My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero's

A few days later, we ended up coming to Uruk as if it were a trip.

Yes, we had come.

The festival was being held in Mari, one of the larger towns within Uruk, the largest nation in the Beastmen territory.

If I remember correctly, the town’s name was Mari.

Apparently they set up a large stage in the plaza for the festival, and magic allows people in other Uruk towns to view the stage as well.

Kind of like a TV broadcast, I suppose.

Not just Mari — all of Uruk was lively despite it being daytime.

Food stalls lined both sides of the road, and to my surprise there were a lot of Human race stalls too.

But there were just way too many people.

Even before we reached Mari, Beastmen and Humans were mixed together, pushing and shoving.

Mari itself was off-limits to anyone except residents and those participating in the contest.

Well, looking at the crowd now, that made sense.

Among the people were some wearing flashy outfits, probably for the contest, and some looked so overwhelmed by the crowd they were stepping aside on the edges of the road.

“Look, look, Akira!! So many things I’ve never eaten!”

Our group drew a lot of attention.

Crow disliked walking through crowds and was acting separately with Mr. Zeal, so the party walking together was the hero’s group plus us.

Part of the reason we were getting stared at was Amelia, who always attracted attention and was happily clutching a pile of food like a child. But to my surprise, many of the stares were aimed at me rather than Amelia.

I tilted my head in wonder and realized why after overhearing voices a few meters away.

“...Isn’t that the ‘dark assassin’?”

“Ehh? No way! It wasn’t just a fairy tale?”

“They say he took down a demonic beast in an instant! Think he’ll sign for us?”

There’s no way I’d give autographs.

Also, assassins being famous and recognized like this — what even.

Why are they identifying me?

Maybe black hair and black eyes are rare here. I heard there aren’t many like that in this world.

“...Akira, are you famous? Can I get your autograph too?”

I groaned at Kyousuke’s words as he walked next to me.

He had a knack for saying things that hit like a knife at times like this.

“No autographs. Better hide me instead.”

“Is that so? Then let’s do that.”

Kyousuke moved in front of me and let me walk in his shadow.

But I wasn’t completely hidden.

“Shall we go talk to him?”

“Yes! Let’s do it!”

“I’m going too!!”

“...Please spare me.”

At the voices again I groaned and scowled.

“If you conceal your presence it would help, master. I can’t handle this otherwise.”

I nodded to Yoru sitting on Amelia’s shoulder.

Using presence concealment was fine, but it had one drawback.

“I’ll handle Amelia.”

“Understood.”

Because the crowd was packed like a rush-hour train, I’d inevitably have to walk over the roofs of the food stalls, and if anything happened I couldn’t stay close to Amelia.

There had been plenty of people trying to talk to Amelia since earlier, so I didn’t want to leave her.

Thanks to Yoru on her shoulder, most of the Beastmen were backing away, but Humans were coming closer with lascivious faces.

“Kyousuke, I’m stepping away for a bit. Watch Amelia. If anyone tries to bother her, feel free to dispatch them.”

“Got it.”

I entrusted Amelia to Kyousuke with a nod, then activated presence concealment.

From the reactions of the women about to call out to me, I confirmed I had become unrecognizable and climbed onto the roof of a stall.

Unlike Japanese stalls, these were sturdy wooden structures, so I didn’t have to worry about footing.

The government probably had them built specifically for this event.

“Oh! There’s a shooting gallery!!”

After walking a while, Ueno shouted when she saw a stall.

It wasn’t exactly the same as a Japanese shooting gallery, but a version anyone could use that employed a magic circle and wind magic.

You set the magical power and force into the magic circle carved into a wooden board, aim the prize with another wooden board, and channel magical power to release a wind projectile.