"That"s Crown Prince Maximilian… isn"t he"

While secretly watching two people dance at the evening party, I examined presences in my surroundings.

The Crown Prince of Sahaja whom I see for the first time seems to be as the rumors say.
Even if he feigns friendliness in his home country, he"s not displaying that in Wilhelm.
Probably because he"s no match for the Crown Prince of Wilhelm, he seems like quite a villain.

"I ain"t got no idea what he"s thinking"

Maximilian had no plans of coming to Wilhelm. I can say that with certainty.
If so, he has some urgent matter. That must be the case.

"He asked to meet Princess, didn"t he"

I don"t understand that.
Princess is certainly my master and an irreplaceable existence to me, but she should be a person not worth caring about.
Yet why did he expressly came here and even ask to meet Princess.
I can"t imagine there"s no meaning in it.

"Until I understand his aim, I better not leave Princess"s side too much"

Even if it"s ok when Princess is with her husband, it may be better to be careful at other times. You never know whose enmity royalty might incur.
I can hardly say she"ll never be aimed at.

Once again, I looked at Princess dancing with Maximilian.
I feel her expression is stiffer than usual. Realizing she certainly detests it, I spurted out a little.
Speaking of Crown Prince Maximilian, he"s the prince called silent Crown Prince famous for his appropriate beauty.
In fact, there are many young ladies sending pa.s.sionate gazes towards Maximilian who"s dancing on the dance floor. Even from my perspective as a man he"s got beautiful face, so I think it must be considerably so.
But, Princess seems completely uninterested.

"Princess"s deeply in love with her husband"

She seems to be lacking self-awareness, but my master is unexpectedly in love with the man who"ll become her husband in a few months" time. As for that husband, it goes without saying.
The person herself denies with incredible vigor, but looking at them I think anybody could tell.
When together they"re sticking to each other and flirting irrespective of the occasion.
Always touching somewhere, it seems foolish to make fun of that sweet atmosphere. The correct answer is to quickly run away.

It"d disqualify me as a guard, but she"s got the invincible Crown Prince on her side.
That man will never fail to protect her.
When it comes to a credible person I can entrust Princess to, I think the man chosen by Princess is a good man. I"m plenty saved as I can move freely meanwhile.

"Now then, what"s Sahaja"s aim. What"s most likely is preparations for the conquest of Wilhelm but…"

The King of Sahaja is aiming at Wilhelm, even small children of that country know of this fact.
It"s been two years since last war. It wouldn"t be strange if they made a move soon.
But, Wilhelm has that Crown Prince.
The flawless Crown Prince. From Sahaja"s point of view, he"s the nightmarish Crown Prince.

Unless they deal with him somehow, there"s no prospects of victory for Sahaja.
There"s no way they can win against a man who slaughtered ten thousand alone.
… Thinking that far.

"… Perhaps… Are they aiming at Princess to reduce Crown Prince"s power? Are they observing? … No way… No, but"

I can"t say no with confidence.
If they"re aware of that husband"s infatuation, it wouldn"t be strange to think its fastest to defeat the person at his side.
It"s much easier than defeating the person himself.

"… Seriously… Oy, tch"

For a moment I felt bloodl.u.s.t, even if faint.
Noticing it I felt fed up. Because I remember this bloodl.u.s.t.

"Oi oi oi… Didn"t this guy go home"

I scratched my head. That"s too unexpected.

The owner of the bloodl.u.s.t is "Black Apostate" who belong to Sahaja"s a.s.sa.s.sin Guild "Black".
It"s Scheat.

I wouldn"t confuse his unique bloodl.u.s.t.
He let out bloodl.u.s.t only I"d understand… Come out, huh.
Noticing that, a sigh escaped me.
I looked down at the dance floor.

Crown Prince Maximilian and Princess are dancing.
And staring at them is Princess"s husband.

As long as that husband is watching, the Crown Prince won"t be able to do anything strange.
Judging it"s okay to leave, albeit unwillingly, I decided to respond to Scheat"s call.

"Haven"t you gone home?"

I went to an out-of-sight location behind the castle.
I immediately noticed where Scheat was hiding and called in that direction.
Sure enough, Scheat lightly showed up.

I gasped at the figure that came out of tree"s shade.
Long back priest clothes. However, a rosary with inverted cross decorates his chest.
Faced with Scheat in his rumored work clothes, I clicked my tongue in my mind.

Work clothes… That is to say he"s at work.

Even thought we"re out-of-sight, we"re still inside the castle.
I don"t want to cause trouble for Princess by doing showy things.
In contrast with me who was tense whether a fight would break out, Scheat was carefree.

"Huh? You noticed? After all Cain is sharp. I didn"t think there"d be a fellow who could sense my presence"

Hearing the frank light voice uninterested in fighting, I secretly relaxed my body.
Still, I kept the minimum tension.

"Oi… You called me with bloodl.u.s.tthat so what are you saying. In the first place, your bloodl.u.s.t is unique. Try harder if you want to hide it"

Sticky bloodl.u.s.t. There"s no way I"d confuse it, even if the amount is low.
I spat that out, but for some reason Scheat delightfully smiled.

"Wow. It"s the first time Cain speaks to me like that. I"m happy. After all it"s fun talking with a person with the same standing"

The characteristic cat-like eyes narrowed. I"m getting more and more irritated by the carefreely talking man.

"… Didn"t you say you"re going back to Sahaja"
"I went back. I received a job, so I came again. You also understand, right? As soon as I come home, I get another job. It"s hard being popular. There"s no time to rest"

Occasionally I want a long vacation, I glared at the man who said that.
I have no time to go along with his absurd jokes.
I must get the information about his purpose from him.

"Who did you come to kill this time. Surely it can"t be Sahaja"s important person?"

When asked whether he came to kill Crown Prince Maximilian on the King"s orders, Scheat"s eyes opened wide and he shook his hands.
Wrong wrong, he exaggeratedly appealed.

"I wouldn"t expressly go to other country to kill them. It"s a bother. Moreover, talking about jobs is taboo. You understand, right?"

For a moment I was almost convinced, but I stopped myself.
Common sense of Sahaja"s a.s.sa.s.sins. As if I care about that at this point.

"… I already have nothing to do with the guild"
"Therefore you"re not bound by the rules? Well, certainly. Organizations bring various troubles. Must be nice to be free of them. I also long for that"
"Never mind, answer my question. Why did you come. Who did you come to kill"

The way the man spoke truly irritated me.
After putting hands behind his head with what should I do I wonder, Scheat put a finger against his lips and looked like he pondered for a while.

"That"s a secret - you won"t be convinced with that, will you… Well, whatever. I"ll teach you. It"s not something to hide. This time I"m basically on standby. And I have another task. That task is… inviting you"
"Ha?"

Not understanding what I"d been told, a foolish voice came out.

"I"m saying, I came to such a foreign country to invite you. This me did. Because it seems Cain would kill others before talking. After all I"m qualified"
"Invite… to "Black"?"

I recalled the organization Scheat belongs to and being suspicious asked a question, but Scheat shook his head to deny.

"No. To my client. See, they want you by all means. For me it"d be fun to have you come to us, but I"d accepted a request"

What will you do? I understood is what the man"s gaze asked. Is the client the King of Sahaja.
It"s almost certain from his att.i.tude.
But, naturally I won"t nod.
I"ve already made a contract with Princess, I have zero intention of changing my tenets.
No matter who it is, it"s too late.

"I refuse"
"I bet. Your face is saying that too. In truth, I didn"t expect to meet you here today. I thought you had already left the country. Because you know? Last time you said you won"t return to Sahaja and that you"re not serving here. That"s why I thought there"s be no way you"d be here"
"My bad"
"No? I wanted to meet you, so it"s good but… Why are you here? Is this country so pleasant to live in for you?"

I briefly replied as Scheat tilted his head.

"Not really"

That doesn"t matter.
The place I should be is where my master is.
I"m here because Princess is. That"s all.
In fact, be it beyond the sea or over there in the desert, it doesn"t matter. As long as my master is there.

"I stay here because I have a reason to. That"s all. And it"s unrelated to you… and to the guys hiding in the thicket over there"

With these words, I threw a knife that had been concealed on my chest. After a whoosh, I heard a m.u.f.fled voice from inside the thicket. After a moment, I heard a sound of a person falling down.
It seems the knife splendidly hit one of the vitals and took the target"s life.
Confirming it with only his eyes, Scheat unnaturally applauded.

"Wonderful. I"ve heard s.h.i.+nigami is skillful with knives too, but this is beyond my expectations. Even without line of sight you hit the vitals"
"… Just how many people did you bring for me alone"

The presences of the few left quickly pulled out as their companion collapsed.
As I confirmed that and s.h.i.+fted my eyes to Scheat, he shrugged his shoulders with good grief.

"I don"t know. I"m not involved with them. Didn"t the client get them of their own accord out of worry? That"s why I don"t need to worry about them"
"That"s why you didn"t move?"
"Yup. After all, it"s not my job. I don"t care who lives or dies aside from the target"

I grimaced as Scheat said he doesn"t care about his comrades with a serious face.

"… You"re broken"
"If you say so, you"re the same. Red s.h.i.+nigami. Killing indiscriminately, your nature is worse than mine"

Is that so.
They weren"t my comrades, so I simply didn"t need to make the choice.
But it"s inevitable I"d be told that, I think it"s natural I"d be seen in such light.
That"s why I nodded.

"Aah, I"m broken. I won"t deny"
"We"re the same. We can online live as a.s.sa.s.sins. As tools. That"s why, come. Why not be useful tools together"
"That"s wrong"
"Hee?"

As Scheat had his eyes wide open, I clearly said it. I"m proud of myself for being able to deny it immediately.
It was unconscious, but I think I was perhaps smiling.

I am not a tool.

Because Princess, my master, has not even once treated me as a tool. She properly faced me as a person.
She said my abhorred red eyes were beautiful.
I appreciate it.

"You wouldn"t understand. No matter what I"m told, I won"t go. If you use force, I"ll simply resist… You understand my strength, right?"

I made a contract with Princess, so the shackles of my power fell off.
I can use the secret art without any problems, my physical ability also increased, it"s now incomparable to before the contact.
I"m much more confident in myself than before.
The confidence I could repel him, even if not unscathed… is there.

"Hmm, if possible I"d like to refrain. I was told to bring you with me, but you look much stronger than what I"ve heard, and it"s not like I received the order to kill. Honestly, it"d be hard to capture you alive. Be that as it may, it goes against my policy to kill unordered"

Just what should I do, as Scheat said that like he was really troubled, he looked at me perplexed.

"… Then, let"s set it aside for today"
"Hmm, that"s reasonable, huh. I"ll tell the client you"re uninterested in serving them. What the next command will be, I don"t know but… Well, for now whatever. I"ll do this"

Well then, as Scheat tried to pull out I stopped him.
There"s one more crucial thing I need to hear.

"Oi, Scheat. You said you"re on standby for another task… Are you aiming at someone?"

As I called out his name, Scheat suddenly stopped walking.
He looked back leisurely.

"… Well yeah, but as expected I can"t tell you who? Figure it out yourself"
"… Are you aiming at this country"s royalty?"
"Does it involve you?"
"… Tch. It doesn"t"

It would be bad to unskillfully expose my relations.h.i.+p with Princess.
Realizing that, I ground my teeth as I couldn"t question him anymore.
Scheat looked at me intently.

"… What?"
"Cain… You remember my name"
"Ha? I called you by it, didn"t I?"
"Yup, that"s right. But I truly didn"t think you would"

I became troubled as Scheat faced me with a surprised face.

"Why. I"d heard it, so I decided to call you by it"

Scheat too is calling me by my name, so I have no reason not to call him by it.

"Ah, yup. That"s certainly right…"

Not understanding the meaning I tilted my head, but Scheat just kept nodding I see to himself.
Then he raised his face.

"What?"
"… Nothing. But, that"s right. If possible, I pray you"d come to this side. Then, laters. Let"s meet if there"s a chance, Cain"
"Oi!"

I called out to Scheat, but he disappeared in the blink of an eye.
If I wanted to chase, I could. However.

"I"m worried about Princess"

I abandoned the thought without hesitation and decided to head back to the evening party venue.

In the end, I have no idea who Scheat is targeting.
The only thing I understand is the King of Sahaja is still aiming at me.

Should I leave Princess"s side as to not bother her?
No, that"s too rash.

"… First of all, should I next kill the people seeking to invite me"

… I feel that"s a good idea.
Yup. Let"s go do it for now.

I don"t want Princess, who"s busy with marriage preparations, to waste time on my personal problems.
Then I should settle it before Princess finds out.

If they persist in inviting me too much, I"ll have no choice but to consult Princess and consider going to Sahaja on direct attack but… if possible.

"… I want to be on my master"s side"

I should prioritize my master"s life over mine――――.

Because that"s Hiyuma clan"s destiny, I"d hate to leave Master"s side due to my own circ.u.mstances.