My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero's

"...That's unusual."

Zeal-kun said that and let go of the collar he'd been gripping. He brushed the dust off my clothes while glaring at me as I stood up without changing my posture.

If you're just going to brush it off, you shouldn't have dragged me in the first place... I thought, but kept it to myself. Good me.

"Stop thinking trivial things and answer me."

Sometimes I really suspect he might be an esper. I don't want him reading my mind.

"Are you saying I'm fixated on being alone?"

"That's part of it, but it's been a long time since I've seen you wear such a cheerful expression."

"...Is that so?"

Maybe I did laugh for real for the first time in a while. My face, which usually only wore a forced smile, felt a bit sore in the expression muscles from the genuine smile. He'd been that funny, and his story had been that interesting.

"What kind of story did he tell you?"

"It was about their world. In return, I told them about this world."

Akira-kun's story felt like a single beam of light cutting through dark clouds.

Between us, I had been a little doubtful of them.

I knew the secret art of hero summoning had been passed down through the royal family for generations, and that in the past a hero had been summoned from another world and defeated the demon king. But perhaps because I don't believe things until I see them, when I received word that the princess and a few court mages had succeeded in summoning a hero, I couldn't bring myself to believe it. Even after seeing them with my own eyes, deep down I still hadn't trusted it. How stubborn my heart was.

Hearing his story at last felt like the knot in my throat had been undone.

"Was it really that interesting?"

"Yeah. It was a completely unknown tale to me, even though I was once called a 'sage'."

"Saran-sama didn't know...?"

He seemed that shocked; he even reverted to calling me by my old title, commander.

"By the way, what exactly was in it?"

"Well... it was about a world where science, not magic, had flourished."

I told Zeal-kun exactly what Akira-kun had said. When I finished speaking, we finally reached my private room inside the Royal Castle.

"It's hard to believe... moving boxes of iron, flying lumps of iron. Information spreading across the world in an instant, thin boards that can deliver voices in real time across great distances."

"I think so too."

I sat in the office chair and rubbed my brow. I gratefully drained the water Zeal-kun had thoughtfully brought me.

"Thanks. ...But Akira-kun's eyes didn't look like someone who was lying."

This is a point of pride, but I have an eye for detecting falsehoods. It's not for nothing I'm the knight commander.

"If you say so, then I suppose that's that. ...So, what do you intend to do with him?"

"As for him, he's hiding his true strength. I think he's probably stronger than the hero. Apparently he has presence concealment at lv. max."

"Lv. max...? But that's a level only the legendary hero reached..."

Yes, in this world lv.9 is the maximum skill level. It's rare for anyone to even reach lv.7. Yet those who come from another world cross that boundary as if it were nothing. That's the decisive difference between Morigan people and those from another world.

"I don't have a detection-type extra skill, so I can't be certain, but that doesn't seem like a lie."

"Then why haven't the king and the others intervened... I see."

"Right. He didn't undergo the crystal ritual because he used presence concealment. Not only is he used to using his skill, he's smart too."

If he were here, he'd certainly be shaking his head vigorously.

"You intend to bring him onto our side?"

"Yeah. And train him. By training I mean trimming away the useless parts of the regimen he's set for himself and getting him to do only what's necessary."

I had heard his training menu, and it was almost unbelievable. The kid was pretty stoic.

Zeal-kun raised no objection to my decision, bowed his head, and left.

Well then, it's going to be busy from tomorrow too.

It looks like I can update steadily for a few days starting today.