Kazue POV 

  

  

  

  

""Hahahaha!"" <Calm & Kazue> 

Having to find the situation funny, I and Calm laughed ourselves out. 

We somehow managed to get inside the city without much problem. 

Well... the guard almost found us out back there. 

Thanks to the gift miss Alicia gave me before, I was able to escape being caught. 

  

  

Then... 

It did not take long for this happy atmosphere to fade. 

"What's so funny?" <Man's Voice> 

A voice echoed behind us. 

I did not expect a sudden turn of events. 

A certain chill flowed down my back. 

I was aware of this feeling. 

[Danger] 

In 6 months of being in this world, I've learned a lot. 

I have learned to trust my instincts. 

I saved a lot of time by trusting my instinct. 

And now, my instinct is calling out to me. 

It is screaming "danger". 

  

  

[Sh*t... So... things didn't turn out to be perfect... huh.] 

A man was wearing a suspicious black cloak that covers most of his body to hide his face. 

He suddenly appeared behind us as we were laughing. 

Kaori, Hayate, and Isamu turned and face the man. 

They showed him their fangs and growled aggressively. 

At the same time, I placed myself between the man and Calm. 

I made sure to hide Calm behind me. 

I pulled my sword out of its sheathe and pointed my sword at the man. 

I activated my skill [Concentrate] and came in full alert. 

  

  

"First of all, I want to compliment you on what you did. Who would have expected that the Saint would enter the city in broad daylight and manage to get into the city without being detected? To tell you the truth the both of you almost got away. No one was able to recognize you with that outfit... Saint-sama." <Man's Voice/Assassin> 

He gave Calm a respectful bow. 

At one glance you could say that this man was paying his respect. 

... That is if you are not aware of the situation. 

His eyes were giving off a killing intent. 

Without a doubt, this man is one of those people who want her dead. 

This act of him is probably a sarcastic way to express his true intentions. 

  

  

"Kukuku. Seriously... you two almost got us good. I even heard of a report 2 days ago that there is a high chance that the saint is already dead. 

HAHAHA, I see... so those torn clothes and hair were just a distraction. If not for the fact that I possess the skill [Appraisal] you would have gotten away. That disguise of yours is something." <Assassin> 

[I see, so this guy has the "Appraisal" skill. Tsk... Well... it's not as if she got caught because her disguise was a failure. Aa~ If not because of that skill we could have escaped without being caught.] 

"Calm, hide behind me." <Kazue> 

I instructed Calm while carefully protecting her. 

I made sure that the man will not be able to reach her without getting past me. 

  

  

"Saint-sama, please, I ask you to obediently follow me." <Assassin> 

"No." <Calm> 

[Well... of course, she will not do so... after all that happened...] 

The man sigh and pulled a crystal out of his pocket and dropped it on the floor. 

When the crystal touched the floor... 

The surrounding suddenly changed. 

It was as if everything suddenly had the tint of "red". 

I was surprised as this was the first time I'd seen this happen. 

  

  

"What?" <Kazue> 

"Oh, Miss adventurer, you look surprised? Is this your first time inside an (Isolation Barrier)?" <Assassin> 

"(Isolation Barrier)?" <Kazue> 

"Oh my? Are you not aware of what this is.... ahahahahahaha! This is the first time I've encountered someone who's not even aware of what an Isolation barrier is?" <Assassin> 

[SHUT UP, If you're also an otherworlder like me you will not be aware of this kind of thing too. What Isolation Barrier? well... the name of the skill itself is very self-explanatory. If this is what I think it is, there's no way I should expect a backup... Well... that also applies to him though.] 

"Hah... I see... then, let me explain this to you. An Isolation barrier is a skill that - bla- bla- bla-" <Assassin> 

For some reason, the man started explaining every little detail to me. 

As expected, the item that the man dropped to have activated this (Isolation Barrier). 

Putting the explanation of the man in simple words, it was a spell that separates a small area from reality and isolates the people within its range. 

I don't know if he was trying to boast about his knowledge or something. 

I bet if this goes on he will start telling the story of his life. 

[-sigh- This is why most of the villains fail in their objectives... Well... I am annoyed seeing some bad guy explaining every little detail of their plan to their target. What a cliche, If it was me I would just attack and secure my target swiftly and be done right away. ] 

I inadvertently rolled my eyes and sighed. 

  

  

"I should thank you for ---" <Assassin> 

I interrupted him while he was in the middle of his speech. 

"Uhmmm... Can you shut up?" <Kazue> 

"huh?" <Man's Voice> 

The man muttered, confused. 

"You keep on talking and talking. Are you aware that you are practically wasting time? Explaining everything like I'm some kind of a kid. We all know what you're after and I will not allow you to do what you want. To be honest... it's annoying." <Kazue> 

"HUH??!!" <Man's Voice> 

The man muttered again, this time angrily. 

It seems that he was not happy about me, not taking this action of his seriously. 

  

  

"AHAHAHAHAHA! Amusing! HOW AMUSING! You're really funny, miss Adventurer." <Assassin> 

He sounded angry. 

"Really? I found your action funnier though..." <Kazue> 

The man was bothered. 

He was visibly annoyed. 

I feel that there was an imaginary bulge of blood vessels on his head. 

He continued to talk. 

[As I said, don't bother with those little chit-chats. If you're going to attack just attack... Just like this.] 

"Alright! I decided I'm going to---!!!" <Assassin> 

  

  

  

(Burst) 

At that moment, I did not waste time and attacked in the middle of his monologue. 

"Kuhuk!!!" <Assassin> 

He barely managed to pull out his sword from within his cloak to block my attack. 

Being caught off guard he was forced to fight on the defensive. 

I continually rushed my attack not letting him get his momentum. 

  

  

I am aware that this guy was no joke. 

According to my instinct, he was dangerous. 

Dangerous... but not to the point that I felt afraid. 

Compared to Miss Alicia and Lavi Onee-sama, he's a weakling... 

Well... using those two is unfair since compared to them I am also considered a weakling. 

Anyway, I knew that I have a chance to win against this guy. 

In the first place, If I ever felt that I had no chance of winning I would have fled right away. 

  

  

I decided to initiate the battle myself. 

It would be disadvantageous for me If he would be the one attacking instead. 

It would be hard to protect Calm while fighting an opponent of his caliber. 

Using the telepathic connection between me and my familiar, I instructed them to protect Calm. 

Did so because I was cautious of the possibility that he had an ally hiding nearby. 

I doubt that is the case but... 

Just to be sure I instructed them to circle Calm. 

  

  

Our swords collide. 

Sparks were flying in the air. 

He wanted to change the flow of battle but I would not let him. 

"TSK... You b*tch!!!" <Assassin> 

I answered his angered yell with a confident smile. 

[Don't blame me, it's your fault for keeping your mouth blabbering. Don't mind me~] 

Seeing this the man yelled... 

"DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME!" <Assassin> 

He unleashed a skill, a burst of pressure created a gust of wind that pushed me back for a moment. 

I know that skill, I've seen it many times before. 

(Howl), the same skill that my familiar had. 

  

  

Fighting this guy, I realized. 

I am surprisingly calm. 

I am not fazed. 

This guy I'm fighting is about as strong as I am. 

And yet I was surprisingly... relaxed. 

I was confident in myself and I knew that I could defeat him somehow. 

  

  

"Fufufu... Miss adventurer... do you know what's the difference between you and me? Unlike adventurers who are accustomed to fighting monsters, "we", the members of the Assassin's Order are accustomed to fighting humans. You---" 

(Burst) 

Once again I attacked and rushed. 

[What the hell? this guy finally managed to pull himself away from my attacks. Why does he still insist on talking? Is he that Stupid?] 

Well... This time around he was not pushed into the defensive. 

He was able to fight back. 

[At the very least he was able to learn. Hmnn... I guess... he's not that stupid? That's too bad.] 

  

  

Anyhow... 

I do get what he is trying to say. 

Adventurers are accustomed to fighting monsters. 

That is true, but I was traveling with Miss Alicia and my former Classmates for the past month. 

During that time, I would spar with Miss Alicia every day. 

I think because of that, it was not awkward for me to fight against another human. 

  

  

Even before I got transported into this world, I had some experience fighting real people. 

I often sparred with Mizuko during club meetings as a member of the kendo club. 

I know, fighting a real battle is different. 

But... sparring would teach you a thing or two. 

I've experienced sparring against some fellow adventurers before. 

I even had a simple fight with a party member of the "Hero". 

Not to mention that I've been sparring with Miss Alicia as we traveled to Vestir. 

Well... Miss Alicia was no "Human", she was a monster... 

I also experienced fighting against Lavi onee-sama, a monster of miss Alicia's caliber. 

Comparing this man to those two monsters, he is nothing but trash. 

  

  

4 months ago. 

I got some special lessons from a senpai adventurer back in the city of Luron. 

It was after a dungeon raid that I joined for money. 

Lavi Onee-sama has personally guided me to learn some "Skills". 

Thanks to Lavi Onee-sama's efforts I managed to learn some skills. 

Skills such as: 

(Precognition), a skill I obtained after she forced me to predict her attack while being blindfolded. 

(Pain Resistance), a skill I obtained after enduring physical torture 

(Mental Resistance), a skill I obtained after enduring physical torture 

(Final Breaths), a skill I obtained after being on the brink of death several times during training. 

(Dodge), (Speed Boost), (Air Step), (Accelerate), and (Swift), are skills I obtained after trying to run away from deadly attacks. 

No... I think I remember desperately running away for my life at that time... 

Ughh... Let's forget about that. 

To think that my only purpose was to learn the skill (Sword Skill: Sword Wave). 

I ended up learning awesome skills such as (Sword Skill: Power Slash I), and (Katana Skill: Iai I), in the process. 

Lavi-onee sama became too excited and ended up pushing me to learn a bunch of skills. 

It's useful though. 

If I have fought this guy 4 months ago, there's no doubt I would lose. 

  

  

I am confident. 

Despite this being my first real fight I am not perturbed. 

After all the things I've experienced during the 6 months, I've been living in this world. 

I've learned how to stay calm at times like this. 

I knew I'd gotten stronger since I arrived in this world. 

I trust my instinct. 

I know I can defeat this guy. 

  

  

 

  

  

Hmmm? 

How was I able to learn that much in such a short time? 

Lavi has explained this to me before. 

There is this so-called "Affinity" to be able to learn and level up certain skills. 

If one has no "Affinity" to learn a specific skill He/she will not be able to learn it. 

You can even say that learning a skill is a "talent". 

I guess, Lavi Onee-sama had a perfect grasp of my "Affinity" and thus she was able to unlock a lot of skills for me to learn. 

I guess Lavi Onee-sama was just that good as a teacher. 

I never gained any new skills after I learned under her. 

But well... If what it takes to learn the skill is by undergoing "that" experience, most people would escape at all costs. 

And that includes me... 

  

  

-clang- 

The sound of a clashing sword pulled me out of my wandering thoughts. 

My thoughts wandered for some time. 

But even after that, my body automatically moved and reacted to every attack thrown in my direction. 

Doing this is like second nature to me now. 

Anyway... what I want to say is that I am no stranger to fighting humans. 

If there's something I am not used to, that would be "Killing" an individual. 

But... if I am forced to do so, I think... I think... I could do it... Hopefully. 

[So... Assassin-san, don't force me Okay? But... sigh... if I don't kill him here he would become a problem later.] 

  

  

As our fight went on, it became easier and easier for me to deal with him. 

It was as if I was able to learn how he fought and little by little he was becoming more predictable. 

At this point, he was fighting me with all he had but to no avail. 

I think he realized that It would be hard for him to win this battle. 

As a result, he's starting to become desperate. 

I think he did not expect this to happen at all. 

Well... I could understand why. 

Gauging him as we exchanged blows, I think in terms of pure "Stats" he's above me. 

I guess... 

With his [Appraisal] Skill, he must have assumed that defeating me would not be a problem. 

I may sound arrogant here but he's not so skilled as a fighter. 

The fact that I was able to afford to be lost in thoughts was proof that I was not having any troubles in our fight. 

He's too predictable. 

  

  

No... 

This is probably because... 

Having fought miss Alicia and Lavi Onee-sama this guy was nothing, huh? 

Those two were just that exceptional huh? 

Those ladies would kick my ass in all aspects of the battle. 

Stats, Level, Skill, battle technique, and experience, I stood no chance against them. 

Then, all of a sudden I was fighting this sloppy fighter. 

Sure, he was fast, he is strong, and he has some amazing abilities too. 

But... 

His attacks were sloppy and easy to predict. 

He lacks the skills to strategize and use his skill properly. 

To me, he looked more like an amateur fighter than that of a skilled assassin. 

[Frankly speaking, he bored me.] 

  

  

[Oh... right... I was still fighting this guy.] 

Before I knew it my thoughts had already drifted away from the battle. 

But again, I had the leisure to do so. 

"F*ck, F*ck, F*ck, F*ck, F*ck, F*ck." <Assassin> 

He cursed repeatedly as he could not do anything to me now. 

I feel that he already showed me every trick on his sleeves but nothing just worked. 

At this point, this dude was at my mercy. 

[Hmnn? Come to think of it...it's weird... did he come alone? I don't feel that he's buying time or anything... I don't think he's waiting for reinforcement either. He's troubled with the situation right now.] 

Ah, I see... 

This guy must have acted on his own. 

I bet he did not inform his allies about the fact that he found the saint! 

Judging from his egoistic personality he must have thought of monopolizing the information so that he could gain all the fame himself. 

If that were the case, it would be funny... 

Should I try to confirm it? 

  

  

I unleashed, (Sword Skill: Power Slash) 

(Sword Skill: Power Slash) is a skill that can only be activated by using a "sword" type weapon. Using this skill will increase the force of a slash attack, Depending on the level. Also instead of a dealing "slashing damage effect" the target would receive a "blunt damage effect". 

Having a blunt damage effect also causes an increase in the knockback effect. 

Normally, I would use this attack on a monster with really tough body armor. 

This time around I used this skill to blow him away to a distance. 

This created a space between him and him. 

His weapon was blown away from his grasp 

I halted my attacks. 

  

  

He fell to the ground on his knees. 

He lifted his head and tried to recover from this position. 

Before he could even try to get on his feet, my sword was already pointing at his neck. 

"You've lost." <Kazue> 

I announced. 

"TSK, Kill me!" <Assassin> 

"I would love to, but before I do that. Let me ask you a question." <Kazue> 

"Hahaha! It's useless! I will not tell you anything about our plans." <Assassin> 

"Ahaha, funny... Look who's talking. Before we fought you were blabbering everything to me... Look at you now trying to hide something." <Kazue> 

The man bit her lips in shame. 

"F*ck you." <Assassin> 

[Uwah... what a sore loser...] 

  

  

"uhmm... you... did you seriously think that you can assassinate the saint without help?" <Kazue> 

"Hah?" <Assassin> 

"You came alone, didn't you? I bet you did not even tell anyone of your comrade that you saw the saint." <Kazue> 

I said in a sarcastic tone. 

The man gave a pained look on his face. 

[Bingo, huh?] 

"I bet, with your "appraisal" skill you assumed that you could defeat me just because your stat is generally higher than mine right?" <Kazue> 

He flinched and his face twisted. 

I could see shame behind his expression. 

[Correct again huh...] 

"Well... Thanks for your explanation earlier. My plan to disguise the saint is very effective. It seems that the diversion I created with Calm's hair is working too. This means that I can escape the eyes of those who are after Calm's life as long as they don't possess "Appraisal" as you do. Aa~ I hope all of the members of the "Whatever Order" you're a part of are as stupid as you." <Kazue> 

I said intending to mock him. 

It was effective. 

He was giving me a furious glare with every word I said. 

  

  

As far as I am concerned, the [Appraisal] skill is exclusive to the job class "Appraiser". 

The [Appraisal] skill is rarely learned by people with some other "job class. 

This skill is a staple skill for those isekai genre stories in our world. 

[I bet, mister Hero, AKA mister MC, AKA Hano Ryuusei had an affinity to learn "Appraisal" too.]¹*yep, he does* 

  

  

"You will regret saying that you b*tch!" <Assassin> 

"Whatever, loser." <Kazue> 

-chuckle- 

"What's the problem? Ah... you can't kill me, can you? Hmff. At the end of the day, you're just a kid." <Assassin> 

[... I should kill him...] 

I was hesitating again. 

[If I let him off now, he will come back. He will report this event to his superiors, if that happens it will be harder to protect Calm.] 

I knew that the longer I think about this, the harder it would be for me to do it. 

I mustered my resolve. 

I cleared my mind. 

(Decapitation Slash) 

. 

. 

. 

  

  

The [Isolation Barrier] crumbled and everything looked normal again. 

The empty alley where we fought returned to normal. 

I looked up at the sky. 

I suppressed all kinds of feelings and thoughts trying to bother me. 

I distracted myself and thought of an escape from what I just did right now. 

 

 

 

  

"..." <Kazue> 

I stared up at the space without saying a word. 

"Kazue-chan... Are you alright..." <Calm> 

Calmly said, her voice seeming worried. 

I replied with a nod. 

For some reason, I think that if I try to speak now, my voice would crack. 

I doubt I would be able to speak straight for a while. 

"D*mn it." <Kazue> 

With a whisper, I cursed at something within me. 

  

  

-sigh- 

"Come on, we should hurry before more of them comes." <Kazue> 

We left the empty alley and walked into the busy street. 

[If only I did not stop at that alley, he wouldn't have tried to fight.] 

At that moment I realized that I was trying to blame something for what just happened. 

[No... That was for the better. If we went to miss Alicia's mansion without knowing that he was tailing us would have been worse. I am sure that we would end up troubling miss Alicia. There's no doubt that a battle will happen in the mansion where Calm is hiding. This is for the best. Yeah... it must be...] 

"Kazue-chan... are you OK?" <Calm> 

Calm asked. 

She looked concerned. 

She probably realized that something was wrong with me. 

"Of course... come on let's hurry up Ok?" <Kazue> 

I tried to smile. 

  

  

I was distracting myself by looking around. 

I was trying my best to get distracted. 

"Look Calm there's a nice clothes store over there." <Kazue> 

"Oh, Calm look at the horse pulling that carriage, its tail looks funny." <Kazue> 

"Look at that rock! Wow! It's shiny!" <Kazue> 

"Oh, that house looks nice." <Kazue> 

I distracted myself from every little thing I saw. 

I was talking more than usual. 

It was awkward. 

My familiars were aware that something was off and they too are in a foul mood. 

Calm who was beside me would only nod with a "yeah..." to everything I say. 

I could not look her in the eyes. 

But I could see her mouth smiling passionately at me. 

  

  

Just like that... 

We finally arrived at the gate of miss Alicia's mansion. 

A man stood in front of the gate of miss Alicia's mansion. 

He was wearing a black coat and looked very suspicious. 

At first, I thought it was another one of those assassins. 

I went in front of Calm, shielding her from what was to come. 

  

  

Weirdly enough, I could not sense anything about the suspicious man. 

I pulled out my sword. 

I became more cautious than ever. 

I felt chills. 

This time my instinct did not tell me anything about this person in front of me. 

This only means two things. 

It was either this man was so weak that my senses did not even react or... 

This one was just so strong that he could hide his presence from being detected by my cognition. 

  

  

The man faces my way as he notices my fighting intent. 

"Hmmm... Oh my... look at this... I did not expect to meet you here." <Man in Black> 

Once he faces my direction my guards suddenly lifted. 

I knew this man. 

It was a figure of a person that I've met a long time ago. 

Once I saw his face, I was certain who it was. 

I guess it's wrong to say that looking at his "face". 

After all, he was wearing a mask. 

He was wearing a simple shiny silver-colored mask with no designs other than two eye-shaped holes to provide vision. 

After seeing his mask, I knew who he was at once. 

It was... 

  

  

"Argent-senpai..." <Kazue> 

It was Argent. 

The man who saved me from certain death when I was trapped inside a dungeon 5 months ago. 

The adventurer who helped me escape from the dungeon, "Undead King's Lair". 

A strong and dependable adventurer whom I can trust. 

No... 

In truth, Miss Alicia is more trustworthy than Argent-san. 

It's just for some reason, I need someone to rely on. 

Maybe it's because my mind is not stable right now. 

To be honest, after what happened earlier I was a bit shaken. 

I've been out of my usual self and I could not think straight. 

I need a break... 

I need to pause... 

I need some support... 

I need... Help... 

And help had arrived. 

This person standing before me is a person who helped me once. 

I feel like asking for his help once again. 

  

  

After today's happening I knew. 

I was just lucky to get it through this one. 

Judging by how the assassin acted earlier, I am quite certain that he was a newbie. 

He was too clumsy to be considered an assassin. 

If an assassin who is more skilled and powerful appears I am sure that I won't be able to get away easily as I did earlier. 

  

  

I want some time to re-establish myself. 

As soon as I saw Argent I felt relieved. 

At that moment all of my strength left my body. 

I could even trust anybody as long as they offer me "help". 

Relieved, my hands holding the sword dropped. 

I thought. 

[He should be able to help me.] 

A sense of relief flowed through me. 

Then, he spoke. 

A nostalgic voice echoed... 

"Kazue-san was it? I haven't seen you since we parted in "that" dungeon. How are you doing?" <Argent> 

"Aa... I'm fine... It's been a while... Argent-senpai" <Kazue> 

"Hahaha, you should stop calling me "senpai"." <Argent>