Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

Chapter 163: Chapter 162: The Grim Reaper’s Pursuit

To Knight Conan, this might have seemed merely a hasty decision made by the lord due to the pain of losing his son, but when he was invited to the Lord’s Manor, Knight Conan no longer thought so.

“What is this?”

Staring at the letter in front of him, Knight Conan was clearly surprised. He raised his head to look at the old man in front of him, then lowered his gaze again to reread the letter.

“This was found in the pocket of my poor child’s clothes.”

The old man’s face was quite wan, as if he had aged a decade overnight, and Knight Conan, following the old man’s gesture, reached out to take the letter and began to read it. However, soon his expression turned strange and even angry. Despite this, he forced himself to suppress the anger in his heart, and after finishing the letter, he looked at the old man again.

“May I ask, is what this letter says…”

...

“……should all be true.”

The old man now deeply bowed his head, showing a look of repentance. Knight Conan’s face turned red and then pale, uncertain of what to say.

The letter recorded nothing other than a series of atrocities committed by the deceased son of the lord, including but not limited to assaulting women, beating and injuring civilians, and even raping a farm girl because of his lust, finding her boring afterward, fearing she would cause trouble, and then ordering his men to kill her entire family, disguising it as an accidental fire.

Honestly, Knight Conan had just taken up the position of sheriff here two days ago, but he was aware of several incidents, though since he was new here, he hadn’t yet had the chance to investigate. Looking at it now… it seemed that someone had already dealt with everything for him.

That bastard got off easy dying in a fall! If the Sanctuary had caught him, it would have been a public execution at the very least!

“What is the meaning of this letter?”

Suppressing the anger in his heart, Knight Conan looked at the old man. He didn’t believe that the lord had summoned him here to confess to his son’s crimes.

“Let me explain.”

At this moment, a man dressed as a butler, standing behind the old man, took over the conversation.

“This is ‘Death’s Judgment’.”

“……I don’t quite understand what you mean.”

“Knight Conan, having just arrived here, you might not be aware.”

The butler slightly bowed to Knight Conan before he continued.

“In fact, for some time now, a mysterious assassin known as ‘The Grim Reaper’ has been operating in this region. Nobody knows who they are or if they truly exist; we only know that whenever they accept a commission, the target dies ‘accidentally’ within a few days, and a letter recording their crimes is left by their side. It’s as if they are judging their sins… So, we also call it ‘Death’s Judgment’.”

“So, you’re telling me this is really an assassination?”

Knight Conan was utterly incredulous.

“Is it some kind of magic effect? Or perhaps we could consult a Prophet Mage…”

“It’s no use, we’ve consulted Prophet Mages, even performed Retrospection, but we can’t find any clues… this is expected, after all, we don’t even know if the person is human or a ghost.”

The butler revealed a self-mocking smile as he spoke.

“Not magic, and they didn’t do it themselves?”

Knight Conan found it even more incredible.

“Can you even call that an assassination?”

“But in fact, every time, they accept a commission, and after the target ‘accidentally’ dies, the commission sheet appears as completed. That is to say, this really is ‘an assassination’.”

“So what you’re saying is……”

“I hope Knight Conan can request the Sanctuary to intervene, to find that assassin.”

The old man raised his head, staring intently at Knight Conan. frёeweɓηovel_coɱ

“I know, my son committed unforgivable acts and if he had been caught by the Sanctuary, even beheaded, I would have accepted. However, I cannot accept that my child was killed by a despicable and shameless assassin! I hope the Sanctuary can help me find the murderer and punish them!”

“……”

Looking at the angry old man before him, Knight Conan was at a loss for words. For some reason, looking at the old man, he suddenly thought of Knight Commander Brand… perhaps this was a parent’s pampering love for their child? Knight Conan wasn’t married, much less had children, so he couldn’t understand it. In fact, when he had seen Knight Commander Brand draw his sword in defiance for the sake of his daughter at the Sanctuary, Knight Conan had already found it hard to comprehend his feelings.

And now…

“I’m sorry, Lord, I am retired now. As for this matter you speak of, I will convey it to the Sanctuary, but I cannot say for sure how the Sanctuary will respond.”

“Thank you, Knight Conan, but I will not let go of the murderer who killed my child.”

“……”

Upon hearing the old City Lord’s response, Knight Conan didn’t know what to say for a moment and could only silently stand up, bow to the elder before him, and then leave.

“… Master, are we really going to report this matter to the Sanctuary?”

After leaving the Lord’s Manor, Conan’s attendant hurried to his side and asked in a low voice. Faced with his attendant’s query, Knight Conan remained silent for a long time before suddenly turning his head to look at his attendant.

“Bart, I remember… you’re married, right?”

“Ah, yes, Master,”

Startled by Knight Conan’s seemingly random question, the attendant paused momentarily, then hurriedly nodded in agreement.

“Do you have any children?”

“One… mischievous and always thinking of going on adventures instead of learning swordsmanship; I truly don’t know what to do with him… ah…”

“So, what do you think about the actions of the Lord Master, right or wrong?”

“That….”

At this point, the attendant paused for a while before finally replying with a complicated expression.

“To be honest, Master, the City Lord’s son was indeed no good; frankly, I felt a sense of relief when I heard of his demise. But… I can’t wholly fail to understand the City Lord—he was his only son after all… ”

“I see….”

Knight Conan fell silent for a moment, then shook his head.

“Proceed with the standard reporting procedure; after all, it is our duty.”

“Yes, Master,”

While the City of Korhal was bustling with noise, the original instigator had already left the troubled area far behind.

“It wasn’t a challenge, but at least the pay wasn’t too bad.”

Counting the platinum coins in his moneybag, Fang Zheng nodded in satisfaction.

Indeed, the supposed “Grim Reaper murders” that had been the talk of the area these days were all his doing.

The method Fang Zheng had used was one of the two Bronze Soulstones he had drawn earlier, “Assassin 47.”

In fact, Fang Zheng had always believed that compared to Assassin’s Creed, Assassin 47 was the true killer. Although many enjoyed sensationalizing things like “Where in life do you have so much time for infiltration? If you want to assassinate, just Wushuang.” Such tactics were only usable in the world of Assassin’s Creed; in the Main World, Assassin’s Creed was utterly meaningless.

Wushuang? Noble estates here are filled with magic traps and alarms. You Wushuang one, and thirty seconds later you’re surrounded. And even if you Wushuang and kill someone, what then? Mages have ways to track you down; it would only be a matter of time before they pursued you from all directions, unless you have some item or Divine Artifact to hide your identity. Killing through assassination isn’t as easy as you might think.

Series of murders are only marketable in detective novels. In reality, get a DNA test comparison and see if anyone cares about your excuses.

Choosing Assassin 47 was naturally because of his two enhancement skills: [Thousand Forms] and [Use All Things Wisely].

[Thousand Forms] allows Fang Zheng to perfectly imitate anyone, just as Assassin 47 can assume various identities by changing his clothes in the games; [Thousand Forms] allows Fang Zheng to perfectly disguise himself and then initiate covert operations.

[Use All Things Wisely] represents Assassin 47’s unique assassination style. With this skill, Fang Zheng can rapidly analyze all items and equipment at the assassination site upon arrival, utilizing them to set traps and lure the target. For example, the assassination of the City Lord’s son was not an act he committed directly; he simply disguised himself as a janitor, cleaned the area a bit, and while nobody was looking, quietly removed a support pole from the railing.

Did he kill anyone? No. He just used Future Sight to verify where the City Lord’s son would go next, so he cleaned there—is cleaning the floor illegal?

For the High-Tier Mage, it was even easier for Fang Zheng—Small Angel Nymph could manipulate all spells. So, he didn’t need to do anything but find the location, then let Small Angel Nymph invade during the opponent’s casting and seize control, causing the spell to run amok.

With these two abilities, along with Future Sight and Small Angel Nymph’s magical assistance, Fang Zheng could effortlessly assassinate anyone as if he were invisible.

The reason was simple: he needed money.

While Fang Zheng still had the 5,000 gold coins the Sanctuary had awarded him, it was far from enough. Of course, if he was content with a lavish lazy life, the money he had would have been more than enough. However, living such a life was clearly not the purpose of his existence.

Most importantly, the money couldn’t be used to recharge the system.

That was the crux of the matter.

No matter how much money Fang Zheng got in the Ironblood World or the Main World, it was meaningless if it couldn’t be spent within the system. Thus, he needed to convert his money into something rechargeable, namely Spirit Crystals.

But that was not an easy task.

Just like in the world where Fang Zheng lived, although Spirit Crystals weren’t classified as a “strategic resource,” they weren’t something the average person could just buy, especially not in large quantities. Official department scrutiny and filings were required for large purchases, which would not typically concern Fang Zheng given his status. However, now, not wanting to draw the Sanctuary’s attention yet desiring to acquire large quantities of Spirit Crystals, he had to find another way.

According to the laws of the Kingdom of the Holy Church, only licensed spellcasters, alchemists, and legal organizations and individuals who produce armor or weapons are eligible to purchase Spirit Crystals. Although Fang Zheng had mastered the Fifth Ring spell, since Rex hadn’t filed for him, he couldn’t even be considered an apprentice at the moment. And naturally, he couldn’t use his Templar identity anymore—if the Sanctuary were to discover this, it would only bring trouble.

That left him a single option—using a shell corporation.