The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat - Volume 4 - Chapter 16

Chapter 16 | The Assassin Kills a Prince

We arrived in the royal capital. Our goal was to assassinate the second-eldest prince, Prince Ricla.

I’d collected information on the young royal while forming my plan. As I did so, I came to understand why Princess Farina and Duke Romalung considered him beyond saving. He had become a puppet for the snake demon Mina and didn’t care in the slightest about his country.

Considering he’d been credited with unearned achievements while he served as Princess Farina’s puppet, it wasn’t astonishing to learn that Ricla was a bit dim. His lofty position as the second prince and his glowing reputation led to reckless behavior.

“You didn’t bring your adorable attendants,” Nevan observed.

“I wasn’t keen on bringing you, either, if possible,” I answered.

I was taking part in the Founding Festival disguised as a young merchant named Frank Hartman.

Frank Hartman was not one of the identities that my father had prepared, but rather one I had fabricated myself. The real man was a young peddler without any relatives who had been eaten by monsters while on the road, which made his name an ideal one to adopt.

A large number of stalls had been set up at the Founding Festival. I opened one under my false identity. Nevan had decided to help run it for some reason. Naturally, she was also in disguise.

We were selling crepes. They were a special variety made with potato starch cooked into the batter, which gave the crepes an elastic texture. It also enabled them to be toasted lightly without crumbling and gave the batter near transparency.

The result was beautiful, and it felt great as it stuck to your mouth. Each crepe was filled with the highest-quality fresh cream and the finest in-season fruits.

I had hoped it would be a big hit, and sure enough, we had a constant line only moments after opening for business.

“Getting a line in the royal capital where everyone has a refined palate is no small feat. It turns out you are an elite chef, too. Still, doesn’t it seem like we’re doing too well?” Nevan asked.

“Selling anything less than top-rate would actually cause us to stand out more. A stall permitted to operate in the royal capital needs a product to match,” I responded.

It was normally better to have as few people around as possible when assassinating. The more witnesses there were, the more difficult things became. That was the standard way of operating, anyhow. For this assassination, a more significant number of customers would make it easier to work without drawing attention to myself.

Nevan considered my answer. “That is true. But won’t that be disadvantageous to your main purpose here?”

“I can operate fine under these circumstances. The stall being this busy makes for a good cover.”

No one would suspect that the one running a stand with so many customers was responsible for a murder.

Nevan and I conversed soundlessly by reading each other’s lips and barely moving our mouths. Furthermore, we were only eyeing the other out of the corners of our eyes. Staring at someone’s lips without saying anything would have appeared conspicuous.

This was a special technique, but Nevan had mastered it after I taught her one time. She was a true monster.

I’d had to leave Tarte and Dia behind because they weren’t yet capable enough with disguises. If it had only been a matter of appearance, I would have found a way to make it work.

However, neither girl possessed sufficient skill to mask her personality. To perform another identity to perfection, you needed to construct that person within yourself. Breathing, habits, speech, gestures, way of thinking, how you interacted with people, and more, all of it needed to be changed and maintained at a subconscious level.

Anything less meant you were doing nothing but wearing a costume. It was not something you could learn in a day. Yet Nevan had already perfected the art. It made sense. She did serve as Princess Farina’s body double, after all.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how you kill him,” she chirped.

“I gave you the document outlining the plan,” I responded.

“I read it, but all you wrote was that you’re going to make it look like he died of illness. You sure like to hold your cards close to the vest.”

“Just relax and watch. I’m not sure you’ll understand even if you do, though.”

This job was 90 percent complete the moment I’d secured this spot. I’d conducted extensive research on the route the royal family planned to take during the parade, what time they would pass each point, the number of guards and their stations, the carriages that would be used, and more.

This is the most accessible location to kill him from.

There was one point on the route where the road grew narrow and curved, meaning the prince’s carriage would have no choice but to draw quite close to the spectators.

Our crepe stall was on that spot. The prince’s carriage would come within three meters of it, and that was near enough to assassinate Ricla while making it seem like an illness. House Romalung had aided in securing this place.

The crepes were continuing to sell well.

Once the parade got underway, the number of customers waned slightly.

Some soldiers stepped forward and altered the direction of our line to ensure the procession had room to pass through the narrow street. Carriages with members of the royal family then began to pass by one after another.

The firstborn prince was exceptionally popular. His military prowess was praised as being godlike, and he was an able combatant in his own right. However, his sense for politics was lacking.

The next to draw loud cheers from the crowd was Princess Farina, the client for this assassination. People loved the young woman for her breathtaking beauty and her lovely smile.

Once a month, she sang at a charity concert in the largest hall in the Alvanian Kingdom, and it was a packed affair every time. Tickets sold out in minutes. Every attendee swore she had the voice of an angel.

Farina’s popularity was akin to a pop idol, but that was a front for her true nature as a master tactician.

All of the other princes and princesses except for Ricla passed by uneventfully. They weren’t all that popular. People didn’t view them as special beyond their having been born into the royal family.

“Here he comes.”

The second prince brought up the rear of the parade. The two biggest stars had been given the opening and closing acts, so to speak.

In total contrast to the first prince, Ricla was praised for his many accomplishments in politics and diplomacy. He was also good-looking and enjoyed fame on par with his older brother and Princess Farina.

The throngs of people roared excitedly as Prince Ricla came into sight. A cheerful smile was on his face. His voice was high and spirited, and he looked as handsome as every portrait depicting his visage. There was no life in his eyes, however. His gaze appeared unfocused and sluggish. It was clear to me that he wasn’t in his right mind.

I looked at him with my Tuatha Dé eyes and analyzed the color and wavelength of his mana.

Mages were always subconsciously enveloping themselves in magical power, even when they weren’t on guard. That was why if a regular person tried to stab a mage with a sword, they would not be able to inflict a fatal wound.

Killing a mage required considerable force. Yet any attack with that necessary firepower would expose me immediately.

He couldn’t be killed without firepower, but any level of firepower would make it detectable that he was assassinated.

Right there.

I began an incantation. I only barely moved my lips and spoke at a volume that not even the customers waiting for crepes right in front of me could hear. This was a new spell that Dia and I had developed.

It was a non-elemental spell designed to eliminate mana. By firing magical power that matched the target’s wavelength, you could open a hole in their protective mana armor. It didn’t inflict any physical damage, which left the recipient unaware they had been struck.

Casting it wasn’t easy, however. It was impossible to know a person’s wavelength unless you possessed Tuatha Dé eyes, and using too much power risked piercing through the target’s armor rather than simply erasing it, which the target would feel.

I finished the recitation just before Prince Ricla reached us, launching an invisible bullet of mana toward his neck and opening a hole in his shield. I then used an assassination tool disguised to look like equipment for my stall to shoot a needle. The piece of equipment was large enough that opening a booth had been the only way to reliably conceal it.

The second prince grabbed his neck, then turned and spoke to his guards. I couldn’t hear them over the crowd, so I read their lips.

“What is it, Your Highness?”

“I just felt a prick. It’s nothing. Keep moving.”

The prince removed his hand from his neck. There wasn’t a mark. My job had been a success.

Ricla passed by as if nothing had happened.

“Here’s your crepe, good sir,” I said, passing a customer their order with a grin.

As far as anyone knew, I was only cooking crepes. I was sure that not a single person noticed I had just killed the second prince.

Once the parade ended, an announcement proclaiming the end of the Founding Festival sounded.

The stalls began to close, while drinking establishments zealously called out to potential customers.

Nevan and I quickly finished cleaning up our booth.

“Phew, I’m tired. I’m happy our crepes were so popular,” Nevan remarked as she stretched.

“Yeah, me too. Let’s return to the inn,” I responded.

It would look strange if two ordinary merchants left the city so late in the day, so we’d secured lodgings in advance. Nevan was, of course, still disguised as a clerk for my stall, and I would remain as Frank until departing the capital.

“It’s just the two of us at the inn, and you are far from home. This is the perfect chance for you to cheat on your little girlfriend. I won’t say a word,” Nevan proposed.

“I don’t feel like it. Stay out of my room,” I stated curtly.

Undeterred, Nevan suggested, “I’ve been thinking. It would be perfectly natural for two young and spry merchants to celebrate their profits by enjoying a meal at a nice restaurant.”

“…Yeah, you have a point. Let’s go,” I agreed.

“Wonderful. Show me where the rabble like to eat.”

Eateries in the royal capital were expensive across the board. That Nevan could refer to them as the restaurants of “the rabble” was precisely what made rich people so terrifying.

When we were at the Royal Academy, the capital was pretty much the only place we could go for fun, so I was familiar with a few spots in the city. I picked one with private rooms and good food. I wanted one where we could be alone because I figured Nevan wished to talk.

After our orders arrived, I used a wind spell to prevent our conversation from being overheard. Nevan saw that and smiled, evidently understanding what the magic did.

“Good work out there. I have a few questions. Is it okay that the prince didn’t die?” she asked.

“He will in time, Lady Nevan. In his own room in the castle. That will cause the least trouble,” I answered.

I had Ricla’s schedule memorized, and I’d adjusted the dose of poison so that he would perish after returning to his chambers.

“Aw, what’s this ‘Lady Nevan’ stuffiness? I prefer it when you speak casually.”

“I don’t need to act as Frank right now.”

I was isolating the sound of the room using wind magic, and we were speaking of the assassination. Thus, I was Lugh, not Frank.

“Exactly how did you kill him?”

“I used a needle. It was only a few millimeters long. I installed a machine disguised as cooking equipment in the stall to fire it. Shooting such tiny projectiles is difficult, so I had no choice but to use a large device. Opening a stall was the only way to bring in the contraption and conceal it while also getting within striking range of the prince.”

Our crepe booth truly had been the perfect facade.

“You can kill someone with a needle that small?”

“Yes, though it would’ve been impossible using a normal one. The needle itself was solidified poison. I shot it into a vein on his neck so that it would be carried through his bloodstream to his heart, where it will melt.”

“And what happens then?”

“It will cause his muscles to relax. After his heart slows, his blood flow will stop. He will suffer a cardiac arrest, making his death look like an illness.”

“Won’t they discover the poison?”

“The needle will melt, and all the toxin does is relax muscles in the body. There won’t be anything left to find.”

Truthfully, there would be traces left in Prince Ricla’s body, but nothing in this world could detect them.

“What an interesting poison. I’ve never heard of anything like it.”

“In a few hours, the prince will retire to his room, where he is guarded by an artifact that keeps out intruders. He will then die of a heart attack. It will appear as nothing more than death from sickness.”

“Hmm-hmm, how perfect. That’s a wrap on this issue. We’ll make great use of this killing method in our future work,” Nevan stated with a captivating smile before taking a sip of her alcohol. That was all she did, but somehow, she made the gesture seem tremendously alluring.

“That was a great meal. How about we head back?” I suggested.

Nevan nodded. “Yes, let’s.” She offered her hand, silently telling me to escort her.

I could allow her that much. Our success today was due to her groundwork and presence at the crepe stall. I needed to express my gratitude.

Still, I couldn’t afford to get careless. Nevan was already trying to entice me by pressing her chest against mine. It was also obvious she wasn’t wearing a regular perfume, but one designed to arouse men.

Now that I thought about it, her every mannerism was chosen specifically for that purpose. She was doing everything she could to break me down.

“The night is young,” she said with a giggle.

Apparently, the real battle would begin once we got to the inn. I could not allow myself to lose. Maha and I had a date the next day, and arriving with the scent of another woman on me was a bad idea. Maha worked hard for me, and she didn’t deserve that.