“Really? I thought you wanted me to reveal myself?” I said to him, as he froze in what could either be confusion or fear--they sometimes looked the same when taken to the extreme.

I continued walking towards him, until I was only inches away, “What, did I frighten you that much?”

The hooded man may have been armed with a dagger, but that didn’t disrupt my calm; I knew I was the superior fighter here, especially since he didn’t even detect me until I released quite a bit of bloodlust.

With a mocking smirk, I gently knocked him on the forehead with my right hand.

But, he didn’t dare to make even the slightest movement.

“It’d be boring if you don’t have any reaction.” I hadn’t had fun with an enemy’s fear since I had been reborn--I didn’t do this when I was a young hero, but when I experienced the reality and fickleness of Humanity…the only reason I kept going in the end was because of my one surviving companion and of the wishes of my previous companions; I had long given up on the rest of Humanity.

“Well, I guess that it would be difficult to have an intelligent conversation with such an untimely guest.”

I folded my arms and gave him a cold look as I spoke again, “I’ll ask you one more time, and there’ll be no second chance.”

“...”

“If you answer, I’ll let you go.”

Note my wording: ‘Let you go’…not, ‘Let you live.’

“All I want to know is…” I narrowed my eyes at him, “…Why did you visit Lady Orelly’s bedroom?”

“...” His lips were trembling, and I don’t know if he had noticed.

The calm moonlight that lit the corridor began to fade.

***

“Young Master! Where are you? Young Master!” Ian abruptly entered the library room, obviously searching for me.

“Young Master!”

I was laying on one of the couches with a book over my face--I had taken this position so that Ian wouldn’t know that I was awake…I didn’t want to sleep; the memories were getting more intense, and now the person I trusted the most, the only one who could comfort me--my mother--was unconscious.

“Young Master, wake up!” Ian’s voice was just over me.

“Ah, what?  What is it now?” I removed the book, acting as though half asleep and rubbed my eyes, “If you want to talk about the sword again…”

I meant it--if he wanted to nag me about the sword again…I really wasn’t in the mood.

“I will get back to that later. But, it’s not what’s important right now!” He paused, “A body was found in the mansion.”

They acted a little faster than I expected, though I didn’t try to hide my bloodlust or the scene of the battle. But now was the time to play innocent.

“Hmm?” I cocked my head at him and faked incomprehension.

“A body! A corpse!”

I tried to look at him with an expression of doubt, “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Haah…” Ian sighed, I could see barely concealed discontent and annoyance in his eyes.

It was obvious that my playing coy worked this time.

“I’m glad I made it in time.” He mumbled to himself.

“A better explanation, please?” I rolled my eyes at his annoyance.

“An unknown man, dressed all in black, was found--right in front of Lady Orelly’s room.” He paused and quickly glanced around the library room as though making sure no one could overhear, “It seems that Count Stein has heard of Lady Iris’ condition as well. The entire mansion is being turned upside-down.”

A stranger had managed to sneak into the mansion.

Poison had been found in the soup of one of the Count’s wives.

Although a body was found, it was impossible to say with confidence that this was the only invader.

Of course, the reason Ian had mumbled about making it in time was because he obviously meant to ensure my safety from the unknown assassins.

“In any case, it is dangerous for you to be alone.” His expression was strange, almost bittersweet, “I do not believe that you could survive even the weakest and badly trained assassin apprentice.”

He was trying to goad me into taking action, learning the sword, not trying to encourage me to try and take on assassins on my own--he may be an annoying old man, but he didn’t hate me.

“Hmm.” I looked back at the book I was holding, a great book about the Mythology of this world, “I guess it’s got nothing to do with me then.”

“Pardon?”

“You can go. I hope, for your sake, that you didn’t leave Mother alone.” I couldn’t help but have a little anger leak into my voice; if he had done that, I would be angry. I knew that there were no more assassins, but if there were, mother was most likely their target.

Ian twitched, “Y-Young Master, did you listen to what I said?”

“Yeah, I heard. But it has nothing to do with me right?” I looked up at Ian, “They targeted Mother last time.”

The way his old wrinkled face reddened, it showed that Ian was getting angry because of what he thought was an indifferent attitude.

“Just what is…!”

“Ah, wait!”

Ian stopped.

“I almost forgot.” I snapped my fingers and took something from my pocket, “Here, take these.”

“...?”

What I gave Ian was a handful of seeds.

“These are…?”

“Use them to make some tea for Mother. They should be pretty effective. Don’t lose them, they are quite rare.”

“W-When…?”

“Just now. I was tired from trying to find these, so I tried to take a nap…and then you suddenly burst in.”

“...”

I lay back on the couch and covered my eyes with the book--entering a meditative state, one that hid tiredness instead of cured it…I would need to sleep quite a bit tomorrow.

***

“We have searched every nook and cranny of this estate, even with our Mana senses. He was the only invader.” The first son, Ryan, spoke while looking down at the corpse.

The second son, Lloyd, followed, “To invade on his own, and without a weapon as well, he must have underestimated us quite a bit.”

Count Stein, who had been listening to his sons, scanned the area for any evidence; he had thought of another possibility.

“Or perhaps, there’s an accomplice of his within the mansion.”

“...”

The body was found right in front of Lady Orelly’s room, so she had no choice but to join in on the investigation.

‘Impossible…’

She looked pale with worry, her ice-like skin becoming almost translucent. But if anyone knew what was going on in her head, they would notice that she was worried for the exact opposite reasons than what could be expected.

The assassin that she had called, in secret, had been killed instead…and placed in front of her room.

It was no small matter.

“Judging from the way he is dressed, he is likely either a thief, or someone from the Assassin’s Guild. Should we start from there?”

“Of course! Search all the lands, starting from Iffa village! How dare they challenge us by setting foot in the Iphelleta mansion!” Count Stein ground his teeth and swore to catch the person responsible for this.

‘Just how did this…’

Lady Orelly gulped in fear.

While she was afraid of her temperamental husband--the worst thing was that something was missing from the body; a dagger with the Guild’s Seal on it.

The dagger which should have been on his waist had vanished.

It would have been convenient if the evidence was destroyed by the assassin himself, but there was very little chance that that had happened, judging from the state of his body.

‘Then, who?’