Months passed without issue, and it was now December 20th, 1914. Winter had arrived, and even though the snow had not come yet, it was cold enough for Darko to be in his winter wear, which was a set of Assassin's robes modified for the wearer to withstand the bitter cold.
Darko was in war-torn Belgium, in the region of Ypres, where the Triple Alliance and Triple Entente were locked in combat, with German soldiers making up most of the Triple Alliance soldiers in the country.
To his surprise, Darko was on the German side. Darko had thought that Gustav was going to send him to the side of the Triple Entente, but Gustav had done otherwise.
"Offizier Frederick!" a soldier called out. For a moment or two Darko wondered who the soldier was calling, then he realised he was supposed to be Offizier Frederick.
"What is it?"
The soldier stopped in front of Darko and saluted. "Offizier, General Albert wishes to meet you in his tent."
"Lead me to him then."
Although Darko had only been with the Germans in Belgium for a week or so, he had built up a good relationship with the German soldiers, mainly Erich, who was known to trust people easily.
"Greetings, General," Darko said as he entered the tent. "I heard you were calling for me."
Erich nodded. "Christmas is nearing, Offizier. I intend to launch a strike on the enemy on the day right after Christmas. Maybe we can gain the upper hand. What do you think of that, Offizier Frederick?"
"Nein, General," Darko said. "It's too risky. What if the Entente is planning the same thing as well? It could likely end up as a bloody battle with a lot of casualties on both sides, which we don't want."
"Fair point, Offizier," Erich agreed.
Four days later, on the 24th of December, 1914, a historical event known as the Christmas Truce occurred. Soldiers from both sides were on No Man's Land, exchanging small gifts and souvenirs with one another.
"Wonderful, isn't it, Offizier?" Erich grinned. He was smoking English cigarettes, which had been given to him by a British soldier in return for a pack of German cigarettes.
"No doubt, General," Darko was genuinely smiling as well, as he sipped from a mug of alcohol.
Erich offered him a cigarette, but Darko politely declined. "Enjoy yourself, will you, Offizier?"
"I will, General."
Hours later, Darko spotted the Templar walking to one of the German hospital tents, accompanied by a few medics, and a single British medic which caught Darko's attention. Darko decided to follow them.
They entered the hospital tent. Seeing Darko, Erich explained, "One of the soldiers that we recovered from No Man's Land earlier was still alive, but injured. We're going to perform surgery on him now, with the help of a Tommy over here. He's a medic."
"Oh, I see. I'll stay outside the tent while you do surgery, then."
About one hour later, once the surgery was over, Darko entered the hospital tent.
"That's a nice ring you have there," Darko heard the British medic tell Erich.
Erich examined the Templar ring on his finger. "It's a nice ring. Why, you want it? I can trade it to you for your ring."
The medic raised a hand for Erich to see. Instead of a ring, there was a burn mark on his ring finger. Darko was both stunned and delighted to see the burn mark.
"Assa-!" Erich was interrupted halfway when the Englishman's Hidden Blade killed him.
Throwing the lifeless body onto the floor, the British medic turned to Darko, who had witnessed the whole thing. Before the medic could attack him, Darko released his own Hidden Blade for the medic to see.
"Nice to meet a brother," the British medic said as he kept his Hidden Blade. "Why are you here?"
"Same as you," Darko answered. "I was assigned to kill General Albert as well, but it seems like you completed the task before I could."
The medic chuckled. "You won't take it to heart, will you? Nice meeting you, Assassin, but I've got to go, before I get caught and my ass gets hauled into a POW camp."
The German troops found that 'Offizier Frederick' had mysteriously disappeared, and was no where to be found. They naturally linked his disappearance to General Erich Albert's killing, and deduced that he was the killer. But nothing could be done since there were no records of an Offizier Frederick being in the region of Ypres in December 1914.
Darko was back in Bucharest at exactly on the 1st of January, 1915, on New Year's Day. Entering the headquarters, Darko said, "Merry New Year's Day, everybody."
Gustav came out of one of the rooms, holding a glass of wine. "Same to you, Darko! I trust that your job is done?"
"Yes, but not exactly. General Albert was killed by another Assassin, who had also been sent to kill the General."
Aleksandar laughed. "It appears that this Templar is not very well-liked! Tell me, Darko, who is this other Assassin that killed Erich?"
"He was a British Assassin posing as a medic. During the Christmas Truce, which I'm pretty sure you've heard of by now, he, several German medics and General Albert operated on a wounded soldier. After the operation, the Assassin and the General were talking about trading rings, but after showing the Templar the mark on his ring finger he killed General Albert with a Hidden Blade."
Nikolai was amused. "Quite cunning, the Assassin. Men like these are of great help to the Order, because sometimes you have to fight fire with fire."
"Well said, Nikolai," Gustav nodded. "Darko, you must be exhausted, after spending so many days in the battlefield. Go and rest."