"How about I show you guys around. I've read a few books about the landmarks of the royal capital."

 

I suggested the two as we walked down the streets. I've read many tourist books while staying holed up in my room at the castle. Therefore, I know the best tourist spots here.

 

"Well, if you don't mind."

 

Alice said with a smile. Seeing her like this pumps me up. With a light cough, I put on my best act as a tour guide.

 

"Alright then. If you’d please, follow me. I'll show you the royal capital's most famous landmarks."

 

"Haha, lead the way, Mr. Tour Guide."

 

"Show me the best places to eat as well. Tasting that kabob earlier made me want to go on a food tour."

 

"Tch, as expected of a glutton. You sure don't know how to read the mood here."

 

Me and Alice were in our own little world. But she had to go and smash it with that mood destroying dialogue.

 

"If you're going to act like that then don’t ask me for something to eat when you see it. I know you broke right now.”

 

With a smug look on her face, Kari said arms crossed. 

 

At the prospect of getting free food, I was left with only one choice…

 

“There’s no need to be like that. If you follow me, I can show you all the best spots for food. I’ll gladly have you experience the wonderful flavors of the royal capital!” 

 

For the entire day, I showed them all the famous landmarks of the royal capital. I showed Kari the best-reviewed food stalls and restaurants (to which I got my fair share of food), and I showed Alice the best clothing stores. They bought many souvenirs as we toured the capital.

 

Seeing them walk ahead of me and talk and giggle with each other while I'm carrying their bags made me be filled with a sense of peace. Ah, how I wish it could stay like this forever. 

 

This is the type of life I’m talking about. I don’t have to worry about who’s going to shoot me while walking the streets nor do I have to worry about a surprise invasion of enemy forces. 

 

Everything is peaceful.

 

Sadly, however, all good things don't last forever. They'll be going to the front lines soon and I'll be going to an undetermined destination.

 

Sigh, c’est la vie.

 

"Somebody help! He stole my money!"

 

As I was pondering such thoughts, me, Alice and Kari witnessed a thief pickpocket an old lady wearing a nun's habit. 

 

"Hey, isn't that quite low for a thief to be robbing a nun?”

 

“He’s deplorable. We should go after him.”

 

Then the two turn their heads towards me. Within their eyes, I can see excitement. 

 

Seeing their eagerness to chase after him I slightly smile and say,

 

“You two are the heroes, go after him. You need real-world experience anyway. Just make sure to turn him into the proper authorities. If one of you manages to catch him first, you’ll be allowed to stay out of tomorrow night's training.”

 

“"Really?"”

 

"Yes, re...ally."

 

Before I could finish my sentence they were already a ways ahead of me. Those two seem really pumped up. My training can’t be that bad? 

 

"Well, let's go and take these bags back to the carriage.”

 

I’m sure with their prowess they should be able to take care of themselves.

 

I walked back to the carriage, put the bags in it, and started walking around in search of a more secluded spot. After a few minutes of searching, I found a narrow alleyway that looks to be abandoned. 

 

“Come on out.”

 

When I walked a reasonable distance into the alley, I calmly said to the people hiding.

 

“...”

 

“ I know you're there...all four of you.”

 

“Haha, and he said you were a weakling.”

 

Four figures wearing leather armor and bandanas appeared. Two blocking both my front and two were blocking my back. 

 

They surrounded me.

 

“Tell me, how did you notice?”

 

The one I believe to be the leader asked.

 

“It's because you guys can't tail worth shit. I noticed you guys as soon as we stepped off the carriage. That was a good distraction by the way, but couldn't you choose someone else other than a nun to rob? You'll get divine retribution for doing that one day.”

 

I said with a smile.

 

I knew these guys were following us by sensing their mana. There were always five mana signatures that stayed a certain distance from us, one of them diverged from the group and acted as the thief. And with me telling Alice and Kari to chase after him as training, I managed to separate one and they managed to separate me as well.

 

“...It seems we have a smart ass here. Do you know why we are here?”

 

“To say what's up?”

 

“No.”

 

“... To help you find a cat?”

 

“... No.”

 

“... To kill me?”

 

“No!... Wait! Yeah! We've been sent here by our client to kill you. You have a pretty good sum on your head, 50 gold coins!”

 

“Seriously! I'm worth 50 gold coins?”

 

Although it isn't much, when considering I'm a former hero, I'm quite flattered! Going by this world's economy 50 gold coins can have a poor family live quite nicely for a couple of years. 

 

...Should I turn myself in for the coins? I might not be an oscar award-winning actor but I think I’m able to play dead for a while. 

 

Thirty-minutes should be enough to play dead, steal the money, and dip, right?

 

“W-why are you so calm? We're here to kill you.”

 

Puzzled by my calmness, the leader asked. 

 

“The reason I'm so calm is that you guys can't kill me.”

 

Shrugging my shoulders, I said while smirking.

 

These guys are probably low-level assassins judging by how they act. They don't seem to be a part of any organization either. Because If they were, they wouldn't have spent this much time talking and would have gone straight for the kill. Well, I'm thankful for him looking down on me, otherwise, I would’ve had a huge problem. 

 

“You son of a bitch!”

 

Hearing me insult him and his group, a flame of anger appeared in his eyes.

 

“We’ll see if we have the ability or not! Oh, and by the way, those two girls look pretty fine. Despite the employer not mentioning them, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind letting us get a little ‘taste’ after we finish killing you.”

 

“Haha! Is that so? Well, you better bring it! I'm gonna make you work for those 50 gold coins!"

 

I said while trying to hide the excitement in my eyes. I was originally going to let them off with a few disabilities but now I changed my mind.

 

I hope they had a nice meal today because today is going to be their last!

 

“You’re dead! Let’s get ‘em boys!”

 

At his command, he and the other three drew out their daggers and converged on me from both the front and back.

 

Not worried about those behind me, I push off the ground with my foot and head directly for the leader. 

 

“Agh!”

 

The leader tried to stab me with his dagger but I easily dodged to the right and grabbed his outstretched arm. Using mana to enhance my hands, I crush his wrist to make him drop the dagger before using the momentum of his attack to launch him towards the two bandits behind me, making them fall to the ground. 

 

Thinking that there was an opening, the assassin behind me tried to slash at me. Sensing this, I quickly dodge his attack before delivering a mana enhanced punch to the jaw.

 

CRACK!

 

The moment my fist connected with the assassin’s jaw, I felt and heard a faint but distinct breaking noise. I broke his right jaw. Not stopping there, I took the dagger that was now gripped loosely in his hands, stabbed him in the heart, cast [Gahenna’s Flame] on the dagger, and dragged it down his torso. This caused his chest and abdomen to open up and see his burnt and cauterized insides.

 

Then, the nauseating smell of burnt flesh starts wafting through the alleyway.

 

“Do you still want those 50 gold coins?”

 

Watching the body as it fell to the ground with a *thud* I ask casually as I picked up the other dagger that was dropped on the ground. The dagger I was using previously became molten metal.

 

Once I picked it up, I skillfully maneuvered the dagger in my hands. It's been a while since I used one of these. It used to be my main weapon when I was a hero.

 

As I step closer, the leader of the assassins takes a step back in fear. Good. This was the reaction I was looking for. To make your enemy fear you, you must make your first attack as brutal as possible.

 

"R-run away!”

 

He told the other three. But before they could do that...

 

“Not so fast “

 

“Hii!”

 

I released a little bit of my bloodlust at them, making them freeze up and shake in fear.

 

When I stepped closer to the group of three, they immediately got on their knees and started pleading.

 

“P-please spare us!”

 

“We'll tell you everything just spare us!”

 

“Please!”

 

Seeing this scene I couldn't help but look at them in disdain.

 

“Least have some backbone, you damn snitches. You give the people of this profession a bad name.”

 

As expected of low-level assassins, no scrubs, show them that you're stronger than them and they'll crumble apart. They put the word 'assassin' to shame.

 

If they were in the streets of Chicago, these guys wouldn't survive a single day.

 

“I want to ask you fou- I mean three a few questions. You have…. about ten minutes to tell me everything you know.”

 

Judging from my internal clock, it's been about 15 minutes since I separated from those two. And judging by their work ethic, they probably turned him in by now and are probably on their way back. 

 

I need to hurry up.

 

“W-we’ll tell you everything!”

 

“You better. I have no qualms killing two of you and torturing the other to get the information I want.”

 

I said coldly.

 

I'm not a person who will shy away from getting my hands dirty if I need to. And to prove my point I release more of my bloodlust onto them, making one of them drop to the floor, hyperventilate and pass out.

 

““Hii!””

 

“And then there were two. Better hurry up and spill it. Who's your employer?”

 

Although I already have an idea of who it is, I grab the leader by the neck, put him against the wall, and place the dagger in my hands across his cheek. I put a little bit of pressure on the blade and a small cut appears, causing blood to flow along the edge of the dagger.

 

“O-okay, our employer is some guy named Renaldo Yulsten.”

 

The leader confessed effortlessly.

 

“I knew it. Continue.”

 

Is he a dumbass or what? 

 

I can tell he's still wet behind the ears in doing this type of stuff.  Who in their right mind would use their real name to send out a hit in a person? Couldn't you use a different name like Ren, Aldo, or something like that? 

 

Also, couldn’t he have picked better assassins than this? I know an organization that has assassins way better than these guys. Should I recommend it to him?

 

Sigh, Patrick, you need to teach your son properly how to be a scumbag.

 

“A f-few days ago, he came to us and offered a way to make quick money. H-he told us that he'll give us 50 gold coins if we target you.”

 

“So, he planned this out a couple of days before… How did you know I was the target? You never saw my face before. Not to mention, Alice or Kari's.”

 

“On the same day he gave us the hit, he handed us a picture of you.”

 

“Let me see.”

 

“O-okay!.”

 

He said as he hurriedly dug into his back pocket. I wasn't worried he would try to sneak attack me, I've shown enough strength to tell him I could've killed him thousand times over.

 

“Here!”

 

Using his still able hand, he gave me a folded paper. Using my free hand, I unfold the paper.

 

On it was a realistically drawn portrait of me. Under my picture, there was the word 'kill' written.

 

“Are there any more portraits like this? What about Alice and Kari’s?”

 

“Who? Agh!”

 

At this stupid question, I punched him in the face. Angrily, I said.

 

“Those two girls, dumbass! Where are their pictures? Otherwise, how’d you know they were related to me.”

 

“I-I didn’t receive any. He only gave me a picture of you. I only knew they were close to you after we saw you guys going shopping.” 

 

Holding his bleeding nose with tears in his eyes, the leader fearfully said.

 

...I can’t hit him for that. It was a dumb question on my part.

 

“Next question. How did you know what carriage I was in?”

 

The streets were crowded with carriages so unless they had a definite way of knowing what carriage we were in, they wouldn’t have found out. 

 

So, how did they know?

 

“We found what carriage you were in by staking out the route you were taking. T-that shitbag Renaldo said that a carriage driven by this guy would be going there. We were to follow that carriage and kill the guy who was in it.”

 

The leader then takes out a few more pieces of paper. One was a drawing of the coachman and the other was of the route we were taking. 

 

...This couldn’t have been done by just Renaldo alone, he had some help as well. Because there’s no way detailed and secretive information such as this would’ve been known by him. After all, summoned heroes are treated as national treasures here. 

 

With the power they receive upon being summoned here, they’re Lunaria’s equivalent to Earth's nukes. If they were to get killed, it’d severely weaken a nation’s militaristic power. So, any danger directed at them is equivalent to wanting to fight a nation. Therefore, to keep them safe, information about them is strictly regulated.

 

So information as descriptive and detailed as this wouldn’t have gotten into the hands of Renaldo and these shit-for-brains unless somebody high up on the pyramid helped them. 

 

As for who that was, I don’t know yet. I’m suspecting it to be fat ass but I can’t rule out that there could be other conspirators as well.

 

 I am public enemy number one after all.

 

“Sigh, what a bunch of dumbasses. Going through all this trouble just to kill me. Should I be flattered?”

 

I stare at the leader with a smile. Awkwardly he said.

 

“Y-yes? Agh!” 

 

At his answer, I punched him in the face again.

 

“That was supposed to be rhetorical. Sigh, give me everything else you have like this.”

 

Stuffing the papers in my pocket, I demanded.

 

“Eh? Agh!”

 

Seeing his surprised look, I once again punch him in the face. His nose by now was crooked and a few of his front teeth were missing. Seeing him looking like this, I can’t help but want to throw another punch at him.

 

This guy has the kind of face I like to punch!

 

“Don't play dumb with me. I know how people like you think. You were going to use this as blackmail wasn't you? Trying to squeeze him for a little more coin. After all, he is still wet behind the ears. If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t have hired you. What? Don’t look at me like that. If you were professional killers, you wouldn’t be in this situation now, would you? And on the off-chance, you did kill me and extorted him. I doubt you guys would've lived through the week.”

 

My view of Renaldo is that of a snake. To me, he's a two-face, lustful coward. He'll act arrogant in front of the weak and turn docile in front of the strong. Especially when his life is in danger. And as you would expect from a snake, he'll attack when you least expect it. My view was further strengthened during this incident.

 

It seems the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. He’s becoming like his father.

 

For example, if this group of dumbasses succeeded in killing me and tried to extort more money from Renaldo, he'll comply. Although he was dressed in knight armor earlier today, I noticed he wasn’t all that very strong, maybe slightly above these guys.

 

However, that’s if it was a one-on-one fight.

 

If they decided to attack him together, he’d most definitely die or at least get gravely injured. After all, these guys are 'assassins’, they don’t have a sense of morals or ethics so they can kill him without thinking twice about it, even more so, since this hit was most likely done in secret. But the moment they let their guards down, Renaldo would send someone to get revenge.

 

I should know since I dealt with many people like him, both on Earth and here in Lunaria.

 

After getting all the contents from his pouch, I stuff them in my pocket. I'll go through these after I get back to the castle before asking what to do with these from the King.

 

“I appreciate the information.”

 

I said to the two as I pat the assassin leader on the back. These guys did a good job telling me the (already known) mastermind behind this, even handing me the evidence.

 

“S-so that means that you're gonna let us go?”

 

With a slightly frightful voice, the assassin leader asks me.

 

With a nod I reply.

 

“Yeah...to hell.”

 

“Eh?”

 

With a flick of my wrist, I sliced the throat of the other assassin. It wasn't until a few moments later that they realized what happened.

 

“Agh!”

 

Grasping the profusely bleeding wound on his neck, the assassin fell backward onto the ground before dying due to blood loss.

 

The whole time that happened, the eyes of the assassin displayed many emotions. Anger, hate, regret, before finally, sadness. 

 

The assassin died with eyes full of grievances at the world.

 

“W-why?”

 

The assassin leader asks with a voice full of fear and anxiety. And with an emotionless tone, I say to him while raising the dagger at him.

 

“Why? Because you threatened my family and friend. I wouldn't care if it was me but those two are a different story! If you were to succeed in killing me what would you have done to them?”

 

Although, I'm confident that they can handle themselves, just imagining what would've happened to those two if I died makes me wanna smash this guy's head into pieces!

 

“I-I…”

 

“I don't want to hear it! I know it's like the pot calling the kettle black but you're scum that deserves to die! Just be lucky that I'm giving you guys a slow but virtually painless death instead of a slow and painful one.”

 

Right after I finished saying that bit, I mercilessly stabbed the dagger into the assassin leader's chest, directly into the heart, and…

 

“[Gahenna's Flame]!”

 

Used that to destroy his heart as well as turn his insides to dust. 

 

“Agh!”

 

With a shriek, he slumped against the wall and slowly sat down. I heard his breathing getting fainter and fainter before finally disappearing. 

 

“He's dead. Good riddance.”

 

He died with eyes filled with nothing but reluctance to leave the world. But I didn't care. This guy was nothing but scum who deserved to die.

 

“Especially when he thought about raping Alice and Kari. Geez, although my moral compass isn't the most righteous one in the world, even I still know where to stop...Oh yeah, I can't forget about you."

 

Walking over to the assassin who passed from my bloodlust earlier, I mercilessly stomped on his neck, resulting in a barely audible *crack* to be heard.

 

He died without even knowing what happened.

 

"Now let's see what they had on them.”

 

I searched each of the assassins from head to toe, taking any items or money they had on their person.

 

“Quite the decent amount. I even found some cigarettes on one of you, talk about lucky. I feel even better about taking you guys out."

 

I said carefreely as I exited the alleyway with a few badly rolled cigarettes in my pocket and four pouches filled coins on my waist. 

 

I didn't have to worry about anybody finding those guys.

 

Because there was nothing left in that alleyway but ashes and dust.