Chapter 270

Assassin Discovered

TL: SupremeTentacle

ED: Exkalamity

"Normally I would hold a proper reception for you but unfortunately currently we are in the midst of an emergency," said the princess .

"Nn . Don't mind . "

"Thank you so much for understanding . "

The princess bowed apologetically as we watched the adventurers around her scramble to board the horned carriage . It was clear they needed to depart as soon as possible .

Upon getting closer I saw that she looked nothing like the current Beast Lord .

She's also kinda weak, so I doubt she's really his daughter . She's probably a body double, I think?

That would explain her bizzare status page . All evolved beastkin should receive a species specific skill upon awakening . For example, a black tigerkin would get Lightning Rush and a black heavenly tigerkin would get Brilliant Lightning Rush . The Beast Lord is a golden flame lionkin and I saw he had Golden Flame of Extinction, so this gold lionkin should have had something similar .

Hmm... Nothing quite seems to add up . There are too many inconsistencies . She has to be a body double or something .

I doubted that the guildmaster would fall for such a disguise . He was likely aware of the situation . The extravagant escort he commissioned was probably intended to help sell the story and trick people into thinking that the royal guard really was the princess . With this level of preparation, it was impossible for anyone that didn't already know her to tell that she was a fake, especially if they saw her treated and addressed as a member of the royal family .

"Master?"

"Nah, it's nothing . I'm just thinking about the princess and how she's probably a fake . "

"Fake? What do?"

"Good question . Honestly, I dunno . "

There was zero benefit towards pointing out the princess was a fake . We would probably jeopardize some important mission, piss off the Beastkin's Country, and have our backs marked as a result .

In the end, we just saw the "princess" off . She gave us a light bow, boarded her personal carriage, and then quickly departed with the rest of her entourage . She had only exchanged a few words with Fran, but we didn't mind . If anything, it worked in our favour . We wanted to get the capital ASAP and being asked to have tea with the princess or even guard her would have been a bother .

"Alright . Let's go to the guild . "

"Nn . "

And so we turned towards town but Fran suddenly stopped as we found ourselves upon the town's gate .

"What's wrong Fran?"

"Master, something there . "

"Where?"

She pointed towards one of the gate's supports . There, I picked up a strange presence, like a monster trying to escape detection . The person in question was quite skilled, but not enough to escape Fran's senses . The only reason why I didn't pick up on him myself was because he wasn't hostile . He was just trying to hide, it seemed .

Wow, I'm impressed she actually noticed him .

I decided to scope the mystery man out since he was clearly beyond your average back alley punk .

"Wait here,"I told Fran .

"Nn . "

I teleported closer to better investigate . I found the person in an alley beside the gate . He was hiding in the shadows and using a skill to further hide his presence . I quickly appraised him .

Hmm . So he's an assassin .

The man's name was Genro and his class was assassin . He must have been a veteran given his Noble Killer title . I would have ignored him if he was just another punk or hired sword but someone of his caliber shouldn't be left to his own devices . I decided to capture and forcefully interrogate him . I used telekinesis to freeze him in place, then used earth magic to mold the ground and constrain his lower half .

Fuck yeah! Surprise attack success!

"W-What!?" he exclaimed .

"I've caught you . " I spoke to him telepathically . "Don't try to resist . "

"Don't fuck wi-"

"You won't find me . Don't bother trying"

"Kuh..."

I was actually just hiding on the other side of the wall behind him . But being a sword, I didn't get caught by skills capable of searching for living creatures . Only people with high leveled magic detection skills could track me down .

"Now let's get down to business, Genro . "

"Wha-?!"

"Don't try to lie . I already know everything about you . "

"You have appraisal?!"

"Why are you here? To assassinate the princess?"

"..."

"Silence, huh?"

"...Guh . "

Genro bit into his mouth . He had a poisoned capsule embedded into his tooth . As his face turned purple and his pupils began to widen,

"Nice try asshole . Antidote!"

I healed him .

"What!?" he shouted .

"That was a strong poison . But too bad my healing magic is stronger . "

"-are you kidding me?!"

"And don't bother biting your tongue . I can heal that too . "

"..."

"Now answer my questions . I'll have to get rough if you don't . "

"..."

"Well, you asked for it . "

And so I beat him close to death . He didn't actually tell me anything, but I was able to put together what happened by using Principle of Falsehood whenever he said "no" or "I don't know . " The results? Genro was an assassin from the Kingdom of Bashar and he was actively targeting Princess Nemea . His plan was to chase down the convoy and kill her . He apparently thinksthatprincess is real . That body double must be doing a good job if they can draw people of his caliber out . Genro moaned in pain . Now what to do with a half-dead assassin?

I should probably hand him over to the guards if I can find a way to call them over .

While carefully aiming high into the sky, I fired a flame-based explosion above the town . The sound of the blast reverberated throughout the town .

Guards will definitely come running after that . Yep, in fact here comes three of them .

"You there! Freeze!" they shouted .

"Yeah yeah I know . "

I had made a human shaped doppelganger beforehand . I raised its arms as if to surrender and then gestured towards Genro's body .

"This guy is a Basharian assassin . " I spoke through the doppelganger .

"What? How do you know this?"

"He was after Princess Nemea so I captured him . I'm turning him over to you . Have fun~"

"Wait what do you mea- holy crap he's vanishing!?"

The guards, stunned, watched my doppelganger melt into thin air . After blinking a few times, they suddenly remembered they had an alleged assassin to deal with . They looked down and saw his hands and feet were already bound, courtesy of me, of course . After watching them take the assassin in, I pat myself on the back for a job well done .

Welp . Back to Fran I go .