The day after discussing the plan with <Red Serpent>.
“Let’s go.”
Once I finished preparing, I immediately rose to my feet.
There was no reason to delay.
Securing Flora as quickly as possible was the best course of action.
“Yes. I’ll follow you.”
Deckard answered with a grave expression and put on his helmet.
And beside him stood.
“……Are we really doing this?”
Raul tilted his head with a baffled expression.
“Excuse me, client? I did accept the commission, but are we really allowed to just barge in like this?”
“We are.”
“No, it’s an assassination guild. An assassination guild run directly by Ralke. Sure, your ability to disguise yourself as the First Young Master is impressive, but…….”
Raul scratched his head.
“……Are we really doing this?”
“Huh. Has a Special-Grade Mercenary Company never taken a commission like this before?”
“No, we became a Special-Grade Mercenary Company precisely because we plan our operations thoroughly before carrying them out…….”
At those words, Deckard, who had been standing quietly, glared sharply at Raul.
“Be quiet.”
“No, why are you suddenly…….”
“……I once saw the Commander of <Red Serpent>. He was a superhuman who could calmly succeed even on missions with no plan whatsoever.”
“…….”
Deckard lied with a perfectly straight face.
Raul protested in an aggrieved voice.
“What kind of bullshit is that? I was right beside that bastard, so I know. If we didn’t make a proper plan, he’d throw a fucking fit.”
“That never hap…… would have happened.”
“Never happened, my ass! Tch. This is what happens when people who don’t know anything spread rumors. You end up with ridiculous stories about some legend of the mercenary world or whatever.”
“…….”
Deckard’s right hand trembled as though he desperately wanted to smack Raul in the back of the head.
But with superhuman willpower, Deckard suppressed the urge.
“I do not understand why you would speak such nonsense when the Commander might return someday.”
“Ah, what does it matter? He can’t hear me anyway. I guarantee that bastard talks shit about me nonstop whenever I’m not around.”
“…….”
Deckard could not argue with that.
He pulled his helmet lower and muttered so quietly that no one else could hear him.
“……Just you wait.”
Did Raul realize he was digging his own grave?
Probably not.
Deckard was deliberately hiding his identity, after all.
“More importantly, this is our only opportunity. The First Young Master will soon take matters into his own hands.”
“Personally…….”
“We don’t know exactly when. It could be today, or it could be a week from now.”
But I knew.
Schubert’s patience was nearly exhausted.
I could be certain because I remembered my previous life.
“But it wouldn’t be strange for his patience to run out at any moment. Things aren’t progressing the way the First Young Master expected.”
“……And what exactly was he expecting?”
“The removal of her emotions.”
The atmosphere grew heavy at those words.
Even Raul’s previously casual expression twisted.
“Removing her emotions?”
“Emotions are unnecessary for an assassin. And Flora is refusing to kill because of those emotions.”
“So you mean they’re planning to use coercive methods to remove her emotions now.”
“Yes. They’ll probably implant an obedience command as well, so she’ll be incapable of refusing orders.”
At that point, she could no longer be called human.
……No.
She wouldn’t be human.
She would simply be a living tool.
I knew that better than anyone.
Because I already knew Flora from my previous life.
No.
‘I knew Number Two.’
The First Young Master’s faithful dagger.
An emotionless assassin.
I had seen with my own eyes what a miserable state she ended up in when no one rescued her.
“That’s why we need to go now.”
“……Tch.”
Raul clicked his tongue briefly.
Then his eyes turned cold as his grip tightened around his sword.
“If you put it like that, I guess there’s no helping it. Hell, what’s the worst that can happen? We die?”
“Good.”
Of course, what Raul feared would not happen.
I would make sure of that.
***
Leto, a Senior Instructor at the training facility, stared coldly into the darkness beyond the iron bars.
Nothing could be seen within that darkness.
But he knew.
A ‘monster’ with an innate talent for assassination was writhing somewhere inside it.
“I gave you a chance.”
Leto spoke toward the darkness.
“I even gave you training targets that would be easy to kill. Taking your aversion to murder into consideration, I went so far as to bring notorious criminals before you.”
“…….”
“But in the end, you rejected the mercy I showed you. And now the matter has reached the First Young Master’s ears.”
At those words, the darkness beyond the bars stirred slightly.
A moment later, a voice emerged from within.
“That wasn’t a chance.”
“…….”
“No one calls killing another person a chance.”
The corner of Leto’s eye twitched.
That was what he had always hated about this bitch.
She acted as though she could choose not to dirty her hands.
As though refusing to kill were a choice she was permitted to make.
A tool was not allowed such choices.
“You are mistaken. You are not a person. You are merely a tool for the First Young Master to use as he pleases.”
“…….”
“A tool does not need thoughts. It does not need good or evil. All it needs to do is obey orders.”
Even at his words, the girl’s expression did not change.
She merely stared back at him from within the darkness, her eyes giving off a razor-sharp gleam.
“……You bitch.”
Leto hated that look more than anything.
“Well, it does not matter. The First Young Master has decided to come here personally.”
As he spoke, Leto stepped forward.
At the same time, the darkness beyond the bars surged.
And then.
SCRAAAPE—!
Darkness squeezed casually through the iron bars and raked across the floor.
“……!”
Leto hurriedly stepped back.
Then he stared at the writhing shadow and let out a dry laugh.
“Ha! You possess such extraordinary natural talent, yet you claim you hate killing?”
“…….”
The girl did not respond.
She merely used the darkness to draw a clear boundary between Leto and herself.
Leto clicked his tongue and turned away.
He disliked her to the very end.
Even more so because her very attitude was proof of his failure as an instructor.
But Leto did not dwell on it for long.
That ‘defective product’ would soon be properly corrected by the great First Young Master himself.
He stepped outside and began walking.
He had heard that the First Young Master would be visiting this place.
Although he had not been told the exact date or time, he would need to begin preparations in advance.
It was then.
“L-Lord Leto!”
A junior instructor came running toward him in a panic.
Leto frowned at the sight.
“What is it?”
“The First Young Master has arrived. What should we do?”
“What?”
Leto’s eyes widened.
***
Surprisingly, the Shadow Training Facility owned by Schubert was sitting right in the middle of a busy street.
It was an unpopular-looking clothing shop of the sort one could find anywhere.
“Ha! Sally’s Clothing Store…… What a terrible name.”
Raul, disguised as a knight just like Deckard, spoke.
I ignored him and opened the door.
“Welcome.”
The moment we entered, a stern-looking middle-aged shopkeeper stepped out from behind the counter with a stiff expression.
I asked her, “I noticed the name ‘Sally’ on the sign outside. Is she related to you?”
“I’m not sure. I inherited the shop myself…… Perhaps she was a ‘cousin’?”
“A cousin. I thought a name like ‘Emily’ would have suited it better.”
“…….”
The shopkeeper lowered her head.
Until moments ago, she had possessed the air of any ordinary shopkeeper, but the instant I mentioned the name ‘Emily,’ her entire demeanor changed.
“Welcome, First Young Master.”
“The nymph bloodline?”
“……My apologies, but we have not yet managed to make her submit. It appears we will have to proceed according to the method you originally instructed, young master.”
“Tch.”
I glared at the shopkeeper with the sort of reaction Schubert would have given.
“Incompetent fools.”
“My apologies. Please forgive us…… I will escort you inside immediately.”
With those words, the shopkeeper guided us toward a door behind the counter.
The moment we passed through it, the surrounding space began to twist.
Black magic.
And not simple black magic, but high-level black magic created directly by the Ducal House of Ralke.
‘Exactly as I remember.’
Only by following the correct path could one reach the ‘real’ training facility.
Before long, we arrived at the unbearably gloomy facility.
The moment we arrived, I saw a familiar face.
“You have arrived, young master.”
“Yes.”
Senior Instructor Leto.
The instructor who had trained me when I was Number One.
He had been utterly cold and cruel.
“I’m disappointed. You couldn’t even properly correct a single failure?”
“……I have no excuse.”
Leto lowered his head at my words.
Then he raised it again and carefully asked,
“May I ask why you have visited earlier than scheduled?”
“Do I need to explain that to you?”
“Of course not, but there are instructions from the main house, so…….”
There was a trace of suspicion in Leto’s eyes as he spoke.
He was likely questioning why Schubert had arrived earlier than expected.
‘Of course I expected that.’
I knew perfectly well that Leto was suspicious by nature.
I answered casually.
“Because this plan failed. Under the circumstances, leaving a ‘failure’ unattended would be ridiculous.”
“Ah…….”
“Two Shadows were killed as well. I need new Shadows to replace them.”
“I see. Understood.”
The moment I mentioned information only Schubert should have known, the suspicion vanished completely from his eyes.
“Then take me to the failure.”
“Do you intend to use the magical device?”
“Yes.”
At that, Leto immediately led us downward.
After descending the stairs, iron bars came into view.
There was only darkness beyond them.
Nothing could be seen at first glance.
“We have arrived.”
“You may leave. I have no desire to show you the magical device I received from the main house.”
“……As you command.”
Leto bowed and left.
A short while later, Deckard spoke.
“He is gone. I cannot sense anyone else nearby.”
“Good.”
I immediately released Disguise Art, returning my face to normal and restoring my body to its original shape.
“It never ceases to amaze me. Altering your appearance is one thing, but changing your entire physique like that…….”
“There are ways.”
The memories and experience from my days as Number One had not disappeared.
Raul spoke in a dubious voice.
“I was worried we’d get caught, but we really got through without a problem…… I can’t believe that actually worked.”
“I told you it would.”
With those words, I turned my gaze toward the iron bars.
Deckard.
Raul.
The person we were looking for was beyond those bars.
And then.
RUSTLE.
The darkness filling the room stirred.
A pair of vivid blue eyes burned within it.
I took one step at a time toward the darkness.
She would not know it, but that darkness was extremely familiar to me.
“Flora.”
The moment I spoke her name, memories naturally rose to the surface.
-I’ll get you out of here, junior.
Before I became Number One, there had been a girl who called herself my senior and guided me.
Beyond the iron bars stood a woman with an extraordinarily small build for her age.
Seeing her exactly as I remembered, I smiled and held out my hand.
“Let’s get out of here.”
“…….”
Instead of taking my hand, she stared intently at me.
Then she spoke.
“I have a request.”
“Pardon?”
Now?
I was caught off guard, but Flora continued with a perfectly calm expression.
“Will you come down below with me?”
A request out of nowhere.
I was surprised, but decided to hear the details first.
“What’s down there?”
“Mm.”
Flora hesitated for a moment before continuing.
“The Berserk Dragon Kravalt.”
“……?!”
At that moment, Deckard’s eyes widened behind me, and his entire body trembled.