My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero's

"Only a little farther to the border of Elf territory."

A young elf said cheerfully to me as I crossed my arms in irritation. Young only in comparison to Amelia and the others — he was still far older than me. As usual, this elf was beautiful. Damn handsome men. I don't know how he interpreted my gaze filled with killing intent, but he suddenly froze and hurriedly introduced himself.

"My name is William."

I tilted my head.

"...That's a name I've heard somewhere before."

"Embarrassingly, my parents are fans of Lord Liam..."

"I see. So they gave their son Liam's name."

Giving your child the name of someone you respect — even Morrigan does that.

"Yes. I myself respect Lord Liam, so I have no complaints about my name. It's a little embarrassing, though."

I couldn't help but mutter as I remembered Liam's unnecessarily well-formed face during the duel.

"...What on earth is appealing about that?"

"Did you say something?"

"No."

Indeed, after Kirika's charm wore off, Liam's efforts were incredible.

He ran around day and night to rebuild the Elf nation, publicly declared the formal annulment of his engagements to Amelia and Kirika, apologized for it, and even prostrated himself and apologized to me. That prostration was as wholehearted and magnificent as any Japanese apology.

"Lord Akira, I not only nearly killed you, but also failed to stop Lady Kirika when I should have, and I caused great trouble regarding saving Lady Amelia. I am truly sorry!!!"

"Hey, wait, a prostration!? Where did you learn that! It's needlessly impressive! Raise your head!"

"It seems that in the Human territory's country, Yamato, people apologize or beg like this. Since your homeland resembles Yamato, please accept my fullest apology!"

"Fine already! I forgive you, so please raise your head!"

In the end, I gave in to that determination and forgave him.

William didn't notice my faraway look and continued talking about Liam.

"Really, Lord Liam is a wonderful person. Indeed, the Elf race cannot stand without a king, but the same can be said for Lord Liam. I've heard he works almost sleeplessly day after day to restore the nation's finances, but as someone still learning, I can't understand what exactly he does. Despite being a civil official, Lord Liam's archery is second only to Lady Amelia among the Elf race, and he's never once missed prey when hunting. Lord Liam truly is a paragon of both letters and arms!"

"Yeah, I guess so."

I gave casual acknowledgments to William's long-winded praise, when the front suddenly grew noisy. The smooth progress halted. William had said it was only a little farther, but it shouldn't have been this soon. The fact that William was panicking proved it.

"Damn! We're under attack!!"

"An attack? You mean bandits?"

We formed a protective circle around Amelia and drew our weapons. Since we were still inside the forest, we couldn't use the long "night blade god" weapons. Besides, the attackers outnumbered us overwhelmingly.

"No! It's not bandits! Children and women who came to hunt around here often get abducted! And no one ever returns!!"

"...Kidnappers, huh. By the template, because of the Elves' looks, they tend to be enslaved by other races, right?"

"You know that well. They sell their kin as slaves to the Beastmen and Human race!!"

Blood ran from William's clenched palms. He glared at the encroaching ring with all the killing intent he could muster. The gentle Liam-worshipper visage from before was gone.

I could only guess, but William probably had someone close taken by these people. Looking around, there were a few others in the same state as William. The Elf race cares deeply for their own. Even without blood ties, simply being the same people is enough for them to throw away their lives. They would do anything for vengeance. Whoever is abducting them so brazenly must have the backing of a nation, or perhaps a continental power.

The ring tightened further, so I abandoned that line of thought. I had to figure out how to break this encirclement. Everything else could be thought through later. Unfortunately, I was the only frontliner. I should have brought Kirika if kidnappers were a possibility. Actually, wasn't the insistence on a heavy escort because of this? Tell me beforehand!