The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat - Volume 4 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2 | The Assassin Negotiates

I had thought I would see the snake demon again, but I didn’t know it would be so soon, and especially not at a party in the royal capital, of all places.

A demon attending a celebration in the royal capital was nothing to sneeze at. Only Alvan’s best were permitted entry. If she felt like it, the demon could slaughter every member of the central government right now.

I followed one of Snake’s servants down a hall flanked with rooms on loan to aristocratic guests.

All eyes turned to me as we passed by. As a Holy Knight and now also a Chosen, I was the center of attention. To add to that, I was visiting a woman’s room late at night. A young, beautiful woman at that. I was sure rumors would be circulating the next day.

The servant knocked on a door, their master responded, and the entrance opened.

“Thank you very much for your invitation, Countess Granfelt,” I said.

After meeting Snake at the party, I had researched what alias she was operating under.

She was Countess Granfelt, the wife of Count Granfelt. The previous Count Granfelt was a great man, but his heir was an incompetent fool who wasted his family’s fortune. He was a stereotypical ruined noble.

Half a year ago, he had married, and she was his wife. Count Granfelt died a month after the wedding, and she ended up in charge of the domain, improving its management dramatically in just a few months.

Her looks and her skill had earned her popularity and praise inside and outside of the domain. I was surprised that a demon could adapt so well to human society.

“I was so looking forward to your arrival, Sir Lugh. Please, come here,” she called with a laugh and a smile. The sex appeal of this voluptuous woman was enough to make any man dizzy.

She was releasing pheromones just like Tarte did when she used Beastification. The concentration, however, was significantly thicker. Unlike Tarte, she was probably doing this intentionally.

Most men would be lured by the scent, sensual body, and beckoning gestures, whether they truly wished it or not. During my assassin training, I had built up a tolerance to many drugs and possessed countermeasures for the pheromones, but even I had trouble resisting her.

Any normal person would have been done for.

“I have some very nice tea,” she offered.

“No, I’m fine. I’m not thirsty,” I replied.

“Please, don’t be so wary around me. I haven’t poisoned the tea. I only want to make you welcome, love.”

“Amusing.”

Don’t make me laugh. You’re telling me not to be wary while you’re trying to seduce me?

“Oh goodness, have you figured it all out already? You can drop the act as well, then. Everyone here is on my side, after all. Show me the cold, knifelike sharpness you displayed on the battlefield. That behavior fits you so much better and really sets my heart racing.”

Countess Granfelt snapped, and the servants turned into giant white serpents.

The demon’s attendants had been monsters with the ability to disguise themselves. With no humans in the room, that enabled me to speak as a demon-killing assassin. I decided to oblige Snake’s request.

“Try anything now, and I’ll make sure you’re exposed. If you plan on attacking, by all means, make your attempt,” I stated.

“You are quite intelligent, so I’ll refrain from doing that kind of thing,” the demon answered calmly.

She understood me well.

After learning her servants were monsters, I needed to consider the possibility that there were many more of their ilk in the castle. If they so wished, they could murder countless innocents. I didn’t want to see that happen.

This demon was clever. There was no room for letting my guard down while negotiating with her, but it would also save me a lot of time.

“I’m floored that a demon was able to become so impressive a noble as to be invited to the royal castle. I didn’t think the fight was this hopeless. You can easily overhear our every move, and worst of all, the lives of very many important people are in your grasp. Just how many have you gutted? If you felt like it, you could manipulate this entire country, no?”

I was able to bear the pheromones, but I was sure most people would succumb. I didn’t even want to think about how many puppets Snake had in the central government. Undoubtedly, she possessed methods beyond sex appeal to compel others to obey.

“Not that many. You were able to resist, but you would’ve been a luxury. I’m still hurt, though. I never thought I’d see a man unswayed by my charms,” she said, snuggling against me and running a finger down my chest.

“Sorry, but I know a girl who is way more attractive than you.”

“Hmm, I wonder which one it is? The silver-haired doll? The golden-haired fox pup? Both of them are so adorable. Your young love is so pure. It makes me want to tear you apart.”

“If you even think about laying a hand on Dia or Tarte, I will eliminate you. You can take the entire country hostage, but I’ll never allow that.”

I glared at Snake with murderous intent. A normal person would have fainted under that gaze. Conversely, I could also completely disguise my intent to kill and keep a person at ease until I ended their life.

Snake’s smile spasmed a little. It seemed she understood how serious I was.

“Sorry about that, love. I didn’t intend to make you angry. Let’s put the jokes aside and proceed with negotiations.”

It looked like we were getting to the point.

Snake drew back the finger she had been tracing down my chest and backed away.

“You don’t want the Demon King to be revived. Is that right?” I asked.

If Snake wanted the Demon King to return, there was no way she would have revealed her identity to me. With her political influence, she likely could have sent the hero and me far away, enabling her to claim a whole city without interference. And there was nothing stopping her from doing as much multiple times.

“I’m delighted to see you catch on so quickly. Yes, the truth is, I want the Demon King to stay dead,” she confessed.

“Your reasoning?”

“When the Demon King is reborn, the demons die. I don’t want to die.”

“That’s easy to understand. But give me more details. If that’s the case, why are the other demons working to resurrect the Demon King? It doesn’t make sense. Are the others suicidal?”

Snake yawned as if bored.

“At least three Fruits of Life need to be offered. The revived Demon King then absorbs all the demons. The demon who produced the most Fruits of Life becomes the base for the Demon King. If you don’t want your consciousness to vanish, you have no choice but to produce more Fruits of Life than the others.”

In other words, demons were nothing more than nourishment for the Demon King. They fed the Demon King the Fruits of Life and then had to sacrifice themselves, too.

“Why are you not racing against the others to produce Fruits of Life?”

“Even if I do become the base for the Demon King, will that really be me? The thought of having the other demons and the Fruits of Life…tens of thousands of human souls…poured into me makes me want to puke. I’m fine as I am. That is why I’m hindering the others.”

“That’s all reasonable, but wouldn’t it have been easier just to convince the other demons to drop reviving the Demon King? They might be of the same mind.”

“No. All those idiots think about is being the one to become the Demon King. Demons desire power by nature, and they are following that instinct. They’re nothing more than animals.”

“But you’re different?”

“That’s right. I have all the strength I need. It’s actually quite fun living among humans. The management of my domain is going well, and I have as much luxury as I could want. I hold human culture in high regard. I want to continue my current life and enjoy human pleasures and pastimes to my heart’s content. That is my aim, and the other demons are in my way.”

One of an assassin’s essential skills was mind reading. Snake was definitely telling the truth.

“Then our interests align,” I said.

“Yes. That is why I revealed to you that I am a demon. The hero is too green and would be impossible to negotiate with. That little girl would be overcome by a sense of righteousness and destroy me. But you’re different. All right, I just gave you a heap of information. Perhaps you should share something helpful in return?” she inquired with a giggle.

She wasn’t wrong about that. I was the only one who had benefited from our exchange so far.

“You’re right. Here’s what I’m willing to reveal. If you don’t join forces with me, the Demon King will absolutely be revived, and you will die. The goddess, or whatever she is, told me about what’s to come. As things are now, the Demon King’s return is guaranteed, the hero will kill them, and then she herself will go insane and destroy the world in a blind rampage… My goal is to change that future.”

“Oh my. You really are a Chosen.”

“That I am. I’m acting on orders from the goddess. At her instruction, I am steering the world from its fate.”

That was half a lie.

“Goodness me. When you put it that way, I have no choice but to cooperate with you. Hmm-hmm, how interesting. I haven’t given you my name yet. Please call me Mina. Normally, I only allow my adorable little pets to address me as such, but you’re a special case.”

Something about the way she said pets made me think she actually meant slaves.

Mina reached out for a handshake, and I obliged.

I had acquired a good ally. She could aid me with politics in the castle and provide intel on demons.

Mina hadn’t deceived me in any major ways, but she had slipped in fibs here and there. The best liars knew how to insert small lies into the truth.

I was confident she detested the idea of other demons merging with her. However, she was lying about the tens of thousands of human souls. That notion didn’t appear to trouble her one bit. Furthermore, it was true that Mina was happy and would like to continue her current life, but she had lied when claiming she desired no more. Demons craved power by instinct.

That all drew me to one conclusion: Mina’s goal was to become the Demon King after killing all the other demons. That way, she could ensure they would not enter her body. Her aim was to use this nation and me to that end.

It was a genuinely cunning scheme. Mina had great ambition, making her easier to trust and manipulate.

Once Mina was the only demon left, or if she reached a point where she was confident she could slay the rest of her kin, she would try to end my life. As I understood her true intentions, the temptation to assassinate her would grow as she became less valuable to me.

We were now locked in a game of trying to wring as much as we could from the other while still being the first to strike.

“That was a fruitful negotiation. How about we have sex to celebrate? I just can’t help but long for intimacy in the presence of such a fine man.”

“Were you not listening? I already have a girlfriend I love very much.”

“You’re so uptight. That’s a shame. I could satisfy you in ways that puny human girl never could.”

“I’m not interested. Also, as a pointer, pleasures of the body are not everything. I look for something greater in the one I love. Something I couldn’t gain from you.”

“Oh my, I’m so embarrassed that you said that to me with a straight face. Youth never ceases to amaze.”

I took my leave. Mina would use me, and I her. I intended to get everything I could from this relationship.

I’m gonna be in trouble once I get back to the apartment.

I was sure Dia would be angry with me for visiting such a sexy woman. Tarte wouldn’t voice her displeasure, but she would stare at me nonstop with those sad eyes of hers.

It was a little annoying but also proof that they cared for me. Strangely, thinking about it that way made it sound adorable.