"Keeping him alive is pointless. Better to win over his underlings directly. He's just someone who enjoys the benefits without doing any real work," Pieck said meaningfully.
A Tavern in Wall Sina
The tavern was loud and crowded.
Sawano Kawa glanced at the luxurious carriage parked outside before casually pushing open the half-shuttered wooden door and walking straight in through the front entrance.
He passed the drunken men on the first floor—faces red, voices loud. Even the bartender only felt a slight breeze pass by and paid no attention.
Sawano Kawa made no effort to conceal his footsteps. With music and laughter filling the hall, no one noticed.
He headed directly for the upper floor.
His target: Count Miroslav, a noble who, relying on his higher rank, had forcibly taken Baron Polino's wife and daughter.
Polino had burned with hatred. Officially, nobles did not assassinate one another. They could eliminate commoners without consequence, but inter-noble assassination would destabilize the hierarchy. Lower nobles killing higher nobles would plunge Wall Sina into chaos.
So grievances were usually redirected downward—toward the common people.
But everything changed when Baron Polino personally witnessed Sawano Kawa silently eliminate a gang leader guarded by dozens of men—Polino's own men.
Instead of anger, Polino saw opportunity.
Money. Power. Chaos.
All things Sawano Kawa desired.
The Assassination
On the third floor, nearly the entire level was occupied by one grand private chamber.
Inside, Count Miroslav was negotiating with the tavern owner—requesting that the owner's beautiful wife "accompany" him for several days.
It was an ugly request.
Yet the tavern owner, rather than angered, was delighted.
"Your Excellency, for my wife to catch your eye is her greatest honor," he said, raising a glass in flattery.
Climbing into a count's favor was worth any humiliation.
Suddenly—
The door opened.
The tavern owner turned red with fury. "Who dares—?!"
Before he could finish—
Miroslav's expression twisted violently. His face turned purple, his eyes bulged, his tongue protruded—
He collapsed dead.
Sawano Kawa withdrew his hand from the count's throat.
Before the tavern owner could scream, Sawano Kawa covered his mouth and drove a blade into his heart.
Two bodies.
Silence.
Chaos in Wall Sina
After that night, tensions between nobles escalated rapidly.
Though "the lower overthrowing the higher" remained officially nonexistent, reality had shifted.
If even a baron dared assassinate a count, what was stopping others?
Soon, nobles with grudges began secretly eliminating one another.
And there was only one assassin bold enough to take such contracts:
Sawano Kawa.
He gradually unified Wall Sina's underworld, naming his organization:
"Maiden's Shoulder Strap."
A crude name—mocking, predatory.
As leaders died, gangs flocked to him.
Rumors spread among civilians:
This shadow organization would silently cut the shoulder straps of women before assaulting them. Those who resisted vanished the next day.
Pieck showed no objection to Sawano Kawa's brutality against the "devil's descendants." For the first time, she regarded him differently.
The underground conflict lasted for months—
Until it drew the attention of the Military Police Brigade's Central Division.
The Capital – Central Military Police Headquarters
A tall man in a wide-brimmed hat reclined in his chair, cigar between his teeth, boots resting on the desk.
Before him stood a furious marquis.
"Kenny Ackerman! Wall Sina is in chaos! Even the capital is affected! Send your Central MPs to eliminate those criminals!"
The man on the chair did not respond.
The marquis was about to explode—
When Kenny lifted his eyes.
A predatory glare.
The marquis instantly turned pale.
Kenny Ackerman served only the true king—formerly Uri Reiss. After Uri's death, few could restrain him. Though capable of rebellion, Kenny remained loyal out of personal gratitude.
His title was infamous:
"The Ripper."
Before his pardon, he had slaughtered over a hundred Central Military Police soldiers—elite guardians of the capital.
To him, they had been nothing.
Without a word, Kenny tilted his chin. The marquis was escorted out.
Kenny glanced at the file on his desk.
"'Maiden's Shoulder Strap'… Invisible killer… Heh. Reckless fool."
He stood.
It was time to hunt.
The Slaughter
At the organization's luxury hotel headquarters—
Blood filled the air.
Every member of "Maiden's Shoulder Strap" lay dead.
No visible wounds—
Only a thin red line across each throat.
Instant kills.
"Disgusting name," Kenny muttered. "Hope the leader's more interesting."
The Confrontation
Elsewhere, Sawano Kawa prepared to eliminate another target.
He stepped out of an alley—
And froze.
A tall figure in a hat stood before him.
Kenny spun his knife once and lunged.
The blade flashed toward Sawano Kawa's throat.
Thanks to his enhanced body and martial training, Sawano barely dodged—though his shoulder was sliced.
He activated invisibility instantly.
But pain overwhelmed him.
Kenny narrowed his eyes.
He followed the scream—
And threw his knife.
It embedded into Sawano's calf.
Another scream.
Kenny vaulted off the wall, charging.
I'm finished! Sawano panicked. Why didn't the system make me stronger?!
He blamed everything but himself.
In that critical moment—
Bags of flour suddenly burst from above, filling the alley in white dust.
Kenny's vision blurred.
Pieck arrived instantly, assessing the situation in one glance.
Even together, they were no match for this man—unless she transformed.
She covered Sawano's mouth.
He expanded his invisibility to cloak both of them.
He tried to move—
Pieck yanked him down.
They crouched, motionless.
When the flour settled, Kenny threw five knives toward the alley exit.
Each struck stone.
He stared toward the deeper shadows—
Then departed.
Sawano nearly fainted from terror.
"There are monsters inside the Walls," Pieck said quietly. "Your intelligence was flawed."
Sawano wanted to claim Kenny was the only one that strong.
But Pieck had just witnessed him being utterly outmatched—even while invisible.
Aftermath
Overnight, "Maiden's Shoulder Strap" was annihilated.
Its leader vanished.
Kenny the Ripper's reputation in the capital grew even more fearsome.
Wall Sina gradually calmed.
Wall Rose – Training Corps Camp
Chen Si knew nothing of the turmoil in Wall Sina.
If he had, he likely would have said:
Good. Let them die.
The military—not nobles—held real power within the Walls. Fewer nobles meant less resistance during any future political upheaval.
Had Chen Si known Sawano Kawa targeted powerless aristocrats rather than true authority structures, he might have questioned his grasp of political reality.
And if Sawano could hear that thought—
He would probably cry out:
"I wanted to aim higher! But that throat-slitting maniac wouldn't let me!"