shadowcats’ pride is just a hassle to dispose of.”

Her expression stiffened slightly.

“But I value your skill. Northrock has many professionals—dwarven craftsmen, the great merchant, seasoned swordsmen—but none specialize in stealth like you: gathering intelligence from the shadows and striking vital points precisely. That’s a rarity.”

I looked directly into her eyes through the bars.

“Serve me. I’ll guarantee you a place to work where you can keep your life and your pride. I’ll pay twice what my brother offered. And above all, I’ll give you the best work where a professional like you can truly make use of her abilities.”

She faltered. She was clearly shaken by my unblinking gaze and the way I accurately assessed her worth.

I was not trying to dominate her. I was headhunting—offering a professional, equal partnership.

“…Give me time to think,” 

She said at last. Her voice was squeezed from a long silence.

She took her place at the negotiation table.

◇

Weeks passed after that negotiation.

The long winter in the Alma Wasteland finally ended.

Snow melted. Green shoots pushed powerfully out of the thawing earth. The road to the capital reappeared.

Gilbert’s caravans prepared to depart for the capital as the first spring convoy.

I wrote a letter to Isabella and entrusted it to Gilbert.

It described the assassin incident, Silford family interference, how we repelled it all, and the technological achievements we accomplished over winter.

I closed the letter with this:

‘We are ready to begin our new business in spring. Please push our next product in the capital as planned.’

After handing the letter to Gilbert, I stood on a hill and looked down over our base.

It was no longer merely a camp.

Strong smoke rose from the ironworks’ chimney. The dwarves’ shops rang with vigorous hammering. The guard unit drilled with disciplined precision.

Irrigation channels fed the trial farms with meltwater.

During winter, this land had been reborn.

“All right then.”

I smiled quietly under the spring sunlight.

“Winter was just the preparation. From here on begins our true counterattack.”