Short Story 8: Pantile Defies All Vices 7
*
Even using Physical Enhancement, the night forest was dark.
I hear that once you reach the level of a master, Physical Enhancement makes even a starless night look like midday. Since it only looks like early morning to me at best, I guess that means I’m still inexperienced, Shin thought.
“Enemies?”
He asked Chako, who stood before him with her back turned.
“A swarm of monsters is approaching this way.”
I see, not a single one, but a swarm.
It’s not unheard of, though rare, for surrounding monsters to move en masse when some kind of strong monster appears nearby.
Depending on their scale, it’s also not uncommon for such swarms to ignore Monster Wards.
This time, it seemed this house just happened to be in their path.
“Any information on the monsters around here?”
“It’s Faltar, so anything goes, but my impression is that Ogre types appear frequently.”
“Then the matchup isn’t bad.”
At Shin’s words, Chako turned around.
A hint of displeasure could be seen on her face.
Apparently, she thought he was joking to ease the tension.
She must be displeased that he thought she was tense.
Shin shrugged and corrected himself.
“It’s just a fact. Ogres die if you cut off their heads.”
Chako made a strange face.
What’s with that look, like you’ve just seen a bear riding a stilt?
When Shin tilted his head, Chako sighed.
“Well, I suppose compared to trading blows with a Dragonkin all night, the matchup is indeed favorable.”
Shin nodded back at her sarcastic affirmation.
Please, spare me the Dragons, Shin thought. The matchup was truly terrible.
“By the way, do you know the size of the swarm?”
Come to think of it, I forgot to use polite language, Shin thought as he asked Chako.
Chako looked exasperated for just a moment.
First, you worry about whether you can kill them, then you ask about the size? Typical adventurer.
He decided to pretend he hadn’t heard the Soliloquy muttered under her breath.
“Let’s see,”
Chako flashed a sarcastic smile at Shin.
I see, she certainly is Jen’s subordinate.
“It’s about enough to make you popular at the tavern if you survive.”
Responding to her turn of phrase tailored to adventurers (us), Shin stepped forward to stand beside Chako.
“Those are motivating words for a thirteen-year-old boy.”
Though the one I want to be popular with isn’t at any tavern.
Adding that thought internally, Shin increased the intensity of his Physical Enhancement.
*
As per the “original” plan, Cokes Candelight finished her after-dinner tea, changed her clothes, and lay down on the bed.
Something unexpected had occurred, but Cokes’s conclusion was that those two would manage somehow.
“I can’t relax if you just stand there like that.”
Having tossed the unexpected problem onto others, Cokes spoke to her younger friend, who wore a look of bewilderment.
Honestly, Jenniferlin Pantile ending up like this was “unexpected”.
Come to think of it, she had witnessed many deaths, but this was the first time she’d seen someone else witness a scheduled death.
Jenniferlin, hovering anxiously by the door, was certainly a rare sight, but it wasn’t fitting for a final view before death.
Taking the sight of the once-in-a-century Pantile’s most un-Pantile-like appearance as a souvenir to the underworld wouldn’t be bad, but that boy would surely fly into a rage if she did.
Teaching that boy about the irresponsibility of the elderly sounded amusing, but it would be rather childish.
With just a gesture, she urged Jenniferlin to sit in the chair prepared beside the bed.
“Three days later,”
Jenniferlin said in a small voice amidst the shadows created by the light of the small Magic Stone Lamp on the bedside table.
“You said three days later, didn’t you?”
So that’s the first thing you say after finally speaking?
Though exasperated, Cokes gave a wry smile, realizing her lie had indeed been seen through.
Where on earth did she figure it out?
No, it’s wrong to think one could hide that sort of thing from a Pantile.
That family, every last one of them, has sharp eyes.
Whether they possess a Skill or not is actually just a minor difference.
She hadn’t intended to make any slip-ups that would give her away, but well, her opponent was the Jenniferlin Pantile.
She hadn’t expected to keep it hidden from the start.
“When is it really?”
She couldn’t see Jenniferlin’s face well because she wouldn’t come closer.
Cokes thought this as she opened her mouth.
“I will die tomorrow morning.”
Cokes stated the truth plainly.
*
I’ll probably die before I kill a thousand people.
For that reason, she decided she would serve as a Kingdom Assassin until she killed a thousand.
Taking the initiative—or rather, perhaps the Kingdom intended to completely use her up—she was assigned missions that were clearly predicated on failure. Cokes completed these missions one after another.
It was strange even to her, but it seemed she had a talent for killing things.
She, who could see people’s lifespans, excelled at killing.
At this point, it went beyond irony and became a sick joke. Of course, the joke was Cokes herself.
And so, Cokes succeeded in numerous missions that seemed destined for death or failure, earned several nicknames, and had just killed her thousandth person around the time she grew more accustomed to being called by those nicknames than the alias she used back then.
Strictly speaking, due to various circumstances, it wasn’t exactly a thousand, but by that point, it didn’t matter anymore.
If I tell them I’m quitting, they might kill me. Thinking this, Cokes informed her superior at the time of her retirement, only to be lavishly praised.
A loyal, master Assassin who swore allegiance to the nation and continually volunteered for the most dangerous missions—that was the Faltar Kingdom’s assessment of Cokes.
What a sick joke. Cokes was disheartened that all the training she’d given her juniors, whom she’d expected might come to kill her someday, had been wasted.
For things to go this wrong, it seemed she truly was thoroughly despised by the entity known as God.
Oh well.
Despair had no bottom; she was used to it and had given up long ago.
If you give up from the start, despair isn’t that big of a deal.
Now then, how should she go about seeking death next?
A few days after quitting, while Cokes was pondering such things, an eccentric individual appeared, wanting to hire her as a bodyguard.
For someone in a position to know who she was to deliberately harbor an Assassin within their household, they either had extraordinary circumstances or were simply a fool.
Finding herself unusually interested, she decided to accept the offer.
And so, Cokes Candelight accepted the offer from the Pantile Barony to be hired as a bodyguard.