The Water Magician

The morning after Fai had the tattoo removed from Shaafi's chest.

The conscious bandit trapped in the ice coffin was being interrogated by Max and the others for information.

Until now, the assassins had shown no signs of breaking their silence, but perhaps being frozen overnight had an effect, as he answered their questions honestly.

However, the information obtained was not much.

To summarize...

They were a unit that had a base in Redpost.

The objective of the intrusion last night was to confirm the death of a person who activated the tattoo, after receiving news of its activation.

However, since Gecko, who was currently the top priority target, was present, they also attacked him simultaneously.

They did not know the reason for the assassination of Gecko.

As for activities in the Eastern Kingdom, after the collapse of Roh Bridge and the attack on Slanzewi, the top priority target had become the assassination of Gecko.

Currently, there were only the three of them in Redpost.

They were not informed about how many other units were scattered in other towns.

That was all.

After extracting the information, they handed the bandit over to the guard squad responsible for maintaining public safety due to the ambush in town.

"That was pretty much as expected," said Max.

"Gecko's life is the top priority..." Shaafi added.

"There are various mechanisms incorporated into the tattoo," Fai remarked.

Gecko's thoughts, Max's determination, and Fai's interest in the tattoo... which indirectly related to his interest in alchemy.

For now, they watched Shaafi, who was eating a large breakfast as if nothing had happened.

The Gecko Merchant Association had breakfast at the inn and then departed Redpost.

Redpost was the easternmost town of the Naitorei Kingdom, with the border to the Duchy of Inberri to the southeast.

From the moment they left Redpost, there was a slight change in their formation.

Fai and Shaafi switched places by the front cargo wagon.

In the front cargo wagon, Gecko was on the driver's seat, while Max was walking alongside as a guard.

In short, this was a change in formation so that Gecko could obtain information from Shaafi, who had saved his life as promised.

Fai was serving as a watcher for Shaafi.

"Ryo... having you as a watcher is kind of..."

Shaafi said while looking at Fai walking beside him.

"It seems Shaafi has some complaints," Fai replied, unfazed.

"My heart probably still has an ice membrane around it, right? That means you, Ryo... if you feel like it, could crush my heart right away, couldn't you?"

"Well? I wouldn't know since I've never tried it. Should I give it a little test?"

"No, please spare me."

When Shaafi confirmed this, Fai suggested trying it out... but the negotiation did not go well.

"Shaafi, over sixty percent of the human body is water. That water permeates every corner of the body. Therefore, for a water attribute mage, rather than going to the trouble of crushing the heart, just freezing the tendons would easily stop the movement."

"Ugh... my fingers aren't moving..."

The moment Fai said that, Shaafi found himself unable to move his fingers.

"If that's the case, even if Shaafi suddenly returns to being an assassin, we can subdue him before he harms anyone else."

Fai nodded repeatedly, seemingly satisfied.

Shaafi looked at Fai with eyes like he was something other than human.

Hearing this from the driver's seat, Gecko offered a comforting word.

"As long as Shaafi doesn't do anything bad, Ryo won't do anything either, right, Ryo?"

"Of course," Fai nodded vigorously.

"That's good to hear, Shaafi."

"Let's thank Gecko-san for that, Shaafi."

Both Gecko and Fai smiled, but to Shaafi, their smiles appeared quite eerie.

During their travel, it was always a time for questioning Shaafi, or rather, for sharing information.

Of course, Shaafi was actively cooperating in sharing information to repay the favor of having his tattoo removed and being saved.

In that respect, he didn’t seem like a bad guy.

Even though he was an ex-assassin.

Originally, Shaafi's main objective given by the cult headquarters was to carry out destructive activities in the second-largest city of the Eastern Kingdom, Slanzewi.