Volume 3 - CH 13

The new monster string was completed without any serious problem. The only snag that I could think of was that the spider was bigger than I imagined, so it was a pain to mix the liquid that was the base ingredient of the string, and it increased the amount of my blood that was needed to be poured into the mix. I got a light anemia at the end of it.

As expected it was impossible to process this amount by myself. Unevenness would appear in the string’s quality if master didn’t help out.

But it was worth it. The completed string’s length reached a hundred meter, and even though its thickness was thinner than my previous string, it was so tough that even cutting it using the black knife was difficult even while my mana didn’t flow through it.

With this string, it should be impossible to sever it midair using blade unless the one doing it was a master swordsman.

I tied the new string to the four new pendulums and tried to use it. The string’s affinity with my String Control skill that had reached level 4 was also great. If it was just 60% than it was now possible for me to change the pendulum’s direction according to my will.

As for the leftover old string…….

「Give me that string.」

「What for?」

Master said that to me two days before my departure. Although I questioned what she was going to do, I handed the remaining ten meter of string to her. Then she crated a short shawl that could be wrapped around my neck with it while also combining it with normal string. Master handed it to me at the morning of my departure.

If I wrapped it around my neck, I think that it could block something like arrow at least. Really……I wondered when would the day come where I was able to repay my debt to master for all that she had given to me…….

「Then have a safe trip, surly discipleAria. I won’t tell you to not be reckless but, don’t try doing something impossible. You should just live in a way that befit you.」

「Yes, I’m off, masterSerjura.」

I said farewell to master and departed. I didn’t know whether I would be able to come back here……but, I always planned to go back each time we parted as I said  『I’m off』 to her.

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My physical condition had also recovered completely. I calculated that I would be able to make it in time to arrive at the rendezvous place with Viro in one and half a month with time to spare.

I passed through several noble territories from the territory of Baron Seylace to the territory of his caregiver Count Basshu, then I crossed the territory of Count Heydale where the north frontier branch assassin guild that I crushed before was located. The Heydale territory had a lot of craftsmen with lively atmosphere before, but now I caught sight of some people who looked ill-bred in the streets. The town felt like that it had lost its vividness on the whole.

Perhaps……Count Heydale previously had secret agreement with the assassin guild here. With the assassin guild crushed, the financial situation and public order here worsened. He must have thought of improving the worsened situation by inviting the thief guild. The count earned money by acting as intermediary between other nobles and the shady assassins while also obtaining connection with those nobles at the same time through that. He must be loathing me very much that even killing me wouldn’t satisfy him for what I did.

But at the same time, the count was also someone who knew the strength of the assassin guild more than anyone else. Because of that he wasn’t actively trying to get involved with me who crushed such guild.

With the influence of a count, he might be able to invent some kind of trumped up charge to imprison me in his territory, but none of the soldier or thief in this area had tried anything with me, not even once.

It was also possible that he wouldn’t try anything in the open and did something using the thief guild instead, but after I crushed the violent thief guild in Marquis Kendras’s territory, the number of attack that came from thief guild had clearly decreased in number, so perhaps this was also related to that.

I went south from Heydale territory to the territory of Margrave Dandall. From there, there were two routes that I could use to head toward the territory of Duke Helton where I would rendezvous with Viro.

I could head southwest from Dandall and passed through a region where Marquis Dans acted as caregiver, or I could head west through a familiar route to Count Taurus’s territory before heading to the territory of Marquis Kendras that had a mine, from there I would head south.

The latter route was cheaper because the number of noble territory I needed to pass was few, but distance-wise the former was slightly closer so this time I picked that route.

When I arrived at the region where Marquis Dans was the caregiver, nearly one month would have passed since I departed and the season would change into early summer. There would be more than half a month until the rendezvous schedule, so I should be able to arrive in time with enough leeway as long as nothing happened.

I had got attacked by thieves and mountain bandits who didn’t know about me sometimes in my travels until now, but rank 1 or 2 wasn’t a problem for me anymore if there were just ten of them.

Come to think of it, ordinary adventurer usually also worked as merchant bodyguard when they travelled long distance wasn’t it?

Such “knowledge” surfaced in my mind for a moment. Such job seemed perfect for me who was able to skip sleeping in exchange of some naps and whose detection range was wide, but thinking normally, there was no way a merchant or company would hire adventurer like me who looked like a kid. I discarded that option without much thought.

In the first place I decided on a month and a half for the rendezvous time with the calculation that I would pass through highway and forest using my legs, so from the start I didn’t have any leeway to take it easy by moving in the speed of horse carriage.

Even so, merchant hired bodyguard because there would be danger in their route. Monster, bandit, and depending on the situation even a pack of stray dog could be dangerous enough.

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「You appear to be an adventurer. If you don’t mind, can I ask you to guard me until the capital of Helton territory?」

「…………」

Someone asked me that question on the highway right after I entered into the territory of Duke Helton.

There was still nearly one week remaining until the promised date with Viro. There was also no message about change of plan at the adventurer guild of Count Sandora’s territory that I passed on the way, so I guessed I would still make it in time even I walked normally from here, but the problem was why this person called out to “me”?

He seemed to be a peddler who was travelling with three other people. Certainly it seemed like they didn’t have any bodyguard but…….

「Why me? You four look strong though.」

The man who called out to me had tanned skin of Cruz people and looked like he was in the prime of his age. He also seemed to be rank 4 from the way he moved. I also couldn’t Appraise the two near the carriage, but I felt that they were considerably strong.

At the very least, something like mountain bandit or low rank monster wouldn’t pose any problem even if the man in front of me fought alone. When I voiced my suspicion, the man sighed with a troubled look.

「I’m not a person of this country. I came from the west to here with the purpose of cultivating a trade route to sell our commodity. I was formerly a knight of Carlfan Empire and I believe that I’m quite strong but, I happened to hear a strange rumor.」

「……Rumor?」

The rumor that the man mentioned talked about an 『old woman』 who was said to make frequent appearances like ghost around here.

I thought that just an old woman shouldn’t be any problem but, it was said that old woman appeared on the highway at night and she would sprint through the street with inhuman speed while scattering “sand”.

「……Sand?」

「That’s right. She run with a speed that is faster than horse while scattering sand as she left……. It seems that she has old woman appearance but, it’s unthinkable that she is a “human”. Perhaps she is a monster that is disguising herself as human but……the problem is that child.」

「…………」

The fourth person in their group. There was a child inside the carriage wearing a cloak with its hood blocking her face from view as she looked toward me.

「My daughter is frightened by that rumor……. Perhaps she might get distracted from that rumor if there is a young girl accompanying us……」

「I see……」

In short he wanted to hire me as babysitter rather than bodyguard. I didn’t think that I could do babysitting work but, that child seemed to be a shy person and I would only need to walk outside the carriage.

Certainly there was an odd smell from the carriage that was something usual for peddler. Seeing me sniffing the air, the man took out a small bag from his baggage and handed it to me.

「We’re selling spices from the west. Please take this if you want to give it a try. From the start our objective with this trip is to obtain customer so no need to hold back.」

The small leather bag was filled with several small white grains. It was something that could rarely be found around here but, was this white pepper?

「……If it’s only until the next town.」

「Oo, I’m grateful. Perhaps that child will be able to sleep at night with this.」

The middle-aged Cruz person smiled cheerfully and bowed his head.

We would arrive at the next town tomorrow evening. It wouldn’t affect my schedule much if it was just that far. There was also something that bothered me, so I accepted that request.

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The request’s content was to protect the carriage and to babysit. The advance payment given to me was three silver coins. It wasn’t that much money, but it was an exceptional amount for an adventurer of my age.

It was babysitting job so I was walking near the carriage, but that child──a girl around seven years old called Sareema would only peek at me from inside the carriage. She never held anything that resembled a conversation with me.

「Forgive her, she is a shy girl.」

The middle-aged man’s name was Naamarud. The slender man was Tahir and the muscular man was Zana. Unlike Naamarud, Tahir and Zana wouldn’t even approach me, so it was pointless even if I knew their name.

While travelling, I asked about the old woman who became the cause for this request.

The rumor had only started since several days ago. Not even a week had passed. It seemed the old woman’s sighting was gradually getting closer to the territory capital and the rumor was circulating between travelers. Naamarud was slightly surprised when I told him that I had never heard about the rumor because I almost never stopped by in any town.

The old woman’s feature was how she looked so old that it was unclear what her age was, and how she could pass through with an unbelievable speed with her posture bending so low and close to the ground. Not only that, a rank 3 warrior once tried to attack the old woman but she easily dealt with him by burying him in sand before running away.

……Was that really human? Perhaps it was a monster just like Naamarud said, but it felt like I knew about that kind of existence. Did I hear it from master’s lesson, or from adventurer guild…….

In the end I couldn’t recall anything. The carriage continued trudging on until it became dark and we camped at the junction where the highway connected with the highway that led to the territory of Marquis Oars.

「We are going to be a bit lavish with our cooking today, so please join us without reservation.」

The taciturn slender man Tahir started cooking in a pot and the smell of unfamiliar spices that were being used in abundant drifted in the area.

I was someone who didn’t have any fixation with food, but I got too used with plain food and wasn’t used to taste that was too thick. Even if this strong scent came from “decent meal”, it didn’t seem like something that would tickle my appetite but, while I was staring at the stew-like food in the wooden bowl that was given to me, a small silhouette suddenly moved.

「Onee-chan……it’s tasty you know?」

「…………」

Sareema held out a wooden spoon toward me. It would be too unnatural for me to not eat after they went this far. I accepted the wooden spoon from Sareema’s small hand and scooped the stew into my mouth.

Hm. I see…….

I put the piping hot red stew into my mouth several times. The others were silently watching me eating.

Interpreted positively, what they were doing could be seen as them watching with bated breath whether their guest was able to appreciate the foreign cooking or not.

「……Aria-san, do you like it?」

「…………」

I stopped moving after eating almost half of the stew in my bowl. Naamarud quietly asked me. He lightly sighed seeing me keeping my eyes closed and not replying, and then he slowly stood up and approached me.

「Then, good night……”Ash Crowned Princess”.」

*KIINN!!*

Naamarud swung down a scimitar without even radiating any killing intent. My black dagger clashed against it in that instant and a high pitched sound rang out.

「──tsu!」

I kept sitting as my knife lunged out glidingly across the ground. Naamarud deflected it and leaped back.

「……So the drug didn’t work?」

「Who knows? Do you think I’ll answer that question?」

There was no need for me to go through the trouble of enlightening him. In the first place, I wasn’t so trusting that I would simply eat the meal that was cooked by a suspicious group like this.

I soundlessly stood up and took a fighting stance with the black knife and dagger in both hands. Tahir who was still barehanded and Zana who was wielding a short sword surrounded me. ……As expected they weren’t shaken from just this much.

An opponent who called me Ash Crowned Princess with this kind of strength and mettle, targeting my life. Naturally their true identity was easy to narrow down.

「Assassin guild……」

「Indeed. We are from the central west branch.」

Naamarud slightly laughed. The wrinkles on his tanned skin deepened from that.

I once heard that the central west branch of assassin guild was descended from a desert tribe. A lot of Cruz people lived in Carlfan Empire that was surrounded by sea and desert, so I had guessed it to some degree the moment I saw Naamarud.

「As expected from the Ash Crowned Princess……. I heard that it would be troublesome to fight you head on and attempted to kill you with trap but, this can’t be helped. Now then……Ash Crowned Princess, do you have any intention of joining our branch?」

「……Are you screwing around?」

What was he thinking, giving invitation for joining after almost killing me? Naamarud slightly smiled while still being on his guard when I turned a narrowed gaze toward him.

「I’m not screwing around at all, Ash Crowned Princess. If you’re someone who would die just from that then that’s it. Targeting you is simply a matter of honor for the assassin guild. But there won’t be any problem if you become our comrade.」

「You aren’t going to take revenge?」

「It doesn’t matter how many are dead when it happened to another branch anyway. We from the central west branch is a gathering of wanderer and people with nowhere else to go. Our unity is solid. If you join us, we will protect you from the other branches. But……」

Naamarud paused there and stared fixedly at me as though he was peeking into my heart.

「We will have you assassinate a hundred people as proof of your reliability. Of course the targets will be decided by us. You too are someone who have lost any place to belong aren’t you? Don’t you think just that much is cheap to buy trust and a place to belong?」

「…………」

Assassination of 100 people. Most likely they were planning to test me whether I could kill good and innocent people just as ordered. But you know……my answer had been decided from the start.

「I refuse.」

「……You’re planning to be hostile toward our branch too?」

My refusal caused Naamarud and also Tahir and Zana to radiate killing intent.

「From the start anyone who get in my way is “enemy”, no exception.」

I easily chose to be hostile toward a branch of assassin guild without any hesitation. I could hear someone gulping for an instant.

「This damn fool……!」

In that instant, Naamarud leaped back even further while still holding his scimitar in ready while Tahir who was standing still without radiating any killing intent stepped forward with a smooth footwork.

「Shih!」

Tahir let out a short breath and his fist struck out. When I intercepted the fist that was unprotected by anything, Tahir used his flexibility to move strangely and deflected the flat of the knife with his bare hand.

Barehanded……hand-to-hand combat huh. His fist struck again and I bent backward to dodge while my hand touched the ground behind me, then I kicked that fist with my blade attached boot.

「Sareema, step back-」

「Yes, Jii-chan!」

So the shyness was also an act. Sareema nodded strongly at Naamarud’s words and retreated toward the carriage.

Naamarud withdrew for some reason despite carrying a short range weapon. Then he threw his scimitar at me who was fighting Tahir. It was as though he didn’t mind even if he hit Tahir with that throw.

Tahir and I dodged the scimitar that approached with whirling sound using the minimal movements. But──

「Tsu!」

The scimitar suddenly changed trajectory and attacked only me. I immediately copied Tahir and struck down the scimitar with my right glove that had magic steel plate incorporated in it.

「Good job dodging that!」

Naamarud yelled that and pulled back his arm. The scimitar that had black string tied to it whirled through the air with that.

It was a weapon with string control just like my pendulum……furthermore the range of his control was wider than me. The scimitar whirled through the air without falling on the ground and then it came attacking once more.

I dodged the two’s attacks while parrying the scimitar with the knife and dagger in my hands. I rolled away from the two while Zana who was just watching simultaneously leaped at me from right above.

「Tsu!」

I intentionally got hit by the fist and used the impact to jump away. Then Zana’s two short swords stabbed deeply into the ground where I was standing.

「GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!」

That man pulled out the short sword that was buried into the ground until its hilt without any trouble and howled like a beast. ──No, that wasn’t it. Zana’s face was covered with animal fur. He was transforming into a beast at the blink of eye.

Lycanthrope……a werewolf!

Zana transformed into a wolf that stood on two legs. He leaped with a terrifying speed and swung his two short swords at me. I also swiftly pulled out a knife and threw it, but the small throwing knife got deflected by Zana’s fur.

Lycanthrope was a general term for human who could transform into animal shape, but originally it was another name for werewolf. Normally werewolf blended among normal people and lived normally, but they could also change into animal form like this and attacked other people.

It was said that this phenomenon was caused by curse or by disease but the right answer still hadn’t been found. That animal nature also couldn’t be controlled so they were classified as monster, but to think an assassin guild picked up one like this.

*CLANG-!*

Even I could block Zana’s short swords my with my dagger and knife, but his muscle that was strengthened by his beast transformation easily sent someone light like me flying.

Tahir aimed at that moment and closed his distance with me. Naamarud threw his scimitar from Tahir’s shadow. Before he controlled the scimitar’s trajectory, a crossbow’s arrow flew out from the “darkness” of Shadow Snatch that I formed.

「Sorcery-!?」

The arrow was fired from pitch black darkness and from right below, and yet Naamarud still managed to dodge it. This was why a veteran rank 4 was troublesome. It was mostly pointless even when I took them by surprise.

「Guh」

But, Tahir became alone during that time and I deflected his arm while leaving a shallow gash on his side. Zana covered for him and my weapons clashed against his short swords and I got sent flying once more.

「…………」

Now then, what to do…….

A rank 4 swordsman who used string control, Naamarud.

A hand-to-hand fighter who was rank 3 but had strange movement, Tahir.

A werewolf who obtained physical ability that far surpassed me by transforming into a beast, Zana.

These three should be able to kill even a rank 5. It seemed the central west branch was very wary of me.

Naamarud and the other two surrounded me from three direction so I couldn’t get away. They slowly shifted position in clockwise direction.

They weren’t opponents who were beyond my means if I fought them one on one, but taking on the three of them simultaneously would require splitting them up temporarily. I would need some kind of “impetus” in order to do that.

I had laid the groundwork for that. But, it still hadn’t showed any effect. As I started thinking what should I do in that case──

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『──hihihihihi──』

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「「「!?」」」

A strange “laugh” came from the dark highway. A “shadow” came approaching from far ahead and diverted the attention of the assassins slightly.

I should attack in that opening but, I was also slightly taken aback by how abnormal that “object” that appeared was.

There I saw the figure of a small 『old woman』 running toward us on all fours through the dark highway with immense speed. ……So that rumor was true?

「Gaaah!?」

Zana was bewildered from how strange that sight was and threw his short swords. But astonishingly, the old woman easily grabbed them from the air and tossed away the short swords behind her while making an immense sandstorm to blow using bizarre mana.

「Tsu!」

The assassins and I immediately retreated in that moment. But perhaps Tahir was unable to sense mana. He got dragged into the sandstorm and the old woman attacked him.

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▼Old Woman？　Race：？？？

【Magic Power：３６５／４２０】【Stamina：１７３／１８４】

【Combat Strength：１５９８（With Body Strengthening：１９９２）】

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What was……that? The instant I thought that, the necessary information surfaced from that woman’s “knowledge”.

An old woman moving in high speed, combat strength and high magic power that were unthinkable for human, and then how it called for sand. Perhaps it was…….

「……”Apparition”?」

It was an existence that was like in the middle between being a spirit and a monster. In that woman’s previous life, it seemed that she was living in a terrifying world where such monsters were prevalent.

But even so what I had to do hadn’t changed. I instantly switched my line of thought and used Stealth before leaping into the sandstorm to hide in it. I sneaked behind Zana who was on his guard due to the sandstorm blocking his sight.

「GAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」

Zana might have detected me from smell. He howled while turning around and attacked with his fangs and claws in the place of the short swords that he had thrown.

My knife was deflected by his fur. The black dagger might be able to stab him if I put some force behind it, but I didn’t even need to go that far just to deal with you alone.

「Gah!?」

I created the Storage’s entrance on my palm and dumped out the stew that I pretended to eat. The “door” of the Storage could be created as long as there was shadow. The stew that I pretended to eat was stored into Storage from inside my mouth. Now I dumped it into the mouth of the wolf that was opened wide.

「Guooo……」

Most likely it got a powerful sleeping drug mixed in. Zana staggered backward and the weight type pendulum that I swung down in that timing smashed through his skull.

My knife got deflected must be because of the Thrust Resistance that beast type monster had, but with this it should work. But, a werewolf with high stamina and durability didn’t die yet even after that.

「Ash Crowned Princess-!」

Naamarud had finally caught sight of us inside the sandstorm and threw his scimitar to interrupt me. I had seen your technique several times. That was why, good timing……I was just thinking that I lacked “weight” to kill Zana.

「What-!?」

The string of Naamarud’s scimitar and the string of my pendulum were entangled with each other. The “weight type” that had the weight of the scimitar added to it crushed Zana’s skull from right above.

「Gah……」

Zana left behind a weak groan and his completely crushed head burst with blood spraying out together.

「Damn you-!!」

Naamarud threw away his scimitar because it was entangled with string and even got used to kill his own comrade. He picked up Zana’s fallen short sword.

*CLANG-!*

「Guh!」

Unlike me who was only level 4 in String Control, Naamarud was rank 4 even in close quarter combat. He was in advantage here. But, Naamarud’s movement had worsened compared to the beginning that he couldn’t even overwhelm a rank 3 like me from this close.

It was only because the person himself didn’t notice how his movement had worsened that I won in the battle of String Control skill. I was finally able to overcome even you.

「──Pain──」

「Gigya!」

It seemed that you guys tried to cover up the smell of powerful sleeping drug using spices but, I myself had mixed in drug into the pot that Tahir used to cook using Shadow Snatch.

It was a powerful muscle relaxation drug, but it still showed effect even after it was boiled and became vapor. In exchange it took time until the effect showed, but without that, a rank 3 like me wouldn’t consider fighting head on three assassins who had a rank 4 among them.

「Guaaaaaaaaaaah!」

I left a deep gash on Naamarud’s neck until his chest after he stiffened from the intense agony of Pain. But, Naamarud too bent his body slightly even in his current state and avoided getting lethally wounded.

In that case I just needed to keep attacking if he wouldn’t die just from one attack! I raised my dagger with such intention, but a small silhouette barged in between us at that moment.

「Stop-! Don’t kill Jii-chan!」

The girl, Sareema who retreated to the carriage spread out her arms to cover for Naamarud. The protected Naamarud grimaced painfully in his dying state.

「Sareema……」

Naamarud reached out with his trembling hand. In that moment──

「Eh……」

A knife that was kept in Naamarud’s sleeve shot out toward me. I used Sareema who got my string entwined on her as shield to block it.

「You-!」

「Onee-chan……why……」

Sareema looked up to me in a daze with a knife planted in her back. I looked down coldly at her.

「My bad but, I have smelled the “scent of death” many times before.」

The cause of my suspicion to this group wasn’t Naamarud’s race or the behavior of Tahir and Zana. I also used poison without any hesitation only because the “scent of death” that I smelled from this little girl.

Most likely that excessive amount of spices wasn’t just to cover up the smell of poison. It was used to erase the scent of death from this Sareema.

「……This little girl-」

Sareema exposed her true nature and her lovely face distorted into an animalistic face as she bared her fang.

Vampire huh……. This was my first time seeing one but I had also learned about them from master’s lesson. They were monster that could live semi eternally by sucking human blood and obtaining the dregs of soul in that blood, but apparently some of them were also being treated as citizens in the country of the evil race.

A werewolf and a vampire……I heard that they were a gathering of wanderer but, this was just too unprincipled, assassin guild.

「Die-!!」

Sareema’s blood colored claws lengthened and she attacked with a speed that was unthinkable for a child’s body. Vampire had strong regeneration power and the wound on his back had already closed too.

I deflected her claws with my knife while leaping back, but although I had given up on finishing off Naamarud, it didn’t mean I was running away from Sareema.

「──hihihih──」

「Guoh!?」

The next moment, the “old woman” who had beaten up Tahir attacked this way too. Naamarud who was late to escape got hit and sent flying.

「Naamarud!」

Sareema who saw that sight reflexively turned around. I see, what they said about having strong unity seemed to be true. But, was it alright that you took off your eyes from me?

「Gih!?」

I entwined the all-purpose type pendulum around the neck of Sareema who looked away for a moment. Sareema’s eyes opened wide as she got strongly pulled in. She saw the way I held my knife far to the back.

「──Thrust──」

*Zan!* The Battle Technique that I unleashed lopped off Sareema’s head.

To kill a vampire, you either crushed the magic stone in their heart or destroyed their head. Even though she had the form of a little girl, I didn’t believe in giving any mercy to “enemy”. Even so a vampire with adult appearance would be a threat, but as expected there was a limit with the status of a child.

「GUAAAAAAAAAAAAH!」

Naamarud who was blown away by the old woman was flying toward my direction.

I squinted so my eyes wouldn’t be hurt by the sand while putting my arm around Naamarud’s neck from behind. I snapped his neck. At the same time the old woman also attacked me.

So she is next……really, just what the deal with this old woman?

「──Shadow──」

I dodged by using a shadow illusion as bait. But, in contrast to the enormous combat strength I saw with Appraisal, that attack’s speed was still within the limit to what I could follow with my eyes.

The attack strength was low and even Naamarud who got blown away was still alive then, so perhaps, the old woman’s skill in close quarter combat was only Body Strengthening and Martial Art? I assumed that the old woman’s immense combat strength came from her sorcery and took out all-purpose type and sickly type pendulums from the Storage.

Most likely I wouldn’t have any chance to win if the old woman used sorcery. I’d finish this before she used sorcery.

「Haaaaa……」

I expelled the heat from fighting the assassins together with my breath while increasing the killing intent inside me.

I erased the matters of the assassins and also the mission from inside my head.

In this moment, I removed all attention to other things and released all of my killing intent solely to kill the old woman.

「Hihi!」

The old woman’s eyes goggled glaringly at my heightened killing intent. In respond she made vast amount of mana to overflow from her whole body.

I too heightened the mana in my whole body and crouched down like a cat. Then I kicked on the ground and rushed forward while throwing my two pendulums. The old woman also unleashed her mana and met the attack.

The battle would be decided in an instant──with our respective stamina, the one whose attack hit first would take their opponent’s life.

But──

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「Wait wait-!! Stop, stopp!!」

A familiar voice and a knife that came flying at the same time made the old woman and I dodged each other’s body and the blade. We passed each other and rolled on the ground to take distance.

……This voice.

「……Viro?」

That man who came running from the highway ahead and forcefully interrupted using that knife screamed seeing the old woman and me trying to killing each other.

「You two, why are fellow teammates trying to kill each other huh-!?」

Teammate? What was that about?

Viro who interrupted our battle yelled with a tired voice. Then that old woman apparition started laughing normally like a human.

「Hi hi hi, you’re late, Viro boy.」

「Stop calling me “boy”, granny. Geez……well, anyway」

Viro complained to the old woman in exasperation, but seeing the old woman and I had stopped fighting, he suddenly threw a knife to somewhere.

「──tsu!」

In that moment, Tahir who had gotten beaten up by the old woman and stopped moving leaped up on his feet and started running away immediately. ……So he was still alive.

The corner of Viro’s lips slightly curled up seeing that. He unsheathed his favorite mythril short sword from his waist and rushed forward from his spot.

「If you think you can run away from me──」

*Hyun!*

A black blade flew past his side. The sickle type pendulum left a deep gash from the blind spot on the neck of Tahir whose attention was diverted by Viro and the old woman. A lot of blood spurted out and he collapsed.

I pulled back the pendulum to my hand to remove the blood on it before turning to face Viro who was frozen on the spot with his short sword still held up in fighting stance.

「Viro……explain.」

「Aria, really you……」

Again? Was it another troublesome thing from Viro-? I didn’t think that I would be able to get away from this old woman, so I resolved myself to meet her attack head on but, if the battle continued like that, I would be the one who most likely got killed.

This old woman was a teammate? In that case this old woman, was the party’s sorcerer who had retired? ……I was amazed that I was able to survive against a rank 5 sorcerer like that.

Perhaps my feeling was oozing out from my expression. Viro averted her gaze from my unblinking stare with a guilty look.

「Well, that……you know, this “granny” is my comrade.」

「I never heard about your comrade being nonhuman.」

「She isn’t nonhuman-. She really look monstrous but she’s a human. But, she has gotten a bit senile you see……. Even while we were staying in an inn at the town, every day she would yell that she felt a suspicious presence and suddenly ran out to somewhere……」

「Who’re you calling me senile you lad-! I’m still just 99 years old-!」

「That’s what you have been saying since ten years ago-!」

「…………」

Is she really human……? A rank 5 sorcerer who could also fight in hand-to-hand combat with me, it would be extremely dangerous if that kind of person turned senile.

「Despite her look, her skill is the real deal-. She retired because sometimes she would act senile like this but, if it’s just a matter of strength then you don’t need to worry at all.」

「My name is Samantha Samantha, little girl-!」

「……I see.」

How could I not worry after seeing this? The old woman──Samantha introduced herself normally as though she had forgotten that we had just tried kill each other not a minute ago.

Even so I sheathed my knife and lowered my vigilance level from “eliminate immediately” to “caution required”. According to that woman’s “knowledge”, something like senility was something that the person afflicted couldn’t do anything about. It wasn’t logical to keep harboring resentment toward her.

Certainly there would be no problem in battle if we had someone this strong with us.

「You can call me Aria. I never expected of meeting you here but, Viro, what’s our plan from here?」

「Let’s see……I planned to stay in the inn town nearby for a night but, there won’t be any inn open at this time so I guess we’ll just head to our next destination……」

「The duke territory’s capital?」

「That place is just the rendezvous location. We will stop by there midway but, our “target” is in a baron’s territory along the border.」

「Roger.」

I tightened my grip on the pendulum in my hand when Viro said that.

That guy……”Grave” was there.

I couldn’t do anything at all when I fought him before. I just barely escaped alive by making an all or nothing gamble.

Even now there was still a gap of almost double in our combat strength, but I too wasn’t still the same like in the past, and right now Viro and Samantha would accompany me.

If possible……I wanted to deal with him by myself but, killing him was a greater priority than my personal feeling.

「Then let’s go, Aria, Samantha. I want to arrive at the town tomorrow.」

「Travelling throughout the night like this, just what do you think an old person is-」

「It was you granny who ran out of the inn on your own!」

「…………」

……I felt a bit anxious.

.

Samantha who had worked as adventurer for long (almost a century) naturally had the Night Vision skill. Even on highway at night like this, our travel was shockingly fast because everyone could use Body Strengthening level 4.

「Come to think of it, why can Samantha use Body Strengthening even though she’s a sorcerer? She doesn’t has close combat skills right?」

「Good question there, little girl-!!」

When I tried asking what was in my mind while running, both Viro and I were naturally erasing our presences but, Samantha paid no mind to that and answered with a loud voice that could be heard by the next three neighbors if we were in town.

「A sorcerer’s natural enemy is light warrior who can move fast-! That’s why a sorcerer who has reached a certain level of strength will naturally learn Body Strengthening in order to perform “Thought Acceleration”!」

「Hee……」

Master could also fight in close quarter even though she was a sorcerer might also be because of that.

「Granny, even I didn’t know that.」

「Young’un these days aren’t studying enough-! Well, the current young sorcerers all only care about making their sorcery’s power greater and almost none of them bother to learn Body Strengthening-! You two remember this-, be careful if you encounter a sorcerer who can use Body Strengthening in this era!」

「Got it.」

I see……story from adventurer who was skilled in fighting could be used as reference.

「For now granny, keep your voice down a little. You will attract monster like that-」

「What did you say boy-, it’s time to eat-!!」

「You just eat dinner in the inn two hours ago right-!?」

「…………」

……Would we really be fine?

We finished our meal with only portable food that had insipid taste and hurried on with our travel. At noon the next day, we arrived in the biggest city of this region where the castle of Duke Helton was located.

Samantha and I rented a room in an inn for one night, while Viro said that he would go to the adventurer guild to obtain information.

「Aria, stay in the inn together with the granny. Samantha is famous despite her look, and not to mention you yourself. It’ll be troublesome to bring this granny when she’s like this to the adventurer guild. Also the granny can suddenly turn senile even when in the middle of normal conversation so be careful.」

「Roger.」

It felt like it would only be troublesome even if I went to the adventurer guild, so I pushed everything related to the guild to Viro.

The inn that Viro chose was a high class inn that cost three silver coins per night. It was befitting a first class adventurer like him.

I thought that I would need to take care of Samantha but, she was still an adventurer despite her old age. And this was a high class inn, so the staffs here could fulfill most requests if I asked them. So I wouldn’t need to do anything much.

*Bamm!!*

「Little girl-! Food, we’re going to eat-!」

Not even several seconds had passed after we entered inside the room that Samantha who should be in the neighboring room kicked open the door and rushed into my room.

「I heard that you already ate yesterday.」

「Cruel daughter-in-law, there’s a cruel daughter-in-law here!」

I don’t remember ever becoming your daughter-in-law.

「Samantha. You want to eat three times a day even though you’re an adventurer? Then follow me. If you want to eat proper food, there should be a restaurant at the first floor.」

「O, ou.」

For some reason Samantha hesitated for a bit when I said that dispassionately. She accompanied me to the first floor and the inn’s staff led us to a table with six people capacity.

「Samantha, what do you want to eat?」

「Let’s see……meat, I want lamb meat-!」

「Roger.」

I asked her what she liked and called the waitress to place our order.

「Lamb meat dish. One whole lamb.」

「Y-you want one whole lamb!?」

「She keep complaining that she’s hungry every time. Besides we’re adventurers so there won’t be any problem.」

Viro was a man who ate meat right from the morning even when recovering from injury. His adventurer teammate surely wouldn’t complain if she was also given similar thing.

The surrounding customers fell silent seeing an old woman and a child silently swallowing down “meats” that kept getting brought in one after another without really holding any conversation. Viro returned from the adventurer guild when around two hours had passed with such bizarre atmosphere filling the room.

「What, with this amount of meat……」

「Samantha said that she want to eat.」

「This little girl is a cruel daughter-in-law!」

Viro tilted his head seeing Samantha who had gotten somehow more chubby and greasy compared to when we just arrived to this inn.

「……I don’t really get it but, well, forget it. Waitress, give me ale. I’ll make my report for now.」

Viro sat down and ate the meat without asking while he started talking about the information that he got from the guild.

His talk was hard to understand because he was using the jargon of underworld but, in short this was what he said.

After failing to kill me, Grave left the organization of Sera and others and covered his track.

It seemed he stayed quiet for a while after that, but one day assassination incidents started occurring. The targets of these assassinations were nobles from the “noble faction”, a faction that tried to weaken the power of the royal family and draw in the force from other countries.

Three nobles had gotten murdered until now. One of them, a count was particularly someone who claimed that the crown prince’s fiancée should be a princess from other country. This count was rumored to have a deep relationship with the neighboring country.

The count was one of the key people of the noble faction, so the noble faction claimed the royal family faction was involved with his murder. They started demanding that the royal family’s sword which was the royal guards and the black ops had to be scaled down in order to reduce the threat they posed to the nation, and not only that, they also started saying that the royal family should take a princess of the neighboring country as wife even if the rule had to be changed to allow that.

But, there was no way those demands could be accepted with the current state of affairs. The leader of black ops who was suspected unjustifiedly like that investigated the case and finally determined that the culprit was Grave.

According to the black ops’s investigation, it seemed that Grave was targeting noble houses that were the enemy of the royal family. After investigating several noble territories and narrowed down the possibility, the black ops obtained information that a person who seemed to be Grave was hiding in this Helton territory.

The two margraves that originally could possibly become the leader of the “noble faction” were in the “royal family faction” instead. In contrast, Duke Helton who should be in the royal family faction was now known as an anti royal family faction, partly because the interests that originally he should be able to obtain were snatched away by the margrave houses.

「Grave is waiting for the duke to leave his castle and go outside. There’s information that a troublesome monster has appeared in a baron’s territory near the border. It looks like ordinary adventurer or knight is unable to defeat it. Well, in short, the duke might go out and lead the subjugation force personally in order to gain popularity.」

It seemed the possibility was high that Grave was targeting for that opportunity to assassinate the duke.

Thinking normally, targeting a duke who was being protected by more than a hundred knights would be suicide. Nobody would seriously attempt that thinking that it would be foolish, but if it was that Grave, he would surely think that it would be better to aim for this opportunity rather than when the duke was staying in the castle.

The duke’s side too was unable to constantly be in a state of high alert against an opponent who they didn’t know when would attack. If the situation was like that, I was sure that if it was Grave, he would surely do it. There was no reason for that surety. I was simply thinking that if it was me, I would also “do that”.

And then even if we informed Duke Helton that there was a danger of assassination, he surely wouldn’t cancel the subjugation just because he feared one person.

「We’re going to depart tomorrow morning to that baron territory. What we’re going to do is taking down Grave before the duke arrive at the destination.」

「Hi hi hi, there’s no need to wait until tomorrow morning, we can just go now-! Now, boy, little girl, you two should also prepare-!」

*Pan-*

Samantha looked like she would rush out immediately. I hit the table and stopped her.

「Not yet. We haven’t finished the meats yet.」

「「…………」」

Adventurer had to eat when they could. Viro also taught me that, and I had also learned that lesson when I lived in the wild at the start and at the forest where those orcs lived.

Eat when you can. Endure when you can’t eat. That was why leaving food uneaten was unforgivable. When I stared fixedly to the two with such insistence, the two slowly sat back down and the three of us started eating the meats again silently.

The next day, we departed from the territory capital of Duke Helton early in the morning and headed toward the baron’s territory where Grave was hiding.

I would end up having an “encounter” in that place.