My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero's

We had nearly run into the Reytis Kingdom's royal assassination unit, "night raven," but thanks to Tsuda-kun's keen hearing, Nanase-kun's scouting ability using the wind, and the tengu acting as our guide, we managed to avoid the encounter.

I also have the skill "danger sense" honed sharp, but Nanase-kun's detection range is better than mine.

Of course, we needed to keep moving forward, and my opinion was that if we were looking for Aki, there was no need to force a fight here. Mr. Zeal agreed, so we held our breaths inside the barrier the tengu had put up until "night raven" passed by.

Then, with the tengu in the lead, we began climbing the mountain again. Apparently, the tengu had been asked to take us to some sort of base.

"A-ah, excuse me! I'm the hero Satou. Thank you for the barrier that hid everyone earlier. May I ask your name?"

I caught up to the tengu leading the way and introduced myself.

The tengu turned its face around in one swift motion, but with the mask on, I couldn't see its expression. It was unnerving not knowing immediately whether I had just said something rude.

"...N-name, you say!"

"Y-yes!"

Was it rude to ask for a name?

Come to think of it, was this person even human? Wings sprouted from their back, but their presence felt far too alien to be considered beastmen.

In my original world, tengu were yokai, or were enshrined as gods. If I remember right, it was either forbidden to give your real name to a god, or rather, it was encouraged... no, I don't really remember. No, wait, this world only has Aitel as a god, so maybe there are no gods here? But would the fourth generation hero, who created a country that so perfectly modeled Japan, really leave out anything related to gods? Or rather, could he even leave it out?

Still, when we landed in Yamato Country from the airship, Kanzou of the Kohana family had said "the sun above us." In other words, there is some concept of the sun as a god. Or is that just an idiom?

Damn it, I really have no idea.

Ignoring my inner panic, the tengu stopped abruptly, looked over all of us, paused slightly on Nanase-kun and me, then nodded.

"Hm. Very well. I shall allow you to etch my name into your hearts!"

Then, without warning, it reached for its mask and shifted it slightly to the side.

When I saw the eyes beneath it, I widened mine.

"Listen well! My name is Nostalgia Monk! I am one of the primordial demonic beasts birthed into this world by Divine Aitel, the Nostalgia Monk of Tengu Mountain!!"

The voice like thunder sent the birds around us all taking off at once.

"Primordial demonic beast." Just as the name suggested, there were no whites in his eyes, and the face beneath the mask was completely unlike a human's.

His face was covered not in skin, but in feathers like a bird's, and in the center where a nose should be was a sharp beak. Hidden by long hair the same color as his wings, I couldn't tell at first, but he didn't seem to have ears, and the mask apparently stayed on by covering his face completely.

I already knew from the Hiraes incident that the primordial demonic beasts used long-lost magic, Lost Magic, so the magic that hid his appearance and the magic that projected his own vision must also be that. If he had such convenient magic, then he wouldn't need magical tools like the ones Ms. Lord Lattice Nail has.

As always, Nanase-kun showed no fear at all and raised a hand to toss a question at the tengu—Nostalgia Monk.

"Primordial demonic beast means he's the same as Hiraes-san, right? The dragon leader in Demon Clan territory. Does that mean, like Hiraes-san, he has lots of descendants and stuff?"

"So the hero brat over there and the wind brat know Hiraes, do they! I thought I sensed something nostalgic. Unfortunately, I have neither descendants nor retainers. Living freely on my own suits me just fine. Leading a flock would be nothing but a pain!"

Come to think of it, when Hiraes gave us our task in Demon Clan territory, he said he would weave magic into the crystal we were to destroy so it would be recognizable. In other words, he must have sensed that presence.