270. Assassin Discovered

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 thinks that princess 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.