I smiled, and Rick grimaced. Sia was expressionless as always but let out a quiet sigh. Tiegel just blinked at me.
“If I have something sharp, I might accidentally kill them,” I explained. “But if I hold back, the most I could do with this is knock them out or give them a lump on their head.”
Well, I could kill them by causing internal bleeding of the brain.
“I see. It’s not for attacking. It’s actually the opposite. It’s a weapon to not kill someone with,” said Tiegel.
“Exactly.”
The fan with a butterfly and flowers on it was black, so it wasn’t immediately obvious it was metal.
“Oh, and I have a present for you,” said Rick. “Sia.”
“One moment.” Sia brought something else. It was one of the weapons Rick developed. He called it a “gun.”
I’d tried one during a mission once before. It was so loud everyone would know where I was, and it took time to reload the bullets, making it unsuited for assassination.
“I improved it based on your report,” he said.
“It’s smaller than before,” I observed.
“Yep. I call it a ‘miniature gun.’”
So, the name’s the same?
I picked it up to find it was much lighter than the one he gave me before. This one could be easily concealed on my person. The previous one always created a conspicuous bulge wherever I tried to hide it in my clothes, meaning I couldn’t use it for assassinations. Which was unfortunate because it was capable of doing so much damage.
“And one more thing,” said Rick as he took a ring from his pocket. It had two crossing loops of different blues with a diamond set in the center. “The stone in the center is a magic stone.”
A magic stone… Stones holding all sorts of magic were said to have been created by the people of times long past and were incredibly rare and valuable as the methods for refining them were lost.
They looked exactly like any other gemstone, so it wasn’t uncommon for people to conceal their existence by pretending they were gems. This ring’s magic stone also looked like a normal diamond at first glance.
“This ring has magic for silencing. This will solve the loudness issue,” said Rick.
I appreciated it, but I’d only just got him to get this metal fan for me. With the gun, I’d have to be extra careful not to kill those nuisances from Rienbul.
“You’re in charge of defending royalty on this mission,” he continued. “It will be more dangerous than anything you’ve faced before. We need to make sure you’re fully equipped.”
Defending royalty?
“I will not allow you to take him.”
“I will go down with you, if need be, to protect him.”
The last person I tried to kill in my former life was the country’s crown prince. The knight defending him took me down with him. We both died. How ironic was it that I’d be defending a prince in this life?
I took the gun and bullets from Sia and slipped them into my clothes. I also picked up the ring from Rick’s hand and slid it on my finger.
Tiegel stared at me while I did.
“What?” I asked.
“It’s nothing.”
“Huh?”
Tiegel’s eyes jerked away, and Rick chortled.
I have no idea what that was about, but…whatever.
“Tiegel, let’s go home. Starting tomorrow, we’re going to be very busy,” I said, and Tiegel nodded.
“Be careful,” said Rick. “The insignificant ones can cause the most trouble.”
“I know,” I said.
I’ve seen enough of those fools for a lifetime. People who don’t understand their lack of strength and continue a pointless and distasteful struggle. In my past life, I saw it in the slums. In my current life, I see it in noble society.
The residents of the slums and noble society are all the same: they don’t understand the concept of waiting for their time to come, instead flailing pathetically until the very end, where, sometimes, they take themselves out in some massive inferno.
That’s why you couldn’t let your guard down with them.
They are the ugliest and most troublesome people on the planet, those insignificant people.
“Then all’s good,” said Rick.
I have to protect a prince who doesn’t truly understand that fact while dealing with two of those insignificant people. And I’m not even a knight who’s sworn an oath or even a bodyguard. I’m just an assassin.