Surprising Even Breathing

2 – An Amusing and Special Assassination Event

Swish.

On a late night when only the occasional hoots of an owl could be heard.

Hearing the sound of my bedroom window opening, I quietly opened my eyes while lying in bed.

I had a visitor to my room this ambitious dawn.

I didn’t know why they chose to enter through the window this night, but such a surprise visit was a first.

Usually the servants would carefully knock and enter to deliver their business then scamper away quickly once done.

But this strange and precious event,

without manners or proper composure, drew my interest to the furtive guest.

I kept my eyes closed, pretending to sleep, waiting for the guest’s next move.

Swish.

The figure in black crept in slowly, crouching low and quieting his footsteps.

In his hand was a dagger, its sharp gleam slipping through the night.

From his aura, he seemed like an assassin.

An assassin had come for me too?

I was extremely delighted.

It was a boring day anyway, so he was a perfect night companion.

I continued pretending to sleep, allowing the assassin to act freely.

Swish.

Soon he approached right next to my bed, confirming my sleeping form.

Startled, he looked upon my face with eyes shut tight.

It appeared he recognized the visage of his intended victim, Prince Drake or the 2nd prince of the kingdom.

Though I was only pretending to sleep, my appearance made his hands trembling around the dagger shake even more from fear.

‘Go on, bring down that blade! Attack me like a real assassin!’

It was my first time experiencing someone unknown coming this close to me.

And courageously raising a dagger and attempting to strike me.

To this thrilling assassination event, I quietly cheered for him to complete his duty.

“Urgh…!”

The assassin grit his teeth from the pressure emanating from me.

He didn’t seem to realize he was sweating from fear while steeling himself.

Though it was the biggest sound he’d made so far, he tried to follow through by gripping his dagger tightly.

Whoosh –

Mana condensed and gathered in the assassin’s gripped dagger.

Despite his fear, he doggedly brought the dagger down, as if he had received quite professional training.

Thunk.

Though he had imbued the blade fully with mana, it was unable to pierce my heart and was blocked by my skin.

As one already fused with a dragon heart, my skin was as tough as dragon scales.

Not only could a meager amount of mana not pierce my skin, even if it tore, the dragon heart’s power could quickly heal me.

“Uh!”

The assassin let out an urgent gasp.

He must have been tremendously shocked that his desperate final blow was easily blocked.

As if unbelieving, he stared at me with wide round eyes and looked over my body.

I continued pretending to sleep.

Go ahead and do whatever else you were trying.

Thunk, thunk!

As a stubborn professional killer, the assassin did not give up after one failure and continued stabbing me repeatedly with the dagger.

But the dagger only bounced off my skin, not leaving a single scratch.

It was an annoying feeling.

Was this what it was like to toy with another person?

The assassin stabbing me with the dagger was entertaining.

“Why…why won’t you open your eyes?”

In a panic, he desperately tried to pierce me.

Only now in his terror did the assassin sense something off.

He was frightened and confused why, no matter how much he stabbed me with the mana-imbued dagger, I had no wounds or reaction.

In fact, I paid no mind to him making loud noises that should wake me, using magic right next to me, or stabbing me with a dagger.

Even now as he muttered aloud.

Unbecoming behavior for an assassin, but it showed just how great the shock was for him.

The attack stopped, and like the protagonist of a horror movie who had seen a ghost, he watched me breathlessly.

“You weren’t…sleeping?”

I who hadn’t made a single breath.

I held my breath in case even a slight wrong breath would startle and scare him.

The assassin realized this strange point as well.

Indeed, for the assassination target to hold their breath, receive attacks without opening their eyes, and quietly pretend to be oblivious like this.

If he didn’t feel something off, he wouldn’t be much of an assassin.

“Was I found out?”

I exhaled the breath I had been holding in and murmured lowly.

Opening my eyes and sitting up from the bed, I looked at the assassin.

The amusing and special assassination event seemed to have ended.

*

“Phew.”

As I silently gazed at the assassin, he sat down on the floor, breathing with difficulty.

Whether it was shocking to be toyed with by his assassination target, or simply because he feared me, his eyes wandered vacantly, overwhelmed.

I waited sitting on the bed to let him regain his composure.

“Gasp.”

But even that silence seemed to be unbearable pressure for him, as his breathing quickened.

He didn’t even dare think of turning his feet to run away.

Having entered my room, he had become like a mouse who walked into a cat’s den of his own will.

I wondered what confidence had allowed him to stab me like that.

Considering his courage and skills, he had accomplished much in front of me.

I particularly appreciated that.

“I will let you escape if you run away.”

Since he had entertained me, I had no intention of killing him if he fled.

It would be fine even if he returned to assassinate me again.

He couldn’t leave a single scratch on me, and it was a precious experience that someone had secretly attacked me with ill intent.

“You don’t have to reveal why you tried to kill me.”

He didn’t have to tell me who requested the assassination.

That way, the assassin could target me without reservations and the client could send new assassins.

“Just tell me this. How were you able to stab me?”

The assassin, seemingly about to faint with his face pale blue, didn’t seem able to answer many questions.

So I started with what I was most curious about.

The reason he could approach me, and how he could conquer his fear and stab with the dagger when he saw me.

That was what I wondered most about.

Usually people don’t even dare approach me in fear, let alone attack me – they have difficulty even making eye contact.

After obtaining the dragon heart and becoming an adult, relating with others had become even more difficult.

My power had become unfathomably strong, and accordingly, my aura had also risen.

Those near me would faint just from my breathing.

Even the brave Dragonian warriors acted like frightened puppies before me, and the fearsome magic beasts of the Western Demon Lands would curl up and retreat when I approached like slimes.

I was now called the Dragon God walking the lands of the Dragonians, Draikenar.

An existence that seemed to embody fear itself with the power inherited from the Primordial Dragon.

I was curious about the mindset of a mere assassin who dared raise a dagger against someone like me.

“Ah…”

As I watched him with interest, the assassin who had barely managed to gasp for breath, collapsed limply and fainted.

Well, that was the normal reaction.

I stroked the assassin’s jet black hair briefly as he lay fainted before me.

Calling the servants to take away my overnight guest lying there, I lay back down and fell into sleep.

An assassin visiting me late at night had been a very enjoyable matter.

*

“Be sure to come by often.”

“Th-that’s too great an honor!”

I treated the assassin considerately and released him.

I didn’t ask why he had tried to kill me or who had requested it.

I saw him out graciously, so that the attempt to assassinate me would remain a pleasant experience for him.

That way more assassins would come to alleviate my boredom.

But it seemed my intentions didn’t get through directly to the assassin.

The assassin who had been pressing his head to the floor in a bow, begged while weeping that even at the cost of his life he would not target me again.

He wished I would mercifully forgive the Assassins Guild who foolishly accepted this request. He would personally remove the client from the standards of the Assassins Guild to repay even a grain of my mercy and patience.

That it was the least he could do to reciprocate my benevolence.

“There is no need for that.”

“For me who did not recognize your greatness to have met you! I deserve to be ripped apart and killed at once, but I fear staining this place with my filthy blood would be a disgrace…”

“Yes, you’ve worked hard. Now go.”

The assassin seemed to have lost his mind, ceaselessly begging, pleading and wailing. I told him to go.

The courage from last night had long vanished.

I wanted someone who could look me in the eye and converse. This assassin already had fear of me ingrained.

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He was no different from an ordinary person who feared me.

‘How was he able to attack me yesterday?’

Sitting in the study, I recalled the assassin’s actions.

Even the magic beasts in the Western Demon Lands shrank away when they saw me.

I had gone on the subjugation to confirm just how strong I was, but I hadn’t even properly been attacked, only adding to my disappointment.

So I was an object of fear even for magic beasts.

While many Dragonians praised me as the Dragon God who achieved the long-held goal of subjugating the Western Demon Lands, I personally did not feel much elation over it.

Because fear of me had risen in proportion to my fame.

But the assassin had stabbed me with a dagger.

There were plenty of magic beasts in the Western Demon Lands stronger than that assassin.

The reason he could stab me wasn’t because he was especially strong or brave.

What could the reason be?

Sitting in the chair at my desk, I pondered.

I had stilled my breath and closed my eyes.

The assassin didn’t know exactly who I was and had struck with the dagger gripping the fragmentary information he possessed.

He didn’t know me precisely.

That was the crux.

If he didn’t know how fearsome I was, perhaps ordinary daily life and interacting with others was possible.

I glanced at the titles of the piles of books placed beside the study.

[The Legend of Laurengard]

[The Prodigies of Rafflesia Academy]

[Anna and Franco]

[The 10 Races Great War]

…

I had passed time reading books to console my loneliness.

Since everyone would tremble in fear just seeing me, reading books was the only way to experience others.

In books, I immersed myself in the characters, making ordinary friends, falling in love, and arguing with others before receiving the dragon heart at age 8.

It was a hobby that hadn’t changed since then, to now at age 20 as an adult after obtaining the dragon heart.

I longed for ordinary things precisely because I was extremely lonely.

I wanted to get along and spend time conversing pleasantly with others.

I took out a promotional flyer wedged between some book pages and read it.

[Gloria Imperial Academy seeks brilliant talents who will lead the continent’s future!

Race and status disregarded! Only your pure passion and talent seen!

Let us study together, helping and understanding one another, to achieve the endless glory of the continent and true peace of this age!]

It had been about 20 years since the end of the Continental War.

I heard that in the prospering empire where peace and laughter bloomed, exchange between humans and other races was active.

I heard youths of various races around my age gathered at the academy.

Could I also make friends there?

The Dragonians of this kingdom all feared me.

Perhaps I could make ordinary friends to chat with at the academy in the empire where I was still unknown.

I had always envied the exuberant youth and passion of academies.

I placed the promotional flyer squarely in the middle of my desk.

The assassin’s visit had been a special and novel experience.

Academy life would likely be just as enjoyable an experience.

Even if everyone came to fear me, I still wanted to attend the academy once.