Isekai Assassin: Volume 1 Page 17

  The top of his head was a mere foot from where I was crouched. If he looked up, he’d see my shadowed form staring down at him. But he didn’t. He was too focused on the decanter of wine and the wine glasses in his hand to notice me.

  “I sent a runner to check the prisons personally. He’s still wrapped in chains.”

  “That’s some relief to hear.” Count Vohra turned back to his guest and held up the glass. “Would you care for some wine, Captain?”

  “Please.” He nodded.

  Vohra poured two glasses and sat back down, sliding the less full one over to his guest.

  “What is that fool doing?”

  “Charles?” Mays asked.

  He nodded, taking a sip of his wine. His lips smacked as he finished before he sighed in content. “I pay him well to keep me abreast of everything that’s going on with the criminals in this forsaken city, and he can’t even do that properly.”

  Captain Mays looked at the glass and back to Vohra. He picked up his glass and knocked it back, downing it in two large gulps.

  “Sir, if I may, if Charles works for you, why confiscate his shipment of Thanatos?”

  Count Vohra scoffed. “To teach that ingrate a lesson. Every once in a while, he gets emboldened and tries to expand his little empire. I can’t have that, so I have to step in and remind him who’s in charge.”

  His words sent a shiver down my spine, and my lips parted in surprise, letting out an almost inaudible gasp.

  There it is!

  Your Eavesdropping skill has increased by1! [Eavesdropping: 1 (Novice)] +25 Exp!

  Everything makes sense now—no wonder this city is in shambles.

  The criminals were unorganized by design, rather than a lack of drive. There actually was an organization to the underworld, but it started and ended with Charles. He made sure to keep the others in disarray while he built up his drug business, ensuring that he was the only one making any profit and leaving the rest of the city to fend for itself.

  Charles got to get rich, and Count Vohra didn’t have to worry about anything but a simple drug dealer in his city.

  It was clever and an impressive plan on the count’s part. But I’m guessing the count went too far this time when he confiscated his drugs.

  Enter me.

  I walked in right when Charles had a problem that just so happened to require my special talents. It was almost too convenient.

  Weilin. Has to be.

  He inserted me into this world at the right time when my skills would be put to the test almost immediately. It was rather impressive on his part, but it was still annoying to have to dance to the god’s tune.

  Though he gave me a second chance, so that has to be worth something.

  The god and his plans were something I had to figure out, but that was a far-off goal in the future. There was too much I needed to do in the present to worry about that right now.

  And it seemed one of the things I needed to do was deal with Charles. To begin with, he was a scumbag, but now I knew he was actively working against my interests. Against the entire city’s interests to further himself.

  I shook my head and resisted the urge to sigh. He isn’t worthy of leading the city’s underworld. He’s nothing more than a plant by the count.

  He’ll need to be dealt with.

  Which left me with no other contact in the city to provide me with work. Which meant I wouldn’t be getting any more contracts.

  Could always take over for Charles. He wasn’t a capable leader. I could be.

  There it was again.

  That thought.

  Take over the underworld.

  It wouldn’t be that difficult with my skills, but taking over the city’s seedier side and growing a thriving business were two different matters entirely.

  There was too much I didn’t know in how to run a business to do it justice by myself, but that could be solved at a later date. I didn’t have to deal with all of it at once. Or all by myself.

  If I was going even to attempt something like that, I would need support.

  But it was too big of a thought at the moment. I’d need to sit down and think long and hard about what I wanted to do.

  I’ll deal with Charles and go from there. He is my biggest problem at the moment.

  With my plans having changed, I knew I wouldn’t be stealing the count’s seal today. I’d lose out on the vahn and the experience, but I couldn’t have the count realize someone broke in. He’d double the guards and make it that much harder for me in the future when I finally went after his contract.

  Quest: Steal Count Vohra’s Seal Failed

  Reward: 0 Exp

  Oh well, it couldn’t be helped.

  Besides, I could always just take the money off Charles’s corpse.

  The count and the captain kept chatting for a few more minutes, bouncing ideas on how to sell the Thanatos shipment without Charles’s network, but nothing they came up with had any merit.

  After about twenty minutes of not getting anywhere, Captain Mays made an excuse about having to check on his patrols and left the mansion.

  Leaving me with the count.

  There was never a better time to kill him than the one presented to me. But I was sure that now was not the right time to kill him.

  No, he’s not my target today.

  But someone else was.

  Chapter 14- Death of a Salesman

  All I had to do was wait for the count to leave his study, and I could make my escape.

  My freedom came about an hour after the captain left. There was a knock on the door, and the count was called away for some matter of business, giving me my opportunity to leave as well.

  I slipped out of the manor as carefully as I could, moving past the guards like a wraith. I hopped the gate in a matter of minutes. Then I was out of the Noble District and back to the city proper less than half an hour after that.

  Though I wanted to take my time walking back to the bar. Because what I was planning required some deeper thought.

  I’ve killed powerful men before. Nearly all of my targets have been powerful in one way or the other, but after they’re dead, I haven’t lingered and taken over their business.

  This is all new territory for me.

  Charles had to die.

  He was a poison that had infected the city and rotted it from the inside. He would eventually infect my interests if I let him. I would end his life, but that left a vacuum that I didn’t know if I could fill.

  I’m going to need help. I sighed. Which means I need to talk to Aless.

  She’d asked about becoming my apprentice, but taking her under my wing wasn’t something that I was thrilled about. I didn’t want to trust her, but she had contacts in the pickpockets, and this whole thing had quickly spiraled out of something I could control by myself.

  If she can rally the pickpockets and perhaps the beggars, that would give me a good foundation for everything else.

  What I would need almost as much as money was information. I could kill those who acted against me and get a basic structure in place, but this was a task that would take months or years to get fully set up.

  Well, if this is something I’m actually considering, best get started.

  First things first, I had to find Aless. If I was going to bring her over, I would do so completely, but I would also keep her close and watch her. Make sure I could trust her.

  And if I couldn’t, or she betrayed me, then she would die.

  I headed towards the outer parts of the city, trying to locate her in the city's chaos. It took a little while, only because the city was massive, and the rough parts of Vohra were almost like a maze as I weaved through small, cobbled streets and decrepit back alleys.

  But I still managed to find her after a couple of hours.

  It was mostly by happenstance, as I caught a flicker of red hair in my peripheral as I passed by. I kept going, acting like I hadn’t noticed her. My hood was up, and I’d changed clothing si
nce we’d spoken, so I knew she wouldn’t have recognized me.

  I took the next alley and flanked her. I slid up behind her and crouched. Waiting and watching.

  She leaned back against the alley wall, watching the comings and goings of the citizens, searching for a mark.

  Though Aless had skill and she never looked directly at any of her potential marks, her eyes still narrowed, and she tensed when she finally picked the right target.

  It was kind of cute to watch and impressive at the same time. Like a child who just learned how to walk, and it suddenly takes off into a sprint. She had talent, but she was eager, and it affected her movements.

  Aless leaned up and drew her cloak closer to her. She shifted to the balls of her feet and prepared to go after her mark. I couldn’t let that happen.

  I shuffled forward and wrapped my hand around her neck, pulling her back into the darkened alley. My knife went to her chest, right over her heart.

  She panicked and fought against me on instinct. I caught her wrist as she tried to slug me.

  “Don’t struggle,” I whispered into her ear. “There’s more important prey for us to hunt.”

  Aless turned her head, her silver eyes lighting up as our eyes met. “Elias!” she said in a hushed shout, her body relaxing.

  I tried not to notice her warm body pressed against me as she leaned back before standing up and turning to face me. I removed my knife away from her and stowed it away.

  She shoved me, frowning. “Scared the fuck outta me!”

  “Needed to find you,” I said, grinning. “Not my fault you weren’t paying attention to your surroundings. I’ve been watching you for a good few minutes. That’s on you.”

  “Yeah, but couldn’t you have waited until after I’d finished? That woman had a purse full of vahn. It’d have bought me food for a month,” she replied, folding her arms across her chest.

  “Couldn’t risk you getting caught.” I shook my head. “As I said, we’ve got bigger game than an old lady's purse.”

  Her eyes widened, and her breath caught. “Does that mean you changed your mind?”

  What’s with this girl? No one who gets into this life does so because they want to. But despite that, I couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm. Though starvation is plenty of motivation.

  I knew she probably had a rough life; her slightly gaunt features spoke of that. I couldn’t fault her for trying to survive. And I bet the winters here are brutal. She sees me as a way out of her current predicament. I could understand that. It was the same for me when I was younger. I’d have done anything to survive.

  “Maybe.” I shrugged. “But I need to know if you realize what you’re getting yourself into. As I said. I’m an assassin. I kill people for a living.”

  She nodded. “I know. You said as much. But you never told me why you do it. Before I agree to anything, I want an answer to my question.

  “Why do you kill?”

  “This again.” I sighed and leaned back against the alley wall. “I told you, it’s─”

  “Complicated, yeah. I remember. But you came to me, so you need my help. Uncomplicate it for me.”

  Aless was right. I did need her help, and despite the fact I didn’t like her tone, I could afford to extend a little trust to the girl who I was considering becoming my apprentice.

  “Fine.” I nodded, brushing my hair back as I crossed my arms. “But it’s not exactly a short story.”

  She held her hands up. “Since you interrupted my work, I’ve got nothing but time. So, spill it.”

  “You’re infuriating, you know that? But fine,” I said, trying to figure out where to begin. “I guess, at first, it was just a way to survive.

  “My family was butchered when I was a child, my home burned to the ground. I ran and eventually boarded a ship bound for London. But it wasn’t a very forgiving city, and to keep from starving, I picked pockets. And one day, I tried picking the pocket of the man who would become my master.” I smiled at Aless. “Much like you did.”

  She blushed slightly, but her eyes were wide, enraptured, obviously telling me to continue.

  “He caught me immediately, and I expected to lose a hand. But instead of turning me in, he offered me a chance for a different life. Why he picked me, I’ll never know. Though lord knows I asked him enough times.

  “He trained me. For years, nearly a decade, I studied under him. Until eventually, I passed his tests and became an assassin. I survived and passed my maiden blooding. I then started taking contracts on my own and made more money than I’d ever dreamed of. And if you’d have asked me then, I’d have told you that was why I killed people. Because of the coin I made, and the lifestyle it afforded me.”

  “But that wasn’t the truth?” she asked, her eyes studying me like a book.

  “It was…and it wasn’t.” I picked at a single hair on my chin while I glanced away from her. I sighed and shook my head. “I thought it was, but after a few years, at the height of my career, I’d amassed more money than I could ever hope to spend in a lifetime. I lived as good as any highborn noble and could have retired and lived a life of excess.”

  “But you didn’t?” She stood up from the wall opposite me and took a single step. “Why not?”

  “Because killing was what I was good at. And if you’d have asked then, my answer would have been that. I was an assassin because I was good at it.” I shook my head, running my fingers through my hair again, tugging at the loose strands. “But if I’m being honest, that’s a half-truth.”

  Aless came to rest beside me, kicking at a stray piece of trash in the alley as she leaned against the wall next to me.

  “So, what’s the full truth? C’mon, you can’t hold out on me now after you’ve come so far.”

  I didn’t know why I was so honest with her. Maybe because no one had ever asked before and taken an actual interest in me. Even with Liz, we’d never confided in each other. This was new and incredibly unnerving.

  Her eyes met mine, and she smiled, prodding me with her knuckles to continue.

  I sighed and looked away as shame crept up my neck. “After twenty years as an assassin, I realized that it was never about the money or simply because I was good at it.” I looked up and forced myself to meet her gaze. “The truth is that I’m an assassin because I like it. Not the act of killing itself, but the challenge it offers me.

  “When all is said and done, I’m an assassin because I love the challenge. I love pitting myself against someone else and coming out the victor.”

  Aless didn’t say anything for a moment. We just stared into each other’s eyes. I don’t know what she saw in mine, but I had the distinct feeling she was taking the measure of me. It was strange being on the receiving end of such a stare.

  But I found I didn’t mind staring into her eyes. They were gorgeous.

  Eventually, she broke contact and stood. I tugged my hood over my head as she walked in front of me and nodded.

  “I can understand that. About loving the challenge. It was what I loved about being a thief. The challenge each house or manor brought me was better than anything else in this world. I miss that feeling.”

  Hope filled her eyes.

  “I want to become your apprentice.”

  “You want to kill people?”

  Aless opened her mouth to respond, but she quickly shut it again. To her credit, it was a question that couldn’t be answered instantly. It told me something very important about her that I needed to know.

  She was a girl in a bad situation, living in squalor in a run-down section of the city and getting by on what she could steal. She was desperate for an escape, but if she had just blurted out that she was fine with killing people, I’d have never taken her on.

  I sighed, running a hand through my hair, knocking back my hood. “Most people think killing is hard. But since we’re being honest with each other, I’ll tell you another truth.

  “It’s not. Killing is easy. One of the easiest things in the w
orld.” I stepped to her and brought my hand to her outer thigh. “A cut here.” Then I brought it to her pale neck. “A puncture here.”

  Her breath caught as my hands met her body, her eyes going wide at my words.

  “Humans are such fragile creatures that taking life is as easy as breathing, but that’s not the hard part.

  “It’s what comes after.”

  My hands went to her shoulders as her hood slipped off her head by an errant gust of bracing wind. It blew through the alley and scattered her hair around her forehead while her large eyes stared at me unblinking. She didn’t even breathe.

  “Killing stays with you. It gnaws at your soul and stains it black.” I sighed. “The only consolation I can offer is that it does get easier. Like anything, the more you do it, the easier it becomes.

  “This life is bloody and cruel…can you handle it?”

  Aless backed away from me, never breaking eye contact, though. She processed what I’d said and paused, pondering the question for a long while. She hit the wall and slid down it, her arms wrapping around her knees. Her eyes dropped from mine, and she heaved a weighty sigh.

  “I don’t know.”

  After several incredibly long minutes, she stared back up at me.

  “All I do know is that I’m tired of living this way. Running from mark to mark so that I can afford to eat for another week. My life used to have purpose, but now, I’m withering away to nothing. I don’t care what path it is anymore. I want the strength I once had to be the one who decides my fate from now on.

  “If that means I have to stain my soul with blood to do it, I will. For the opposite is to let this city tear me down into nothing.”

  Her eyes narrowed; a decision made. She refused to accept her fate.

  That was an action I could respect.

  I nodded holding my hand out to her. “Okay. Then come with me. There is somewhere we have to be.”

  She smiled, fire brimming in her eyes as she took it and I pulled her up.

  “You lead, I follow.”

  A second gust of wind blew through the alley, but we were long gone.

  The two of us made our way back to The Cracked Cask. It’d been several hours since I’d left, and the place had grown considerably livelier as the day descended toward night. Nearly a dozen patrons sat around the tables and booths, drinking and eating their fill.