The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat - Volume 4 - Chapter 5

Chapter 5 | The Assassin Makes a Wager

Faces that had been filled with hopeful admiration contorted in bewilderment and silent anger. The Auguide Order had not expected rejection from a Holy Knight. They’d anticipated that I’d ask them to join my side while saying how much I expected of them all. That was what I should have done if all I cared about was making sure everyone got along.

However, I couldn’t patronize them. I didn’t want these young people, and especially not my friend Naoise, to die.

“Ha-ha-ha, Lugh’s got a rough sense of humor. I’m sure he’s just trying to get us fired up,” Naoise said with a smile, trying to salvage the situation.

“No, I’m serious. As someone who has actually fought demons, I know that fighters of merely adequate skill would only hold me back. When fighting a creature that powerful, I won’t have any time to protect you all,” I stated firmly.

I recalled the battle with the beetle demon and how Tarte had fought up close then.

Her capabilities had been enhanced by the power of My Loyal Knights, her S-Rank skill Beastification, and even the drug I’d developed. Yet despite all of those boosts, it took everything she had to buy me the time I’d needed.

S-Rank skills granted legendary power and were normally only possessed by one in one hundred million people. Tarte possessed two of those abilities, and she still couldn’t match a demon’s raw might. Such was the sort of foe we faced.

A demon would undoubtedly lay waste to common warriors without so much as breaking a sweat.

“If that’s true, then what about Dia and Tarte? You took them along. According to the report you submitted, they both contributed greatly to your victory. I know how talented those two are, but I am confident that I possess strength equal, no, superior to them. And the Auguide Order is composed entirely of brave men who have earned my personal approval,” argued Naoise.

If we were going by grades from our time at the Royal Academy, Naoise was indeed ranked higher than Dia and Tarte. However, they hadn’t displayed their full power at school, and they’d become much stronger since its temporary closure.

“Allow me to ask one question, then. Is there anyone here who can use Demonkiller?” I inquired.

Demonkiller was a spell that Dia and I had created, although as far as the public knew, it had been bequeathed to me by the goddess. Recently, information on how to use Demonkiller had been made public.

There was no way the Auguide Order, eager for glory as they were, hadn’t tried casting that magic.

Eyes cast down, Naoise admitted, “…There is no one in our order who can use it.”

“Then tell me, how are you going to slay a demon? If you read my report, then surely you know that Tarte kept the demon in place, Dia cast Demonkiller, and I finished it off. In short, if you can’t use Demonkiller, then I can’t accept your assistance.”

“Well, but… What if we help restrain the demons? From the next mission on, we will perform Tarte’s role. That has to be more efficient than her doing so alone,” Naoise countered.

While shaking my head, I answered, “I told you earlier. A fight against a demon could go awry at any moment. I won’t be able to protect you.”

“Are you suggesting that Tarte is more capable than all of my knights and me combined?”

“I am.”

Unsurprisingly, that answer seemed to injure Naoise’s pride. He threw down his glove at Tarte’s feet.

“…If you won’t rescind that statement, then I have to request a duel. My pride demands satisfaction,” Naoise declared.

“Huh? U-um, you want to fight me?” questioned a flustered Tarte.

“If I beat her in a duel, then surely that will prove what you just said to be wrong. My victory means we will join you in the fight against demons.”

Utterly at a loss, Tarte looked to me.

“We have no reason to accept,” I responded.

“Should I lose, you may ask me for anything, so long as it is something House Gephis can grant,” answered Naoise.

The power of a duke’s house, huh?

A duke’s house could do just about anything, but I still didn’t find the stakes very tempting. That said, I didn’t see any other way to get control of this situation.

“Tarte, please accept the duel. And don’t hold back.”

“Y-yes, my lord. I will do my best. But is it really okay for me to go all out?”

If Tarte was to fight at full strength, it would mean using Beastification. She was worried that doing so might lead to Naoise being seriously injured. Her inquiry was born of concern, yet to Naoise, it seemed a biting insult.

“…Tarte. It seems as if you are severely underestimating my ability. It hurts to know that you think so little of me.”

“Oh, um, sorry. I didn’t mean it that way…”

“It’s fine. Say no more. I will prove my strength in our duel.”

Naoise left it at that and stepped into a ring in the courtyard. One of his knights handed him a wooden sword. Tarte appeared panicked and on the verge of tears, but after I nodded to her, she joined him.

Naoise looked at her blankly.

“My apologies. I was inconsiderate. You surely can’t fight in those clothes. Please change before we begin,” he requested.

Naoise was in ceremonial attire, but because House Gephis prided themselves on their military prowess, the garments were made with combat in mind. Tarte, however, was wearing her maid outfit.

“No, I am fine. My lord made these clothes for me. They may not look like much, but they’re stronger than most armor,” Tarte responded.

That applied to all of Tarte’s uniforms. She was often at my side in servant attire, and I wanted to ensure she was always combat-ready. I had made the garments using materials from monsters, then strengthened the clothing with magic to ensure it provided Tarte with both mobility and defensive strength.

The only issue was the skirt. It was considered vulgar in Alvan for women to wear pants in public. Thus, I’d had no choice but to try making a skirt suitable for combat.

Tarte’s blade-proof knee-high socks meant there was no need to worry about injuries to her legs, but any intense movement would cause her hem to flutter up.

I didn’t want anyone catching sight of Tarte’s underwear, so I decided to protect her by controlling the wind without anyone noticing.

“I never would have thought that uniform offered any protection. That means I don’t have to restrain myself,” Naoise said with a sigh of relief. Even after feeling insulted, he still displayed concern for Tarte. Knowing what Naoise was like, that wasn’t too surprising.

He had been taken with Tarte since the beginning. What interested me, however, was that his feelings didn’t seem to be romantic. Were I to describe it, I would say it more closely resembled a son longing for a mother. Perhaps Tarte resembled Naoise’s.

“Tarte, go all out and finish him in one blow,” I instructed.

“Yes, my lord,” she responded.

“Just how far do you plan to take this ridicule, Lugh?” Naoise asked, visibly offended.

“You’ll see whether or not this is ridicule after the duel.”

Tarte picked up a wooden lance. She took a deep breath and focused herself. “U-um, Lord Naoise. The moment the duel begins, I am going to close the distance between us in one step and swing at your waist horizontally from just inside my spear’s range. Please block it… I don’t want to kill you.”

Rage crossed Naoise’s face. Tarte’s last statement had really pushed him over the edge. “…Let’s cut the talking. I will have my honor.” The young man readied his sword. It was an orthodox stance that gave him a perfect guard.

The two combatants turned to face each other.

One of Naoise’s knights was serving as the judge. He raised a flag. The duel would commence when he lowered it.

Tarte looked at me, and I nodded in approval. At that, her fox ears and tail appeared. Someone in the crowd of onlookers remarked how cute she was. That a person was willing to express that feeling in this situation said a lot about how perfectly the fox ears and tail complemented Tarte’s looks.

Despite facing off against Naoise, Tarte appeared totally unbothered. Her normally timid eyes had taken on the sadistic glint of a hunter. The side effects of Beastification were pushing her into an excited state.

My maid was normally hesitant and unable to exert her full strength, but Beastification allowed her to show no mercy. I was confident she would strike quick and hard.

“Begin!”

The flag came down.

Immediately, Tarte vanished, followed by a delayed sound.

She charged at Naoise too swiftly to follow without Tuatha Dé eyes, her movements extremely precise. Just as she had declared, Tarte brought her weapon to bear with a horizontal slash at Naoise’s waist, and the young noble barely managed to meet it. That he did was a testament to his skill, of course, but he never would’ve been able to had Tarte not informed him of her plan of attack.

The wooden sword and wooden spear collided and splintered upon impact, but Tarte pushed through and completed her stroke. Before the wooden spear snapped completely, it sent the wooden sword flying, and Naoise along with it.

He went tumbling out of the ring and bounced on the ground several times before colliding with a storehouse erected at the edge of the courtyard.

“I win. My lord, I ended it in one hit, just like you told me to!” Tarte exclaimed with a cheerful and innocent voice, wagging her fluffy fox tail.

The knights gaped in disbelief that quickly shifted to fear. Naoise was the strongest member of their order, and the young man had just been handily trounced not by the Holy Knight, but by his servant.

Naoise walked back toward us while gripping his side and dragging his feet. A few of his ribs were broken.

“Naoise, this is Tarte’s current level of strength, and even she was overwhelmed by the demon. It took all she had to keep it still for less than a minute, and if the fight had gone on any longer, she would have died. Do you understand now?” I said.

Despair showed on the knights’ faces. They had known that demons were strong, but they had underestimated the depths of that might. This demonstration had been a wake-up call. There was no way any of them believed winning glory by defeating a demon was still achievable.

With a hollow look in his eyes, Naoise returned to the ring and grabbed Tarte’s hand. “Tell me! Tell me how you obtained that strength! I need…to grow stronger…”

That was all he managed before collapsing.

“Someone call a healer!”

“Send for a doctor, quickly!”

“Is there a stretcher anywhere?!”

A few members of the Auguide Order went off in search of a mage who knew healing magic.

Tarte looked frightened, even though Beastification was still active. That was how dreadful Naoise’s expression had been. Her fox ears and tail disappeared, and she hastened to my side.

“Um, was what we did okay, my lord?” she asked.

“Yes, it’s best they understand the magnitude of the situation. Anything less might leave Naoise and his group willing to seek out a demon on their own,” I answered.

It was a shocking method, but there’d been no other option. If Naoise had lost in a duel to me, he and his fellows would have written it off as due to my being a Holy Knight, and it wouldn’t have deterred them at all. Failing against Tarte, however, left no room for argument.

Hopefully they understand their place now.

“I feel a little bad for him.”

“You’re a nice person, Tarte.”

I patted her head, and while she appeared a little embarrassed, she accepted the gesture gladly.

It was time for us to go. I had a feeling we were no longer welcome here. We could follow up with Naoise later, but there was one final piece of business I had to settle.

Mina was standing alone, looking bored. The crowd of knights that had been around her had vanished when Naoise had fainted.

“What are you doing here?” I demanded.

“Hmm, I thought it would be fun. I find young people and their passion so much more stimulating than the greasy old men who attend most parties… And that boy’s last expression before he passed out was delicious. He looked so full of despair he could cry, but he was still bursting with ambition and a real thirst for strength. It set my heart racing,” Mina responded wickedly.

“That’s my friend you’re talking about. If you lay a hand on him, you’d better be prepared for the consequences,” I cautioned.

“What are you getting upset for? I’m not breaking our agreement. And I’m not going to do anything bad to him. Not really.”

“You’re not the only one who can skirt around violating our contract, you know.”

“Oh? Hmm-hmm, now that’s exciting.”

I’ll need to use Illig Balor’s information network to keep an eye on Naoise for a while. I can’t give this snake demon a chance to go after him.

I also decided I would take one more defensive precaution. Grabbing one of the knights who had been running around in a panic, I told him, “After Naoise wakes up, tell him that he and the entire Auguide Order must stay away from Countess Granfelt as his favor to me for losing the duel.”

“Hey, that’s not fair,” Mina protested.

“You’re the one who started this. This is beyond the scope of our agreement. You have no right to interfere with any promises made between Naoise and me.”

“Aww, I guess you’re right. That’s too bad. I was going to have some real fun with him. I’ll back off…this time.”

And with that, I achieved the goal of protecting Naoise and his knights from Mina’s schemes. I had no doubt that Naoise would uphold his promise to obey my request.

“Tarte, Dia, let’s go,” I stated.

Tarte bobbed her head. “Yes, my lord.”

“Let’s stop somewhere on the way back. I didn’t get to eat anything,” said Dia.

The three of us left the Gephis villa behind.

Where will Naoise and his knights go from here? I wondered.

I’d managed to dissuade them from joining me in the fight against demons. There was no guarantee they wouldn’t do anything else reckless, however.

Still, this was as much help as I could provide them. I only prayed that my friend wouldn’t stray from the path.