The Hyacinth Invitation
It felt as if I'd been struck over the head. I'd never seen that expression on her face before. She was desperately trying to hold it back, to keep it from showing, yet the emotions still leaked through. It was as though she'd been genuinely hurt, even though that shouldn't have been possible.
“…I'm sorry.”
That was all I could say. My mind had gone completely blank; no other words came to mind. It was as if nothing else remained in my head. The questions of why or who had gone first, all the things that had been there just moments ago, vanished. All that was left was the guilt of having put that look on her face.
A silence fell between us. In that silence, we both stood frozen, as if rooted to the spot.
“……”
“……”
I couldn't tell how much time had actually passed, but once rational thought returned, what settled over us was an unbearable awkwardness.
I couldn't begin to understand what the situation just now had meant, or why we'd acted the way we had.
Her expression, which had looked so unbearably pitiful only moments ago, now carried a faint flush but had otherwise returned to its usual state.
“Um……”
I had to say something. Anything to break this atmosphere.
“……”
Right. I'd always been weak in crises. Finding a way to handle or break through them had always been Rowell and Master Medrup's job. Yes. Even back then, when we fell into that trap in the mountain range……
“…Ahem. So, what exactly is this matter you need to handle?”
Her question finally pulled me back to my senses.
“Ah, apparently someone has invited me.”
“An invitation? For you?”
Yes, it was a rare occurrence. I'd been just as puzzled myself. But was it really something to be that shocked about?
“Yes. A man named Viscount Ashton said he was deeply impressed by my accomplishments.”
I tried to put on a bit of bravado to erase what had just happened, but—
“Don't lie.”
That wasn't just some surprised figure of speech. She was certain. She hadn't even asked why or how; she'd simply denied it outright.
“Yes, yes. It's impossible, right? Where would I find a noble who'd invite someone like me? It's ridiculous……”
“No. Your face gives it away when you lie.”
For an instant, her face overlapped with young Rowell's. When we were children, Rowell had always caught even my smallest lies. And he'd say it exactly like that.
Your face gives it away when you lie.
Time had passed, and now I could lie a little more skillfully. I'd even managed to slip a few small lies past Rowell without him noticing. But to hear those words from her, of all people……
Of course, I hadn't lied as thoroughly as I would with Rowell. I hadn't used any of the techniques or methods I employed when deceiving him. Still, to be caught by her like this……
“…Yes. Well, I'm a terrible liar, after all.”
“What is it really? You even pulled out those clothes.”
“Oh my. Are you actually worried about me?”
“Worried, my foot. All the other legion commanders and the Demon King's army have returned to the demon realm. Who could possibly kill you now?”
She sounded genuinely convinced.
“I'm grateful for the high evaluation, but as you know, my skills aren't quite at that level.”
Rowell, Master Medrup, and Bagloros would be different. Aegina, Lauti, or Orcan—sorry to say it, but even though they're strong, it wouldn't be the same.
Aegina and Orcan could match Rowell or Bagloros in one-on-one fights, but there was always the matter of compatibility. Aegina was weak against unconventional tactics, and Orcan couldn't efficiently handle curses or magic.
If surrounded by a dozen well-trained top-tier assassins, even Aegina's life wouldn't be guaranteed. And if four or five high-ranking mages attacked from a distance, Orcan would have no choice but to flee.
Lauti's case was a bit ambiguous, but since she wasn't particularly skilled in combat to begin with, she'd fall into the latter category.
And me? I could guarantee that a dozen top-tier assassins or four or five high-ranking mages wouldn't even be necessary to kill me.
“It's not about skill. As you know, we legion commanders and the royal guard were watching not just the hero, but each of you individually, keeping an eye on you. Anubkut watched Orcan. Denatel watched Medrup. Zeka watched Bagloros, Georges watched Aegina, and I watched Lauti. Raiven was obsessed only with the hero.”
“Yes, I know. No one was assigned to me, so it was quite convenient.”
Later on, it had turned into something like a rivalry. Of course, objectively speaking, the legion commanders' abilities were several times greater. But as I said, no one had been assigned to me.
“Don't interrupt until I'm finished. We each had different targets we were watching and prioritized eliminating, but there was one thing we all agreed on. That killing you, Anak, would be harder than killing the hero.”
……?
“Really? No, why?”
It was unexpected. I'd honestly thought the legion commanders barely knew I existed.
“Well, I never really thought about the details of why. They just all said they got that feeling whenever they looked at you. That no matter who won or lost, you'd be the one to survive till the end.”
It was a thoroughly deflating answer. They hadn't thought about it in detail; it was just a feeling. In the end, it meant they hadn't considered me particularly important.
“…What is that supposed to mean? Are you just making this up on the spot?”
“Listen, the legion commanders were always at odds with each other. They disagreed even over the smallest things. You can tell just from how we each watched different people. But on the subject of you, they all had the exact same opinion. You can't even imagine what that means.”
That was why they'd lost to us, despite all their disagreements.
“But even so, the fact that no one paid attention to me hasn't changed. Have you ever considered this? That no one targeted me, so they couldn't kill me?”
The moment I finished speaking, she gave me a look of utter disgust.
“You… don't tell me you actually think we never targeted you even once?”
“What?”
Her incredulous reaction made me instinctively search my memories.
Of course, I hadn't gone completely unscathed. But I'd never been the direct target of an attack the way Rowell or the others had. Not like the large-scale barrier in Yuri or the region that had targeted Master Medrup, or the mirror trap that had nearly killed Bagloros.
“Luzen Village, Herget Fortress, Puern, Arquertus. There were traps and operations aimed at you in all of them.”
“……!”
That couldn't be! I searched my memories again, more carefully this time.
Luzen Village, Herget Fortress, Puern, Arquertus……
Yes, those were definitely places I remembered. I didn't recall Arquertus as clearly, but the others had involved quite significant raids and traps. But—
“…Those were targeting Rowell, Orcan, and Bagloros!”
They absolutely hadn't been aimed at me.
“You didn't fall for them, so they changed targets! Why did you have to drag the hero along when some pretty girl was begging only you for help? And who in their right mind puts seven layers of barriers on their own bedroom inside an iron-walled fortress? Plus, when you heard there was a rare magical artifact nearby that would be good for a summoner, why didn't you go look for it yourself!”
Ah. Right, I remembered now. A pretty girl had asked me to go into the forest with her to find her father, who'd gone missing a few days earlier. At Herget Fortress, Orcan, who had been sleeping in the room next to mine, had been ambushed. At Arquertus, we'd heard rumors of a rare magical artifact hidden in a dungeon, but since everyone else had their own matters to attend to at the time, I'd been the only one left behind and we hadn't gone.
“You're pretty skilled yourself as the hero's companion! And it was an artifact that would have been useful to you! That place wasn't even under our demon race's control at the time! So you should have gone alone at least!”
“No, it was just a rumor, and I wasn't confident going into a dungeon by myself……”
“Do you have any idea how much trouble Anubkut and I went through setting up that dungeon? And during the large-scale raid at Puern, while we were fighting, the curse mages and snipers had decided to focus on you. But you'd put five layers of barriers on yourself and even summoned two guardians right next to you! The snipers and curse mages panicked and failed because of it!”
For some reason, I felt oddly guilty. At the time, I'd done it thinking that as long as I did my part, the others would be fine. But hearing it like this, it did seem a bit excessive.
“And you think someone could kill you when even we couldn't, despite all that effort? Don't be ridiculous.”
“No, that was when I was with Rowell or the others. This time I'd be going alone.”
Somehow, even as I said it, it didn't feel like something I should be trying to convince her of.
“Hmph.”
She snorted as if I'd said something completely absurd.
“Even after all those operations failed, we still thought the same. The failures were only because you never strayed from the others. We figured that if we could just separate you, it would be easy. Even Antares, Zeka's adjutant, had boasted about it. But what happened to him?”
Antares. He was the demon who'd dragged me into another dimension when Zeka and his elite soldiers had attacked us.
“That guy was probably among the top five in skill among Zeka's royal guard subordinates, yet he lost his life to you in the end.”
“……”
“After that, none of the legion commanders tried targeting you specifically anymore. But since we're on the subject, how exactly did you win? No matter how I think about it, he wasn't someone you should have been able to beat.”
“…I was just lucky.”
“It wasn't the kind of opponent you could beat just by being lucky. And you weren't even injured.”
To be precise, I hadn't been injured at all. And being lucky had been true as well. Just not in the way she or the others were thinking.
“Well, I'll have a chance to explain next time.”
Back then, Rowell and the others had been glad I survived, but they'd also been puzzled by how completely unscathed I'd been. Especially Orcan and Master Medrup—they'd been extremely curious about what had happened. Of course, my answer then was the same as now.
“Fine. We'll have plenty of time to talk anyway.”
Fortunately, she didn't press further. Unlike Orcan, who'd spent over a week trying to figure out how I'd done it.
“So tell me what this is really about.”
“It is true that I received an invitation in Viscount Ashton's name. But whether that name is real is another matter.”
I turned toward the magical items.
“The other side even sent a knight order, claiming they wanted to show proper respect, along with an invitation filled with flowery language.”
“Really? But isn't that kind of thing possible? After all, you did save the world.”
“Yes. Maybe it really is that simple. But there was one sentence added at the end of that invitation.”
“What sentence?”
“It said that hyacinths were in full bloom in the garden.”
“……?”
She looked like she didn't understand. That was only natural. If I hadn't heard about it from Bagloros before, I never would have known either.
“In the human underworld, there's a very old custom. Sending flowers first to the person you intend to kill. And the flower has to be one that fits the circumstances exactly.”
“What a strange custom. Not only is it troublesome, it basically warns the target in advance.”
“Originally, it was only used by certain regional organizations. It was both a declaration that they would kill you no matter what and an expression of confidence. By sending the flowers in advance, it meant 'You're already dead. Prepare yourself.' But at some point, it spread throughout the entire underworld.”
Apparently, some influential figures in the underworld at the time had found it quite stylish.
“But there were issues with regions and seasons, and finding the right flower for each target every time was difficult and annoying. Sometimes it even backfired. So now it's mostly disappeared, surviving only in a slightly modified form among high-ranking assassins or certain ancient organizations.”
“Then……?”
“It's no longer a warning or an expression of confidence, but has become a kind of ritual. Instead of flowers, a letter. The content can be anything, but it must end with a mention of flowers like this. Especially since the meaning of hyacinths is 'memory,' it's apparently used often because these matters are usually related to revenge or grudges.”