Chapter 103

“Born of the back alleys! Raised by the back alleys! The pride of the back alleys! I am Zion!”

Her black hair and cloak began to flutter in response to her movements. A fiery confidence blazed within her scarlet eyes, and between lips parted in a slight smile, a sharp canine tooth glinted.

“Well then, I look forward to working with you!”

The girl, who introduced herself as Sion, appeared to be around my age – sixteen, perhaps seventeen.

She was quite small, standing at roughly 150 centimeters.

As if to conceal her slight frame, she was entirely enveloped in a long cloak that reached her ankles. A glimpse beneath revealed countless daggers of various shapes and sizes hanging within.

“General, get out of this room! I’ll buy you time!”

With a broken rapier in hand, a young servant blocked the path between the girl and me.

“Whoa, calm down. I just came for a little chat. Seriously! Look, I’m not even armed, see? You’re going to swing a sword at such a frail young thing? Really?”

The red-eyed girl spread her palms wide, demonstrating that she had no intention of fighting.

She chattered on like a magpie, waving her hands back and forth, but in this situation, a gesture of peace was sure to be futile.

*Are you crazy? You just broke into the Emperor’s palace! And you’re covered head to toe in assassination tools.*

“Damn it, General! Are you alright?!”

“Prioritize the General’s safety! It’s an attack, an attack!”

Shouts erupted from the hallway outside the room. The clatter of weapons echoed, and then an armored soldier burst into the room, swinging his sword.

The girl didn’t even glance at the soldiers who stormed in, making a great commotion. She simply ducked her head, gracefully dodging the blade that flew toward her.

Immediately after, a long blade aimed for her side. Again, she avoided it with a light step, allowing the subsequent attacks to pass by with the bare minimum of movement.

“Whoa, seriously. Could you maybe not swing that thing around so much?! A girl like me would get chopped in half by such a crude blade, you know?”

While verbally lamenting her potential demise, the girl nonchalantly evaded the soldiers’ attacks. With a few steps and a few nods, she allowed the swords and spears of these highly trained soldiers to miss her completely.

The room descended into chaos. The piano, which I’d bought but never truly played, was splintered in multiple places by the swords and spears. The teacups and teapot on the table shattered, spilling their red contents onto the floor.

“Okay, I’ll drop my weapons! Just wait there!”

The girl, having no choice but to evade the soldiers’ relentless assault, let out a theatrically exaggerated sigh, then angled her outstretched hands downwards.

She approached the nearest soldier and mercilessly struck the joint of his thick armor. The sound, as her hand met the armored soldier’s body, echoed through the room like a bullet striking stone.

Soon, the soldier groaned in pain and collapsed. The spear he’d held clattered onto the floor. Lowering her torso, the girl used the same strike on the next soldier, the one wielding a blade. In an instant, both soldiers were disarmed.

The difference in skill was overwhelming.

There wasn’t an ounce of excess movement in the girl’s motions. With minimal force, she disabled the soldiers’ arms, and the young servant watching swallowed hard, composing himself.

The servant blocking my path must have been ready to meet his end at that point.

“It’s probably just dislocated! Once me and General Bin are done talking business, I’ll pop them back in, so don’t worry too much and just lie there.”

The girl looked down at the soldiers clutching their arms and glaring at her, and spoke those words in a bright voice.

…Dislocated?

That sound just now?

The bones hadn’t pierced the skin, hadn’t broken through, but how could that sound be just a dislocation?

And I’d heard of dislocated shoulders, but never in my life had I heard of a dislocated elbow.

Looks like that little brat just wacked their arms and slapped the word “dislocated” on it.

“Uh…”

The girl surveyed the chaotic room, her gaze lingering on the overturned chairs and table.

She whistled and approached the fallen furniture, righting them. The servant before me watched her every move, tense.

I was ready to unleash my Awakening at any moment.

“Now, let’s talk business! I’ll take coffee.”

The girl placed a chair in front of the table she’d righted and sat down, speaking cheerfully.

“What did you say?”

I couldn’t properly hear what the girl was saying and was forced to ask again.

“I said, I’ll take coffee.”

Ah, no. Crap, I heard right.

“…Coffee?”

“Yes, coffee! Can’t have business discussions without tea or coffee, can we?”

The girl said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“After making this room such a mess, you want me to serve you like a guest?”

“Strictly speaking, I didn’t do anything, did I? The ones who wrecked the room are these guards here.”

“…Um.”

Strangely, she was right, so I couldn’t find a rebuttal.

“Couldn’t you just… leave?”

I asked the red-eyed girl as politely as possible.

“General Bin, you *do* want to go to the ‘Isles of Mist’, don’t you? I just so happened to be the perfect person, so I came looking for you.”

“…You came knowing about the Isles of Mist?”

“How to find the Isles, how to enter, how to move safely once inside, and even how to return. I’ve prepared it all. From the standard course to the premium elite course, all with different price ranges.”

“…Ah.”

I briefly considered just using my Bloom to blast this crazy woman in front of me away.

Instead, I picked up my broken rapier and lightly tapped the back of the servant who was still blocking my path, and requested coffee and tea.

“…Are you serious?”

The young servant asked with a tone of disbelief.

“It’s fine. You saw her skills just now. If her goal was to kill me, I’d be dead already, wouldn’t I? Seems she genuinely came to discuss ‘business,’ so I’ll try to reason with her and send her on her way…”

*Fsssk—!*

It was that instant.

The sharp crack of lightning echoed in my ears.

“Bolt.”

A faint line connected to the throat of the girl with the crimson eyes, and a massive impact filled the room.

Familiar footsteps sounded from the hallway.

Pitch-black smoke billowed, filling the room, and the wooden furniture caught fire.

“Ugh, how can you carelessly use magic indoors? It’ll take ages to put this fire out.”

A cough echoed from within the thick smoke.

And the girl, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, emerged unscathed, without a scratch or a burn.

“…Union, lacking…”

“Whoa, hold on! Just a moment, time! Please, time out!”

I rushed out into the hallway, desperate to stop Lir from starting a spell.

“Master Bin, get behind me.”

Lir glared at the girl standing in my room, a murderous expression on her face. The slender wand in her hand was poised, ready to unleash a devastating torrent of lightning.

“Okay, okay, I understand, but calm down for now. Could you maybe stop destroying my room?”

After that, reinforcements continued to rush towards my room.

They carried large spears and shields, like soldiers preparing for war, and among their simple attire were a few high-ranking mages responsible for palace security.

It took me over ten minutes just to calm them down and send them back to their posts.

Why is it that the one who starts the trouble is never the one who has to clean it up?

* * *

The young servant, clutching the ruined rapier in his hand, hesitated for a long while before finally leading Sion and me to a guest room.

I was somewhat convinced by his explanation that he would have killed me a long time ago if he had intended to.

“…Honestly, the sight of the blade being sheared off by a guitar pick was beyond my imagination. I must, with no small amount of shame, admit that there exists a considerable gulf between myself and that young girl.”

The fact that the young servant and the red-eyed girl had exchanged even a single volley was enough to establish considerable grounds for his reasoning.

“If you sense anything amiss, please, do not hesitate. Your opponent is a rather skilled assassin. No matter how powerful a magician Lord Bean may be… the compatibility isn’t in your favor.”

“I know.”

It was a well-known fact that assassins held a significant advantage over magicians.

Magicians generally lacked physical strength, requiring the protection of infantry, and the preparation time for casting spells was often considerable.

How many magicians have been caught off guard and pierced through the heart, unable to react to a swift attack?

For assassins, whose specialties were quick movements and stealth, magicians were the ultimate source of experience points.

However, I possessed the ‘Blessing of the Spirits.’ The best defensive magic in this world, automatically deployed.

I wouldn’t die with a single blow.

And not dying with a single blow meant that I would have time to activate my Blossom.

I would have to omit the incantation, even the naming of the spell itself, but even that much would be enough.

This was the Imperial Palace, and I had more than enough guards around me to offer assistance.

“Wow, there aren’t any windows in here? And the wallpaper isn’t even properly applied. It’s obvious that this isn’t a guest room, is it?”

“…Unfortunately, there were no other rooms available.”

“Liar. You’re trying to limit our escape routes, aren’t you? Not a very wise choice. Having only one path means I’ll inevitably have to kill anyone who stands in my way.”

Sion spoke the words as she sat on the chair, a solitary thing in the grey room. Before her was a small, round table and a cup of pitch-black coffee, its steam rising in delicate tendrils.

“I’d like to avoid murders that don’t involve money, if possible. I would appreciate your consideration.”

Such a brutal tale, delivered with such bravado.

…What sort of childhood did you endure to become this way?

“Now that introductions are over, could you perhaps excuse us? I’d like to speak with my benefactor alone.”

“That will not do.”

The house servant spoke with unwavering resolve. He stood poised to draw his broken sword from its scabbard, should the girl before him attempt any foolishness.

“I, too, have no intention of leaving his side.”

Lir, staff in hand, faintly radiating with some unseen current, also seemed to have no desire to depart, just as she said.

“Nothing discussed here will be repeated. The mage beside me is someone I trust implicitly, and this house servant has the tightest lips in the world.”

“Then at least, could you take care of those fellows in the ceiling? They’re rather distracting, you know. If you’re going to eavesdrop, at least be discreet…”

“…Excuse me?”

I frowned, unable to fathom what Sion was talking about.

“Tch.”

The young house servant at my side, however, seemed to understand her perfectly.

“I’m not asking you to dismiss the mages and soldiers waiting outside. A general requires certain precautions, after all. I understand that much. But clinging to the ceiling and blatantly eavesdropping on an important conversation? That’s just rude. A little consideration, please?”

“…Please, step outside.”

*Thunk!*

The house servant’s words were accompanied by a sound from above my head.

…Just how long have they been up there?

Even Lir, the elf renowned for her keen senses, seemed unaware they’d been above us. Her eyes widened, gaze fixed on the ceiling.

“Well! Now, perhaps we can finally have a proper business discussion.”

Sion set down her coffee cup with a clatter, untouched.

“……”

I studied Sion’s face, her expression a picture of innocent amusement.

The more I look, the more absurd this fellow seems.

“How did you determine that I was the source of the rumor? I specifically instructed them to spread word of ‘a wealthy old man with an interest in the Archipelago Mist.’”

“Oh, your manservant worked quite hard. He erased the peculiar accent of the imperial servants, mastered the characteristic gestures and mannerisms of merchants, and even started a small business, you see? Though, with a little digging, one can see that it exists only on paper.”

Sion spun the saucer slowly, continuing her tale.

“The setup was decent. A wealthy merchant desires to distribute the corpses of monsters from the Archipelago… The corpses of ‘white’ monsters dwelling in the Archipelago Mist, when sun-dried for days, yield cloth highly resistant to flames. A popular lining material for dragon hunters. You did your homework, it seems?”

“So, how did you discover *I* was the source? Get to the heart of it.”

“This old man, asking around… The musculature of his arms wasn’t that of a common merchant, no?”

Sion brushed a speck of dust from her cloak, dismissing it as trivial.

“…Musculature?”

“A rapier, unlike other swords, is designed for thrusting. Ideal for combat in long, narrow corridors. Therefore, imperial servants are taught and drilled in the art of the ‘rapier.’”

I glanced at my manservant. His expression was rigid.

“If, in the event of an assassination attempt, a broadsword were to get stuck in a wall, what a disaster? Anyway, the arm muscles of those trained in the rapier develop differently.”

Even as she spoke, she lifted and lowered her coffee cup, a nervous tic.

“Once it was clear the funder was connected to the imperial household, it was a simple matter of narrowing down the suspects. The four leaders, including the Emperor, are too busy dealing with the aftermath of the war. Bell Artua is in a coma. Grisha Alexia is preoccupied nursing Bell in his coma…”

Sion began to list the affairs of the citadel’s figures, as if she held their secrets in the palm of her hand.

“Rire here spends every day lost in training, probably hearing about the ‘Isle Mist’ for the first time today? Alter Heindel, your two mentors, are already consumed by the daily grind of leg rehabilitation, with no time to investigate the Isle Mist. And Rex Beljark, who left the castle recently, has returned to his hometown to prepare for the commander’s exam.”

“……”

I felt a chill crawl up my spine with each word from Zion.

…Just where is this information leaking from?

This brat, does she even know how many times I visit the restroom each day?

“So, by process of elimination, the only person in this castle seemingly lazing about on their bed like a jobless bum is General Vin? So I figured, since our General has won the war, maybe he’s thinking of indulging in an Isle Mist expedition for some amusement, perhaps.”

…To be pinpointed because I ‘look like a jobless bum’.

I’m a war hero, you know.

That’s just too much, really.

“Until then, the logical structure seemed quite sound, but you came to a rather crude conclusion? What makes you think the reason I’m searching for the Isle Mist is for leisure?”

“Whatever reason the benefactor has for wanting to explore the Isle Mist is none of my business, so I just threw out some random justification, no?”

“……Ah, yes, I see.”

“What I’m curious about is who the benefactor is. More precisely, what level of economic power the benefactor possesses. That’s all.”

Zion, still wearing a vibrant smile, answered cheerfully.

“Other than that, I tend to respect privacy!”

…Just moments ago, she recited the daily routines of the key figures staying in this castle one by one, and now she can shout about privacy in such a loud voice.

Does this girl have no shame whatsoever?

“Anyway, I was so surprised during my investigation, you know?”

Whether she knows my thoughts or not, she widened her crimson eyes and stretched out her arms broadly.

A clear smile, so pure it defied description, rested on her lips.

“I hear you own, like, *that* much land in the capital.”

To deliver a tale about real estate and money while wearing such a harmless smile…

…Just where did this person take a wrong turn?