My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero's

The exam finished safely!

There’s still a month before the results are announced, and my nerves are on edge the whole time.

Thank you for all the encouraging comments!!

I feel like I’ve grasped something!

Night panicked when Akira collapsed onto the bed at night, but Crow said she was just sleeping, and Night let out a relieved breath.

There are many magic users who die from complete depletion of magical power.

It was only natural that Night would be worried.

They say humans slowly consume magical power just by breathing. That’s the Demon Clan’s theory, though whether it’s actually true is unknown.

But once, they had certainly wandered the brink of death.

Even knowing it was impossible, Night couldn’t help thinking “hold your breath!” for a moment.

“…Still, you really managed to stay alive.”

Crow muttered softly.

Night hesitated about whether to tell Crow about that phenomenon with Akira.

Night couldn’t conceive that a spell might have a will of its own, and Akira hadn’t told Night and the others about the conversation with saran.

So Night couldn’t even think that a spell healed his master. All Night could conclude was that the master had gone strange.

Still, it was undeniably odd, and not something Night could handle alone.

Crow watched Night quietly as she worried.

“…If you want to consult me, spit it out. I’m heading into town now.”

Crow’s cold eyes looked down at Night on the bed.

Even Night, who rarely yielded, fell silent under that gaze and spoke.

She explained that Akira had completely exhausted his magical power, left only waiting for death, yet somehow recovered to this state. She told Crow about the voice she’d heard then.

“…That’s not a self-recovery type spell. Where did the replenishment for completely drained magical power come from?”

Crow muttered something and left him be. Night moved closer to Akira’s face.

She pressed a paw-like hand to Akira’s forehead.

“…nngh.”

‘Hmm, there doesn’t seem to be a fever. Those who expend a lot of magical power usually run a temperature.’

The cool paw made Akira frown slightly.

He shifted in his sleep, pulling Night close to his face.

‘…Ah, master? …Hey, Crow, help me.’

Attacking a sleeping master and forcibly freeing himself was out of the question—besides, this master was completely unconscious—so it was even harder to take action.

He called for Crow’s help, but Crow was already out of the room.

‘That bastard… sigh, don’t be reckless, master. If you die, I die too, you know.’

In the pre-ritual explanation, Night found this man, who didn’t fear death, interesting. Now she only wanted him to be safe.

Otherwise, Night’s heart wouldn’t hold up.

Night herself had no intention of dying. Ordered by the demon king to go to the depths of the labyrinth as a messenger, she had once accepted the possibility of death—but only then. She had been determined to escape somehow.

Well, she ended up leaving that way, but she’d met an interesting person, so in the end it was fine.

In any case, Night still didn’t want to die.

That’s why she stayed with Akira.

They had a familiar pact. If Akira died, Night would die too, so if Night protected him, everything would be fine.

…Or so she thought.

This master seemed to attract trouble and incidents; being near death happened often. With his overwhelmingly high physical abilities and stats, it might have looked like the first time he was in danger, but in the Elf territory or for a normal member of the Human race, a first arrow would have been fatal.

‘Please, don’t die.’

Night pressed her face to Akira’s cheek, who hugged her.

It was an unseemly act for a proud creature, but Night didn’t care.

She’d gotten used to being clung to after that time in the boss room at the bottom of the labyrinth.

True to their agreement, the fluffing had to happen every night before sleep.

She nuzzled his body like a prayer.

She murmured over and over like a wish.

‘Don’t die.’

Night didn’t realize then that this feeling wasn’t just about not wanting to die herself.