"Uwwa, dangerous, dangerous"

Feeling a sudden chill, I hid myself as to not get noticed.
In spite of keeping a considerable distance, I felt like I was recognized for an instant. The startling perceptiveness made me break into cold sweat.
Honestly, what"s with that Crown Prince"s warning net…

As Princess went to town with her fiancé the Crown Prince, naturally I also escorted her.
Be that as it may, the distance from Princess is far. If I got too close, I"d get noticed by that Crown Prince, so it can"t be helped.

"It"s far from perfect"

While scratching my head I muttered.
You can only be escorting when you"re near. It makes no sense at this distance. Still, I had no choice but to compromise, as I couldn"t let the Crown Prince notice my existence.
… It may be about time.
It"ll be easier to protect her if I"m recognized as Princess"s guard.
It might be better to finally cast away the strange stubbornness and reveal my ident.i.ty, I began thinking so a little.
I checked on their figure in the distance.
The Crown Prince was kindly smiling towards Princess who has a happy expression.
Everyone was turning their heads towards the couple conspicuously madly in love, but the two paid no heed to it. They were perfectly in the world of their own.
Flirting while shutting out the gazes of their surroundings, the two of them really created an atmosphere of a fresh couple.

"Jeez, I beg you, don"t stand out…"

I"m at my wits end.
Even if I say that, it"ll be difficult as long as she"s with conspicuously beautiful Crown Prince.
They"ll attract eyes no matter what.
Still, exactly because her partner is that Crown Prince I can be carefree like this.
That man"s strength is obvious on the first look. Any fool that willingly approaches him shouldn"t be a big deal.
So I guess my escorting isn"t actually needed…
Still, I"d like to confirm the safety of my master with my own eyes.
Increasing the distance between us I followed after them.

In the early evening, having confirmed they were invited by granny, I raised my head.
I"m now hiding on the roof of a house. Even though nothing should have been going on until now, suddenly the air become agitated.
Within that agitation faint amateur bloodl.u.s.t is mixed in. Many owners of violent bloodl.u.s.t abruptly began gathering.

"… Is their aim the Crown Prince"

I can only call it foolish, but it"s probably right.
To think of attacking him during a date with his fiancée, somebody has reprehensibly wretched ideas.
It must be because the rumor of the Crown Prince infatuation with his fiancée spread, but why can"t they understand it will just provoke his anger and turn against them.
Just as I thought, when the two came out of a back street, many people surrounded them. First of all, knives were thrown. The sharpness of those knives made me notice there"s one professional mixed up in the pure bloodl.u.s.t.
I stealthily raised my body that was lying p.r.o.ne.

"He"s not just a hoodlum, huh"

Having confirmed the Crown Prince protected Princess, I quietly left the place from where I was observing.
It"s no big deal that they"re surrounded by hoodlums. There"s no problem in leaving it to the Crown Prince.
What I have to do is to deal with the a.s.sa.s.sin who slipped in.
The one who came today seems to possess fair ability, he doesn"t let his location be easily pinpointed.
Throw a knife, erase the presence, and change the location.
Because he attacks from distance, that Crown Prince can only respond by repelling his knives.
It"s irritating how he changes location after each throw. There"s no doubt about its effectiveness, but as one would expect I"m starting to feel annoyed.
I sensed an invocation of a large magical art from Princess"s direction.

"Oi, are you using an attack magical art here!"

In a fl.u.s.ter I searched for the magician.
When I looked in the direction of the movement of the magical power that I had sensed, right there I saw a magician invoke a high grade flame art towards the Crown Prince and Princess.
The magic formation s.h.i.+ning red had already been completed, the flames are being summoned.
―――― That"s bad.
Using a high grade flame art in town like this is too dangerous.
But, even if I leapt from here to Princess, I wouldn"t have enough time.
Why didn"t you call for me, I wanted to meaninglessly lash out at master.

"s.h.i.+t, I won"t make it!"

Even if I used the secret art, the flames are already so close I won"t make it in time. Then, for some reason Princess brushed the Crown Prince aside and stepped forth before the flames.

"Oi! What are you doing!!"

Unconsciously I shouted loud. It"s natural. No matter how you look at it, to brush aside the Crown Prince who was protecting her and step forth is a suicidal act.
Without any sign of flinching from the flames, Princess quickly stuck out her hand in front of the flames.
Then, from her mouth came a single word.

―――― With just that, those flames disappeared without a trace.

"Eh…"

I have no idea what happened. I should have seen it with my own eyes, yet I can"t believe it.
Unable to understand what phenomenon my master caused, I solidified for a moment, unable to move. The same was true for the people at the scene, still Crown Prince recovered in an instant and in the twinkling of an eye finished both art users.

"… What was that just now"

Despite my surprise, after confirming that Princess is safe for now, I stood up from the place I"d been hiding at.
Wasn"t that a magical art just now. No, since there was no magic formation, was it magic? Or was it a secret art.
I"ve never seen or heard of something like that. What was that.
While my head was overcome with confusion, the a.s.sa.s.sin I had been searching for flickered in the corner of my vision.

"! Found you"

I"ll worry later. First of all, I have to finish him.
Fl.u.s.tered, I followed after the a.s.sa.s.sin who ran away.

"I have to report it!"

My heart is still pounding. I know the reason. It"s because of the enigmatic phenomenon from a while ago.
When I received the reckless a.s.sa.s.sination request for the Crown Prince with no preparatory period, while wondering how to do it I seriously wanted to kill the client, but that doesn"t matter anymore.
No matter what it takes I have to report on what I"ve just seen.

"What was that?"

While running at full speed I pondered about the truth behind what I"d seen.
I don"t quite understand. Magic? Or a secret art?
Anyway, what the woman who"s the Crown Prince"s fiancée used was something akin to an extremely unusual magic.
She extinguished that flame art in an instant. If she"s left be, there"s no doubt she"ll become a threat to Sahaja.
If I bring that information back, I won"t be blamed for this failure.

I thought it"s that useful information.

In the first place, I was reluctant towards this matter from the start.
Since it was an order, I had to obey such a client.
The man gave an order he knew would surely fail on the spur of the moment. How dare you do as you please, I said while thinking that I have no choice to refuse. Even though I"ll receive rage from above because of that absurd order.
I don"t care about the hoodlums. They were just a cheap distraction to point a blade at somebody without thinking about it deeply.
But, it"s regrettable about the two magicians.
Even within our guild they were noteworthy magicians.
As a result of that foolishness, they lost their lives in vain.
Because we"re professional a.s.sa.s.sins, there"s no reason to put our lives on the line. And yet, saying that if things go well they might kill the Crown Prince, those two rejected withdrawal. They said it"s because they have the "vase".
Even though I said it"s useless.
He"s not an opponent who can be dealt with using such a cheap trick.
I understood it just by looking.
The nightmarish Crown Prince, he"s a prince who"s the object of fear in Sahaja.
There"s no way somebody so half-hearted they"d deal with him with the vase could be his opponent.
Without a precise plan in place, we won"t be able to stand up to him.
In the end, aside from me everybody was annihilated.
When it came to that, I had no choice but to withdraw.
I headed for the outer gate to escape the Royal Capital.
If I leave the town before the pursuers are sent, I win.
I moved fast, so that I don"t get noticed.
With all the skills taught to me, I single-mindedly moved my feet towards the outer gate.

"… Alright"

I could finally see the outer gate one hundred meters ahead. Naturally the gate is closed for the night, but all I need to do is pa.s.s over the outer wall without attracting attention. There"s no problem.
I don"t sense any pursuers. Just when I breathed out in relief that the distance I had bought is enough to have escaped.

"You"re late"
"Wha!"

A man blocked my way. I hurriedly stopped walking and raised my face.
I"ve trained quite a bit in the dark so that I wouldn"t be troubled even on dark nights. His face was clearly visible within the darkness.
A man with curly black hair. He"s not that tall. He"s dressed in a tawny costume, and judging from the voice he seems to be still a young man.
That"s when I first looked at his face. I met his eyes for an instant.

His eyes are bright red. Burning red. Blood red.
I finally realized his ident.i.ty by a.s.sociation.
The cursed clan. The cursed red eyes. Red-eyed s.h.i.+nigami. ―――― Red s.h.i.+nigami.

"Hii"

I"ve heard he"s alive. I"ve also received the information from above.
s.h.i.+nigami is somewhere in Wilhelm. I was told that there"s a possibility of hostility, but if possible to persuade him and bring him back. But――――.
As soon as I realized the ident.i.ty of the man in front of me, I couldn"t stop my body from trembling on its own. Before I became aware, fear came first.
s.h.i.+nigami looked at such me with disdain in his eyes.
He slowly spoke to confirm.

"I think asking is pointless, but I might as well try. You"re Sahaja"s a.s.sa.s.sin, aren"t you. Who requested you. And your guild affiliation. You don"t feel like talking… do you?"

There"s no hesitation in his voice that"s spinning a yarn.
He"s simply confirming. He"s already decided on what do. It"s such a voice.
By his voice alone I understand he"s looking at me as an enemy.

"s.h.i.+… nigami"
"Yeah?"

Even thought I somehow produced voice, it trembled unseemly.
Persuasion? Impossible.
My opponent is the top of the "Black" guild, the famous a.s.sa.s.sin alongside Apostate. Nicknamed Red s.h.i.+nigami. I didn"t feel like persuading him.
Knowing what this man did, there"s no way I can win.
I understand by instinct.
But, even so I can"t leak information. If I did, I"d lose my sole pride as an a.s.sa.s.sin.
I don"t want that.

"… Kill me"
"Of course"

When I only said that much having prepared for death, he returned a truly unenthusiastic answer.
With those few words I understood the difference between us. I realized I had already been checkmated back during the fight.
The last thing I confirmed was the red eyes in front of me narrowing.
Because of that foolish man――――.

I wonder if it was my fate to face a complete ruin in the end, with my consciousness fading I ridiculed myself.

"After all he didn"t feel like it"

Having finished the man with an unknown name, I slapped myself with both hands.
He was raised in the same way as me by an a.s.sa.s.sin guild, so I think it can"t be helped, but it"s truly frustrating I didn"t get information out of him.

"In the first place, how did they learn of today"s inspection"

It shouldn"t be known to ordinary soldiers.
It was a person with an important post, perhaps on the level of a garrison captain.
Still, to attack at such an exceptional timing, there must be a traitor.
If that"s the case, I"m getting more and more worried about my master.
When I returned in a hurry, worried about what happened to master, she was held in the Crown Prince"s arms.
I was relieved to not see any apparent injuries.

This time it ended at nothing.
Of course, I intend to question Princess about the magic she used later.
Since I have the same secret, and Princess is ultimately my master, I won"t force her to talk.
But, I"d like to share information to a certain extent.
Suddenly a.s.sailed by anxiety I surveyed the presences around.
―――― There"s no presence of Scheat.
I considered the possibility, but ultimately dismissed it as overthinking.
I relaxed a little.
Even if Scheat is unrelated, Sahaja"s guilds are definitely moving. There"s no mistaking it.
Sahaja"s guild aren"t only "Red" and "Black".
I must also give sufficient consideration to the possibility of other guilds moving.
It"s perfectly possible a.s.sa.s.sins from multiple guilds are hiding in Wilhelm right now.
What in the world is Sahaja attempting to do in this country.
The Crown Prince, the King. a.s.sa.s.sin guild"s Scheat.
They can"t be unrelated.
Is their aim the Crown Prince, or the country itself.
Since I can"t see their motives, I have to take initiative in cases like this no matter what.

I moved the man to an inconspicuous place. Like this he"ll ultimately be collected by somebody from the same guild.
Having finished destroying the evidence to a certain degree, I breathed out.
Although I"m extremely unwilling, I might need to go to Sahaja once.
For the sake of obtaining correct information on what"s happening it"s best to go to the actual place.
It"s difficult to investigate that locked up country from this one.
Now that I can"t use hideouts, I have no choice but to go to that country to obtain information about them.

"I"m really unwilling, but I might need to think about it a little seriously…"

While watching over Princess being carried back to the castle in the Crown Prince"s arms I muttered.
That"s right, if it"s for the sake of my master――――.

It"s not the time to selfishly avoid returning to that country.