Assassin Ruru Returns

After breaking my master-servant contract with Rin in the abandoned Ringland Village and cleaning around the grave.

We stopped by the southern city of Rondario again.

To refuse Ms. Rourou’s offer, who was from the same hometown as Rin and had offered to take her in.

It wasn’t me who declined; Rin explained.

“I am happy being with my master.”

Hearing Rin’s truthful words, Ms. Rourou looked rather relieved and saw us off saying, “Please take care of little Rinrin.”

As for the new base, we’re planning to build it around the ruins of Ringland Village.

There are no settlements nearby, so it’s an ideal place to make a hideout.

With Vanargand’s spatial transfer ability, we can instantly move to dungeons near the royal capital or the commercial city Ardion, and it would be difficult for the Holy Church or the Royal Palace Knights to search for a hideout at the edge of the continent.

It was already late, so we decided to start building the hideout tomorrow, and Rin and I spent the night at an inn in Rondario.

＊＊＊

――Midnight.

――A room at the inn in Rondario.

I, who had fallen asleep on a soft bed for the first time in a while, woke up to a murderous intent closing in from above me.

“…!?!?”

I immediately snapped awake and twisted my body to avoid the attack.

――Stab!

“Who—!?!”

I looked at where I had been sleeping a moment before, and a dagger had been plunged into the pillow.

If my reaction had been a few seconds slower, it would have been driven into my face.

All the time I’ve spent scraping by in dungeons has honed my danger-sense so I can react to murderous intent even while asleep, but it was still bad for my heart.

“……”

I drew a dagger from Vanargand’s extra-dimensional space, took a stance, and faced the assassin.

The moonlight coming through the window faintly illuminated the Assassin’s face.

Purple hair.

Brown skin.

And—cold purple eyes.

“You… Ruru!?”

Ruru――the last member of the Hero party I failed to finish off.

And――an intelligence agent employed by the Royal Palace.

The culprit whose killing of a royal family member was exposed and who became wanted nationwide.

“……”

The Assassin said nothing.

However—that silence confirmed to me that she was Ruru.

“Heh—so you came all the way here yourself… I’ll make you pay for what you did back then!”

I went into combat stance—but Ruru’s figure vanished like a mirage.

“Tch! A skill to disappear!?”

Keeping the dagger ready and scanning the area—there came the sound of a door being kicked in from downstairs with a bang!

When I looked out the window, I saw a figure—likely Ruru—running away from the inn.

“She got away… how did she know where I was…?”

“M-Master…? Are you all right…?”

Rin, who had been sleeping on the next bed, rubbed her sleepy eyes and sat up.

Meanwhile—Ekarraat, who was sleeping further beside her, showed no sign of waking.

Why the hell won’t you wake up?

Is that the composure of someone strong?

“An Assassin came but escaped. This place isn’t safe. We’ll take refuge inside Vanargand until morning.”

I tossed the sleeping Ekarraat into the rift in spacetime that Vanargand creates.

As I was about to enter Vanargand after Rin, my eye fell on Ruru’s knife still stuck in the pillow.

“Is this… a note?”

A piece of paper was slipped between the knife and the pillow.

I pulled out the knife, took the pierced paper in hand, and read it.

“Tomorrow at noon, I’ll be waiting at the D-Rank Dungeon 【Fish on the Water’s Surface】.”

“So her purpose was to deliver this message…?”

＊＊＊

――The next morning.

We spent the night inside Vanargand, checked out, and headed to the D-Rank Dungeon 【Fish on the Water’s Surface】 as Ruru’s note directed.

She had told me the location when we went to the diner run by Ms. Rourou for breakfast.

Because it would be dangerous, Rin stayed sheltered inside Vanargand.

“But that bastard Ruru shows up now after all this time…”

Ruru’s public face is that of an ordinary adventurer—but her true identity is an intelligence agent belonging to the Royal Palace.

If that’s the case—it’s likely that besides Ruru, the Royal Palace’s forces—the Royal Palace Knights—are lying in wait.

“First the Holy Church, now the Royal Palace Knights… popular as ever, huh.”

“Shut up.”

Normally I wouldn’t throw myself into a place I know is a trap—but Ruru is a target for revenge.

If it’s a chance to kill that person, I’m willing to accept some risk.

I’m actually determined to turn the tables and make her regret it.

‘That bastard Ruru—used herself as bait, huh.’

Compared to the Knights of the Stigmata, professionals at killing monsters whose stats put high-ranking adventurers to shame, the Royal Palace Knights—whose primary purpose is maintaining city security—have stats that are several notches lower.

Even the top general of the Royal Palace Knights was only about Level 60—and I’ve already killed him.

If we fight head-on, I don’t feel like we’d lose no matter how many they bring.

“Alright, we’re here.”

“As expected for a D-rank, it was shallow.”

I opened the door to the deepest chamber.

The door creaked open with a groan, and I stepped inside.

Sure enough, Ruru was there.

And――

“Hey――I’ve been wanting to meet you, Sid.”

“Who the hell are you…?”

――A man with black hair and black eyes, just like me.