My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero's

A little light!

When I roughly dropped him to the ground, the boss snapped fully awake and glared at me. Apparently he wakes up easily. I envy him—I struggle every morning.

"Alright. Tell me everything you know. About that Gram fellow too."

I silently drew a hidden weapon and pressed it against his throat. The boss looked at me with clear fear. I wasn't putting any killing intent into it. I had no intention of killing. It was just intimidation, but ordinary people apparently can't tell the difference.

I suppose I'm finally reaching the point where the Human race won't accept me anymore.

"Y-you won't get anything out of me!"

Tears in his eyes, the boss declared he wouldn't betray his comrades. Still, his whole body was trembling and he looked about to faint. Even a scumbag like him had something he wouldn't surrender. I sighed.

"Enough. I look like the villain otherwise. Besides, I'm not particularly interested in Gram. I just thought I'd ask. If you lot can't solve it, you can call me."

When I withdrew the blade, everyone, including the boss, gaped. Had I said something strange?

"Akira, does that mean you won't get involved in this?"

"Sorry, Amelia. That's how it is."

I'm not a goody-two-shoes protagonist. Honestly, as long as the people close to me don't grieve, I don't much care what happens to others.

The elf race is practically its own nation. Things like this happen on a national scale. If the soldiers are getting rusty because it's so peaceful, that's not a bad thing.

"Understood. I'll be following Akira."

"N-no way!"

"Lady Amelia too!!"

William and the others cried out in despair. Hey, don't say things like you're a hero.

"That's settled. Also, I freed three hostages over there, so they should be coming soon."

I pointed toward a gap in the trees where I sensed movement. The three hostages from earlier emerged. One of the girls ran up and hugged me. The others bowed deeply.

"Thank you for saving us, big brother!"

"You're welcome."

It was such a small thing, but in the corner of my vision I saw Amelia pouting.

"Is this really alright, master?"

Only Yoru slunk close and whispered that to me.

I didn't answer the question. As I stroked Yoru's fur, I remembered the crest I had glanced at on the sword when I dropped them earlier.

"Yoru, which country has a crest of three claw marks over a circle?"

"If it's that, it's the crest of Uruk, the largest nation of the Beastmen... No way!"

Yoru's eyes widened and I nodded.

"Yeah. That crest was engraved on their sword. Those guys were knights pretending to be human traffickers."

"K-knights kidnapping people... But why would they put such a visible crest on their sword?"

"Who knows? Only one of them had it engraved, and maybe the swords they brought got damaged, so they were forced to use that one or something."

That one guy was swinging his blade ridiculously, so maybe he didn't care about showing the crest. In any case, my motion-tracking beat him.

"Will you tell Miss Amelia and the elves about this?"

"No. There's too little evidence, and it's too serious to say just on speculation. Besides, Amelia is a princess. She might succeed the elf race someday, after all."

I told the elves that, but I'm sure I'll stick my nose into this matter myself.

"Understood. I'll follow your lead, master."

"Thanks, Yoru."

I don't know why Uruk, a nation of the Beastmen, would kidnap elf women and children and set their sights on Amelia. But I will never hand her over.

"Next is who Gram is."

"The current king's name wasn't Gram. I think there was someone called that around the chancellor…"

"Whatever. Deal with what comes, ignore what leaves."

"…Master, that sounds a little off?"

The mood, which had been tense earlier, changed completely. The two of us chatted cheerfully while Amelia watched from a distance and quietly exhaled.

"Akira, I want to help you too."