Assassins Pride - Volume 4 - Chapter Pr

Assassin Pride Volume 4 Prologue
HOMEROOM EARLIER

(Unedited)

“Who would have thought that the private teacher to the daughter of the Angel…….would be the White Night Calvary Regiment (Guild Jack Raven)’s death god, Kufa Vampir-kun?”

The relaxed proclamations of the other side made the young men in uniform clench their fists as he was forced to stand in front of the desk.

The other young man in the chair, watching his handsome face slightly taut, instead emerged with a hearty smile.

“Don’t worry, I haven’t told anyone yet. But surely, from the look of you, this was a secret mission to your master, Melida Angel, and even to the head of Angel family, Duke Felgus?”

“Duke Serge Shicksal, we were……”

Kufa wanted to rebut but kept his mouth shut. In order not to succumb to the mental strain emanating from the young duke before him, he braced himself and moistened his lips with his tongue.

“… Duke Shicksal. As you know, our《White Night》mission is top secret. Even your orders can not reveal the details, and if something should happen that would affect our activities, it must be dealt with accordingly.”

“That’s terrible! I don`t want to be your enemy at all.”

Not knowing how serious the young Duke was, he gave an exaggerated shrug.

Though his voice was as high as a vocalist`s, fortunately there was no one around to hear their conversation. In their richly furnished office, Kufa and Duke Serge Shicksal were the only two people who were completely invisible to anyone else.

Holy King District, Flandre, was a giant city-state with four hundred thousand inhabitants and a king’s palace at its apex. It was one of the few places out of sight for Kufa, who had been walking the unlit alleys, and Kufa could not help doubting his ears when he received a summons from the young head of the Knight Duke family.

With a dark unease, Kufa visited the young Duke’s office, where Duke Serge Shicksal greeted Kufa with a bright smile and cut to the heart of the assassin home tutor.

The situation was that two people would negotiate with knifes pointed at each other. But in reality, Kufa`s position was overwhelmingly unfavorable. He was hardly in a position to carry out his orders, and if any of the secrets he was carrying were to leak out, he could be at war with all the powers in the world. If, on a whim, the gregarious Duke were to speak optimistically, Kufa would be forced into the position of having to bleed the noble golden angel.

A few days ago, it was the Bibliagot labyrinth librarian certification exam. And the academy attack of the criminal syndicate Troops of Tomfoolery Dawn (Guild Grimhuis), he thought he had finally found a moment of peace before get into this situation, Kufa bit his lips and asked in a somewhat disapproving tone.

“…so, what exactly do you expect me to do in exchange for your silence?”

“You’re smart! It’s great to see you so understanding……look at this.”

He said, and the object he had taken out of his desk drawer was a pendant. The pendant had a speckled shell and, judging by its dreamy milky sheen, was a first-class craftsman`s piece.

Serge placed the pendant on the table, which was wiped down like a mirror, and looked up into Kufa`s eyes.

“Vampir-kun, this is a particularly momentous year for Flandre Politics. Do you know why?”

“Because of the succession.”

“Quite so”, with a nod from Duke Shicksal.

Their current location was the palace of Flandre. A palace was a castle where the king lived.

But things changed. Ancient or not, there was no「royal family」 in Modern Flandre. To the people, when it came to the supreme authority, it’s the Angel, La Moore, and Shicksal the three Knight Duke Families.

So who were the people on the throne of this palace in King’s landing? Who was it that the public admired as「Majesty」, the city representative of the mind-rest ── as a temporary king called the《Rotating King》

Serge put his elbows on the table and clasped his hands together:

“The line of succession was taken by the head of Knight Duke family, so the meaning of the title of the《Rotating King》became the origin of the name. The Duke was given the role of Speaker of the council, and a certain degree of freedom to control the city ── though, of course, there were shackles. The biggest limitation is tenure.”

Kufa nodded, too, in a straight and unmoving position, and Serge continued.

“For the purposes of fair administration, it is straightforward to say that in order to prevent certain dukedoms from becoming dictatorships, the term of office of the Rotating King is three years. The term of Majesty Queen Almedia La Moore, now her grace, is due to expire in March. And then to ──”

“Congratulations.”

“Thank you. If you could just smile a little bit, I’d be happy.”

Unfortunately, Kufa’s smile was reserved for blondes. Like a statue, he kept his straight face expressionless, crossed his hands behind his back, and asked again.

“I don’t know what you mean. You wouldn`t want me to be the steward of the celebration party, would you?”

“No. I’d like to entrust you with a more important task ── oh, don’t you worry. It’s the perfect job for you ── A job only you can do.”

As Serge opened a delicate seashell pendant with his fingertips. Kufa frowned slightly as he looked down at the thing that had bounced off the table and turned this way.

“Isn’t that the parade pass?”

“You know very well. That’s right. Even the Duke`s family doesn’t get the crown for nothing. Until then, you must pass a test called《the test of king》.”

“However, that is the so-called formal rite of succession. I hear it’s not too much trouble?”

“That’s the way it’s supposed to be… but it doesn’t look good this time.”

“What do you mean?”

The Duke made no reply, rising from his leather chair.

He walked around the wide desk to Kufa. Although Shicksal had been an adult, his sight height was not much different from that of Kufa, who was more mature than his age. In contrast to the grim beauty of the young man, the duke had a spring like smile and put his hand on Kufa’s shoulder.

“Vampir-kun, will you die instead of me for a bit?”

“……Yes?”