Strongest Survival by Otome Game’s Heroine

Conquering the Assassin Guild

「Geez Aria-chan, how can they become like this in just one month-!?」

When I showed up at the dwarf armor shop in the capital, inside the shop that has no other customer like usual, Gelf screamed like a maiden with a throaty voice when he saw my equipments.

I defeated the Shadow User Radha and Mercenary of Dawn, then fought the rank 4 Dagget head on in order to accumulate experience. I managed to win just barely but, the damage I bore myself was also great. I spent two days to heal my injury.

It was also the same with my protective equipments. They got hit by Battle Technique and some attacks, and my leather dress got showered in blood spurt that it became soaked in blood. I washed them with water many times in order to remove the bloody scent and even used Clean on them. Perhaps that’s why the surface felt starchy unlike before.

「Fixable?」

「You’re really following your own pace Aria-chan! In this state, it won’t be able to return back to before even if I overhaul it using special chemical……」

Gelf sighed while looking at the state of the equipments. My current equipments were given to me by Gelf, but for an artist type craftsman like him, he should harbor some attachment for his work.

「Sorry……」

「Aah, geez, you don’t need to look like that-. After all they are things that I pushed on you of my own accord.」

「But, sorry. Can you at least fix them to the best of your ability?」

「I have something better for that you know? Fufu. I’m glad you remember to show yourself here again.」

「……Hm?」

Gelf pulled my hand and dragged me to the back of the shop again.

「I have attachment to them but you don’t need to feel bothered about them. They are prototype model for pattern example. That’s why you can just wear the “real thing” now that it came to this!」

「This is……」

My eyes unconsciously widened seeing what Gelf took out. It’s a knee length dress with no sleeves. Although it has the same shape like the prototype I wore, the 『completed product』 that is creted from monster leather has even its size matched perfectly with me.

Not only that, Gelf even made thin tights that are fastened with garter belt and a knife holster that will be attached on my calf for me. He also considered of how to pull out the knife and added a deep slit at the left side of the skirt.

I can also properly equip the boots and left hand protector that I received from master. And in addition, all of them are completely black without any luster, so I don’t feel anything out of place from its appearance.

It’s easier to move in more than I thought. When I made the skirt whirl to ascertain the feel of it and pulled out throwing knife, Gelf who was watching with a serious expression let out a sigh of relieve from the bottom of his heart.

「Looks like you’re wearing it properly aren’t you……」

「Hm?」

Aa, that thing huh. I also remembered after Gelf mentioned that.

In this country, the thing called drawers that I saw previously is the mainstream female underwear, but one year ago new types of underwear started to get popular from that Dandall. There is one that looked like drawers that is shortened to the extreme and have frills added, an underwear made from small cloth and tied with string at the sides, etc. The new underwears were like the underwears in that woman’s “knowledge”.

Right now they are also gradually spreading in the capital. The young lady of this generation and female adventurers with strange taste took a liking to them and even Gelf is habitually using them, he said.

I don’t understand the necessity for them even though I have that woman’s “knowledge”, but I guess it’s necessary if Gelf say so. And so I bought several of them for spare.

「Can you also service the gimmicks in my hand protector and boots just in case?」

「Okay~. They aren’t too damaged, so I think I can finish them in one day.」

I myself can maintain them to some degree but, as expected it’s more reassuring to ask an actual expert to do it. If it’ll take one day, let’s do what I can do in the capital. Also──

「I want you to sell me a moderately good necklace and, can you lend me your tool for a bit?」

.

I left Gelf’s shop after finishing my business and headed toward the commercial guild.

The procedure of assassin guild’s work started from the client requesting an assassination through the underworld, and if there won’t be any problem with the nobility for taking the job, an assassin will be dispatched after the money is paid.

The assassination deadline is around half a year to one year since the payment. If that deadline is breached, the request will be considered unfulfilled and the money will be returned along with penalty for the breach of contract.

The procedure is unexpectedly professional, but this kind of business is involved heavily with the nobility, so assassins regarded trust with more importance than even some random underworld company. How ironic.

After the assassination is carried out, the assassin will provide the proof of accomplishment to the guild. If the request is carried out nearby then the assassin themselves will carry the item until the guild but, this time the request is carried out near the capital instead of the area under the responsibility of the northern frontier district branch, so I ended up handing the proof to the guild contact and only said that the request has been carried out.

I placed the necklace along with the adventurer tags that I took from Mercenary of Dawn into a safe deposit box of the commercial guild just as instructed by the document Radha gave me.

When the time came the other contact will collect them and told the assassin guild of the request’s accomplishment using some kind of method, and then the contact should bring back the items until the guild to also make their report. With this the guild won’t be suspicious even if Radha doesn’t contact them for several weeks until the contact return.

If I stand guard here then I might be able to see the contact’s face, but I don’t think that it will be really meaningful to do that. There is n guarantee that the one who come to collect the items here will be the contact. It’s possible the contact will hire an ordinary person who doesn’t know anything. Furthermore I’ll be troubled if the contact doesn’t report the request completion to the guild unsuspectingly. I’ll be able to make the assassin guild lower down their guard in that way.

They will let their guard down after the information reaches them. Even so there will also be people who get wary when Radha don’t return back at the same timing with the contact.

The contact should return using the normal route, so it should take them around one month. I can shorten that time to half month if I pass through the valley shortcut. I have to calculate the way to defeat the assassin guild branch there during that half a month.

After that I resupplied myself with items that can be bought in the capital like throwing knives, portable food, etc. I put a part of them into my Storage together with the real necklace.

I heard that the necklace owner is Baron Norf whose territory is next to Dandall. If possible I want to return it to him right away, but I can only have him wait until I’m finished with this. Returning the necklace to him will take time, and if the heirloom return to the baron’s hand, it’s possible that the assassin guild will detect that I have returned until nearby.

Mercenary of Dawn also had other convenient items like the spatially expanded bag, but I left it behind in the dungeon. Even though they were criminals in the underworld, they were adventurers with considerable achievements on the surface, so I couldn’t bring their items with me in order to make it look like their death was an accident.

Perhaps someone else would pick the bag as their own but, at that time that person would simply become the main suspect. I had observed the adventurer guild of that town just in case but, there wasn’t any sign that the death of Mercenary of Dawn was known. I also didn’t meet that strange kid……Carla again.

That girl said something like that in our parting, but will I really be able to reunite with her again…….

.

The next day, I accepted my equipments in Gelf’s shop and departed from the capital.

I mustn’t let the assassin guild realize that I returned earlier than scheduled. I need to hide my existence completely in order to ensnare all the guild members into trap.

The assassin guild is different from adventurer guild and thief guild, it only has few regular members, even so they have spies that blended in the streets. But they aren’t even members of the guild. They are only under the guild’s patronage. Among them there should also be some commoners who are living normally without even realizing that they are involved with the assassin guild.

They aren’t my target but it will be troublesome if they reported me. That’s why before entering the territory of Count Heydale where the guild is located, I used my Stealth that has become level 3, hid myself, and infiltrated the town with the chapel.

I napped inside the forest when it’s afternoon, and at night I slipped into darkness and headed toward the town bit by bit. After entering the town, I hid in an abandoned building when it’s noon and erased my presence. I’m creeping toward the chapel slowly.

It will be a lonely fight for me from here. I held my breath and erased my presence, doing nothing but waiting for the time to come as I polished my fang inside the darkness.

I won’t get thirsty with daily life magic Water. With level 2 Night Vision I won’t be inconvenienced even when I’m inside complete darkness.

I finished my meal with pills that I made with alchemy before coming here. This is something created from the ingredients to make potion, but they aren’t boiled to extract essence liquid, but grinded into fine powder and kneaded together with salt, honey, and magic power. The recovery rate from it isn’t as good as potion, but it last long and if I eat ten of them per day, I’ll be able to maintain my stamina and health for about a week. It’s not delicious but, I’m already used to plain food and hunger since my time in that orphanage.

I spent three days to infiltrate the place that normally could be reached in the same day after entering the city.

Even level 3 Stealth skill can display an effect that surpassed level 4 if combined with the Night Vision of seeing color to choose a spot where there is nobody. In fact I wasn’t noticed even when I passed beside the 『lookout beggar』 who has Stealth skill level 3.

I’ll have it far easier for this time if I have level 4 skill, but there is no guarantee that I’ll be able to become level 4 in the future. Unlike level 3 which is the 『limit of ordinary person』 that can be reached as long as you spend time on it, level 4 can only be obtained by those who have genuine talent. There is a large wall blocking the way to there.

Even so, looking from how I was able to defeat the rank 4 Dagget, I understood that rank and combat strength are nothing more than a yardstick of strength. True “strength” depended on “how you use” the strength that you obtained from your level. I obtained the confidence that you can fight even the assassin guild depending on my method.

Right now my destination is the underground graveyard of the cathedral where the guild is located, but I won’t infiltrate from the entrance naively.

When I returned to the guild last time, I looked around the underground until its every nook and cranny. That guild is using an abandoned mine, so it’s vast inside with complicated path, so several vent holes are prepared in several spots.

I also considered pouring poison from there, but they are also pro. If they felt that something is out of place, they will immediately work together to run away with heightened vigilance. That’s why I need to infiltrate inside unnoticed in order to not allow them to work together.

I investigated the distance using my sense of direction from detection skill and number of steps and memorized the approximate location of the vent holes. When I slipped into darkness and thoroughly investigated the corresponding locations in the underground grave, it took me two days but I’m finally able to find all the vent holes.

In the process I discovered an escape hatch that I thought was definitely somewhere. There is no sign that it has been used for dozens of years, but I think that it’s alright for me to ignore it and only set a simple trap there.

That’s because it’s located at the deepest part of the coal mine and the risk of mine accident to occur is high there. Even infiltrating it is dangerous. If things happen like I predicted, then the mortality rate there will be the highest.

I sneaked into the stone room with number 21 written on it where one of the vent holes I discovered is located. I removed the stones around the fist sized vent hole, used night vision, and dug the soil. I don’t want to use weapon for something like this but, I can’t take too much time with this. Five days has passed since I entered this city. There are only around ten days until the contact arrived at the guild.

The soil is unexpectedly soft and I spent three more days to widen the hole before I finally succeeded with infiltrating inside the assassin guild.

The stone at the ceiling fell completely and the hole connected to a passage.

The sound might be heard if it’s at another place but, this is the only place where I’m not worried about that. I knew that there is nobody else here other than “him” in here.

.

「……GUAAAAAAA」

When I entered that room from the narrow passage where the vent hole is, that grotesque shadow behind iron bars as thick as adult arms growled warily.

I quietly smiled at the muddy eyes looking at me.

「The Condemned Goudo……I’m giving you “freedom”.」

I’m finished with all the preparations that I can do.

Several days after I infiltrated the headquarter of the assassin guild branch of the northern frontier district located at the territory of Count Heydale……I left the city once more and entered it again from the front before heading to the cathedral.

On the way, I bought a food that is made from dough of baked millet flour with vegetables put between it and ate a proper meal after so long.

The state of the city is no different from where I first saw it. A lot of people flowed since early in the morning from the residential area toward the craftsman district where they will return at evening. The voices of children and mothers scolding them can be heard from far away at the residential area. The sound of hammers hitting metals is resounding ceaselessly from the craftsman district.

A peaceful city……but underneath it, one of the assassin guilds of this country existed, and thanks to its existence, the people who knew about it are in fear and that peace can be maintained. None of the smiling commoners in this city are aware of it.

「「…………」」

My eyes met with the gaze of the lookout beggar sitting near the cathedral. I flicked a silver coin with my fingertips to him. The beggar caught it midair and he grinned from the silver coin’s weight.

「How generous, ash covered.」

「Business is a bit good.」

The beggar looked a bit surprised because the usually taciturn me is making a small talk.

For the people living in this city and involved with the guild……and the people who are benefited from that unknowingly, I am their potential enemy.

From where they’re standing, I am a 『destroyer』 who threaten the peace, an 『evil』. I won’t say that they’re wrong. They have their own reason to fight, and if they made me their “enemy”, I’m prepared to fight all of them.

The assassin guild has become my enemy. I’ll kill all my enemies.

That’s what it meant to oppose a huge organization.

.

I went underground from the side of the cathedral and entered inside from the regular entrance that is camouflaged as a tombstone.

I can’t see anyone inside. But I knew that there are many people inside the guild with their presence erased.

My quarrel with Radha wasn’t pointless. I’m now able to sense the out of place feeling from them erasing their presence.

I continued going further inside, knocked the door of a room, then the voice 「Come in」 came from inside the room that contained no presence at all with only a faint “out of place feeling” inside.

「Ooh, my beloved brother disciple. I have learned the news from the contact. Not only you truly dealt with all the targets without any injury on your own, you even collected the Spirit Tear……as expected from the favorite pupil of my teacher.」

「No problem.」

Even after hearing the report from his contact, he surely still didn’t seriously believe that a kid like me could defeat a rank 4 adventurer together with his party.

I would defeat one or two at best, and then when it looked like I would lose, Radha would use me as bait to finish off Dagget and his comrades, rescuing me who was in the brink of death and made master indebted to him. ……After I combined all the information until now, that was most likely the plan that Dino was building in his head.

He is looking surprised not because I have returned this quickly, but because I returned in perfectly good health without any serious injury. Dino also didn’t hold any doubt from receiving the report that I had also properly collected the requested item, the Spirit Tear.

「How very astonishing. Also, this is your reward for the request this time. Originally it should be given to you only after the contacts bring back the proof and requested item but, there won’t be any problem if it’s you. But just in case, I ask you to stay here until the two return back. The weather is unusually a bit humid since yesterday but, please take a good rest to recover your stamina.」

「Got it.」

I accepted the small leather bag and lightly shook it to feel the size and weight.

From the feel, I guess there are twenty large gold coins inside. Nearly half of the request fee is to be given for the people doing the job, so that means the original request fee is more than forty large gold coins.

It’s an amount that can be paid because the client is a noble……. Most likely it’s an amount of money that surpassed even the price of the regained Spirit Tear but, that’s just how precious this heirloom is for the client……that noble must really treasure his family.

Well, it’s a different story whether it’s a suitable compensation for defeating a rank 4 party or not though.

「Even so, I’m amazed you are able to return this quickly. How can you return quicker than your two contacts?」

Dino spoke to me again just as I was about to exit the room after receiving the reward. But one of them wasn’t a contact but a “watcher” right?

「I passed the valley south of Dandall.」

「That place is difficult to traverse even for a balanced adventurer party though……you were able to cross it with that combat strength?」

「…………」

He appraised me just as expected. I’m wearing a contact to cover it up as much as possible but, it’s not impossible to roughly estimate my combat strength when I’m this close and the one doing it is someone as experienced as Dino.

「It’s only natural to get stronger if you fight, right?」

「Looks like you had gone through some extremely dangerous fights. ……Aria-san. I hope that we can continue our good relationship from here on too.」

「…………」

Is he telling me to keep lending hand not just for this request only, but from here on too, or is he warning me not to think of doing anything stupid…….

At the very least Dino is slightly suspecting me for killing Guy. Even so, he isn’t asking anything about it because he thought it can’t be helped due to my discord with Keira, and because it’ll be more beneficial for him to have a trump card against master at his side.

But, the reason Dino trusted my word is because I obediently handed the request item to him. He thought that I’m still a “usable” pawn.

However it’s already too late. My “trap” is already starting to move.

.

I left Dino’s office and headed to the room assigned to me through the underground that is slightly “smelly” like usual. There is no need for me to carelessly move around and increase the number of people who realized my actual combat strength. Besides the inside of this guild is already in a “dangerous state”.

When I returned to my assigned room, the sign I placed is already gone and there is a trace that someone has already entered here. I placed nothing that could be stolen inside but, it’ll be troublesome if I entered carelessly and there is actually a trap inside. But, before I can leave that place after thinking that, the person inside came out of their own initiative.

「Oh, welcome back, ash covered-chan. What are you doing just standing there?」

「What are you doing inside?」

The one inside is the goth loli woman who was the first person I met in this guild──Keira.

Dino should have isolated her from to avoid a quarrel from breaking out, but it seemed she was lying in wait for me. She smiled thinly and licked her crimson lips in respond to my question.

「I was thinking to console you when you ran back like a beaten dog but……I wonder if you didn’t meet Radha? Even though I had gone through the trouble of setting the table. That woman is more useless than I thought.」

Keira shrugged theatrically and stepped back to open a path into my room.

「How about entering inside for now? It’s a dirty room but today is hot, so it’ll be better compared to just standing here right?」

「I don’t want to enter a dirty room.」

It must be your fault than an unused room is dirty. Keira showed an irritated expression just for an instant when I bluntly refused.

「……Just shut up and enter you shitty brat. I only placed some pranking toys inside, so you don’t need to be that scared you know? Look.」

When Keira stepped on the trashes she scattered, an arrow flew out from what seemed to be a crossbow set in a shelve right in front of the door. It grazed the side of my head and stabbed the wall behind me.

「Go in without worry. Or perhaps you’re that scared of me?」

「…………」

I sighed and muttered inside my mouth as I stepped inside the room.

In that moment──

*Dan-!* There is a small sound and a crossbow fired an arrow right above me. Before this……the me who had only just arrived here would be helplessly hit.

It’s generally said that a level 4 Martial Art skill will allow you to dodge a fired arrow, and level 5 Martial Art skill will allow you to catch a fired arrow.

I’m still just level 3 but, if it’s the current me who have obtained multiple close quarter combat skills, I can “react” as long as I can guess the timing of the shot and where it aimed.

「──Shadow Snatch──」

I caught the crossbow arrow with Shadow Snatch that I had decided to materialize on my forehead from the start.

Space type dark sorcery has to cover the target with darkness element magic particles. Radha’s Shadow Walker covered herself with darkness, while my Shadow Snatch enveloped the target with a thin membrane like magic particles when it went through the darkness, teleporting it to the shadow that is connected by my magic power.

I wouldn’t be able to react if Keira targeted a non vital spot like my stomach or limbs.

Even if my prediction was right, if my timing slightly missed, I might get an arrow planted into my head, but the timing wasn’t that difficult as long as I conquered my fear of death.

「……Eh?」

Keira who got hit by a crossbow arrow in her stomach from right below looked at her stomach and at me with an astonished face.

Keira is really easy to understand. You are the one who absolutely won’t betray my “trust” how there is nothing that can be trusted from you. That was why I connected my magic power to Keira’s shadow after she gave me such a transparent provocation.

I thought that she is a troublesome and dangerous fellow when I first met her but, I had encountered a genuinely “dangerous person” inside that dungeon. Compared to her, something like Keira’s dangerousness only felt like lukewarm water.

「H-how did you dodge……why is the arrow in me? ……Why……why, is your, combat strength──gah!?」

Keira tried to shout, but I used the walking style

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!