"Zoe."
"Yes, Master."
"Take the beggar somewhere safe. He's completely exhausted, so make sure he rests and gets something decent to eat."
"Understood."
Zoe nodded, helped the collapsed beggar up, supported his weight, and led him out of the alleyway.
That left just three of us: the fallen assassin, Kate, and me.
A split second later, a flurry of throwing knives thudded heavily into the prone man's back.
"Aah!" Kate let out a shriek. "M-Master! Knives!"
"Yeah."
"...Huh?"
Seeing how utterly unperturbed I was, Kate calmed down as well.
"Aren't you... surprised?"
"I figured they'd take out an insurance policy. Silencing the one sent to do the silencing. That sniper was bound to be closer to the mastermind, so I let him make his move."
"You did!?"
"Yeah."
I nodded and started walking.
I headed in the direction the throwing knives had come from, walking for just under a minute.
Deep in the recesses of the back alleys lay another collapsed man.
He was clad in distinctive black garb that concealed everything except his eyes.
He was trembling faintly, struggling desperately to crawl away.
"See?"
"Did you do this, Master?"
"Yeah. The moment the knives flew, I pinpointed his position and took him down."
"That's incredible, Master! How did you do it? It didn't look like you did anything at all!"
"I'll teach you someday."
With that, I stepped up to the man in black.
He tried to look back at me, but his body was completely paralyzed—he couldn't even turn his neck.
I nudged him with my foot, flipping him over from his stomach onto his back.
"Now talk. Who ordered this?"
"K-Kill me..."
"Talk now, and I'll treat you fairly."
"...!"
The man didn't answer. Instead, his Adam's apple bobbed.
He had swallowed something.
He closed his eyes, bracing for the end.
Without lifting a finger, I simply waited in silence.
Nothing happened.
When nothing occurred, the man opened his eyes again and looked down at himself in utter disbelief.
"W-Why...?"
"Dealing with people who go to such lengths, of course I anticipated you'd try to kill yourself if you failed. I took countermeasures."
"What—"
"Master, you're amazing..."
"I haven't granted you permission to die. Now, talk."
"..."
"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?"
"Kill me... Kill me, please!"
"Hm?"
I furrowed my brow and tilted my head.
This reaction caught me off guard.
I could have predicted a defiant "Kill me!", but a desperate "Kill me, please!" was entirely unexpected.
Looking closely at his face, I could see he was genuinely begging for death.
"What do you mean, 'kill you, please'?"
"If I don't die quickly after failing, my family... my daughter will...!"
"...I see."
I understood the situation now.
It was a sickeningly predictable story.
They were holding his daughter hostage, leaving him with no way out.
And demanding he die if he failed—they were truly ruthless bastards.
"...Phew."
Letting out a breath, I flicked my wrist.
A purple liquid seeped from my bracelet and shot forward like an arrow.
The dart of venom struck the man squarely in the torso.
"Thank... you..."
His eyes rolled back, foam spilled from his lips, and he squeezed out those final words before slumping limp.
Kate watched the entire thing, her expression torn between shock and terror.
"I-Is he dead?"
"Check for yourself."
Kate gave a hesitant nod, crept over to the fallen man, and placed her fingers against his neck and beneath his nose.
"He's dead..." she murmured.
☆
"Ngh... ah..."
Inside a room with shuttered windows, the man woke with a groan atop a bed.
"Back with us?"
"Huh?...W-Where am I!?"
The man bolted upright, glancing wildly around the room.
"Relax. You're not in the underworld."
"You're—wait, I'm... alive!?"
"Yeah."
"Didn't you kill me!?" the man yelled, looking ready to lunge at me.
"Relax about that too. As far as the world is concerned, you're dead."
"What?"
I held up my hand and extended my index finger.
A single drop of purple liquid formed at the tip and fell to the floor.
It was the same poison I had injected into him earlier.
"It's a toxin that induces a temporary state of suspended animation. I even made sure someone verified your corpse."
"Suspended animation...? T-There's no way you could do something like that..."
"Want another dose to make sure? It's fairly toxic to the system, so I wouldn't recommend it."
"..."
Even with my explanation, the man still stared in sheer disbelief.
"More importantly, look around you."
"Around me...? What is this? Burnt skin...?"
The man reached out and picked up what looked literally like charred skin lying on the bed.
It formed a hollow, human silhouette around him, as though he had shed a burned husk.
"You were cremated once. I pulled some strings so you'd only lose a single layer of fake skin, though."
The paralyzing and feigned-death toxins had come from Apophis, while the cremation trick relied on Bahamut's possession.
Bahamut's possession completely nullified fire damage, and on top of that, I used the Ring of Armor to form a layer of charred skin to fool anyone checking afterward.
Even cremations have different standards.
For an unidentified pauper, the usual practice is to burn the body haphazardly and dump the remains.
They only burn a corpse down to complete ash when someone is actually waiting to collect the urn.
"I-Incredible..." the man stammered, his eyes widening so much the corners looked ready to split. "To think such a thing is even possible..."
"..."
"Just who... are you?"
"Never mind that. Here."
I tossed a leather pouch into his lap.
It was filled with silver coins amounting to 100 Rien.
"W-What's this?"
"Travel expenses for the time being. Lay low somewhere far away until this whole mess is sorted out. Otherwise, your family will be in danger, right?"
"...But..."
"Just take it and go."
"..."
Clutching the pouch of silver, the man still hesitated.
He wrestled with his conscience for a moment before finally resolving himself, looking up to speak.
"The one who ordered the hit was—"
"Save it."
"—Eh?"
"Don't say another word."
"B-But..."
"If you give me intel, they might trace the leak back to you. If that happens, your family will pay the price."
"...!"
"This isn't just about your life anymore. You tried to tell me—that intent alone is enough."
Gritting his teeth, the man looked at me with deep gratitude in his eyes.
"T-Then... just one thing."
"Hm?"
"Their next move. In situations like this, they always try to bribe the people closest to their target."
"I see. That much shouldn't put you at risk."
"I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help."
"I told you not to worry about it."
The man bit his lower lip hard, looking thoroughly frustrated with himself.
Deep down, he was clearly a man of honor and duty.
If our circumstances had been different, I would have gladly recruited him as a subordinate.
Knock, knock. A knock sounded at the door.
The man jumped.
"Come in."
I could already tell from the presence that it was Zoe.
Having finished her task, she stepped into the room.
"Master."
"Yeah? What is it?"
"This..."
Zoe held out a leather pouch toward me.
"What's this?"
"It appears to be gold coins. Supposedly three thousand Rien."
"Three thousand, huh?"
"They said it was in exchange for Master's true identity and information on your future movements."
"They don't waste any time, do they?"
I chuckled softly.
Meanwhile, having witnessed our exchange, the man looked on in stunned disbelief.
"Wait... you weren't... bribed? Not even for three thousand Rien...?"
I smiled faintly.
A wave of nostalgia washed over me.
It reminded me of an incident nearly ten years ago.
The people who had tried to assassinate me back then attempted to bribe Zoe, but she had reported it directly to me and handed over the bribe money, just like this.
The scene was so identical to the past that it brought back fond memories.
"Once we get back, I'll give you thirty thousand. Keep that three thousand as well."
"Thank you very much, Master."
Even this exchange played out exactly like last time.
"T-Thirty thousand...!? W-What is going on here...?"
The man remained frozen in sheer bewilderment, completely unable to process what he had just witnessed.