Assassin Leader Kir
The next morning.
A heavy snowfall overnight had transformed the world outside my window into a blanket of pure white. After chopping firewood and sweeping the snow as I did every morning, I stepped back inside.
There lay Kir, the former assassin leader of the Demon King's army. The woman who had been knocking on death's door with hypothermia just last night was now staring blankly at the ceiling, blinking.
"Next time you want to die, do it somewhere else. Don't bring your bad luck to my doorstep."
"..."
"There's soup in the pot over there, so... Sigh. Never mind."
I told her to eat the soup still simmering in the fireplace, but she didn't look like she had the strength to get up. With a sigh, I ladled some into a bowl myself and brought it over to her.
"Do I need to spoon-feed you too? Get up."
Only then did she slowly sit up. She accepted the bowl but simply stared down at it without eating. Eventually, her gaze drifted to the bandages wrapped around her ankle, and she gently stroked them.
"Wash the sheets before you leave today. Seriously, how many days has it been since you bathed? It's filthy."
"..."
I grumbled as I looked at the bedding she had soiled, but then, thick tears began to well up in Kir's eyes and roll down her cheeks.
"Hey! The infamous assassin leader of the Demon King's army is crying over a little nagging?"
The fearsome commander who once led hundreds of elite assassins was nowhere to be seen. Watching her weep so pitifully made my chest tighten. It felt too much like looking in a mirror.
The hero who had once commanded the respect of the entire continent was gone, replaced by a man hiding in the mountains, scraping by on hunting. I suppose this was what they called a has-been.
Feeling an uncomfortable prick of guilt for making her cry, I headed out to hunt. Until the moment I stepped out the door, Kir remained curled up on the bed, sobbing silently.
When I returned to the cabin, Kir was no longer in bed. Instead, she was holding a rag, wiping down the furniture. She had cleaned herself up at some point; she looked much neater than she had this morning.
The sheets hanging in front of the fireplace showed she had actually washed them as I'd demanded. But she must have been moving around constantly, because the clean bandages on her ankle were already stained black with dirt.
"Hey. Go lie back down."
I snapped at her, my voice laced with irritation. She flinched, hesitating for a moment, but then went right back to wiping the table.
"Didn't you hear me? I said go lie down. Keep walking on that ankle and you'll lose the use of it forever."
"..."
"It looks like you got hurt a long time ago. Why have you been wandering around on it?"
"..."
"Do you just not want to talk to me? If so, get out of my house."
"I—I'll talk!"
Kir, who had kept her mouth shut while clutching the rag, blurted out the words in a panic at the threat of eviction. The charismatic, terrifying assassin leader of the past was gone; she looked like a pitiful puppy kicked out into the rain.
"...After the Demon King's army was defeated... we were hunted by the Allied Forces. The gate back to the Demon Realm closed... and a massive battle broke out. That's when I was injured..."
"How long ago was that?"
"Two years ago..."
"And you've been wandering around like this for two years?"
"..."
To live like a beggar without proper treatment for two whole years... I couldn't begin to imagine what she had endured. But then again, my own life over the past two years hadn't exactly been peaceful. Perhaps that was why I felt a strange sense of kinship.
"Please don't kick me out."
"What? Why shouldn't I?"
"I'll clean, do the laundry, cook... I'll do whatever you tell me to. So please... just let me stay here for a little while."
"Like I said. Why should I let you?"
"...I—I'll do anything you ask... So... please..."
Thud.
Before she could finish her sentence, Kir collapsed onto the floor. I rushed over and touched her forehead. She was burning up.
"Stupid woman..."
How could she be so foolish? Just because I called her dirty this morning, she had gone and bathed in freezing water in this weather.
The moment I had walked in and saw her clean, I noticed the pot I used to heat water was untouched. I knew instantly she had used cold water, and this raging fever was the price she paid.
It looked like I wouldn't be sleeping in my bed tonight either. I couldn't bring myself to sleep on the sofa while she was like this, so I spent the night nursing her as she groaned in pain, barely closing my eyes as I sat in a chair beside the bed.
Her fever finally began to break as the morning sun rose. By the time the breakfast soup was simmering, she woke up and looked around the room.
"Next time, use the big pot to heat some water before you wash. Don't go collapsing on me again."
"Did you... stay up... because of me...?"
"You were groaning so loudly it was impossible to sleep."
"...I'm sorry."
Today, instead of eating at the table, I brought a tray over so we could eat together on the bed. I had made the soup thin, worrying her stomach wouldn't handle anything heavy after such a high fever... but she was busy picking out only the meat.
"Don't blame me if you get indigestion."
"It's fine! I wouldn't mind dying like this!"
"If you're going to die, do it outside. Digging a grave is too much work."
Unfazed by my sharp tongue, Kir stuffed her cheeks with meat like a starving beast. Watching her eat, I spoke up again.
"How long has it been since you last ate meat?"
"Two years."
"You haven't had meat once in two years?"
"Nope!"
Well... I suppose that explained her appetite.
"What about your subordinates? Even when the Demon King's army fell, wasn't the assassin guild still quite large?"
"I don't know. Everyone scattered."
"Unbelievable... You call yourself a leader, yet you don't even worry about your own people?"
"What about you, Hero? Weren't you supposed to marry the Saintess? I thought you'd be living in some grand mansion by now..."
"Damn it... Fuck..."
Dammit. Kir had to go and bring up the Saintess.
"Haah... haah... Why... haah... did you... bring that... up... haah... gasp..."
My anxiety flared up again. It started with shortness of breath, followed by cold sweat and trembling hands. Startled by my sudden reaction, Kir stared at me, completely at a loss for what to do.
"What... what's wrong? Hero? Are you sick?"
Whenever these panic attacks hit, I had a specific medicine. I stumbled to the kitchen, grabbed the alcohol I had hidden away, and began chugging it like water.
I drank until the alcohol finally began to take effect. As the warmth spread through me, the panic slowly receded, and I was able to breathe a little easier.
"Haah... haah... If you... ever bring up... the Saintess again... I'll kill you..."
"O-okay... I'm... I'm sorry..."
Her face was full of questions, but seeing the raw murderous intent in my eyes, she didn't dare ask them.
After that day, Kir never spoke of the Saintess or the Hero's party again. Instead, she focused entirely on her recovery and physical therapy, practicing relentlessly to walk normally once more.
I didn't know what possessed me, but I stayed by her side, helping her with her therapy so she could heal faster, and even cooking nutritious meals to aid her recovery.
Eventually, the winter—as cold and harsh as my own heart—passed, and the warmth of spring arrived. With it came an unwelcome guest to our quiet cabin.
"Carlos, I'll make the soup tonight!"
"Didn't I tell you never to touch the soup?"
"Aww, why not?"
"Do you have any idea how many days I spent hovering between life and death after eating the poison you slipped into the last batch?"
"Don't worry. I'll nurse you back to health this time."
"So you are planning on poisoning it again?"
"Hehe..."
This absolute nuisance of a woman... She hadn't recovered enough to pull off the flashy assassination techniques of her prime, but she could move well enough to handle daily chores. Yet, she refused to leave my house.
"Your leg is healed. Isn't it about time you got out of my house?"
"But my leg still hurts~"
"A hurting leg? You practically flew down this rugged mountain when we went to the market yesterday."
"You saw that~?"
"You did it right in front of me. How could I miss it?"
Kir stood in the kitchen, smiling sheepishly as if she had done something to be proud of.
"Actually, running like that yesterday made it hurt all over again~"
"Just drop dead this time!"
"Oh, come on, Carlos~ At least with me here, you don't have to worry about chores like laundry, dishes, or cleaning~"
Honestly, having Kir around had its perks. It was nice to come home to a clean house after hunting, and having a warm meal waiting for me was even better.
But best of all... the panic attacks that used to plague me once or twice a day had dwindled to about once a week. Even when they did hit, they were far milder, no longer leaving me gasping for air as if I were suffocating.
"You eat just as much as you work."
"Excuse me? That is incredibly rude to say to a lady."
"Oh, really? And does a lady leave the bathroom smelling like—"
"Carlos!!!!"
Her face flushed crimson with embarrassment. Screaming my name, Kir hurled a piece of stale bread at me. I caught it easily and took a bite.
"Alright, alright. I won't bring it up again. So wipe that look off your face."
Even as the Hero, being glared at by the Demon King's top assassin was enough to send a shiver down my spine.
"If you're going to keep teasing me, build another bathroom~"
"Do you have any idea how much money it takes to—"
"How much what?"
"Hold on..."
I stopped eating and set my food down. Stepping quietly to the window, I peered outside. Right on cue, a troop of knights was making their way up the hill.
"What's wrong, Carlos?"
"Sigh. What a pain."
"Why? What is it?"
"Just... some annoying trouble heading our way."
"Annoying trouble...?"
Kir pressed for details, but I kept my eyes locked on the crest of the approaching knights, offering her no further explanation.