Volume 2, Chapter 8

“Can sir please just remove his mask? I am willing to match sir and remove mine as well.”

When I awoke, the assassin, who I now know to be Cindy, a heretic was watching over me. According to her, after seeing that my ‘partner’ (onee-sama) had kicked me out of bed, she was feeling sympathetic. Well, I believe her, but that doesn’t make me feel like taking off my mask… I went to a lot of trouble in keeping my identity hidden. So, how about it? Shall I bluff?

“… I don’t think so. You’ve already proven that you’re not a hard opponent – you chose not to reveal our faces when we were incapable of retaliating. The assassin’s code always makes it a point to gain as much data as possible. Our masks had magic on them to detect whether or not they had been removed, which means you didn’t take them off and put them back on.“

Just a sidenote, she looked really surprised about that. As in, it seems I am correct that she did not remove the masks and then replace them. What magic, it was just a bluff.

“You also seem to be someone who possesses goodwill, given that your offer to reveal your identity appears to be sincere. On top of those factors, your fighting style in the arena intrigued me. In fact, it made me recall bedtime stories… of the ‘Doom Angels’, prophets of the female Hades.”

Cindy’s body seemed to droop as I continued on talking, it appears that I am fairly accurate with my predictions.

“Finally, your battle techniques shown… they appeared to be self-taught. As in, you are someone people won’t associate with.”

I changed my tone of voice at the end of my sentence, to imply to Cindy that I knew of her identity… that she is a heretic. Hopefully, my earlier mentioning of the Doom Angels (I had an encounter with them in hell, they were angels who possessed powers over shadows. I only just recalled them, though.

 

Hmmm, perhaps my ‘self’ is trying to reject my previous ‘selves’? Could reincarnation actually be creating a new ‘self’, and tacking on the old ‘selves’ memories? Wait, that’s not what I’m meant to be thinking about!  I’ll think about it later)…

Anyway, hopefully the mentioning of these Doom Angels who have a high probability of being related to has made her think I’ve worked out her identity. If it works, it’ll set up the next part of my little performance.
“…it seems sir is someone of much knowledge, if he has determined up to their. Perhaps sir is of noble identity?”

There we go, that’s what I was looking for! She is attempting to determine my status – following the assassin’s code. It seems that by making her fearful, with me knowing her identity, she is trying to find leverage. However, this is the exact opening I was hoping to make.

‘I must disappoint you here. I am no more a noble then you are a saint. It is only that I possessed a brilliant caretaker, who liked to ramble on about the ancient fables… she appeared most knowledgeable about the creatures who wandered our world in the past, and which even show themselves now. No, I am no noble, but a mercenary!”

Cindy snorted, not believing my tall tale. Obviously, with my combat ability, this girl would not believe me.

“You, a mercenary? That’s a good joke.”

“You do not believe me? Then, do you not fight with shadows? Why is it a mercenary cannot fight with words? In the arena, I may not fight well, but bandits and the like are subject to reason!”

“Bandits and people, perhaps. Yet, what do you intend to do in the case of a monster attack?!”

“Ha, what monsters!? Am I not telling you, that I fight with knowledge? Why would I take a path which leads to an attack, when I can take the safer route? Let me tell you, travel with me, and I will ensure that no monster finds his way to anyone who may hire me?!”

Cindy raised her hand and began to scratch her head with her finger. She’s thinking, huh?

Uhhh, I got really carried away in my role as I was enjoying it, but taking a glance of onee-sama (who is still in bed, though she is sitting up now), I think I may have taken it too far… her eyes make me feel like I have daggers going in and out of my body… Let’s pay attention to Cindy again. Though I can still feel onee-sama’s glare.

Oh, Cindy seems to have come to a conclusion. Now that I think about it…

“Then, I’d like to hire you.”
Yup, I knew the situation was going to end up like this. No, not from the beginning! I’m not a seer. What I mean is, after a bit of afterthought, my boasting was obviously going to end up badly! This time, I managed to get myself into a situation where if I reject her payment, I’m obviously lying! If I accept, I’ll have to keep playing the part!

“I accept.”

Oi, oi, oi! What are you doing, mouth?! I hadn’t thought out a plan yet! This is obviously not what I intended… Looks like this will be one stressful journey… Something will probably go wrong?! Everything ends up going wrong when I’m involved.

“We’ll be tagging along. Making sure you don’t try and cheat our friend of his pay.”

Onee-sama spoke and referred to me as her friend… Though, it sounds stale. Hmmm, onee-sama, please don’t kill me.

“… That is, you and the other masked one? ”

Thinking of which, shouldn’t the fairy have also fainted? Shouldn’t this girl have worked out our identity from her presence? Unless, she somehow managed to hide herself…

Well, I’m sure she’ll turn up when it’s a good time…

“That’s right.”

“’I’ll allow it, but you are not allowed to interfere.”

And as such, all the negotiations were completed.

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