“My, I didn’t expect the elder to lose.”
A short distance away from Orwell stood a woman in a bright red dress, smoking a cigar next to a carriage. She was Mistress, the boss of a criminal organization called the Company. Around her were black-clad men standing alert to answer her orders.
“Our dear Millicia and her boyfriend are pretty good. I suppose it’s time for the Bone-Eating General to pay the piper.” Mistress chuckled, and the tip of her tongue peeked out of her crimson lips like a snake.
While there was nothing to respect about the vile and foul old man as a person, his skills as an assassin were the real deal. He stopped at nothing to catch his targets, pursuing them like a pack of hyenas without regard for casualties. Nobody wanted him as their enemy.
“To think that cunning assassin died—no, was killed...”
“I’m not dead yet.”
“Oh...?” Mistress heard a tiny, hoarse voice coming from below her. When she looked down, she spotted a small skeleton mouse peeking inside the skirt of her dress. She blinked a few times in surprise but quickly followed with a bewitching smile. “Is that you, Elder? You look quite adorable like this. What happened?”
“I used Soul Copy before the battle, just in case.”
“Could you explain...?”
“It’s a secret necromantic spell that copies a part of the caster’s soul into an animal or other vessel to avoid death.” The skeleton mouse let out an eerie cackle. “They must think they’ve killed me, but they’re wrong! Pretty cheeky for brats who haven’t even lived two decades!”
Mistress listened silently.
“I shall definitely make them pay one day! I’ll turn their family, their friends—everyone with any connection to them—into bones and suck them all dry!”
“Incidentally, Elder... How are you planning to do that in your current form?” Mistress asked.
The skeleton mouse tilted its head and pondered the question. “Well, I lost almost all of my mana, so I will need a lot of time to restore my strength. In my current form, even a cat could kill me, so... Say, young lady, would you mind taking care of—”
“Do it.”
“Yes, Mistress!”
An explosive sound rang out, and the skeleton mouse was destroyed, leaving nothing but a hole in the ground. Without being noticed, one of Mistress’s subordinates had approached and was now pointing a black weapon at the ground. It was a gun, a weapon that launched bullets by detonating a substance called gunpowder. Firearms were useless against people and monsters who could strengthen themselves with mana, so they weren’t widely used. However, anyone could use a gun, so all the members of the Company wielded them.
“Sorry, Elder. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to bring down a troublesome business rival.” Mistress laid a finger on her lips and giggled, purring like a contented cat.
She found it strange that the cunning old man had appeared to her in such a weak state, though. Had he been that backed into a corner? Or, perhaps, he had thought Mistress would help him?
Either way, now the Bone-Eating General was well and truly dead.
“Well then, now that the lead actor is gone, it’s time to bring the curtain down. Send the signal,” Mistress ordered.
“Yes, Mistress!” one of the black-clad men answered, then raised a white flag in the direction of the town.
“Goodbye, Millicia. I hope you die for good this time.”
The next instant, there was a deafening explosion, and the town was engulfed in blazing red flames.