While I was anguished time pa.s.sed, and the day Scheat told me about arrived.
In the end I couldn"t part from the hideout and spent every day there.
If somebody came, fine. Or rather, I thought it"d be good if Scheat came to check on me. There were many things I wanted to ask him.
But in the end Scheat hadn"t shown up even once, and neither had other a.s.sa.s.sins.

"I guessed at least Black"s guys would come…"

Since they hadn"t, it seems the meeting with me might really have been without the guild"s permission. To say such things despite being bound to an organization, he"s quite free.
Just what is Scheat thinking? I couldn"t help but find it eerie.
That said, it"s not like I didn"t do anything since coming to Sahaja.
I obtained the floor plan of Sahaja"s Royal Palace and crammed it into my head.

"Should I go…?"

Scheat won"t come for sure. And there won"t be anybody to tell me to go.
I had such a hunch.
While hanging my head to not stand out, I headed for the Royal Palace. It was too early to call the time early morning, so there were hardly any people around.
Fundamentally, the guild master dealt with work from the Royal Palace, so I"ve never been there, but the Royal Palace is in the position that can be seen from everywhere in the Royal Capital. I arrived without any problems and intruded inside the castle from an unguarded place.

While hiding, I aimed at the place where the King spent time. Just as I"d heard from Scheat, there were few guards. Their forces must"ve already headed for Wilhelm.
Although I blamed myself for not stopping them before they"d left, I reconsidered what I could do.
I thought that he would at least employ Black"s a.s.sa.s.sins as guards, but I reached the King"s private room so simply it was almost disappointing.

"… Is it okay that it"s so simple?"

Be that as it may, I had no time to worry about it. I had already worried enough for this past week. The conclusion was always the same.
Talk to the King, stop the a.s.sa.s.sination of Princess, and make him withdraw the army. That"s the only way.

"… My master"s sake. That"s what I"m acting for."

I muttered quietly. I didn"t notice that I was unconsciously gripping the pair of swords, my dad"s mementos.

The King"s room was glittering gold everywhere in bad taste, but I didn"t see the King. I came here carefully, so it was already past noon. He could be at work. Of course I couldn"t sneak that far, so while feeling impatient, I waited for the King to return. Waiting is a usual trouble in this line of work.

"Phew…"

The King finally came back in the evening. Not realizing I"m there, he was smiling with a satisfied face.
I was sure he"d have guards, but I felt no presences.
While astonished that he really came alone, I called out to the King from behind as he looked outside the window. It was obvious from his movements he wasn"t very skilled, so I judged that he posed no danger.

"… The King of Sahaja, right?"
"Ah! You are."

The King who turned back in response to my voice looked just like a pig.
On his stout body hung a gaudy mantle made of fur.
The small, silver-haired man was holding a scepter. His silver hair finally reminded me that he"s Prince Maximilian"s father. They really aren"t similar.
Seeing him from up close for the first time, I was surprised that this is the infamous King of Sahaja.
He"s truly different from the Crown Prince of Wilhelm or his father, the King of Wilhelm.
His staring eyes gleamed vigilantly, but the intimidating air he leaked was truly different from them. I didn"t feel threatened in the slightest.
The King of Sahaja looked at me with a puzzled face. Then he met my eyes and finally made a surprised face.

"You… Red s.h.i.+nigami…"
"I"ve already discarded that name. But certainly, I was called like that."

There wasn"t a point in denying. When I nodded, in the twinkling of an eye the King made a delighted face.

"I see… You"ve finally returned to me. Very well. Out of respect for that action, I shall allow you to serve me. Serve me a long time together with Black Apostate."
"Ha?"

What is this man saying?

"Stop joking. Who would serve you?"
"You don"t have to bluff. Certainly, I think the Red Guild being wiped was a slight waste, but I don"t care about it as long as I have you. You can only live as an a.s.sa.s.sin. You came here after becoming aware of that, right? Even if you don"t say it, I understand."

The words said to me with full confidence disgusted me.
I raised my bangs from my left eye and, showing it to him, said.

"It"s unfortunate, but I already have a master. And it"s not you. As if I"d want to serve a master like you who destroyed my clan."

When I showed him both my eyes, the King"s eyes widened in astonishment.

"What… Contract? Just when…?"

Hearing those words, I realized Prince Maximilian and the King didn"t share any information. And that Scheat didn"t tell the King anything.
Scheat said that he hated the King. Without a doubt he didn"t tell him anything beyond what he was asked. Then the King shouldn"t know the master I made contract with is Princess.
Supposing he knew it would become more troublesome, so while feeling relieved, I scowled at the King.

"It"s unrelated to you when I made the contract. The reason I came here is to make you cancel every a.s.sa.s.sination request towards Wilhelm royalty. And to make you withdraw the army. I bothered to come here for that reason."
"Cancel a.s.sa.s.sination requests… was it? Hah! That"s some amusing courting."

Tapping the scepter in his hand on the floor, the King laughed.

"What point is there in withdrawing the request now? Today is the deadline. The request should"ve already been executed. By the excellent Black, much different from you. Both that Crown Prince and his fiancée should be corpses by now."
"That"s impossible."

His voice was full of confidence, but I immediately denied.
That Crown Prince being a.s.sa.s.sinated by Black? Such a thing is impossible.
After all, that Crown Prince"s strength is abnormal. Even I couldn"t directly fight him. I can declare that it"s impossible for a person to attack him by surprise.
And it"s impossible that Princess would be killed, being carefully protected by such a Crown Prince.

"Black can"t kill that Crown Prince. That"s right, I can say it with confidence that even Apostate can"t defeat him. ―― That"s why, hurry up and withdraw it."
"If they won"t be killed, it"s not necessary to withdraw the request. However, since a while ago you"ve been siding with Wilhelm a whole lot. Perhaps… you made the contract with Prince Friedrich!"
"…"

The King began clamoring about his false accusation.

"I see! You did, right? To steal what"s mine, he"s increasingly loathsome!"
"Who"s yours."

My master is Princess, but I intentionally didn"t correct his misunderstanding.
It"s more convenient like this.
The King repeatedly banged his scepter on the floor. If it goes on for too long, soldiers might enter the room. I want to settle it by then.
I soundlessly got behind the King and pressed a knife to his neck.