What If the Strongest Villain from the Original Story Became the Protagonist's Ally? - Chapter 7: Assassin and Girl

The Assassin Guild. 

It was a small spice to liven up the novel—the story.

Assassins would come attacking Iris. That kind of spice was necessary for novels. It couldn’t be helped, you could say… but.

“It has nothing to do with me anymore. I’ll thoroughly crush anyone who gets in my way.”

I’d come to a corner of the residential district in the eastern part of the royal capital. I entered the complex back alleys and headed deeper.

After walking for a while, I saw a single building in a somewhat open space. A two-story inn.

The exterior was somewhat run-down. You could say it was for commoners, but actually this inn was—the den of the Assassin Guild.

“Hide a tree in the forest, as they say.”

No one would think that vicious assassins were inside this shabby inn. To begin with, the depths of residential districts were places people rarely came to.

It was perfect for hiding. While eating sweets I’d bought from a street stall in the royal capital, I calmly passed through the inn’s entrance. At the back of the front area, a young man was standing at the counter.

“Welcome. Will you be staying the night?”

The man put on a refreshing smile. Perfect score.

It was a common disguise. On the surface they ran an ordinary inn, and only those who knew a certain password could enter the back business of the Assassin Guild.

Normally you could learn that password through acquaintances’ connections or by searching for information… but I had memories from my previous life. Naturally, I also knew the Assassin Guild’s password.

I grinned inside my mask before speaking.

“A wolf comes from the darkness. A bright red wolf.”

“—!”

The male employee’s expression crumbled.

His smile from just moments before disappeared, and he became frighteningly serious.

“You… have business with the Guild?”

“Yeah. You’ll guide me, right?”

“…This way. Follow me.”

The man’s tone suddenly became blunt. He left the counter and headed toward the kitchen.

I followed his back. At first glance, it was just an ordinary inn. Even looking inside, it had normal interior design. That’s why they weren’t caught.

There were also a fair number of members, and their existence wouldn’t come to light for a little while longer.

However, today I would change that future. When we entered the kitchen, the man casually tapped the floor.

It was a type of mechanism.

The floor opened with a click sound. Quite ingenious.

“Go straight down the path below. You’ll reach a room.”

“Got it, got it. Thanks for the guidance.”

Saying that, I punched the man’s body.

“Ugh!?”

The man was knocked unconscious with just one hit. He collapsed to the floor. Seeing him off, I went down the stairs as instructed.

Having the hideout underground was also cliché. After walking through the dim darkness for a while, I found a single door.

I opened the door and entered the room—

A room that was probably wider than the inn’s rooms. There, three men and women were sitting on sofas.

▼△▼

“Well done coming here. Since you were led here, you must be my customer.”

The dreadlocked man sitting in the center of the sofa spoke. I almost burst out laughing but restrained myself, reading the serious atmosphere. I was glad I was wearing a mask. They couldn’t tell I was holding back laughter.

“Ah, yeah… I have something to discuss with you.”

“For now, have a—”

Thud.

I sat down on the sofa before being told. The dreadlocked man’s gaze became somewhat sharper. However, I wasn’t intimidated by something like that.

I crossed my legs and leaned back arrogantly. I even ate my snacks. Crunch crunch.

“…You’ve got some nerve, bastard. Do you understand where you are?”

“The Assassin Guild, right? Is this the kind of place an ignorant fool could enter?”

“Hah! Your guts are crazy. I don’t hate it. Don’t like it either, though.”

“What a coincidence. I also hate arrogant guys. Like recognizes like.”

“…Hmph. So? What kind of assassination request is it?”

Whoosh.

Finally, the man’s gaze completely became that of a killer. He apparently had no intention of continuing small talk.

Personally, I would have liked to chat a bit longer…

“I’ll say this first—I didn’t come here to make an assassination request. It was just a bluff… or rather, a lie.”

“What? If you’re going to pull foolish stunts, I’ll kill you.”

“What I said about having something to ask is true though. —You guys were commissioned to assassinate Princess Iris, weren’t you?”

“!?”

The air became taut.

Not just the man sitting across from me. The young man and young woman on either side of him also sharpened their gazes.

Even though they’d been giggling happily just moments before. Also, didn’t the woman have big boobs?

My gaze kept getting drawn in that direction.

“Why do you know about that… could you be an Empire spy or something?”

“You should confirm someone’s identity before asking things like that. Now you’ve revealed who made the assassination request.”

“It doesn’t matter. Anyone who requests a princess’s assassination is obviously from an enemy country.”

“True.”

“And… you won’t be leaving here alive anyway. If you’re an enemy, that is.”

Swish.

The man raised one hand. Immediately after, I sensed a human presence behind me. And the cold touch of metal against my neck.

“Move and I’ll kill you.”

From the voice, I could tell that the one who’d gotten behind me was a young girl.