At the exit of the castle Jacob and Evie met with their Rooks. Three Rooks had died during the battle and two more had sustained light injuries.
"How did it go, Boss?" asked one of the Rooks.
Jacob acknowledged the Rook with a nod. "It went well. My target is dead, along with his bodyguard. Let's leave now."
As they walked back through the town, they heard a loud sound, most likely coming from a bugle. Jacob immediately climbed up the nearest building, scanning for the source of the sound.
In the distance, there were many men heading towards the town. Jacob counted roughly forty. Leading the troops was a man on horseback, and Jacob could make out the Templar insignia on the front of the man's clothes. The man was not Marcello de Vita, but was a Templar like him.
Jacob climbed off the building and told his men, "We need to escape, now. There are many men coming after us."
They did not need any further explanation or guidance. The Rooks simply scattered, running out of the town in the opposite direction of the attackers. Jacob and Evie knew that they were unable to defeat them, and quickly fled as well.
Soon the countryside became a bloody battleground. The attacking forces caught up with the Rooks fairly quickly, and they were forced to battle with them, even though it clearly would be a losing battle for the Rooks.
Jacob drew his revolver, firing shots at nearby attackers, who were mostly mercenaries. Jacob reloaded his revolver before swapping with his Hidden Blade.
A Templar had seen Jacob and drew a three-barrel pocket pistol, aiming it at Jacob. But Jacob had noticed the Templar earlier and was already heading for the Templar when he drew his pistol. As the Templar pulled the trigger of the pistol, Jacob grabbed his hand and forced it upwards. The three bullets were fired into the air. The Templar struggled to get away from Jacob, but he was quickly killed with two slashes from the Hidden Blade.
Evie saw one of the Rooks surrounded by three mercenaries. Firing a sleeping dart at the first mercenary, Evie simultaneously shot her rope launcher at the second mercenary, aiming for his head. The third mercenary looked around him, puzzled as to what had happened to his two comrades. The Rook seized the opportunity and killed the mercenary. Walking up to the mercenary shot by the sleeping dart Evie finished him off before he could wake up.
One of the Rooks rushed up to Jacob, and said, "Boss, we can't win this fight, damn it. We need to flee or we'll all die here together."
"I understand," Jacob replied. "But all of us can't possibly leave this area alive. There needs to be a distraction or diversion of some sort."
But before they could do anything, ten of the townsfolk ran into the battlefield, armed with rifles with bayonet attachments. The ten of them halved the enemy numbers in less than twenty seconds.
Their morale drastically increased upon the arrival of the skilled townsfolk, the Rooks pressed on. One minute later majority of the enemies had fallen, leaving only the Templar who had led the troops and two other mercenaries, who seemed to be high-ranking.
The armed townsfolk guarded the captured, while their leader, a man who spoke with a cockney accent, but spoke without any cockney slangs.
"Nice to meet you all," the man bowed as he shook Jacob and Evie's hands. "You two must be the Assassins Jacob and Evie Frye, as well as the leaders of the large gang known as the Rooks."
Jacob's eyes widened and prepared to release his Hidden Blade. The man noticed that and smiled. "No, no, Mister Frye. Rest assured I bear no ill intents to you all. I am a good friend of Commissioner Edmund Henderson, who I believe is one of your allies as well. I'm sure Henry didn't mention me to you before, no?"
"Henry?" Evie repeated. "Henry Green, you mean?"
"That's the man," the man nodded. "Well, I just realised I haven't introduced myself! Please excuse my rudeness. I'm Major Tyler Rohl, aged thirty-five. Just call me Tyler. Born in Ireland but my family migrated to England because of the Great Famine."
Jacob asked, "Why are you in civilian dressing, and who are these men?"
"That's a tale for another time," answered Tyler. "Right now we should return to London and get these lads sorted out."
Back in London Tyler interrogated the three men. It was a short interrogation. Within ten minutes of being inside the windowless room, Tyler returned, and ordered for his men to bring the captives away.
"My men and I are a squad of elite infantrymen, who operate in a…unique manner. Instead of marching together and attacking as a big group, we operate quietly and attack either alone or in small groups. Kind of like the Assassin Brotherhood," explained Tyler. "We're official, but not known to many in the public, heck, even in the Army."
"So what are you to the Assassin Brotherhood?" asked Jacob.
Tyler replied, "Oh, I've done Henry a few favours here and there, but he won't remember me probably."
"Well then, welcome to the Brotherhood," said Jacob with a smile. Evie smiled as well.
The smile quickly disappeared as they got on to the more serious stuff. Evie queried, "Do you have any idea who Marcello de Vita is?"
"Ah…yes. Aside from Commissioner Henderson having mentioned the name a few times, I've heard that he's also a very odd merchant, who almost never meets his customers in person. And he owns that jewellery store in West End. He's a big-shot Templar, isn't he?"
Jacob told him, "I need you to help find his location. Marcello's a man in his thirties, not sure how exactly he would look like now, but he has a stocky build, like a professional wrestler's one. I suspect that he likes to smoke."
"That is valuable information, Mister Frye. I'll do my best to look for Marcello de Vita. Of course my men will also be helping. I'll get back to you if I find out anything of value."