Shall I Quit Being an Assassin?

Nameless… shall I quit being an assassin…?

A pure white wind brushed the treetops and raised blossoms of snow; a green wind melted them and coaxed true flowers into bloom.

Outside the window, the snowmen children had built—large and small—were dissolving into the streets, and as many people as there had been snowmen filled the city in their place.

Between the thin leaves that had endured the fierce blizzards, flowers opened and dressed the avenues. Spring had come.

Not that it mattered much up here. This high castle still felt as cold as winter.

“Well done again. That will be all—you may go.”

“Understood, One.”

I offered a light bow and stepped out of the audience chamber. The heavy iron door slammed shut behind me with a thunderous crash.

Lately it sounded more and more as if that door were scraping the floor. I should mention it to U.

It had already been a full year since I arrived in this world.

A great many things had happened. Truly, a great many.

On my very first mission I had hesitated over the kill. I had joined a party with a summoner unfairly cast out of an adventuring group, only to receive a recruitment offer. I had even been asked to become the disciple of an academy professor who ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had been unjustly dismissed.

And on the mission ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I had just completed, deep within an old mansion, I had discovered a demon blade named Magya, sleeping in the dark.

A secret-organization assassin turned maid who also picked up a cursed sword? That felt like far too much backstory, so I left it where it was and walked out.

The sobbing of that demon blade as I left the room had not been my imagination.

It was so loud that for a moment I seriously considered jamming it into Dante’s scabbard just to shut it up.

Then I got back to the castle and found Dante going on and on at me about “fun, cool, and sexy,” and I regretted not doing it.

An exorcist determined to fell the hundred and eight demons. A knight swearing vengeance. An academy student discarded for lack of talent who then awakened to power…

I had met others as well, but none of those stories had been particularly important.

In the end, every mission target had been trash who deserved to die. The offers from the summoner and the professor would only have shackled my ankles when what I needed was to become a maid.

That demon blade Magya had an appearance that didn’t suit Nameless at all. The exorcist, the knight, the student—none of them were people I needed to care about.

A great deal had happened, and for all of it, the year had been empty of real gains.

The only things I had truly come away with were my friendship with U and the combat experience the missions had given me.

“Oh, Senior!”

I had been strolling through the garden to sort my thoughts when a lively young woman’s voice called out.

Clear and pure.

It belonged to U—no longer the muscle monster whose voice had been wasted on her, but a proper maid at last.

“Good day to you, U.”

“Good day to you too, Senior!”

After receiving the Muscle Compression procedure and beginning her work as a maid, U had been clumsy in every possible way at first.

Having never done delicate work, she botched cleaning and cooking alike. She couldn’t control her strength either; more often than not, a broom snapped the moment she took hold of it.

But under my instruction, a year of effort had turned her into an excellent maid.

Compared to the beginning, her progress had been nothing short of remarkable.

U’s growth was a fine thing—and yet it left me with no small regret.

It meant I would never again get to watch an apprentice maid blossom into a full-fledged one.

Apprentice Maid Aesthetics was a discipline that filled my heart simply by letting me observe an apprentice maid at my side.

Of course, the U who stood before me now was beautiful and sublime in her own right, so I was more than satisfied.

A height well over five foot seven and a mature figure, set against a cheerfully tied ponytail and spirited manners. Her speech still left something to be desired, but she had earned a passing grade easily enough.

Heh heh… she’s truly magnificent… ❤

“Ugh…”

“U? Whatever is the matter all of a sudden?”

“Senior… you were looking at me all lecherously again…”

Lecherous? Where, in all the world, was there a person as pure and clean-hearted as I, that she could spew such nonsense—

“U, as I told you last time, I have never looked at you lecherously. No—not only you. I would never look at any maid in this world with such eyes.”

“Eeh?! That puts me in a real bind!”

“Pardon? A bind?”

“Ah—it’s nothing, Senior.”

Saying so, U seized her broom and fled the scene in a hurry.

For one who had become a maid to act so rashly… it seemed further education was in order.

“Heh heh ❤”

I left the pleasure for later and returned to my room to rest.

A week had passed since my return to the castle.

Barely any time after finishing a mission, and One had summoned me to the audience chamber again.

Ordinarily he called members one by one. This time, two other members had been summoned as well.

“Nine is dead?”

“Yes. Not long ago, on a mission, Nine was defeated by a holy swordswoman and died on the spot.

B, M, V. The three of you have shown exceptional talent even among the regular members. Therefore, I intend for one of you to inherit Nine’s crest.”

Oh.

So this was the moment Nameless became Nine?

I already knew from the original that Nameless had been Number Nine of Yeoro, so I had expected a day like this would come eventually.

But Nameless was still only thirteen. I had never imagined it would arrive so soon.

Then again, considering she had joined Yeoro at twelve, it wasn’t all that surprising now.

Hmm. Nine…

The only Numbers I actually knew were Dante and Eight, and judging by those two, it didn’t seem like a bad deal.

Yeoro already granted ordinary members a fair degree of freedom, but the latitude the Numbers enjoyed looked wider still.

That it wasn’t bad, however, did not mean I wanted to become Nine.

I was just about ready to start plotting my escape so I could become a maid. Becoming Nine would only bind me more tightly to Yeoro.

It was time to sever myself from this life as well.

I already had an escape plan mapped out to a reasonable degree.

Executing it would ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠require another Number’s help—but that part I would solve through a deal with Eight.

For someone whose guiding principles were interest and curiosity, I had already identified a bargaining chip Eight would find impossible to refuse.

No matter how I looked at it, there was no reason to become Nine just because the original story said so.

Abandon the path of the maid to become an officer of the organization? Absolute garbage.

“You may leave ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me out of it. I have no need of a Number’s seat.”

Of the three of us, I was the one closest to Nine—or so I believed.

One had more contact with me than with the other regular members, and in the original, Nine was Nameless.

One would be disappointed, but his feelings were none of my concern.

It wasn’t as if I had joined Yeoro because I wanted to.

But contrary to my expectations, One nodded with clear satisfaction.

“As expected of M. Truly a model of Yeoro.”

“Pardon?”

Pardon?

“Even without the seat of a Number, your will to act for the organization is plain to me.”

What was this idiot talking about.

“That said, there is no need to refuse so firmly. A Number’s seat must go to one who is worthy—and you, M, are more fit for it than anyone.”

Oh, here we go again.

In my time at this castle I had met three Numbers, and each of them had a personality that was distinct in the most spectacularly awful direction.

First, Seven—Dante—was an attention-seeker convinced of his own coolness.

Eight was a pervert who staged outrageous stunts in the name of “interest.”

And One was a condescending old fossil who never listened to a word anyone said, only struck poses and monologued.

U had been the same, once. Was I truly the only normal person in this entire organization?

They say that in the land of the one-eyed, the two-eyed are the freaks.

To think I would end up the two-eyed one in a village of the one-eyed.

Today’s headache arrived right on schedule.

“Now then—though M here is the strongest candidate for Nine, that does not mean the two of you, B and V, have no chance.”

Watching One convince himself and charge straight into the main point, I wanted to slap my forehead and sigh.

Of course, such behavior did not become one who intended to be a maid, so I restrained myself.

There was no point saying anything further anyway.

I would hear him out.

“From this moment, I am assigning the three of you a mission. The seat of Nine will go to whoever completes it first.”

Huh? What.

There was a separate promotion mission?

Then couldn’t I just go to the mission area and fail naturally?

“In roughly one month, a grand festival will be held in the Empire’s great city of Preas. And at that festival, the Leonhart heirloom—the Dandelion—will be unveiled.”

Dandelion.

I had heard the name before.

The sword handed down through the generations of House Leonhart.

A legendary blade said to have been forged from the fang of a golden lion.

“Your task is to steal the Dandelion and bring it here.”

When One finished speaking, an uneasy silence settled over the audience chamber.

The faces of the other two members were dark indeed.

House Leonhart was renowned even among the Empire’s houses as a peerless great family.

Stealing their heirloom was, even for a member of Yeoro, as good as being told to throw your life away.

Even for me—whom One had just called closest to Nine—the mission was impossible. For the other two, it was beyond hopeless.

But that, too, was none of my business.

If anything, it was a fine opportunity.

The higher the difficulty, the easier it would be to fail in a natural-looking way.

“Oho. As expected of M. Even hearing this mission, your resolve does not waver.”

My resolve had wavered ages ago, but once again I chose to keep my mouth shut.

If I opened it, that old fossil would only twist my words however he liked.

Either way, a good mission had finally come my way for the first time in a while.

I would fail the objective gracefully, and spend the remaining time in Preas buying high-grade fabric.

It was about time I prepared a maid uniform of my own—and time to sew U a new one as well.

Heh heh. Perfect. This mission is truly perfect.

“However, even for you this mission is impossible alone. Therefore, Seven will accompany you. With him there, he should be able to pin down Duke Leonhart and the main forces.”

…Or not?

Not a perfect mission—a godawful one?