Volume 2 - CH 4

That day, the spider string was finally finished after I spent a month to process it.

Its thickness is around 1 mm with a total length of 40 meters. Such  amount might feel a lot, but a single pendulum will use around eight  meter of string. I have two pendulums. Taking that into consideration, I  only have the spare for three times replacement, so I can’t waste this  string even for a little.

When I didn’t have String Control skill, manipulating the string only  gave me a ten percent increase in accuracy at best, but my accuracy had  increased from obtaining the skill. The modifier was around twenty  percent increase using string that had been familiarized with my blood,  but with this monster string I should be able to obtain even greater  accuracy.

And then more importantly is the toughness of monster string. With  just cotton thread, Grave could easily see through it and cut it no  matter how much it had been strengthened with mana. Of course even this  monster string can’t block a blade, but it should be really difficult to  cut this string when it fluttered in the air.

Master taught me while I processed the monster string to be preserved  from decay and be fire resistant. At the end I tied hidden throwing  knife on the string in exchange of the blade that I lost. Then suddenly  master raised her face and turned her gaze toward the entrance. I also  followed her gaze.

「I sense someone.」

「……Erase your presence surly disciple. For now you go hide at the back. I’ll go meet this person.」

「Roger……master.」

During these five months, no one had ever visited this place. But now a presence that seemed to be 『human』 appeared.

According to master, she has an acquaintance peddler who showed up  here only once a year to deliver items like salt or material, but it’s  still not the time yet for that.

Furthermore this person outside managed to approach unnoticed until  this house’s surrounding even though both master and me have searching  skill of scout. Skill as a scout doesn’t equal as being strong but……this  person isn’t someone ordinary.

I obeyed master’s words and entered the room at the back. There I  erased my presence while quietly peeking outside from the door’s gap.

.

「……Come in.」

After master(Serjura) called out to the other side of the door, it  opened soundlessly. A tall man around thirty showed himself with the  light outside behind him. The man has dark blond hair and shallow smile  that looked refreshing. He bowed his head with a gesture that looked  like an actor.

「Long time no see, my beloved teacher. Are you well?」

「……I never thought of you as my disciple. What are you here for, Dino.」

Master spoke coldly. The man she called Dino shrugged with an affected air.

「I have become the head of northern frontier district’s assassin  branch guild, so I came here to give my greeting and also with a  slightly troublesome job in this occasion. I’m thinking to ask for help  from my beloved teacher Serjura.」

「Are there so few decent people at your place that you need to use a recluse like me?」

「There won’t be any need for this if the opponent is normal, but this  time the target is a skilled adventurer wannabe. The damage at our side  will also be big if we try doing this job head on. And so I wish to  make a “request” to you.」

「……I already washed my hand from the “assassination” business you know?」

It seems that Dino is someone from assassin guild. What kind of  relationship master has with that kind of organization? Why is Dino who  is the head of an assassin guild called master as his teacher?

The reply master gave must be within his expectation. Dino lightly  nodded with composure and spoke of words that sounded like something he  has prepared beforehand.

「War Demon Serjura of evil race’s army, eastern frontline. If it  become known that you are still alive even now, then surely the knight  order will mobilize in full. For someone of your level, a mere rank 4  adventurer party should pose no problem at all shouldn’t it?」

「…………」

Dino threatened master with a smile. This is something that I never  heard about but, from what Dino said, master must had killed a lot of  enemies in the battlefield a long time ago.

I don’t know the reason why master left the evil race army. But, most  likely master joined the safest place that was the 『underworld』 in  order to escape the evil race’s notice.

「Also……there is one more person here correct? Looks like this person  isn’t that strange woman who lived here before but, you took another  disciple didn’t you? As a senior disciple, it’s practically my duty to  look after my junior.」

「Dino!」

Dino even tried to drag someone uninvolved into this matter. Master  released her killing intent in respond, but his smile that is like a  mask doesn’t waver.

Most likely Dino knew that master can’t afford to make the assassin  guild her enemy. Master should be stronger strength wise, but this  person is the guild’s leader regardless of anything. Even if by some  chance master got violent here, he must have at least prepared something  to escape beforehand. And then if he got away after master has bared  her fang, assassins will be dispatched not only after master but also me  her disciple.

The way of fighting of sorcerer and assassin is different. Their  position would become reversed if the assassin managed to get away.

No matter how overwhelming an “individual” could be, master is  already unable to continue fighting for long against an “organization”  as an opponent. Knowing that, master glared at Dino while gritting her  teeth.

「……This is the last one. Do you understand?」

「Yes, but of course. I will never ask for the unreasonable for my  beloved teacher anymore. Then, about the target’s information……」

Dino sported a distorted smile as though he has obtained pleasure. He began to talk. But, he stopped there.

.

「”I” will listen to that talk.」

The two’s eyes opened wide seeing “a child(me)” suddenly coming out of the room and interrupted the adult’s talk.

「Surly disciple! Back off from this-!」

Master raised her voice because I disobeyed her words and got out of  the room. However I too have no intention to back off here. I’m the one  who is at my limit because my existence is being used as shield to  threaten master.

I ignored master’s words and stepped forward. I placed the whole body  of the man called Dino inside my field of vision while talking to  master.

「Master, you can’t fight anymore right?」

「You……」

Master became at a loss for words at what I said. Dino narrowed his eyes with interest at our conversation.

「Hoo……? So you are my junior. Are you a male, or female?」

「Is that important? If it’s just a job of killing adventurer, than I  should be more suited for it rather than making master brute forcing it.  I’ll do the job in master’s place.」

「What are you saying!?」

Master instantly forgot that Dino is here after hearing my words. She pressed me.

「A brat shouldn’t poke their nose at adult’s talk! Do you understand  what’s going on!? This man came here with a request to “kill people”-」

「It’s just a matter of probability.」

Master never said anything but, most likely her body isn’t in the  state that can fight properly. Master is stronger than me or even Dino.  But, master can’t fight for a long time. Even if master succeed in  defeating the target, as someone who can’t openly enter inside human  city, the chance of her coming back alive is lower than if I’m the one  fighting. That’s my evaluation.

「If the opponent is a “person”, then I’ll be more likely to survive  rather than master who is in this state. That’s all there is to it.」

「A brat like you is saying that you can do something like  assassination!? Rank 4 adventurer can’t be compared with some random guy  that you can find anywhere-!」

Certainly a rank 2 like me defeating rank 4……furthermore more than one of them will be difficult.

Dino is trying to make use of master also because assassin will have  bad compatibility facing adventurers who are strong individually and  also in a party where they will cover each other’s weakness and won’t  let their guard down.

The possibility is high that I’ll have the table turned on me even if  I go. But a child will be able to lure the opponent to let their guard  down with their appearance, and a child also has their own way of  fighting. Besides──

「I’ll still become stronger.」

「…………」

Master turned speechless from my words that I said as I met her gaze straight.

Although I’m a kid, I have obtained quite the “experience” and  slipped through “bloodshed”. Knowing that, although master can’t accept  it emotionally, rationally she understood that I’ll have the higher  chance to survive because if the opponent is human, I’ll be more capable  to make them let their guard down compared to her. And exactly because  she knew me that she also knew that I’m still in the middle of growing.

「──Can you kill a person?」

Dino who had been staying quiet until now while listening to our  conversation looked at me with a gaze of doubt. However, I felt like I  can see the muddy black joy that is slumbering at the depth of his eyes.

Good……he surely wouldn’t doubt if he is this distorted.

「No problem.」

I won’t die. I also won’t let master die. For that, I have resolved  myself that I’ll even lay my hand on “unrelated people” if it’s  necessary.

「All right-. In that case, I shall entrust this job to you brother as  a fellow pupil. However, do you mind if I have you kill someone else  before that to obtain experience?」

Just as I thought, Dino easily agreed and looked at me with a smile of joy.

「I’ll kill if it’s my “enemy”.」

I won’t hesitate to kill if someone became my enemy. But, will the  assassin guild make me do a stupid job like killing an innocent citizen?  ──When I sent Dino a gaze of scorn that expressed that, Dino noticed  that meaning and made a shallow smile.

「Rest assured. We aren’t homicidal maniac. We choose our target  strictly. Besides, all the jobs that had been requested to my beloved  teacher Serjura were targeting non-virtuous people. I shall ask you her  favorite disciple to deal with the same trashes like her.」

「I’ll judge that myself.」

People who the assassin guild got requested to kill would either be  an irredeemable trash or an extremely good person. I don’t think that  there can be an adventurer who is a virtuous person, but apparently  master too would never accept that kind of request from the start.

「Then, please take this. Come to the place that is written here  before the appointed day. Well then, my beloved teacher Serjura, let’s  meet again at another chance.」

Dino handed a paper scrap that is used as memo to me. It’s written  with brief location and time. After that he said farewell to master and  returned unexpectedly easily.

.

「「…………」」

Dino’s presence vanished completely and there are only the two of us  in the living room now. There master looked at me with a conflicted  expression.

The way master talked is like a bad person, but she is actually a  good and soft-natured person. She must be regretting of getting swept by  the flow and didn’t stop a child like me to get sent to such danger.

Someone who doesn’t know anything would think that I would definitely  die if they thought normally. But I have no intention of dying. If it’s  impossible right now then I just need to get stronger. For that I  decide that I’ll even use the malice that Dino directed at me to get  stronger.

That’s why there is no wavering in my heart. I simply stared back  straightforwardly. Master sighed in resignation seeing that before  vanishing into her own room.

「…………」

It would just trouble me even if we brought up the matter again at  this point so I’m glad. I also returned to my own room and changed to  the travelling attire that I wore previously. Then I stuffed the knives  and new pendulums in my possession into my bag along with the poisons I  had been creating.

It will be evening soon, but I guess there is no need to easygoingly  eat dinner before departing. In the first place I was just a rootless  street urchin. I was always prepared to fight anytime so it doesn’t take  me much time to prepare.

I exited my room with my stuff. There I found master who should be shutting herself inside her room waiting for me at the table.

「Surly disciple. Talk with me for a bit.」

「Got it.」

I sat on the table while keeping up my guard just in case. Master  sighed deeply again seeing me like that and lined up several items on  the table.

「I won’t stop you at this point. You aren’t a kid that needs to be  protected. From here on Aria, I’ll respect your will as a “human”.」

After saying that, master started talking about herself.

Master seemed to be born in a family that had quite the high standing  even among the evil race. Her parents died in war against human race  and master became the evil race army’s assassin in order to keep her  young little sister alive.

After that she continued to fight for dozens of years, learned  powerful sorcery, and became feared by the human race and also the evil  race. At that point, master suddenly realized in a battlefield more than  fifty years ago, that she “had nothing”.

Even the faceless enemies had their own family and life. She  remembered that she herself had family. From there master learned the  meaninglessness of her act that continued to kill enemies just because  she was ordered without even understanding that.

At that point when she had raised my achievements, she was able to  entrust her little sister to a proper family. In order to not let her  little sister follow the same way of living like her too, master feigned  her death in a battlefield and left the evil race army.

It must be because master had such past that she sympathized even toward suspicious people like that woman and me.

But, although master could escape from her meaningless fate, no race  would accept her because she was an evil race, and so her only choice  was to live in the “underworld” where might made right without regard of  what kind of race they were.

Assassin guild is a part of the underworld. At that time, Dino was  the son of the leader of the northern frontier district’s branch and  master once trained him in sorcery.

「Listen well, because this is important. I became unable to fight for  long not only because I had been fighting for a long time. It was  because of this.」

Master poked at the area where her heart is located.

Master has four mana elements. It’s widely considered that the more  elements someone has, the more outstanding they are. But looking at  history, most of such heroes didn’t live long. It wasn’t because they  got killed by someone because they became hero, but the heroes died  because magic stone was formed in their heart. That was what master  said.

There won’t be any big problem if someone only has three elements.  But, for great people who are overflowing with talent, the more elements  they possessed, the bigger their magic stone would swell up and their  body would get ruined and became unable to live until old age. Master  who has four elements also became unable to fight for long anymore  because she had forced herself in fighting too much.

If I remember right, Elena also has four elements. She said that her body broke down because her mana was too powerful.

But if master’s story is true, wasn’t the true cause was that her  undeveloped heart couldn’t endure her enlarged magic stone? Perhaps,  human body goes through rapid growth from the increase of mana is an  evolution in order to reduce the burden for the heart. That’s what I’m  thinking.

If it’s just four elements, then it feels like the owner can still  live with respectable lifespan as long as they don’t force themselves,  but more than that and they will die quickly. But it seemed there is a  magician lineage that even knowing that still forced their children to  have a lot of elements in order to display the excellence of their noble  house.

Similar to that, Gift that is obtained from dungeon and the like is  also a power that originally too much for human body, so apparently  using such power excessively will reduce the lifespan drastically.  Master said that even I have a chance to obtain such thing, I absolutely  must not reach for it. ……As expected, any story that sounds too good to  be true must have something “hidden” behind it huh.

「Also, a parting gift.」

What master gave me as a parting gift is the equipments that she used  in the past. The equipments that were made from cloth had become mostly  unusable in these fifty years, but her short boots and hand guard that  were made using monster leather regained their luster just from being  wiped with cloth.

「They’re a bit too big for you but bear with it. They are made from  the skin of a monster called Night Stalker so they have excellent sound  absorption property. Also a leather of high ranked monster can gradually  regenerate using water moisture and the wearer’s mana even if they’re  damaged to some degree. Look, the opposite side of the boots is also  regenerating right?」

That’s not all, the boots also contained several gimmicks. I think  they’ll be useful for close quarter combats. Other than them there are  also a hand guard only for the left hand that has magic steel inserted  inside it, and a small crossbow that can be hidden on the body though  its range is short. After that master handed me potions and deadly  poisons from her stock along with a poach made from monster skin that  she used in the past.

「Survive no matter what and find your own meaning of life, surly disciple.」

「Yes……master.」

(……Target, confirmed.)

A young man closely observed the child who came out from the house.  He was observing Serjura’s hideout inside the forest from among the  trees. This man was an observer from the assassin guild. His combat  strength was low, only rank 2, but he had level 3 Search skill and level  1 Far Sight skill. He was specialized in observing target.

His task this time was to observe whether Serjura as well as her  disciple would flee or not. Although even if Serjura escaped, as a dark  elf she was unable to slip into human society, but this time it was her  disciple who accepted the job. This man’s main duty was to observe  whether she would do anything strange or not.

Dino didn’t trust Serjura and her disciple right from the start. He  didn’t think that Serjura would oppose the assassin guild. But, he  considered it was possible that she would secretly let her disciple  escaped.

(……What?)

The figure of the child who came out of the house suddenly vanished.  His level 3 Search skill was faintly sensing her existence, but the  man’s monitoring could only display its true value when combined with  his Far Sight skill, so his accuracy decreased when she vanished from  his sight.

Even so the man’s Search skill sensed that the child wasn’t following  the animal track that was heading to human settlement, but to his  direction.

(Don’t tell me, she noticed my presence here?)

The target must be on her guard due to Dino’s visit, but it should be  difficult for a normal Search skill to find him when he was hiding  inside a dark forest from this much distance.

The man held his breath and waited until the child’s presence veered  away from his location and he sensed her to be several dozen meters away  from him. He felt relieved that it was just his imagination and sighed.  It was at that moment he noticed the “blade” that headed toward him.

「──!?」

He quickly lifted up his face and dodged the blade. But, the next  moment, the string that was attached to the blade he dodged entwined  around his neck. He then got dragged behind and fell from the tree.

「Kuh!」

The man fell head down and stretched out his arm to land on the  ground. Just a moment before his hand touched the ground, his arm was  kicked from behind and he landed on his head.

*Crack*……the sound of neck and bone breaking resounded in the man’s  brain. He fell face up and looked up to the sky with his neck still  bending at the wrong angle. His eyes were reflecting a child looking  down on him with a cold gaze.

Why was she here? What was that presence that passed through him  before? As the man who was heading toward his death pleaded for such  questions to be answered with his eyes, a knife tore his neck without  mercy. The child──Aria confirmed his death. After that her voice leaked  out chillingly into the darkness without any wavering in her expression.

.

「Now all of you are my “enemy”.」