Chapter 13 | The Assassin Sets Out
I was in my room, working on my plan to kill Prince Ricla. Since I was meeting Nevan in person, I wanted our discussion to be worthwhile.
I studied the prince’s schedule that Duke Romalung had given me.
“Looks like the best time to target him would be the Founding Festival. Taking him out there will be easy.”
The Founding Festival was held once a year to celebrate the creation of the kingdom. With demons about, there had been some discussion about not holding the celebration this year, but the notion had ultimately been discarded. The prince would be outside of the castle, participating in the parade.
The annoying thing about assassinating a prince was that there was no choice but to make it look like death from an illness. An unsolved murder of a royal would damage the kingdom’s integrity. I would never be caught, of course, because I wasn’t stupid. So those in charge would likely prepare a scapegoat.
That would make it hard to sleep at night, and I didn’t know what kind of repercussions it would bring. There were a number of people in power who could abuse a prince’s assassination to their benefit.
Death by sickness was another matter, however. There would be no need to find a criminal. It would also serve as a sufficient threat to Countess Granfelt and her followers.
“We can’t afford to have them suspect he died of poison. That makes this a lot more challenging…”
I looked at a needle I had nearby. It was an assassination tool and laced with a toxin. The poison elicited some interesting symptoms, and an investigation would probably conclude that a victim perished to disease.
The problem was when to inject Ricla. If I hadn’t needed to make it look like a sickness, I could’ve taken him down with a sniper rifle. Most people didn’t know about firearms, and they’d never think someone could kill from over eight hundred meters away. It would be a cinch. However, circumstances demanded I get close.
The barrier around the castle is a problem.
If my target hadn’t been royalty, I could’ve sneaked into their bedroom and killed them in their sleep. Unfortunately, that was impossible in the royal castle.
There was a magical field around the floor that the royal family lived on, and it activated when someone other than those of their lineage or the palace guards entered. It was a tool made by the gods that could sense the wavelength of a person’s soul. I couldn’t fool something made by deities.
I had confidence that I could slay the prince, hide, and escape even after the barrier was activated. However, the field’s mere activation would make it obvious an intruder had been present. At that point, even if the prince’s demise appeared to be due to an illness, they would rule it an assassination.
If I can’t get out of the castle without being detected, I can’t kill him.
“…It seems like Duke Romalung wants me to kill him at Mina’s party, though. No, that might be a test.”
According to the schedule, the prince would be attending a party sponsored by Countess Granfelt, the public identity of the snake demon Mina. It was positioned and written on the itinerary in a way that garnered attention.
The moment Ricla’s death was proclaimed an assassination, the mission was a failure. However, if we framed the deed on the woman who’d bewitched the prince, that could change things.
If the prince was killed at Mina’s party, we could make her into the scapegoat, enabling us to dispose of both the puppet and his master at the same time. There was no more efficient move… If the one pulling Ricla’s strings hadn’t been Mina, that is.
Under normal circumstances, if Countess Granfelt were accused of killing a prince, those she’d ensnared would distance themselves from her so as not to get involved. However, the second prince had been so thoroughly broken that Duke Romalung saw no other way than to end his life. Knowing this, I had to consider the possibility that Mina’s numerous other pets might rebel in her name rather than break ties with the woman.
Duke Romalung was probably testing me. He wanted me to understand that drawing attention to Countess Granfelt would only be a bad thing.
“This is fun.”
I would have to get through tight security at the Founding Festival, and I couldn’t afford to leave any signs of my handiwork. It had been a while since my assassin’s blood had gotten pumping like this.
This was a task beyond even the most elite covert killers. That was what made it so exciting.
Come next morning, a message arrived by carrier pigeon. It was Nevan’s response to my request for a meeting.
“She wants me to come this afternoon…,” I muttered.
That was awfully hasty. Surely the daughter of a duke was a busy woman. Making time for me couldn’t have been easy, a testament to how highly she thought of me.
“Urgh… Lugh, that’s so bright,” complained Dia.
“Go ahead and get up. It’s almost time for breakfast,” I said.
The light from the window had roused Dia, and she sat up and rubbed her eyes. She wasn’t wearing anything, so her adorable chest was bare.
“It’s already this late? I didn’t get enough sleep last night because you wouldn’t let go of me.”
“I think you’ve got that backward.”
“You still don’t understand the heart of a woman, Lugh. That’s when you’re supposed to just agree with me.”
Dia slipped out of bed, walked over to the closet, and pulled out some clothes.
“It could be trouble if you ever let anyone see this closet. People might mistake you for a cross-dresser. Or curse you for having a harem.”
“…I suppose so.”
Both Dia and Tarte kept clothes and underwear in my room. Dia was my girlfriend and often slept with me. And whenever Tarte felt depressed over her family abandoning her, she would sneak into my bed.
When Dia finished changing, a knock came at my door.
“Lord Lugh, Lady Dia, breakfast is ready!” rang Tarte’s cheerful voice. Nothing announced the arrival of a new day quite like it.
After the morning meal, we climbed into a carriage and departed.
“Probably should’ve asked this earlier, but who are we going to meet?” inquired Dia.
“Nevan, the daughter of Duke Romalung,” I responded.
“Wow, we’re really off to see the Daughter of Light? I thought it might be her.”
“What, have you heard of her?” I questioned.
“Of course. She’s famous even in Soigel.”
Nevan was both stunningly beautiful and possessed a rare elemental affinity. She was quite accomplished as well.
“I’m impressed you were able to get an audience with her,” Dia admitted.
“…I guess I haven’t told you yet. House Romalung is like House Tuatha Dé’s boss. They decide if the requests from the royal family are in the country’s best interest, then put them to use politically. This is top secret, of course,” I explained.
Our public status and our secret jobs could never become intertwined.
So long as House Tuatha Dé’s connection to House Romalung was kept classified, we could be disposed of on the small chance we were ever found to be a family of assassins. However, if our connection was common knowledge, House Romalung and perhaps even the royal family could be implicated if a Tuatha Dé was apprehended.
Dia thought on that for a moment. “Then is it okay for us to roll into their domain in broad daylight?”
“It’ll be fine. I’m visiting as a Holy Knight on a job from the royal family. The contents of the mission explain our presence here. Still, I can’t believe that House Romalung was able to set this up in just half a day.”
The son of a baron’s house entering the domain of a duke typically would’ve invited suspicion, but I was a Holy Knight.
“I’m nervous about meeting the Daughter of Light. I wonder what kind of person she is and if she’s as beautiful as people say,” Dia remarked.
“She was stunning,” Tarte replied.
“Huh? Have you met? Oh yeah, you said that Duke Romalung and his daughter were present during the meeting with the princess.” Dia’s shoulders slumped gently.
Per the request to bring only one attendant, Dia had not joined us in the palace garden. She was still upset about being denied entrance.
After a while, we reached the domain of House Romalung. Our carriage rolled by extensive farmland, pastures, orchards, and even a city large enough to rival Milteu before we came upon our destination.
The journey took a considerable amount of time simply because of how vast this domain was.
“…Is this all truly one realm?” Dia wondered.
“They have everything you could imagine,” Tarte commented with clear wonder.
“Most aristocrats find and polish one asset to support their domain while adding their own flavor to it. A domain with rich farmland might focus on exporting food. At the same time, one with a commercial city concentrates on trade. A region with a mining enterprise could develop an industry specialized in manufacturing. House Romalung, however, lacks that kind of narrow thinking. They are elite at everything—farming, livestock, manufacturing, commerce, and so on. That’s why others sarcastically refer to them as the Romalung Empire. They are the most powerful nobles in Alvan,” I explained.
House Romalung had been performing selective breeding and education geared toward creating the ultimate humans for hundreds of years, greedily gathering the most elite lineages and teachers from around the world. The result was a supremely skilled citizenry with unlimited knowledge and a network that extended into every conceivable area. This resulted in a society where the elite of the domain competed and pushed one another to advance further.
The region had achieved such immense prosperity that it had jokingly been dubbed an empire, but that title carried no small amount of fear with it.
When our carriage finally stopped, Tarte and Dia leaned out and went wide-eyed. I was astonished as well.
“Wow, that castle is amazing. It’s so imposing,” Tarte said.
“Yeah, too amazing! Can they get away with this, Lugh? This is greater than the royal palace. Is the king not upset about this? If a family did this in Soigel, they would get wiped out for their arrogance,” Dia commented.
The Romalung castle was grander and more beautiful than any structure we had ever laid eyes on while also being extremely practical.
“This place was erected last year. It was built under the pretext of being the greatest structure possible by the current standards of technology. Its scale and functionality far surpass that of the royal castle… Creating something that eclipses the royal castle is hardly a way to make friends. However, it was tolerated because no one devotes themselves more to the crown than Duke Romalung,” I detailed.
That was the official stance; more importantly, neither the royal family nor the other nobles had the strength to oppose House Romalung.
“So, Lugh. Just as a what-if scenario, could House Romalung take over the country if they wanted to?” asked Dia.
I nodded. “They’ve always been capable of that, even before I was born.”
That was the truth of this country. Alvan was only able to remain as it was because of House Romalung’s allegiance to the king. With their might, they could easily bring all nobles beneath their thumb, yet they elected to remain loyal to the crown.
“All right, let’s get going. It’s almost time for our audience,” I called.
We crossed an elegant bridge built over a giant lake surrounding the castle. Scores of fish were visible through the clear waters, including species for consumption and decoration. The body of water acted as both a moat and a breeding farm. That was the kind of efficiency you could expect from House Romalung.
I braced myself. We were meeting with the monsters that ruled Alvan in their own den. If I got careless for a moment, we might be swallowed.
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