The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat - Volume 6 - Chapter 13

Chapter 13 | The Assassin Abducts the Oracle

I infiltrated the cathedral after avoiding an array of traps. In contrast to the strict defenses around the great temple, the interior was totally defenseless. I didn’t let myself get comfortable, though. I kept my Tuatha Dé eyes active to look out for magical ploys, while simultaneously using my assassin’s skill of observation to scan for physical ones. From here on, losing focus for a moment could mean forfeiting my life.

I saw my reflection in a mirror on the way and chuckled to myself. I had no choice, but I still can’t believe I’m wearing this kind of disguise again. Upon reaching the cathedral, I’d disguised myself as a nun. They were the only ones who could enter the section of the cathedral where the Alam Karla lived.

Fortunately, Alamite nuns wore loose skirts, meaning I could bend my knees slightly as I walked, to make myself appear shorter. The thin veil on my hat was convenient as well. It was unlikely anyone would realize my gender with my face concealed, and even if someone did see my face, no one would think twice about not recognizing me.

I followed the diagram of the cathedral Nevan gave me and headed for my destination, the bathhouse. It was the only place the Alam Karla would be alone.

Spying a plump man ahead of me, I moved against the wall and bowed in the Alamism style. Men were prohibited from this part of the cathedral, but I guessed from his clothes that he was a high priest. Something about him seemed vulgar, though. Rather than pass by, he made straight for me.

He couldn’t have noticed I’m not a real nun, could he?

“Show me your face, sister,” the man said. I obeyed and lifted my veil. “Hmm… You’re beautiful, but I wish you were younger. That’s enough. Carry on.”

“Understood.”

Having lost interest, the high priest walked away.

Looks like Alamism was unable to escape the corruption of society. I understood what kind of man he was the moment I saw his lust-filled eyes. He undoubtedly came here looking for nuns to play with every day.

Perhaps this baseness resulted from the hierarch being a demon, but I doubted it. Religion always gathered money and power, which corrupted people and drew in bad characters. As far as I knew, no matter how commendable the doctrine, things always ended up like this once it got big. I had seen that many times in my previous life, and I’d received many jobs asking me to assassinate people who had given in to lust.

Good thing I took care with the disguise. I didn’t have a great need to alter my face because I was going to be wearing a veil, but my caution had been warranted. Had my face been to his liking, he could have dragged me back to his room; that would have been trouble.

I was almost at my destination. I needed to remain focused until the job was done.

After gathering information on the way and confirming that the Alam Karla was about to take her bath, I hid above the ceiling of the bathhouse. I was going to wait there until she arrived. A probing wind spell provided me with an understanding of the situation below. I felt a pang of guilt for what was functionally peeping on the Alam Karla in the bath, but this was the only chance to find her alone.

It was nearly time for the Alam Karla’s bath, according to Nevan’s intel. I heard footsteps, and then the person I was waiting for appeared. Her hair, skin, and every other feature were all pale. She was wearing thin clothing that stuck to her skin. I’d thought this the first time I saw her, but it still surprised me how much she resembled the goddess.

I held my breath and kept quiet while descending through the hidden door I’d made in the ceiling. I approached my target from a blind spot, then grabbed her from behind and put a hand over her mouth.

“Hmmm, hmmm!”

The Alam Karla panicked and struggled, but she could barely move. I was using a professional restraining technique. She would have screamed if I’d appeared before her in the bathhouse without warning, which would have caused a disturbance. That was why I chose to grab her.

I whispered in her ear. “It’s Lugh Tuatha Dé. I came here to save you on Princess Farina’s request.”

She calmed down at those words. I used Princess Farina’s name because Nevan had spoken to the Alam Karla while disguised as the princess.

“I’m about to release you. Keep quiet so that your attendants outside won’t hear,” I instructed.

The Alam Karla nodded. I let her go once I was confident she’d calmed down.

“Thank you for coming to save me,” she said softly. Strangely enough, she was carrying a makeup kit, which included lipstick, something that suited my plan perfectly. Using the Alam Karla’s would be far more natural than using what I’d brought.

“You can thank me later. We have to get out of here first. Before we leave, I want you to use your lipstick to write what I say on the wall.”

“Um, why do you want me to do that?”

“There’s no time. I’ll explain later. This is what I want you to write: ‘I am going to the goddess’s side.’” The young woman gave a puzzled expression, but she obeyed.

This was a cheap trick, but it served me better if people thought the Alam Karla had disappeared because of the goddess rather than because of kidnapping. I didn’t want anyone searching for her and her abductor. Plus, being kidnapped would harm her reputation. My preparations would ensure that the rumor of her miraculous disappearance would be picked up by the nuns and spread throughout the cathedral and beyond.

“Okay, let’s go. Grab on to me tightly.”

I hugged the Alam Karla close, then rode on wind to return to the ceiling. Her white hair came loose from her head as we ascended—a wig. Red locks spilled out from beneath.

Shoot, is she a body double for the real Alam Karla? Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. I could tell she was the genuine article because she possessed the same aura of the goddess that I had. Maybe she trusted me because she recognized that, too.

The Alam Karla fought hard to keep her wig from flying away, and there was another thing wrong as well. Something white was rubbing off onto my clothes from the touch of her skin. Her skin was fake, just like her hair. I was curious about it, but this wasn’t the time for questions.

I climbed through the hidden door I’d used to get into the bathhouse, closed it tight, then hurried into a vent and onto the roof. From there, I used a route I’d confirmed was safe beforehand and headed for our hideout.

The refuge I’d prepared was a building in the Holy Land, a safe house obtained using resources from Natural You. I’d purchased the house under a false identity and possessed others like it in several major cities.

I served the Alam Karla an herbal tea with a relaxing effect to help her calm down.

“We have a lot to discuss. Where should I start…?” I said.

“…Are you not going to ask about my hair and skin?” she questioned.

“Let’s start there.”

The Alam Karla removed her false hair and began to remove the white paint on her skin. She was a redhead, and while her skin was fair, it was a human color rather than the inhuman alabaster of the goddess. I’d judged her to be a woman in her twenties when we last met, but without her disguise, she seemed no older than her late teens. Makeup could completely change how a person was perceived.

“The Alam Karla is the mouthpiece of the goddess Venus, and she is required to have her white skin. All the Alam Karlas before me were obligated to paint their bodies as well… Only the hierarch and a handful of other people know about this.”

“That explains why you enter the bathhouse alone.”

People in high stations often brought attendants into the bathhouse to serve them. The Alam Karla was one of the most important people in the world, and you’d think she’d want guards by her side at all times.

“The bathhouse is the only place I ever get to set the Alam Karla aside and become Myrrha again.”

“If people aren’t supposed to know you wear makeup, it might have been a mistake to have you write the message in lipstick.”

“No, lipstick is fine. The powder is a secret, but I don’t hide the lipstick at all. No one thinks that the shade of my lipstick is my natural color.”

She probably carried around lipstick to distract people from the powder she used to color her skin white. The Alam Karla applied common, everyday makeup in the bath as a kind of distraction. No one could be allowed to realize that she disguised her skin, but freshly applied powder had a particular scent. That smell could be explained if people knew that she donned other makeup in the bath.

“You have it rough,” I said.

“I knew what I was getting into when I assumed the position. All I have to do is listen to the goddess’s voice and convey it, and I’m able to live a good life,” she responded.

I inferred from her words and attitude that she was not born into a family of high social status. She was only given this position because she was an oracle. Her life was all thanks to the goddess judging her compatible. I’d felt a detached sense from the Alam Karla the first time we met, but the girl before me now looked as normal as could be.

“I see… I assume you have a reason important enough to risk that position by seeking help.”

“Yes, I do. I’m going to be killed if nothing is done. You will be, too.”

“Me too, huh? Princess Farina told me that a demon has taken the place of the hierarch. How do you know about it?”

That was my single biggest doubt about this situation. If the Alam Karla possessed some ability to see through demons’ disguises, I could believe her, but that felt unlikely. She was only an ordinary person who could hear the goddess’s voice. However imperfect his disguise, the demon was able to become the hierarch of the Alamite Church and fool all of the highest-ranking clergy members in the world. His methods of concealment had to be top-notch. It was unthinkable that this girl was the only one to see through that facade.

I was skeptical of her ability to gather intelligence as well. Speaking with her made it plain that she was an ordinary young woman.

“…Well, because Venus used my body to speak to the hierarch—the demon. I was conscious during the conversation, and I remember what they said.”

I was speechless. The goddess spoke directly to a demon? I had a bad feeling about this.

Is she in league with the demon? I wondered. It wasn’t impossible. The goddess’s purpose was to preserve the world. She didn’t exist to support humanity but to support the world itself. I’d collected information to suggest that while demons were the enemy of people, they were not a danger to the planet. Thus, the goddess could join hands with one.

“I’d like for you to repeat to me what they said,” I requested.

This was a stroke of fortune, in a way. Had I not been here, I wouldn’t have learned of the goddess’s conversation with a demon.