Lord of Disease (JP-GL) 262

262: A Letter from an Assassin

“Um… Master, a letter has arrived.”

Liz brought me a letter. That, in itself, was not unusual, but her voice was unusually hesitant.

“Who is it from?”

“The Royal Guard assassins… my colleagues… or rather, my seniors.”

“—What is the matter?”

I steeled myself. Her seniors… the ones she had alluded to in her self-proclaimed title, ‘one of the top five assassins in the country’… the top four assassins.

All of them, beings who truly lived and died in the shadows, without even a title.

Well, it wasn’t that Liz didn’t. It was just that, due to a few coincidences and the scale of the damage, her title, the Darkling Blade, had become a little too well-known.

Incidentally, I’d heard that all of them, including Liz, were women.

I waited, my expression serious, for Liz’s next words.

“It’s a letter of thanks.”

“Huh?” I blinked.

A letter of thanks. A letter sent to express gratitude.

“…Um, unless this is some kind of code or secret language I’m not aware of, I can’t think of any reason why your seniors would be sending me a letter of thanks.”

I had heard that they had participated in the last operation, as surveillance and additional guards, but I was the one who should have been thanking them. We hadn’t even met, and since the report to His Majesty had been verbal, and there were no written records of the operation, I hadn’t had a chance to thank them.

“Please read it.”

“…Yes.” I opened the letter Liz handed me with a letter opener.

Lord of Disease,

Please forgive the impertinence of not stating our names.

Please ask the one who delivered this letter about our positions.

Again, we apologize for our repeated impertinence.

But we wished to express our gratitude directly, and so we have taken the liberty of writing this letter.

That spell is truly wonderful.

It is our daily life to use anything and everything for our ‘work.’

And it was an idea that even we had not thought of, one that has broadened the scope of our work.

We can work so quietly.

And it is so easy. So easy that we wonder if it is even possible.

Our colleagues have also said that it is very convenient.

We understand that you may be confused by this letter alone.

Please ask the one who delivered this letter for a further explanation.

We pray for your continued success.

There was another page.

Was this a cipher, and the other a key? No, they wouldn’t have put them in the same envelope.

I looked at the other page. It was a short letter.

P.S.

Please take good care of our cute junior.

“…………” Well, my image of them had changed.

So polite. What was with this politeness?

Wait, they were assassins, right?

The elite assassins of the Royal Guard. Beings who truly lived and died in the shadows.

No, perhaps that was why. To rise to the top, a certain level of etiquette was required. And if you had reached that level through legitimate means, you would feel a sense of gratitude towards your colleagues and subordinates.

I felt a little more optimistic about the future of this country. But from this letter alone, I had no idea what they were thanking me for.

“Do you know what this is about, Liz?”

“No. I was simply told to deliver this to the Lord of Disease, without fail. I was only told that it was a letter of thanks.”

“I see. Then, read it with me.”

“May I?”

“Yes.” The second page didn’t say I shouldn’t show it to her, but I folded it up for now. And I handed the other page to Liz.

After reading it, Liz’s expression was one of understanding.

“…Ah… I see. It seems the spell you ‘developed,’ Master, is very popular in some circles.”

“What spell did I develop?”

It was true that magic in this world could be ‘developed.’ I had heard that in the field of enchantment, in particular, many new spells had been created, as the effects could be enhanced by fine-tuning the enchantments to the material of the object. The super-absorbent diaper I had worn during the duel, for example, had also been a product of a new spell that had increased its absorption and retention capabilities.

Offensive magic, on the other hand, was based on a simple and almost perfect basic formula, and most adjustments were for personal use.

In any case, as someone who could barely use everyday magic and had only memorized the names and uses of the major spells that seemed necessary for my job, it was a world far removed from me.

“An assassination spell.”

“…I have no memory of that.”

“To be precise, it’s an ‘application.’”

“Of what?”

“‘Suffocation by [Create Ooze].’”

“…Ah, that.” A bad memory.

A small group had infiltrated the heart of enemy territory and had come to assassinate the Lord of Disease. Among them was a knight who had gained an almost unnatural regenerative ability by drinking a potion based on dragon’s blood, a potion that the mages in the royal palace’s analysis department had said was ‘borrowing against one’s lifespan.’

And I had been the one to deliver the final blow. I had repeatedly cast [Create Ooze], summoning a large number of oozes, and had poured them down his throat, suffocating him.

Samarkand had died, though he had been resurrected, and all but one of our Barghests had been wiped out. Liz and I had also been injured.

We had barely managed to wipe them out, and in the end, we had suffered no casualties, but if Lathus, the commander of the Beastman Army, hadn’t come to our rescue, we might have been the ones who were wiped out.

It was after that incident that Rebecca and Harken had been dispatched to reinforce our forces.

“…Is using [Create Ooze] for suffocation really that popular?”

I asked, a little tentatively.

“Yes, it is. You restrain them from behind and pour it down their throat. It stops their breathing instantly, and since their throat is blocked, they can’t make much noise. Do you remember when you took down a Holy Knight of the Order of Evangel on the Lital Mountains?”

“I do.”

He had also been drinking the ‘Dragon’s Blood’ potion, but he had been suffocated by Liz, who had poured ooze down his throat from behind. Indeed, he had gone down so easily, it was hard to believe he was part of humanity’s elite. Though he probably hadn’t been able to use his full strength, since he had been caught off guard by Liz from behind as he was about to attack me. Liz’s true nature was that of an assassin, and a surprise attack from a blind spot was where she truly shone.

“But there aren’t many people with that kind of regenerative ability, are there?”

“No. But it has other convenient uses. The ooze summoned by this magic disappears after a certain amount of time. Since it’s a summoned creature.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“It leaves no evidence.”

Is there a detective in the house? Is there a detective in the house?!

I had almost become a deranged cabin attendant. Well, using magic in a mystery was cheating. Anything would be possible. I didn’t want to read a mystery where the detective said, in the denouement, “Everyone, a ‘new assassination spell’ was used.” …Well, maybe I did want to read it. As a surreal, mystery-themed comedy, I suppose.

“That’s scary…”

“Yes. If it’s just a matter of getting past the guards and killing them, it’s easy for me and my seniors.”

“Wait, it’s easy?” I raised my hand, interrupting Liz.

“If it’s just a matter of a direct assault and killing them, yes. We’re very skilled, after all.” Liz said, her voice flat.

Scary.

“…That said, if you want to get away alive, it’s better not to be seen, and if you can leave evidence, then there’s little need for an assassination in the first place.”

“That’s true.”

“Yes. And if you use it properly, it’s just a suffocation, and it doesn’t leave any wet marks, and the magical signature is minimal. Before, we would have to hit a vital point, or insert a thin needle into the spinal cord, and carefully prepare to make it look like an accident. But in most cases, we can just use this now.”

Hmm. An assassination fist.

“Of course, for missions where we can’t use magic, or when we need a clear accident, the old techniques are still important, and besides, if too many people die from ‘an unknown cause with no evidence, so it was probably a natural death,’ it would be suspicious, so we have to be careful… but even in a direct assault, we can use it to silently take out the sentries.”

“Hah…”

Then, a thought occurred to me, and I asked.

“By the way, what about instant death magic?” Wasn’t that the perfect spell for an assassination?

“That crushes the heart, so it leaves a clear mark. And the face is contorted in fear. And besides, it’s not very effective against a sleeping opponent. Since it’s a mental interference type.”

“Oh…” A piece of trivia I didn’t know, and probably didn’t need to know, entered my head.

“In a direct assault, I can kill them, but whether I can escape depends on the situation, and to kill one or two… won’t change the overall situation…”

In this world, there were heroes, and there were kings. But even they, who were recorded in history, could not truly change the course of history by themselves.

When my story was written, if my records were not expunged, the name of the Lord of Disease would probably appear in many places. But Liz’s name would probably not be mentioned. Even if I couldn’t do anything by myself, everything would be attributed to me.

…That was what a ‘hero’ was. In my case, since I was being promoted that way, it was only natural.

“…I wish for a world where assassins are no longer needed.”

“Yes. And a world where the Lord of Disease is not needed… right?”

We looked at each other and laughed, a weak, tired laugh. Liz and I both knew.

That it was still just a pipe dream.