Water Magician

Editor: Tseirp

Of the thirty assassins, six were prisoners of war plus one frozen.

The prisoners were five who had been wounded in the leg by the initial ranged attacks and were unable to move, and one woman who surrendered.

The frozen one was, of course, Natalia.

“I didn’t even realize one was aiming at us from a distance…”

As Ryo brought in Natalia, frozen in ice, Showken, who was in charge of leading the adventurers, said in admiration.

“I just thought it odd that one of them was acting separately. Turns out this woman is an executive of the Order of Assassins.”

Ryo’s words caused a stir among the diplomatic mission.

“I knew they were from the Order of Assassins…”

“A female executive…”

The adventurer who uttered the last remark was met with cold stares from the female adventurers around him.

The women quickly realized what sentiment had been mixed in with that one statement.

Never underestimate a woman’s intuition!

(<Ice Wall Package>)

Ryo gathered the six prisoners together and enclosed them in an ice wall.

They were after all assassins.

It wouldn’t be funny if they decide to blow themselves up.

“Abel, I’ve surrounded those six with an ice wall, just in case.”

He whispered to Abel in a quiet voice.

Reporting, contacting, and consulting (ho-ren-so) is an important aspect of collaboration afterall.

“Okay, noted.”

Abel nodded and looked at Ignis, the negotiator, and asked.

“What should we do with them?”

Ignis, the negotiator, had the highest authority in the entire mission.

However, he was not used to seeing carnage and he was aware that he had no information about the assailants.

“I’m sorry, Abel, but I have absolutely no idea who these people are. And if I were to interrogate them, I wouldn’t even know where to begin. So if everyone in the escort doesn’t mind, I would like to leave it to you, the A-rank adventurer…”

“I agree.”

The first to give consent was Showken, who was responsible for leading the adventurers.

“I, too, think it’s appropriate to leave it to Abel.”

Followed by Dontan, the company commander leading the knights, also agreed.

Behind him, Zack and Scotty nodded their heads.

Thus, the approval of the core members was obtained, and Abel was to represent and lead the interrogation.

And, naturally, Ryo stood by Abel’s side.

But before the interrogation.

“Ryo, what is the name of that female executive?”

He asked Ryo again in a low voice.

“It’s Natalia. I learned it directly from the person who used to lead the Order of Assassins, they called him ‘Chief’. And it seems that she killed the Chief, because she was cajoled by an executive named ‘Black’.”

“Holy shit…”

Hearing this, Abel shook his head slightly.

After some exchange of information, Abel turned to the six and began to talk.

“So, about the interrogation…I don’t expect you guys to answer honestly. So here’s what I’m going to do, I’m going to chatter on and all you have to do is keep your mouth shut and listen.”

The members of the diplomatic mission exchanged glances with each other at the unexpected statement but did not utter a word.

They were dealing with assassins.

It’s more than likely that they would not give any answers to their questions.

“I’m going to be upfront with you, we know that you guys are members of the Order of Assassins.”

First of all, he let that out.

Five of them did not change their expressions at all.

The woman who surrendered, however, had a slight twitch in her expression.

“Ryo, can you isolate that woman from the rest?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Following the whispered conversation, the female assassin was surrounded by an ice wall without anyone noticing.

As the interrogation progressed, if it became known that information was about to leak from the female assassin, the five men might try to silence her, even at their peril.

It was a very likely scenario.

“Also, we know that the woman frozen in ice is Natalia, an executive.”

The five men could not remain unmoved by those words.

How could an outsider know such things?

They had indeed been informed that he was an A-rank adventurer, but it was still obviously strange that he knew the name of an executive of the Order.

“Yeah that’s right, you lot have a village in the kingdom, don’t you? A village that was buried in ice. I believe that’s where your Chief died…”

All six of them were listening, their faces even tenser than before.

“Are you aware? That it was Natalia who killed your chief?”

Finally, the six of them widened their eyes.

They no longer had the leeway of keeping blank expressions.

“Don’t you lie to us! ”

One of the men shouted.

“I’m not lying. She killed him for ‘Black’.”

The expressions on the faces of the six turned pale.

The man in front of them even knew about Master ‘Black’!

Ridiculous! How’s that possible! But it was happening right in front of them.

And the female assassin was almost in tears from her expression having gone ghastly pale.

“Oh, by the way, you guys have tattoos on your chest, right? You know, the one with the two-headed bird with a sword through it.”

The six of them were on the verge of a complete meltdown.

Everything about them was no longer secret.

It was useless keeping quiet.

“That tattoo, does it still function now that the Chief is dead?”

“…Huh?”

They couldn’t understand what Abel, the A-rank adventurer in front of them, was saying.

“Hmm? I mean that tattoo, if you tried to rip it off, a stone spear would materialize and pierce your heart, right? I’m asking if that function is still in effect till now.”

“What are you talking about…?”

One of the men muttered involuntarily.

Abel and Ryo knew of the function because former executive Sharfi had told them about it, and because the spear had actually materialized when it was being stripped from Sharfi’s chest.

But the six people in front of them had probably never witnessed it before.

Their reactions were dull.

“You didn’t know? That’s what that tattoo does. Apparently it was engraved using alchemy…but now that the Chief is dead, I wonder what has become of it.”

This was, in a way, decisive.

The man in front of them knew more about the Order than they themselves who are directly affiliated.

About their own bodies.

They didn’t know why.

But they became convinced, whether they wanted to or not. That they stood no chance against this opponent.

“Now, what is your objective…”

“Abel.”

Ryo interrupted Abel from the side.

Then he drew closer to his ear and said in a quieter voice than before.

“I know what it is. So please don’t ask them about it here.”

“Hmm…”

Ryo knew part of the reason why the mission was attacked.

That’s because he had prevented Natalia’s attack.

Having gone through the trouble of even using all of her allies’ attacks as cover, Natalia’s stone spear was aimed precisely at the heart of one adventurer….

In other words, assassinating that person was their aim …although that may not be their only objective, it was certainly one of their main objectives.

So he thought it was best not to publicize that there.

Because the woman who happened to be their target will not say anything, even if it came down to it.

There had to be a reason why she did not want to make it public.

If so, Ryo would go and ask her about it later.

Then fill Abel in later.

There was no reason to have everyone learn about it.

“Oh right, there’s a dark-attribute magician among you, correct?”

The female assassin’s reaction to these words was intense.

Anyone could see that she was not at ease.

“I see, you are the dark-attribute magician?”

Abel asked the female assassin with conviction.

The female assassin nodded helplessly.

At that moment, something flashed from the hands of two of the men.

And very precisely, flew toward the woman.

But….

Clang, clang.

The two throwing knives were repelled by the ice wall that was stretched between the men and the woman.

At that moment, Abel grinned.

“Whoa scary~. Did you see that, your buddies just tried to silence you without hesitation, lady?”

The female assassin looked at the five men who were supposed to be her comrades.

With widened eyes, she clenched her teeth.

The expression on her face was an indescribable mixture of…anger, frustration, and fear.

“Now then, dark-attribute magician. What’s your name?”

“…Rosalia.”

That was the moment Rosalia quit the Order of Assassins.

After the initial interrogation was over, while the leaders of the mission were discussing subsequent plans, Ryo approached a certain woman.

A female magician, brunette hair, and an adventurer with small stature.

She was the one Natalia had targeted at the expense of her subordinates.

As Ryo approached, the woman bowed to him.

“Um, thank you very much for that, Ryo.”

“Don’t worry about it. Miu, right? It’s only natural to protect my allies.”

Through the banquet at Acre, Ryo had learned the names of all the escort adventurers.

“So…I was wondering if you could tell me why you were targeted, if possible…”

As they were having this conversation, her party members were approaching from behind Miu.

“Okay…”

Miu looked down and glanced at the party members behind her.

“Should we change location?”

Ryo wondered if it was something she would rather others didn’t know.

However…

“No, it’s okay. My party members are already aware of it…”

Miu nodded and began to speak.

“I am not exactly sure, but if they were truly targeting me here, then I think the reason has to do with my family, or my lineage, or something along those lines.”

Ryo listened quietly without interrupting.

Miu’s friends, who were standing behind her, gently placed their hands on her shoulders.

That single gesture alone showed that the party was close-knit.

Somehow, Ryo felt relieved.

“My grandfather’s name is Silas Theo Santayana. The current Grand Duke of Twilight Land.”

This world seems to be swarming with royalty, such as princes or grandchildren of grand dukes and the like.

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