“Grandfather, I have something I’d like to discuss with you. Would you spare me some time?”
In the prime minister’s office within the Royal Castle of the Kingdom of Claydale, Belt Fa Melrose, the master of the room, glared at his grandson, who had suddenly come to visit. The slightly reddish strawberry-honey-blond-haired boy, Mikhail Melrose, was not intimidated by his grandfather’s gaze. He wore a smile on his sweet face, which matched the color of his hair.
Mikhail Melrose, the firstborn son of the Melrose House’s heir, was now 10 years old. Perhaps due to his strong Mana, he had grown to the size of an average 13-year-old commoner in recent years. With his grandmother’s sweet features and glossy smile, he was a topic of conversation among the young maids working in the Royal Castle. Belt’s son, Mikhail’s father, who was the heir, governed the Margrave Melrose territory in Belt’s stead, as Belt was unable to leave the Royal Capital due to his duties as prime minister. Mikhail, who was not yet old enough to enter the Magic Academy, was in the Royal Capital because he was a “friend,” a candidate to be His Highness the Crown Prince’s close aide.
Just as Clara, the daughter of the Margrave of Dandole, served as Elena’s playmate, several children from good families were gathered as playmates for the Crown Prince, to solidify the next king’s inner circle. Among them, Mikhail, along with Rookwell, the eldest son of the current Knight Order Commander and Clara’s brother, were said to have built a good relationship with the Crown Prince.
“You really are an elusive one…”
“I’m used to your piercing gaze, Grandfather. Besides, the people of the Melrose House aren’t really the type to read people’s faces, are they?”
“…That’s true.”
Belt, understanding that he was the same, distorted his mouth as he moistened it with tea brewed by Oz, the butler. The people of the Melrose House, who were once a royal family of a country, had such an aspect for better or worse. Therefore, they could offer opinions to the Royal Family without being intimidated, which sometimes pleased the royals, as was the case with Belt and Mikhail.
“Come to think of it, she was like that too…”
Now that he thought about it, perhaps his daughter’s elopement, without considering her position, was also due to such a strong Melrose trait.
“Are you referring to my aunt, whom I’ve heard stories about? The old servants said she was a beautiful woman… Rumor has it that a girl who is my cousin has been found?”
“…Where did you hear that story?”
Belt glared at Mikhail, who spoke of a “fact” known only to a select few, including the Royal Family, but he brushed it off with a cheerful smile. He probably had his own information network at this age. Considering that, he might be more suitable as prime minister when the Crown Prince became king than his father, but Belt sighed softly at his overly precocious grandson.
“We’ll see how that goes for a few more years… So, what’s the matter?”
“Before that, I would like to tell this only to you, Grandfather.”
“…I understand. Oz.”
“Understood.”
Oz, who had been waiting in the corner of the room, bowed to Belt and Mikhail and left. What was the story that he couldn’t even let Oz, a Shadow Knight, hear?
“Is this alright?”
“Yes, Grandfather. It concerns His Highness the Crown Prince.”
According to Mikhail, the Crown Prince had recently become interested in the lives of ordinary people. That in itself was not a bad thing, but the Crown Prince wished to see the Royal Capital not as the “Crown Prince,” but in “disguise.” There were guard stations in various parts of the Royal Capital for the sake of maintaining public order, and patrols were conducted, so there was no danger unless something extraordinary happened. The good public order was such that even a countess-class young lady could often be seen shopping in the city with only two or three guards and maids. However, the Crown Prince’s position did not allow that. Even within the Royal Capital, he had to be accompanied by about ten Royal Knights, and even when shopping, he had to reserve luxury stores. The fact that he wanted to see it in disguise was probably influenced by the free-spirited former viscountess, the Queen, who had gone out with almost no guards.
(…She’s really a troublesome person.)
“I did manage to get him to agree to have a few guards accompany him. However, regarding the Princess’s medical treatment, he seems to have heard from somewhere that an abduction was allowed, albeit an attempted one, and he refuses to have Shadow Unit guards outside the castle.”
“I see…”
Indeed, that was a failure as a Shadow Unit organization. Even though there was a shortage of manpower, only trusted individuals, confirmed by Sera and other high-ranking knights, were assigned around the Royal Family. However, as a result of the investigation, it was found that Grave, who had been working for the Royal Family for nearly thirty years, had changed the personnel arrangement and intentionally weakened the Princess’s security. Grave had been extremely radical in his youth, but it was thought to be due to his loyalty to the Royal Family. In fact, his radical side had been dormant for more than a decade, and it was not clear why Grave, a Royalist Faction member, would do such a thing.
(No, …was it a runaway due to his own fastidiousness?)
Grave disappeared without confirming the ‘Pink-Haired Girl’ that Belt had ordered him to check, and I heard that the girl was attacked by a “Weirdo” and went missing. Feeling a sense of unease about the “granddaughter” who had been found, he had sent him to confirm, wanting materials to deny it, but there was no way to search for a child whose life or death was unknown. Hoss, Sera’s grandfather, was also capable, but perhaps he was blinded by the keepsake left by his friend.
“Mikhail… you could have dissuaded His Highness, couldn’t you?”
“I wonder about that? Besides, as someone I will serve in the future, I would be worried if he were a sheltered, ignorant person.”
“You do say things. So, what is your Desire?”
“Yes. All the capable Shadow Knights are known to His Highness. So, I would be grateful if you could lend me a few guards who are familiar with the city, other than the Shadow Unit.”
“Familiar with the city… huh?”
There was also the option of having capable knights guard him, but the Royal Knights, who were mostly high-ranking knights, could not be said to be familiar with the city, and even if the general knights were familiar with the city, it would not be the “city” that the Crown Prince was looking for.
(Come to think of it, those guys said they would be returning to the Royal Capital soon.)
“Someone, send a message to the Guild. Issue a designated request to the Adventurer party ‘Rainbow Sword’.”
“…That was earlier than expected. I thought it would take longer to assassinate three Thieves, even if they were low-ranking.”
Dino, the head of the Assassin Guild’s northern frontier branch, looked surprised at me when I returned to the branch’s headquarters in a month, which was apparently earlier than expected. Even though he knew my combat power, he probably thought I would have trouble because I was just a child. In reality, the job was finished in about three days after I arrived, so I could have returned sooner if I wanted to, but I took the opportunity to hunt some Monsters in the Dungeon. However, since I was alone and not in a party, I couldn’t dive deep, nor did I intend to. According to what I heard, even though it was said to be a thirty-story Dungeon, that was just a number calculated based on the number of years since the Dungeon was created and the scale of the floors. The Guild said that the highest point of conquest in that Dungeon was the fifteenth floor, which the lord of the time had pushed through with soldiers about sixty years ago. Rank 3 Monsters appeared alone from around the fifth floor underground. If I were to proceed while actually defeating them, it would have taken quite a long time, but I had a map of the lower floors from the Guild, and I forcibly advanced underground using Stealth and Detection.
The Dungeon was a Monster, and the laws of the surface did not apply inside. It was filled with stronger Mana Particles than on the surface, which allowed Monsters to function with only a minimum of food, but perhaps because of that, they were always hungry, and Monsters that had tasted human flesh were very aggressive. However, thanks to the strong Mana Particles, it was not only easy for Monsters to live, but also an environment where humans could easily acquire Skills the deeper they dived. Originally, I should have proceeded cautiously since it was my first time in a Dungeon. But I still lacked combat experience against strong enemies. It seemed like I had only fought against enemies stronger than myself, but in reality, I had only fought a handful of battles, so I dived into the Dungeon alone to become stronger and hunted until I reached the limit of my stamina and food.
I stopped because I needed to face multiple enemies if I went down to the lower floors, and the Rank 3 Monsters that were alone stopped approaching me.
“Well, that’s fine. I’ll pay you the promised reward. And it’s just as well. The information about the ‘Dawn Mercenaries’ that you asked for has just arrived from the liaison, so I’ll give that to you as well.”
Dino handed me 10 gold coins as a reward and information about the next target.
It was a good thing I had used up most of my money. I had fought quite recklessly, so I needed to buy new clothes and a cloak, leaving me with only a few silver coins.
But more than that, I should read the target’s information now. I flipped through the stack of plain paper, skipping the personal information and looking at the current situation—
“…Royal Capital?”
“Since then, they seem to have left this northern frontier region and headed to the Royal Capital. They’re probably planning to hide in the large-scale dungeon near the Royal Capital until things cool down.”
“Another dungeon, huh…”
“Ideally, we’d take them out while they’re in the Royal Capital, but that would be difficult with the tight security there. We don’t have any contacts on the ground, so should we send one or two people from here…”
“Isn’t there an Assassin Guild in the Royal Capital?”
This Assassin Guild was one of several branches in the country. If it’s a branch, that means there’s a main headquarters, which I thought would be in the Royal Capital, but is that not the case?
When I voiced my question, Dino shrugged with an exaggerated gesture.
“My beloved brother disciple. It’s a complicated story, but we Assassin Guilds, while being the same organization, are not monolithic. We’re not hostile, but you could say we’re ‘rivals’ with the same goals.”
“I see…”
So, they’re not fighting, but competing for results between branches? No, maybe it’s more like a company that split off from a major merchant house and became independently managed, becoming estranged from the main store.
The Adventurer’s Guild has some of that aspect too, but not even sharing information seems foolish to me, but it’s easier for me that way.
Well, that’s the end of the conversation. I put the documents inside my cloak and turn my back, and Dino calls out to me one last time, wondering if there’s anything else.
“By the way, Guy hasn’t returned since he went out a few weeks ago. Has he shown his face around your place?”
“Why would I know?”
“I suppose not…”
Dino shrugged again and turned away.
Am I being suspected…? But Dino probably thinks that Guy couldn’t be defeated with my previous combat strength. And since individualistic assassins who prefer to play solo can disappear without a trace, he shouldn’t be able to press the matter any further.
Probably, if someone can use Appraisal, they would have looked at my combat strength when I first arrived. And since Appraisal requires Mana, they shouldn’t re-appraise unless something drastic happens.
That’s where I can find an opening.
Even though I’ve finished what I needed to do, I don’t know what kind of traps might be set, so I don’t return to the room I was given.
I go around the Guild again, as if reconfirming it.
I don’t feel much presence of others in the Assassin Guild, but I do feel a faint presence of someone being there. I’m also suppressing my presence, so there shouldn’t be many people who can detect me.
If you’re in this kind of environment, you’ll be forced to train your Stealth and Detection skills… Is that why there are people with high skills in those areas even if their combat strength is low?
I didn’t feel Keira’s presence in the Guild, whether she was out or working. She’s a troublesome person I don’t want to meet, but it’s also eerie not to see her.
Other troublesome people in the Guild are Shadow User Rada, Sharga the Battle Maniac, and the Sage, a sorcerer.
From the name, it would be difficult to find Rada. Conversely, Sharga has a strong presence that he doesn’t hide at all, and I felt a power that made me think it would be bad to approach him without any countermeasures.
I stopped just before stepping into a certain corner. In that place, the visible Mana Particles were mixed in a strange way, showing a chaotic appearance.
This is… a bad feeling. Could this be the ‘curse’? The sorcerer, the Sage… As I stood there unable to step into it, an old man wearing a hooded robe stared at me with dark eyes from the shadows at the back of the passage.
“…………”
………Even Elves get old, huh.
I didn’t step into that cursed area, and he didn’t do anything even when I left, so I guessed that the Sage’s combat style was passive.
I continued to the deepest part of the Assassin Guild, which was originally a coal mine.
I could hear a low groan, like wind passing through somewhere.
I knew it before I got close. My feet felt heavier, as if they didn’t want to go there. Surely no one approaches it. Because they know that death awaits if they get close.
Those who don’t realize that don’t even deserve to live here.
I suppressed my frightened spirit deep within my heart and took one step at a time, and in the deepest part, chained up and confined by thick iron bars as thick as a woman’s arm, I found a single “beast.”
“Executioner… Gord.”
Gord, who had been groaning lowly, raised his face at my murmur.
[Gord] [???♂]
[Mana Capacity: 167/186] [HP: 531/546]
[Overall Combat Strength: 1281]
Nearly three meters tall with long, distorted arms that looked to be over two meters long.
The man, whose entire body was wrapped in bandages covered in filth, had a ferocious light in his yellowed eyes and suddenly attacked me.
“Gaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!”
Clang!!!
The chains that had been fastened to the rock face stretched to their limit, and Gord’s claws, which had collided with the thick iron bars, cutting through the air a few centimeters from my nose.
The chaotic Mana that I had seen in the Sage’s area was stuck all over Gord’s body. The Sage was probably binding Gord with sorcery.
This man isn’t just a “beast.” He may be crazy, but his movements clearly showed a refined “technique.”
Perhaps the result of drugs, magic, and curses… When I gently touched the tip of his outstretched arm with my finger, Gord pulled his arm back as if surprised.
No one approaches you.
No one looks directly at your figure.
No one wants to touch you.
I looked straight into Gord’s cloudy eyes and called out to him in a small voice.
“Wait. I’ll prepare a stage worthy of you.”
[Aria (Alicia)] [Race: Human ♀] [Rank 2]
[Mana Capacity: 172/180] 10Up [HP: 142/145] 5Up
[Strength: 6 (7.2)] [Endurance: 7 (8.4)] [Agility: 10 (12)] 1Up [Dexterity: 8] 1Up
[Dagger Arts Lv.2] [Martial Arts Lv.2] [Throwing Lv.2] [Thread Manipulation Lv.2]
[Light Magic Lv.2] [Dark Magic Lv.2] [Non-Attribute Magic Lv.2]
[Utility Magic x6] [Mana Control Lv.3] 1Up [Intimidation Lv.3] 1Up
[Stealth Lv.3] 1Up [Night Vision Lv.2] [Detection Lv.3] 1Up [Poison Resistance Lv.2] 1Up
[Simple Appraisal]
[Overall Combat Strength: 216 (During Body Enhancement: 242)] 45Up
Aria’s cousin was the new target. There are six capture targets in the game.
The Crown Prince, the son of the Knight Order Commander, the grandson of the Prime Minister, the grandson of the Temple Head, the Shadow Knight, and the King’s younger brother. It’s a template, isn’t it?
Next time, I will depart for the Royal Capital. Scheduled to update on Wednesday.