Chapter 133: The Assassin

"What the hell's up with these bastards?"

On the road heading to the east.

Findenai, who had neatly dealt with the assassins who had come to find us, muttered uninterestedly as she shrugged her shoulders.

"If you came to assassinate us, you should at least show me something, you know? You shameless bastards."

It was quite an unusual sight to see a maid scolding some assassins who were also wearing maid uniforms.

However, the assassins were so useless that I thought they deserved to be treated like this.

I knew Findenai was just being irritable for not having an opportunity to try out her newly acquired equipment, the Hand of Hemomancy, but I pushed her aside and stood in front of the assassins.

When the carriage was suddenly attacked, I wondered who it was. I thought they might have been those fanatical zealots from the church who disliked my existence, but seeing their appearance, it wasn't the case.

"Who sent you?"

In response to my question, the assassins shut their mouths tightly and lowered their heads.

Was their loyalty that much better compared to their poor skill?

"Are you going to keep your mouth shut?"

"J-just kill us!"

"You filthy Dark Mage!"

"We already consider ourselves dead!"

"There's no need to prolong this!"

Their audacious shouts were quite impressive. Maybe they would have been excellent assassins if they had the skills to match.

"Fine, I will kill you."

I conjured a sphere of flames on the palm of my hand. This was my limit since the four elemental magic wasn't really compatible with my body. However, I still had some basic knowledge.

"However, do not think that death is the end."

The assassins flinched at my words.

They seemed to be from the Griffin Kingdom, but they didn't seem to realize how foolish it was to talk about death in front of a Dark Mage.

"I am a Necromancer; after killing you, I will capture your souls and inflict eternal suffering on you until the day I die."

Tension quickly filled the air.

I exuded the kind of intimidation I used when preparing for my lecture, one that even Findenai had acknowledged.

"Even death cannot escape from me. I'll cut off your limbs, tie a noose around your neck, and drag you around."

"......"

The assassins started to look up at me with their mouths open, fear beginning to creep into their eyes.

"Does it sound impossible? If you are already dead, you cannot die again. And since you are dead, you probably will find out that there is no end."

"......"

"Even death will not be your salvation."

As I extended my hand to shoot flames, the assassins finally bowed down, shouting desperately in front of me.

"Ro-Romerzan! We are under the command of Viscount Romerzan! He colluded with the Marias tribe who are moving with him. H-he ordered us to assassinate you!"

"What is the reason?"

"W-we heard that the Marias tribe fears you, Soul Whisperer! So, before you arrive on the battlefield, they ordered us to assassinate you!"

"Harroin and Boman are present too, right?"

Romerzan, Harroin, and Boman.

I had heard the names of the nobles who fled to the Marias Great Forest.

The assassins had already started nodding their heads in fear even before I finished speaking.

"Yes! They're all there!"

It was neat.

"Findenai, arrest them all and hand them over to the nearby city guards. They'll be taken to the Royal Palace prison."

"Sure, since I also need to buy some food, I guess I can stop by for a moment."

At that, I slightly turned my head.

"I do not think there should be a shortage of food."

"Growth period, you know?"

As I turned to Owen, he immediately shook his head. When I turned my gaze back to Findenai, she just shrugged.

"Do you think a twenty-seven-year-old can no longer grow?"

So, she was saying she would be eating a lot of food by herself. Since she wasn't allowed to smoke, she was relieving stress in strange ways.

After saying she would pay for the food herself, Findenai brought her axe, promptly knocking out the assassins without hesitation by hitting them on the side of their heads.

It was a crude but effective method.

Owen began tying up the assassins knocked out by Findenai with the rope he brought.

[You really know how to spice things up, don't you?]

The Dark Spiritualist contentedly watched from the side. Of course, the talk about taking away the assassins' souls was an empty threat; I had never considered acting on it.

Because that was against my principles.

The Dark Spiritualist knew that too, so she smiled slyly while crossing her arms.

[If someone sees this, they might really think you're an evil Dark Mage.]

"Forget that. There is something else that is bothering me more."

[Huh?]

The Dark Spiritualist didn't seem to catch on, but there was quite an important issue at hand—especially now that we knew these assassins were very incompetent.

"They were able to accurately track my location."

[......]

I glanced around. Although this place could be called an open field, there were many rocks around, making it a perfect place for assassins to hide.

Another thing was there were several paths to the east. Yet, it wouldn't have been easy enough to have assassins stationed at each of them.

That only meant they knew my exact location.

[You should ask the assassins themselves.]

"They do not know. If they did, they would have spilled everything just now."

They were probably just waiting here on the orders of those nobles.

"However, even though the nobles may have sent them, they do not have the capabilities to track my location while on the run."

[I agree.]

"Then it means that this is something related to the Marias tribe. What do you think?"

When I glanced at the Dark Spiritualist, she pouted and shrugged.

[Even I don't know everything. I've always particularly hated forests, you know? Do you think I would have gone to a place like the Marias Great Forest?]

"Alright, I see."

The Dark Spiritualist indeed looked like the type who would dislike dense forests.

However, this matter wasn't something that could be overlooked easily.

The fact that neither she nor I felt a different response regarding this meant it wasn't a type of magic dealing with mana

If even the sharp-minded Findenai didn't feel anything, it meant they were not trailing or conducting surveillance on us.

Didn't Orpheus say that we aren't dealing with someone who wields mana, but something else?

Since no tribal people had ever appeared in the game, it was difficult to accurately assess their power.

And the important thing is...

I was worried that not only could they track my location accurately, but they might also have other means of catching me.

* * *

The first year's first practical training location was a small forest. Although there were low-level demonic monsters, there weren't many of them.

It was practically like going camping.

Aria was grilling meat.

"......"

Happy, the archer, had skillfully caught a wild boar.

Since it was too much for the six-member team to eat it all by themselves, they bartered it for various other food ingredients such as mushrooms, corn, potatoes, and fruits with the other students.

Eventually, the tent where Aria's group was in became the wealthiest around.

Happy and Florensia enjoyed themselves with their noses raised high, while Leorus and Jin were bothered by the other girls who were asking them for help.

Turning the skewered meat back and forth, Aria glanced at another group member next to her.

It was a girl with blonde hair wearing a white beret, sitting with a drawing paper on top of her crossed legs.

She was Princess Eleanor, a textbook example of someone who had never done something like this.

"Don't you think you should do something?"

When Aria asked while staring at her irritably. Eleanor, without much enthusiasm, responded while moving her pen diligently.

"I would, if there was something to do."

"Is there really nothing to do? Help me grill something else."

When Aria poked Eleanor with her foot, the latter frowned and sighed.

Eventually, pushing aside her drawing, Eleanor stood next to Aria who was handling potatoes and mushrooms skewered on a grill.

Considering her status as the princess, the other students would feel burdened being in the same group as Eleanor. So, Deus had forcibly placed her into the same team as Aria, who sort of treated her comfortably.

Aria secretly glanced at the drawing Eleanor was working on. This time it depicted her cooking while wearing a magical girl outfit.

"Hey."

"I drew it beautifully, didn't I? And we can use that for bartering."

What was this about?

"If I give this to the boys from Group 7, they said they'll take over our night watch duty. We can just go to sleep."

"It seems like you didn't even consider my opinion on this, huh?"

Eleanor simply shrugged and spoke shamelessly. Aria probably would have immediately confronted her if the latter wasn't a princess.

After sighing, Aria hesitated for a moment before making a suggestion.

"Draw me a picture of Professor Deus and then I'll let this matter slide."

"Do you think I am a street artist?"

"You don't have any say in this. Besides, don't you always draw Professor Deus all the time?"

"......"

That statement wasn't wrong; if she looked at who she drew the most, the first would be Kim Shin-woo, and the second would be Professor Deus.

In the end, they were the same person.

Actually, the drawing itself wasn't difficult, but Eleanor didn't want to give the drawing of Professor Deus to anyone.

Eleanor suddenly remembered her conversation with Happy earlier, so she quickly brought it up.

"You don't like Professor Deus, do you?"

"......Happy."

Aria immediately identified the culprit who let Eleanor learn about this, vowing to punish Happy severely when night fell. However, before that, she first decided to calmly respond to Eleanor.

"I said not yet, didn't I?"

"What do you mean not yet?"

Snorting in disbelief, Eleanor turned the skewers with potatoes and mushrooms on it before continuing.

"It seems like someone who used to keep following and calling for Professor Deus is finally regaining her senses, huh? If you've given up, you should just step back cleanly, shouldn't you?"

"What say does a princess, who secretly makes drawings of Professor Deus behind his back, have in this?"

For a moment, the two of them glared at each other. However, despite all this banter, they didn't really drift apart.

To Eleanor, Aria was the only female student she knew who treated her without reservations.

And to Aria, Eleanor was the only friend she had never gotten close to in the first round.

Therefore, both of them basically needed each other; but neither wanted to give the other the upper hand by admitting such things.

"Sigh. Fine, I got it. I'll draw you one."

"...By any chance, is it possible to have it drawn based on specific clothes or composition?"

"I'll listen to what you want first before making a decision."

"No, I mean. Can you show me a sample?"

"Sample?"

Before nodding, Aria looked at her with questioning eyes filled with anticipation.

"Yeah! If there's something that I like from what you've already drawn, I can ask you to draw something similar to it."

"N-No way! Are you crazy?"

Eleanor suddenly blushed bright red, looking flustered. Aria wondered why she was reacting like that, but after thinking for a while, she too blushed.

"Hey, wait... No way, you can't..."

"No! It's not like that! Absolutely not! I have no idea what you're thinking! But that's definitely not it!"

"...."

Although Eleanor said that, Aria was still half-certain about her thoughts. Eleanor, that bitch, had probably drawn a picture of Deus Verdi that she couldn't show to anyone.

It was regrettable that she didn't bring her usual notebook with her, but instead only had a drawing paper with a prop.

If she had brought her drawing notebook, Aria would have immediately opened it up and scrutinized what this woman had been doing all this time.

"We're students."

Eleanor forcefully blurted out. Although the princess could try to speak rebelliously, it would just be meaningless talk to Aria.

Just as Aria was about to pry further.

Rustle, rustle.

A man emerged from the nearby bushes.

With his innocent appearance and glasses on his face, he didn't look either like a student or a professor.

He approached the two girls while scratching his head and asked.

"Excuse me, I came here to look for Professor Erica. Do you happen to know where she is?"

"First of all, who are you?"

When Aria responded sharply, the man awkwardly laughed.

"Haha, I'm an acquaintance. I live nearby. Since I heard she was here for practical training, I thought I should stop by and see her for a moment."

"...She's over there."

Aria pointed to the tent where Professor Erica was while continuing to roast the skewers.

He thanked her and left with a smile. Eleanor, who was listening from the side, stared at the back of the man's head and asked Aria.

"That guy, doesn't he have a dagger hidden on his thigh?"

Aria responded indifferently to that statement.

"I know, but I wouldn't care because I'm just an ordinary student."

What was she even saying?

Eleanor looked dumbfounded, and then used her extraordinary brain to make various speculations, coming up with the most likely one.

"He didn't even recognize me as the princess and gave lame excuses. I guess he's probably not a professional assassin. And Professor Erica is not someone significant enough to the point of being targeted by an assassin."

"...."

"Even though she's from the Bright Household, I heard she's been somewhat disowned. Then, this means that the only thing left is she's the Soul Whisperer's fiancée."

Aria was honestly surprised to hear the deductions Eleanor was slowly spouting out as if unraveling a skein. Even now, she was extremely competent.

"So, Professor Deus' fiancée is in danger of assassination?"

At those words, Aria responded as if she was wondering what Eleanor expected her to do.

"I'm just an ordinary student, you know? I won't be able to guess if that person was an assassin. Even if I did, I'll just pretend not to know."

"I think you should go to a hospital or something."

Eleanor, who couldn't understand Aria's words at all, grumbled while focusing more on grilling the potatoes and mushrooms.

Seeing that, Aria asked irritably.

"Then, why don't you go and help her?"

"Huh? If she's Professor's fiancée, she should at least be able to handle that level of threat herself."

"...."

"If she can't do that, she should just break off their engagement."

It was indeed an absurd response. However...

"You're so wise; the future of the country will be so bright."

"I'm a princess, you know? It's the power of early education."

Aria realized that she also sincerely agreed with Eleanor's words. So, the two started to focus on grilling again.

"Hey, anyway... how skilled are you at drawing?"

"You should first tell me how complex the drawing you want is."

"Then, you tell me too."

After that...

Gasssssp!

Ohhhhhhh!

Oh my! Oh my! Oh my!

"It turns out you're really amazing!"

The same exclamation burst out from both of their mouths simultaneously.