Chapter 9 | The Assassin Receives a Job
My celebration concluded without issue. My parents and fiancées had a great time.
At the end of the party, I handed the girls the engagement rings I’d made for them, and I treated everyone to Sacher torte, the most famous chocolate cake in my previous world. Everyone was utterly enchanted by the taste, and it wasn’t surprising. The recipe was so good that it had once caused a legal battle. Maha went full merchant-mode when she tried the cake, which was funny to see.
It was truly a day to remember.
When dawn came the next day, it was time to take Maha back to Milteu. My mother took her hands to bid her farewell. “I wish you had taken more time to relax here, Maha.”
“I would’ve liked to, but I have to get back to work. I can’t neglect the company that Lugh entrusted to me.” Maha responded with a slightly lonely expression.
“I’ll visit you,” I said.
“I’ll be waiting. I feel like this ring has given me renewed energy.” The sapphire shone blue on her finger.
“I’ll go with you next time. I wanted to talk to you some more, Maha,” Dia added.
Maha smiled. “I’m happy to hear that. I was just thinking the same thing, Dia.”
The two girls had become good friends in the span of a single day. That Maha wasn’t addressing Dia as “Lady Dia” was proof of that. They’d hit it off right away and had lots of fun talking to each other. Given their differing interests and personalities, I didn’t expect them to get along so well.
Now that I thought about it, though, it shouldn’t have been a surprise. Dia was a sorcerer, and Maha was a merchant; they followed different paths, but they were both professionals in their respective fields. They surely shared common ground.
“All right, we need to go,” Maha announced.
“Be careful,” called Tarte.
“Bring us back some souvenirs,” Dia requested.
Once we said our good-byes, I took off with Maha in the aircraft.
A few days had come and gone since I flew Maha back to Milteu. Recent events were giving me a headache.
The reaction to the news of my engagements was larger than I expected. Nobles near the Tuatha Dé domain were sent into an absolute frenzy once I received a congratulatory gift directly from the royal family.
People had assumed I stood in high favor with the royal family because of my heroic deeds in killing demons, and this confirmed it. Now everyone was losing their minds trying to cozy up to House Tuatha Dé. My father and I laughed at the tenfold increase in the number of people claiming to be friends and relatives of our family. Nobles had great authority in the Alvanian Kingdom, but the royal family still reigned supreme.
Things got further out of hand when two of the four major dukedoms sent me a congratulatory present. That caused the already large number of marriage proposals I was receiving to snowball into a true avalanche. In my previous world, it would have been absurd to propose to someone who had just announced their engagement, but this country allowed polygamy. And since I had multiple fiancées already, many families were taking the chance to see if they could throw one of their daughters onto the altar as well. My fiancées not being from local aristocratic families spurred people on even more.
To sum up, everyone wanted to bring me into their family because I had the favor of the royal family and a couple of the four major dukedoms.
The higher-ranking nobles commanding me to take their daughters as my first wife, adding that they’ll tolerate Dia, Tarte, and Maha if I do so, are really irritating me. House Tuatha Dé was a lowly barony, so there were times when we had to obey those above us. However, the insulting words toward my fiancées ensured that I wouldn’t do so this time.
I just have to endure this for a few more days. We were returning to the academy next week. That would free me from these irritating duties, at least momentarily… I was sure some girls at school would approach me on instructions from their families, but noble rank was not supposed to matter at the academy. It was an official stance that not everyone abided by, but the policy had been instated by the royal family. That meant I’d be free to ignore my duties.
The communications device in my room rang. It was Maha’s channel.
“Huh, you’re in your room this time,” she said.
“Yeah, I’m just mindlessly writing rejections to the avalanche of marriage proposals I’ve received.”
“Sounds like you’ve had it rough, too.”
“‘Too?’ So things are busy at Natural You?”
“Of course. The proxy representative of the company is one of the future wives of Lugh Tuatha Dé, the world’s exciting young demon slayer.”
“Oh yeah… I didn’t think about that. Maybe I should have delayed my engagements a little longer.”
“No way. I’ve been over the moon since you made your feelings for me clear, dear brother. Anyway, I called to give you my regular report. There’s no sign of demon activity at the moment.”
“I see. Thanks.”
Lately, it seemed the surge in monster appearances had died down. That made me suspicious that the demons were plotting something and kept me on high alert. Yet as Maha said, there was no sign of demon activity.
I did, however, receive reports of worrying news from an entirely different party… It seemed that the church was up to no good.
“You’re welcome. These reports are going to get difficult next week. Extending the telecommunications network to the academy will be very risky.”
“I have a few ideas. I’ll figure something out in the next few days.”
Installing the cables and terminals of the telecommunications network at the academy would be a greater challenge than in an ordinary city. However, it wasn’t impossible.
“That’s a relief. I’d hate not being able to hear your voice anymore. I’m going to hang up. Until our next report.”
“Keep up the good work.”
She hung up. It sounded like Maha was having a rough time. I thought it might be a good idea to stop by the company as Illig Balor. I began considering the most effective time to make an appearance.
The academy’s restoration was completed according to the schedule mentioned in the letter, and it reopened at last. Dia, Tarte, and I alighted from our carriage and walked through the gate. It had been a long time since I’d seen Dia and Tarte in their school uniforms.
Most of the students I saw seemed happy to be reunited with their friends.
“We’re getting so much attention,” Tarte commented.
“We’ve accomplished a lot since the academy closed. Or rather, Lugh has,” Dia responded.
All eyes turned our way as we moved through the academy grounds. We’d become total celebrities.
One of the reasons we garnered so many gazes was the unrivaled beauty of Dia and Tarte paired with the engagement rings on their fingers. After receiving them, they’d hardly removed their rings except to bathe and sleep. I occasionally caught them spacing out and staring at their rings in silence. Seeing the two like that brought me great joy.
I was wearing a ring, too, naturally. It was a silver band without a gemstone. It wasn’t ordinary silver, though. I’d imbued it with several unique capabilities.
“I’m not accustomed to having so many people watching me,” I admitted.
“Well, you’d better get used to it. You’re only going to attract more and more attention from now on,” Dia advised.
“Surely not.”
“You definitely will. I can’t imagine you sitting back and fading into obscurity.”
“Tarte, help me out here.”
“…Ah-ha-ha, I actually agree with Lady Dia.”
I couldn’t believe even Tarte thought as much. I supposed I only had myself to blame for this.
The students observed me from a distance, none seemingly possessed of sufficient courage to approach. There was an exception, however, a student who’d agreed to avoid speaking with me before the incident that closed the academy. She was also quite famous and was head of the year above Dia, Tarte, and me. She’d been away on an expedition at the time of the orc demon attack. Had she been present, the damage likely would have been only half as bad. That was how remarkable a person she was.
“Lugh Tuatha Dé, I have something I wish to discuss with you. Would you accompany me to my apartment?” she requested.
It was Nevan Romalung, a daughter of House Romalung and a masterpiece resulting from centuries of work to create the ultimate humans.
“I would be glad to, Ms. Romalung,” I answered, addressing her formally because of her status as an upperclassman.
Girls squealed all around us. I’d heard that Nevan was just as popular with them as she was with boys, but it was surprising to see firsthand.
The students were taking great interest in this pairing of two famous people. We hadn’t interacted at the academy previously because Duke Romalung oversaw the Tuatha Dé assassination jobs and approved hit requests handed down from the royal family.
Initially, we couldn’t afford to betray that connection between our two families. I was the son of a baron, and she was the daughter of a duke; our ranks differed too significantly, and being overly friendly might have aroused suspicion. The situation had since changed, however. I was accomplished enough that there was nothing strange about a duke’s daughter approaching me.
The two of us walked together, and Nevan spoke to me using a special vocalization method so that only I could hear her.
“Your new fame makes our work much easier.”
“My father filled me in. I understand you have a job so important you must give it to me directly instead of entrusting it to your intelligence agents. I have to admit, that makes me a tad concerned.”
Before leaving for the academy, my father had informed me that there was a new assassination job. Normally, House Romalung had their intelligence agents deliver us an encrypted missive. Their agents were the best of the best, and their cipher was incredibly complex. On the very small chance a letter was intercepted, no one would ever be able to decode it.
Truthfully, not one of their jobs for us had ever leaked. For Nevan to explain the task in her quarters at the academy despite that meant the topic could only be discussed in the most secure location possible.
“This request will surprise you… It stands in defiance of the gods themselves.”
I had a good idea of what this was going to be. Plenty of signs were hidden within the reports from my information network. If my guess was correct, just voicing hostility toward this target, let alone killing them, would be enough to get the perpetrator and their entire family executed. This could end up being the most difficult assassination I’d ever taken on, in this life or my last.
“What a thoughtful engagement present.”
“I’m glad you like it… Also, just so you know, if I’d been one of your fiancées and a member of your family, I still would have given you this job.”
Nevan had decided as a Romalung, without letting her feelings influence her decision, that this target needed to be killed for the country’s wellbeing. That meant that, as a Tuatha Dé, it was my duty to face this challenge. I would hear Nevan out, and if I decided it was in the best interest of the Alvanian Kingdom, I would do my duty.
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