Otome Game no Heroine de Saikyou Survival [WN] - Chapter 47
Renewed Determination
My first assignment from the Assassins’ Guild was to assassinate a group of novice-hunting thieves posing as adventurers… party name [Blade Fang].
The guild master who had taken the job before had made an agreement with the previous guild master to accept commissions along with thieves, so I was given the same kind of assignment.
Dino agreed to assign me, probably because he didn’t want the effort to cover up for me if I did get caught, and there won’t be information leaking if I failed to assassinate someone in the public eye.
“It’s a test, but we will pay you a reward. If you successfully accomplish the request, I will give you ten times the money. This is the advance.”
Dino flipped a coin with his finger, and I caught it in midair… One gold coin for the advance? One gold coin was about the same as the monthly salary of a young man who had come of age and started working.
A young couple with a young child could live on two or three gold coins a month, so ten gold coins seemed like a lot of money, but it was not that easy when you consider that I would be exchanging the lives of the three thieves with this money.
“And there are weapons in the back right room. They were left behind by old members of the guild or recovered from those who could use them, but if you can use them, you’re free to do so.”
“Understood.”
This underground Assassins’ Guild was quite spacious, as it was said to have been converted from a former coal mine. The chapel above it was apparently also built for those who died in a coal mining accident hundreds of years ago, and it was now a bit of a tourist attraction.
Air in an underground coal mine would tend to stagnate, but I could feel a slight breeze, so there must be an opening for air to circulate around. The reason there were almost no lights inside the mine was probably to keep the atmosphere from becoming stagnant, and also because most of the members in Assassins’ Guild had night vision.
“[Light]”
When I arrived at the desired room, I turned on the [Light] to inspect it.
There were indeed weapons, but it was more like a warehouse than an armory, and most of the weapons laid out were covered in dust or had rust on their blades.
This was what you would expect from the relics of a dead assassin. As far as I was concerned, there was nothing worthwhile, but I still found a small magic-iron hidden weapon and a metal sharpening rod instead of a whetstone, so I took both of them.
“Hey, there’s nothing good to see here, you know? You must be the new ash-haired one, I suppose?”
“Who?”
I could sense someone approaching, but he had approached me so brazenly that I decided to wait for him to respond.
“Me? Call me Guy. Nice to meet you, ash hair.”
[Guy] [Race: Human Male]
[Magic Power: 90/95] [Physical Strength: 255/270]
[Total Combat Power: 251 (With Physical Enhancements: 294)]
The dark-skinned young Cruzian man gave a toothy smile as he approached.
His combat power wasn’t much different from Kira’s, but with magic power this low, his total combat power was probably more on the physical side than endurance or magic power…
But still, Guy? It was a name that was very common among men in this country, and although it seemed easy to remember, on the contrary, it was hard to recollect. But more than that…
What did he mean, Ash hair?
“You had a little episode with Kira earlier, didn’t you? I could hear her voice all the way here.”
I could also hear Kira yelling, “You little ash-covered brat!”
I had no qualms about being called ash-covered… or perhaps Guy, or Dino, or Kira, or any of the other names that may be used, might not even be their real names, but pseudonyms.
This Guy, person, seemed like a decent man in this guild.
He was an Assassin, so it was inappropriate to describe him as decent but he was still better than that Kira, but to trust him or not was another topic.
“So, what’s Guy doing here?”
“I was wondering what kind of person Celeshura’s rumored apprentice is. As you may have noticed, there are not many decent people here. Watch out for Sage and Gord. They’ve killed many people in the past.”
“Sage…?”
“Sage” was an old forest elf, nearly five hundred years old, who was a sorcerer and researcher of curses. He placed curses on members of the group in what he called experiments and sent many people to their deaths without leaving any evidence.
As he was a forest elf, I was told that he was hostile towards my Master, a talented dark elf sorcerer, and it was believed that he might even try to harm me, as I was her apprentice.
A curse…. There was something like that in my Master’s lessons.
It was a technique to harm a distant target or suppress the target’s behavior by performing a huge number of rituals, and according to my Master, it was an [inefficient] field in which the effort to prepare was not matched by the effectiveness. … No wonder he viewed Master as an enemy.
In addition, Guy told me about other people to watch out for in this guild.
Sharga, the battle-crazed dwarf.
Radha, the Shadow Master.
And that Goth Loli Girl, Kira.
But the most dangerous one was Gord, whose name was mentioned along with Sage’s.
“Can you hear the faint growl even from here?”
“…”
I thought it was the sound of the wind in the vents, but now that he mentioned it, it did indeed sound like the “roar” of some creature.
“He’s just a monster. He doesn’t have the intelligence to be used for proper assassination, but he only comes out when we need to purge guild members.”
I see…that was why Kira backed down so easily when she heard about the purge.
“Well, as long as you don’t get too close, you’ll be fine…speaking of which, have you decided on your job yet?”
“…a group of thieves hunting beginners.”
“Oh, we got a job like that, too. The commission wasn’t that high, so it was put on the back burner, but… are you okay with that? I don’t mean to make fun of you, but that’s a tough first job for a kid, isn’t it?”
“We won’t know until we see it.”
“Well, yeah. You’ll just have to see it to believe it. In this field, the first mission is the most likely to take your life, so watch out for yourself.”
“I understand.”
Guy gave an encouraging smile and returned to his room with light whistling steps.
I didn’t really understand Guy, but thanks to him, I had a general idea of what was going on here. I would put this information to good use later on.
Dino had set aside a room for me in this guild, but I had no intention of using it. I left the assassins’ guild that very day and set out for my destination without letting anyone know.
It seemed that the bandits, who were currently my target, had taken up residence in a town with a dungeon in Count Centralia’s territory, which was about a week to the east of Dandol.
[Dungeons]…I had knowledge of dungeons, but since I was new to this, I had to organize my knowledge in my head.
The word dungeon originally meant dungeon or basement of a castle, but in this world, it could be a ruin or labyrinth that was possessed by monsters.
Possessed by a monster did not mean that the monsters lived in the ruins, but that they literally possessed the ruins and had become one with it.
It was said that the monsters were the evolution of an ancient hermit crab. The hermit crab lived by wearing a shell to protect itself, and by using the cave to attract creatures into its shell, it obtained the creature’s magical power and life force.
To efficiently get magical power and life force, it was necessary to make creatures fight each other and lose their lives, and for this purpose, dungeons absorbed knowledge from the residual thoughts of dead creatures, skillfully attracted unintelligent monsters, and had developed to produce items of interest to humans which would easily lure them over, such as ores.
It was said that in the three largest dungeons in the country, monsters would turn into [half-spirits] and grant [blessings] to those who reached the innermost part of the dungeon.
I stopped by the town to buy some things I needed and then headed for Count Centralia’s territory.
From this Count Hedel’s territory, I would have to go south to Dandol, and then head east from there, a journey that would take about 10 days.
If I rushed my journey, it would at least take me about a week to get there, but during this time I would continue to train, so this would be the maximum time I could take to go there.
I was not strong enough yet. I had done basic training under my master, but I did not have enough experience to use and appraise it in my skills and status.
My master and I had planned to train me in the fundamentals until I turned 10 years old, and then gradually incorporate them into my skills, but the unplanned turn of events forced me to leave the forest in an unprepared state.
So, I decided to take this as an opportunity to improve myself.
By moving in with my Master and taking shelter under her protection, I was able to sleep peacefully for the first time in several years.
But that was a child’s indulgence. Without realizing it, I was spoiled by my Master like a normal child.
Master was not a talkative person, but she must have noticed the situation and protected me as a young child.
But no. I finally realized that it was not enough.
During the five months I had been pampered by my Master, my strength had clearly grown slower than during the first three months when I could not sleep properly.
Once again, I should put my mind and body to the extreme and train again. As a mere child, I had to undergo a training that would grind my spirit and body to fight against Grave and protect the people I cared about.
Thanks to my Master, I was able to supplement my knowledge to some extent, which was in a pitiful state. She taught me the necessary weapons and techniques.
I would save Master, I would save Elena, I would gain the strength to not run away from my destiny. To do so, we must keep moving forward, never stopping, not even for a single step.
Fortunately, the Assassins’ Guild would provide me with all the powerful enemies that could kill me, which were rare in that forest.
I ran through the forest at night, killing all signs of life, without passing through the roads, without stopping at towns, and I took down all the monsters I came across.
Now I could fight even hobgoblins head-on. I made up for the difference in status with my skills, accurately piercing the vital points, and honed my fighting and killing skills.
[Gugya…]
I caught one of the hobgoblins by surprise in the forest at night, and before he could come back to his senses from his momentary surprise, I rolled up my threads and stopped his breath, then slid my knife across his throat as he became unable to speak and put the finishing blow to him.
I had nothing against monsters. The encounter was simply fighting an enemy. That was all.
Master taught me that combat skills did not develop solely through physical prowess.
The information on the exact location of blood vessels and internal organs was vital. Once you understood where and how much to attack to incapacitate the enemy, it would become easier to kill or keep a target alive.
Technical skills did not grow only with technique alone, but also with knowledge. This was the reason why I, as a young child, was able to gain skills and fight in just a few months.
I continued to train my mind and body throughout the entire journey, and after ten days, I arrived at the territory of the Count Centralia, located on the eastern seacoast.
[Aria (Alicia)] [Race: Human Female] [Rank 2]
[Magic: 158/170]5Up [Strength: 123/140] 20Up
[Strength: 6(7.2)] [Endurance: 7(8.4)] 1Up [Agility:9(10.8)] 1Up [Dexterity: 7]
[Short Sword Technique Lv.2] [Taijutsu Lv.2] [Throwing Lv.2] [Thread Manipulation Lv.2] 1Up
[Light Magic Lv.2] [Dark Magic Lv.2] [Non-Attribute Magic Lv.2]
[Life Magic x6] [Magic Control Lv.2] [Intimidate Lv.2]
[Concealment Lv.2] [Night Vision Lv.2] [Detection Lv.2] [Poison Resistance Lv.1]
[Simple Appraisal]
[Total Combat Power: 171 (With Physical Enhancements: 192)] 23Up
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Also check out my other novels: Reincarnated into a Game as the Hero’s Friend, Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, and A Girl Who Was Told “You Have No Talent” Turned Out To Be A Talented Monster