After looking at the chapter again, I realized that this part will likely be split into five or six parts, so enjoy my combat scenes.

Oh, and I decided to put up this chapter a little early since I won’t be able to put it up later, so…

Chapter 5: In The Dead Of Night

Sophia

 

“There’s so many people there…” I muttered. I was so nervous. Tonight, alongside a large group of over 100 people, I was supposed to go inside this powerful noble’s mansion and help kill everyone. 

But why though? I knew my dad didn’t like me and thought I was useless, but why would he send me to do stuff like this? This town was so nice, and even though so many more people had just shown up in tatters and blood, everyone seemed so happy. Everyone was helping out the new guys, helping them recover and already working on building new homes for them, even getting them food and water for free. It was almost like this town was practically full of saints.

On top of that, even though we barely saw the man who ruled this territory, this Margrave Murus person, apparently he was the one who brought every single person here. The people of the town were praising him as practically almighty and even like he was a saint. I’d never seen anything like this.

My dad had been complaining about this person a lot since he got his position a few years ago, but why would he try to have such a wonderful person killed? Why? Was he in the way? No, he was probably jealous. My dad had always been a vain man. As the head of the Baham Family, a marquis family, he had massive influence in the country. He worked hard to get it. I wasn’t sure, but maybe… he didn’t like seeing someone walk into town and take a seat he dedicated his life to?

But I still thought that this was taking it too far. Not to mention, this was overkill! I didn’t want to see someone like this get killed. Plus, with as powerful as he was said to be, why would so many people gather to take him on? Why would they try to kill all of these people? To hurt him? 

I didn’t want to take part in this. I didn’t at all… but I couldn’t disobey my father. He was so cruel… going so far as to brand me with a curse… If that weren’t enough, he already abused me. I don’t know how many times my body has felt the weight of my father’s fists and feet. I couldn’t do anything against him. I couldn’t fight back nor oppose him. I was too afraid of him to try, and because of that, I ended up cursed with a Slave Brand. Now, if I disobeyed, I’d be paralyzed and feel intense pain.

I only tried once to oppose him with this brand, but when I did, I was in agonizing pain! I could only cry on the floor and wet myself through the pain. I couldn’t even scream. My head felt like it was ripping apart! If that weren’t bad enough, my father even sent a leering gaze my way. I was far more terrified than I ever had been. For once, I was glad he called me a failure. It was because of that that he didn’t use me, or so he said.

My father was a disgusting man. I wanted to see him broken and battered like he did to me, but I couldn’t do anything! He hated me because I was his only daughter and wasn’t useful as a political tool, so he did all this to me! I hoped that one day, he would get what was coming to him.

If this man was a saint… Please, I begged in my head, Save Me!

“Sophia, the meeting is about to begin,” a knightly sounding woman nearby said.

I turned and faced the voice, wiping away the tears that were forming in my eyes, and saw my old friend, Josephine de Peur. She was a tough woman who was only a few years older than me at 22 years old. Her long blue hair was tied in a braid over her shoulder, and for once, she wasn’t in the usual light armor I saw her in. This time, she was in a skin tight outfit with a hood that hung on her neck. On her waist, rather than the typical longsword she had on her, she had a pair of daggers. She also had a full face mask with intricate and rather creepy designs hanging beside one of her daggers.

This was the first time I’d ever seen her like this. It made me question whether she was a noble or even a knight. She seemed too used to things like this. She was ordinarily meant to watch over me, like a Hawk over prey. But she was the only friend I had. She was the only person who talked to me like a normal person. She even ignored the fact that I became a slave. My Ruby eyes didn’t bother her at all. 

“Miss Josephine…”

“Everyone’s gathered, and it looks like the attack will begin once the sun goes down.”

“…I see…”

Ignoring my gloom, Josephine grabbed me by my hands, which I held to my chest, and pulled me back inside.

Looking at myself, I couldn’t help but think I looked ridiculous. I was petite and had a small chest, but in this skin suit, they seemed so prominent. I also had a dagger at my waist. Even my hair, dirty and disgraced from abuse, was so long it reached my waist. I could see it hanging freely over my shoulders, over my eyes. My bangs were so prominent that I’d have to move them away from my eyes to see clearly.

Perhaps that’s why I wasn’t given a mask? My hair? That, or my dad didn’t care who saw me. After all, who would care if some random person who didn’t even appear noble died while trying something as barbaric as murder. Nobody would give it a second thought.

Josephine led us into the building which looked like a storage house. Inside, it was rather large. We didn’t usually meet in one place, and we stayed separated from most of the others. But when it was time to strike, the leader said that they’d gather everyone in one specified location to discuss the plan.

…How sick was it that I was here to learn how to assassinate people. I almost wondered if my dad was going to lock me up in a secluded prison and only use me as a tool after this… He said to make myself useful for once. If only… I had strength…

Josephine led me into the large room where every single assassin stood silent, facing forward. Some had their hoods up and masks on. Some had daggers, some had swords, and some were completely unarmed. Yet not a single person here looked inexperienced. Every one of them didn’t even show an ounce of murderous intent nor interest in each other or their business.

“Listen up people!” the leader began. His appearance was nothing special, but the presence he gave off compared to the rest… He was definitely a leader. “Our target is the noble who lives in this mansion. He’s a fellow member of the Assassin’s Guild that we’ve referred to as The Nonexistent.” 

“The Nonexistent?!”

“That’s impossible! He’s our target?”

“Amazing…”

I had never heard that name before. The Nonexistent. Much less was I aware of our target’s affiliation with this group. We were going to kill someone they already knew? But why would they do that?

“For those of you unaware of who The Nonexistent is, he’s a man who joined us four and a half years ago. He appeared one day and instantly became the guildmaster’s favorite. His reputation exceeds him. On top of that, he is also known as the adventurer called Indestructible Murus.”

“Indestructible Murus?!”

I was even aware of that name. An adventurer so strong, so powerful, that he had never been scratched. Even when he took attacks head on, they said, he would stand there, unmoving, unyielding, like the strongest wall in the world. In a match between an unstoppable force and an immovable object, he would be the immovable object.

“Now I know you’re all wondering. Why are we taking this job? As you know, our creed is to only take jobs that we believe are for the good of mankind. Almost everyone in the guild operates this way! Yet even so, I find it unacceptable for someone like him to suddenly appear and upstage us in every way! We have been in the business for years! For some of us, decades! Why should we let some brat like this act as if he’s better than us?”

There were scattered murmurs amongst the assassins, many of them seeming to agree with him. But he reminded me of my dad. He just wanted him dead for being better than him. For being the favorite. I couldn’t help but feel disgust for this man.

“So it’s a grudge then…” Josephine said under her breath. The expression on her face told me all I needed to know. She didn’t want to be here. She thought this was wrong. She disagreed with the leader.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t back out of this. It was an order from my father that she accompany us. She couldn’t refuse. And she wouldn’t leave me here by myself. I’m so sorry…

As I internally apologized to Josephine, the leader continued.

“Right now, he has left the building. It’s unknown when he’ll return. However, our client didn’t only want his head! He wanted everyone who lived in that house to be a target! Nobody would live!

“This leads to another question. Why so many of us? This is in case his subordinates catch on to our plans. Apparently, each person who lives in that house is supposedly a fearsome person in their own right. So if we are discovered, we’ll simply overwhelm them! They won’t be able to stop us! No matter how strong they are!”

““““Yeah!!!””””

All of the assassins cheered for him, agreeing with his words. But I couldn’t help but disagree. This didn’t make sense to me. Whether I liked it or not, I had to be here and take part. I knew I was weak. And yet, while many of the people here felt experienced, none of them seemed like anyone all too strong. The leader and Josephine aside, were they going to throw themselves into the crossfire to let their friends attack? Sacrifices?

But if these people were that strong, would they even care? Wouldn’t they just ignore that and kill the next person anyways? After all, they had no reason to hold back. We didn’t exactly have hostages to use against them.

“From what we can tell, one of the targets is going to be taking a walk this evening, the child known as Michaela Hombell.”

There’s a child in there?! I could barely maintain my shock at hearing this. We were even going to kill children? Did these people not have any morals?

“When she leaves, one team is going to follow and ambush her from the shadows. This team will have ten people, led by Miss Josephine.”

Even though her eyes looked disgusted, Josephine placed her fist on her chest and lightly bowed.

“The rest of us will split into teams of fifteen, and we will enter from different entrances on various floors, including the front and back doors. Thanks to my blessing, See Through, I can tell what floors everyone will be on. And as it stands, nearly everyone is scattered amongst the floors, keeping to their own business.”

See Through. I’d heard of this blessing before. It supposedly was given to a former noble of the Evernast Kingdom, and it allowed him to see through solid objects. My mother mentioned how useful he would be.

However, this noble mysteriously vanished one day. When people learned of his blessing, they were quick to cast him out. They didn’t want someone who could easily become a spy walking the corridors of different nobles’ houses. They didn’t want him becoming a thief either. After that, he was never seen or heard from again.

Was that our leader? He certainly didn’t look like a noble, but it had been many years since then, so maybe he looked much less scraggly and much more proper in the past.

“I will assign the different captains to each team. Those captains can then assign whomever they choose to join them. If there is anyone remaining after that, they will join Miss Josephine’s group. As for myself, I will lead the charge into the back door leading into the kitchen.”

After that, everyone began to prepare. Everyone except for me. I didn’t want to do this, and I wanted to be involved as little as possible, so I stepped outside for fresh air. I looked around to see that the lights of the street lamps were lit. Darkness was creeping in since the sun had already set, so it wouldn’t be long before the mission would begin.

“Sophia,” Josephine quietly called from behind. I turned back to face her, only to see her apologetic eyes staring into mine. “I’m so sorry you had to be involved in this.”

“…”

“I’ve been familiar with this business since I was a girl. For me, it was my only life. Even if the de Peur family fell from Grace, the assassins became my family. But I never wanted this life for you. I’ve been waiting, plotting, hoping for a chance so that I might kill your father for you.”

“!”

What did she say?! Josephine’s eyes were dead serious. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Why would she do something like that? Why would she do something so foolish, so difficult?

“I was hired as your bodyguard, to protect you from people who might pry into the family’s history. Nobody was supposed to know anything about you whatsoever. Nobody would come for you. That was my job.”

She’d basically just told me that she was my prison guard rather than my bodyguard. I couldn’t believe that she was even willing to take the job. And yet, she was saying this?

“It’s gotten to the point where I want to protect you from all possible harm. I’ve been searching for a way to undo your curse. If it meant slaying your father- no, your entire family, I was prepared to do it!” Her words were made fiercer when she grabbed her daggers. It was moving that she cared about me so much, but…

“But it seems that I might be too late. Depending on what happens tonight, you may never escape from your father’s clutches, and I may never get a chance to protect you from him. But no matter the case, if I get separated from you here, I will come back and save you. At this point, I am ready to end your family for you!”

Seeing her resolve made me smile somewhat. I absolutely hated my family. None of them would save me, even though they knew what my father was doing. One of my brothers was just like my father, and there’d been a few times where I’d seen him leering at me. If they had to die, I wouldn’t lose a wink of sleep. Even if this curse prevents me from killing myself, I would find a way to do it before that nasty bastard or anyone else could defile me.

But still, I couldn’t respond to Josephine. I wanted her to do it, but at the same time, I was afraid she might fail. She might get arrested and even killed. I didn’t want that.

“I-I…”

“Everyone! Get ready to move! Hombell is leaving!” the leader called out to us.

Having heard his voice, both Josephine and I returned inside and got into our groups. I wanted to answer Josephine, but that would have to wait. This was going to be a long and painful night. I just hoped… that everything tonight would be forgotten…

~~~

Josephine and the others had on their masks, leaving me as the only one with my face exposed. By the time our groups were assigned, we ended up with 23 people on our team. Somehow, we ended up having basically an entire squad join ours. I guess we just had too many people.

Still, all of us were now hidden in the shadows of alleys, the rooftops, simply blending in where we could. At the moment, we were tailing a young girl. She couldn’t have been older than 8. Except, she was dressed as regally as a queen, even if it was too big for her. I would have expected a grown woman to wear something like this fancy red and black outfit, topped with a bonnet. But on this child? It just didn’t seem to match for me.

We watched her from various distances, most of us staying far away. We watched as she looked through the crowds of people. Compared to the daytime, at night, the number of people on the streets was beginning to wane. Much less crowded, and harder to hide in. 

Still, there were some stalls and stores open at this time. Thanks to the street lights, they didn’t have to worry as much about being robbed. They did look like they would close soon, though.

Hombell walked around the stalls and stores, looking at various products such as foods and clothing. It was like she was a young innocent child window shopping… except she didn’t really seem interested in what anybody had. It brought a few questions to my mind. What was she interested in? She was still a child, after all. Perhaps clothing didn’t interest her?

Of course, it was hard to tell. The dress she was wearing was surprisingly fancy. Was that her choice? Was that her master’s? Her parents’? The expression on her face showed that she clearly didn’t seem to care about what she was looking at. Her interests must have lied elsewhere.

But then, she gave the same face to every food she looked at. Observing, but lacking interest. I was starting to wonder what it was that this child was interested in. Maybe… if instead of killing her, we could harbor her somewhere, we might find out?

I realized this was just hopeful thinking, but I couldn’t help but feel like I wanted to help this little girl find something interesting. Even if I couldn’t escape my fate, I wanted to help her escape hers.

But looking at my comrades, whose faces were covered, I could tell that they would not relent. They had their jobs, and I was to help them. That was my order. This girl had to die.

For another ten minutes, we followed Hombell as she walked down the same path. Not once did she take a turn anywhere. Every now and then, we would see her stop and stare at something, but like the clothing and foods from before, her expression never changed. It was like a momentary fancy that faded as soon as it appeared.

That said, however, every now and then, she would look at the pedestrians that were on the road, the number of which was shrinking fewer and fewer as time went on. Her gaze would linger more often on these people than at objects. Perhaps she was looking for someone? Maybe she saw people she was familiar with?

Whatever the case, her expression still didn’t waver. It was like her eyes were appraising everything, almost as if she were a merchant. And her gaze lingering on people, it was as if she were putting a price on them as well. Maybe she had been around slaves growing up.

I watched as she continued with this farce until there was almost nobody left on the streets. There were a few here and there now, but they were mostly empty. We were pretty far from the mansion, but I somehow knew that things were already underway. I could only hope that somebody survived.

Wait, where is she going? I thought this as I watched Hombell for the first time take a corner. It looked like it was some back alley. Perhaps she knew a shortcut to where she was going?

Even though I thought that, I couldn’t help but feel like something was wrong here. Why did she take a straight path from the mansion all the way, far away down here? Why now of all times? There weren’t many people on the streets anymore, and nothing was blocking our view. She was clearly in our sights. My unease started to build.

At present, I was hiding behind a corner, standing side by side with Josephine. My unease wouldn’t settle, so I asked her, “Does something… feel wrong…?”

Josephine, though hidden behind her mask, seemed to be thinking the same thing as me. She was contemplating, her head tilted forward, and her hand was covering where her mouth would be. “…It does… yet I don’t sense anything.”

“Wh-What do you think?”

“It feels as though we’re being led somewhere…”

Our quiet conversation was cut short when we heard a short whistle from one of our nearby allies. He was on the rooftop bordering the alley, peering down from above.

“But we can’t falter. The signal has been given.” With those words, she raised her hand and closed it in a fist. If this were a trap, we’d be falling right in it.

With Josephine’s signal, all of the assassins converged at either end of the alleyway and on top of the roofs above it. Josephine and I, however, remained in our positions. We were to watch and observe in case something went wrong.

And like my instincts were telling me, something wrong happened.

“Ma’am,” one of the assassins appeared behind the two of us, startling me enough to have made a timely squeak, “Eh!”

The assassin paid it no heed and made his report. “Hombell vanished from the alleyway!”

“Vanished?”

Were we led here on purpose? Did Hombell know she was being followed? But she was a kid! Wait, maybe it was because she was a kid that she noticed. After all, kids were more aware of their surroundings than adults were.

Even so, how did she manage to disappear? Was there a hidden door somewhere? Did she call for someone to collect her? For a moment, I couldn’t help but feel… somewhat happy. She managed to escape us. Yet at the same time, this feeling of unease only intensified. Why wouldn’t it go away?

“The alleyway is completely sealed off. No windows, doors, secret passages, or otherwise. Only the open ends that led to the streets.”

Then there was nothing?

“Can she use Conjuring? Or maybe it’s someone who knows Conjuring that came to get her while we were distracted.”

If it was that case, did that mean something was going wrong at the mansion? Or rather, maybe it was the opposite. Were things going well over there and someone managed to escape?

A thousand questions only continued to pile up in my mind. But while I was distracted with that, Josephine looked back to the alleyway and said, “I’ll go investigate. Miss Sophia, with me.”

“Y-Yes!”

All of us proceeded towards the alley, only to find exactly what we were told. Nothing. It was a simple pathway. Neither too narrow nor too wide. There were no windows or doors. If you looked up, you would see the open sky. And if you looked forward, you would see an unobstructed path to the other side of the alley. And past that was an open street. 

Aside from that, there wasn’t even a single barrel, trash bin, or even a scrap of food on the ground. In all honesty, it was too clean. It really said a lot about this town, especially with how big it was. And yet at the same time, this was still just too suspicious.

I instinctively took a step back as Josephine took a step forward. “~~~~, Peering.”

Peering Conjuring, as Josephine described it to me, was a very simple form of conjuring that nearly anybody could learn. Without a chant or even its name being called, one could see how much Ether was in a person’s body. Although, that was only after having mastered it. You’d still need to say the chant or name when first learning it.

When one was advanced enough with it, however, using the chant allowed someone to see Ether in the air. Apparently, Ether was everywhere to begin with, being more concentrated in certain places than others. But on the ground was ordinarily where it was the thinnest. As such, any obstructions and alterations caused by Conjuring could be seen with Peering Conjuring. If someone cast a spell recently, the user would know.

I only knew this because Josephine told me about it once, sometime after she began watching over me. So I knew as soon as she began chanting that she was checking to see whether a Conjuring spell was cast here.

As soon as she was done checking, I heard her gasp before saying, “There was definitely a spell cast here, but the Ether here is incredibly thick!!!”

Thick? Really? Did this girl have that much power for Josephine to be shocked? Then why-

While my mind was about to overload with questions again, however, I suddenly felt something tugging at my feet. “Ah!”

“Geh!”

“L-Let go!”

“W-What is this?!”

“N-No!”

“Eh!”

“Agh!”

I looked around to see the others around me, all exclaiming with me. And when I saw them, all I could see was darkness, which had crept across the ground and turned it black, having risen from the ground and wrapped around their feet. Nobody could move.

And when I looked down at my own feet, that same darkness had grabbed me! Not just that, but it was steadily crawling up my body! What is this!? No! Please! “S-Stop!”

“Curses! This was a trap the whole time!” Josephine suddenly spat out, her voicing spiking up in volume. The darkness had even claimed her legs as well! And not just her legs, her waist and weapons, as well as her hands that were reaching for them, were all captured by the sudden surge of darkness.

As my panic was steadily rising alongside my comrades’, we were suddenly left struggling silently as we listened to a doll-like voice, “Hehehehehehe,” laughing as if it were cute.

This laugh, which sounded almost innocent, was beyond creepy. It was terrifying! It was like a child’s laugh, playing a game and having fun. It reminded me of the scary stories I had once heard when I was very little. Ones where porcelain dolls which shouldn’t have the ability to move were laughing at everything as they walked around. It was as if I was dragged into one of my worst nightmares as a child.

“Hehehehehe. Hehehehehehehehe! Hehehehehe! Hehehehe!” As the laugh continued to echo through the alleyway, the darkness had managed to crawl its way to our necks, not daring to let us go. My panic was at its peak as I cried. “No! Please! Let me go! I don’t want to die yet!”

And yet, “Hehehehehehe!” the laughter continued. As the darkness finally crawled over my head and sucked me in, the black void covering my vision, I could faintly hear that same voice say, “You’re all mine now, hehe.”

And then, my consciousness faded, those words echoing in my mind.

Next chapter will be Saturday, December 9th.