CH 21

Raven, an assassin, is a living legend in the Xandard Empire. The name didn’t just refer to the individual but also described the occurrences they caused.

Despite her low magical power, she has exceptionally high physical abilities and absolute invisibility that even the strongest beings couldn’t detect.

“A commoner named Kanata… seems like an easy job.”

That’s what Raven thought when she received a request to kill a mere commoner, not a noble, a knight, a warrior, or an adventurer.

The nobleman who made the request told her that he was humiliated by that commoner in the Royal Capital, so he wanted Raven to settle his grudge for him.

“… Well, it can’t be helped. Let’s just say this commoner ran out of luck. It’s my job to fulfill the tasks as Raven… though there was once an exception.”

Raven muttered as she looked down at the streets of the Royal City and jumped down into the shadows of the buildings.

Out of it came not the figure of a suspicious assassin dressed in black but a girl with a youthful face, with the beauty of a woman approaching perfection.

“All right, let’s start by gathering some information!”

Raven—the name of the legendary assassin— was actually a girl that no one knew.

In a sense, Raven’s concealment skills could have started from that.

And as usual, with the face of a young girl, Raven had no problem gathering information about Kanata from the Royal Capital.

“That was quick. It pains me to take the life of an innocent, but since I’ve already taken this task, I have to do it.”

It’s not that she was void of emotions as an assassin. 

Rather, it’s a requirement for her profession.

(I’m Raven… a being who inherited the art of assassination, who can only live as Raven… an existence that is nothing but Raven.)

Raven hated herself for being such an ambivalent person.

As an assassin, she got accustomed to feeling no emotions, but there had been times when she had to stifle her heart in order to stain her hands with blood.

Still, Raven had been masterfully completing her work as an assassin for a long time.

But it all changed when she encountered that person who made her forget all her worries, as well as her own self, as an assassin.

[Hey, guys! It’s that time of the day again!]

It was Haishin—not exactly. It was his voice that sprouted the change in her.

Even if she had the face of an assassin, she was still a girl of age on the inside, so it was only natural she was curious about the trends, and that is how she came to follow Haishin.

And so, as the days went by listening to Haishin, Raven had a thought.

As the girl hides her true identity as Raven, and Haishin also hides his true self, they had something in common, and she felt a closeness to him.

[That’s not it. I’m not taking sides here, you idiots. You should listen to me from the beginning and have an opinion. Now, on to the next one.]

After the mission was over, or even when there were no requests, listening to Haishin’s voice had become a part of Raven’s daily routine and a way of life.

Raven was so captivated by Haisin that she herself never expected to be so addicted to him that she even had to turn away several calls for requests.

[Let’s see, there are many different sorts of professions, and there are those known as assassins in the underworld. What are your thoughts about them, Haishin-sama? … Another heavy question.]

It was by no means a message sent by Raven herself, but it had surprised her enough to make her shoulders jolt.

An assassin was an entity only those who desired something requested.

Therefore, they are feared and despised. 

Even Raven understood she was not truly wanted by anyone.

So if Haishin says something bad about them, that would be a shock, but Raven was never going to complain because that is common sense.

[What do I think about assassins…? Of course, I’m scared of them.]

She laughed emphatically, ‘Scared? Of course.’

But, he was the one who had some sense of mystery about him, and Haishin further went on to say.

[But personally, I think it’s really cool. They’re called Assassins, you know? They’re the type who takes their target’s breath away under the cloak of darkness.]

Raven widened her eyes at his words.

Many commenters weren’t so sure about that, but they quickly filled with comments about how it was Haishin after all.

[Still, even if I say assassins are cool, they’re still criminals. It’s probably impossible to accept it, and it’s also impossible to take it in a positive way. But that’s what I think about them, to be honest.]

The topic of the assassin ended with those words, but all the time Raven spent in a daze hearing Haishin’s words afterwards.

Everything he said wasn’t to endorse either side but just what he thought. However, Raven was fascinated by the depth of his open-mindedness—As you can see, she was a very easy girl to win over.

“I… admire you, Haishin-sama. No, I love you.”

And that is how genuine love blossomed in her heart.

Now, with Raven’s past briefly described, the day she would meet her destiny was just around the corner.

~~~~~~~

“… This must be the dormitory where he spends most of his time.”

Whether it was because he was a commoner or because he visited various stalls in the town, it was easy to gather information about Kanata and quickly identify his residence.

She decided that it would be at night, and until then, she would pass the time as a harmless woman.

Then time passed, and night fell. She dressed in her costume as a Raven and crept into Kanata’s room, deploying her unparalleled invisibility.

“Forgive me, Kanata, for this too shall be forever etched in my memory as my sin. You shall hate me for all eternity.”

When Kanata returned after supper, she immediately picked up her sword and was about to slit his neck, but… Huh, Raven stopped her hand.

(… isn’t it Haishin-sama?)

How, no idea why, but Raven-chan had noticed.

His voice was slightly different through the terminal and not so easy to spot, even if he projected his hands.

Still, with a glance, Raven recognized Kanata as Haishin.

(… Eh? Arey? What’s going on? Am I dreaming?)

Although her face was concealed by her black costume, she was in a panic.

How did Raven recognize that Kanata was a Haishin in one shot? It was simply Raven’s keen observation and good eyesight as an assassin that helped her to uncover Haishin’s true identity.

And the ultimate sign is his presence itself.

Raven was skilled at erasing her presence, and at the same time, she was also one of the strongest human beings at sensing others’ presence.

The way Haishin breathed when he spoke and many other things were also factors that made her instantly recognize him as Haishin.

“Ahh~ The food was delicious. Let’s keep on streaming in this great mood!”

“!?!?!?”

Raven-chan widened her eyes open.

Although she was glued to the ceiling, she could still fool others’ perceptions of her appearance by diminishing her presence to the utmost limit.

She kept her eyes open, bloodshot and tearful, never blinking as she deployed a form of concealment that no one would notice.

[Hey, guys, it’s another day! Well, let’s get right to it!]

Raven felt like she was in heaven.

She didn’t expect to meet Haishin himself when she sneaked into her target’s room.

She already forwent the desire to kill Haishin or Kanata, and the request completely flew out of her mind.

(Haishin-sama himself is streaming before my very eyes!)

Though she was overflowing with emotions that made her want to scream all over the place, she didn’t want to bother him as his follower. Rather, she even thought of hanging herself on the spot if she caused him trouble.

(I’m a true follower of Haishin-sama! I dare not to cause him trouble… That’s why I have to keep staring at him like this!)

‘—No, you don’t have to do that,’ she heard from somewhere.

As it was, the blissful time passed, and after finishing the streaming, Kanata drowsily fell into bed and went straight to sleep.

“… Ha-Haishin-sama… Fuhe♪.”

She landed on the floor and stared at Kanata’s sleeping face.

She didn’t move until the wee hours of the morning, and when Kanata was about to wake up, she deployed her hidden form again and disappeared.

She is a being of darkness, and no matter how little sleep she gets at night, she doesn’t have a body weak enough to get sick from just that.

(I can watch him all the time. I can watch Haishin-sama’s sleeping face for hours and hours and never get tired of it, and just looking at it makes my heart warm and fuzzy.)

She was on a completely dangerous train of thought.

For the next few days or so, she stayed in Kanata’s room… Yeah, she watched him all the time in her invisible form.

… And it was at that moment she couldn’t help but loosen her expression.

“… Huh?”

“… Fuhe ♪.”

More than being found, she was more than happy that Kanata recognized her and asked who she was, so she replied confidently.

“Nice to meet you, Haishin-sama. I am not someone suspicious, but a fan!”

“Who are you to talk like that?”

Raven’s real name was Mira, and this was how she was able to have a conversation with the one she longed for.

Well, it was natural, but needless to say, from Kanata’s point of view, it was a heart-popping surprise, and soon Mira was down to her knees in front of Kanata.