My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero's

I woke up when the sun was nearly overhead.

I was roused by a violent shout that was out of place for Uruk, the Water Town—one of the Continent’s top tourist spots.

From my experience in the Cantinen Labyrinth, I’d trained myself to control how deeply I slept, but after coming back and hearing Amelia’s words I’d let my guard down and slept like a log.

The last times I’d felt this refreshed were when I’d collapsed from mana depletion, and when Amelia had forced me to sleep.

In other words, Amelia’s words have become as powerful as magic to me.

I swung my legs out of bed and sat up, letting out a yawn.

When I stretched, my body felt unusually clear.

Looking outside, the sun was high in the sky.

I must have returned at dawn and slept until nearly noon.

“...!! ...!”

“...!”

Thanks to the soundproofing, I couldn’t make out their exact words even with my ears, but it sounded like Ria had come to see someone and Amelia—unusually—was raising her voice to stop her.

I could hear Crow’s voice too, so Ria’s business was probably about me.

When that thought hit, I remembered the beastmen I’d killed last night were officially of the royal family.

Ria must have heard about it as well.

A chill ran down my spine.

“Is something wrong?”

I opened the bedroom door and asked; their conversation stopped and Amelia hurried over.

“Akira, are you awake already?”

“Yeah. I slept soundly for the first time in a while, so I feel great.”

Amelia looked relieved. Feeling bad for worrying her, I was about to apologize when Ria stepped forward.

She looked unusually excited.

“Lord Akira, sorry for the sudden visit. There’s something I need to confirm.”

It was almost certainly about Gram.

“Is it true that you assassinated my uncle, guild master Gram?”

Even as she asked, Ria didn’t seem to consider any other possibility. There wasn’t even a question mark in her tone.

With nothing to hide, I nodded once.

“Yes. I did assassinate Gram and his men last night. …But don’t get the wrong idea. I didn’t do it on your father’s orders. I don’t know what he offered as a reward, but tell him he doesn’t need to bother.”

I wanted to make clear that I took the gig from Crow—not Ria’s father.

Ria tilted her head in confusion. Most likely, Crow hadn’t told her anything.

I glanced at Crow to ask with my eyes whether I could say this. Despite his blunt way of speaking, Crow cared for Ria. I thought there might be a reason he hadn’t told her about Gram.

Contrary to my expectations, Crow simply nodded.

I sighed and answered Ria’s question.

“It was Crow who hired me to kill Gram. His request reached me before your father’s, so I prioritized it. Killing Gram was also a long-cherished wish of mine.”

Ria tilted her head even more.

Her gaze turned to Crow.

“Gram was the same comrade who killed my sister.”

Crow said it with a calm I hadn’t seen yesterday—peaceful somehow, as if a weight had been lifted.

That was enough for Ria to understand.

Her face went pale.

“Then the ‘young man’ back then was Lord Akira, and the target of revenge was my uncle...!?”

Where she’d been relatively composed moments ago, Ria now surged forward at Crow.

Crow’s expression didn’t change, but it wasn’t a good scene.

“...Then what will become of you, Crow, now that your revenge—albeit at Lord Akira’s hand—has been carried out!?”

Her voice was full of anguish.

Amelia winced beside her. Ria wasn’t quite like Kirika, but she was a little sister figure to Amelia, so she was sensitive to her pain.

“…Right now I have a promise with Akira. After that’s fulfilled... I don’t know.”

For Crow, his raison d’être had been to avenge his sister—to kill Gram. Now that he’d achieved that, what would become of him was not hard to imagine.

Hearing Crow’s answer, Ria looked down.

“Lord Akira, did you know it would turn out like this?”

I shook my head honestly.

I knew Gram had been Commander Saran’s killer, and I understood it wasn’t my place to judge, but Gram was scum who could die without the world losing anything. Still, I knew Gram’s death would let at least one person move forward.