Chapter 7 | The Assassin Enjoys the Festival
The celebration was to be held over three days, and the canonization ceremony was tomorrow evening.
The actual ritual was scheduled on the second day for a reason. If the church held the main event on the first day, the number of guests would dramatically decrease over the following two. If they held it on the third day, the first wouldn’t be exciting. That made the evening of the second day the perfect choice. Many guests would want to arrive a day early, and because the ceremony was in the evening, plenty would decide to stay the night and enjoy the day after, too.
I could learn from the church’s business acumen.
“We can have all the fun we want today… Uh, what should we call you?”
We were enjoying the revelry as guests. Dia was unsure of how to address me because I was in disguise. Illig was famous in his own right, so today’s facade was another identity entirely. Illig was especially inconvenient with all the company executives around.
“You can just call me Lugh. Multiple people can have the same name,” I responded.
“Lugh it is, then.” Dia put her arm around mine.
Tarte looked on with envy. Usually, I’d ask if she wanted to link arms, but Dia suggested that we train her to be more assertive. As Dia put it, Tarte would never grow if I remained too soft on her. Giving her what she wanted every time she made a longing expression would keep her from voicing her wants. Dia had a point, so I pretended not to notice Tarte’s gaze…and felt quite guilty doing so.
The three of us weren’t alone.
“My apologies for tagging along. I don’t mean to interrupt your date.”
“If you’re truly sorry, Naoise, then leave.”
Two people had joined our usual group. The first was a child of the four major dukedoms, just like Nevan. His name was Naoise, and he was an elite among the elite. He came across like an indulged pretty boy, but I’d realized after getting to know him that he was a passionate guy who stuck to his principles.
The other tagalong missed Naoise’s playful tone and grew flustered.
“Oh, uh, should I leave, too?”
“It was a joke, Epona. I enjoy a good walk with my classmates.”
“I agree. It’s been so long since I’ve spent time with you, Lugh. There’s so much I want to talk about.”
Our final member was the hero, Epona. She was the person the goddess told me would destroy the world after killing the Demon King. I was reincarnated in this world to slay her. She hid her gender and presented herself as a boy, which wasn’t too difficult because of her naturally androgynous appearance.
“Um, is it okay for you to be here, my lord?” Tarte asked. She was wondering if it was all right for me to be away from the Natural You store.
I nodded. “Yeah, it’s fine. That reminds me, I have a message for you from Maha. She said, ‘I had my fill, so now it’s your turn.’”
“Maha is too nice… I get to be with you all the time.”
I was going to be tied up tomorrow because of the ceremony, but I was free to do as I wished today. It would be best for me to be at Natural You, especially because the first day was always the most difficult, but Maha had told me to go enjoy the festival.
“She really is a good girl,” I agreed, although perhaps I ought to have called her a woman, not a girl. “Oh yeah, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask. I know Epona has been getting sent all over the place as the hero, but what have you been up to all week, Naoise?”
Naoise was no longer just my classmate—he was also the pawn of a demon. Seeking greater power, he’d entered the service of Mina, the snake demon I’d formed an alliance with. That agreement meant I didn’t have to fight him, but it didn’t change the fact that he’d betrayed humanity. I needed to remain wary of him. I’d assigned spies to follow him, but he’d escaped them all.
“Being the son of a duke comes with its own fetters. There are always many people I need to greet in cities like this,” he responded.
That was a lie. I would have known if that was what he was doing. Clearly, he’d been on some errand for Mina.
“Be careful, Naoise. I want us to remain friends,” I said.
“I want the same. You are a very dear friend to me… That’s why I’m interrupting your date to spend time with you.” Naoise smiled and put a hand on my shoulder opposite the arm Dia held.
“As much as I value your friendship, Naoise, I don’t need your hand on my shoulder.”
“Ha-ha, that was uncomfortable for me, too… You’ve changed, Lugh. You’ve become more human.”
“You make it sound like I wasn’t human before.”
“Exactly. You felt like… Well, almost human.”
I froze for a moment. He was right on the mark. In my past life, I was nothing more than a puppet who followed the orders of my organization. My final wish when I was betrayed was a chance to live for myself. My life as Lugh was filled with parental love, I’d met Dia and my other friends, and I’d learned how to be a person. I thought I was already perfectly human by the time I met Naoise, but now that I thought about it, I’d still been warped.
“Don’t think too hard about it. I just want to have a good time today. This may be the last chance I’ll ever get to spend a fun, carefree day with you,” Naoise said.
“What do you mean by that?” I questioned.
Naoise didn’t answer, walking away to hit on Tarte. She grew flustered and hastily yet firmly rejected him. I was positive he did that to avoid answering my question.
I shouldn’t press him on it. He likely couldn’t answer. We were gathered here as classmates—for now, at least, I should forget about all the trouble we were wrapped up in.
“I’ve been meaning to say this, but stop trying to put the moves on Tarte,” I demanded.
Naoise had been hitting on her since the day we met.
“Ah-ha-ha, I do it because I’m fond of her,” Naoise responded.
Tarte bowed her head in apology.
“I’m serious. Stop. She looks miserable.”
“Oh, what’s the big deal? I think you just don’t like people taking what you feel to be yours.”
“…Yeah. That’s a part of it. Tarte is my fiancée now. Leave my girl alone.”
“L-Lord Lugh…,” Tarte stammered, blushing deeply.
“Wow.” Naoise grinned and bowed. “Please, forgive my ignorance. More has changed than I realized since we last met. I’m not shameless enough to try stealing a friend’s girl.”
He wore a sincere expression when he raised his head.
“…I’m not sure how to respond to that,” I admitted.
“You don’t have to say anything. Make Tarte happy for me. Just knowing you accept her love made this meeting worth it. That’s a real comfort.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Is it strange that I wish for the girl I love to be happy?”
“No. It just feels abrupt… Wait, I thought you loved Nevan. She was quite concerned for you, as well.”
I thought Nevan and Naoise had a special relationship. She always tried to help him, fretting over his well-being.
“She’s more of an…older sister to me, you could say. We were both born into one of the four major dukedoms, and we’ve known each other since we were young. We were even engaged for a time. Duke Romalung put an end to that when he decided I didn’t live up to his expectations, though. I’m apparently incapable of creating the ultimate humans… Honestly, our marriage may have been doomed to fail anyway. Nevan is a superbeing, perfect in every way. In her eyes, I’m just a worthless little brother who needs looking after. I worked so hard to prove her wrong.”
That explanation made sense. Nevan’s feelings for Naoise came off as more protective than romantic.
Tarte timidly raised a hand.
“Um, what made you take an interest in me, Naoise?” she asked.
“You want to know? It’s because you’re a cute maid with big boobs,” Naoise stated.
“M-m-my boobs?” Tarte blushed and covered her chest.
“I was drawn to your personality and mannerisms as well. You’re a lot like my mother. My father, who is every bit as domineering as you’d expect of a duke, had me after knocking up a maid. That gave me something of a mother complex. Actually, maybe that’s not quite right… Perhaps I imagined I could upset my father by marrying a maid who resembled my mother.”
Naoise laughed. He looked strange, like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
“Looking back on my life, I don’t think I ever walked my own path. I was always concerned with proving myself to others. I wanted to get back at those in my family who thought less of me because of my lowborn blood. My father sees me as a reminder of his affair, Duke Romalung branded me unworthy and annulled the engagement, Nevan treats me as a worthless thing that needs to be looked after…and you, Lugh, decided I’m your inferior.”
Deep resentment came through in Naoise’s words.
“But I don’t care anymore. I’ve found something that only I can do. Ah, this makes me feel better. I’m glad I was able to speak with you.” Naoise grinned after venting his resentments, looking refreshed.
I couldn’t find the words to respond. While I sank into contemplation, Dia clapped her hands to gather our attention.
“How long are you gonna ramble about yourself? Let’s just enjoy the festival.”
“Yeah. There are so many shops, we may not get to them all today,” I said.
Tarte nodded. “It looks like there are fun activities as well.”
“I agree. Let’s have the best time we can today,” Naoise replied.
Dia changed the mood, giving us a chance to spend time as classmates. One thing still bothered me, though. Naoise claimed he’d found something only he could do… Was it better to be glad for him and stay out of it? I couldn’t shake the feeling that if I didn’t stop him, he’d be corrupted beyond saving.
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