This is in the third-person perspective.
Gran Herman, head of the Herman Company, was a Merchant Peerage of the Solhorse Kingdom. The Merchant Peerage was a title not found in Claydale, a lower noble rank granted to merchant houses that had made significant contributions to the nation.
Currently, it was a title that could be bought through donations to the state, but a Merchant Peerage was granted not only certain rights in their region but also responsibilities.
The Solhorse Kingdom’s foreign trade department had been approached by Duke Helton of the Kingdom of Claydale, with whom they had prior connections, about importing wheat. They singled out the Herman Company, which had a base near the border with the Kingdom of Claydale.
The Solhorse Kingdom possessed vast farmlands, and its wheat was cheaper than that of the Kingdom of Claydale. Even so, considering transportation costs, it wouldn’t be noticeably cheaper, and factoring in potential accidents while passing through marshlands, there was little benefit for the Solhorse Kingdom. Nevertheless, the Solhorse Kingdom complied with Duke Helton’s request.
What the Solhorse Kingdom ordered Gran to do was not simple trade. It was not just to sell moderately low-quality wheat, but to lower the productivity of the western part of the Kingdom of Claydale, making it dependent on the Solhorse Kingdom, thereby increasing their influence and plotting economic invasion.
“Those fools in the capital are naive.”
Gran Herman, a man in his fifties, sneered at his country’s scheme while drinking in his mansion within the Dukedom of Helton.
In the Solhorse Kingdom, Gran was a lower noble, but in the Kingdom of Claydale, he was treated as a Commoner. However, Gran showed no dissatisfaction with this; the mansion he was currently in and the alcohol he was drinking were far superior to what he had in Solhorse.
If he simply followed the capital’s orders, he could, as intended, make Claydale dependent on the Solhorse Kingdom. But even though Gran was a lower noble of Solhorse, he had no loyalty to his country and, as a merchant, naturally sought profit.
As long as the plan progressed, there were subsidies. Using information from his country, he had also been able to build connections with high-ranking nobles. He plotted to use this to drive out other merchant companies like slash-and-burn agriculture, lend unpayable sums to villages with decreased productivity, and enslave the citizens of the Kingdom of Claydale in mines and brothels to amass vast wealth.
What Gran was laughing at was not the country’s policy, but the foolishness of thinking that a Merchant Peerage like himself would act for the sake of the country.
However, if one tried to gain wealth through borderline illegal acts, it was natural to make enemies. Organizations like the local thieves’ guild that could be won over with money were fine, but he couldn’t let noble families cornered by unpayable debts, and especially the Kingdom of Claydale’s Shadow Unit, learn of his connections with the Solhorse Kingdom.
For that reason, Gran roped in adventurers he had used in the Solhorse Kingdom as accomplices, contacted the local Assassin Guild, and had them hunt down the nobles’ lapdogs and Shadow Unit knights.
Even if the Kingdom of Claydale became suspicious of the Herman Company, Duke Helton, who knew nothing, would protect him. But—
—Klaang!
“What was that?!”
Gran looked up at the sudden bell-like sound. What sound was this? As he searched his old memories, he heard the frantic sound of running footsteps.
“Master!”
“…What’s all the commotion?”
Gran frowned as one of his chief clerks entered the room without knocking, but the young clerk, his face pale, shook his head.
“M-My apologies! But, the underground alarm…”
“What did you say?!”
Only then did Gran remember it was the alarm in the hidden room underground. It had been over a decade since that alarm was installed, and until now, no one had ever managed to sneak into the mansion. This was the first time it had actually sounded. But in there were the reports meant to be sent back to his home country.
“Send the adventurers down there at once!”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
The young clerk scrambled out of the room at Gran’s furious outburst.
“…Tch. Those useless assassins.”
He had paid a high price to hire them, but it seemed they had completely failed to prevent the intruder’s entry. However, the assassins had never let an intruder through before. There should have been military dogs they had prepared as well, so how did the intruder get past them?
“…Tch.”
Gran clicked his tongue again and rose from the sofa.
The reports absolutely could not get out. He didn’t know the scale of the intruders, but fortunately, it was currently the accounting period, so almost all the adventurers were gathered inside this mansion.
Their infiltration was skillful, but no matter how good the intruders were at Stealth, they couldn’t possibly escape from dozens of adventurers and assassins. Thinking this, Gran himself headed underground. Over a dozen adventurers already in the mansion had gathered at the foot of the stairs leading to the basement. Among them, he spotted a middle-aged adventurer, an acquaintance since his youth whom he had brought along to manage the adventurers, and called out to his back.
“Cardis! What are you doing?! Capture the intruder already!”
“…Boss, Jiff and his group are in there now. We can’t all fit, you know.”
“I-Is that so…”
Gran nodded, backing down at his old acquaintance’s exasperated tone.
Jiff and his companions were young but had reached Rank 4. They were a bit particular about money, but for that very reason, if paid, they would act more proactively than other adventurers.
They had probably rushed in first to claim the credit. Thinking they should be out soon, he looked towards the entrance, and at that moment, a Jiff-like Shadow emerged from the darkness.
“Oh, Jiff! What about the intruder?!”
As Gran said this and tried to approach, Cardis suddenly grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.
“Boss, get back!!”
Cardis stepped forward protectively in front of Gran. At that instant, a pitch-black “Shadow” resembling Jiff darted out, and Cardis immediately slashed it with his one-handed sword.
“What?!”
The Shadow dissipated with a single blow. A fleeting opening was created. Simultaneously, the cloaked “intruder” leaped out from the basement, and the adventurers reflexively counter-attacked, Throwing knives. However, the multiple knives were caught in the cloak the intruder shed and spread open. Throwing knives, launched as if piercing through from the other side of the cloak, struck two unsuspecting adventurers between the eyes.
“Protect the Boss!”
Cardis’s order flew to the bewildered adventurers. But when the spread cloak fell to the ground and the “intruder’s” figure appeared from behind it, everyone’s gaze was instantly drawn to her.
“…A woman?”
Gran’s voice escaped him. There stood a young girl, clad in black leather armor that resembled a dress.
Pinkish-gold hair. Her features still held a touch of youthfulness but were undoubtedly beautiful.
But… faced with so many enemies, she showed not the slightest fear, her eyes narrowed, her stance composed and imposing—an “aura-filled posture” that made several adventurers gasp as if overwhelmed.
“…Woman. What happened to Jiff and the others?”
Cardis asked warily, looking at his instantly killed comrades. The girl, keeping everyone in her sight, murmured quietly.
“There was no reason to keep them alive.”
“—!”
In that instant, Cardis, with his long combat experience, understood.
The girl before him was not some thief caught sneaking in, nor a pitiful rabbit caught in a trap. From her cold gaze, as if counting corpses, Cardis realized this girl was a “monster” who had come to kill them.
“Enemy attack—!!”
He shouted at the top of his lungs to call the assassins outside.
Several adventurers responded to his voice, grabbing Gran and retreating. Several more adventurers drew daggers and hand axes, recognizing the girl as an enemy, and launched an attack.
“Don’t think you can fight properly in this narrow space!”
From the girl’s appearance, she was likely a scout-type or a light warrior. If so, her fighting style would emphasize evasion using her agility, but in a narrow place like this with stairs, the space for evasion was limited, and her agility would be restricted. But—
“Gugh?!”
The girl gently deflected the approaching blade as if pushing it away with her bare hand, then slit the adventurer’s throat with a knife.
To an adventurer who hesitated for a moment upon seeing this, the girl slid in close and smoothly thrust a dagger up under his chin.
“[Fire—”
One of the adventurers attempting to cast fire magic suddenly collapsed, blood spurting from his neck.
“Watch out! There’s something!”
For an instant, Cardis saw something like a Thread dancing in the air around the girl. He didn’t know what it was, but as he warned those around him, the girl moved.
“Damn it!”
Responding to her, one adventurer stepped forward to act as a shield. But, such was the difference in their strength, the burly man, twice the girl’s size, had his knee shattered in an instant. As he crumbled, his chin was struck by a palm heel, and his neck snapped backward.
“…Impossible.”
The adventurers here were skilled warriors even in the Solhorse Kingdom. Even at Rank 3, their combat power was over 500, and some, like Cardis and Jiff, were Rank 4.
From her aura, I knew she was no ordinary girl. Still, because of her delicate appearance, a part of me had underestimated her. This would be especially true for younger individuals. Even Cardis hadn’t even used [Appraisal] on her, judging solely by her looks.
“…2400…?”
I saw an unbelievable combat power. How could a girl, barely in her mid-teens, possess such strength? Even after dedicating half my life to training, my own combat power was only around 1000…
In this Kingdom of Claydale… no, even including the Solhorse Kingdom, there was likely no one with this much combat power.
–The Strongest–
Such a word flashed through Cardis’s mind. In his youth, he had lived in pursuit of it. But since when had he given up on that and started living…?
“Everyone, fall back to a wider area! Use your preferred weapons and fight back!!”
No luck. While overcome with the urge to click his tongue and spit at his employer, Cardis could only shout that.
The enemy was likely a high-tier Rank 5. At that level, common sense didn’t apply. No matter how disadvantageous a narrow place was for a scout, if it meant only two could attack her simultaneously, she would deal with them for that reason alone.
What was the point of informing the other adventurers of her combat power? It would only frighten them. Cardis had already given up on fighting and intended to secure Gran and escape.
The other adventurers were sacrifices to buy time. They had no choice but to surround her with their preferred weapons and buy even a little time.
However, it didn’t take long for him to realize that even this was wishful thinking.
“Cardis! What’s going on!?”
“Boss, please calm down and listen.”
Gran, still surrounded by the remaining adventurers, was still in the hall. While inwardly clicking his tongue at his employer who hadn’t yet fled in this situation, Cardis immediately rushed over and whispered so only he could hear.
“That one’s bad news, I tell ya. We should run for now.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! If that thing from the basement gets out, I’m ruined!”
“Where there’s life, there’s hope, right?!”
As long as he was alive, something could be done. Worst case, the best course of action was to seek refuge with Duke Helton and try to make a comeback.
Should I knock him out and drag him away? Such a thought crossed his mind, but the battle had already moved to the open square, and as the surrounding adventurers pointed their preferred weapons, the girl suddenly turned her eyes towards Cardis and Gran.
“–Stop!!”
There was no basis for Cardis’s shout. He just had a gut feeling that the girl would aim straight for them.
“Guah!”
The girl placed a hand on the head of a man swinging a two-handed axe, vaulted over him, and snapped his neck as if twisting it.
“Uwaaaaaaah!!”
A young adventurer who thrust his spear at the girl as she vaulted was kicked to death, his skull cracking as she used his outstretched spear as a path.
Those who blocked her path. Those who tried to resist. The sight of them all being killed as mere obstacles felt like an unreal nightmare.
“…What… is that…” Gran muttered, dumbfounded, finally recognizing who was attacking them.
“That’s what I’ve been telling you!”
A “Reaper” in the guise of a young girl was closing in. But just then—
CRASH!!
The moment he was about to give up, thinking there was no escape route left, several men burst into the mansion, shattering a window.
“This is outside our contract, but I trust you’ll permit us to operate inside the mansion?”
The Kruz men who appeared, with turban-like cloths wrapped around their heads, were assassins from the Assassin Guild’s Central West Branch.
“Sinan! Kill her!!”
“Understood.”
The Kruz man called Sinan, who had a gentle demeanor, smiled faintly, his Killing Intent palpable enough to change the air as his eyes fixed on the Pink-Haired Girl.
“Killing a young woman weighs on my conscience, but it’s a request from our employer. Given your skill in evading the watchdogs and infiltrating, I can’t afford to hold back. Don’t take it personally, young lady.”
Sinan readied his slender longsword with both hands, slowly aiming it at the girl, while the surrounding assassins simultaneously pointed their curved swords, called scimitars, at her.
Sinan was a Rank 5 warrior, and he was inwardly astonished by the girl’s combat power.
In this country’s underworld, there were two entities said to be untouchable. One of them had annihilated the Assassin Guild’s Northern Frontier Branch and had even inflicted damage on Sinan’s own Central West Branch.
Sinan hadn’t been involved in that and hadn’t paid much heed to the information. After all, he understood that combat power was merely a guideline, not the entirety of a battle.
Situation and tactics, allies and adventurers to be used as pawns… Using these, any opponent could be dealt with—a faint smile touched his lips.
“Now, adventurers, counterattack! We’ll avenge our fallen comrades here!”
“””Yeah!!”””
At Sinan’s confident appearance and words, the adventurers, whose spirits had been on the verge of breaking, seemed to regain their vitality and readied their weapons.
“…”
Yet, the girl remained silent, her composure utterly unchanged as she calmly readied her weapon.
Her demeanor made Cardis uneasy, and just as Sinan, frowning slightly, launched an attack simultaneously with his subordinates, the Pink-Haired Girl murmured in a faint voice.
“–[Iron Rose]–“
The world was dyed in “crimson.”
Blood spray and a mist of blood scattered throughout the space before him. As Cardis read the lip movements of Sinan’s severed head, which flew through the air with an expression of utter shock frozen on its face, just moments before life left it, he realized what he had antagonized.
The two entities in this country that one must never oppose.
One was the “Thorn Witch,” feared by both the underworld and the public—
And the other… the one feared by the entirety of this country’s underworld—
“–The “Ash Covered Princess”–“
As he watched the monstrous bird—her Pink Hair transformed into a burning ash-grey, particles of light spreading like silver wings—pierce the space between his and Gran’s eyebrows with a Black Dagger and a knife, Cardis cursed his misfortune to the gods.
Gaa…
“Yeah. Let’s go, Nero. On to the next (one).”
I regrouped with Nero, who had taken care of those who fled the mansion, and with the burning, blazing mansion at our backs, I dashed into the night forest.
SATSUBATSU!
Next time, a new turn in the war.
(Honestly, after coming this far, I don’t think she’d struggle against ordinary people.)