My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero's

"I'll give this to you."

Saying that, Commander saran drew out a sword. ...Wait, where did that come from?

Before I could voice the question, commander saran thrust the sword forward in front of me.

I took it reluctantly, defeated by her beaming smile.

A black hilt, black tsuba, black saya — the sword appealed shamelessly to the otaku second-year in me. Huh, so swords exist in this world. I’d never seen one before, so I’d assumed there weren’t any.

"This is??"

"This is a weapon called a katana, made by the first hero with his own hands. If I remember correctly, you came from the same world as the first hero, right? You know what a katana is?"

"...Yeah. But why give this to me instead of the hero? And is it really okay to just hand these out?"

I drew it a little; the blade was beautifully pitch-black. The first hero really knows his stuff.

"Of course we considered giving it to Tsukasa-kun, but he doesn't have the Curved Sword skill, and the hero traditionally receives the holy sword passed down through generations. After consulting with Zeal-kun, we decided to give it to you."

"...What about the king?"

"...This is a secret, but I stole this from the Royal Castle's treasury. Your weapon broke in today's minotaur fight, so it worked out perfectly."

Commander saran said that outrageous thing so casually that I shivered a little. Didn't she just say she stole it from the treasury?

"I did say I stole it from the treasury. Besides, the katana would be happier being used than buried in glittering gold. And the dagger you were using was probably stolen too, right?"

She’s a psychic. Also, I’m not telling where the broken dagger came from. It’s broken, so let’s not dig that up.

I fully drew the sword. The blade had a form called kogarasuzukuri, with a cutting edge along the tip on the spine as well — a double-edged sword. It’s not the kind you can do a "don't kill, just bludgeon" with. Well, you could if you really wanted to.

"Does it have a signature?"

"It does, apparently. Look near the base of the blade. We can't read it, though."

Sure enough, characters were engraved there. Kanji. So the first hero was Japanese after all. Seeing kanji after so long brought a wave of nostalgia.

"So what does it say??"

Prompted by commander saran's excited face, I read the inscription. The signature was carved in white on the black blade, very striking.

"The name is 'night blade god.' I think that's the name of a god."

"Yatonokami... Is there such a god in your world?"

"Yeah, in my country. In the country we were born in — Japan — there's a belief called the eight million gods, and it's said gods dwell in all things. There are probably as many gods as eternity itself."

"Gods dwell in all things... I see. I never thought like that. In this world there's only one deity, the creator lord."

Commander saran's eyes lit up with the new knowledge as she began explaining the world’s god — unsolicited. I left her to that and lowered my gaze back to the sword.

"...Hm?"

Next to the signature was a less conspicuous, uncolored inscription. It barely reflected moonlight enough to be read.

"I pray this will help my junior who will come someday."

The slightly left-leaning characters made a smile slip out of me before I noticed. In my heart I thanked my senior. Those words would surely become a support for me.

"...I want to meet the first hero."

"........."

I said that while looking up at a sky full of stars that you wouldn’t see in Japan — stars so clear they were unmarred. Commander saran was silent and looked up at the sky too. I couldn't recognize any constellations, but the gloom and anger I’d felt toward the foolish hero and the scheming kings until yesterday vanished without a trace.

"Hey, commander saran, I—"

I made a request of commander saran.

I wanted to see more of this world.

If there are any mistakes about the sword or gods, please let me know.