(EP-363.2) #8

363 – Protagonist #8

I couldn’t discern exactly what they were talking about, but I could definitely tell they were plotting something. As expected, the sword demon had allies.

It’d be best to capture at least one of them and interrogate them.

Suk-.

I approached them and asked.

“Are you the Demon Sword Andromalie?”

At my question, they looked at each other and murmured slightly.

━What the—someone knows who we are?

━Did the mission get leaked?

━No way. The mission is heavier than silence.

Suk-.

Just then, one of them took off their robe and said.

“Look at that, someone knows about me. I knew I was famous. I’ve been saying it all along. Yeah, I am Andromalie the Sword Demon. Who are you?”

Ash-gray hair, a pale face. A familiar look.

I wasn’t dull enough to forget the face of the man I’d killed.

Looking at his face made me realize that I had indeed returned to the past. Such a thing was possible… Well, regardless of the reason, it was a golden opportunity for me.

Bael, go all out.

“Abyssal Depths!”

It was the very spell I had used to defeat the sword demon. A great magic that conjures a powerful gravitational field, pinning their feet and eventually crushing them flat.

“Guhhh!”

“Uwaaagh! What the hell?!”

All five assailants collapsed to their knees, their heads and shoulders slammed into the ground. I tensed for a moment, wondering if one of them might resist the spell, but nothing of the sort happened.

“Guhhh…! This… this is absurd…!”

Andromalie the ash-haired sword demon bled from his nose. Clatter-clatter-clatter—When I heard the sound of chains loosening from his left arm, I quickly chanted a defensive magic.

—Aegis.

Aegis was an enhanced version of the standard mana shield, with much greater defensive power. Naturally, it consumed more mana and came with the drawback of being unable to move once activated, but…

Clang—!

Thanks to that, it gained a level of hardness that could rightfully be called absolute defense. It could deflect most attacks with ease.

“W—What?”

Andromalie seemed greatly surprised that his surprise attack didn’t work. The black-robed schemers were simply being crushed under the pressure, unable to so much as lift a finger.

“Guhhh!”

“Aaghk!”

Their ribs were cracking and pressing into their lungs, causing them immense suffering.

I asked them.

“Who are you people, and what are you trying to do? The sooner you speak, the faster the pain will end. Of course, I doubt you’ll answer just because I asked.”

Seuk.

I pulled off their robes.

The faces that were revealed were of various races, ages, and genders, so I couldn’t find any particular commonality.

Among them, my gaze was drawn to a woman with purple hair tied back.

She looked to be in her mid-twenties. Aside from having a scar also near her right eye, she was quite an attractive woman.

Glancing at her status window, I saw the name Aruru. Her professions included high-class courtesan or assassin.

Suk.

—Mero Mero Beam.

“Hyah!”

“All right, Aruru. Let me ask you. Who are you people, and what are you up to?”

* * *

“The Brotherhood. That’s our name. Actually, names don’t matter. What matters is that we take contracts to kill or abduct people.”

Aruru, the Brotherhood assassin, truthfully answered my questions, having fallen under my brainwashing magic.

According to her, they simply carried out assignments handed down by someone they called “Father.”

“What is the identity of this ‘Father’ person?”

“I don’t know. Although we call them ‘Father’, we don’t actually know if they're a man or a woman. The only one among us who can communicate with them is Andromalie over there.”

This might take longer than I expected.

I asked.

“Why did you enter the martial festival?”

“To kill the target. This was supposed to be our last mission. If we complete today's mission, we can all be free. The freedom to do whatever we want.”

“Freedom?”

She said they were all orphans. They’d been gathered by this so-called “Father” and carried out assassinations on important figures at specific times according to the orders they received.

“Father knows everything. When someone’s going to drink poisoned wine. Who’s going to step out the winter window and get an arrow in the chest. And who will betray us.”

That mysterious leader had turned the orphans of the Brotherhood into natural-born assassins with uncanny skill. They lost all will to resist as events played out as if they've already been prophesied.

And apparently, this “Father” had promised to set them all free after this last mission.

Rustle.

I exposed my ankle and asked.

“Was the target someone with a handprint-shaped mark on their ankle?”

As I revealed the bruise on my ankle, I could feel the shift in their gazes. Especially the sword demon Andromalie, who even crawled towards me, dragging his broken leg.

“I knew it… I had a faint feeling…”

He said, spitting out blood.

“You are our Father! I thought there was no way the information could’ve leaked. But I know. You look like him. Just like him. The letters that whispered to me every day. It was you.”

Edit by: faker