I GOT A CHEAT ABILITY IN A DIFFERENT WORLD, AND BECOME EXTRAORDINARY EVEN IN THE REAL WORLD
#10.The situation of Lexia and the others
After parting ways with Yuuya, Owen and the others returned to the royal palace to tell the king that Yuuya had promised to visit the palace. Last time, Lexia was attacked by an assassin, but this time there was no attack except monsters because Owen and the others were more vigilant.
“──Lift of your face.
"Hhhh!"
Owen answered briefly, then turned his attention directly to the figure sitting in front of him. An old man with blond hair and blue eyes sat quietly in a luxurious high chair, dressed in glittering clothes. Owen's body naturally stiffened in front of his gaze, which conveyed a sense of affection and dignity.
Arnold von Alceria.
He is the current king of the kingdom of Alceria and the father of Lexia. Currently, the royal castle's audience room in the royal capital of Montres has only the appearance of the king, Arnold, and Owen.
“So, did you meet him? The young man mentioned above. ”
"Ha! As Lexia-sama said, we can make contact with her in the Great Demon Nest.”
“U-umu.. Unexpected in the Great Devil's Nest... And he's from a foreign country, right?”
"Yes. His name sounds very different from ours. In addition, its appearance is very prominent in the country, with black hair and dark eyes.”
"So so…"
On Owen's report, Arnold nodded slowly. Seeing the situation, Owen continued.
“While so... Your Majesty, please rebuke Lexia-sama. When she met the young man in question, I was stunned because she suddenly asked the young man to marry her.
Owen said that and hurriedly pressed his mouth down. He turned his gaze fearfully towards Arnold, where Arnold expressionlessly looked at him sharply.
"What did you just say?"
"N-no, it's nothing ..."
"What did you say?"
“I-it's just..”
"What did you say?"
Owen had no choice but to answer honestly. It was not because Arnold had secretly started to take out the national treasure [Slash Sword Greacle] from its scabbard. Finally, she reported on Lexia's series of actions since her reunion with Yuuya. In the end, Arnold started brandishing his national treasure furiously.
“Who is thaaatttt!? The bastard who seduced Lexiaaaaaa my funny!”
“Ahhhh! Why are nobles so annoying !? ”
Owen tries desperately to appease Arnold, in part because of his own verbal fault.
...****************...
"It's here, yeah ..."
It's in the royal capital, Montres.
In the alley of the block where the bums and pickpockets lived, there was a hooded cloaked figure. The figure, who cared about his surroundings, reached an alley and extended his hand to the empty wall. And then, with a gesture as if he had turned on a button, the wall disappeared, and one street appeared.
He checked his surroundings one last time and then entered, and soon the walls returned to normal. As he continued inside, he finally reached enough space.
Only a few dimly lit lights lit up the room, and the inside was made to look like a campground. There were various people; some wore robes like the person himself, some wore masks, and others hid their identities and enjoyed drinking.
However, as he saw from the appearance and atmosphere around them, they did not just enjoy a drink. It is a place to buy and sell various information and a place to ask for "work".
"If I take the achievement here ... The position of my Cornes house will not be shaken ..."
The person moved in a straight line to the counter, where he called out to the man who was washing dishes, cups, etc., expressionlessly.
“I want to ask for a job.”
“... Content?”
"Investigation and killing of the target."
The expression of the man at the counter did not move at all with the content of the intrusive request. This was because the entire exchange of requests here came from the illegitimate underworld. The man at the counter paused for a moment to wash the dishes, then took out a bundle of paper from under the counter.
“...This is the list of people currently available.”
The client officer immediately checks the background and status of the people who are on the paper, as well as the money requested. Then he saw a piece of paper.
"Huh? Don't tell ... is he free now? ”
"…Yes. In that case, you are lucky. He's still here, but as you know, he's popular. How about that?”
“I-this person! I want this guy! It's okay, right?”
"…Go there. He's in.”
“B-okay.”
Following the man's words, the client's man went to the private room at the end of the tavern. The client man came to the front of the room and finally entered.
“──Request, yes?”
If he had to describe the person there in one word, it would be a "black"— dark green hooded cloak and a terrifying black mask that covered his entire face. Blue eyes glittered under the mask's eyes.
The client's man was almost engulfed by the overwhelming feeling that overflowed from his body, even though he was just sitting there.
“A-are you .. [Head Hunter] ?”
As if answering that question, there was something glittering around the client's man's neck.
“The answer is already in your neck, you know?”
“Hai!”
"Hmph ..if I go any further, your head will fly instead of answering."
Something shiny disappeared from the client's man's neck at once as the dark figure lightly moved his fingers, and he took a breath, drenched in sweat.
“Hah, huh, huh..!”.
“I think I've threatened you too much. Well, now I don't have to introduce myself, do I? I'm the one they call [Head Hunter] .”
“Ah... i..”.
The client man who managed to catch his breath was about to open his mouth, but the dark figure controlled it with his hands.
“No, I just need to get paid. I'm not at all interested in your own information.”
Hearing the dark figure's words that he didn't care from the bottom of his heart, the client man frowned for a moment but quickly returned to his original expression.
“So you're here to ask me, right? …Do you understand? Hiring me spent a lot of money, you know? ”
"Yes, I know that! Still, there's someone I want you to remove!”
As the client man said that, he took a piece of paper from his pocket.
"This is an overview of what's been going on lately."
“Hmph..
As soon as he received the paper, the dark-skinned figure skimmed through.
“...Oh, you mean in connection with the attack on that first princess. In the Great Satan's Nest, the attackers lost their lives, and the princess was saved.”.
“Ah, yes. The killing of the princess was quite troublesome, but more than that, the environment of the Great Demon Nest was even more dangerous. That's how only the princess survived.”.
”Huh... everyone knows that the Great Devil's Nest is dangerous. Forgetting that, as they chased after the princess, they would know what they were doing.but of course, you're right, it's unnatural that only the princess survived. Looking at this content, it seemed like Owen, the princess' bodyguard, was also leaving at that time. If the princess is the only survivor in a situation where Owen is not around.
“Therefore, I want [Head Hunters] to kill the princess. However, there may be an existence nearby that is said to have protected the princess. Remember that.”
“So... I understand the contents of that request. I guess this is mostly about making the first prince happy .. ”
"Huh? W-why did you say that..?”
At the client man, who was clearly shaken, [Head Hunter] let out a sigh of disbelief.
“You. With such a face, how can you get along in a noble society that is more chaotic than that Great Demon Nest?”
“Shut! I realized it without being told!”
“...Well, whatever. Anyway, I understand his request. As you said, I will do the job to kill the princess.”
“Y-yes!”
“Then, let's give 500 gold coins as down payment, yes?”
“Guh!? B-well..”.
After the client man left the room once to prepare the down payment, [Head Hunter] , who remained in the room, leaned far back in his chair.
“...I want to know how long I have to keep doing this..”.
Dark guild.
This is a group of criminals who have a lot of unauthorized requests. The people who belong to them are all dangerous people, like those who have dangerous ideas or are born evil… but of course there are some people who belong to them that are inevitable.
The meeting that will change the fate of [Head Hunter] is imminent.