Volume 2 26 (Assassin 3)

Volume 2 Chapter 26 (Assassin 3)

Translator: HASUTSUKI, Editor: Tan.

Day 172 after being summoned to another world.

The gleaming moon rose above the clouds, illuminating the entire area.

“First, let’s have you take off the mask.”

The cornered shadow slowly removed her mask without putting up a meaningless fight.

*Hariri*

Gradually, a woman’s face was revealed. The black-haired woman, who has been disguising herself among the mercenary, is known as Sakuya.

“Now that’s out of the way, shall we have a little chat?”

“A chat? Don’t you mean an interrogation?”

Considering the current situation, Sakuya presumed that Ryouma was sugarcoating his words.

The conversation was held in a large tent, where the assassination was attempted. Aside Ryouma and Sakuya, Lione, Bolts and the two Marfisto sisters are present. The rest of the mercenaries have left the tent to guard the outside.

Indeed, it was a strange atmosphere for what Ryouma called a chat.

“That depends on how we interpret it, no? At least, I’m going to call this a chat.”

To some extent, Sakuya felt relieved after hearing his words.

(With how this is going, there might be a chance that they decide to not torture me… Nevertheless, I was prepared for death regardless of whether they interrogate me or not, but it does not look like they intend to kill me just yet…)

Sakuya could feel that Ryouma and co don’t have any intention of hurting her at the moment.

However, she has not completely rejected the other possibility either.

But at the very least, she could calm down after confirming that there was no need to look out for sudden attacks.

“So? What is that that you want to talk about, with someone who had just attempted to assassinate you?”

“You do not have to be that tense, you know?”

Ryouma answered her with a slight smile.

With the current atmosphere being so heavy, Ryouma told Sakuya to loosen up, in effort to ease the tension in between them. While Sakuya did somewhat become more relaxed, the atmosphere still remained rather heavy.

Although her face showed that she has become more relaxed, there is little chance that she would start to open up to him

(Now then… How should I proceed from here?)

From the start, Ryouma never had any expectation of obtaining useful information from interrogating Sakuya.

That is because there was no way for him to verify whether her answers are truths or lies.

There was simply no need for him to take the risk of being deceived later on.

However, if he let her go just like that, then he would have gained nothing from Sakuya.

“There’s nothing that I want to hear particularly. Besides, you wouldn’t talk even if I ask anyway, and I have no means of proving the authenticity of your words either.”

Sakuya’s was amazed at Ryouma’s words.

If she were to take Ryouma’s words literally, that means there’s no reason for him to spare her life.

(This man, just what is he planning?)

Sakuya couldn’t help but feel anxious. Questions began to pop up one after another inside her head.

Anyone would feel uneasy when they couldn’t grasp the train of thoughts of their enemy.

“Then why are you keeping me alive?”

Sakuya was determined to find out what Ryouma is after.

Suddenly, a flash of thought crossed her mind. Since she is a woman, there is another possibility of why Ryouma had spared her.

(Don’t tell me, is he after my body?!)

It was natural for her to think that way.

After all, she is quite a beauty.

Long and glossy black hair.

A healthy light-brown toned skin.

Despite going through a harsh assassin’s training regime, her chest has developed to quite a substantial size.

Simply put, she boasts such an attractive body, most men would fall head over heels for her.

Although she has been doing all sorts of infiltration and assassination work, at the end of the day, she is still a woman.

She still holds the fear of being forcefully violated by men.

As a woman, for Sakuya, death after failure is much more preferable than being defiled against her will.

But as a human, the fear of getting hurt is just as scary.

Even more so when you do not know the man in front of you.

(But wait…, that can’t be… If that really was his intention, then he wouldn’t have brought the other women here.)

Her assumption was quickly rubbished as she looked at Lione and the sisters.

However, with this, she has gone back to square one. She has learnt nothing of the man called Mikoshiba Ryouma. Not his goals nor his intentions.

“Well, let’s just say it’s a personal reason.”

Ryouma replied as he observes her behavior.

“Personal reason?”

Sakuya made a complicated face.

“This…”

Ryouma pushed out the sword Sakuya previously had in front of her.

“What about it?”

Sakuya was unable to understand what Ryouma was concerned about.

The sword length is two shaku three sun(2尺3寸).

This is equivalent to approximately 70 cm in length.

Certainly, this is not a sword commonly used in the western continent.

However, the sword itself was not the reason why Ryouma had spared Sakuya’s life.

“Why did you use this?”

Sakuya became confused at Ryouma’s question.

For an assassin, a sword is just a weapon.

A tool for killing people.

Nothing more than that.

Seeing Sakuya’s puzzled face, Ryouma changed his question.

“You, are you Japanese?”

However, the anticipated change in Sakuya’s expression that Ryouma expected did not happen.

Her response was like it was the first time she heard the word Japanese.

“What do you mean?”

Sakuya’s answer proved that Ryouma’s theory was wrong.

(What’s going on? An assassin with this type of sword, has black eyes and black hair; and although her skin is tanned, without a doubt she’s ethnically Asian…, yet when I asked if she’s a Japanese, she didn’t show any reaction… Is this coincidental? No, that’s impossible…)

Questions kept popping up one after the other.

Ryouma has not looked closely at Sakuya’s face up close until now since he left all the supervising duty to Sara.

Two days ago, he only able to see that she’s a woman with black hair from a distance.

It was from Sara’s report the other day that he found out her name is Sakuya.

Ryouma did not realize it yet back then, but he heard such a nostalgic name.

Sakuya.

In Kanji, that would be Sakuya (咲夜) or Sakuya (咲耶).

Without a context, if these Kanjis were read on their own, most people would think that it is a Japanese name.

It is definitely not a common western name.

(She might be a Japanese just like me!)

It was logical for Ryouma to think that way.

It has been six months since he was summoned to this world.

It would be nice to be reunited with someone from the same country.

However, the fact that Ryouma does not hold any friendly feelings towards the man called Saitou from the Ortomea Empire has not changed.

His only memory of Saitou was when he was taken under custody, which he was not fond of.

Not to mention Ryouma’s hatred toward the empire for trying to take his life, it was natural that his impression was of them was not good.

In a similar context, an assassin who aimed Ryouma’s life is similar in nature, but since her reason to kill and the question about her accomplice are not clear, as a sane human being, Ryouma couldn’t just simply kill her just because she was a threat.

There’s also the possibility that she was another summoned person who is forced into an assassination job.

Besides, Sakuya is a woman. A beauty too at that…

It was natural for Ryouma to want to offer help to a fellow someone who has the same fate of being forced summon as him.

Mikoshiba Ryouma might be a cold-hearted person, but he’s still a human at heart. He can be kind and compassionate at times.

It might sound contradictory, but that is just how a human being is.

Just like a manager who is known for being strict at work, yet is a loving member of his family at home.

In this regard, Ryouma is very much your average human being.

His principle is simple.

He wants to survive.

All for the sake of survival.

In order to achieve that, he is prepared to cut down anyone who stands before his path.

However, what if there is another life that can be saved without compromising his safety?

It would be a logical to help a those in needs, especially when they are one of the same kind.

However, at times there would be cases where there the problem at hand is far beyond his power.

He would at least hear them out first, before deciding whether to help or not.

This much is common sense.

The idea behind capturing Sakuya rather than killing her right away is very much the same.

Ryouma does not intend to kill an assassin right away without hearing her reasons. Without finding out the true motive behind her move, Ryouma wouldn’t know whether she was forced to do this work or she was doing it of her free will.

The only thing that was not part of his expectation was the zero reaction Sakuya made when he said the word“Japanese”.

“Are you really not a Japanese?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about. From what country is that? It’s certainly not a country within the western continent right?”

Sakuya gave a clear response.

“Then why are you using a Japanese sword?”

Not convinced, Ryouma asked another question.

He thought of another possible scenario.

It could be that she was introduced to a blacksmith from the eastern continent.

He had heard that the eastern continent use katana.

(Perhaps she is someone from the eastern continent?)

It was a plausible theory.

But Sakuya words overturned Ryouma’s assumption once again.

“A Japanese sword? I don’t know about that, but this is indeed the sword we use within our clan.”

“Does every member of all your household use this?”

While Ryouma felt that her responses were sincere, he was still not convinced entirely.

“That’s right. Our family uses this type of sword, since a long time ago.”

“Since your family uses this kind of sword, are you from the eastern continent?”

“The eastern continent? We have never left the western continent.”

Using all the obtained information, Ryouma tried to put the pieces together.

A woman named Sakuya, who has the appearance of a Japanese person and uses a Japanese sword.

However, she had no reaction to the words Japanese or Japanese sword.

Anyone from Japan should recognise these words right away.

Piecing these information together, then Sakuya might not be a person who was forced summoned to this world.

This would suggest that she originated from the eastern continent?

It is unknown whether the people from the eastern continent have similar appearance and physical characteristics to a typical Japanese.

If so, then“Sakuya” might be a common within the eastern continent.

And according to the blacksmith at the imperial capital, a katana is a weapon of choice for the eastern continent people.

If that is the case then, it would explain why she uses a katana as her weapon.

(Although I have no concrete proof, it certainly is a possible theory.)

However, there is one thing that ruled this out.

It is the fact that her entire clan uses the sword.

If she’s someone from the eastern continent, then she wouldn’t have said that it was a“sword that we use within our clan”.

This implies that it is a unique weapon exclusive to her clan, rather than a common weapon.

(A family… A clan, huh…)

While there is no way to prove Sakuya’s words Ryouma did not have any doubt.

From his perspective, he believes that there’s no point in telling lies about something totally unrelated to her work.

Considering her life as an assassin, it would be unusual if she were to confess anything related to her work.

However, even if she did disclose intels regarding her work, then it would be logical for Ryouma to assume that 90% were lies.

On the contrary, Ryouma’s questions were mostly unrelated about her work.

Of course, she could have kept silent if she didn’t want to reveal anything to the enemy.

Nevertheless, she has no reason to lie.

Because of that, Ryouma was able to trust her words.

“Well, that means your clan uses katanas, right?”

Ryouma changed his question.

“That’s right.”

“And you’re really not from the eastern continent right?

Sakuya shook her head promptly.

The inside of the tent was quiet.

The Marfisto sisters did not intend to disturb Ryouma from the start, while Lione and Bolts also kept silent.

There’s something they want to ask, but they choose to stay quiet and watch how the talk unfolded.

“Nee-san… What is the young master trying to find out?”

Bolts whispered to Lione who is sitting next to him.

“Who knows… His questions are certainly unrelated to her accomplices…”

“So we are on the same page…”

“It is something personal…, probably.”

From everyone else’s point of views, this was the only explanation after seeing Ryouma’s interaction with Sakuya.

“Well, we should keep silent for now.”

Toward Lione’s words, Bolts nodded his head in agreement.

“A clan huh…, how many people?”

Ryouma broke the long silence with another question.

(What does he want? why would he be interested in my clan?)

Sakuya struggled to predict Ryouma’s true objectives for asking her these questions.

No matter how hard she thinks about it, she just could not figure out what he is trying to achieve.

“About 200 people…”

Sakuya finally gave her answer.

“200 people?!”

Ryouma choked his words.

200 people.

That number may seem small, but that is far from the truth.

Just imagine a wedding ceremony.

For a typical Japanese couple, including close friends and relatives of both the groom and the bride, 100 people are already a lot.

It is natural for Ryouma to be surprised.

“200 people…, do you live in a village somewhere?”

Speaking of 200 people, this volume is comparable to that of a small village.

However, Sakuya’s answer denied that speculation.

“No.”

“Then, do you live in a nearby town? Or perhaps all of you live separately in different places?”

Once again, Sakuya shook her head and gave Ryouma the same response.

“No…”

Ryouma is at a total loss.

If they are neither living in a single place nor separately,

Then how are they living?

“Are your clan wanderers?”

Sakuya finally nodded her head to confirm his hypothesis.

Before she had the chance to explain anything else, a voice of an unknown man suddenly interrupted their conversation.

“We have no choice. That is the fate of our whole clan…”

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