Chapter 16 | The Assassin Achieves Success
A month and a half after the trial period, we went forward with our plans and opened the new cosmetics store.
I named the brand Natural You, and only half a year into its grand opening, it had become so popular, it was on its way to being a household name all around the world.
The store, selling moisturizer as its main product, quickly became a hit on a scale far larger than any of us could’ve imagined, largely thanks to the incredible publicity that’d started with Balor’s wife. I’d seriously underestimated how quickly word traveled among the women of wealthy families.
Large lines formed at the store every day, and moisturizer was continually selling out the moment we got new stock. Despite my best efforts to increase production, we still couldn’t meet the demand.
Every time I increased the manufacturing rate, word would spread, and the demand increased in kind.
Customers were not only coming from other cities, but other countries as well. The other day, Count Milteu received an official letter from a royal family in a foreign nation requesting moisturizer.
Underneath all this activity, however, a fierce information war had been unfolding.
Other companies were sending spies into the production factory or trying to bribe my employees, all for the purpose of discovering the production method for moisturizer. I’d raised security multiple times, but it’d quickly proved impossible to stop all of it.
Much of the recipe had been leaked, including the fact that it was made by adding herbs to a medicinal compound created by mixing olive oil and water. Some had even found out that there was a secret ingredient used to mix it all together.
Thankfully, the mixture of the herbs and the means of obtaining or producing the secret ingredient, lecithin, were still unknown. Thus, even with so much of the formula known to competitors, only the Balor Company still had the ability to make moisturizer.
Lecithin was still produced only in the Tuatha Dé domain, though Balor took care to conceal even that by faking its production in Milteu.
Even if word somehow got out that the lecithin was coming from Tuatha Dé, my father had taken extra care to ensure the production method would never be revealed, and the citizens of Tuatha Dé were already fairly tight-lipped. It wasn’t especially hard to imagine what would happen if you were caught trying to sneak onto an assassin’s property.
I was sure that everyone back home had their hands full.
The amount of lecithin required to keep up with the demand was far greater than anyone had expected. As a result, all of the soybeans in the Tuatha Dé domain had been used up almost immediately, but because ceasing production wasn’t an option, Tuatha Dé had begun quietly buying up soybeans from other regions.
“Other companies want to sell moisturizer, but they have no way of discovering the production method. It’s only logical to expect them to get impatient and target people who know the secret.”
This prediction of mine quickly proved correct.
Late one night, an intruder of decent skill sneaked into my house through the attic and made toward my room. “Decent skill” by my standards actually meant they were extremely talented, though this assailant still had no chance of catching me.
Dealing with them myself was sure to be easy, but I’d decided this was better practice for Tarte and Maha. I was content to just sit back and enjoy the show, though I did plan on stepping in to stop the fight if the girls were going to kill the intruder.
I heard someone stop directly above me. They bored a tiny hole in the ceiling. Most likely they were going to shoot me with a poison dart from a blowgun. Killing clearly wasn’t the goal, as my rival businesses needed my information. This assailant wanted to kidnap and interrogate me to get my secrets.
Hmm, how will Tarte and Maha handle this? It didn’t take long for me to get my answer.
Tarte entered the room and rolled up her skirt. A knife was strapped to her right thigh, a threefold metal rod on her left. She drew them both.
She connected the pieces of the rod together and attached the knife on the end to create a spear that she used to quickly jab at the ceiling.
Spears were the best weapon to use in close combat. When using a sword against one, it was said that you needed to be three times as skilled to win. Tarte was actually very skilled with polearms. So much so that I’d begun to suspect she had the Spear Arts skill.
I’d given her that concealable spear as a birthday present. Tarte immediately fell in love with it, declaring it a treasure, and she never slacked when it came to maintaining the weapon.
Tarte was capable of using both knives and spears depending on the situation and the distance between her and her opponent. She’d become skilled enough to be able to take down even the average knight in combat.
“You never stood a chance,” she gloated to the intruder.
The intruder had the presence of mind to avoid screaming, but the blood spreading across the ceiling made it abundantly clear that they’d failed to dodge in time.
Tarte’s strike had likely not been fatal on its own, but the scabbard for her knife had been laced with a neurotoxin. The poison was made from a Tuatha Dé secret recipe that I’d improved upon, and anyone who was so much as pricked by a blade coated in that substance would be rendered unable to lift a finger unless they had a very special physical makeup.
I chose this toxin because I wanted something that left my enemies alive but immobile. I couldn’t have rival assassins committing suicide before I got them to say who’d hired them.
Someone lifted up a board of the ceiling, and Maha peered down into my room.
“We’ve caught him… I gagged him and tied him up so he can’t kill himself,” she said.
After detecting the intruder, Tarte had immediately stood guard and then intercepted before he could attack me, while Maha provided backup and blocked the escape route. It was safe to say they’d passed the test.
“Well done. That’s no small feat detecting and dealing with an assassin of this caliber. I’m proud of you both,” I praised.
Such speed of perception and action was commendable. They weren’t perfect, of course, but it was clear they’d come a long way.
“Hee-hee-hee, I am so happy,” Tarte giggled.
“Yeah, that was exciting. I feel like we can do anything,” Maha added.
“You haven’t had practical torture experience yet, have you? This is a perfect opportunity to put your classroom learning to the test. It would be very useful if you could get him to admit who hired him. See if you can devise a way to pry information out of him without a suicide. I’ve already taught you the necessary techniques to accomplish this,” I commanded.
“I’ll do my best! He tried to do something horrible to Master Illig, so I won’t show any mercy,” Tarte replied.
“Yeah, I have some anger I’d like to take out on him, too… If we do well, make sure to praise us, dear brother,” Maha said.
The thing I was happiest about was that the two of them had grown capable of killing for me without hesitation.
Unlike me, they hadn’t been given prisoners to get used to killing, so I wasn’t sure they would be capable of it. Thankfully, it seemed their desire to make me happy had overridden any resistance they could’ve otherwise possessed.
Tarte and Maha had never looked more lovely to me than they did in that moment. I was certain they’d be great assets to me in battle.
While they diligently tortured the assassin, I cleaned the blood-spattered ceiling, then made some refreshments as a reward while I was at it.
It was going to be a long night.
Today was my day off.
Half a year had passed since I’d launched my Natural You cosmetics brand, but every day still felt like a war zone, and it didn’t seem likely to calm down any time soon.
Even in such a busy time, rest was still important. Without it, you’d eventually break down. That’s why I’d decided on taking a weekly one-day break from both my work as a merchant and from Tarte and Maha’s training.
I told them to go out and enjoy themselves while I took my monthly trip out of the city.
Despite the identity of Illig Balor already being a disguise, I’d now disguised myself as someone from the Viekone domain in the neighboring country of Soigel. Viekone was over four hundred kilometers away from Milteu.
While it normally took around three weeks to make the journey from Milteu to Viekone, I could manage going there and back in just a single day. By implementing shortcuts and methods of travel above land, I’d shortened the time the journey took with each outing.
“Okay, I wonder if I’ll break my record this time.” Lately, I’d been making a game of it by timing myself. It made for great practice.
Less than half a day later, I arrived in the Viekone domain, and I sneaked into the courtyard of the Viekone estate.
I threw three pebbles at Dia’s window. That was our signal. While risking being discovered as someone who’d illegally crossed the border and stolen into a foreign count’s estate was dangerous, dealing with the official methods of immigration was a huge pain. That’s why Dia and I had decided to meet this way.
She opened the window, and I used a wind spell to soar five meters above the ground. My eyes locked with Dia’s as I reached the apex of the leap.
“Long time no see, Dia,” I said.
“Yeah, it’s nice to see you. Come in, I’ve got some delicious tea,” she replied.
“Sounds good. I brought some candy from overseas.”
“Well then, this is going to be a fun tea party!”
Before gravity pulled me into a fall toward the ground, I grabbed on to the rim of the window and pulled myself into Dia’s room.
The room itself was not especially dainty. It was crowded with books about magic from all around the world, and staffs and other mana-boosting devices filled any other available space.
“I’m amazed every time I see this room,” I remarked.
“E-even I know it’s not very girlie, but I don’t have any room for cute things. I do have another room for that kind of stuff, you know,” Dia answered, flustered.
It was just like Dia to need another room because this one was too packed full of magical paraphernalia.
“It’s fine like this. It fits you.”
“I’m not sure how to take that comment, but I know better than to expect much from you in that department. Okay, here are all the spells I’ve written in the last month. I’m sure you’ll find them interesting,” said Dia, eyes sparkling, as she hoisted a stack of paper at me.
The pages were tightly packed with formulas written in the runic language of magic. In this world, only those with the Spell Weaver skill could truly give birth to new spells.
Anyone could write down a new formula, but if I didn’t also copy it down, the incantation would fail. It’d become tradition for me to copy all the spells Dia had written in the month between our regular visits.
I easily grasped the meaning of each of Dia’s spells as I wrote them down. This time they were especially complicated. Then something caught my eye, and I came to a full stop.
… No way.
“You were able to finish that spell?” I asked, incredulous.
“Heh-heh-heh, bet you didn’t expect that. Ah, looks like you already wrote it down. All right, watch this.” Dia began the chant. Her elemental conversion and incantation were as beautiful as ever. When she finished casting the spell, a nearby teacup began to float, bobbing gently up and down in the air.
It was a spell that manipulated gravity. Until now, the best we’d managed was doubling the gravity around something to increase its weight. This spell accomplished the opposite, causing a target to float. I’d tried to create this kind of magic myself previously, but I’d been unsuccessful.
I’d been after this kind of spell for a long time because it was a necessary component for the most devastating and powerful sort of magic I could think of.
Dia had come to my aid yet again. I certainly owed her a lot.
“Well, shoot. Looks like you beat me to it,” I said.
“Your way of thinking is too rigid. In order to finish this spell, I…” Dia explained her thought process. It was plain on her face that she was having a lot of fun, proudly sharing her discoveries. The girl never appeared cuter, or more captivating, than at times like those. We also happened to be sitting close together, and I could tell that she smelled nice.
“Lugh, are you listening?” Dia suddenly asked.
“Yeah, I am. That’s an amazing idea. I hadn’t even considered that,” I replied.
“Hmm-hmm, does it make you respect your big sister a little more?”
Ever since the days when Dia had first served as my magic mentor, she’d enjoyed calling herself my big sister. I would’ve preferred we had a romantic relationship, but it was cute, so I allowed it.
“Yeah, I’m really impressed. I’d expect no less from you. How about some candy as a reward?”
“You said this is from overseas, right? …It’s so dark. It doesn’t look very good.”
“I guarantee you’ll like it.”
“Hmm. Ah, it’s bittersweet—and really good. I like it. It goes well with tea, and it would probably taste amazing as an ingredient when baking things like cake.”
“This candy is made from the seeds of cacao trees, which grow in countries to the south. Once my Natural You cosmetic brand slows down, I’m planning to start a confectionery line, and this is going to be the featured product,” I explained.
The candy was chocolate—the ultimate sweet of my previous world. Just like with moisturizer, it was definitely going to make me a huge profit.
Selling chocolate as a limited wintertime product was an idea I’d been entertaining for a while. It’d probably fly off the shelves because of its long shelf life and perfect suitability as a gift.
“Wow, that sounds nice. If I lived closer to Milteu, I’d buy some,” said Dia.
“Yeah, this is a little too far. I’ll bring some more next month.”
“I can’t wait!”
If it was for Dia, I’d bring an entire sack of chocolate the next time I saw her.
We moved on to showing each other the results of our research since we last met. This was the thing I enjoyed doing with Dia more than anything, even if there was nothing amorous about it. Dia looked her best when she was talking about magic.
We quickly lost track of time, and the sun had started its descent into the horizon, which meant it was time for me to leave.
Admittedly, I was extremely reluctant to depart, but I had work tomorrow. Staying wasn’t an option.
“… It’s time to say good-bye already, isn’t it? Whenever you have to go, I always think about how great it would be if you lived here,” Dia said, clearly a little gloomy.
“I’d like that. What if I became your butler?” I offered.
“If you say stuff like that, I may actually try to make it happen, you know.”
“Actually, becoming your butler would definitely be problematic for me… All right, time for me to go. See you next month.”
“Yeah, see you!”
I jumped from the window, using wind magic to soften my descent. Dia leaned from the window and waved down at me. Our brief monthly visit was already over.
Though entirely too short, it had been a fantastic break nonetheless. I felt refreshed and ready to get back to work.
Two years had passed now since I’d first come to Milteu, and I was reflecting on the time I’d spent in the port city.
I was absurdly busy with all my work at the store, but through that, I’d been able to learn much about the world.
As the young prodigy who’d launched the successful Balor Company subsidiary, Natural You, I’d been invited to a wide variety of places and made a lot of personal connections. It also went without saying that I’d become incredibly rich.
As promised, I’d been receiving 5 percent commission on all sales from the Balor Company’s cosmetic stores, and I was also still the manager of the flagship store, which held the highest sales out of any establishment in the chain.
I received all of my stores’ profit after subtracting the Balor Company’s cut and employee salaries. The business had done so well that I already had enough money to never work again for the rest of my life. For that reason, I’d taken to investing in a few things that’d piqued my interest.
The day to return home to Tuatha Dé had finally come.
The handing over of my responsibilities had mostly already been taken care of, and I’d said my good-byes to most everyone at the Balor Company.
A horse-drawn carriage was parked in front of the estate, and Tarte and I climbed in.
“Maha, I leave Natural You and the management of my information network in your hands,” I said.
“I won’t let you down, Lugh. I’ll protect your base here in Milteu,” she replied.
All three of us were fourteen years old now, and we looked quite a bit different than we did two years ago. Tarte had become very cute, and Maha was growing into a beautiful young lady. In the Alvanian Kingdom, fourteen was the age where you were recognized as an adult.
Though I’d tried my best with her training over the last two years, Maha had proved unsuitable for my assassination task force, as I’d expected. She’d grown to the point where I could confidently rely on her to manage logistical support, however.
I named her my administrative assistant in conjunction with the opening of a new store. She’d been working as Illig Balor’s right-hand woman—and was becoming a very skilled merchant in her own right. While I was gone from Milteu, she was to assume all my responsibilities.
I also told her my real name and background. That’s why she called me Lugh and not Illig on the day I left to return home.
While acting as the proxy representative of Natural You, she was going to carry out all the information gathering, capital provision, and resource procurement that I needed for my assassination work.
“I’m sorry I’m the only one who gets to go with Lord Lugh, Maha,” Tarte apologized.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous, but I’m proud that I can help Lugh in ways that no one else can… Tarte, please take care of him for me,” Maha said back.
“I will!” responded Tarte. She and Maha exchanged a few encouraging words.
Maha then turned to me, tears forming in her eyes. Evidently, the separation wasn’t going to be easy on her.
“Even if you can’t stay for very long, please come visit me sometimes, Lugh,” she pleaded.
“I promise I’ll visit you, even when I don’t have a business reason to come to Milteu.”
“You’d better not forget that. If you go all the way to the Viekone estate every single month to visit Lady Dia and then never come to see me…it’ll make me very sad, and I’ll probably cry.”
“Maha, you’re an important apprentice and assistant to me. There’s no way I wouldn’t visit you,” I said.
“Okay, I’ll be waiting… Also, I found that thing you asked for—an uninhabited island located away from any merchant ship routes. Here’s a map. What do you need this for anyway?”
“Two days ago, when I met with Dia, we finished some new magic. It’s too powerful and dangerous to test anywhere other than an uninhabited island,” I said.
This new deadly magic had been developed specifically for the purpose of killing the hero, and it held unfathomable power. The basic principles were complete, but it still needed a proper test run. Unfortunately, because of the spell’s power and enormous area of effect, I couldn’t risk testing it anywhere other than a place completely devoid of people.
The carriage departed, and eventually Maha fell out of sight.
I had at last completed my father’s final trial. I’d successfully become a top-class merchant with wide-reaching fame.
There was no wife or daughter of any noble house that would not welcome Illig Balor with open arms.
Once I returned to the Tuatha Dé domain, I was going to start receiving real assassination jobs. I still had yet to kill anyone outside that underground prison. I wondered what sort of things this new me would feel when I killed.
The carriage clattered along the road.
I could tell from her face that Tarte was starting to feel a little homesick.
“Tarte, are you going to miss Maha?” I asked.
“… Honestly, yes. She’s the first friend my age I’ve ever had.”
I’d wanted to take Maha along, too, if possible, but I needed a representative in Milteu to manage my Balor Company information network.
Having a second location I could fall back on if House Tuatha Dé ever came under serious threat was a boon, too. In a worst-case scenario, I could fake Lugh’s death and live the rest of my life as Illig.
“Really? Well, how about I leave the delivery of lecithin to you as often as I can. You’ll have plenty of chances to see her,” I offered.
Tarte had grown a lot over the last two years. She’d become extremely skilled with mana, and she was proficient with her wind affinity.
Her repertoire was comprised mostly of spells I’d created, and she was showing herself to be more than capable as an assassin’s assistant. I don’t think I could’ve had a more dependable guard or transport.
“That would make me happy. But I think Maha would rather see you,” Tarte answered.
“You think so?”
“Yes. Maha loves you, my lord, and not as family or a friend. She loves you in, um, that way.”
“I understand what you’re saying, but I don’t think you’re right. Maha admires me. That’s similar, but not the same thing.”
“Sometimes the things you say are too difficult for me to understand, my lord.”
“You’ll understand someday.”
Just then, the carriage came to a sudden stop. We’d been surrounded by wolves.
The driver jumped from the carriage and ran, abandoning his passengers. He was promptly set upon and became wolf food.
These creatures were far larger than normal wolves. Their claws seemed unusually large, and I could sense a small amount of mana emanating from their bodies.
These were monsters. Monsters were defined as animals that possessed mana. Just like with humans, animals also became stronger when enveloped in mana. Often, it resulted in mutations.
Typically, such animals were known to stay far from human civilization. It was strange to see them so readily approach people.
“This is perfect. May I use this as an opportunity to show off the fruits of my training?” asked Tarte.
“Ah, sounds good. I’ll watch from here,” I responded. Tarte then enveloped herself in mana to increase her physical strength, and she jumped out of the carriage.
All told, there were three wolves, and they quickly utilized the advantage of their numbers, encircling Tarte.
One of them bared its fangs and pounced. Before the wolf could bite into Tarte’s flesh, a blade pierced through its mouth. Tarte was holding her spear. She’d lifted her skirt, removed the pieces of her weapon, and assembled it all in the blink of an eye.
The next wolf attacked from behind, but Tarte gave it a blow to the jaw and sent the creature flying through the air using the Wind Bullet spell.
The majority of sorcerers could cast magic only from the palms of their hands. Such was the way the formulas bestowed by the gods were written.
However, by modifying equations, Dia and I had made it so that you could cast magic from any point within a few dozen centimeters of your body.
Tarte could cast magic about forty centimeters out from herself. As soon as her opponents entered her range, she could knock them out instantly with a quick Wind Bullet to the jaw. Even the very best swordsmen would be caught unawares by such an attack because most everyone else was still under the impression that mages could cast magic only from their hands.
It was admittedly simple, but it made for a nice surprise attack.
The last wolf ran away too quickly for Tarte to be able to catch it on foot, but before the wolf could get very far, Tarte’s spear pierced its back. She’d thrown the spear using the power of wind, giving it the speed of a bullet.
“That was impressive,” I commented.
“It’s all thanks to your training. I’ve become very capable in battle, my lord.”
While Maha was working as my administrative assistant and sharpening her skills needed to handle my logistical support, Tarte was accumulating combat experience.
She looked proud of herself as she returned to the carriage, and she smiled contently when I patted her on the head.
“… Looks like it’s about time for the hero to start showing up,” I muttered.
I’d been allowed to reincarnate specifically for the purpose of killing the hero. After the hero overthrew the Demon King, he was supposed to go mad with power and bring ruin upon the world.
It had been long said that once monsters began to increase in number, demons would soon appear, followed by the Demon King and the hero, in turn.
Monsters appearing on a main road like this was likely a sign that demons were coming.
I needed to hurry. Thankfully, I’d been doing more these last two years than just simply working as a merchant. Lots of my time had been spent training Tarte, my combat partner. I’d also raised Maha to function in a non-battle support role from her place in Milteu.
I’d even had a major breakthrough in my efforts to create the ultimate weapon designed to kill the hero.
I was eager to experiment; my tests on the uninhabited island couldn’t come soon enough. I was certain that not even the hero could withstand something that powerful.
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