Paired with an Assassin
I spent the next seven days avoiding Seria like the plague. The moment class ended, I bolted straight back to the dormitory. I even took my meals in my room. If I caught even a glimpse of her, I’d take a long detour. The constant fear of a knife at my throat, combined with sleep deprivation, left my complexion looking like a rotting corpse.
And today, the academy’s main event—the Moonlight Hunt Festival—had finally arrived.
“Everyone, pay attention!”
Professor Valder’s booming voice echoed across the training grounds.
“For the next three days, we will hold the hunt in the Rear Mountain Demonic Beast Control Zone. You’ll be working in pairs. The team that collects the most Demonic Beast Cores will be declared the winner.”
The students murmured among themselves, eyeing one another. I scanned the corner of the drill field. Winning held zero interest for me. My only goal was to drag along the weakest-looking commoner I could find, hole up at basecamp, and spend three days doing nothing but breathing.
That guy with the glasses looks perfect.
I was about to beckon him with a flick of my finger when—
Step.
A familiar set of footsteps came from behind me. That quiet gait that instantly set my nerves on edge.
“Young Duke.”
My heart plummeted. I turned my stiff neck to find Seria standing there, her silver hair catching the light. The surrounding students had already scattered like rats, clearing a path for her.
“I would like to form a pair with you.”
Her voice was calm. But those pitch-black eyes bored into me as if stripping me bare, making it clear that my answer didn’t matter.
Having my favorite character approach me first should have made my heart flutter with joy. Instead, it felt like my heart might actually stop beating.
I’d spent seven whole days avoiding her, and now she’d caught me. Pairing up in the dark rear mountain? This was practically a declaration of war—she was announcing her plan to dismember and bury me somewhere the professors couldn’t see.
I forced down my trembling breath and plastered on my usual repulsive trash-face.
“Why the hell would I pair up with a lowly worm? If you want a meat shield, there are commoner bastards all over the place.”
I spat the words with as much contempt as I could muster. But instead of looking hurt, Seria’s cheeks flushed pink and she smiled shyly.
“I will do it. I’ll be your meat shield.”
“What?”
“I will protect you so that not even a single demonic beast hair touches your body, Young Duke. So… please go with me.”
I wanted to scream. Use the favorite character I’d saved by shaving away my own lifespan as a meat shield? And if I went into the forest alone with her, my neck would fly off on the tip of her blade long before any demonic beast could touch me.
I was about to shove her away and start cursing when a blood-red warning window blocked my vision.
Main Episode: The Moonlight Hunt Festival has begun!
Required Condition: Form a party with the main heroine, Seria Cromwell.
Failure Penalty: Immediate Heart Rupture
“……Fuck.”
The curse slipped out before I could stop it. This goddamn system was dead set on shoving me into the darkness with that dangerous favorite character of mine.
Pale as a condemned prisoner, I forced an unlucky smile.
“……Fine. Do as you please. If you become a burden, I’ll sever your neck on the spot.”
It was pure bravado, spoken to survive. But Seria’s eyes curved beautifully, as if even dying by my hand would be an honor.
“Thank you… Thank you so much, Young Duke.”
That expression—like she’d gained the whole world just because I’d allowed it. Was heading to dig her own grave really that joyful?
With my insides burning pitch black, I started walking.
Several hours later, deep in the Demonic Beast Control Zone where thick darkness had settled.
“Haa… haa…”
I leaned against a tree trunk, gasping for breath. I’d pushed myself too hard, and the curse’s poisonous energy was tearing through my insides again. My fingertips trembled uncontrollably. My vision blurred, and my solar plexus twisted as if my mana were flowing backward. I desperately swallowed the blood pooling in my mouth so she wouldn’t notice.
Step.
The sound of leaves being crushed came from behind me. It was Seria, following at a careful distance. I instinctively shrank back. A forest with no one around—there couldn’t be a more perfect place for her to stab me in the back.
My shaking hand gripped the hilt of my sword tightly.
When the hell is she going to attack?
I glanced backward with a sidelong look. But I had no idea that Seria’s gaze wasn’t fixed on the back of my neck, but on my trembling fingertips and ragged breathing.
Swish—!
Just as a demonic beast leaped from the bushes, claws raised toward my back—
Swoosh!
Before I could even notice, a silver sword flash silently severed the beast’s windpipe. Seria flicked the blood from her blade and smiled at my precarious back as I continued forward, oblivious.
Acting all tough while in so much pain. I’ll clean everything up for you.
And so she silently slaughtered every threat that came within ten meters of me—from behind the man who was trembling in fear of being assassinated. Her twisted protective instinct swelled in the darkness.
“Ugh……”
My insides flipped again. I couldn’t hold it back and ducked behind the tree trunk. Taking advantage of the moment I was out of Seria’s sight, I covered my mouth.
“Ugh! Cough!”
Blood gushed between my fingers. The fallen leaves on the ground turned red. No matter how many painkillers I swallowed, the poison grew even more vicious, tearing through my organs.
Curse of Deadly Poison is accelerating!
Fuck, I’m losing my mind…
I wiped the blood on my sleeve. If I showed any weakness in front of the favorite character who wanted me dead, a knife would immediately find my throat. I slapped my cheeks and put on my repulsive face again.
Stepping out from behind the tree, I looked back arrogantly.
“What are you dawdling for? Lowly things really are slow.”
The moment I snapped at her, the sight that entered my vision left me speechless.
“……”
In the brief time I’d been catching my breath, three wolf-type demonic beast corpses lay horribly mangled at Seria’s feet. Amid the stench filling the air, she expressionlessly wiped the blood from her sword.
I didn’t even hear them attack. When the hell did she slice up three of them?
“Th-this is……”
As I stammered in confusion, Seria slowly turned her head. Crimson blood spattered her uniform skirt. But she paid no attention to the demonic beast corpses littering the ground. Instead, she looked at me and smiled like a shy maiden.
“I’m sorry. Some flies were being annoying, so I was late cleaning them up.”
Those wolves with their fangs bared—you’re calling them flies?
When she took a step closer, I instinctively stepped back. Every cell in my body was screaming at me to run. Slaughtering the demonic beasts was clearly a show of force. A silent threat that she could slit my throat anytime she wanted. Goosebumps crawled across my skin like insects.
“……Cleaning up the bugs that litter the streets is your job. Take the lead. Find us a spot for basecamp.”
Hiding my trembling legs, I pushed her in front of my line of sight. I couldn’t leave a hunter who wanted to butcher me at my back any longer.
“Yes, understood.”
Seria began walking ahead without complaint. At least I wouldn’t get a blade in the back of my head. But my relief didn’t last long.
Scrape—
Seria, who had been leading the way, stopped and used a tree branch to dig something out of the dirt.
“Hey, what are you—”
When I approached, I nearly had a heart attack at the identity of the plant she’d dug up. A blue-leafed herb with red spots. It was the Poison Snake Herb from the original story’s setting book. A highly toxic medicinal herb that even demonic beasts avoided.
Our kind and righteous Seria has come to hate me so much that she’s even planning to poison me…!
I resented my trash-like karma for turning my favorite character into a murderer. Since stabbing me would be noisy, she must have planned to paralyze me quietly and then dismember me.
I turned deathly pale and shouted.
“Throw it away right now! Where did you pick up such vulgar weed trash!”
At my roar, Seria’s movements froze. She quickly hid the Poison Snake Herb behind her back and looked up at me.
“I-I’m sorry. I just… thought it might be useful……”
Her cautious expression looked exactly like an assassin whose plan had been discovered.
“Useful? You weren’t planning to poison me?!”
“Poison you? How could I possibly dare……!”
She widened her eyes as if wronged, but I didn’t listen.
“Keep at least ten steps ahead of me. If that poisonous weed’s smell even reaches my nose, I’ll cut your throat!”
I gripped my sword hilt threateningly. Seria bit her lip tightly, then silently began walking while maintaining the distance.
Watching her receding back, I let out a sigh of relief inside.
Whew, I survived. I almost walked straight to the afterlife.
I was impressed by my sharp insight and felt a bit better. But I didn’t see it.
How dearly Seria clutched the Poison Snake Herb she’d hidden behind her back as she walked far ahead.
The leaves of the Poison Snake Herb are deadly poison, but its root is said to be a special antidote that neutralizes severe accumulated heat and toxins in the body.
She was recalling the herbal knowledge she’d studied on her own. To ease Demian’s pain—the way he’d vomited blood while burning like a fireball—she had desperately searched the dark forest for medicinal herbs.
“You fool. Why would I ever hurt you?”
The way he’d jumped around in panic, misunderstanding that she might poison him. To Seria, the man who wore the shell of a villain and acted arrogantly just to survive looked endlessly pitiful and dear.
“Wait for me. I… will definitely make you better.”
In a forest where even moonlight couldn’t reach, the strange companionship continued—a man trembling in fear of assassination, and a woman burning with madness to save him.