CH 98

I had no name. Before I noticed, I was alone, and before I came to, I was an assassin.

Killing people was the same as breaking things for me. If I want to live, I have to kill. People can’t live without food, killing was the same for me. And someday, I will get killed by someone myself. That’s what I thought.

What was unexpected was that I got so strong that no one was able to kill me. Before I noticed, I was called the strongest. I was simply the most powerful.

During my everchanging days, I received an unusual mission. I was called by the Guild Master.

“Number One, you have a joint request with Number Threes.”

Number Threes are twins who lived normally until five, when they got sold and became assassins. They are strange fellows who are overly humane for being assassins. The request was to infiltrate as spies and leak the information.

As expected, not having names would be suspicious, so we were given character settings and got names.

I became Curtis Blanc.

“Number One is free from worldliness, so he should be able to stick to the role a Baron ignorant of the world’s ways nicely.”

The girlish one became Adeil and the boyish one became Hugh.

And so, several years passed. The client must have been rich as he continued employing us.

Adeil and Hugh smoothly blended in, and I played the role of an idiot splendidly.

During my daily life, I found something amusing. A happily laughing little girl embracing a Beastman. She was both an adult and a child, so terribly unbalanced I found her amusing.

I begged for the delicious food from the sweet-smelling girl. It was delicious. As compensation for the delicious food, the girl wanted me to befriend the Beastman. There really was no reason to decline, so I accepted.

The girl was clad in a sweet scent again. My hungry stomach got even hungrier.

“I will give it to you. You ate so deliciously the last time, so I made it again.”

She gave me the pastry I got from her the first time. It was great. I often received food from her, I gave her information in turn, and she relied on me again. I finally memorized their names. Rosarin and Dirk.

“Dirk is being loved, huh.”

“Of course!”

“… You, think so?”

Such exchange repeated over and over again. Rosarin and Dirk became my daily life.

One day, Rosarin had a request of a different nature from usual. She wanted to roundup the aristocratic traitors of Wolfanea… It was as if selling out people of the same business as me, but I did not care so I accepted. I was scolded by Adeil and Hugh later, but I myself did not know why did I agree.

After that, Rosarin was temporarily employed at the Knights Order, and had us work. When Rosarin returns, I spontaneously start talking with her. I could also understand how she was able to win over the assassin called Ordo. Rosarin is amusing, after all.

Assassins don’t get attached to people easily. She, who was so amusing and interesting to us, was indeed a strange gal.

Rosarin was sniffing around my surroundings. I was warned by Adeil and Hugh to be careful. For some reason, I was feeling like hitting my head. I didn’t understand it myself.

A few days later, I caught the sight of Rosarin entering the office and entered after her. The dim room became bright. I asked her what she was doing. She replied that she was filling out the documents. When I peeked at the documents in her hands… I knew that my Knight make-believe game has come to an end.

She cleaned up the documents and left the room. I struck the back of her neck and kidnapped her after she fainted.

I laid her on the bed of our hiding place.

“You are awake, right? Rosarin.”

She opened her eyes. She unwarily checked her surroundings.

“When have you noticed?”

“About in the middle of carrying you. Strange, I have never failed in my job.”

Whether I was boasting about it or it was just a trifling matter to me, such a mistake was first for me. I pinned down Rosarin’s mouth as I usually do, I swung my knife. A simple course of actions. But, the knife did not reach her.

“… Why?”

Strange. This is a first. Why can’t I do it? Am I broken?

“… Why don’t you resist!? Why do I have to kill you!?”

That’s right, it’s weird. With her ability, she should be able to kill me. Strange, strange, strange!

I swung my knife for the second and third time, but I was not even close to hitting her. And as for Rosarin, she would not counterattack, and only stare at me.

“Why…”

The knife finally fell from my hands. Rosarin extended her hands towards my cheeks.

An impact reached my head. We apparently butted heads.

“The reason you can’t kill me, that I don’t resist, is because I am your friend!! You fooool!! You are not an assassin anymore! You are Curtis! You idiooot!!”

“Frie… nds?”

What friends? I am Rosarin’s enemy.

“Dirk and I are your friends!”

“Dirk…”

Rosarin and Dirk are my friends?

“Do you think you could act normally around Dirk after killing me?”

“… I… couldn’t…”

Dirk would grieve. There’s no way I could stand by Dirk then. I don’t understand too well, but I replied as I felt. But, realizing that I wouldn’t be able to stay by Dirk and Rosarin’s side as I did up until now, I found it uncomfortable.

“In that case! Quit being an assassin!”

“If I quit… just what should I…?”

I can only kill. What would I do if I quit? If I quit… would Rosarin and others want me? Not good. I can’t get my head around it.

“Become Curtis and just stay with us as a Knight! Choose us! Curtis!!”

“… Become Curtis?”

Quit being an assassin, quit being Number One, and continue as Curtis?

“I am telling you to abandon the Assassin’s Guild and stay with us! Please… don’t… make me kill you!!”

I understood her words. Rosarin doesn’t want to kill me. I also did not want to kill her. Either way, an assassin who can’t kill is of no use.

“Okay.”

That’s why, I will stop being an assassin. I will be with Rosarin and others. I will become Curtis. Once I decided, I somehow felt refreshed.

Unexpectedly, Rosarin seemed to know that I was an assassin right from the beginning.

“… If it’s you, you could have caught me much earlier, no?”

“Yeah. I miscalculated. We got along too much and I wasn’t able to stop.”

Rosarin said with her tears dripping down. I was startled. This was my first time wiping someone’s tears. Rosarin frowned.

“I also miscalculated. It’s my first time not being able to kill.”

It’s the truth. This was the first time. Thinking that I don’t want to kill.

Adeil and Hugh swiftly lost to Rosarin and Dirk. It’s not worth worrying about, but I did not feel Dirk’s presence at all. I fail as an assassin. I am quitting anyway, so it’s fine, though.

Rosarin started bullying Adeil. Whoa, she seems to be having fun.

After she was satisfied, she spoke up.

“I will do something about your situation if you work hard, so won’t you do as I say? Curtis, you also want to stay with the two if possible, right?”

“Yeah. Adeil, Hugh, is it no good? I consider the two of you my older brothers. If possible, I don’t want you two to die.”

I’m not lying. I am with Adeil and Hugh every day, so I don’t want them to die. They have been looking after me, so Adeil and Hugh are like older brothers to me, I think? Probably.

Adeil and Hugh nodded as well. We will stay together it seems. Then, we were told that we will be working all night. Can’t be helped. After such a conversation, Dirk removed the rope from Hugh.

“… Is this fine?”

Hugh was perplexed.

“Rosarin trusts you. I also consider Curtis, Adeil, and you to be my friends… I am glad that you don’t have to die.”

“… I am, we are enemies who betrayed you, you know that, right?”

“… I knew all along. I heard from Rosarin. Still, the time we spent together wasn’t a lie. You three had protected me from the guys who bullied me, I don’t want you to disappear.”

“You will go through a horrible experience when we deceive you.”

“But, rather than doubting you, I want to believe. Even if you deceive me, even if I am going to suffer, I won’t regret since I made the decision myself.”

I don’t want to kill Dirk. I am glad I did not make a mistake and kill Rosarin.

After that, for a number of reasons, I became Alphage’s Royal Guard. I think that Alphage is quite amusing too.

Rosarin made an incredible face when I told her so, but Alphage’s amusingness resembles Rosarin’s.

He’s honest about what he likes and weak against those important to him, they are quite similar. That’s why, I think that I can get with Alphage along.