Chapter 5: A Chance Encounter

Chapter 5:
A Chance Encounter

 

POV: ODA AKIRA

 

THE UR BRANCH of the Adventurer’s Guild had been fairly clean and presentable for what was ultimately a glorified tavern. The Uruk branch, by contrast, was a dismal, gloomy place. Dark red stains covered the walls, which told me fights within these walls weren’t an unusual occurrence. It was in every way how I’d originally imagined an establishment like this would be, in the worst possible sense. Perhaps the guildmaster’s personality was rubbing off on the Guild members—or I was just overthinking it.

There was a large counter at the far end of the building with employees running around busily behind it. There were fewer employees than at the Ur branch, and most notably, there were no requests posted on the walls. I could only assume the people behind the counter handled all of the purchasing of monster parts, acceptance and doling out of requests, and rank decisions. It was an inefficient way of doing things, almost to the point of being ridiculous.

The Guild members, meanwhile, were taking a load off and enjoying a nice drink. This was the same in every city—plenty of adventurers would wake up bright and early just to drink the whole day away. When I entered the building, their gazes landed on me first, before moving to Amelia, and then finally to Night. Staring happened all the time, so I was mostly used to it.

“Welcome to the Adventurer’s Guild of Uruk. What business might you have with us today?” asked a pale-faced employee who’d dashed out from behind the counter to greet us the moment he saw Amelia’s face. She had become something of a recognizable celebrity after winning the beauty pageant, which meant she got a lot of unwanted looks. They didn’t bother her anywhere near as much as they bothered me.

“Yo, ain’t that Princess Amelia…?”

“Thought I heard that pageant winners always disappear.”

“Sure she’s not an impostor?”

The gallery of drunkards was giving free live commentary loud enough for us to hear. Why did drunks always have to be so boorish? Why couldn’t they just drown their sorrows in peace? I assumed the only reason they weren’t bad-mouthing Night was that they couldn’t see him.

“And that guy in the black, is he supposed to be her bodyguard? Guy looks weak as hell. If he tried to block one of my attacks, he’d get blown all the way to kingdom come,” grumbled a red-haired man sitting a short distance away.

Amelia twitched angrily—the quip had evidently offended her, even though I’d just shrugged it off. She was supposed to be talking to the Guild employee, yet her gaze was fixed on the redheaded guy.

“We’re not here on any business. We were simply passing by and wanted to see what sort of place the Guild branch of the largest beastfolk kingdom was. Yet it seems the adventurers you have here are nothing more than a bunch of cowards. Don’t you all have something better to do than drinking and bickering in here morning, noon, and night?”

Whenever Amelia got like this, her glare became so ice-cold that it really felt as though she’d brought the temperature down. It was something only she could do, and the Guild employee who’d approached us squealed in fright before taking a step back.

“Beg your pardon?! Who you callin’ a coward, little girl?! I’m a silver-rank adventurer—Raúl the Whirlwind! Maybe you’ve heard of me?!”

The only thing I wanted to say to the large lionman who’d just kicked over his chair in protest was So what? Judging by the way Amelia narrowed her frigid eyes, I knew she was thinking the same thing.

“And? You think any silver-rank adventurer with a nickname deserves unconditional respect? You think you just get to say and do whatever you like? Get over yourself, you pathetic child,” Amelia scoffed. The chill that fell over the building was honestly a bit terrifying. If I were in this adventurer’s shoes right now, I’d get on my knees and beg for mercy, but apparently, he felt differently.

“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” the lionman cried like the pathetic child she’d accused him of being, then raised his fists to take a swing at her. His fellow adventurers tried to tell him to stop, but he would not be deterred.

“Sorry, can’t let you do that, bud,” I said, wrapping one arm around Amelia and blocking his fist with the other. So much for sending me flying to kingdom come—his wimpy punch didn’t move me even a little. It felt like being slapped by a baby. I was having a hard time believing this Raúl guy was an adventurer at all.

“Amelia, that was uncalled for,” I chided her, and then turned to look the man in the eye. “We’re sorry for causing a commotion, but I would suggest you watch your mouth unless you feel like losing your head today. This is a genuine elven princess you’re talking to.”

Upon hearing my warning, the drunkards seemed to realize what they’d done, and they went pale. The Guild employees who’d been suspicious of Amelia averted their eyes.

“All right, douchebag! Now let go of my freakin’ hand!” roared the lionman, his beady golden eyes glaring down at me; I preferred Night’s golden eyes, personally.

“Yeah, not gonna happen. The moment I let go, you might just try to take another swing at me. In the future, I’d suggest not attacking strangers when you don’t have the slightest clue how powerful they might be. And didn’t your mother ever teach you to treat other people’s property with respect?” I said, looking at the chair he’d kicked over.

Raúl wasn’t listening to any of this, however, and just kept trying to pull his hand free. But I wouldn’t let go. “You made your point; now let go of me already!”

I didn’t know whether he’d understood my point, but I decided to be nice and let go of his hand.

“Sorry about that!” said a young human girl who wheeled herself out from behind the counter in a device akin to a wheelchair. She had bright, golden-yellow hair, and she lowered her head to us in apology. “Raúl’s kind of a dunderhead, so he couldn’t judge an opponent’s strength even if his life depended on it!”

“What the—?! Hey! Kerria! Who you callin’ a dunderhead?!” yelled Raúl, approaching the girl.

“The same man who keeps trying to pick fights he can’t win and never learns his lesson!” Kerria yelled back, puffing out her cheeks and clenching her fists.

“Ha ha, there they go again…”

“It’s like an everyday thing with them…”

The mood in the building relaxed a little as the other adventurers cracked jokes at this seemingly standard exchange.

“Anyway, I’m really sorry for the trouble! If you want to decapitate Raúl, feel free, but please don’t think worse of the Adventurer’s Guild for his behavior!” she said, bowing again.

“Hey! Don’t throw me under the bus!” he whined.

It seemed the incident had sobered up the drunkards who’d been badmouthing us earlier, and they promptly filed out of the building with pale faces. Kerria gestured toward an open table, and we sat down, still chuckling about their dispute. The other Guild employees looked on and laughed too, not even attempting to step in and put a stop to it. None of the beastfolk in the building seemed to be afraid of Night either—he was lying still on my shoulders in an attempt to look docile, like a little plushie. I could tell he was trying not to laugh.

“I don’t think less of any of you or the Adventurer’s Guild, don’t worry,” said Amelia, now calming down after her hearty laugh. “If anything, I was the one who was out of line. I apologize,” she said, bowing her head.

“Oh, no, please! Anyone with eyes could see it was all Raúl’s fault! Raúl, apologize to the nice lady!” said Kerria.

Raúl, for his part, had turned away and was pouting like a child. Kerria reached up and forced him to lower his head to us with a level of force I found difficult to believe possible from those pale, slender arms. Was she truly just a human? I even used World Eyes to check her stats because I was genuinely suspicious, but she really was just an ordinary girl.

“Ow, hey! What the hell, Kerria?!”

“None of this would have happened if it weren’t for that big mouth of yours! And don’t take potshots at people who are only calling you what you are! You promised you’d stop pulling this nonsense! I’m gonna ban you from the premises!”

I was beginning to wonder when this would end. I’d never seen a couple argue quite as much as these two did, yet it seemed like their relationship was more than resilient enough to handle it.

“Could you two please stop making a spectacle? You’re embarrassing us in front of our esteemed guests,” said a man in an indigo kimono with narrow, discerning eyes.

“Oh, God! M-my apologies, sir!” said Kerria, flustered, and she and Kerria finally ceased their bickering. I smiled awkwardly and waved my hands to indicate I wasn’t offended.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Princess Amelia. And you as well, Mr. ‘Silent Assassin,’” the man said. “My name is Mamoru, and I am the assistant guildmaster of this humble establishment. I’ve heard quite a few stories about the two of you.”

Ugh. I hate that stupid nickname. What assassin gets recognized on sight like a celebrity?

The man had a very Japanese-sounding name and wore Japanese-style garb, so I could only assume he’d come from the human nation of Yamato.

“My, my. I must say, I’ve never seen anyone with such deep ‘ring’ marks as the two of you,” Mamoru commented, looking down at the matching scars on my and Amelia’s fingers.

“What, you guys know about the ring thing here too?” I asked.

“Oh, yes. But few will actually scar themselves like you two have—most simply put a little iron ring around their fingers. It’s a very popular practice among adventurer couples. It serves as an ever-present reminder of their eternal love in a profession where death could always be just one mistake away.”

Amelia cocked her head to one side, indicating to me that she’d heard something else. “Lia told me lots of people in the palace do the scar thing,” she said.

“Well, there are a lot of adulterous love affairs that happen within the walls of that palace. My guess would be they’re just thin scrapes and markings meant to keep them out of trouble. They can be erased at any time. But with scars as deep as yours, you’d need some very powerful recovery magic in order to make them vanish without a trace.”

Aha. So it served as cheating prevention matter, then—kept both parties honest. This was news to me.

“In any case, I can assure you these two are no impostors, Raúl,” said Mamoru, trying to convince him.

But the lionman just stood there speechless, as if in a daze. “Are you really the Silent Assassin?” he asked incredulously.

I felt a bit discombobulated, unable to reconcile this calm behavior with his childish temper tantrum, but nodded nonetheless. “I really don’t like that nickname, but yeah, that’s me.”

Raúl dropped to the floor and prostrated himself in front of me. He was doing such a good job of it that he might very well put most Japanese people to shame. I had to wonder where he’d learned the gesture.

“Oh, please forgive me!”

“Uh, what?” I blurted, unable to process this sudden turn of events. Thankfully, Kerria swooped in to explain.

“Truth is, Raúl here’s a huge fan of the Silent Assassin. He was in Ur when the demon invasion happened, and he saw you take out all those monsters in one fell swoop from a distance…”

I found it hard to see how anything I had done that day would be something to fanboy about. All I did was lose control of my shadows in fury after hearing Amelia had been kidnapped, and then they swallowed up those monsters in an instant. If anything, it seemed like something people would fear me for, not celebrate. The old me, certainly, would have had nightmares after seeing something like that.

“Ever since, whenever he sees someone dressed even somewhat similar to the Silent Assassin he blows his top and tries to pick fights with ’em… He’s a dunderhead, so he never once considered the possibility that his idol would come here.”

What the hell? How does someone even get like that? I was at a loss for words. I mean, to be fair, an assassin shouldn’t go walking around in broad daylight for all to see, but that didn’t mean Raúl should try to beat up everyone dressed in all black. That sounded like the sort of fan I wanted nothing to do with.

“Er… Can you really call yourself a fan if you want to beat up everyone else who dresses like me?” I asked, as he hung his head in shame.

“Well, ’cause they were tryin’ to act like you and stuff, and it pissed me off,” he grumbled. “I know it was wrong.”

I was beginning to feel like an interrogator. I genuinely couldn’t say if this man had a flawed way of thinking or he just didn’t think things through. In any event, I’d learned from his interactions with Kerria that he wasn’t the sort of person who learned his lesson from sternly worded lectures.

“Well, just make sure it doesn’t happen again. And lift that head up already.”

“Yessir!” he replied happily, lifting his head as instructed. His eyes were twinkling like a dog awaiting a treat.

 

POV: LIA LAGOON

 

“SHEESH, so much for giving them a guided tour of the city…” I muttered.

I was a little miffed that the three people (and a cat) walking behind us had disappeared without me noticing—and while I didn’t know when exactly they’d left, I assumed it was probably a good while ago. I was a failure as a tour guide.

“Did you notice they were gone, Lord Crow?”

“Of course I did. Who do you think I am?” he responded as though it were the dumbest question in the world, and for the first time, I was angry with him.

I puffed out my cheeks and glared. “Then why didn’t you stop them or tell me?!”

“You’re the guide here, not me. It’s your fault for getting too caught up in our conversation… On another note, could you stop calling me ‘Lord Crow’?”

Sudden topic change aside, I couldn’t help but be confused. I didn’t see anything wrong with the honorific. Crow, however, sighed at my reaction. I had called him simply “Crow” long ago, before I knew anything about him, but it felt almost sacrilegious to call a member of the legendary hero’s party by his first name alone.

Crow, perhaps reading my thoughts, narrowed his eyes and looked down at me. “Tell me: What kind of relationship do we have, you and I?”

“Uhhh… Well, you gave me my name, so I guess you’re like my godfather, and that makes me your godchild?”

I learned at a young age it hadn’t been my parents who named me, but Lord Crow. I didn’t know why he’d chosen the name he did, other than that it was part of the name of someone he respected. To this day, I still didn’t know who that was. I didn’t realize what an honor it was to be named by him until I was older.

“In what universe does a godchild call their godparent ‘Lord’?” he teased.

“This one, apparently,” I mumbled, and he stared daggers at me. I remembered him glaring at me like this many times in the past—the only difference now was that I was taller and his glare was closer, so his frustration was all the more palpable. I wondered why I never felt afraid of these eyes as a child. I stared long into his unfathomably deep blue eyes, but Crow quickly got embarrassed and looked away.

“Whatever. Let’s get out of here, shall we? Feels pretty awkward being here.”

I looked around, and my cheeks went bright red. We were standing in one of the most popular make-out spots in the city (which I had originally included in the tour after receiving confirmation from Lady Amelia yesterday that she and Akira were indeed in love). The entire area was filled with couples unashamed to be—and maybe even enjoying—making out in public. “Awkward” did not even begin to describe it.

“M-my apologies! Let’s head somewhere else, right away!”

I grabbed Lord Crow by the hand and dashed away from the make-out spot. After running to the next street over, I finally stopped to catch my breath.

“Pff… Pfft… Ha ha ha!”

Before I could even do that, I heard Lord Crow cackling uncontrollably behind me. This man, who almost never cracked a smile, was now clutching his sides and doing everything he could to hold in his laughter.

“L-Lord Crow?!”

Were it anyone else, I would have been cracking up right alongside them, but Lord Crow was different. Even during festivals and other times of merriment, when everyone and their mother was laughing nonstop, this man had always remained stone-faced, never even flinching. Had he come down with something, or what?

“You really are funny, you know that?” he said with a smile before placing a hand on my head. I looked up (he was still a fair bit taller than me, after all) at what could very well have been the first true smile I’d ever seen on his face. As he ruffled my hair, I froze. I could feel a flush coming over me, the likes of which I’d never felt before.

“Wha… No, I… Huh?”

I wanted to ask what the heck he was doing, but the words caught in my throat, and only confused little fragments leaked out from my incredulous mouth. I still couldn’t believe Lord Crow was single—he’d been a bachelor his whole life. It wasn’t like he was unattractive. If it weren’t for the sour look on his face all the time, he could have at least had a wife or two over the years. It was an incredible thing to see a man like that smiling and enjoying the company of a member of the opposite sex.

“Hello? You all right down there?” he asked.

Snapping back to my senses, I found Lord Crow with his usual blank expression back in place and his hand already back down by his side. I bobbed my head to assure him I was fine, and he accepted the gesture before walking off. I trotted along after him, wondering if I’d dreamed that little interaction. Then I caught the slightest hint of a smile on Lord Crow’s lips.

“It wasn’t a dream…” I whispered.

“You say something?” Lord Crow asked, looking down at me.

“No, nothing at all!” I shook my head profusely. “Er, anyway, where are we going?”

He was walking with purpose as opposed to just traipsing around the city to kill time, and even though this was the city I called home, it was designed like a labyrinth, so I couldn’t guess where we might be headed.

“I’ll tell you when we get there.”

“But then we’ll already be there! What’s the point of telling me after I already know?!”

Lord Crow did not acknowledge my extremely compelling argument.

 

Right, left, right, right… We’d taken so many turns, I was having trouble keeping track. All I knew was that Lord Crow had taken us far away from the main drag. At first, I’d been trying to guess where we might be headed, but we were walking on streets I’d never seen before in my entire life, so I’d thrown my hands up in defeat. The city was much too convoluted for even its residents to get a handle on. The street we were on right now was so remote and gloomy, I wasn’t even sure what part of the city we were in. All I knew was that my feet hurt like crazy from all the walking.

“How much longer until we get there?” I asked for the umpteenth time. Lord Crow’s unrelenting pace told me we weren’t lost, but I felt a little uneasy walking around unfamiliar territory.

“Should only be a few more minutes… Why? Your poor little legs about to give out ’cause you’ve gotten too used to the pampered princess lifestyle?”

I knew he was trying to get a rise out of me, but I frowned nonetheless. “My legs are just fine, thank you very much! Look, it’s not my fault I’m nervous when you refuse to tell me where the heck we’re even going!”

“Oh, do you get nervous walking through unfamiliar places now? You never used to be like that. You used to follow me around like a little puppy wherever I went.”

I wasn’t sure what point in time he was referring to. I certainly didn’t remember ever doing such a thing, though it was certainly possible.

“What, did you forget all those times your mother asked us to run errands in the next town over? I’d always take you the most roundabout ways off the beaten path, but you never seemed to notice or care.”

I did remember something along those lines. That was around the time Lord Crow had started playing tricks on me, and being a gullible little kid, I would take every word at face value. For decades, I kept using those paths, totally convinced they were shortcuts and not the exact opposite. Granted, it kept me in good shape, so I wasn’t too mad about it, aside from being disappointed in myself for being so easily fooled. Thinking back on it, I should’ve realized a lot sooner that there was no need to cross over two mountains just to get into town. Our village wasn’t that remote.

“That’s different! I’m not the same person I was back then!” I cried.

“I certainly hope not,” he teased.

His mocking tone ticked me off. Why was he incapable of having a normal conversation with me? “You really don’t get it, do you?! God, why do you always have to treat me like such a kid?! And why do you still suck at even the most basic of small talk?!”

He really hadn’t changed—it was almost like the man from my childhood was frozen in time. We beastfolk didn’t show our ages, so at least it made sense that he looked the same.

“I still treat you like a kid because you are still a kid,” he replied. “And I don’t know what you mean by ‘still.’ I’ve never felt the need to partake in small talk—not now, not ever.”

“Grr! I’m a grown woman, for your information! See, this is why you’ve been single your whole life! And you have such a handsome face too! Ugh, what a waste…”

Why did he seem so determined to remain alone? Wasn’t it hard living by himself? Didn’t he ever get sad or lonely? I could see how one who’d never known how good it feels to live alongside others might be able to get by without ever getting lonely, but I wasn’t like that, and I didn’t want that for Lord Crow. When everyone in the village died, and Lord Crow left me behind, it felt like there was a gaping hole in my heart. That was what being alone felt like—losing the ones you cared about most deeply. Sometimes, that gaping hole would ache all over again, suddenly and without warning. It was unbearable. It was suffocating. Admittedly, I lived in the palace surrounded by tons of people at all times now, so I didn’t really get lonely anymore, but Lord Crow was different. And it didn’t seem like he wanted to be alone. So why was he?

I asked him, and he simply gave me a self-deprecating grin. “I don’t need anyone else…’cause I have no intention of ever being happy again.”

“Wha…”

A single syllable fell out of my mouth as my eyes widened in horror.

“The moment I decided to dedicate my life to avenging my sister, I lost the ability to even think about my own happiness, and now I’ve even roped in an innocent kid to do my dirty work for me. Think it’s pretty safe to say I’m going to hell.”

I knew a little about his search for revenge—he’d told me about it back when we still lived in the village. How his dear little sister had been slain by one of our own during the Nightmare of Adorea calamity. He never told me who the perpetrator was, but whenever he talked about it, he got an intense look of rage and sorrow in his eyes. I’d forgotten an awful lot about my time with him back then, but that one image had stuck with me throughout the years.

But what did he mean about making an “innocent kid” do his dirty work? Was he planning to have someone else avenge her for him? Something told me Lord Crow wouldn’t feel satisfied unless he got revenge himself. Besides, who could this “kid” even be? I had no clue. Well, not like wondering’s gonna get me anywhere. Maybe I should just come right out and ask.

“Um, Lord Crow…?”

“What is it? We’re here,” he said, looking down at me without a hint of the pained expression he’d worn a moment ago. This startled me so much, I decided not to ask what I’d been planning and instead turned to see where he’d brought me.

“Whoa!”

It was like someone had rolled out the red carpet for us—the entire area was overgrown with deep red flowers I’d never seen before. Their vibrant crimson hue was almost foreboding, but they were beautiful nonetheless.

“We saw some of these growing along the road on the way here too. I didn’t recognize them, but Akira sure did. Said there’s a type of flower back in his world that looked exactly like ’em. They’re called ‘higanbana’ or ‘red spider lilies.’”

The flowers grew in massive clusters, their petals reaching up like long, thin fingers to the heavens. I reached out to touch one, but Lord Crow stopped me.

“They’re poisonous, so I wouldn’t recommend it. Maybe if we knew what part of the flower the poison was stored in, but Akira forgot. Not that I blame him. Hell, I was surprised a guy like him even knew the name of a flower.”

“Really? How can something this beautiful be poisonous?”

As much as I wanted to pluck one, perhaps it would be a good idea to heed his warning and enjoy them from afar. They were more beautiful in large groups like this than alone in a vase anyhow.

“The ‘higan’ in higanbana apparently refers to a place called nirvana—their name for the place we go after death. You could say they’re the flowers of the afterlife. Though even Akira didn’t know exactly why they were named that.”

“Nirvana, huh… They’re so beautiful, though. Why associate them with death?”

Was there really no better name? What an unfortunate flower—first it was unlucky enough to be poisonous, then it got a morbid name. I couldn’t help but feel bad for the poor flowers as I watched them sway in the wind.

“Well, they are pretty nice-looking, at least,” said Lord Crow.

“Yeah. Why did you bring me here?”

I turned to look up at Lord Crow as he stared at the flowers.

He furrowed his brow and inclined his head as though he felt a little awkward. “Why? I was just walking around town yesterday and happened upon these, and I felt like showing them to someone… That’s the only reason. No ulterior motives.”

This did not seem like the sort of thing he would do purely by chance at all. To be fair, he had liked pretty flowers for as long as I’d known him. Those light-pink flowers that floated on lakes, those purple flowers whose petals fell from the sky like rain… He would always find places with flowers like that, then show them

to me and me alone. I was sure I’d never forget the sight for the rest of my life. After living in the palace for so long, I’d almost forgotten just how beautiful flowers could be.

“You probably won’t be able to memorize the way to get here, though, so don’t try to come back here on your own,” said Lord Crow, worried despite his tough façade.

“Then I guess I’ll just have to drag you into coming along, won’t I? Looks like we just added yet another secret spot to our repertoire,” I joked.

“Wow, you actually remember those old trips?” Crow responded, gazing down at the red spider lilies with the slightest, almost imperceptible hint of a smile.

 

POV: ODA AKIRA

 

“PLEASE, you have to let me be your apprentice!”

“Absolutely not.”

The lionman pleaded with twinkling eyes and a tail wagging fast enough to serve as a boat rudder. He looked like a puppy begging for a treat. How had I gotten myself into this situation? One minute he was on the floor begging for my forgiveness, and now he was imploring me to take him on as my pupil.

“Why not?!”

“Because I don’t take apprentices, I don’t have the skills to teach someone, and I don’t know the first thing about you.”

With this, Kerria swooped in to speak on Raúl’s behalf. What was with these people? I would have appreciated it if Amelia

would stop laughing and help me out of this pickle. And I was going to give Night (who was still struggling to suppress his own laughter) a piece of my mind when we got back to our hotel room.

After the lionman had first fallen to his knees before me, the rest of the adventurers still in the Guild had left (probably in fear of Amelia), and we’d sat down in their empty seats. I had hoped to leave right after them, as we had no business at the Guild and I didn’t want to run into Gram, but before we made it to the door, Raúl, Kerria, and the shifty-eyed Mamoru blocked our path and forcibly treated us to tea by way of apology. Only, instead of tea cakes, we were treated to stories about Raúl and Kerria. I’d been certain they were lovers, but they were actually just childhood friends.

“Raúl and I have been inseparable ever since we were born. As you can see, my legs don’t work, so he’s been helping with the heavy lifting my whole life. He’s also a huge worrywart, so he always hangs out at the Guild with me whenever he doesn’t have any business to take care of.”

“Bwuh?! I don’t come here for you! It’s my duty as a silver-rank adventurer to be here on call!”

“Yeah, yeah. So he says, while also being single-handedly responsible for stopping any and all bar fights and scaring any adventurer who says a single bad thing about me out of town.”

“That’s just a coincidence! Honest!”

The two of them began bickering again despite having been warned about it by the assistant guildmaster. They were obviously very close, so much so that I couldn’t have been the only one to mistake them for a couple. Kerria had been born without the ability to walk, and after her parents died when she was young, Raúl stepped in. Maybe it was my own prejudices talking, but he didn’t strike me as the type to go out of his way to help others. If anything, he seemed like the type to always need motherly guidance.

“Raúl’s a pretty good cook too—better than your average chef, I’d say. And he does all the chores and everything. Bet you didn’t expect that, huh?” Kerria told Amelia, almost as if she was bragging.

“No, I can’t say I did. Wouldn’t have expected that at all. Not. At. All,” Amelia replied.

“All right, that’s enough! You don’t have to be so rude about it!” growled the lion in question, and Kerria went pale, apparently worried about how Amelia would take the outburst.

Over the course of our discussion, Raúl’s internal hierarchy had become clear: I was the strongest person out there, followed by gold-rank adventurers, then himself and all the other silver-rank adventurers, then below that was where Amelia and everyone else fit in. Which struck me as kind of funny, given that Amelia was a silver-rank adventurer just like him. I wondered what his metrics were. Was it just because Amelia didn’t look particularly strong? Because if anything, an argument could be made that she was stronger than me, considering she had a limitless supply of mana and a far greater depth of experience in battle and in this world. I had waltzed into this world not long ago and wasn’t even using my skills the way they were intended. But Amelia didn’t seem too offended by Raúl’s remarks, so I didn’t make a big deal out of it.

“Cooking, huh? What’s your specialty?” I asked.

“Well, uh… I can make a pretty mean stew out of general boar meat and potatoes. Sometimes I’ll throw in a few carrots for good measure,” he replied, scratching his cheek in embarrassment.

The difference between the way he talked to me and the way he talked to Amelia was night and day. I found myself wondering if the dish he described would taste anything like Japanese-style stewed meat and potatoes. At my house, we always threw carrots into the stew too, not to mention konjac, burdock, and taro. And general boar wasn’t exactly the hardest monster to hunt either—any half-decent adventurer could take one down without too much trouble. They were stupid creatures that charged headfirst into you, so as long as you knew when to dodge out of the way, you were all set. Their meat was pretty tasty when grilled or roasted, though it was too close to beef for my tastes. There were also regular boars here that were a fair bit smaller than general boars, but they weren’t really good for meat and were instead hunted for their thick hides, which could fetch a decent price.

“So, whaddya say? If you agree to take Raúl on as your apprentice, you could come stay at our place and enjoy the high life with us!”

“Aha! I knew you were trying to wingman for me!”

And here I thought we’d changed the subject. This redheaded lion and his golden-haired cohort didn’t know how to take no for an answer.

“Sorry, but we’re on a bit of a journey, and we’ve got places to be. I can’t afford to stay in any one place for too long,” I told them.

“A journey, eh? And where is it you might be heading?”

Generally, an adventurer, despite the name, stuck to one or two towns, taking on requests from the local Guild branches. Guilds liked having strong and high-ranking adventurers on hand whenever a problem arose, so they tried to encourage people to settle in one place. However, I wasn’t an ordinary adventurer, and I wouldn’t have even registered with the Guild if it hadn’t been a requirement for entering the Great Labyrinth of Brute. I also had no intention of settling down in this world or having someplace to call “home.” My only home was back in my world with my mom and Yui, and as I’d already explained to Amelia and Night, nothing was going to change that.

“Let’s just say that if I told you where we’re headed, you’d probably laugh at me. That’s the kind of place our final destination is,” I said, attempting to gloss over things. Unless there was someone in this building who was itching for a war between the humans and beastfolk, I couldn’t just go running my mouth about this sort of thing. Not that I expected anyone to believe me even if I did lay it all out on the table. That yes, I was summoned here via the hero summoning ritual, but no, I didn’t really care about killing the Demon Lord. Surely this idiot who had taken it upon himself to develop vast delusions about me wouldn’t be able to wrap his head around my circumstances.

“Somewhere we’d laugh at you for trying to go, eh? Any ideas, Kerria?”

“Nope, I got nothin’.”

As the two of them attempted to puzzle it out, I downed the last of my tea and stood up. “I think it’s about time we joined back up with our friends. Raúl and Kerria, it was nice to meet you.”

We needed to find Crow and Lia, who’d probably lost track of time. Our hosts looked sad to see us leave, but their expressions brightened a bit when I said we’d still be in town for a few days. Now even Kerria was making the puppy-dog eyes at me.

“The tea was delicious, thank you,” said Amelia, rising from her seat as well.

“Could you wait just one moment, please?” said an unfamiliar voice from the inner part of the building, just as I placed my hand on the doorknob.

It wasn’t Mamoru or any of the other Guild employees. Amelia and I both turned to see a slightly chubby man standing at the opposite end of the room. He hadn’t come in through the front door, so he was Guild personnel…but his presence was rather ominous. That impression wasn’t helped as the other Guild workers’ faces turned grim the moment he appeared. Or the fact that he was blatantly undressing Amelia with his eyes.

“Miss Amelia Rosequartz, I take it?” the man asked with a devious grin. “Gram Cluster, owner and operator of the Uruk Adventurer’s Guild. There’s something I’d like to discuss with you in private. Would you be a dear and come speak with me in my office?”

I scowled. Here he was—Gram, in the flesh. The man who led demons into the Great Labyrinth of Brute so they could kidnap Amelia, who wanted to chop her up and sell her organs on the black market for winning the pageant, and who had killed Crow’s little sister. None of his attempts at Amelia had been successful, but there was no denying they’d caused us a serious amount of harm. Normally, this would be when I grabbed him by the collar and gave him a piece of my mind, but that didn’t seem to be a good idea. We needed an exit strategy; it would be nice to make it out of here without any trouble.

I could hear his greasy face smacking around as he spoke, but I was vehemently opposed to acknowledging this asshole’s existence, so I didn’t even deign to look his way. I stepped in front of Amelia to protect her from having to look at him and to keep his eyes off her.

“Oh? And who might you be? I was having a conversation with Miss Amelia, if you don’t mind,” said Gram.

Now his eyes were locked right on me. I got goosebumps; it was extremely rare for me to hate another person as much as I hated Gram. I’d never even hated any of my unintelligible or obnoxiously temperamental teachers this much.

When I refused to respond, Gram took a real look at me for the first time and, noticing my outfit, clapped his hands. “Oh, I see. You’re Miss Amelia’s escort, are you? Well, good work, sir. I will take her from here. Return to your homeland and rest easy.”

What was this guy going on about? I was kind of like her bodyguard, but I wasn’t gonna let the rest of that crap fly. He was speaking as if I’d fulfilled my duties and it was time to hand over the girl.

“Beg your pardon?” I said in a threatening voice so low that it even took me by surprise. Nearby, I could see Raúl and Kerria trembling in fright. Apparently, my malice was plain to see for all but Gram.

“What, have you not been paid yet? How much did the elven king offer you? I’ll pay you double that, so consider yourself relieved from duty. How did a lowly human like you even manage to get so close to Miss Amelia in the first place? Did you seduce her?”

This guy had a fairly low opinion of humans. There was nothing worse than a guy who truly believed all of the awful crap that came out of his mouth, and Raúl wasn’t about to sit back and listen to him insult me.

“Watch your mouth. That’s the Silent Assassin you’re talking to, not to mention a summoned hero. You might be the guildmaster here, but I won’t stand by and let you disrespect him like that,” he said, puffing out his chest as he stepped forward in my defense. I really wished he hadn’t done that.

Immediately, the look in Gram’s eyes changed. “So you’re a summoned hero, are you? Well, that’s awfully strange.”

“How so?” I asked, despite my better judgment.

“From what I’ve heard, the current party of summoned heroes has only ever left Retice Castle once, to do a trial run down in the Great Labyrinth of Kantinen, and they’ve been sequestered in the castle ever since. So how could the summoned hero himself be here right now? Finally felt like getting off your rear end and slaying the Demon Lord, did you?”

All of the previous heroes had contributed something to the development of this world. Some may not have slain the Demon Lord, but all of them at least did something to make the lives of its people better. Things like cameras, for example, which didn’t seem like they belonged in this world, had been introduced by heroes. But our party of heroes hadn’t really accomplished anything since being summoned here, with most of my classmates refusing to fight and remaining cooped up in the castle. Most people probably thought we were no-good, lazy deadbeats—and they were probably right. All we’d done in our time here, as far as they knew, was learn how to fight and take a trip to a labyrinth, but the truth was that the average citizen had no idea how unreasonable their expectations of the summoned heroes were. We’d been summoned here from a world at peace, most of us never having even been in a fistfight before, yet they thought that as heroes, we owed it to them to do something to improve their lives, not realizing how selfish that mindset was or that we hadn’t come here by choice.

“I may have come here via the hero summoning ritual, but I’m not your hero. And we have no intention of slaying the Demon Lord,” I said at last.

“I see, so you’re not the hero. But what’s this nonsense about not wanting to slay the Demon Lord? That is the job of a summoned hero and his party. That is your purpose in this world, and that is how it has always been.”

Why did the people of this world always try to foist their problems onto someone else? If they were genuinely in dire straits and got on their knees begging for our assistance, that would be one thing, but from what I could tell, the king of Retice had no intention of ever trying to help us slay the Demon Lord. Unfortunately for him, we weren’t simply puppets who took orders and carried them out without question. We had our own emotions and misgivings about killing other people without any real justification. And so he’d used his daughter to try to place a curse on us all. I still remembered the curse I overheard her placing over the main hero: “May the hero ever embody his title, both in words and in deeds…” In other words, they just wanted us to be the idealized heroes the people of this world expected us to be. And I wasn’t here for that.

“I don’t give a damn what you think my ‘purpose’ here is. We were dragged here against our will from a world where people actually know how to get along for the most part. How ’bout you guys try solving your own problems for a change? Don’t expect people from another world to always be there to do your dirty work.”

I had no intention of being a good Samaritan like the summoned heroes of old. Maybe my classmates would, through no will of their own, be the heroes everyone wanted them to be since they were still under the curse, but I wasn’t the type to do something purely out of the goodness of my heart. I didn’t work without compensation unless it was something I genuinely wanted to do. I didn’t take orders from anyone.

Gram raised an eyebrow, then brought his face close to mine. I took a single step back as he whispered quietly to me so no one else would hear. “Then I take it you have no intention of granting the dying wish of the foolish oaf who sacrificed himself just so you could escape the castle? Would you like to know what his last words were? I could tell you. He mentioned an ‘Akira’—that’s your name, I take it?” he asked, and my blood began to boil. “Oh, his final moments were so entertaining to watch, let me tell you. I’m so glad I decided to equip the Night Ravens with body cameras.”

“So you did murder Commander Saran…”

I hadn’t been there for the commander’s final moments. Obviously, I wanted to know what his last words were, but more than anything, I was just glad to finally know for certain who had killed him.

“Well, do you want to know or not? If you’d just come along with Miss Amelia, I’d be happy to tell you all about it.”

But I simply laughed and shook my head. “You just made a huge mistake in telling me that, my friend.” This time, it was me who put my face close to his. “If I were you, I’d sleep with one eye open tonight.”

Finally, I’d found him. The man I was meant to kill. The one I had to assassinate.

“Oh, I’m sorry you feel that way,” said Gram, “but I’m afraid you won’t be leaving here alive.”

The moment Gram finished speaking, he snapped his fingers, and three men garbed in all black appeared as if from nowhere. Their eyes were lifeless, and I knew immediately they were under the influence of Gram’s boosters. The only other people left in the Guild building aside from me and Amelia were Night, Raúl, and Kerria; Mamoru and the other employees had long since fled the scene. That was fine by me, since it meant I could fight without worrying about accidental casualties. But just as I was starting to plan out my first move, Kerria wheeled herself forward until she was sitting right in front of Gram.

“Guildmaster, what is the meaning of this?! This man is an adventurer! You can’t just—”

Gram cut her off. “How impudent for a commoner like you—and a human, no less—to address a member of the royal family such as I. Kill her along with the other human cur. It’s time for me to collect what is rightfully mine.”

With that, one of the men in black sent Kerria flying across the room, wheelchair and all. Her head hit the wall with a loud crack, and she fell to the floor in a heap. Blood poured from her forehead; if she didn’t receive treatment, and fast, she might die. All the man had done was take a single swing at her with his fist, and it was enough to send her careening into the wall. These drugged-up mercenaries were not to be underestimated.

“Kerria! You bastard!” screamed Raúl as he lunged at the mercenary responsible.

I could only watch out of the corner of my eye, since I had the other two mercenaries to worry about, but I could immediately see why he was called “Raúl the Whirlwind.” His movements were fast and tempestuous, without even a moment’s hesitation.

“You take care of Kerria while I deal with these guys!” I yelled, catching one of their fists and grasping it tightly in my hand.

“You got it!” he cried back.

“Get down on the ground!” shouted Amelia as I wrapped my other arm around her. With her Gravity Magic, she wouldn’t have too much trouble taking care of the other two mercenaries, but I was worried about Raúl, who was slowed down by the fact that he was carrying Kerria’s unconscious body under one arm.

“Night! We can handle these two—you go help Raúl! Just don’t kill ’em.”

“On it,” said Night, hopping down from my shoulders. He used Shapeshifter to turn into the cheetah form he’d used down in the Great Labyrinth of Brute and raced over to Raúl’s aid.

“That girl is my property, and you will return her to me right this instant!” demanded Gram, reaching out his hand as he walked over to us.

Something snapped inside me, and I slapped his hand away with a disgusted grimace. “Amelia doesn’t belong to you! She’s mine, so keep your grubby hands off her!” I screamed, tightening my grip on the mercenary’s fist. “Shadow Magic, activate!”

Our shadows combined at our fists. I took control and sent them wriggling and writhing across the floor.

“Make an escape route for us, boys!” I commanded, and the shadows quickly gobbled up the heavy door blocking the entrance to the Adventurer’s Guild. “Night, Amelia! Time to blow this joint!”

“Got it!”

“Right behind you!”

Amelia used her Gravity Magic to force Gram and the three men in black to their knees, as Night (still in cheetah form) sprinted over with Raúl and Kerria on his back before leaping out of the gaping hole where the door had once stood.

“Damn you! Don’t let them escape! What are you three doing?! Get up, you imbeciles! Hurry up and go after them!”

With Gram screaming at us to no avail, Amelia and I took our leave of the Adventurer’s Guild. I was expecting to be surrounded again once we made it outside, but there were no other men in black in sight. The only people around were a few adventurers and rubberneckers who’d heard the commotion and had come to see what was up. Night was long gone, and since I didn’t remember how we’d gotten here, I had no clue which way to go.

“Hey, Mister! Up here!”

Recognizing Latticenail’s voice, I looked up to find she was flying through the sky, holding on to what looked like a giant white wing. She swooped down and reached out a hand down to pick us up.

“Amelia!” I yelled.

“Ready!” she replied.

Clasping Amelia’s hand tightly in mine, I kicked off the ground and grabbed hold of Latticenail’s hand, and the two of us were pulled up into the sky.

“Man, flying sure is fun, don’tcha think?” said Latticenail, who wasn’t struggling at all to support the extra weight. “Good thing those doped-up mercenaries can’t fly too, am I right?”

“Thanks, Latticenail. You really helped us out of a bind there,” I said, noticing the cuts and scrapes all across her body. I assumed Gram had had the entire building surrounded, and she had picked up on this before we’d even set foot into the Guild. Hence why she had opted to remain outside—it seemed she’d taken care of all of them single-handedly.

“Nah, don’t mention it! I like you guys, and I’d feel awful if you were to die on my watch!” she said proudly. She really had saved our bacon. If we’d tried to escape on foot, they probably would have caught up to us sooner or later.

We rose higher and higher into the sky until we could see the entirety of Uruk spread out below us.

“It’s so pretty…” Amelia breathed.

Boats were making their way gently down the canals, and all the people walking down the streets were reduced to the size of ants. The waters for which the city was known shimmered like precious gems.

“Yeah, it is,” I whispered, not even knowing that at that very moment, in another corner of the city, Crow and Lia were looking straight up at us.