14. The Man Who Trains Assassins

Nothing else went wrong for the rest of the trip, and we eventually made it back to Cygnil.

“We finally formed a party and all... I’d love to go out and celebrate, but...”

Rei spoke awkwardly as soon as we passed through the city gates. He cast a furtive glance toward Mil and Sally. In response, Sally shook her head, and Mil let out a long sigh.

“No can do. We were told to come straight home on our first day, remember?”

“Exactly. If we break our promise right out of the gate, it’ll cause problems for our future activities.”

I was starting to grasp their dynamic. Mil and Sally were likely acting as Rei’s handlers. His family was either against him being an adventurer or, at the very least, worried sick about him. That was likely why they’d asked Mil and Sally to look after him. Considering he’d tried to force a treasure chest open without even having the [Lockpicking Skill], I’d say their judgment was spot on.

“I know that! That’s why I was going to say we should celebrate another day!”

Rei looked so sulky that I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. A moment later, Mil and Sally joined in, and eventually, even Rei was laughing along with us. It was a nice feeling.

At any rate, we called it a day. We agreed to meet in front of the Guild tomorrow around the time the Second Bell rang. The bells in Cygnil ring seven times between sunrise and sunset. By my internal clock, they seem to go off every two hours from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM, which would make the Second Bell around 8:00 in the morning. That was just my intuition, though.

I discreetly handed the glass pitcher to Rei when no one was looking. I truly hoped it would fetch a high price. If we had to rely solely on the Magic Stones from those Goblins, our income for the day would be pretty dismal.

Incidentally, we decided not to split the Magic Stones and other loot from today. From tomorrow onward, however, everything would be divided equally among the party.

Now, what should I do? I could head back to the Wildcat Inn, but it was still too early for dinner. There wasn't much for me to do if I went back now.

I think I’ll take a peek inside the Guild. I wanted to gather more information on the Guild Lectures anyway. There might even be a skill for trap detection.

I scanned the reception desks, but Nina was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps it was her day off? Instead, I found Dolga, the man who taught the [Dagger] Lecture.

“Hello, Dolga-san.”

“Is that you, Tort? Looks like you made it back in one piece. That was your first dungeon, right? How was it?”

For some reason, Dolga was grinning. I wondered why. Was he expecting me to fail just so he could laugh at me? But Dolga was the one who’d told me I could manage the shallow floors even as a solo adventurer. I didn't think he was the type of guy to do something like that.

“There weren't any major problems. It was a bit tough when I had to face three Goblins at once, though.”

“Heh... To be able to say it was ‘no problem’ after facing three Goblins solo. Not bad for a rookie.”

Dolga seemed to be in a great mood. He was actually praising me. Maybe he was the type to play the master role and rejoice in his pupil’s growth?

“Well, that’s all thanks to your teaching, Dolga-san. My fighting style somehow keeps turning into something like an assassin’s, though. Is there anything I can do about that?”

“It can’t be helped. After all, I’m only able to teach the assassin’s way of fighting.”

“Wait, what...?”

Why was this man trying to instill assassination techniques in me without my permission? I wanted to learn [Dagger] skills, not how to become a professional killer! I mean, was Dolga actually in the assassination business? Why was he even working as a Guild instructor?

“Hey, don’t get the wrong idea. This is strictly about the Divine Protection. Even if I were actually an assassin, there’s no way I’d talk about it openly in the Guild, right?”

Oh, so it was just about the name of the blessing. I’d heard from Rei and the others about receiving the Divine Protection of the Thief to acquire the [Lockpicking Skill], so this must be the same thing.

If it was recognized as a standard Divine Protection for adventurers, then people probably wouldn't look down on me for using an assassin-style fighting method. That was a relief.

“I’m sure you realized it today, but you have a natural aptitude for Assassin Skills that aim for a one-hit kill. Those skills require dexterity, but that’s not enough on its own. You need the sense to accurately identify and strike vital points. You definitely have that!”

Dolga was speaking with surprising passion. If I interpreted this in game terms, Assassin Skills were attacks built for critical hits, and while they scaled with the Dexterity stat, you also needed a certain 'sense' to make them work.

Regarding that sense... in my case, I was pretty sure I was just brute-forcing everything with my high Luck value. I wasn't even doing it on purpose. Even when fighting the Goblins, I had aimed for the neck, but I hadn't been consciously trying to end them in a single blow.

On the other hand, it was happening even without me trying. From that perspective, I suppose I really did have good compatibility with Assassin Skills. Actually, it might be worth picking up any skill that relied on the Luck value. What else was there? In a game, Luck usually affected the success rate of status ailments...

Status ailments... Poison... Assassination...!

It was no use. I couldn't escape the assassin route.

Well, as long as my opponents were monsters, it wasn't like anyone would point fingers. I didn't have a problem with the assassin style itself.

“Anyway, you don’t have anything else to do, right? In that case, let’s start the lecture now.”

“Huh? I didn’t schedule anything for today.”

“Don’t worry about it. Ah, but I will be taking the lecture fee. If I give special treatment to one person, the Guild gets noisy.”

Wait, don’t I get a say in this?

Well, it was for the sake of getting stronger, so I didn't really mind the extra training. But I couldn't help but feel like I'd been targeted by someone very troublesome...