Volume 1 - CH 3.3

There wasn’t anything noteworthy on the second floor, so Hikaru went back down to the first. As soon as he did, he heard the sound of people arguing.

“This is not the time to be doing that. It’s inappropriate.”

“Oh, loosen up, East.”

The voices were coming from the direction of the back door. The knight who entered the girl’s room spotted the other knight with the maid as they returned from outside.

“We aren’t done with our job.”

“We’ll be heading back after this. I was just saying my goodbyes.”

“Do that when we’re off-duty, then.”

“All right, fine. You can have all the credit for this bodyguard mission.”

“What does that have to do with anything? I’m just saying—”

Not caring less about their arguing, Hikaru explored the first floor. Several servants woken up by the ruckus were coming in his direction. He waited in a corner. As soon as they passed him, Hikaru made his way deeper into the manor.

Not this one. This looks like a servants’ room… Hmm?

Hikaru spotted a set of stairs at the end of the hall that led down to the basement. Beside it was a knight—the one at the temple with East—sitting in a chair. Asleep.

Now’s my chance.

A bunch of keys were dangling from the knight’s waist. A leather strap tied to a metal ring that held five keys together. Hikaru drew closer and tried to untie the strap.

What the… it’s too tight. I can’t untie it. Where’s it even connected to?

The strap went through the knight’s pants.

He felt hopeless.

Do I have to shove my hand in there? No, wait. Maybe the door is not even locked.

Clinging to a slim chance, Hikaru went down the stairs and found an iron door. It was locked, of course.

Okay, how do I take the key? Pull it by force? Nah, that’ll wake him up. Cut the strap, then? Not a bad idea. Although, if I failed to save the girl tonight, security would be tightened even more. I could copy the shape of the keys with some clay. How long would it take to make a duplicate in this world? There’s five keys too. If I asked someone to duplicate them all at once, would they assume I was up to no good?

“Hey, wake up. What are you doing, sleeping on the job?”

The knight arguing with East woke up the sleeping knight. Hikaru quickly hid himself behind the stairs.

“Hmm? Oh, I fell asleep, huh? Please don’t tell East.”

“All right, all right. So, how’s the young lady doing? You should check up on her from time to time.”

“Right. I’ll do that right now.”

Sluggishly, the knight stood up and started walking toward Hikaru’s direction.

Shit… He turned pale as a sheet.

The stairwell turned left halfway, but it was a direct path with only a door at the end. It was only wide enough for one person at a time, and with no places to hide, he’d get busted.

What do I do?

Hikaru headed down the stairs, turned left and held his breath.

A knight yawned. “No action turns the body dull.”

“You should’ve come with me. Late night work-out with maids is fun, you know?”

“Please. I have a wife and kids.”

Slowly, they went down the stairs.

I screwed up. I shouldn’t have checked this dead-end. Damn it… No, now’s not the time for regret. I have to think of a way out of this.

A certain word sprang up in the back of Hikaru’s mind.

【Assassination】When the user attacks without the target noticing, the attack will have a lethal effect. Max: 3.

Anyone going down can’t see me in this blind spot. I can therefore “attack without the target noticing”.

Hikaru grasped his Dagger of Strength tightly.

I’ll kill the one in front first. Fortunately, they’re wearing plain clothes, not armor. He shouldn’t make much of a noise either. Then I’m gonna hide behind his body and pull it this way. The knight behind him will have no idea what happened and when he checks…

I’ll kill him as well.

His heart pounded in his chest. These were innocent men. But now he had to kill them because of his blunder.

“Man, the thought about our work in Pond ending soon…”

“What, you don’t want to leave?”

Doubt. Could he really do it?

Uncertainty. Would it go well?

Guilt. Could he really kill innocent people?

“No, you idiot. I feel relieved.”

“You can say that again.”

With sweaty palms, Hikaru gripped his dagger tight. Three more steps.

“Once we get back, let’s have a drink all night—”

Now.

“Sir Knight!”

The moment Hikaru jumped out, a woman’s voice resounded.

“What’s the meaning of this?! Lord East told me you hit on girls at taverns and stay with them overnight!”

“What?! Ah, I, uh… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Was Lord East lying?! Or you?!”

“W-Wait, wait. Hold on. Calm down now. Just put the knife down, okay?”

It was the maid from earlier. One knight climbed back up the stairs.

“Oh, brother… She found out about your two-timing?”

The other knight followed.

They’re gone…

Feeling every bit of strength leave his body, Hikaru sank down on the spot. He was drenched in sweat, breathing heavily.

I can’t afford to rest now. I’ll just end up in the same situation.

Whipping back his limp body into life, Hikaru climbed back up the stairs.

“I trusted you!”

“You’re the only one I love. It’s true!”

The knight and maid were arguing, the latter still holding the knife with both hands.

The other guy with the keys followed them, leaving one key on his chair before approaching the maid. He probably removed it from the bunch to open the door below.

That’s the key to the basement.

The knight stopped and watched the exchange between the maid and the womanizer with folded arms.

What now? What if there’s another door inside? Should I leave for now and come back another day? Damn it. Just go for it. This is a golden opportunity!

Hikaru jumped out from the stairwell, took the key, and rushed back down the stairs. He used the key, and pushed the iron door open. After checking to see if it could be locked from inside, he inserted a towel between the door and the wall so it wouldn’t close. He then went back up and returned the key on the chair.

“Stop swinging that knife around. It’s dangerous.”

“Hey, this is getting serious.”

“Waaaaaahhhh!”

It didn’t seem like the commotion would be dying down any time soon. Hikaru went back down, entered the basement, and locked the iron door behind him.

He heaved a deep sigh of relief. That was so close. He reflected on his carelessness and his lack of resolve.

There’s a chance I’ll have to kill innocent people in the future.

What do I do, then? Should I prepare myself to kill?

No. If I started killing people for no reason, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop. If someone annoyed me, I’d probably think “I can just kill this guy”. I’ll have to put in every bit of effort so that I won’t kill unnecessarily. Every bit of effort.

I would have to take every possibility into consideration beforehand and be as attentive as possible when I’m on the job.

All right. Here we go.

He switched gears.

I can reflect on things properly later. I’m in the middle of something right now.