“I’ve been waiting for you, Dark Elf’s disciple.”
Greeting me at the Assassin Guild beneath the chapel was a woman in a bizarre dress, perched atop a table carved from rock.
She looked to be about fifteen or sixteen. Her skin was startlingly white, her features refined, and her black hair was styled into springy rolls on either side of her head. The ornate black dress she wore closely resembled what that woman’s “knowledge” referred to as “Gothic Lolita.”
“So, you’re that Evil Race’s disciple? You seem to have a decent amount of Mana for a Magician’s disciple, but can you actually kill with that level of combat strength? You’d probably make a good Knife Throwing target, though.”
As I observed her intently, the Gothic Lolita woman, having apparently appraised me as well, spat venom with her crimson lips.
“Who are you?”
“Your senior, newbie. Watch your tone. I hate brats who don’t know their place, so I might accidentally kill you.”
“…………”
【Gothic Lolita Woman】【Humanoid Female】
【Mana Capacity: 120/120】【HP: 173/177】
【Overall Combat Strength: 242 (Body Enhancement in progress: 297)】
She’s quite strong, despite her appearance. With these stats, she probably has some kind of elemental Magic, but I’d guess her combat style is close-quarters or throwing, judging from her Rank 3.
Normally, it’s rare to reach Rank 3 before the age of twenty, so possessing this much combat strength at her age means she’s quite skilled.
This is a Guild Assassin…?
“What’s wrong? Can’t the Evil Race’s disciple even offer a proper ‘greeting’? You’re pretty cute, so if I like you, I might even make you my pet, you know?”
The Gothic Lolita woman grinned, pointing a polished black shoe towards me from her perch on the table.
Does this woman’s “greeting” mean “lick it”? Of course, I have no intention of doing such a thing, but if I refuse, it will lead to a confrontation. …No, is that her goal from the start, to provoke me?
I probably can’t win in a straight fight. I might be able to win if I used all my trump cards, but I don’t want to reveal my hand yet.
Now, what to do… If I act submissive to these types, they’ll take advantage of me. But I don’t want to cause trouble on my first day either…
“Keira, what are you doing there?”
At that moment, the Gothic Lolita woman turned her head slightly at the sudden voice, and I kept my gaze fixed on her while directing my line of sight towards the source of the voice.
“Dino, I wasn’t doing anything.”
“Then, what are you doing here?”
“I was just thinking of teaching the newbie a few things? Hehe.”
“Is that so?”
It was Dino, the head of the Assassin Guild’s northern frontier district.
Judging from their conversation, this Gothic Lolita woman… Keira, knew I was coming and decided to mess with me on a whim.
It seems that not all members of the Assassin Guild are taciturn assassins. Her expressions changed erratically, and Keira erased the Intimidation she had been exuding, flashing a smile.
Impressions can be deceiving, but it seems like free agents gather here just like in other Guilds, but they seem far more eccentric than Adventurers.
Dino frowned slightly at Keira, and as if deciding it was pointless to argue, he turned his attention back to me.
“Welcome, my fellow disciple. The Assassin Guild welcomes you, Aria.”
Dino delivered his words of welcome with the exaggerated gestures of a stage actor.
“So, about the job?”
“…You’re not very enthusiastic for my fellow disciple. Well, you’ll get used to it eventually. First, let me show you around. There should be a few members here right now.”
“I could do it for you~”
Keira interjected from the side, directing a saccharine smile at me.
But from the moment Dino turned his attention to me, this woman had been sending subtle Killing Intent my way, detectable only to me.
More than an Assassin… she’s a pleasure-seeking murderer.
Why is someone like that in the Assassin Guild? Maybe there are more murderers like her than properly trained Assassins. …How troublesome.
“Both of you, stop fighting. Infighting is prohibited within the Guild. There are penalties for attacking your comrades with weapons, do you both understand?”
“Yesss~”
Dino seemed to have noticed Keira’s provocation. Keira, reprimanded for it, replied casually and jumped off the table as if going for a stroll—
Shwick!
Suddenly, Keira, still in the momentum of her jump, slashed at me with a Knife she produced from her sleeve.
I dodged the playful strike, which didn’t even use Body Enhancement, with minimal movement, averting my face.
I didn’t trust Keira in the slightest. The fact that there are penalties means that there are people who do such things.
I couldn’t believe anything about this woman’s actions, but in a way, I “believed” that Keira would try something, as if I had “certainty.”
I made several predictions of what would happen, and at the same moment Keira’s Knife left a small cut on my cheek, I also slashed Keira’s cheek shallowly with a Knife I produced from my sleeve.
“—!”
It was probably an unexpected counterattack. As our blood splattered, Keira jumped back to create distance, and I kept her in sight as I spoke to Dino while staying alert.
“You’re not going to say it’s my fault, are you?”
“…I suppose it can’t be helped.”
Dino sighed in exasperation, as if he couldn’t possibly tell me not to retaliate after being attacked.
“My… my face is scarred…”
Keira muttered in a low voice, and a viscous Killing Intent emanated from her entire body.
“This Ash-covered brat, to do this to me!!”
“Keira!!”
Dino’s shout stopped Keira, who was about to attack me again.
“If you continue, I will be your opponent. You have had behavioral problems before, but if you intend to cause more trouble, you will be subject to disciplinary action.”
“…………”
Even though she seemed enraged, she hadn’t lost her mind enough to defy the Assassin Guild. Still, Keira didn’t respond to Dino’s words, glaring at me with eyes full of hatred.
Dino sighed again at Keira, then turned back to me.
“Aria, try not to be provoked either. Now, let’s take a quick tour of the Guild before we talk about the job.”
“Understood.”
I wiped the blood from my cheek and walked towards the back with Dino, who said he would give me a tour. Keira continued to fix a dark gaze on me until we were out of sight.
I ended up causing trouble after all… She’s a really troublesome woman. If her face is so important to her, she should just have someone use Cure to erase the scar.
That’s what I thought, but maybe there isn’t a Magician who can use Cure here. There were so few people in this Guild that it seemed possible.
“There aren’t many people here.”
“Don’t compare us to the Adventurer’s Guild or the Thieves’ Guild, where even beginners can join. We are different from the hypocritical Adventurers who act as scouts and the foolish Thieves who are driven by greed.”
…The scouts and Thieves said something similar.
Due to the nature of the job of “assassination,” the members of the Assassin Guild are limited to those who have undergone special training.
Special skills. Special environment. Dino said that only those who can accept killing people can reach the gates of the Assassin Guild.
The number of Adventurers in this Kingdom of Claydale, including beginners, is in the tens of thousands. The Thieves’ Guild also has a similar number, including beggars and criminals from the Slums.
But the Assassin Guild, due to its special nature, has only a few hundred members in the country. There are paid observers in each city, but they cannot be called members of the Guild.
However, this number is not accurate. There are also freelance Assassins, and noble families have Assassin squads that they have raised. But the biggest reason why the number cannot be grasped is that it is unknown whether they survived after the job and are hiding, or whether they are actually dead.
According to my master, there are only a handful of Assassin Guild branches in this country. This northern frontier district is responsible for assassinations in Dandole and the surrounding area, but according to Dino, there are only a few dozen members in this branch.
Still, if I looked, I might be able to find someone who can use Cure, but either way, it’s not Keira’s “face” that’s hurt, but her “pride,” which even I can’t heal.
There were few people, but even so, I felt a faint gaze from the darkness as I walked.
I’m being watched. They’re trying to assess me.
Whether I’m really useful. Whether a child can do assassination. What my weapon is. And I felt gazes trying to determine whether they could “kill” me.
“First, let’s talk about the request that we were supposed to ask our revered master to handle.”
After looking around, we arrived at a place with chairs, like a break room, and Dino began to talk about the job.
The assassination target is a four-person party of adventurer dropouts, the “Dawn Mercenaries.”
I had heard they were a Rank 4 party, but it seems that only the leader is actually Rank 4, and the remaining members are Rank 3. The reason they’re called adventurer dropouts is that they aren’t proper adventurers, but habitual embezzlers.
Adventurers are sometimes commissioned to recover valuable materials and goods. However, if the recovered item is worth more than the commission, they would claim the request failed and make off with it.
But this time, they messed with the wrong person. The client this time is a noble.
Apparently, they recovered a family heirloom commissioned by the noble and ran off with it. I would think they could just be caught or left to the Adventurer’s Guild, but it seems the recovery itself is dishonorable for the noble, so the noble client requested the Assassin Guild to assassinate them and recover the item, as a form of revenge.
“As I said at the beginning, we’ll give you a test to see if you can really handle the request. If you can assassinate those guys, we’ll believe you. But if you fail or run away, Serejula-san will have to take responsibility, okay?”
“Details?”
Dino deliberately shrugged at my emotionless reply.
“The client is a retired former adventurer. The assassination targets are disguised as a trio of adventurers, but it turns out they are not real adventurers, but members of the Thieves’ Guild.”
The former adventurer was attacked by those thieves in a certain place.
Trapped and his childhood sweetheart killed, the adventurer appealed to the guards to catch them, but due to the special nature of the place, there was insufficient evidence to prosecute.
They probably bribed the guards as well. The former adventurer despaired of the world and, even with a large debt, commissioned the Assassin Guild to wish for the deaths of those thieves.
That place is avoided by ordinary people, a place where anyone could die.
Those thieves were a gang of beginner-hunting robbers specializing in “Dungeons.”
Another strange person…
The inside of the Assassin Guild is bleak. There is no friendly atmosphere.
You’re all probably wondering why there are so many people like this, but not only in the Assassin Guild, but also in the Adventurer’s Guild and the Thieves’ Guild, you’ll hardly find any serious or decent people in places where only people who couldn’t get a decent job gather. Only the high-ranking adventurers are somewhat decent.
Next time, Assassinating Beginner Hunters