n

n

n

n46 – Curses and Determination

nLeft in the training ground by myself, I activated my new skill『 World’s Eye 』 .

nThis skill is passive but apparently, that’s only for the effect of Mind’s Eye, the Enemy Search effect has to be activated .

nFor the time being, I activated the skill and looked for anyone trying to leave the royal castle .

nThen, a mental image like that of a certain radar showed up in my head, with what seems to be Ruiesu-san and her unit displayed as blue markers, and conversely, a red marker trying to leave the royal castle with great speed was caught on the radar .

nBack when it was just the Enemy Search skill1, it wasn’t this detailed, but it seems the skill now arbitrarily judges who can be considered an ally, and displays them as blue dots, and for existences judged as enemies to me, displays them as red dots .

nThanks to that, it seems I’ll be able to instantly determine who’s an enemy and who’s an ally . But, hm… Is it not possible to get more specific information? The skill description said it’d be able to grasp details, after all .

nThe moment I thought that, more in depth information about the red dot was displayed .

n【Origa・Carmellia】

nBirthplace: Kaiser Empire

nRace: Beastman

nGender: Female

nOccupation: Assassin

nAge: 8

nLevel: 455

nCurrent State: Subordination

nAlias: Twilight Assassin

nThree Sizes: ――――…

n“Oooooooout!”

nI unintentionally Tsukkomi’d the information given .

n(Note : Tsukkomi refers to a role in Japanese comedy duos, much like the western “Straight-man” . In this case, the main character plays the role of the straight man by reacting (somewhat critically) towards the information provided by the ability)

nThis skill doesn’t give a crap about privacy, does it?! Rather, joke aside, information surpassing “details” came out! More so, as far as her three sizes!

nOf course, I averted my eyes from the Three Sizes part and onward . My sense of morals prevented that . Good job, me .

nI can’t check her offensive ability, so does that mean you can only do that with a different skill? Well, even then the amount of information obtained is too great .

nThat aside, a bunch of data to Tsukkomi came out, huh .

nFirst of all, the fact that her birthplace is the Kaiser Empire . Isn’t that the place that summoned Shouta and the others?

nThe Kaiser Empire, are the ones that hated the demons so much they summoned the heroes to deal with them, so if you think about it like that, then this country’s king that wants to co-exist with demons became a hindrance… or something like that?

nMoreover, the assassin seems to be a female . On top of that, she’s a beastman, and she’s also considerably young . Considering that, the fact that she’s over level 400 is also weird .

nBut I turned my eyes to another bit of data even more worrisome than that information .

n“This state of subordination… What does it mean?”

nThat’s right, only that part, I couldn’t really understand .

nIs it that? A slave-like existence?

nSince I arrived in this world, I hadn’t seen a single slave so I thought they didn’t exist here but…

nIf this is actual slavery, then I’d be concerned about the well-being of Shouta and the others .

nBecause, like the hero in Abel’s diary, they might end up being used for all they are worth and then thrown away .

nAlso, the concept of slavery doesn’t sit well with me .

nOn Earth, there’s a saying “to be worked like a slave” but it doesn’t mean to actually be a slave .

nAlthough I thought that because the summoned heroes circulated technology, a level of technology close to that of Earth would be in the process of spreading, but as expected, if there’s stuff like slavery, you can only say that it’s still behind .

nBesides, to me who was born on Earth, no matter what, the word “slave” is unpleasant .

nWhile I was thinking about that, the assassin was heading in the direction of the training ground I’m at .

nAs I spontaneously turn my eyes to the entrance leading to the inside of the royal palace, a black shadow suddenly came rushing towards my direction .

nSeeing the shape of the shadow, I accidentally leak out my thoughts .

n“Hmm… You really do look like an assassin, huh . ”

n“-?!”

nThe black figure who jumped out wore a jet-black robe like me and had a small build . I couldn’t see her face though .

nThis black shadow should definitely be the assassin .

nWhen I calmly looked at the assassin, she looked in my direction, astonished .

n“…W-why… can you…?!”

n“Huh?”

nWhat’s she saying? Though the atmosphere seems like she wanted to say 『Why can you see me?!』 .

nAs I was tilting my head in confusion about the atmosphere, the robed girl pulled something out from her breast pocket and threw it at me .

n“-!”

n“Eh-?! Hold on?! You’re attacking all of the sudden!?”

nUgh, it’s turned into a bad situation .

nWell, other than aiming for this country’s king, she would probably also need to remove anyone who saw her .

nThat aside, it seems like my opponent threw two throwing-knives at me .

nThis is where I have no choice but to dodge it in a normal way, and on top of seriously holding back, incapacitate her, right… If I hit her seriously, she’d disappear from the face of the earth . Really, I can actually feel that I’ve quit being human…

nWhile gazing at the approaching knives, I was thinking about that, and—– .

n“-?!”

n“Eh?”

nMy body, like it did in the fight with Ruiesu-san, suddenly started moving .

nAnd so, my body moved to catch the two knives flying at me, one between my forefinger and middle finger, the other between my middle and ring finger, and in the same instant sent them flying back to their owner .

n“Wai-?!”

nI’ve fought and defeated demons, but right now I don’t have the resolve to involve myself in a fight to the death with humans or beastmen .

nEven though they are both living beings however no matter what, I can’t bring myself to think of demons and people as the same .

nI know it’s a really naive mindset but no matter what, it seems I can’t do it .

nThat’s why, I felt tremendous fear at my actions just now . When I was fighting Ruiesu-san, I had no idea what was going on, so it was a case where I didn’t even have time to feel afraid . But right now, it is different .

nMost likely, my skill 『Reflexive Defence 』activated, but because of that I’ll end up killing the assassin… or so I thought .

nBut, the Skill 『Reflexive Defence 』, was even better than I had imagined .

n“Ku…!”

nThe speed of the knives I threw back, while it wasn’t extremely fast, it wasn’t a speed you could dodge .

nThat’s why, I was sure they would pierce the assassin’s body, but… The knives I threw pierced her robe, lodging themselves into the castle walls .

nBecause of the speed and force of the knives, the assassin was pulled along with the robe and stuck to the wall . Normally, I think the thrown back knife would have just gone through the robe and that would be it, but having evolved, my body just went and easily pulled off a supernatural skill sealing the opponent’s movements . Is it really okay to be happy? About this .

nThen again, like its name implies, the skill did stop at just defending me, so I guess it’s okay, this time . Yeah .

nJust when I was trying to convince myself it’s okay, the assassin who was stuck to the wall immediately cast off the robe and slipped out of her entrapment .

n“Oo-!”

nAnd, seeing the true appearance of the assassin without her robe, I let out my voice unintentionally .

n“…”

nAs to why, it’s because the assassin just like me, had black hair . Furthermore, on her head was something that looked like cat ears, and from her lower back extended a tail of the same colour as her hair .

nThe assassin scowled at me, still with her guard up, so I took the chance to re-examine her .

nRaven-black short hair, and similar to a cat, she had golden pupils . She was cute, like someone would expect from someone her age . But, because she was glaring at me with narrowed eyes, her cuteness was cut by half .

nI’m thinking she’s probably a black cat beastman . She had black cat ears after all, and her tail was black too .

nAnd, the clothing that little girl was wearing, it was as if she was wearing a ninja costume, she was covered in jet-black clothes, and on her neck, was a collar-like thing of the same colour .

nI don’t know if the concept of ninjas exists in this world, but it’s for sure that her outfit was quite assassin-like .

nNo… Still, for there to be the same black hair as me, I felt amazingly relieved . Though I did get attacked .

nBecause thanks to her, I realized that there was no need to be that conscious of having black hair .

nAs I was feeling satisfied about being able to coincidentally confirm that truth, the assassin suddenly jumped at me with surprising speed . What’s more, she had a knife in her grasp .

n“――――!”

n“Attacking again?! Let’s calm down a little, yeah?!”

nWhat kind of horror film is this, for such a cute child to be trying to kill me with a knife .

nWhile grandly clicking my tongue internally, it was the second I put all my strength into my legs to avoid her attack .

nOnce again, my body began to move without permission .

n“Wai-! Stop!”

nMy body’s been completely taken over by the skill, huh .

nWhile I was unable to even restrain my body, my left hand caught the incoming knife between my fingers, and my right hand lightly poked her forehead .

n“—–!!??”

nWith just that, the assassin girl’s eyes rolled into her head, and she fainted on the spot .

n“Oops-”

nI caught her before she could fall to the ground .

nHahaha… . . It seriously only takes a light poke to make an opponent faint? I see . It’s definitely not that these streams of liquid flowing down my cheeks are tears or anything like that .

nWhile thinking of such stupid things, I once again checked the face of the unconscious assassin in my arms .

n…Hmm . While she’s sleeping like this, she really does look like an ordinary child, huh .

nI shuddered unconsciously at the thought that this was a world where it was normal for children to go around killing people with knives .

nUntil now, I didn’t even think about paying attention to such things, but now I felt the terrors of this other world once again .

nI can’t really say this after having defeated demons, but even so, it feels like I might’ve started thinking that taking a life is a natural thing, and that scares me .

nThis, even more so than the ridiculous status I’ve obtained, scares me the most .

nI want to defeat my opponent because of the reason that they attacked me – the fact that I have ended up with this kind of logic is already abnormal, is what I realized at this late hour .

nBut in this world, that’s natural, otherwise you can’t survive .

nI’m not on… . . Earth anymore .

nEven though I understand this in my mind, it seems it’s still difficult for me to understand this in my heart .

nI relaxed my stiff shoulders and let out a sigh .

nBy doing so, I let out all the pent-up tension in my body, and once again I felt hurried presences approaching me from within the castle .

nMoving my line of sight to that direction, I saw Ruiesu-san and the rest of the Valkyries coming over to the training ground, all of them with grim expressions .

nWhen Ruiesu-san confirmed that it was me, she rushed over to my side .

n“Shishou . I’m very sorry for the sudden situation, but could I ask you to go home for now?”

n…Looks like it’s decided that I’ll be called Shishou .

n“Yes, I don’t really mind . …Ah, Ruiesu-san . ”

n“Please call me Ruiesu . No need for politeness either . ”

nI lost to Ruiesu-san’s “won’t take no for an answer” attitude, and decided to just go along with what she said .

n“Aー…Okay . Then, Ruiesu . I think I caught the criminal who attacked the King, but…”

n“… . . Come again?”

nRuiesu paused for a good while to let my words sink in, and then asked so .

nWell, I guess that’s normal . I mean, anyone would be surprised if I suddenly said that I’ve caught the criminal aiming for the King’s life .

nWhile of thinking of such things, I showed them the assassin girl that I was holding in my arms .

n“Here, it’s this girl . It’s because she rushed out from the castle and then attacked me, you see…”

n…Huh? I wonder why . The way I said it really made it sound like an excuse .

nHowever, not minding me, Ruiesu looked at the assassin girl in my arms, and her eyes shot wide open in surprise .

nAnd so, for a while, Ruiesu looked at the girl, as if she was studying her . In that moment, I felt like I saw her eyes shine for a moment .

nDuring that moment, as Ruiesu observed the female assassin, I remembered .

nThat was from before I came to this world, back in the classroom where Ouki used his skill 『Analyse』to check my status without permission, the feeling was exactly the same as that time .

nIn the instant when Ruiesu’s eyes lit up, my skill 『Clairvoyance』activated as well, and showed me the skill that Ruiesu used .

nIt seems like she’s checking the assassin girl’s status and such . Wait, I thought Ruiesu couldn’t use skills? Or perhaps that’s limited to offensive skills? Either way, her slash attacks were already abnormal enough without skills!

n“This child is… Lorna . ”

n“Yes! What is it?”

nWith a grim expression on her face, Ruiesu called the nearby Lorna .

n“Her interrogation, I’ll leave it to you . ”

n“Understood!”

nLorna-san was told, and I handed the assassin girl to her .

nCarrying the girl, she left to go somewhere .

nEven so… Interrogation? Is it alright to leave such a task to Lorna-san?

nWhile thinking very rude things, I tilted my head, Claudia-san then approached me .

n“It’ll be alright if you leave it to Lorna . She won’t do anything bad to that girl . ”

n“No, I’m not particularly concerned about that… Is it really alright to leave the interrogation to Lorna-san? Ah, no, it’s not that I don’t trust her or anything but…”

nTo me unintentionally ending up saying stuff that sounds like excuses, Claudia-san smiled wryly .

n“Hahaha . I get what you’re trying to say . But, she’s the best interrogator in this country . ”

n“Really?!”

n“What’s more, she’s completely mastered the advanced levels of the『** Course』taught by the Guild’s Miss Eris . ”

n(Reminder, that’s the Sadistic guild receptionist . Not the cheat receptionist though ;3)

n“Eris-san’s name makes an appearance here?!”

nThere were people who were willing to take such a ridiculous course?! And what’s more, isn’t it super pointless to perfect even the advanced classes?!

nIs it possible that, there might even be people who took Gassur’s course to learn how to efficiently build muscles? …This is bad, I can’t deny the possibility .

nI shuddered at the thought that the courses I thought there was no demand for, were actually flourishing in unexpected places .

n“Aside from that, Seiichi-kun . I’m sorry about this, but we’re going need you to leave for today . ”

n“Ruiesu said that too . ”

n“Yes . Sorry, Shishou . Even though we were the ones who invited you here…”

n“No, that’s not really a problem but… Is the king okay?”

nThe expressions of the two turned grim when I asked them that .

n“…Because of the recovery magic from the soldiers of the magic division, he narrowly managed to escape death . However…”

n“?”

nI tilted my head in confusion when Ruiesu didn’t continue, and Claudia-san took over .

n“…His Majesty has not awoken . ”

n“Eh?”

nHe hasn’t awoken? Ruiesu just said he managed to escape due to recovery magic though… Is it a problem with his body?

nOr so I guessed, but I was wrong .

n“Seiichi-kun, since you already know the King has been attacked, I’ll tell you but… about this situation, can you keep it a secret?”

n“Ye-yeah . I never intended to tell anyone from the start though…”

n“Then, I’ll tell you . His majesty was attacked by that assassin but… It seems like she was using a weapon called a 『Cursed Tool』”

n“Cursed tool?”

nWhen I tilted my head at the unfamiliar term, Ruiesu explained it to me .

n“Shishou . Cursed tools are, as their name implies, tools or weapons possessed by evil spirits or a curse, that bring harm to people . Among the different types of possessed tools, there are even ones that can easily kill their user or other people… But in this case, it seems a knife with a curse called『Eternal Slumber』was used . ”

n“Eternal slumber…”

nCurses, eh… That reminds me, Al had the curse 『Person Who is Burdened With Disaster』and had her luck status become negative .

nAnd, according to Al, there was no way to remove the curse .

nIn other words ——

n“…His Majesty is likely to never open his eyes again . ”

n“…”

nClaudia said, with a voice that sounded like she’d crushed various emotions .

n“…The only saving grace is that the crown prince His Highness Robert, second prince His Highness Gionis, and first princess Her Highness Lattice-sama, were not targeted because they were at school . ”

nEven though Claudia-san said that, I could see that she hardly considered it a blessing with that dark look on her face .

nRuiesu too, looked really depressed, maybe because of her inability to protect the King .

n…Is there anything I can do for them…?

nThis isn’t a problem about whether I should stand out or not or things like that .

nI genuinely think this country is amazing after all, and despite my short time here I’ve really come to love it .

nI don’t know whether the current King is governing well, or if it was the previous King’s work .

nBut to me, this country full of smiles looked very bright .

nAnd yet, Claudia-san and Ruiesu both have such miserable looks on their faces .

nThough the atmosphere was pleasant until just now, it was completely destroyed in a moment .

nI couldn’t endure this kind of unreasonableness .

nThat’s why, if possible, I’d like to lend my strength to them .

nOn Earth, I was always being helped by others, not having a chance to do so in return .

nBut, now I should have enough power to help others . No, I definitely do .

nHoping I had a magic that could cure the curse, I recalled the effects of all the magic I know .

nBut, no matter how much I looked, there wasn’t any spells to break curses .

n…Is it really no use after all?

nJust when I thought so .

nI noticed, there is one method to do it .

nThat method was――――

n“…If there isn’t one, then we should just make one . ”

n“Eh?”

nAt me who quietly muttered words like those a certain queen, Ruiesu and Claudia-san tilted their heads .

n(TLC Note: He is referring to a certain queen does this sound familiar? If they don’t have bread then let them eat cake . Mary Antoinette . -Renbo)

nThat’s right… Isn’t it precisely times like these that I can demonstrate my ridiculous status?

nI was controlled by my own skills, and I don’t even understand magic properly .

nTill now, I’ve been averting my eyes from this power and trying to escape from reality .

nI’ve kept on just obtaining it, and continued to grieve over it .

nThat’s why, I think I should properly face it this time .

nMy skill… 『Magic Creation』 .

nThis the first step to facing my power, and my first time creating magic .

nWith a strong will in my eyes, I turned my eyes to face the two of them ―――― .

n“Please bring me to where the King is . ”

n―――― I said .

n