Only My Magic Levels Up - Chapter 118
Only Noblemtl
Episode 118 Bloody New Moon (2)
If the northern street of Ruata was a poor village and the southern street was a wealthy village, the western street could be said to be a decent residential area.
From areas where commoners live closely together to areas where people who are not quite rich have built large houses in pursuit of relatively cheap land.
The latter is the mansion of a certain merchant who is known to have made quite a bit of money.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
As the sun had completely set, shadows began to appear from somewhere and covertly climb over the wall.
Even though there were more than one or two of them, there was no commotion in the mansion.
Because it was a gang from the beginning. It wasn’t just a place I came and went like it was my house, it was really my house.
The shadows that entered the mansion headed towards the conference room one by one.
At the top of the table, a blank-faced man was buried.
The people coming in, each with a slightly different temperature, all greeted him with respect. The man nodded slightly each time.
After all thirteen people were seated in the conference room, one of them, an old man, spoke briefly.
“They all came.”
It was a voice that Terti would have recognized immediately if he had been there. It was the old man who had been at the contact point.
There were still many empty seats in the conference room, but since there was never a day without assassination requests, there were practically no cases where everyone gathered there.
Those gathered today were assassins who currently had no assigned missions.
“As I announced in advance, I would like to talk about the request that came in three days ago.”
“It is said that old people who do not have much time left to live are the luckiest.”
As soon as the old man opened his mouth, a woman with a venomous look in her eyes spoke in a mocking tone.
“When it’s my job, expensive contracts come in like ghosts. Isn’t this manipulation?”
“How could a good opportunity come to a woman like you, who is busy rolling around with men all day long?”
“Are you jealous? Well, you must be, since you’re old and can’t even stand.”
“Okay, okay. May. That’s enough. In fact, we should be grateful to March, right?”
A young man with a sad smile joined in, perhaps because he was already familiar with the scene. Another man of similar age sitting next to him added:
“It’s true that the end of June is right. Isn’t it true that March didn’t swallow it all by itself but gave us a chance as well? There’s also a saying that says you can hate people but not money.”
“It must be something that only exists in your head. Stop talking nonsense that has no source.”
“Do you think I gave a chance to a bitch like you because I wanted to?”
The old man named Samwol responded coldly.
The woman who was about to lose her temper, May’s eyes briefly turned to the head of the table and then returned to her original position.
To my surprise, her mouth, which had been like a horned calf’s, closed like a clam.
Since it was an organization created under the name of the last month of the year, each person used a code name that combined the number and the month, such as May or September.
Their unity was somewhat lacking to be called an organization. In fact, it was closer to a loose cooperative relationship where they only joined forces when necessary.
However, the reason why the new moon was maintained was, of course, because the assassins themselves knew that it was much more convenient for things like receiving orders and gathering information.
“… … .”
It was also because the man in the upper seat was scary.
January. The first month. The leader of the new moon.
There was no one in the Moonlight who thought that they could defeat a man with such a blank expression that it was impossible to tell what he was thinking, whether in a direct confrontation or an assassination duel.
“If you look at the difficulty of assassination, it’s nothing. One priest and one bronze warrior. Any one of them can handle it.”
March’s words were not empty boasts, they were the truth.
Originally, assassins were people who could kill anyone stronger than themselves if they were properly prepared.
Moreover, all of those who attended the meeting were first-class assassins.
In the assassin industry, being a top-tier assassin meant that you were a silver warrior based on your own skills alone.
The bronze warrior is not worth handling, and the priest is somewhat inferior to the silver warrior in a head-on fight.
In other words, he was capable of killing his targets even in a direct confrontation, so assassination was a no-brainer. If he failed, he would be given a first-class badge.
“But this request is one where capture is recommended as much as possible. Even if you are a pilgrim, your status as a priest is awkward.”
“First of all, doing something in broad daylight will be sealed, and even if it’s at night, if the innkeeper notices the commotion, it will be a problem. The church in Ruata will be immediately notified.”
“Is that particularly a problem?”
Yukwol agreed with Samwol’s words, but May responded with a somewhat curt retort.
“I didn’t know that the target was a priest, and I didn’t receive it. Whether you kill the priest or capture him, you have to do it without the church noticing, right? Of course, it’s something that needs to be done carefully, but I don’t understand why you’re emphasizing it again.”
“that…….”
“I didn’t feel good.”
Until then, Ilwol, who had been watching from a distance, opened her mouth and said a word.
It was a rather absurd reason, but no one refuted it.
It was not only because the authority of the sun and moon was so strong, but also because the sun and moon’s ‘intuition’ often proved to be miraculously accurate.
It wasn’t like I was encouraging strange behavior, and I had no particular reason to object to handling it more carefully.
As soon as May realized that it was not Samwol’s opinion, she immediately changed her stance and asked with a cough.
“Hey, old lady, did you notice anything suspicious? Like a trap or something?”
“As a result of the observation… no particular abnormalities were found.”
Samwol’s words trailed off a little.
It was three nights ago that the request came in.
Until today, Samwol has been gathering information about targets by moving himself and his subordinates.
If the target had been far away, that task alone would have taken quite a while, but since Ruata was in front of the waning moon, gathering information was an easy task.
“The targets entered Ruata five days ago and are staying at an inn on South Street. They are busy touring the city during the day.”
“What’s the mood between the two?”
“They seemed very close. It’s possible that they were acting intimacy in anticipation of being followed… but I’m not sure if they could do that for several days without missing a single moment.”
“What’s the hotel room like?”
“We rent a separate building and use it together.”
“Then it seems right that I have already eaten as much as I could.”
“It sounds very credible because it’s your words.”
“Shut up, old lady.”
The rich man didn’t tell me the inside story at all.
In the last month of the year, after receiving all sorts of requests, there was a general conclusion.
If a man and a woman are together day and night, isn’t it obvious what kind of relationship they have?
Because clergy lived their entire lives in the somewhat ascetic atmosphere of the church, they had a high rate of remaining celibate; they were not specifically prohibited from starting a family.
However, the larger the family, the less they like to be interfered with by the church, so it is unlikely that they will allow marriages with clergy.
Perhaps the reckless young master and the ignorant priest tried to run away together in love. Judging from the fact that they didn’t hide, it seems like they thought it would be okay since they ran away now.
It’s likely that the family, which is extremely angry, will use extreme force to kill women in order to capture the man.
“It’s rare for a priest to be involved in a love affair, but it’s not completely unheard of. Of course, this is the first time I’ve heard of a request that leads to an assassination… I’m not sure if this is really a trap.”
September said carefully.
“Let’s say it was a trap set for us. If so, then they used the priest as bait… Who on earth is that?”
“There is no way the church would treat priests so harshly, and no organization outside the church has the authority to manipulate priests.”
“Yes, it is as Yukwol said. A priest would not volunteer for such a mission unless he was crazy.”
It was September when he almost got the correct answer, but unfortunately missed right in front of him.
“Is there a possibility that he is a fake priest?”
“I saw the stigmata in his eyes myself. In a city with a church, would there be an idiot who would pretend to be a priest?”
“Are you sure he is not a priest belonging to the Diocese of Ruata?”
“I confirmed that it is not.”
“Then I guess there won’t be a problem… … .”
May muttered, glancing at Ilwol’s expression.
March, June, and September also expressed similar opinions, although they did not specifically say anything.
The rest, although they were first-class assassins, were less skilled than those who had been given single-digit code names, so they had less say and it seemed like they had no real disagreements to begin with.
To be more honest, the twelve people, excluding Ilwol, were wondering why they had to hold a meeting just to get rid of one wandering priest.
The sun and moon were also able to see through the feelings of their subordinates.
“… … .”
In fact, I couldn’t give an exact reason. I just had a bad feeling.
Ilwol, who had been struggling to find the right words, slowly opened her mouth.
“… If the purpose is tourism, they will soon move to another city, and if the purpose is settling down, they will buy a house. In either case, it will be an easier environment for assassination than it is now.”
Everyone nodded, because that was true. Ilwol continued.
“Sometimes, assassinations take months to prepare. There’s no need to move rashly in our own front yard. Let’s watch for a few more days and gather more information.”
“All right.”
Excessive caution is poisonous. Moreover, if the leader of the Assassins acts like a coward, his subordinates will easily obey him.
Even though he knew it, Ilwol had no choice but to give the order.
Because an unidentified ominous feeling continued to make him feel uneasy.
* * *
Five more days passed.
During this time, no additional suspicious circumstances were discovered.
After enjoying the sights of Ruata for ten days, the targets leisurely left the city.
Six assassins followed them westward in a carriage. They were also riding in carriages. Since it was a heavily traveled road anyway, they wouldn’t know even if they followed them openly.
As the sun was setting, the carriage that had been traveling far ahead stopped.
It’s a small town to be called a city, but it’s still a large town with a decent population.
Since it was only a day’s drive from Ruata, many tourists stopped by, so the inns were doing well.
In this village, too, the targets rented out separate buildings. Of course, the facilities were far inferior to those of the inn in Ruata, but a separate building was still a separate building.
“You must have a lot of money at home. How much did you bring with you as a runaway?”
“It’s a good thing for us.”
May’s grumbling was bluntly received by March.
Staying at an inn is the same now as it was in Ruata, but everything from the level of security at the inn to the difficulty of avoiding prying eyes has been lowered.
“It definitely got easier.”
“It wasn’t difficult even in Ruata.”
“…That’s true, though.”
“Besides, it’s gotten easier, so why send six people to the first class? I can do it by myself.”
“If you hated it that much, you should have said it to Ilwol’s face.”
“Who is this old lady trying to kill?”
In fact, it was just that the words did not come out nicely because the other person was May, but Samwol agreed with May on that part.
Even if you were to prepare for a bad day, three or four would be more than enough. If you send six, each person’s share would be reduced by that amount, so I didn’t like it at all.
But regardless of complaints, a first-class assassin is someone who carries out the assigned tasks thoroughly.
After locating their targets, they ate well, rested well, and waited for night to fall.
The moon will rise soon.
The waning moon of mid-autumn shone faintly in the clear night sky.
It was well past midnight, and most of the drunks who had been drinking late into the night had either gone to bed or passed out.
“let’s go.”
After completing all preparations, the six assassins quietly left the room and headed to the annex where their targets resided.
It was all too easy to climb over the wall, avoiding the eyes of the shabby security guards who were there almost as a formality.
Of course, the structure of the annex, where the lights were turned off, was not at all complicated, as befitting the level of an inn.
They glided across the small yard and each took their place.
May, who had finally confirmed the arrangement, moved the window very slowly.
Squeak-
The flimsy window opened too easily.
May put something through the small gap in the open window.
widely!
There was a faint sound of something falling from inside the room.
It was a kind of sleeping powder made by mixing plants from the eastern mountain range.
You’re probably already asleep, but I’m trying to make you fall asleep even more.
Oh-wol, who had been calculating the time it would take for the powder to disperse into the air and then settle again, sent a signal.
The door to the annex opened in an instant. The key had already been stolen from the inn.
“Ugh, did I really have to make such a fuss over something like this… … .”
May, who had adjusted her mask to cover her nose, took the lead and rushed into the annex, muttering.
It was the moment she entered the bedroom where there was no response, as if she had completely fallen asleep.
My neck was grabbed by something and strangled without any time to react.
“Huh?!”
“You came really quickly.”
Lilia whispered, her eyes shining in the darkness.