TL/Editor: raei
Proofreader: Pickhead7
Schedule: 5/week
Illustrations: None.
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There was a bit of a commotion, but the dinner ended well enough.
Despite the unexpected incident, Catherine earnestly tried to achieve her goal.
Like Lady Serena, Catherine wanted the wizards on her side.
'She's heading straight for a confrontation.'
After the dinner, Ian lay alone in his room, lost in thought.
With Ian unable to heal the Baron, who was their last hope, a violent conflict was almost inevitable.
Ian had three choices: help Lady Serena, help Lady Catherine, or if neither, leave the Baron's lands.
And frankly, Ian was leaning towards the third option.
What was there to gain by getting involved in someone else's family feud?
Nothing really.
Sure, pushing someone to victory could bring money and connections, but those weren't urgent needs for Ian.
He hadn't found the mystery he was searching for.
It was not too bad an idea to just leave and drop Kira off at the university on the way out.
However, that night, something bizarre happened.
It was something Ian had never experienced before, and it was shocking.
---
---
Ian woke up to a rustling sound.
As soon as he opened his eyes, he heard the noisy chatter of darkness.
[Ian's awake!]
[Let's get up too!]
"..."
They were playing with Ian again while he was asleep.
Since this wasn't the first time they played such pranks, Ian ignored it.
The problem was the strange silhouette outside the window.
'...?'
Something with the shape of a hunched human was looking into Ian's room.
More precisely, it was looking in the direction of Ian's room.
It kept turning its head as if searching for something.
After watching for a while, Ian realized what it was doing.
'Ah. It can't see into the room...'
The cause was the mysteries of darkness playing around Ian.
Because of their mischief, Ian's room was filled with darkness so thick that one couldn't see an inch ahead.
The intruder lingered at the window for a while before carefully stepping into the room.
As the moonlight faded, Ian could fully observe the intruder.
What had come to Ian's room in the middle of the night was...
A monkey.
'???'
Ian was baffled.
Why would a monkey come into a person's room?
But the real baffling situation hadn't even started yet.
The monkey had a knife strapped to its back.
Then, with a murderous look in its eyes, it slowly drew the knife.
Ian, a level 3 summoner who could somewhat read the will of beasts, sensed 'murderous intent' from the monkey.
The ember of absurdity burning in his mind was extinguished as if doused with cold water.
Ian snapped to attention.
This was no time to be rambling about this midnight monkey visitor.
This creature...
Was clearly an assassin sent by someone!
'An assassin? In my room???'
He briefly entertained the foolish thought that it might just be a lost, harmless monkey.
But the situation was clear.
Someone had sent this assassin monkey with the intent to kill Ian.
For a moment, Ian had a ridiculous thought.
'Maybe I've become a big shot?'
Who would have thought he'd be welcoming an assassin sent by someone?
Back in his modern-day life, he couldn't have even dreamed of it.
But here, Ian was a renowned wizard, acknowledged by people.
Someone who felt threatened by Ian's presence must have sent the assassin to eliminate him.
Once he understood the situation, cold sweat ran down his spine.
It was a relief that the mysteries of darkness were up to their tricks; otherwise, he might have been killed by the assassin in his sleep.
To be killed by an assassin while working as a wizard would be an utterly pointless death.
Ian pulled himself together.
Right.
In a world where people easily disposed of others when things went awry, he was too complacent.
Thank you, mysteries of darkness.
[Not sure what, but Ian likes it?]
[If Ian's happy, we're happy too!]
The mysteries of darkness were, as always, mindlessly content.
They were simple beings, happy to crack jokes beside Ian.
But those beings had saved Ian's life.
As Ian drew his sword, Anor-lsil, he spoke to the assassin.
"[Who are you?]"
"Squeak!"
The monkey assassin immediately threw its dagger in response, but the throw missed pathetically.
Ian wasn't naive enough to engage in conversation directly.
He used the mysteries of wind to distort the direction of his voice.
In the enveloping darkness, Ian's location was impossible to pinpoint by sight alone.
Perhaps a bat assassin might have stood a chance, but the limitations of a monkey assassin were clear.
Hearing Ian's voice, the monkey assassin crouched low, ready to strike with its knife.
Ian had no desire to approach the assassin.
After all, he wasn't armored, nor was he confident in his swordsmanship.
Ian was certain he would lose to the monkey in a swordfight, quite disastrously.
Better not to engage clumsily and keep his distance.
However, the assassin found itself in the same predicament, unable to approach Ian.
Thus, a strange standoff continued.
"[Who sent you?]"
It was a question asked in vain, but Ian posed it anyway.
Hoping the dumb beast would answer, Ian was disappointed to find the monkey wasn't as dumb as he thought.
"Squeak! Squeak!"
[You don't need to know about my master! You'll be dead in a few days anyway!]
Ian seriously considered throwing Anor-lsil at it but held back, knowing a miss would be utterly comedic.
Yet, he couldn't help but seethe with anger.
Dead? Me?
"Squeak! Squeak!"
[Wizard! Know your place! If you value your life, don't make a fuss and just leave this place!]
With a fierce squeal, the monkey jumped out the window.
Ian immediately kicked the door open and shouted.
"Guards!"
"At your service!"
Thanks to the ladies of the Baron's household being at odds, a night watch was in place.
Though, of course, they were of no use to Ian.
"Report to the guard captain. An assassin came to my room."
"An assassin???"
"Yes. Someone who detests wizards..."
Ian stopped mid-sentence and suddenly looked up.
The enemy hates wizards.
And in this castle... there are two wizards staying.
'Kira!'
"No, follow me first!"
"Ah. Yes!"
Ian rushed to Kira's room with the guard in tow.
Thanks to the mysteries of darkness, Ian had escaped death.
But what about Kira?
Could she, who only pretended to be a wizard, fend off an assassin's blade?
"Kira!"
Ian burst through the door and immediately locked eyes with her.
Fortunately, she was alive.
However, a dagger thrown by the assassin was lodged in her right arm.
"..."
"..."
The first thing she did, even with a dagger in her arm, was... to clean her room.
Kira was tidying up, blood dripping from her arm, worried someone might enter and question her about her 'magic tools.'
"Go fetch the guard captain. And Belenka, if possible."
"Yes!"
After sending the guard, Ian approached Kira.
He couldn't help but chuckle at her state.
Even in a life-threatening moment, Kira tried not to blow her cover.
"...Ian. This is something."
Kira stuttered, lifelessness in her eyes.
Ian thought for a moment.
Some might criticize Kira's foolishness.
Questioning whether her identity was more important than her life.
But Ian understood her.
To her, [Wizard Kira] was as important as life itself.
If [Wizard Kira] dies, the real Kira dies too.
[Wizard Kira] was her greatest achievement, shaping her entire being.
Kira knew how pathetic and miserable she was.
Regardless of Ian's potential criticism, she was prepared to endure.
But what came from Ian's mouth wasn't criticism.
"Are you okay?"
"...Ian. I..."
"I'll clean this up. You, keep your arm raised above your heart. Damn, you've bled a lot."
Ian busily hid Kira's belongings.
Kira was captured by a strange emotion as she looked at Ian.
In her life, how many people had covered for her flaws and protected her? Just one.
A man like her father, the heretic Laventa.
But he had been killed by thieves.
After his death, Kira had been alone, forced to feign strength for survival and sacrifice herself for [Wizard Kira].
The experience of someone stepping in for her felt foreign and odd.
Unexpectedly, Kira found herself tearing up.
Whether it was the pain from the dagger or a burst of repressed sorrow, she couldn't tell.
"Hey! Are you okay?!"
"I'm, I'm fine..." she sobbed.
Ian was slightly surprised when Kira suddenly burst into tears.
Pretending to be okay, but maybe she's rattled after all!
Hiding the blood-stained tools and stemming the bleeding from Kira's arm...
Ian slowly felt a smoldering anger, or perhaps something even stronger.
Meeting the actual assassin, the experience was more disgusting than imagined.
Someone tried to kill me? And they failed because they got caught?
What kind of bastard-
"Ian!"
Belenka, in her nightgown, appeared in a flurry.
As expected, Belenka was unharmed. Only the wizards had been attacked.
Ian clenched his teeth without realizing it.
There's no fun in this.
Harassing someone who was about to leave?
Ian decided to drastically change his plans of a peaceful farewell with the domain.
Ah, yes.
My staying in the domain is an eyesore, isn't it?
I'm not budging until I crush the bastard.
From today, I'm the haunted spirit of the Devosi Barony.
Might as well fix the geographical coordinate system while I'm at it.
"Belenka. It looks like we'll have to stick around here a bit longer."
Ian's ominous declaration was met with a quiet nod from Belenka.
"Just what I hoped for."
---
---
The news of an assassin targeting the wizards turned Devosi Castle upside down.
Of course, it only "turned" it upside down.
"I've heard the news. You must be deeply concerned."
"Oh dear, are you alright?"
The ladies expressed their regrets about the previous night's tragedy.
They promised to do their utmost to prevent such an incident from happening again and vowed to find the culprit.
Ian felt a strange sense of dj vu with the ladies' promises.
Haven't I heard this before? In a past life???
"It's definitely Catherine's doing. She must be punished at once...!"
"Serena has gone too far this time!"
Regrettably, the ladies seemed more interested in using the incident for political gain rather than in finding the perpetrator.
Ian stared blankly at the ladies who took turns visiting, wondering if he could truly obtain proper cooperation from these people.
It seemed unlikely.
Despite a thorough search, the perpetrator wasn't caught. It only served as an opportunity to escalate the slander between them.
Moreover, the ladies subtly pressured Ian, suggesting he should start taking sides.
Then they would step in more actively.
It was a damn frustrating situation for Ian.
It was clear one of the ladies had sent the assassin.
What if he ended up supporting the wrong side?
Ian would be nothing more than a puppet in that lady's hands.
Tension hung over the castle.
No one knew about the monkey assassin that attacked Ian.
The clergy shouted about demonic work, while the rational blamed a wizard.
Although security was tightened, a shadow of despair grew over people's faces.
Pessimists muttered that a curse had fallen upon the Devosi domain.
Amidst the chaos, Ian calmly organized his thoughts.
'The enemy is most likely a summoner.'
It was an important clue gleaned from the monkey assassin.
The monkey had used the term [Master] and seemed familiar with communicating in Maronius.
The traces of a wizard, specifically a summoner, were evident.
If the assassin had been trained by a summoner, it made sense why it exhibited human-like behavior.
The problem was figuring out where the summoner was hiding...
'Damn wizards.'
Ian was reminded once again how troublesome wizards can be.
Skulking in the shadows, scheming in secret made them a tiresome foe to contend with.
However, Ian had no intention of giving up just because they were annoying to deal with.
He felt he wouldn't be satisfied until he saw the face of the one who had sent the assassin.