The Final Target
“That aside, these kids…” Matthew strode over and flung the door open. Thud.
“Ow! Haha… ha.”
“Ha—Grandpa.”
Rebecca and Lilly, who had been leaning against the door with their ears pressed to it, tumbled in a ridiculous heap.
“Lilly, didn’t I tell you not to eavesdrop like that?”
“I’m sorry…”
“And you, Miss Rebecca, I’m rather disappointed.”
“I’m sorry…”
Matthew let out a long sigh and turned to me.
“Hah… Lee Han. You’re hardly in a position to act innocent yourself. Couldn’t you have at least given them a warning?”
“You figured it out almost immediately yourself. You’re not rusty yet.”
Still, I spoke to Matthew with respect in front of Lilly. For some reason, I could never bring myself to be casual with him when she was around.
Matthew waved his hand dismissively, sending them away.
“Well then… Lee Han. Until next time.”
The plan moved forward, step by careful step. Mapping Shylock’s daily routine and schedule was only the beginning. We had to prepare contingencies for what would happen to his associates and branch offices if he died or fell from power, as well as ways to approach potential recruits inside the guild. There was no shortage of things to handle.
Since nearly everyone in the guild owed Matthew something, his cooperation would have made everything far easier—but he had already gone beyond refusal and issued a warning. With his recruitment off the table, we had no choice but to prepare our next-best options with meticulous care. It was an unstable, dangerous operation, but there was no other way. All we could do was prepare even more thoroughly.
The key was not to move personally, since any direct action would leave traces. Ironically, while Rebecca was constantly busy, I often found myself with unexpected free time at home. Of course, I wasn’t simply idling—I spent the time reviewing the plan and training—but it had been a long while since I’d known this kind of peace.
One such day, while I was sketching the guild’s underground layout, Lilly came to visit.
Knock, knock.
“Who is— Good heavens, Lilly. How did you get all the way here?”
“Hah… hah… Lee Han. Hello.”
“You can barely stand on your own. Come inside, quickly.”
Her breathing was ragged. Lilly wasn’t the kind of girl who could go out alone. And on a cold day like this, no less. Objectively, the distance wasn’t far, but for her it must have felt like crossing a thousand miles.
I put water on the stove first. Warming her up came before anything else. I cleared the cluttered table, sat her down, and fetched a blanket.
“You always manage to startle me… What about your aunt? Did you come alone?”
“Hehe, I snuck out because I had something to tell you. Where’s Rebecca?”
“She said she had something to do and left. I’m not sure where.”
It was a lie. She was probably checking escape routes in case everything went wrong. Since she’d gone with Jun, there shouldn’t be any problems.
“Hmm, is that so?”
“What is it? If it’s a favor, I’ll do anything except a few things.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I need to score some points with your grandpa.”
“…Is that right? Unfortunately, it’s not a favor. I came because I have a question.”
That day, how much of the conversation between Matthew and me had Lilly overheard? She definitely hadn’t heard much, but she was a clever girl. She must have sensed something was off.
Should I play dumb? Or…
“Lee Han, did Rebecca confess to you?”
“…?”
“If it’s not true, just say so. Why are you making that face?”
“Rebecca is my sister.”
“Oh? Is that the concept you’re going with?”
“No.”
At this point, she was practically a professional troublemaker. Lilly shrugged shamelessly as I sighed.
“Your expression looked so bright, I just assumed that was it.”
“My expression… looked bright?”
“Huh? You didn’t know? I’m always stuck inside, so the only faces I see are yours and Rebecca’s. Spotting that kind of change is easy for me.”
“That much?”
“Well, yeah. But only someone like me would notice. Normally you look like a rotten fish that’s begging to die. Honestly, I’ve wanted to tell you to just drop dead so many times. While some of us are desperately fighting to stay alive.”
Lilly leaned in close. Despite her frail body, her eyes always sparkled. I poured the now-warm water into a cup and added chamomile leaves—Rebecca’s hobby. She always kept various tea leaves stocked, which came in handy when guests visited.
“So, if that’s not it, then what happened?”
“…I just got a dream.”
“A dream?”
“More like a future, maybe?”
“You didn’t have one before?”
I could have given a vague answer, but her eyes wouldn’t allow it. She was the girl who had always watched the world from her window, dreaming. That was the Lilly I remembered.
The endlessly curious child’s barrage of questions had always been directed at the boy who had seen the world too early, and he had grown used to answering. Like muscle memory.
“I couldn’t feel sad about sad things or happy about happy things. That kind of feeling… wasn’t allowed for me.”
The teacup in my hands was warm.
“But now I have a future. Before, I was like a tiny boat in the middle of the ocean, tossed around by fate with no control. Powerless. But now I have a sail and oars. I’m still at the mercy of the waves, but at least I can try.”
“So that’s why your face looks so shiny?”
“I didn’t realize it myself… but maybe. I was in a position where I had to make a decision, so I was only thinking about the burden. But… yeah, like you said, it feels good.”
Nothing had changed yet. I was still a worthless assassin. My hands were still stained. But the hope of escaping the mire, the joy of no longer having to sin—it had somehow broken through the weight of all the crimes I still had to commit. Embarrassingly so.
Lilly tapped her cheeks thoughtfully, then took a sip of tea. She smiled brightly, apparently satisfied.
“Lee Han, so… does that mean you can’t get along with Grandpa anymore?”
“…You heard?”
“A little? Actually, almost nothing. Just that Grandpa told you not to make an enemy of him.”
She startled me. Pretending not to have heard, then dropping that bomb without warning. It wasn’t too late yet. Maybe I could still smooth this over.
“I know Grandpa isn’t just an ordinary bartender. The cost of my medicine alone is enormous, and he hires an aunt to take care of me every day. No bartender in Zachsen could afford that.”
“……”
“And he’s stronger than someone his age should be. When he carries me outside, people sometimes laugh at us, but Grandpa always puts them in their place with ease.”
“Matthew does train quite hard, but…”
“Lee Han, don’t say something stupid. I didn’t come to this conclusion overnight. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. So when Rebecca mentioned working together yesterday, I already had my suspicions. Does she know too?”
“…She does.”
“You can’t tell me?”
“That’s… difficult.”
“Oh, drawing the line that clearly? Well, I guess Rebecca comes first.”
“……”
“I’m joking. If it were something you could say so easily, you wouldn’t have kept it a secret in the first place.”
Lilly folded the blanket neatly, her lips pursed.
“Hmmm. Actually, I came today to ask if you could work things out with Grandpa. Rebecca seems to be on your side, so maybe I’m just a bad granddaughter. I care about all of you—Grandpa, you, Rebecca—so I wanted us to stay on good terms. But looking at your face, I guess that’s impossible.”
“I’m sorry.”
“The tea was good.”
Now even Lilly knew. My pride was in tatters. I looked at her sitting there with a complicated expression, and she stared right back.
“What?”
“Hm?”
“You have to take me home. Carry me. I can’t go alone.”
“……”
“In exchange, I’ll try talking to Grandpa properly this time.”
“You’d better.”
I carried the giggling Lilly safely back home. Shameless kid. If only her body were healthy.
The moon was bright that night—too bright for doing something bad. But since what I was about to do wasn’t truly bad, maybe it was fine.
The month of leave I’d requested had ended. I’d expected the impatient Shylock to summon me the moment it was over, and I was right. That old man thought every moment spent not mocking me was a loss. As if I were his property.
…Not anymore.
“Lee Han.”
Matthew, who had been closing up the shop, greeted me.
“Shylock is waiting inside. Go on.”
I nodded silently and started down the stairs. Behind me, Matthew spoke in a low voice.
“Lee Han. Don’t do anything foolish.”
“You’ve already warned me plenty, haven’t you?”
“And you didn’t listen.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
I resumed walking. Behind me, I could hear Matthew polishing a glass.
I closed the door leading underground and let out the breath I’d been holding.
Had he figured it out? I hadn’t expected perfect secrecy anyway. No matter how carefully I moved, evading the guild’s eyes was nearly impossible. I’d anticipated he would sense something suspicious. But had he realized I was targeting Shylock specifically?
The slave brand was a spell whose one-sided removal method hadn’t been discovered yet. It was common sense that wet straw wouldn’t catch fire. I’d believed that common sense would be my lifeline.
But Matthew’s warning today—had it been just another caution, or did he know something?
Matthew was in a position to obtain most information if he wanted. Had he pieced something together from what he knew?
My thoughts were a mess. I’d left Rebecca’s cover to Jun tonight. She would be waiting, fully prepared, hoping for my success.
Should I postpone the plan? If not tonight, then when? After staining my hands with blood once more?
It didn’t matter. This was right. This was what had to be done. My own misfortune meant nothing. In this game, my goal had long since changed to protecting Rebecca. If she could be safe, nothing else mattered.
But… she had said she didn’t want that. She said my sins were her sins too. That my arbitrarily stained hands would stain her as well.
That couldn’t happen. How could I dare?
Hah…
Well, I was already riding a running tiger. Shylock had called for me. The prey had walked right into my hands.
Four hundred thirty-two successful assassinations. Zero failures.
My final, four hundred thirty-third target.
Whether he had prepared or not, I didn’t know. But my blade had never missed its mark, no matter the circumstances.
Knock, knock.
“Come in.”
As always, that disgustingly greedy face.
“Your vacation’s over. Time to work.”
Tonight, I would kill this man.