Vol 1 Chapter 33 – Ta-da

“W-what is this…?”

Rudo was aghast.

The gruesome corpse before him was his client.

It was obvious someone else had murdered him.

There was no way the man had jammed a longsword down his own throat and pinned himself to the wall with it.

Besides, Taris was a man who thought himself indispensable.

Their association had been brief, but Rudo—whose eye for people was sharp—had already decided that much.

He would never throw his life away.

Even if his illicit dealings with Rudo were exposed, he would have struggled to the bitter end on the execution scaffold.

Yet here he was, dead.

Rudo’s mind went white, but he forced it back into gear.

“What about the men I left as guards—are they down too?”

In the private chamber, Rudo’s subordinates had been stationed to guard Taris.

Once his eyes adjusted, he realized they, too, had been slain.

The state of the bodies was horrific.

None of them had been granted a quick death.

Some limbs had been torn off; others were pinned to the wall.

“Even my elite subordinates ended up like this… Whoever did it is a real powerhouse.”

There were almost no signs of a struggle.

That meant his well-trained men had been killed before they could react.

A chill ran up his spine. “ZOKURI”

The gatekeepers were missing as well—undoubtedly dead.

Even for the dead of night, the place was far too deserted.

He couldn’t speak for the servants, but anyone capable of fighting had likely been wiped out.

“But who could pull this off, and why…? Ugh, the blood loss and pain are making it hard to think…”

“—Ara, ara, ara, ara?”

“Kh!?”

fought to make sense of things. “FURAFURA” His head wobbled as he tried to think. “Fura fura”

Then he heard a voice that wasn’t his own—coming from the blind spot behind him.

For someone in the underworld, that lapse was unforgivable.

He whirled around and leapt back.

(…What’s going on? I didn’t sense anything!)

He hadn’t felt a hint of presence.

Sure, the agony of his missing arm was distracting, but letting someone this close? He refused to believe he’d grown that dull.

Which meant the woman before him possessed power equal to or greater than his.

In his current state, how much could he resist?

No… This is hopeless…

Rudo gave up inside.

“Ara, Ara—someone’s still alive. I thought I checked every nook and cranny. Honestly, I’m furious at my own lack of skill.”

She puffed out her cheeks in a cute show of anger. “PUNPUN”

Her hair was a luxuriant gold.

Each lock curled elegantly. “KURUKUR

Her skin was porcelain-white and flawless.

Judging by her immaculate hair and skin, she was clearly well cared for—a young lady of the upper class rather than a commoner.

Two things, however, set her apart from any ordinary noble miss.

First were her eyes, which held not a speck of light.

They were jet-black and so clouded they were grotesque.

Rudo’s trauma flared—he’d fought a man with eyes just like that moments ago and been badly wounded.

Second was the blood-soaked rapier in her hand.

It made plain who had wrought this carnage.

I’m done for… Rudo thought, yet he managed to speak.

“…Since when were you behind me?”

“Just now, I believe?”

“This mess—did you do it?”

“Indeed, indeed. Amazing, isn’t it? You may praise me if you like. After all, I did a very good deed.”

Her face sparkled, but her eyes stayed pitch-black.

Terrifying. He wanted no part of this lunatic.

Whatever her reasons, asking for praise after a slaughter was insane.

Rudo, a senior figure in the assassin network, wanted out.

“Killing people is a good deed? I hate to say this, but you’re insane.”

“Why ever would you say that? Slaying evildoers is a Hero’s duty. I merely did what had to be done. So I should be praised, shouldn’t I?”

There it was—deranged logic presented as normal.

Definitely the type to avoid at all costs.

Rudo—branch head of The Vortex, which spanned the world’s underworld—thought so.

Yet one word snagged his attention.

“A Hero…?”

“Is something the matter?”

“Just… I had an unpleasant run-in with the word ‘Hero’ a moment ago.”

Was that man really a Hero?

He wielded darkness, his thinking was warped…

No way did he seem heroic, yet he’d called himself one.

…A fake Hero, then!

Rudo settled on that.

“Well, well… Every Hero but myself is a gutless worm, but whom could you mean…?”

She pondered. “UUN”

Whatever—hardly worth thinking about.

Right now, she needed to focus on killing the man in front of her.

“Still, it’s a pity you let him escape. Allow me to clean up after you.”

“Not a chance!”

The noble lady who called herself a Hero lunged at Rudo.