A faint sigh escaped an old man's lips as he slipped into bed, despite his more than advanced age, Agilulf Wanneck was not even close to appearing like a crumbling geezer, his white hair were resplendent, slightly wavy, his beard perfectly trimmed at all times, though he did not sport any moustache, this was his signature look.
The refined appearance he was known for, the merchant king that did not hesitate to meet within the heart of others territories, and did not shy away from interacting with various other species, even if some of them were hard to communicate with, any business partner was his best friend.
His generousness with those that treated him as an ally would most be seen in his interactions in Tochi, where he had not only stricken a deviously good deal with the royalty, the famed Lady Syklon herself, and even multiple Derelictus-Mens queens, indeed, he was to blame for gifting scrumptious staves as well as teaching them the basics of magic, which the monsters had greatly improved upon on their own.
Not everybody liked him for his money schemes, but they had to admit that his deals were the best, and by far, some called him Roitelet as a mockery, they were still coming to him for trades however, that told enough.
His still toned body was enlaced by a pretty demon woman with light green skin, one of his many mistresses, that was another advantage of being on good terms with everyone, he had many partners, though, he had yet to take a queen and have successors.
For someone such as him, it wasn't an urgency however, he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer, still looking intently at some official papers, even in bed, his job was not done for the day.
"You seem a bit odd today, is everything alright?" his demonic mistress resting her head on his chest, putting down the piece of paper, he stroked her hair, a bit in thought.
"Nothing of importance, the unwanted presences are progressing at a steady rate, our preparations for Audit's vision are progressing well too, it's just those mine collapses, the loss in profit is miniscule, negligible, but it does not feel right to allow someone to do as they wish" truthfully, even the tiniest amount of loss was rough in his heart, but his mind knew better than that, he could not police each of his businesses perfectly at all times, there was always a chance of things going wrong.
And it was a good occasion to use the manpower that usually worked there, putting them to work elsewhere, to revitalise regions that had grown poorer in the last years, with some luck, new deposits of resources would be discovered.
That thought eased his worries a great deal, also the fact that he had a beauty next to him, but the prospect of money always wins the game.
Even with multiple mistresses, it wasn't even a contest.
After a bit more reading and quality time, the king fell asleep, the soft breathing of his bed companion washing over his neck, until he awoke, only a few hours had passed, it was the middle of the night.
He was hearing footsteps somewhere close-by, as the ruler of this palace, Agilulf Wanneck's bedroom was beyond oversized, resting in the center of the castle, he had access to pretty much every room through both simple doors and secret passages.
Listening intently, he was able to pinpoint the location of this person, well, where they were going, with low hum escaping his lips, he slipped away from the tender hold of his mistress, put his nightgown back on, grabbing a candle stick, lighting the three candle on it without lingering on, he snuck into one of his secret passages.
Travelling without a sound, the owner of the footsteps went silent inside a pantry, large and brimming with enough food to feed the occupants for an entire year, if not more.
Without hesitation, the king stepped out in the darkened room, his blue eyes shining from the flames, his visage unmoving and perfectly neutral, even when he spun around, using the candlestick to block a dagger swinging down on him.
Twisting his impromptu weapon, forcing the intruder to drop his weapon right into the king's hand, stabbing the dark figure right in the stomach, forcing it at an odd, upward angle, the tip of the blade sticking into that definitely wasn't good.
The assassin grunted like a wild beast, soon falling as though all of his bones had been robbed from him.
"Guards!" he yelled, ever so casually, sounding more like he was calling for someone to clean some poop off the floor.
Multiple guards appeared, surprised at the sight of an intruder, especially so deep into the castle.
"Keep it somewhere cold, we'll go over this mess in the morning, I have a bed to help warm up" Agilulf Wanneck yawned, going away without a speck of any emotion from killing a man.
Without having to be told directly, the guards relayed word to the rest of their fellows, searching everywhere for any additional intruders, but only the one that the king had noticed had somehow found a way inside, a few other intruders were found near the edge of the palace, completely inert.
Once morning came, the corpses of the night lurkers were put out in the middle of the throne room, overlooked by the king, sitting in his royal seat, his two guards by his side, accompanied by their trainees, the unwanteds.
It would be an understatement to say that the three young summons were a bit uncomfortable at the sight of corpses, but they had to maintain face at the moment.
The bodies were stripped of their dark clothes, revealing magic circles and sigils inscribed deep into their flesh, their backs riddled with small holes, but what made the unwanted gag was the faces of those assassins.
For they had none left, only a hole left by a dreadful fire that seemed to have been raging until very recently, the head and skull left completely hollow.
"Looks like a collaboration between The Defiler's and Puppeteers, they must have had help from a skilled mage to inscribe those things on their bodies without killing them…" Pierre-Ornée noted.
"The circles and sigils seem to be solely meant to increase their stealth and reduce their presence" one of the royal mages remarked.
"Well, that looks like a declaration of war, feeling like killing some people, kids?" he turned to his three latest recruits.
They vigorously said no with their heads.
"They certainly are" responded Bough in their stead.
"Great then, go on the hunt"