Nameless, Starting as an Assassin
Nameless. For now, I would start as an assassin.
"What a bold child."
A pure white mask covered his face, so I couldn't see his expression—but the smile in One's eyes as he looked at me was unmistakable.
Why is he smiling?
In the original story he had always been solemn, so this side of him felt completely alien.
"The entrance trial must have been difficult. You're covered in wounds."
I could feel One's gaze sliding over my body—an unpleasant sensation, as if a snake were coiling around me.
But a maid must never let a stranger see her discomfort. I held my expression steady and waited for his eyes to move on.
"Oh. Truly, truly remarkable. Yes—this is exactly the kind of child worth bringing in."
One withdrew his gaze and nodded, as if thoroughly satisfied.
Why are you the only one satisfied here?
Someone explain the situation to me, too.
"Welcome to the journey that leads toward the Void."
What is that supposed to mean? Explain it so I can understand, I wanted to ask.
But before I could open my mouth, One finished what he had to say and promptly dismissed us.
BOOM!
The thick iron doors slammed shut at once.
"Hmm. I suppose I ought to welcome our new comrade as well."
Driven from One's audience chamber, I walked the halls of the sky fortress with Dante, receiving a guided tour.
The training hall. Locker rooms and showers. The garden.
For all its age, most of the fortress facilities were running without issue.
Still—a sky fortress floating through the air…
Only those One permitted could enter, wasn't that it?
I was starting to understand why no one in the original story had ever managed to find the Path of Void's hideout.
"For our Path of Void to change, we need transformation. And now that a new M has been born, the Path of Void can move forward. From here on, we must advance if we are to keep advancing."
Dante, walking at my side, opened his mouth again.
My head was starting to hurt in earnest.
We were clearly speaking the same language, and yet I had no idea what he was trying to say.
And he had been at it for over thirty minutes.
What is this? Was he like this in the original, too?
"Oh? An interesting plan."
"You're Dante…?!"
"Hey. Long time no see, *Player Name*."
No—in the original he had been a cool, dashing free spirit.
He was never this lunatic.
…Or was he?
This was the past, so maybe he had been a lunatic and only got his act together later?
"Well then, M. The day of one's rebirth is a birthday. Allow me to congratulate you on yours."
"Ah. Yes."
So this was what Dante was like…
That was knowledge I could have done without.
Whenever Dante stayed in the sky fortress, he spent most of his time in the training hall.
Not every member of the Path of Void was a combat specialist—but every one of them possessed exceptional talent; that was how they had earned a place on the Path.
To Dante, who thirsted for duels with the strong, the fortress training hall was nothing less than a land of opportunity: a place where he could cross blades with all kinds of gifted fighters.
And the thought of winning practice matches against fellow members in a secret organization's training ground—of drawing every eye—struck him as truly, utterly sexy.
"'Welcome to the journey that leads toward the Void'… Even thinking about it again, that line is seriously cool. And fun, too. Our organization's name is the Path of Void—and if you unpack 'path,' it means a journey. So walking with us means setting out on a journey…"
Still turning over the words One had offered M the night before, Dante made his way toward the training hall.
Of the Path of Void members currently in the fortress, the only executive bearing a number—the so-called Numbers—was Eight.
But Eight was non-combat personnel, which meant Dante had no choice but to challenge the ordinary rank-and-file to sparring matches.
Naturally, no one was thrilled about dueling a Number like Dante—but whether they accepted or not made no difference to him.
Refusing to face him was, in his mind, proof they were weaker than him to begin with.
"All right! Who's going to face me?!"
Dante arrived at the training hall, threw the doors wide, and shouted at the top of his lungs.
Surely everyone inside would look at him now.
Yes—look at sexy me, all of you.
But even after that grand bellow, not a single gaze turned his way.
Instead, everyone was staring blankly toward one corner of the hall.
"Ahem."
Dante cleared his throat, trying to paper over the awkwardness, and approached the other members.
"Hey. What are you all gawking at—"
He spoke as he followed their line of sight—and then his mouth closed.
"Ugh…"
A member Dante knew as a relatively recent recruit was rolling on the floor.
And standing over him, looking down with absolute composure, was M in a white mask…
What is this… that's completely, perfectly cool…☆
Once I reached the room assigned to me the night before, I sat and thought—again and again—about what I should do from here.
Becoming Nameless was fine as far as it went.
But how was I supposed to escape the Path of Void and become a maid? No answer presented itself.
I wrestled with the problem until dawn, and then a thought struck me.
What maid aesthetic suited Nameless?
Being a maid was more than a profession; it was a discipline of unknowable depth.
Of course there were many schools of maid aesthetic, and every one of them deserved love and respect.
But just as talent for study differs from person to person, the maid aesthetic that suits each individual differs as well—that was only natural.
In my previous life, the maid aesthetic that suited me—Maria—had been Embracing.
A maid who received her master's every worry and every wound, who became a place of rest for the heart.
That had been Maria's maid aesthetic.
So what aesthetic suited Nameless?
Apprentice Maid Aesthetic was out, for a start.
The clumsy figure of an apprentice maid warmed the heart just to look at, and the potential for growth was limitless.
Apprentice Maid Aesthetic centered on that beautiful image of overcoming clumsiness through effort.
But if you asked whether it suited Nameless, I would answer without hesitation: no.
I couldn't even picture Nameless looking clumsy.
Then was it Embracing, like Maria?
Did the word "embracing" really fit a maid who had once been an assassin?
Yes. Perfection.
Nameless's maid aesthetic had to be perfection, and nothing else.
Flawless in every respect, allowing no danger to reach the master.
Perfection was the aesthetic that suited Nameless.
With that settled, I finally had a policy for the road ahead.
I couldn't become a maid right this moment anyway.
Even if the Path of Void practiced a hands-off approach and valued personal freedom, a twelve-year-old kid who had just joined couldn't simply go off on independent action.
So until I became a maid, I would act as an assassin.
As a maid, Nameless had to be perfect.
But whether Nameless-the-assassin was perfect or not was none of my concern.
In that case—couldn't I simply let the assassin fill in whatever the maid still lacked?
Becoming a perfect maid of both pen and sword required preparation of many kinds.
"Then first, I need to get stronger."
Unfortunately, I didn't know how to fight.
A maid had to cultivate the strength to protect her master from danger.
But in my previous life, no matter how hard I trained, muscle never stuck to me; I remained forever delicate, and I never gained the power to defend my master.
Nameless was different.
Nameless was a character who possessed overwhelming combat power—nothing like my past self.
The contents may have changed, but the talent housed in this body would still be there.
Making the most of that talent was simply respect for the flesh I now wore.
All right. Grow strong as an assassin—and wield that strength as a maid.
That would be my top priority.
Policy set, I rose from the bed at once and headed for the training hall Dante had shown me the night before.
The moon had already set and the sun was beginning to rise, but sleep was a luxury I couldn't afford.
Slash. Thrust.
Anyone could do those things.
But cutting and thrusting the exact spot you wanted from any posture—that belonged only to the skilled.
"Hmph!"
And Nameless's body was already setting foot in that domain.
Slash, then thrust. Thrust, then slash.
Even continuous actions from impossible positions—the talent sleeping in this flesh digested them perfectly.
And that wasn't all.
What stunned me most wasn't Nameless's physical ability, but the innate skill labeled Shadow Arts.
The power to shape objects from shadow, to hide my body within it.
I knew nothing about how to use mana—and yet the way to handle shadow painted itself vividly inside my mind.
As I worked with the shadows, my senses began to grow familiar with that unknown thing called mana.
At first I couldn't even grasp what mana was; now I could faintly catch the currents of it drifting through the air.
Truly befitting Nameless.
Even in this child's body, the fragments of the formidable enemy from the original story showed through intact.
Ahh… to wield this power as a maid…
Just imagining it is so… so magnificent…♥
But even Nameless was still a child. Stamina was not infinite.
"Hey, rookie. Can't you hear me?"
I dropped to the floor to ease my exhausted body for a moment—and a woman's voice called from behind me.
An extraordinarily clear and beautiful voice.
Rookie—was that me?
Who on earth was calling me? I turned—and found only an enormous man standing there.
True to a member of the Path of Void, a mask hid his face, but his bulk surpassed even One's overwhelming frame from the night before.
Strange.
I was certain I'd heard a woman's voice.
Where did the owner of that voice go?
"I'm asking you a question! Are you going to answer or not?!"
Oh, fuck.
Good lord.