And so, I finished applying the spell formulas to everyone.
None of them showed any physical abnormalities, and it seemed they were now capable of controlling their abilities. That said, they had only reached the stage of being able to toggle them on and off. Perfecting their control would likely take a considerable amount of time.
"Heh, I was skeptical, but my ability really did stop activating on its own!"
"This is wonderful. Ke-ke-ke."
"I... thank you. It has been a long time... since I could speak normally."
They all offered me their gratitude. I didn't really see why they were thanking me, though. I had only done it for my own benefit.
"Come on, you say thanks too," Talia said, calling out to Ren, who was huddling in the corner of the room.
Ren muttered with a pouty, displeased expression, "He touched my body without permission."
"What does that matter? It's fine; it's not like you lost anything. Thanks to him, you don't have to worry about scattering poison everywhere anymore, so isn't that great?!"
"But, ugh... th... thank... you..."
Ren was mumbling something, but I couldn't hear it clearly. Seeing this, Grimo let out an exasperated sigh.
"Good grief, Master. This is what they call a 'maiden's bashfulness,' boss. Honestly, women are a pain no matter which world you're in... Not that I can talk, mind you; back when I was in the Demon World, I made a lady or two cry myself-ssu. Ge-he-he."
Grimo laughed lecherously. You’re being creepy, Grimo.
"...Um, I'm sorry!"
While I was thinking about how gross my familiar was being, Ren bowed her head toward me.
"I thought you were plotting a war, but it seems I was mistaken. Lloyd, you are an incredible mage. The Magic Swords and the Magical Beasts were both necessary for your research, weren't they?"
"I'm glad you understand."
Now that she mentioned it, she had sneaked into the castle because of some misunderstanding about a war. Well, as far as I was concerned, it was a "moth to a flame" situation that had worked out in my favor, so I was the one who felt like thanking her.
"...Will you forgive me?"
"Yeah, don't worry about it."
When I answered, Ren’s face turned bright red.
"Hah, normally you’d be beheaded for doing what she did, yet he doesn't seem to care in the slightest. What an extraordinary caliber this man has. If it's him..." Watching me, Galilea was muttering something to himself. I wondered what was wrong, but I couldn't quite tell.
"By the way, what was that about 'War Crushing'? Ren, why were you doing that?"
"That is—"
"I’ll be the one to explain," Galilea interjected, answering in place of the hesitant Ren. "We are all people who were driven from our homes by war. Some lost their families, others lost their means of survival; our reasons vary, but we all hate war equally. The primary objective of this Assassin's Guild is to assassinate those attempting to start a war—to crush it before it begins."
I see. This country had seen sporadic conflicts until about a dozen years ago. They were victims of those wars, and they wouldn't hesitate to use assassination if it meant putting a stop to future ones. It wasn't exactly a praiseworthy method, but I suppose it could be considered a necessary evil.
Seeing me lost in thought, Galilea continued, speaking as if he had made up his mind. "Listen, Master Lloyd, I have a request. ...Won't you become our Boss?"
The others' faces twisted in shock at Galilea's proposal.
"Wait, hold on, Galilea!"
"Are you serious?! He’s a child!"
Galilea nodded firmly in response to the voices trying to stop him. "Yeah, of course I am. It's true that Master Lloyd is a child, and we were enemies until just a moment ago. However, he doesn't discriminate against us 'Cursed Ones,' and he has the strength suited for a Boss. On top of that, he has the magnanimity to laugh off and forgive our earlier misunderstanding. Precisely because Master Lloyd is a man who can embrace both light and shadow, I want to ask this of him—Master Lloyd, please become our Boss!"
Galilea bowed his head with a grave expression.
"You want me to be the Boss of the Assassin's Guild? That's hardly an appealing prospect."
"Please, don't take it so heavily. Just think of it as gaining five subordinates who will listen to whatever you say. ...You might have heard this already, but a few months ago, we became wanted fugitives. We were framed by Jade, our former Boss."
Come to think of it, the Receptionist had mentioned something like that. She said that the leader of the Assassin's Guild had disappeared recently, causing them to lose their unity and return to their old ways. However, it was the first time I'd heard about them being framed.
"How were you framed?"
"It’s a fact that Jade disappeared, but we haven't done anything wrong. The proof is this." Galilea showed me a single medal. It was engraved with a wolf mark. "This is what we've always left behind at the scene after finishing a job—to show it was our handiwork. They were made by Jade and contain special magic that makes them impossible to replicate. One of these was left at the scene of the crimes committed recently. Leaving something like that behind could only be done by someone who knows our methods."
"In other words, it was Jade's doing?"
"Most likely." Galilea nodded, and the others seemed to agree.
"If you become our Boss, we might have a chance to clear our names. I'm not telling you to believe us right away! It can wait until you've judged for yourself that we're innocent. When that time comes, I want you to talk to the Adventurers' Guild and have them withdraw the bounty! ...Before this guild was formed, we were hated and despised; we lived in the shadows like sewer rats. But now we have a peaceful, human life. We've made comrades. For the sake of that, whether it's magic experiments or anything else, I'll do whatever I can! So please! I beg of you!"
As Galilea bowed his head, the others followed suit.
"I'm asking you too."
"I'll go along with what everyone says. I shall recognize you as our Boss. Ke-ke."
"Please... do..."
Watching them bow their heads one after another, I weighed the proposal. Their abilities still had room to grow. I had just inscribed spell formulas on them so they could control their powers, but they would surely improve from here. Being the Boss sounded like a hassle, but if I told them to train every day and had them show me whenever they devised a new technique... yeah, I could observe their abilities much more efficiently.
If they could come up with clever combinations involving spell formulas, it would undoubtedly be useful for my magic research.
"...Fine. I'll be your Boss."
"Really?! Thank you!"
I took Galilea's outstretched hand and shook it.
I noticed Ren looking slightly miffed. Sensing my gaze, Galilea let out a small "Ah."
"Ren was quite attached to Jade. She's probably not happy about having Master Lloyd as the Boss yet. But that doesn't mean she hasn't acknowledged you. You can tell she's grateful just by looking at her. She's just not honest with herself. I'm sure she'll accept you in time."
"Hmm, I see."
If it was going to take time, I'd put her on the back burner. It wouldn't be too late to study her ability even if I waited until after I'd investigated the others. Until then, I'd have them work on developing their techniques voluntarily.
"...Hm?"
As I was thinking that, I felt a spell formula manifest above my head. I looked up to see a mass of pitch-black mana floating there, and a single sheet of paper fluttered down from it.
I caught it and read the words written upon it.
"'To everyone in the Assassin's Guild—from Jade.'"
As I read the words aloud, the faces of the assassins were overcome with shock.