Isekai Assassin: Volume 1 Read online

  “Why?” he asked, dropping to his knees.

  I walked over, grabbed him by the hair, and bared his throat.

  “Because you had a contract on your head.” I stepped to the side and slashed his throat. “It was nothing personal, believe me.”

  His body tumbled to the crimson rug, and his life mixed and soaked into the fibers. As he lay there, I knelt. I pulled the knife from his chest and plunged it back to the hilt twice more.

  Just to make sure the job was complete.

  When I killed someone, I made sure they wouldn’t be getting back up. There was nothing more embarrassing for an assassin than to think you’ve killed a target and for them to get back up after you’ve left.

  With the lieutenant dead, my job was done.

  1 Kill (Human): +100 Exp!

  I stood and wiped my brow as my heart rate settled. Sweat beaded on my skin, and my breathing was tight.

  Must be the cost of using the skill.

  Odd, I don’t feel any different after those skill increases. I wonder why?

  The only logical thought was that the system couldn’t reflect my skills. I’d trained for years, and even if the system awarded me journeyman level in a few skills, the reality was that they were far beyond that level.

  The system must be playing catch up with my years of training. It was the only thing that made sense and brought up an interesting thought.

  I wonder what I’ll be like when the system outpaces my natural talent?

  My head swam with fatigue, and I had to stop thinking and concentrate on calming myself. It soon disappeared, and I returned to normal. All I had to do was go back to the bar and complete the quest.

  But there was something I wanted to do here first.

  I left the body cooling on the floor and turned to the desk.

  What I needed was proof of the deed. At the height of my career, just my word alone had been good enough, but in this new world, I was betting that wouldn’t work for Charles.

  With its papers strewn everywhere, I snagged the lieutenant’s personal wax seal.

  This will serve as good as anything else.

  I was about to leave when a thought struck me.

  The lieutenant seemed to know something about the drug shipment. I wasn’t hopeful that I’d learn anything useful, but there was a chance there was some information on the lost shipment somewhere I could take back.

  I hadn’t been hired to find the shipment, but I figured while I was here, might as well see if I couldn’t earn favor and more coin from the man who it seemed would be issuing me my contracts for the foreseeable future.

  Can’t really stand the man, but when have I ever liked the people who issued my contracts?

  The people who needed an assassin were never moral, upstanding paragons. I’d gotten used to working with rather unpleasant individuals. Their coin still spent as well as any other.

  As I searched the desk, I came across several documents, none of which made much sense to me. Letters and correspondence with other nobles mostly, talking about mundane things. But there were a few notes that seemed guard related. A few patrol routes for the squads under the lieutenant’s command and a note about the missing Thanatos shipment.

  It seems that the lieutenant suspected Count Vohra as the man responsible for confiscating the shipment once it arrived.

  Though he has no proof.

  I took the note and stowed it in my pocket. I also found a rather large coin purse in one of the drawers and took that as well.

  Resorting to thievery? I chuckled and stowed the coin purse at my waist—desperate times.

  I’d count it later, but it was heavy, and I was hoping it, along with the vahn from my contract, would be enough to get me suitably equipped.

  There was also a small, black notebook hidden in a space between the desk and the drawer. It was a common hiding spot for information, so I always checked the usual places when I searched a room.

  I flipped it open, and it seemed to be a cross between a journal and a list of names. From a glance, it seemed the book detailed a list of guards who the late lieutenant thought were on Count Vohra’s payroll.

  Corrupt guards. Now that’s handy.

  Back on Earth, information like that would’ve been some of the most valuable information I could’ve gleaned. But now.

  There’s hardly any organization to the city—no one to make proper use of this information.

  Maybe I’ll just hold onto it for a while, see if an opportunity can come from it later down the road.

  The journal went into my pocket, and I left the now lifeless house of Ildan.

  Chapter 11- Eyes in the Dark

  As I exited the Ildan manor, my skin tingled once more, and goosebumps traveled up my arm.

  I’m still being watched.

  Someone’s eyes were on the house, but they weren’t on me. I was still wreathed in shadow, and I used a different exit than the balcony I’d used to enter. I knew no one was staring at me, but there was still someone staring at the house.

  I hadn’t been wrong about my assessment, but I now knew that whoever it was, wasn’t on the side of the law.

  If they had been, they’d have already called the City Watch. Which meant it was someone with ignoble intentions.

  Let’s go say hello.

  I backed away from the street, making sure to stay hidden as I dropped to the ground and made my way to the mansion next door. I scaled the fence and went around the back of it before I doubled back and climbed the roof of the manor, for which I received another point in my climbing skill.

  Your Climbing skill has increased by 1! [Climbing: 3 (Novice)] +25 Exp!

  I made sure I had a good vantage point and could also get to the ground quickly. From there, I crouched and watched, trying to find the person who was watching the place.

  To their credit, it took me a good few moments to spot them.

  They were good, hiding under an overhang that cast a heavy shadow on the ground. They were pressed to the wall, bathed in complete darkness. If I hadn’t been looking for them, I’d have missed them entirely.

  Good instincts on that one. Just not good enough.

  They clung too close to the wall. It gave their outline more substance, making them ever so visible to me.

  I hopped down to the grass and made my way across the street. From there, I went around to the back of the house where the watcher was located and climbed to the eaves just above them.

  I was silent as I approached. Their breathing was light, short inhalations that told me exactly where they were. I shifted to the balls of my feet and drew my dagger. I timed my jump on their exhale, using the subtle sound to mask the weight of my boots as I vaulted down.

  Your Acrobatics skill has increased by 1! [Acrobatics: 3 (Novice)] +25 Exp!

  As I landed, I spun and had my blade to their throat before they could take another breath.

  “So why are you watching the house?” I asked as my eyes adjusted.

  From the darkness around me, I could make out the shape of a small girl wearing a familiar hood.

  I tore it from her head and stared down at the pickpocket from the other day.

  She followed me? No. Impossible. I’d have noticed. But she knew where I was going, she told me herself. She waited and followed me from the bar.

  I didn’t pick up on her tail. Is that a point for her or one against me? Regardless, it means she’s very good.

  That was over three days ago, though. Has she been waiting here this entire time?

  “Why are you following me?” I hissed, leaning in close.

  We were on top of a house that didn’t belong to either of us, and I didn’t want anyone coming out to find us before I could kill the girl and get away.

  Her eyes went wide. “What? How did you─” The gray in her eyes sparkled even in the darkness. “That was amazing.”

  Her disjointed sentences made no sense. I pressed the knife harder to her neck.

  “Answer the
question. Now.”

  She began to shout, her voice rising quickly. “Don’t kil─”

  I pressed my hand to her mouth and stared hard at her. I sliced into her neck, drawing a sliver of blood.

  “Yell, talk loudly, or try to move from this spot and you’ll be dead before you have time to wonder where everything went wrong. Do you understand?”

  Her eyes stayed wide, but she nodded frantically, her warm breath exhaling around my palm. It was a cool night, the heat of the summer had long drained away, and the subtle heat was nice against my skin.

  I removed my hand when she finished nodding.

  “Speak.”

  She held her hands up slowly. “I wasn’t following you to hurt you or anything like that. What you said when we met stuck with me. About organization, grouping everything together to make it stronger. I can’t get it out of my head.

  “There hasn’t been any organization to the city in a long damn time, and we’re dying out here because of it. I can’t continue like this. I want to work with you.”

  That’s it?

  She wasn’t lying, I could tell.

  I sighed, shaking my head. “Pass. Sorry, but now I have to kill you.”

  The girl grabbed my arms, careful not to bump the hand holding the knife to her neck.

  “Wait, wait, wait,” she pleaded, her eyes wide. “Please. I can help you. I can. You’re new here, right? I can show you around, help you get your bearings. There’s so much about this city that you’ll never discover on your own. I can be of use to you in a hundred different ways. Whatever you need, I can help. I promise.”

  Her words screamed desperation, but I’d have been desperate if I was as close to dying as she was.

  My initial response was to just slit her throat and be done with it. She’d followed me, and I hadn’t picked up on it. That made her a threat and a dangerous one at that.

  The smart plan was to kill her and leave her body where it lay.

  Though she’s right. There’s still much I don’t know about this city. I don’t want to have to rely solely on Charles. Weilin knows he’s a scumbag.

  And she was helpful before.

  Maybe I should hear her out. See what she has to say. I can always kill her after we talk.

  After a minute, I nodded, and her shoulders slumped as relief dawned on her face.

  “Alright, let’s talk, but not here. We shouldn’t linger around this place.”

  “Okay. I know a good spot.” She stood from the wall and pointed back toward the entrance of the Noble District. “Follow me.”

  “Be warned. If this is a trap, trust that I’ll know, and I won’t be very happy with you.”

  She smiled. “Don’t worry. I’m well aware that you hold my life in your hands. Trying to trick you is tantamount to committing suicide. I’m a street rat, but that doesn’t mean I’m stupid.” Her eyes lit up as she finished speaking. “Oh, what’s your name?”

  I smirked and withdrew my knife. “Elias. Elias McKinley.”

  “Elias,” she murmured, rolling my name over her tongue as if she were tasting how it felt in her mouth. “Elias McKinley.”

  When she finished saying my name, she held out her hand. “I’m Alessandra. Aless.”

  “Just Aless?” I asked as I took her hand.

  There was something about her, and I couldn’t help but smile as we shook hands. Has a knife to her throat, and she’s still as bold as can be.

  She reminds me of Liz. I like her.

  But she reminded me of Liz. And remember how that turned out.

  Aless nodded and released my hand. “Just Aless. Never had a family to give me a last name.” She motioned toward the exit. “Now, c’mon. I’d say try and keep up, but I have a feeling that won’t be difficult for you.”

  I chuckled, stowing my knife as the two of us ran to the edge and dropped off the roof.

  As we slunk out of the Noble District, I kept an eye on Aless. On the way, she moved as we slowly made our way out.

  I was right, and she had good instincts. Her movements were refined and assured. Which told me she had been trained and trained by someone who knew what they were doing. The way she moved and clung to the shadows told me that she had probably been a thief at one point in her life.

  But that raised a good question.

  If she’d been a thief, why was she now a pickpocket? Run afoul of someone? Or just got tired of the life?

  But if she was a thief, then there would be others. That level of talent told of a group working together.

  Which made me curious about where they were.

  We climbed over the Noble District wall and made our way through the quiet streets to a run-down part of town. It wasn’t the slums. We were well past the slums, and even the cobblestone had given up in favor of mud and muck that could just be called a road.

  The buildings were barely held together enough to call themselves such. Broken windows, crumbling foundations, even some that were half demolished, succumbing to wood rot and termites.

  Aless led me to a building away from most of the others. It was crumbling, nearly destroyed. Most of the first level had sunk into the mud covering everything in this portion of the city. Rot and neglect had worn everything down, leaving the entire structure tilted, like it could come crashing down at any second.

  “What is this place?” I asked as we stopped.

  “Old residential quarter. Used to be home to some lesser nobility until a plague swept through the city. Some twenty years ago now. Hit this part of the city the hardest. Now it's abandoned. City Watch won’t come near it.”

  “Why’s that?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

  She shrugged. “Not really sure. Before I was born. Some people say it’s because the plague was magical in nature. They think it was a curse and that they’ll catch it if they come closer to this part of town.

  I chuckled. “Curse or not. If the guards won’t come near, that makes it the perfect hideout for those who wish not to be found.”

  She tilted her head back, a sly grin gracing her lips. “Exactly.”

  I followed Aless as she clambered over the cracked and broken foundation until we got inside the first-floor parlor. What used to be a parlor. Mold, mice, and rot had set in, turning the furniture and walls to little more than mush.

  “Follow me.”

  She led me to a hallway and to a set of stairs that had broken and fallen through the floor and into the basement ten feet below us. It separated the first and second floors by about an eight-foot gap.

  “Not many people in the city can move the way I do anymore, so this is as safe a place as you’re likely to find in the city.”

  Aless took a running start and jumped. She angled her feet toward the wall and ran along it for a second until she pushed off again, landing on the second floor.

  I raised an eyebrow in surprise.

  I’ve never seen anyone move like that before. Fascinating.

  She grinned as she noticed my expression. “Shown you something you haven’t seen before, I’ll consider that as good a compliment as any.

  “You need me to walk you through how to do it?”

  I shook my head. “I’ve got it.”

  I’d watched her move. All I had to do was replicate it.

  I got into a running position and took off. I leapt and angled my feet like she had and began running along the wall. It seemed as natural as running on a flat surface, but before a second was up, my feet began slipping back toward the ground, and I had to jump.

  With a push, I landed on the second floor next to Aless.

  Your Acrobatics skill has increased by 1! [Acrobatics: 4 (Novice)] +25 Exp!

  “Impressive. Never seen anyone pull it off in one attempt before.”

  “I’m a quick learner,” I said as I stood. “What is this place?”

  Aless held her hand up, gesturing in front of her. “My home.”

  She opened the first door on the right, and I entered a rather large and most
ly empty bedroom. The walls were intact, widows unbroken. So, the room had been spared the elements and was mostly dry and clean.

  The crown molding was missing or cracked, and the paint was peeling off the walls, but beyond that was a well-kept room.

  There wasn’t much furniture save for a bed, which looked to have seen better days but still looked somewhat decent, and a chest in the far corner of the room.

  Clothes lay strewn over the floor at random, most in a small pile at the foot of the bed.

  “Welcome to my humble abode,” Aless said, flopping back on the bed.

  “Not a bad place, but why’d you bring me here?”

  She sat up and crossed her legs. “So we could talk. You wanted a place away from prying eyes and ears. Well, this is the best I have.”

  I leaned against the wall by the door, keeping some distance between us. There was only one exit in the room unless she fancied a swan dive through glass. My hand rested by my dagger. If she tried anything, she’d be dead before she could blink.

  “And what is it you want to know?”

  “I’d like to hear more about what you said when we met. I’d like to do something, unite the pickpockets at the very least.

  “It’s a brilliant idea, and it seems like you have the know-how to pull it off. Something like that would change everything, not just for me, but everyone I know.”

  I scoffed, shrugging. “What you’re asking isn’t that simple, especially in this chaotic city. It would be a lot of work to even begin to teach you everything you’d need to know. Barring your rather decent skills as an infiltrator, what benefit is there for me taking the time to share my secrets with you?”

  “Because I know most of the pickpockets in the city,” she blurted out a little too quickly—her voice rising by an octave. “There might not be anything official in place anymore, but we still look out for each other. We have to if we want to survive.

  “If we work together, I can bring them over to our side. This isn’t something you can do without me.” Her lips lifted in a smile. “And if you kill me, all the pickpockets I know go to ground. While you were watching the house of that lieutenant, I sent word to my friends. If I turn up dead, they’ll scatter to the winds.”