“Could you stay by the young lady’s side and keep her from going down the wrong path?”
It was a ridiculous request.
An assassin afraid of loneliness.
– Remember, Jiang. An assassin who fears solitude will be eaten alive by that fear.
Betrayed, wounded in heart, and let down by people.
Having grown up enduring such cruel training disguised as training, Jiang didn’t believe in the hearts of people.
Especially not those of others, who were not assassins.
“I’ll do it. But it won’t be for free.”
“If you have conditions, I’ll do my best to meet them. Just let me know what you need.”
“Prepare the materials needed for the midterm exam. Sound good? I’m helping you with my time.”
“Just write up the list and send it.”
But if the person was also an assassin…
Then with Oknodie, she let her guards down slightly.
The wood, gnawed into hollow chambers as if made into a fortress by teeth.
Like a weasel peeking out.
Instead of showing hostility, curiosity could appear.
On her way to meet Oknodie.
As Jiang rounded the corner of the hallway, she suddenly ducked into a nearby cabinet.
“…Huh?”
The footsteps following her spun around, confused in every direction, 90 degrees, 150 degrees, 270 degrees.
[Stealth – Shadow Walker]
A blonde guy with a silly expression.
The moment his back was exposed, Jiang silently moved behind him and poked him in the back.
“Don’t move.”
“Gah!!”
“Do you know? If I poke just a bit more from this angle… I can pierce between your ribs and stab right into your heart.”
In an instant, he lost his right to life and death.
Cold sweat poured down him like a rainstorm, soaking the nape of the male student.
What a pitiful fellow, Jiang thought as she asked.
“Who are you? Why were you following me?”
“I was asked by Jezel to follow you. In case any trouble arises, I’m to assist or have you contact her directly…”
“Aha. You’re one of those seeking a reward? Sorry for startling you~. You can turn around now.”
The man turned around.
Instead of finding sharp weapons or sinister intentions, he saw Jiang playfully wiggling her pointed fingers, as if saying ‘you got me.’
Phew.
I thought I was going to die.
The grumbling that slipped out was pure amateurism.
Jiang felt only that she was going to miss out on the chance to see blood after such a long time.
“What’s your name?”
“Maximus Montblanc. My younger sibling has a personal connection with Oknodie, so I became involved.”
“Hmmm… hard to believe, with your skills?”
“Friendship isn’t always about skills. It was my sibling who got to know them first anyway. Are we done with the interrogation?”
“For now, at least.”
Maximus Montblanc, a male student of Class 981, decided to look out for Oknodie upon hearing that his sibling had owed her a favor.
With lacking strength.
In a tough academy.
It was only natural for those with a common goal to come together.
“I knew you were a dangerous young lady, but I didn’t expect your friends to be so dangerous too.”
“Cut the small talk. Where’s Oknodie?”
“At this time, she’s likely in the first years’ restricted area. You should find someone with a handkerchief pinned to their uniform and tell them you’re here about the Dark Trading Company.”
An organization co-founded by Arcadia and Jezel.
How did they manage to establish such influence to spread their people beyond the first-year area?
Seems like they weren’t just messing around while worrying about Oknodie.
“Just need to know which way to go. I know enough about places she’d like.”
“So, you two are close, huh? You know her well enough for that?”
“Even if we’re not close, I can know things like that.”
“Normally, you wouldn’t know if you’re not interested, right?”
“Since I have done something regrettable, wouldn’t this be a good opportunity to show a little?”
Jiang spun around Maximus with a grin.
“You’re left-handed, aren’t you?”
“… I didn’t think I had shown any signs.”
“From a cold. I struggled with one until recently.”
“Did you investigate me?”
“Not at all. Today was the first time I learned someone like you existed. It’s just instinct as an assassin. The way you tend to stand diagonally on your right leg. The habit of breathing quietly because you’re aware of how loud it sounds.”
At first, her observational skills seemed intriguing.
But as it continued, other emotions began to take their place.
“You try to keep your steps even consciously, but if you panic, your left foot goes back. You’re scared of those diving in from the left behind you. There must have been times when you were in trouble because your left arm couldn’t reach back?”
“…!”
“Animal? Monster? Yeah… someone. A person you need to protect? Someone you want to avoid? Or… was it a person you had to kill? You have quite the bloody past for someone who looks so fresh-faced.”
In a staggering fashion, her incessant probing revealed his vulnerabilities.
Maximus’s face hardened.
“Enough.”
“I could list ten more.”
“Please, it really scares me. You suddenly reading me like a book right in front of me is quite terrifying.”
Jezel was much worse than this.
Considering the darkness she harbored, it made sense she kept a person who wasn’t just bright, but who also concealed darkness inside.
Isn’t it evident in Oknodie, whom he was so eager to protect?
She was pure as anyone, yet.
Strong in her own way.
And possessed a depth of darkness like no other.
Jezel was someone who preferred humans who reflected her own nature, harboring darkness amidst the light, a penchant for being close to such people.
“Oknodie only uses paths unseen by eyes. She would definitely take advantage of the walls behind here.”
The first years’ restricted area.
The warning signs stating that entering without permission could cost your life went unnoticed as she passed through.
“Assassins don’t usually avoid dangerous places. She’s not the kind to get scared easily.”
Paths Oknodie would prefer.
Paths she wouldn’t avoid.
Following the route she would like led them to catch a glimpse of the [Upper Class Boarding Storage Room] through the window.
Professor Plato’s boarding materials.
With the midterm exams approaching.
Oknodie, who sneaked in avoiding people’s sight.
She climbed up using a web spell to ascend the 3-meter-high side window, utilizing the stickiness of spider silk.
Plop.
With a light landing, an overwhelming animal smell wafted up.
In the animal enclosure, the strange silence was broken only by eager tension and gazes converging in one direction.
And indeed, there she was, a ‘young lady’ with beautiful golden hair wrapped in a sky-blue headband.
“Hello, Oknodie.”
“Uh-bub!”
“Does that taste good?”
With a flustered look, Oknodie was struggling to hide the object in her hands behind her back.
But there was no hiding those puffed cheeks…
Poke.
As Jiang poked her cheeks with a finger, the contents were spat out like a merchant vomiting goods.
It was something small and round.
However, it was something people don’t typically eat.
If famine struck, one might consider it for a moment.
The identity of that item was animal feed.
“Having received such a request. What do you think, Oknodie?”
“Jezel worries too much. Just like Papa.”
“Isn’t that right?”
As expected, Oknodie, the main party, looked more like a daughter tired of her overprotective Papa than lonely.
“Since I received a request after a long time, I can’t just go back empty-handed. An assassin’s request is holier than a holy war. You know that?”
“That’s one of the assassin’s three commandments, right? Take lives sparingly. Don’t accept requests lightly. And once you decide to take a request, execute it without fail.”
Oknodie tilted her head, as if wondering why Jiang was asking that again.
Her adorable movements made Jiang nonchalantly look away, acting aloof.
If she had made eye contact, she feared she might get caught having tested the girl.
“By the way, why were you eating that feed?”
“Didn’t you say not to ask?”
“I gave you time to think of an excuse because I didn’t want you to feel embarrassed.”
As Jiang changed the subject, Oknodie pouted.
“Well… the thing is, because of the midterm exams…”
“You weren’t trying to starve other kids’ mounts by eating up all the feed meant for them?”
“That’s not it!!”
“Then what?”
“Because of the cooking handbook…”
“Cooking handbook?”
“Ah, there’s such a thing, anyway!”
Jiang felt the desperate gazes of the animals pleading for rescue.
“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.”
“Really?”
“Jezel came to check on you because she was worried.”
“Don’t tell Jezeb, okay? Got it?”
“If you keep it a secret, what will you give me in return?”
Jiang tossed the question playfully.
Oknodie, with a face that showed she had made a big decision, handed over a carnation petal.
“This was in the turtle feed container… It’s something really rare for the handbook, but I can share it with you, Jiang.”
With her eyes closed and trembling hands, she held out the petal.
The feeling of being stingy and not wanting to give away something was genuinely felt.
“Oknodie is quite fond of natural items, huh?”
“Yeah?”
“Isn’t it true? You eat stones and petals so well.”
I often thought that the sweet smell I sensed from Oknodie might be from eating a lot of flowers.
With her balanced diet, Jiang felt a bit of curiosity.
She picked a petal and tasted it.
“Ugh… weird flavor.”
“You can’t just eat one leaf. You need to eat ten at once for the collection effect!”
“I don’t need that many.”
While she seemed to cry when she could lose it, she became restless once she was actually unable to eat more.
“Oknodie is really strange and fun.”
Unlike Jezel’s imagination of rhinos headbutting to acknowledge each other’s strength and build camaraderie, the two bonded in an unexpected way.
Regardless of the process, Oknodie’s face indeed blossomed with the smile of a child at that time as Jezel wished.
“Oknodie. Someone’s looking for you outside. You should probably go.”
“Really?”
A member of the Dark Trading Company recognizing Oknodie rushed over as she stood outside the first year’s restricted area.
“Oknodie, the urgent message of Vice President Jezel. Isabel and Ppyoi suffered severe injuries during a lecture due to an unforeseen accident.”
Oh. This is getting dangerous.
As Jiang observed Oknodie’s face from the side, she witnessed her smile vanish in real-time.
A face devoid of expression.
Killer instincts prickling her skin.
A foreboding feeling came about that something far greater than before was going to happen.
It wasn’t the first time an incident had occurred at the academy.
But now, the culprits seemed different.
Unlike cases suspected to be instigated by the principal or professors, in this case, the one set to cause trouble was Oknodie.
It would certainly not end as a regular incident.
