The Lazy Boy Is, In Fact, the Strongest and Most Brutal Assassin. - Chapter 19: Assassin Call.

Assassin Call.

“Damn it!”

Il struck the stone wall hard.

He’s panicking. He’s flustered. He’s irritated. To Rimrim’s eyes, that’s how it looks.

The boy, with drowsy eyes and not a shred of motivation, who seems as though he could have “loser” written across his back, is this agitated about someone else’s situation. That, to Rimrim, is both surprising and strange.

However, if that point were to be pointed out now, he’d probably say something like, “That’s not true,” and forcefully withdraw his attitude, replacing it with his usual indifferent expression and acting like a loser.

What a troublesome man.

The sun has already dipped to the west, and little by little, lights in the town begin to flicker on. Yet, Peter’s figure cannot be found anywhere.

“Maybe he’s already gone back to the mansion…”

“Ah, yeah, that’s true.”

Rimrim herself doesn’t really believe that’s the case, but still, she says it out loud, and Il, even though he doesn’t believe it either, agrees.

An overwhelming sense of being stuck.

It’s like pulling out a hope that isn’t there, saying something like “Maybe there’s gold dust mixed in with this clump of dirt,” just to create a spark to move on to the next step.

Carrying the heavy silence, the two of them slowly walk down the street. Rimrim briefly says a hopeful word like “It’ll be fine,” and Il simply answers “Yeah.” They continue this futile exchange as they walk down the street.

However, when they reach the front of the Ward workshop, Il and Rimrim instinctively take a defensive stance.

In the dim, lightless entrance, they see a man sitting there.

“What the hell are you doing sitting there, you bastard?”

When Il threatened him, the man stood up without changing his expression, and with a spring-like step, he walked toward them.

He had messy, silver hair and eyes like glass beads. His face was ambiguous, hard to tell whether he was a man or a woman. He hunched his back terribly, getting closer to them.

“Silver Cat?”

Rimrim muttered quietly.

“Do you know it?”

“Yeah, sort of…”

Rimrim’s response was vague.

“Follow… me.”

With eyes like glass beads, the boy called Silver Cat glared at them. He jerked his chin forward and started walking in the direction he indicated.

Il and Rimrim exchanged confused glances, but they had no real clues about Peter’s whereabouts. They decided to quietly follow him.

They passed through the park, caught a glimpse of the entrance to the slums, and continued straight until they reached the upscale residential area. Then, when they arrived in front of a particularly large mansion, “Silver Cat” suddenly stopped. But right then, Rimrim hurriedly closed the gap and rushed toward “Silver Cat.”

“Wait, wait, wait! Silver Cat, this is…”

It’s the mansion of the slave trader, Kurikara. A successful businesswoman who amassed wealth in one generation and is said to have connections even with the royal family.

“Why are you panicking?”

“Well, of course, I’m panicking! Are you planning to involve unrelated people in this?”

“Unrelated people, where… are there any?”

Silver Cat tilted his head in confusion, and just as Rimrim was about to close the gap again, Il let out a deep sigh.

“I see. So that’s what this is about. You and this perverted woman are the ones who were summoned, huh?”

Silver Cat quietly nodded, and Rimrim’s eyes widened in shock.

“No way, you…!”

“It’s not ‘no way,’ it’s more like ‘that’s the line,’” Il said, as though tossing the words aside, before turning to face Silver Cat.

“…Sorry, but you’ll have to pass on this job. It’s not the right time for me.”

Silver Cat stared at Il with his glass-like eyes and then tilted his head slightly.

“It should be fine. You two are not completely unrelated to this request…”

“What do you mean by that?”

Il glared sharply at Silver Cat.

“You’ll understand soon. The client’s waiting in the alley…”

Silver Cat said this as he gestured toward the alley extending from the side of the mansion, and then stepped into it. Without looking back, he spoke to Il.

“Nice to meet you… I’m Silver Cat. From now on, you’ll be under my charge.”

“What happened to the previous one?”

“Red Cat… is dead.”

“Hm, I see.”

It was a light exchange, like a polite response, but the way death was treated seemed far too casual.

As they followed Silver Cat down the alley of the upscale residential area, they saw a boy hunched down on the ground in one corner.

Rimrim gasped, and Il gritted his teeth.

It was a blood-soaked Peter.

Peter had a pale face, with a gentle smile still lingering on his lips as he lay lifeless. His legs appeared broken, bent in unnatural directions, and a knife was embedded in his thigh. The blood, now dark and clotted in the dimness, made it look as though a snake was coiled around his leg.

“The client is that boy.”

Suddenly, a woman’s voice came from behind them. However, neither Il nor Rimrim could tear their eyes away from Peter’s corpse.

The voice belonged to a woman in a deep hood, wearing a white robe—Kurikara. She was a prominent figure in Saint Togan, a slave trader, and the leader of the nocturnal assassins, the ‘Night Dwellers.’

“Hey, Kurikara. What did Peter… what did he say?”

Il’s voice trembled slightly.

“He said… kill those people who were trying to harm his sister.”

“One more thing. Couldn’t you have saved him?”

Under the hood, Kurikara’s mouth twisted into a faint smile.

“It would have been impossible… wouldn’t it?”

“I see.”

Il lowered his gaze, swallowing the meaning behind that response. Watching him, Kurikara nodded lightly.

“I’ve had Silver Cat keeping an eye on everything that’s been happening in this town, so I have a rough understanding of the situation. The targets for this boy’s request are Toruk and Hillruk, the two of them.”

Il’s temple twitched, and he glanced at Silver Cat before exhaling in disbelief.

“Those glass-like eyes of his are really like glass beads.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s one more. There’s another target. That person is the mastermind behind everything.”

After glancing at Silver Cat, whose face twisted in displeasure, Kurikara nodded once more.

“Understood. In that case, we’ll summon one more besides you two.”

“One more?”

“Silver Cat. Summon A-Class Assassin ‘No-Life King.'”

As Kurikara spoke, Silver Cat melted into the darkness and disappeared somewhere.

In the dark alley, the three of them stood in silence. From a house facing the alley, the sound of children playing cheerfully echoed.

Kurikara turned her face toward Rimrim.

“B-Class Assassin ‘Last Kiss.'”

She then turned to Il.

“S-Class Assassin ‘Worst Illness.'”

As Kurikara absorbed the gazes of both Il and Rimrim, she made her declaration.

“We, the Night Dwellers, have certainly accepted this request. Assassins, chase those who must die beyond the boundary line.”