The Black Crystal's Command
“Lord Raje.”
A man entered the room where Raje waited, accompanied by a knock.
“Yes. What is it?”
It was strange. The black crystal in his hand still glowed, yet only he remained in the room.
“Someone who appears to be the Summoner of Deception has entered the city.”
“Is that so?”
A cruel smile spread across Raje’s face.
“Good. Bring him here, then.”
“P-pardon?”
The man stared at Raje in bewilderment. Bring him here? How on earth was that supposed to work? There was no chance the target would obediently follow an order, and neither he nor his comrades possessed the strength to drag one of the heroes who had saved the world in the last great war.
Yet Raje merely smiled at the man’s troubled expression.
“Why? Did you not hear me?”
The man thought Raje was toying with him. That realization only deepened his fear. He had served long enough to know that Raje was at his most vicious precisely when he played games.
“M-my apologies, but I have no idea how to—”
His gaze drifted toward Raje’s hand. He half-expected the man to hurl something at him or lunge forward and seize his throat.
“Ah, right. I never explained.”
Instead, Raje spoke in a gentle tone, as though addressing a child.
“Offer him a proper greeting and tell him you came on Bagloros’s orders. Say that you have captured Raje and…”
Raje proceeded to detail exactly what the man should say, down to the smallest particulars. Though the man found this unfamiliar side of Raje unsettling, he had no intention of squandering such unexpected good fortune.
“Understood?”
“Yes!”
The moment Raje finished, the man spun around and hurried out of the room. He feared Raje might change his mind, but what frightened him most was the possibility that this, too, was merely another cruel jest—one that would end with a dagger in his back or his neck snapped while his guard was down.
Fortunately, Raje did nothing of the sort. The man escaped the room unharmed and closed the door behind him.
“Rather exciting, isn’t it?”
At the same time, Bagloros stepped out of the faint darkness in one corner of the room.
“To die at the hands of a comrade.”
The black crystal flared once more. Bagloros flicked his wrist, and a long, sharp scar appeared on the wall.
“Even the Summoner of Deception cannot stop you. How splendid. To perish at the hands of one with whom you shared life and death, one who helped save the world.”
He wore an ecstatic expression as he imagined the scene about to unfold, savoring the anticipation like a long-awaited performance.
“Of course, he may not believe it. After all, he earned the name Second-Best Strategist by being rather cunning.”
Raje remembered his first attempt all too well—the miserable failure.
“In that case, there will be no need to deal with that fool personally, but that alone will not satisfy me. If he refuses to come here, things will become rather troublesome.”
Yet despite his words, he rolled his eyes with a delighted expression and began weaving backup plans, occasionally letting out an unpleasant laugh as he pictured the satisfying scenes ahead and the look that would appear on Anak’s face.
“……”
Bagloros, standing behind him, remained motionless and indifferent.
“……?”
Anak, lying on the bed, sat up at the strange presence near the window. Though exhausted after reinforcing the embedded barrier, he had been unable to fall into a deep sleep, his thoughts occupied by Rofena and Bagloros.
“It is not Bagloros.”
Anak was certain. He knew from experience that if it had been Bagloros, he would never have noticed the presence at all. He gestured lightly, summoning small runes in the air that called forth wind spirits and hid them around the room.
He understood that this alone might not suffice depending on the situation, but it was the only way to avoid destroying the room if possible.
“Just a common thief, perhaps?”
That possibility certainly existed. This was the most expensive room in the inn, and it had been a long time since any guests had stayed here. It would not be strange for a thief to target it. Yet what he encountered was different.
Knock, knock.
Anak clearly saw the man in black clothing who had suddenly appeared before the window knock politely. After tilting his head at the bizarre sight for a moment, he opened the window when the unfamiliar visitor pointed at the lock with a somewhat pitiful posture.
“I offer my respects to the Summoner of Deception, Lord Anak.”
The man spoke with a measure of courtesy, yet Anak noticed the slight tremor in his voice.
“Yes. And what business does the High Assassin Guild have with me this time?”
Given the suspicious attire and the fact that the man knew his identity, it was obvious he belonged to the High Assassin Guild. What Anak could not understand was why the man had come in this manner—especially since he did not appear to be a particularly skilled assassin.
“First, allow me to clarify that the unforgivable discourtesy shown toward Lord Anak does not represent the will of the entire guild. Rather, the guild—”
The man continued carefully in a respectful tone, explaining that he had come at Bagloros’s behest, but Anak was no longer listening.
He is lying.
Bagloros would never relay his words through someone else. Nor would he ever speak at such length.
“I shall escort Lord Anak to the location Lord Bagloros mentioned—”
The man kept talking, but his words held no meaning for Anak.
It is definitely a trap…
Anak began slowly piecing the situation together in his mind. The man was invoking Bagloros’s name and naming a specific location. It was certainly a trap. That much was clear. The real question was where Bagloros was.
It was odd that Bagloros had arrived in Peltecheru some time ago yet had not finished his task, and even stranger that he had not come to find Anak.
Anak did not believe anything had happened to Bagloros, but the situation was undeniably difficult to understand.
Could Bagloros be using me as bait?
Anak thought that was entirely possible. Bagloros launching operations without prior notice was nothing new; Anak had grown accustomed to it over the years. During their past travels, Bagloros had repeatedly startled them by infiltrating enemy fortresses alone or returning with an enemy commander’s head while the rest of them were still surrounded and searching for a way out.
“Yes, I understand.”
Anak cut off the man, who was still desperately trying to convince him of his sincerity. He had stopped listening properly midway through, and the man’s frantic demeanor and endless stream of lies were exhausting.
“Very well. Let us go there, then.”
Anak rose from his seat. He could not be certain how things would unfold, but he decided to step into the trap anyway.
After all, this whole affair began as a trap. It would not be so bad to end it inside one, just as I first intended.
Glad he had reinforced the barrier, Anak headed for the door. The man in black slipped out the window the same way he had entered. Anak passed the man who had long since fallen asleep and quietly left the room. Outside, the man in black was already waiting.
“This way, please.”
Anak followed the man’s guidance. They walked for quite some time. By the time Anak, weary and irritated, began to regret his decision, they finally arrived before a mansion.
“Here it is.”
The iron gates opened, and they passed through a small garden before entering the mansion.
“You are saying Bagloros is here?”
“Yes. As I mentioned, this is one of the guild’s disguised residences—”
Anak was not sure about Bagloros, but he was certain Raje was inside.
He is probably sitting in some grand reception room, striking a pose.
Given Raje’s history of overly dramatic and exaggerated theatrics, that scenario seemed entirely plausible. Of course, to Anak—who had already been to the Demon King’s castle—it was merely laughable.
What Anak truly wondered was what Raje had prepared. He had already dismantled two of Raje’s traps with ease, traps that had cost the man a large force and a secret base. Anak could not imagine what new scheme could give Raje such confidence now.
Could it actually be real?
At this point, even that suspicion crossed his mind.
“Now, this way, please.”
Contrary to Anak’s expectation that he would be led to the reception room, the man guided him toward a storeroom. The floor in one corner had been broken open, revealing stairs leading downward.
“Lord Bagloros awaits below.”
The man who had been leading the way stopped at the storeroom entrance and merely pointed toward the stairs, refusing to go any farther. Though he was no master assassin, his sharpened instincts from years of experience screamed at him not to descend those steps.
“……”
Anak glanced at the man once, then turned and descended the stairs without hesitation. When he opened the slightly misaligned door at the bottom, he found Raje waiting in the center of the room, seated on a chair—just as expected.
“Welcome.”
Anak snorted involuntarily at the sight of Raje greeting him with a face full of leisure and anticipation. In his memory, even the Demon King had never welcomed them in such a manner.
That chair really was rather impressive, now that I think about it.
“Judging by your expression, you already suspected as much. As expected of the Second-Best Strategist.”
The words carried no sincerity whatsoever—only leisure and mockery. Anak’s brow furrowed slightly.
“Honestly, I was worried you might not come. But it seems the title ‘second-best’ suits you after all. To walk straight into a trap you knew full well was a trap… What remarkable confidence.”
“…Confidence. That is what I would like to say to you. Just how impressive is the trap you have prepared that you can afford to act so relaxed?”
Anak summoned runes in the air. At a glance, the room did not appear to contain any obvious traps. Unless the walls hid spells of archmage level, there seemed to be nothing for him to fear.
“Oh. What I have prepared is quite simple.”
Raje raised his right hand, revealing the glowing black crystal.
“……?”
While Anak’s gaze was momentarily drawn to the crystal, Bagloros, hidden in the shadows, lunged toward him.
“……!”
Anak could do nothing as Bagloros suddenly charged at him. His mind was filled only with confusion and bewilderment. By the time he tried to react, Bagloros’s hand, wreathed in black energy, was already descending upon him.
The embedded barrier around Anak’s body activated just in time. Even blocking the first strike caused the first layer to shatter. As a new barrier formed and Bagloros’s hand moved again—
“That is enough. Stop for now.”
Raje called Bagloros back. At the same time, Bagloros was already standing beside Raje. Raje looked at Bagloros with a satisfied, cruel smile, as though handling a well-trained hunting dog, while Anak’s eyes wavered with unease.
“……”
Though he still could not fully grasp the situation and his thoughts churned like a rusty clock, Anak desperately tried to remain calm.
“…Well, this is certainly an interesting game. What exactly are you playing at?”
Even as he forced the words out, Anak’s hands moved busily. At his call, fire and wind spirits rapidly filled the surrounding air.
“Oh. You already know. No matter how they call him the world’s strongest assassin, he is ultimately a chimera. He cannot disobey his creator’s orders.”
“Creator?”
Only then did Anak realize the true nature of the crystal in Raje’s hand. He had not recognized it immediately because the medium and form varied depending on the maker, but it was a control device used to manipulate chimeras by someone other than their creator.
Anak’s expression hardened. He turned his head back and forth, alternating his gaze between the crystal in Raje’s hand and Bagloros. Disbelief, shock, and a hint of suspicion filled his eyes, but Raje only laughed at the sight.
“That is it! That is the exact expression I wanted to see!”
At that moment, Anak gestured, and the spirits all lunged toward the black crystal in Raje’s hand. Yet before Bagloros’s swiftly swinging hands and their black trails, the spirits scattered and vanished helplessly.