Chapter 231: Hiring. 09:57

* * *

"...There are other members, but they are all on a long-term business trip to Ashgo. Therefore, I'm the last one to introduce myself."

Saying that, the white-rimmed glasses man who had been focusing on supplementing the other members stepped forward.

"I am Ambitious. As you know, I'm currently the representative of 'Purple Dual Rings.' Well, because of that, I rarely go out in the field these days."

Tapping his shoes, Ambitious walked up to the young man and firmly grasped his hand.

"I'm counting on you, Evil Sword."

"E-Evil Sword?"

The young man, tense and stiff from the handshake with the organization's representative, tilted his head.

Ambitious grinned like a mischievous child.

"That's the code name you will go by from now on. We name ourselves in the Nofrezene language. Do you know what it means?"

"Y-Yes! It means 'Evil Sword,' right!?"

Nofrezene is a language different from Bamapama, the common language currently used worldwide in this world, also called the 'ancient language.'

It has a position similar to loanwords in our language, and in the world of Ardyst, it's a language that one can hear quite often in terms of individual words, but it's rare for someone to be able to use it freely.

In other words, the fact that he can give code names using Nofrezene alone demonstrates Ambitious's depth of education.

And that could also be said about the young man who could immediately understand its meaning.

"Exactly! I'm glad a smart newcomer has joined us. Do you like it?"

"Yes! Thank you very much!"

Saying his thanks, the young man stared at his palm intently and then... clenched it tightly.

Evil Sword.

His new name.

His life had begun anew here and now.

That's how Evil Sword felt.

Naturally, the faces of the people he had interacted with in his life so far came to mind.

His family, the villagers, the girls he met on his journey...

They were all important people who had become his sustenance.

With their support, he was here now.

At the start of a new life.

Naturally, a feeling of gratitude welled up.

And Evil Sword looked around.

Short Warp, Smooth Stan, Big Lady, and Ambitious.

They were all masters he couldn't match at his current level.

Important teachers and comrades.

And someday, they would become his sustenance.

"Meeting all of you... I'm truly happy! My name is... Evil Sword! A swordsman who wields the magic sword 'Soul Devourer'! Although my ability is limited, I intend to sincerely face my work and contribute to 'Purple Dual Rings'! I look forward to working with you from now on!"

Saying that, Evil Sword bowed deeply.

Seeing that, the members of 'Purple Dual Rings' clapped their hands again.

Thus, a new assassin named Evil Sword joined 'Purple Dual Rings' here and now.

While watching Evil Sword bowing repeatedly to the applauding members, Ambitious grinned widely.

This time, he had acquired a newcomer who, although still inexperienced, would grow if trained, and the organization had become even larger.

This 'Purple Dual Rings' was still not the form he aimed for.

It was not the true ruler that dominated the dark world with fear.

But today's small step was also a necessary step to eventually reach the goal.

Expansion of the organization, increase of influence in the dark world.

Glory built upon countless corpses!

For now, even if there were some concerning parts, everything was going as Ambitious intended.

The one who had accomplished that was himself.

He was the one running the organization!

He was no longer the miserable errand boy he used to be!

Ah, he was surely on the path to self-realization!

He was terribly excited by that fact!

Because of that, Ambitious smiled a genuine smile for the first time that day.

Big Lady was blushing as she peeked at that sight from the corner of her eye.

He was in a good mood, so it was a service.

Ambitious turned towards Big Lady and smiled at her while looking at her.

Big Lady's face turned even redder.

If a pawn increased due to something like love, he would give her as many smiles as she wanted!

* * *

And then, at that moment.

There was a clattering sound.

One of the windows of the small chapel, where no one was supposed to be nearby, suddenly opened.

"!!!!"

The members all turned in that direction at once, releasing killing intent.

A beat later, Evil Sword also turned towards it and reached for his waist to grab the hilt of his sword, but... it wasn't there!

The sword wasn't there!

(Oh no! I left 'Soul Devourer' in the umbrella stand!)

How careless!!

Evil Sword turned pale!!

"Ahahaha!"

But seeing Evil Sword's flustered appearance, Ambitious let out a laugh.

In the room where the tension had risen in an instant, he alone hadn't lost his composure.

"Everyone, it's alright. It seems to be a 'guest' in the right sense."

Ambitious stepped forward towards the window with a smile on his face.

Then, from outside the window, a "black ball" flew in towards him.

The size of that black ball floating in the air was about the size of a clenched fist.

The ball circled around Ambitious once, and from its body that seemed to condense the darkness of night, it spat out an envelope towards his hand.

"This black ball is a darkness spirit. It's a messenger from a valued customer."

Swiftly grabbing the envelope dancing in the air, Ambitious tore off its end and began reading the letter inside.

"Darkness... spirit...!"

Evil Sword stared at the black ball, his heart pounding.

Spirits.

They are magical life forms said to inhabit the Fantasy Continent of Nijial.

It was no exaggeration to say that their appearance was rarely seen here on the Golden Continent of Hamejika, and in fact, this was the first time Evil Sword had seen a spirit.

He was currently capturing in his field of vision an existence that seemed to come straight out of a fairy tale picture book.

Moreover, it wasn't a fire spirit, nor a wind spirit, nor a Myogomyogoshugo spirit, but a darkness spirit!

A spirit of darkness!

Evil Sword had a nature that made him find words like darkness and shadow unnecessarily cool!

"...I see. Everyone, take a look."

Saying that, Ambitious showed the letter with the request details to the assassins.

What caught the eye first was the huge success reward written on it.

A tremendous amount of reward was stated there.

"...Whew~~~!"

Short Warp whistled.

Evil Sword's eyes turned white at the number he had never seen before, and he gulped.

"The request is very orthodox. In short, 'Assassinate the target without fail.' The means don't matter, it seems."

Ambitious smirked and read out the contents of the request form.

"This darkness spirit will guide us to the target's location. It will also confirm the assassination. It's easy and good. This client is truly a wonderful customer."

"So, who are we told to kill? I can't read such small letters."

Smooth Stan had poor eyesight.

Monster Master also seemed unable to read the letters, hopping around in the back, but Short Warp standing in front of him was in the way, and he couldn't get close to the request form.

"Hahaha, sorry Smooth Stan... Hmm, oh, what is this! The success reward and the request content are completely disproportionate! In a good way!"

Ambitious lightly brushed off Smooth Stan's complaint and showed surprise with an exaggerated, theatrical movement.

"This time, the target is just one person! Moreover, she's just a vagrant child who doesn't belong to any organization! On top of that, even if she dies, no one will care, a detestable, black-haired, black-eyed cursed girl!"

"Huh?"

"F-F-For just one person, t-t-this amount!?"

"And a vagrant child? What kind of grudge does the client have against that target...?"

At the contents of the request form, which could be called extraordinary, the members of 'Purple Dual Rings' were surprised and murmured.

"A black-haired, black-eyed... cursed girl..."

Evil Sword muttered with a frown.

It wasn't because he disliked killing a girl.

It was because he felt a little disgusted at the thought of being cursed for killing a cursed child.

"So? What's the name of that target?"

Short Warp asked Ambitious on behalf of the members.

Urging him to move the conversation forward.

Ambitious grinned wickedly and answered.

"The goddess of fortune who will bring us further glory! Her name is... Emi! Emi with no family name, a vagrant child!!"

A particularly strong winter wind blew against the chapel window, making a clattering sound!

[Bamapama Language]

The world's common language named after the Language God Bamapama, who appeared in Arc 6.

The details will probably be covered in[Musings on Ardyst]someday...

[Myogomyogoshugo Spirit]

A spirit that seems to be major enough in this world to have its name mentioned alongside fire spirits and wind spirits.

It has already been mentioned in Arc 2 that there seems to be some kind of legend about it.

By the way, Myogomyogoshugo is a common insect that starts chirping in summer.

Its chirping sound varies slightly depending on the region.