◇ Seras Ashrain ◇
The man at the front stopped and turned around.
"Lord Muaji? Is something wrong?"
The man behind him who was asked the question.
He seemed to be Muaji.
He was wearing a robe.
It was clearly of higher quality than the others.
A group wearing purple robes with patterns.
There was no doubt they were the Ashinto.
Muaji spoke.
"Could you extinguish the lights?"
"Eh? Ah, yes! Hey, put them out!"
The lights went out.
Only the faint moonlight leaking through gaps in the clouds remained.
Muaji asked,
"Did you notice before the lights were extinguished?"
"Wh-what do you mean…?"
"Over there."
"No… I did not notice anything…"
"Several branches in that area were broken. If you think normally, it suggests that someone fled in a hurry."
"Th-then!?"
"The fugitives are probably still hiding around here. It seems the first wave was caught by the decoy."
"All right! You lot, enter the grove and search for the leopard person and the little girl!"
"There is no need. That is probably a trap."
"A trap?"
"Yes. Those branches were deliberately broken."
"Deliberately…?"
"Yes. I do not think someone clever enough to use a decoy to separate the leading private soldier unit from us would make such an obvious mistake. There is no way they would leave such blatant traces."
"I-I see."
"It seems to be a clever opponent. We would not overlook broken branches… they probably read that far. And if we step into the grove as expected, it would be exactly what the opponent wants… in other words, a trap is set there."
"As expected of Lord Muaji… but I never imagined the leopard person had that much cunning…"
"Probably the one who set the trap is not the leopard person."
"Eh?"
"From what I saw directly, Eve Speed did not seem like the type to devise intricate schemes. From what I have heard of her past as well."
"So there are other accomplices?"
"Yes. Therefore, it would be better not to assume the enemy consists only of the leopard person and the girl."
"Kuh, that was close… if Lord Muaji had not been here, I wonder what would have happened…"
"Now then—"
Muaji raised his hand.
"Would you mind coming out soon? We know you are hiding there."
The Ashinto drew their bows.
"We have more than just bows and arrows. Even without closing the distance, we have ways to finish you off from afar or to smoke you out. Even if you use tree trunks as shields."
The moon peeked out from between the clouds.
What appeared together with it was Seras Ashrain.
She was wearing the fly mask.
Muaji's thread-like eyes curved upward.
"A fly swordsman… it reminds me of the subordinate of the King of Flies from that legend. Well, that one was not a female swordsman, though."
Seras's sword was already drawn.
As she remained silent, Muaji spoke.
"I do not know who you are, but if you obediently hand over the leopard person and the girl, I promise we will not take your life."
Muaji spread both hands.
"In fact, we will even welcome you as a member of the Ashinto. I can tell from your bearing. You seem to be a skilled warrior. You must be quite a renowned fighter."
Seras tightened her grip on her sword.
"What if I refuse the offer you made?"
"We will inflict the suffering of a curse. A cruel suffering that will make you regret being alive."
"…"
"Our curses are powerful, you know? Even the Five Dragon Warriors could not resist our curses."
"Did you really kill the Five Dragon Warriors?"
"Yes. Even 'humanity's strongest' is powerless before the curse—now then, what will you do? Would it not be wiser to become one of us rather than suffer to the end and scatter your life here?"
Seras loosened her stance.
She looked at Muaji with measuring eyes.
After a while, she opened her mouth.
"I understand."
Muaji's thread-like eyes narrowed further.
"A truly wise choice."
"I do not think I can win against this number, and it is only a matter of time before we are found and captured."
"You also have the ability to face reality and read ahead. A wonderful talent."
"However, there is one condition."
"Let us hear it."
"Please promise the safety of Eve and the girl."
"We currently have strong influence over the ducal house that is pursuing you. We will definitely keep that promise."
"…Very well. Then I will guide you to the leopard person and the girl."
She turned on her heel.
"Everyone, follow me."
Seras began to walk.
The leading Ashinto started to follow.
Then,
"So that is what this is about."
Muaji stopped his subordinates.
"Lord Muaji…?"
Seras stopped walking.
"…What is it?"
"You have no intention of obediently handing over the leopard person and the girl. Am I correct?"
Seras did not answer the question.
Instead, she turned around.
She readied her sword.
"Why did you notice…?"
"There was a sense of incongruity in your words. Earlier you said 'everyone.' However, is it necessary to bring everyone along? A few escorts should be sufficient. Yet you tried to lead all of us into the grove."
Seras bit the corner of her lip.
Muaji continued.
"No, in reality there may not even be a need to lure us into the grove. For example, something like—"
Muaji opened one eye.
"As long as you can draw us within a certain range, that would be enough… correct?"
"…Kuh."
"Conversely, that means the trap is meaningless at this distance… everyone, keep your distance and take an attack stance."
Muaji raised his hand and gave instructions.
"Maintain the attack stance. Be ready to fire arrows at any moment."
Arrows were aimed at Seras.
She smiled slightly defiantly.
"You are not going to kill me with your specialty curse?"
Muaji returned the smile.
"The Ashinto present here are a special unit directly under me called 'curse users.'"
"Curse users?"
"Let me explain specially. They are the ones who carry on the will of the Assassin Guild."
Seras knew that name.
"The Assassin Guild…"
"Oh? You have heard of it? How unusual."
"I have a hobby of rummaging through old documents. However, the Assassin Guild should no longer exist. Because—"
"Yes, the Assassin Guild was almost completely eradicated by the otherworld heroes in the past. After defeating the primordial evil and losing their main purpose, the heroes designated the Assassin Guild as the next 'evil.'"
Seras also knew this as knowledge.
"The heroes went around destroying Assassin Guilds across the continent one after another. Even after that, members of the Assassin Guild were hunted by the heroes and their descendants, imprisoned, and killed. As time passed, the existence of the Assassin Guild was forgotten…"
"The purpose of you people is to revive the Assassin Guild?"
"No, no. We are simply taking over the work that the Assassin Guild once carried out. As a curse user group. However—"
"The methods are the same as those of the Assassin Guild…"
"That is how it will be."
In the tavern in the royal capital of Monroy, the father of the man who had argued with the Ashinto.
He had collapsed foaming at the mouth and lost consciousness.
That was not a curse, but—
"Your weapon is poison, isn't it?"
"You are correct."
The guild that came to mind when thinking of assassins was poison.
"However, we possess advanced poisons that are difficult to identify as poison. There is also a wide variety. From those that cause numbness to fast-acting lethal poisons. However, these advanced poisons can only be made using special compounding methods possessed by the few surviving descendants of Assassin Guild members."
While rubbing the ground with the sole of his shoe, Muaji continued.
"And above all, cleaning up without leaving traces… is the specialty of the Assassin Guild."
Assassination using advanced poisons that leave no traces.
That was the true identity of the "curse technique" used by the Ashinto.
However, possession of poison itself is banned in many countries.
Open circulation is also prohibited.
Two countries in particular strictly ban the possession and use of poison.
The Principality of Jonato and the Kingdom of Alion.
These two countries designated poison as "something evil."
Possessors and users are severely punished.
"After poisoning and erasing the traces, you people spread the results of your assassinations as 'curse techniques'…"
Once it was revealed that the weapon was poison, it became clear.
The poison was a specially made one that was difficult to identify as poison.
Naturally, they also knew how to introduce the poison into the body without being noticed.
And cleaning up the traces using assassin techniques was their specialty.
When these elements came together, the "curse" was complete.
Poison is banned from possession and use in many countries.
That is why they changed its name to "curse" and used it.
The concept of "curse" is troublesome.
It is an uncertain concept that cannot be proven to exist.
But conversely, its non-existence also cannot be proven.
"And then the incident with the Black Dragon Knights fell into our laps. Especially the deaths of the Five Dragon Warriors—"
Seras anticipated Muaji's words and spoke first.
"Cannot be explained except by a curse that transcends human knowledge."
"Excellent understanding. Yes. That is why we deliberately called ourselves the Black Dragon Slayers. To make people believe in the existence of the curse."
Indeed, there were points about the killing of the Five Dragon Warriors that could not be explained.
"Who killed them?"
It was not thought that Seras Ashrain could have defeated them.
In fact, she was generally believed to be already dead.
Currently, no one could think of anyone who could have killed them.
There was no suitable candidate that everyone could accept.
No one except those who had been at the scene at the time knew anything.
If so—
It would not be strange to think it might have been the power of a curse.
"However, do you not think that the real killer of the Five Dragon Warriors might contact you after learning that your story is a lie?"
"Fufu, it seems you do not understand. The reason that person was able to defeat the Five Dragon Warriors was also thanks to our 'curse,' you know?"
"…"
No matter how far this goes, it can only end in a water-treading argument.
They were able to win thanks to the curse.
Conversely, there is no way to prove it was not the power of a curse.
This is something that even the person who killed the Five Dragon Warriors cannot prove.
In a sense, it is an invincible logic.
"The non-existence of the curse cannot be proven by anyone. It might have been the power of a curse. As long as that uncertain state continues, it will always be our victory. In this world, the one who insists wins unless there is evidence."
"…Do you not think that the real killer of the Five Dragon Warriors might target you people?"
"If such a person appears, we will assassinate them when we see an opening. To be honest, we believe we could have won even against the Five Dragon Warriors. It is true that Shibito Gartland may have had the strongest combat ability. But in this world, the ones truly worthy of being called the strongest are assassins. There is no need to fight fairly and squarely. Those who excel at using schemes and poison to kill are actually the strongest existences."
"…What is the purpose of you people?"
"Assassination brings in money. And in the world of nobles, there are many who wish to kill those who stand in their way. Ultimately, we plan to use the Duke Zuan house as a foothold to eat into the center of the country."
"While eliminating those who stand in the way through assassination?"
"Yes. In the end, we will take this country for ourselves."
"Manipulating Ulza from behind the scenes."
"That is the plan."
(So they want to gain more favor with the ducal house by capturing Eve and raising their achievements… this too is exactly as Lord Touka predicted…)
"By the way—"
Muaji asked.
"Where are your other companions?"
"Besides Eve and the girl, I am alone."
Seras answered that way.
But Muaji did not believe it.
"It is hard to believe that you would face us alone."
Seras spun her mind.
"…"
She raised her hand to her face.
For a moment, the Ashinto started to move to attack.
But Muaji stopped them.
Seras removed the fly mask while saying,
"Let me explain the reason why I believe I can face all of you alone."
She released the transformation.
"Because I am the one who faced the Five Dragon Warriors and survived."