Chapter 106

“That woman… she is, quite literally, a madwoman.”

It was the head of the Guinerga family who spoke, some three minutes after a frigid, oppressive silence had fallen.

I ceased drumming my fingers and fixed him with a stare.

“Do you think I came here to listen to such drivel?”

“No, no! Truly, truly she is utterly mad. Just listen.”

He recoiled at my cold words, shaking his manacled hands in agitation.

“Once… I invited her to the courtyard of our estate to offer her a job. To assassinate an officer and his men who were interfering with our… ‘business’.”

His voice trembled with terror. He bore the face of a man who never imagined confessing his sins.

His wickedness, of course, did not surprise me.

Filthy, vile, and utterly shameless – that’s what these humans before me are.

“…While listening to my proposal, do you know what that woman, that madwoman, said?”

He seemed uncertain whether he was even permitted to utter the words.

Having already confessed to plotting to assassinate high-ranking military officials, I pressed him, asking what more he could possibly hide.

Slowly, he opened his mouth.

“She said… if the Imperial Family and its soldiers were such an obstacle to our operations, wouldn’t it be faster to just kill the Emperor himself?”

“….”

I frowned, fixing the head of the Guinerga family with a stare.

I couldn’t believe the story I’d just heard.

We were in the midst of a war between the continent and the Mazoku. And the moment the Mazoku triumphed, a great calamity would befall the continent. The 1.2 billion inhabitants would be annihilated, and nothing would remain of this land.

…In this situation, they considered assassinating the Emperor of the Allied Empire, who’s leading the war against the Mazoku?

“It wasn’t my idea! Isn’t it obvious?! No matter how unsavory my actions, receiving a title means I know my limits. But, assassinating the Emperor? Surely you don’t think me so foolish, General…?”

The man vehemently defended himself, claiming he’d never even entertained such a thought.

The head of the Guinerga house seemed desperate. For any reason, speaking of the Emperor’s assassination was a grave offense.

“For this moment alone, no matter what you say, you will not be punished, so calm yourself.”

I raised a hand, trying to placate him.

“I know you people are greedy and terrible, but I didn’t think you were foolish enough to seriously consider killing the Emperor. You don’t strike me as having that kind of audacity.”

Upon hearing my words, the Guinerga head and the other members simultaneously exhaled in relief.

“…It was our first meeting. We had absolutely no, truly no relationship of trust. She didn’t trust me, and I didn’t trust her.”

The head chuckled hollowly, as if still dumbfounded by the memory. The tension hadn’t eased entirely, as beads of sweat trickled down his chin, splashing onto the rusty desk.

“Usually, someone that foolish doesn’t survive long in this world. Yet that woman dominates it.”

“Her skill must more than compensate for her recklessness.”

“Precisely. Her skills are simply the best of the best. It’s like seeing ‘Delta,’ now a General, when he first started in this business.”

The Guinerga head paused, shaking his head before continuing.

“…No, comparing her to Delta feels almost unfair to him. He was a true ‘professional.’ Cold-blooded, and always calm.”

“I understand she’s highly skilled and possibly insane. Now tell me something I don’t know. When did she first appear on the scene? What do you know about her background?”

The Guinerga head cautiously turned his gaze to his eldest son. It seemed that investigating and gathering information on someone was this one’s responsibility.

“…That woman showed up on this scene about two years ago.”

Brushing back hair that fell long beside his cheekbones, Guinerga’s eldest son began to speak carefully.

“She made a dazzling debut by wiping out the entire family of a Count in the southern part of the continent, burning their house and possessions to the ground. As for anything else… no matter how much we looked, no information about her origin or background existed.”

“…Not that you don’t know, but it doesn’t exist?”

I caught the eldest son’s words, tapping the desk again with my fingers. *Tap. Tap.*

A silent pressure to stop beating around the bush and just spill everything he knew, directly.

“The information has been completely erased. With that level of skill, there would normally be rumors circulating from childhood, one way or another, but all records prior to the age of fourteen have vanished.”

“Try to speculate, at least.”

“…Um, I think she was probably a dog someone was trying to train.”

The eldest son let out a shaky sigh, cautiously revealing his thoughts.

“A dog, you say?”

The expression grated on me.

“…Among the nobility, there are quite a few cases where they take orphans starving on the streets and raise them to be direct assassins. Brainwashing them, training them, disposing of the unskilled… they call those who survive dogs. A direct and effective term.”

“And the owner?”

“I don’t know for sure, but the fact that a dog they were raising was released onto the streets… wouldn’t that mean something happened to the owner?”

“Hmm.”

I tapped the desk with my fingers, falling silent for a moment.

A cold breeze, seeping through the hole in the broken wall, began to faintly flutter my collar.

The Guinerga people, all of them, were absorbed in watching me, their heads bowed.

“…Well, it’s moderately useful information. I’ll throw in a little extra food. Your evening will be warmer today.”

Presently, I rose from my seat, tapping lightly on the visitor room door. The ancient steel resonated with a vast sound, despite my gentle gesture.

“…Truly, is it truly so?!”

Lord Guiner raised his head, which had been bowed low, his eyes bloodshot and wide with question.

…To think, a Count who once held sway in the capital, so delighted by warm soup and bread.

A pathetic sight.

“If you desire more warm food, continue to reflect. Upon whose leash that woman resided.”

Just then, the prison guard opened the visitor room door, bolted tight until now.

The aged hinges screamed as if begging for release, a most unpleasant shriek.

*Thud!*

And with that, the heavy iron door slammed shut, and I was once again led down the dark and damp corridor.

“Ah, I apologize for earlier.”

Before leaving the filthy corridor, I offered an apology to the guard who had opened the door.

His face, a pale blue, stared blankly, eyes wide.

“No, Ah, yes?! Not at all! It was I who lacked awareness!”

He blinked a few times, then snapped to a rigid attention, roaring loud enough to shake the very corridor.

“…Your name?”

“James McGill, sir!”

“Forgive me, McGill. I will send a small gift later, do not refuse it. It wasn’t because of you.”

“Ah, yes… Thank you! Thank you kindly, sir!”

I left McGill’s gratitude behind, departing from the dark and damp prison.

Soon, the bright moon would caress my cheek.

The cool air of the autumn night peeled away the heavy humidity clinging to my neck.

Only then did my senses, sharpened to a razor’s edge, slowly begin to soften.

“…General.”

As I stood at the prison’s entrance, gazing at the moon for a time, a familiar voice reached my ears.

I lowered my head, searching for the source of the voice and turning my gaze.

An old servant, adorned with large, gaudy trinkets all over his body, could be seen slowly emerging from the shadows in the distance.

…A rather convincing disguise.

I exhaled my admiration, even as a smile played on my lips.

Where had the serious man I knew gone? Before me stood a nouveau riche merchant, undeniably so.

“Hehe, is the silk trade flourishing?”

I asked the old servant in a light tone. I wasn’t speaking that way particularly conscious of anyone watching.

It was simply a playful impulse.

How could I keep my mouth shut when someone who usually wore neat suits was now sporting a gaudy and ostentatious pearl necklace?

“There is no one around. You needn’t continue the act.”

But, wouldn’t you know it, this serious old man met my light jest with an earnest voice?

“Ah, yes… I see.”

…My high spirits instantly deflated, and I replied in an embarrassed tone.

Well, isn’t that just great. No one around to indulge my playful side.

“So, what is it?”

I nursed my chilled heart, and thus inquired of the old servant.

“The brokers who contacted me… they’ve vanished.”

“…Pardon?”

What sort of nonsense is this now?

“It seems a woman named Zion is responsible. Most of the dealers I conversed with have disappeared, and a few were found as corpses. As sinister rumors began to circulate, the other operatives hastily fled the capital.”

“…”

I could only furrow my brow and exhale a heavy sigh.

Zion was truly a lunatic beyond imagining.

To think she would wipe out all of her competitors in the capital, simply to secure a single job.

I feel the urge to ask her directly if it was necessary to go to such troublesome lengths to snatch this particular commission.

Couldn’t she just take another job?

Her skills are supposedly the best in this business, clients seeking her out must be scattered across the continent.

“Why is she doing this… to me…?”

Am I just a prey she’s set her sights on and refuses to release, is that it?

I don’t know what I did wrong to Zion, but I beg her to just leave me alone.

I want to work with normal, controllable criminals.

Not some madwoman who speaks of assassinating the Emperor as lightly as a joke.

“If we think positively, the capital’s security has improved considerably. All the prominent criminals are dead, after all.”

The old servant spoke with a placid expression. He seemed intent on saying something along the lines of ‘every matter has its dark side and its bright side’ …

“…How fortunate for us all.”