48 Hours a Day

The old trainer found a step in the yard and sat on it. “The assassin is one of the oldest professions of humankind. When the person causing your troubles is gone from this world, all your problems would be automatically solved.”

“That’s something hard to refute,” agreed Zhang Heng.

Dadatis continued, “No one knows who the first assassin was because people who do well in this line are those without names. Once they become famous, they are basically not far from death. We differ from martyrs. The only thing that we go after is the monetary reward. Before we can claim the reward, we have to learn how to stay alive first. Although we are not known in history, I can tell you confidently that we are everywhere. For thousands of years, we stay hidden and committed ourselves to help to solve problems of the commoners, serve the emperors, generals, and change the course of history with the dagger in our hand.”

“Well, it sounds like you guys must be quite busy.”

“Of course, in the early days, assassins would only fight for themselves, and they would not take the initiative to talk to other assassins. Everyone had a different customer scope, something that has certainly brought us unparalleled freedom. However, the lack of faith and belief has caused us to lose the sense of unity. This situation lasted until about a thousand years ago when a retired senior received the Kreis’s oracle and began to think of a way to unite the power that belongs to the assassins.”

“So this is the origin of the Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood?” Zhang Heng interrupted.

The old trainer was startled. “What is the Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood?” he asked with a cocked eyebrow.

“Sorry. I just quoted something from Ubisoft. Please continue,” Zhang Heng said.

The old trainer frowned since he didn’t understand what Ubisoft meant. However, considering that Zhang Heng was from the far east, it was only natural that they communicated differently. As long as the information was not too important, Dadatis had no intention to dwell on it.

“The senior found the six most powerful assassins at the time and conveyed Kreis’s will to them. However, it didn’t go well at the beginning. That was because the assassins didn’t like the feeling of being restrained by someone or something. The senior then told them that joining the organization would not have much impact on their daily lives. On the contrary, the organization could become a bridge for them to exchange information, share resources, and help each other.”

The old trainer paused. “Although assassins prefer to act alone, it doesn’t mean they can do everything by themselves. A middleman is required for getting different kinds of jobs. The middleman will usually have a rich network of contacts to find the right customers for the assassins. The assassins, on the other hand, could avoid direct contact with their employers. This was also implemented to protect the safety of assassins. After all, assassination is not a glorious feat. Some employers want to eliminate all the potential threats, including the assassin itself after they finished the job assigned to them.”

“When the assassins want to find out more about their targets, they would need the help of others help as well. These people could be the thugs or thieves on the street, or sometimes they could be sociable nobles and merchants. They can help the assassins approach different targets and find out more about them. Other than that, sometimes the assassins would need someone’s help when they want to get away from a crime scene. In short, a perfect assassination requires detailed investigation, countless rehearsals, and a good clean-up after the job is done. After all, we are also humans, not gods.”

“This sounds like a craftsman’s spirit to me,” said Zhang Heng.

“To sum up, I believe you can also see the benefits of the establishment of the organization. The resources in the hands of other members can be pooled to form an intelligence network, which will eventually serve the members of the organization. Besides, when the organization members encounter a threat that they fail to overcome, the other members can also assist. After all, dealing with an assassin and provoke a group of assassins are two completely different scenarios.”

“It’s reasonable, but the question is how does this benefit the convener? You mentioned that he was a retired man. Why did he come back and spend so much effort to form an organization he will get nothing out of.”

“As I said, for thousands of years, the assassin business has always been a mess. The root cause is their lack of belief. A common goal could unite them, though. This was what the founder of Balance Blade had in mind. We worship Kreis. She is the goddess of murder and assassination, in charge of the balance of everything. And all we have to do is to maintain this balance for her through assassination.”

The old trainer looked into Zhang Heng’s eyes and said thoughtfully, “The balance is essential because only through balance can everything maintain its perfect form. It aims to benefit everyone in the world, especially the lowest-class civilians and slaves. Of course, the Balance Blade pays close attention to everyone’s interests from a different social class. That is because we all are a part of this world, and together we form a delicate balance. But what we care about most is the lower class. The reason is simple. Because they have the largest number of people.”

“You want to benefit the slaves; why don’t you just free them?” Zhang Heng asked.

“We release the slaves, and then?” the old trainer asked rhetorically, “Have you been to the market?”

“Yes.”

“The market is like a microcosm of the world. There are all kinds of people in it, from blacksmiths to farmers, carpenters, tailors… Everyone tries to sell their things. We all have something to sell and buy. And all these come together to create a balance. Now, if you take the farmers out of the market, what will happen? The tailors will have no fabrics to sell, pubs will have no ingredients for winemaking, and women can’t buy food. If that happens, it means the balance is broken, and everyone will suffer.

“This applies to slaves as well. As I said, the Balance Blade has existed for thousands of years. We have seen too many things, the rise and fall of countries, the change of dynasties, the prosperity and destruction of cities, and we have also seen the slaves killed those who enslaved them. Will the slaves be liberated after they kill their master? No, they will become a new batch of slave owners. The people at the bottom of society often don’t realize that no matter how society changes, there will always be people who live at society’s bottom. Just like you can’t remove farmers from the market. This is part of the balance.”

“So you tend to maintain the rule of the current ruler?” Zhang Heng raised his eyebrows.

“No, we only maintain the balance,” said the old trainer. “We believe that a stable ruling structure can maximize the benefits of all classes, but we also know that no one can rule forever in this world, just as chaos is the path we must cross before we establish any order. We do not reject chaos.”

“Then what is your stand?” Zhang Heng frowned.

“Let everything be in balance,” replied the old trainer. “If the nobles become too powerful, we will cut off the wings of the nobles. When the emperor becomes too powerful, we will try to limit his power. When riots break out between the commoners and the slaves, we will assist the army in suppressing the riots in the shortest possible time to avoid greater losses. When the chaos comes, we will also help the true king ascend to this throne and rebuild the balance.”