Chapter 360: Leblanc's Trial

After a long time.

Du Kecao did not explain the mission in detail. He just spoke a few words to Katarina and Talon, and then entrusted the two to Leblanc, who used the alias "Lanfu".

Leblanc took them to a secret barracks and told them to change into a set of Ionian civilian clothes that she had prepared in advance. Then she finally started talking to them about the mission:

"Do you know what role you need to play this time?" Leblanc asked.

"Ionian civilians." Katarina answered without hesitation.

At this moment, she had taken off her usual cool assassin outfit that reduced weight and increased movement speed, and put on an Ionian-style coarse cloth robe.

It goes without saying what role she needs to play this time.

Tyrone gave the same answer.

But compared to Katarina, his answer was much richer: "We are going to play two Ionian peasants, and they are a pair of brothers and sisters."

"Oh?" Leblanc looked over with interest.

She hasn't revealed anything yet, so how does he know so much?

"Because of this set of clothes." Tailong pointed to his patched coarse brown shirt.

In Ionia, only poor country farmers would wear such old clothes that are convenient for work and made of such coarse fabrics.

This is not difficult to see.

"What about siblings? How did you know that the characters I wanted you to play were brother and sister?" Leblanc asked again.

"Because the patch material and stitching techniques of the dress she's wearing are the same as the one I'm wearing." Talon looked at Katarina: "Small farmers in Ionia believe in men farming and women weaving, and being self-sufficient. They usually don't ask others to mend their own clothes."

"So, I guess Katarina and I are going to act as a family this time."

Leblanc remained silent after hearing this.

"Actually..." Then she said, "I just took the clothes off the dead body. I didn't think too much about it."

Tai Long: “…”

"However," Leblanc changed the subject, "This is also a small flaw. You were able to point it out in advance, which helped us eliminate a small hidden danger."

"As expected of Mr. Kekao's favorite student, you have a good eye."

LeBlanc was full of praise for Talon.

This made Catalina, who was standing by, feel a little embarrassed.

Tyrone showed amazing insight right from the start, but she only saw the surface of things.

The gap is obvious when compared.

Talon has successfully completed many important missions, and his battle record would be enough to make Du Kecao say that there is someone to take over.

And Katrina...

As the eldest daughter of the Coca family and the inheritor of the assassin's way, Catalina has received arduous assassination training since she was a child.

She longed to prove herself to her father, to contribute to Noxus, and to become a weapon to slay the enemies of the empire.

Now she is almost like a sharp sword that has not yet been unsheathed.

But this sentence is not a completely positive word.

If a sharp sword is not unsheathed, people will inevitably doubt its quality.

"I heard from Teacher Kekao." Leblanc looked at her with a smile: "Is this your first time to carry out a formal assassination mission, Katarina?"

"Yes, Commander Lanf," Katarina replied.

She had killed quite a few people, but those were all experience treasures that Du Kekao had prepared for her during the training process.

She originally planned to get the first kill on the battlefield of Demacia on the western front and officially start her career as an assassin.

Unexpectedly, Du Kecao suddenly received an order from the emperor to be transferred from the Demacia battlefield on the westernmost front of the empire to the Ionia battlefield on the easternmost front of the empire.

So Katarina was delayed on the road for a long time again, and is still a rookie with zero record.

"It seems that Teacher Du Kecao trusts you very much, so he lets you, a newcomer, be my assistant."

"But I am not your father after all, and the enemy will not let you go just because you are a young lady." Leblanc looked at her teasingly: "This mission may be too difficult for you."

"Please believe me." Catalina's eyes were firm and unwavering: "I won't let you down."

"Really?" Leblanc narrowed her eyes. "But I see you can't even do the most basic role-playing."

"Why do you say that?" Catalina was unconvinced.

"Try it now." LeBlanc motioned for her to get into the role.

Let’s give it a try, Catalina thought.

She retracted the edge in her eyes, and her temperament changed from fierce to gentle in an instant. Coupled with her pretty face, coarse cloth shorts, and a pair of hands with thick calluses from years of hard training, she really looked like an Ionian village girl.

Pure and primitive, with a wild beauty.

You can't tell she's Catalina at all.

However……

“Pah—”

LeBlanc raised her hand slightly, and before anyone could see her movements, she was slapped hard in the face.

"You?!" Catalina covered her cheek and looked back coldly.

"That's it." Leblanc sneered, "Miss, you've never suffered, have you?"

"Why don't I have it?" Catalina frowned.

She has never suffered? Are you kidding!

There was no laughter in her childhood. Except for sleeping, her time was spent testing her physical strength, dexterity, and tolerance to pain in order to hone herself into the ultimate weapon.

In order to achieve this goal, she even stole many poisons from the most notorious pharmacist in the city, tested the effects on herself using small increasing doses, gradually trained her body to tolerate the poison, and recorded the effects of each poison...

How could she never suffer?

If any ordinary person had gone through the hardships she had experienced, they would have been tortured to death before they were even 10 years old.

"That's not the kind of suffering I'm talking about, Katarina." Leblanc shook her head in disappointment. "You grew up as a hunter. All the suffering you endure will make you stronger and more respected."

"But the role you have to play now is that of prey."

The suffering of the prey is different from the suffering of the hunter.

"The prey is naturally weak and has no potential."

"Their suffering is endless and meaningless endurance. No matter how much torture you endure, no matter how much tempering you endure, this suffering will not make you stronger."

"You can't see any hope, nor get any respect. You can only waste your life in endless suffering, living an unchanging painful life day after day..."

"Eventually you will be completely desperate, become humble, cowardly, mediocre, and content with mediocrity."

"Anyway..." Leblanc looked at Katarina, looked into her eyes: "A person who is used to being a prey should not have such a look."

"Katerina, if you really got into the role, then when I hit you, you should kneel down and beg for forgiveness instead of looking at me like that."

If a village girl dared to look at a Noxian officer with such eyes, she would probably have died long ago.

"I..." Catalina was speechless for a moment.

"I'm sorry, sir." Finally, she prostrated herself on the ground in humiliation and lowered her head in humility. Just like the Ionian village girl she was playing now, her identity was as humble as dust.

"Very good." Leblanc did not let Katarina stand up. Instead, she unceremoniously lifted her chin with her toes and asked her in an almost humiliating manner, "Now you can feel the pain of the prey."

"Then, if someone tells you that the vast majority of people in the Noxian Empire are living such a humble and lowly life."

"How would you feel?"

"I..." Catalina felt quite complicated.

She is not a naive young lady .

She knew that the Noxian Empire was a hell for the weak, and she had seen how desperate the lives of those humble farmers and poor citizens were.

But due to the Noxian creed of the survival of the fittest, Katarina had never sympathized with these poor people before.

But the pain seen with the eyes is completely different from the pain experienced personally.

She used to think the weak deserved to suffer.

But now, after just a brief taste of the humiliation of being an inferior in role-playing, she couldn't stand it anymore.

She instinctively wanted to resist. But as a "lower class", she had no ability to resist. She could only crawl on the ground, kiss the boots of the strong, and pray for the mercy and forgiveness of the masters.

This kind of life is really desperate.

“……”So, Catalina hesitated.

"What about you?" LeBlanc turned and looked at Talon again.

Talon immediately responded, "I grew up in the slums outside the Immortal Bastion, Commander Lanfu."

He lived the kind of life that LeBlanc described for more than ten years.

Picking up food from garbage dumps, fighting with wild dogs for food, risking their lives to fight with people for a piece of bread...

"You asked me how I felt?" Tyrone's expression was calm: "Sorry, I don't feel anything."

"Teacher Duke Kao saved me from that kind of life. I will live only for him for the rest of my life. Other than that, I don't care about anything else."

"Very good." Leblanc nodded with satisfaction.

When she turned around and looked at Catalina, there was only disappointment on her face:

"Alas, you still hesitate. Even though you are a hunter, you still feel sorry for your prey."

"Katerina, a naive little girl like you is too easy to be bewitched by the leader."

LeBlanc knew very well that the most powerful thing about the Wind Leader was the terrifying infectiousness of Janna's thoughts.

Even the most loyal war masons of the empire could not resist the call of ideals that transcended all shackles of identity.

In the past, 50% of the war masons sent to the Wind Leader to perform missions betrayed the country. The other 40% did not betray the empire, but were reported by the 50%.

As for the remaining 10% that were safe, we have to thank the leader for not rushing to close the net.

Now Catalina is looking innocent and naive again...

"How can I do my undercover work well with a kid like you?"

"No, I won't!" Katarina retorted firmly: "I am a Noxian. I will never betray Noxus ! His Majesty Darkwill's will is what I pursue..."

Katarina is indeed a fervent Noxian patriot.

Since she was a child, she was taught by her father to sacrifice her personal interests for the public good and to serve her country for her entire life. It would be best if she could commit suicide by disembowelment at the emperor's command.

How could someone like her be brainwashed by the leader?

"Really?" Leblanc just mocked.

She said, "Sensei Kekao has handed you to me as a weapon, and I don't need you."

"Katerina, if you are as loyal as you say, then end your useless life here."

As she spoke, Leblanc threw a dagger at her.

Katerina hesitated for a moment, then...

She picked up the dagger and stabbed herself in the heart.

Sizzle——

The dagger literally pierced her heart.

She was not acting, she really followed the order.

However……

"I..." Catalina closed her eyes and waited for death, but she found that there was no pain in her chest as she had imagined: "I'm not dead?"