Isekai Assassin: Volume 1 Read online

  I knew what it was called now, at least, and it seemed helpful, if still strange and incredibly out of my purview.

  “What about my level and exp? What do they do?”

  She paused, her situation momentarily forgotten as her eyes filled with confusion. “Seriously? Were you raised by wolves?”

  I dug my knife into her chest, just enough to get my point across.

  “Okay, okay. Damn. You gain experience by completing quests and by gaining skills. You gain enough experience points, and you level up…it’s that simple.”

  I nodded. Never heard of anything like it before, but it logically makes sense.

  “Guess that answers all the questions about the status. Now, about this country? Chordis, you called it. Where can I learn more about this place, about how it all works?”

  Kathlen paused, staring at me like she was looking through me. “I don’t quite understand you. How can you be in this country and not know a thing about it? You’re a strange one. If not for the way you move and speak, I’d say there was something wrong with your head.”

  She muttered under her breath and pointed up. “If you want information and can read. There’s a study on the second floor. This land belonged to the former scribe of Count Vohra. He’s the man in charge of Vohra City.

  “You want answers? Those books and maps upstairs can tell you more than I can. Was just saving them to burn in the winter since none of us could read, but you can do what you want with them.”

  Books, huh? Why would a scribe move all the way out here? Maybe he fell out of favor with this count, whoever they are.

  But those kinds of questions can wait. I’ve got much better ones right now.

  It may not have been much, but a study filled with books would definitely have more answers for me than Kathlen.

  “Alright, thank you for your help. I appreciate it.” I motioned with the knife, digging into her sternum to make her stand. “Let's go outside. I’d rather not get blood everywhere.”

  “What!” Her eyes bulged out of their sockets. ”You’re still going to kill me after I helped you?”

  “Of course,” I replied tersely. “But because you were helpful, I’ll make it quick and as painless as I can.”

  Rage crossed her face as I spoke. Her eyes flicked to my knife, and the decision to try and escape weighed in her mind.

  I sliced into her skin, a shallow wound, but one that would hurt. “You can fight me if you wish, but you’ll still die, and it will be much more painful.” I shrugged. “Your choice.”

  She shook her head, and her eyes cooled.

  “Good choice.”

  I forced her up and immediately got behind her and wrapped my hand around her neck. I pressed the blade to her liver.

  “Now walk.”

  She softly struggled the entire time as we edged closer to the door.

  “Come now. I’m sure there’s some kind of arrangement we can come to,” she said, sashaying her hips and thrusting her ass towards my groin.

  I chuckled. “A couple of minutes ago, you thought I was going to rape you, and now here you are throwing yourself at me.

  “The hell kind of sense does that make?”

  “Whatever keeps me alive.” She tilted her head back toward me and eyed me with one oceanic pupil. “So, what say you, handsome? A nice and slow roll in the sheets and you let me live. That’s a fair trade to me.”

  “Pass.” I dug the knife into her, and that shut her up quickly.

  It wasn’t that I thought she was ugly or that I was immune to her charms. Kathlen was actually quite pretty. But I was a professional, and it wasn’t the first time a woman, or man, had offered themselves to me in exchange for their lives.

  It was usually the first thing women turned to when I cornered them. Men usually went for gold or valuables, but most of my targets attempted some form of bribery.

  And I declined each one.

  Rule number one. Keep your contracts sacred. Never let yourself be bought. Because once they know you can be bought, no one will trust you again.

  “No offense. I’m sure you’re a fantastic lay, but I’ve been tempted by far better than you. And I’ve refused them all.”

  As soon as Kathlen realized that I wouldn’t be swayed, she bucked against me. Her back foot came up hard to connect with my groin.

  It was predictable. The position I was in made a groin kick the easiest method of attempted escape. Though it was never fun to be kicked there, I’d prepared for it, and all she managed was a slight graze before I took her to the ground.

  She groaned as we fell before sucking in a breath as I twisted and removed the knife that she’d fallen on.

  It sunk deep into her side, puncturing her liver.

  I pulled it out and wiped it on her red dress, though red was a really terrible color to hide blood stains.

  “Look at what you did. That’s a slow death for you.” I pressed my hand to her wound and picked her up, carrying her past the lounge room and out the door. “I told you I didn’t want to get blood in my new house, and just look, you’re leaking everywhere.”

  I set her down on the grass just outside. She moaned in pain as her hand went to her side.

  My knife went to her neck.

  “I wished you wouldn’t have struggled. But despite that, you were helpful to me, so I’ll at least give you the quick death I promised.” I pressed the knife into her neck, drawing blood. “I’ll also treat your corpse with respect and give you a proper burial. It’s the best I can offer you.”

  She opened her mouth to protest, but a quick slash, five pounds of resistance, and her words died in her throat.

  Kathlen bled out quickly. She died a better death than she likely deserved.

  When she was dead, I folded her hands over her chest and closed her eyes. I promised her a burial, and that is what I was going to give her.

  Though I’ll dump her henchmen in a mass grave. None of them impressed me. I sighed. Work, work, work.

  After a drink of water from the well to rehydrate myself, I grabbed a shovel that I found in the barn and got to work digging two graves.

  There was a nice little spot in the forest not too far away that would serve as well as any for a gravesite.

  I dug the holes, buried the men in the larger one, and then laid Kathlen’s body in the next one.

  When that was done, I went back into my new home for the time being.

  After a thorough search of the space, I found it had more rooms than I thought.

  The first floor housed the lounge area, kitchen, and a small bedroom. While the upstairs housed the study and master bedroom.

  The furniture was almost identical to the rest of the house—simple quality chestnut wood. The room also held a small wash area that was in a recessed portion of the room.

  I immediately claimed this bedroom as mine and started cleaning to get the bandit stench out of the air.

  There was a washrag in the kitchen that I used to clean up the bloodstains Kathlen dripped everywhere when I carried her out. After that, I went to the master bedroom, took the linens off the bed, and put them in a basket to be washed.

  I was a bit of a neat freak when it came to my living space, a habit born of my profession. Having everything in its proper place was essential in my line of work. I spent the next few hours cleaning the place, making everything spotless, and sifting through the drawers and hiding spots for anything valuable.

  After some light searching, I found a large sack of coins of various colors and sizes. I picked up a small bronze coin with the face of a man I didn’t recognize and the numeral one embossed on the metal.

  This must be a vahn—the currency of the world, or this country at least.

  I took them out and counted them. There were bronze, silver, and gold coins. The bronze was valued at one vahn, the silver at ten, and the gold at twenty-five vahn. I had four hundred and twenty-seven vahn in the bag. Though that didn’t tell me much since I had no idea how much a vahn was wor
th.

  But that was a question for another day. I still had a lot to sort through.

  I sat back on the sofa and let the fatigue of the day drain out of me. There was a lot I had to do, but for a single moment, I just wanted to rest.

  What a day.

  I looked around the alien room that was to be my home for the immediate future. I’m in another world, and I don’t have a clue as to what to do next.

  A low flashing light in the corner of my vision lit up as if reading my mind.

  Oh right, the status screen.

  I focused on it and pulled it up.

  6 Killed: 600 Exp

  Quest: Slay 8 Bandits in Romera Forest Complete!

  Reward: 300 Exp+100 Vahn

  Name: Elias McKinley

  Age: 29

  Race: Human

  Level: 1

  Exp: 1600/9247

  I still only had a sense of how the status magic worked, but at least I wasn’t overwhelmed about it for the time being. I could start to wrap my head around everything now. And I had a place to stay for a while where I could figure out what I needed to know about this world.

  After closing my status, I got up and went to look around when a low rumbling growl came from my stomach.

  There was a lot I still needed to learn, the answers were just a few feet above me, but answers would have to wait.

  I’m famished. Let's get some food and settle in.

  I have a feeling I’m going to be busy for the next few days.

  Chapter 6- Vohra City

  Sweat beaded on my forehead under the beating light of the sun as I knelt. I gathered up the carrots and potatoes I’d picked and stowed them in the wicker basket I carried at my side.

  I sighed to myself as I looked up to a pure blue sky, not a cloud to be seen.

  I forgot how much I hate farming, especially during the summer.

  As I gathered up the produce, my status screen appeared in front of my face.

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

  (Warning! Continued advancement along this path could lead to a potential Job change)

  Do you wish to delete this skill and forfeit the Exp?

  Yes/No?

  Yep. Sure do.

  Every day I came out, tended to the farm, and made sure the vegetables were healthy and growing, and every day I received a skill in farming.

  And every day, I had to delete it. I removed it with impunity. A scorched earth policy that I wished I could say was literal.

  By the grace of God, I hated farming.

  But today was the last day I had to put up with it.

  I’d been here for weeks, and when I wasn’t farming for survival, I was studying everything I could about the world in the library the former owner left behind. It quickly helped to get my bearings in this world.

  I stood and walked past the barn to the chicken coop. I checked on them and gathered up the eggs they’d laid.

  As soon as the eggs were in my basket, I received another notification.

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

  (Warning! Continued advancement along this path could lead to a potential Job change)

  Do you wish to delete this skill and forfeit the Exp?

  Yes/No?

  I sighed. Yes.

  Anything but being a farmer.

  When breakfast was gathered, I went inside to the kitchen.

  It was basic but held everything I needed, including a wood fire stove. While I got the food prepared and the stove lit, I grabbed a cast iron skillet from the rack above the sink. There was a window that looked out to the yard. There was nothing to see but grass and then the forest beyond it, but it was picturesque, and I didn’t hate the view.

  When breakfast was finished, I received another interruption from my status.

  Your Cooking skill has increased by 1! [Cooking: 8 (Novice)] +25 Exp!

  For some reason, progressing with the cooking skill didn’t head toward the Chef Job.

  Guess everyone needs to know how to cook. Man or woman. It doesn’t much matter when you’re hungry.

  I sat down at the kitchen table, and while the meal cooled a bit, I grabbed the latest book I was reading that I’d pulled from the study and flipped it open.

  The title flashed on the cover before I opened it. The Evolution of Beastkin by Robert Germaine.

  Though intermingling of the species has always been frowned upon by the Chordis government and the world’s government as a whole, the species known as Beastkin took a drastic turn in their evolutionary patterns a thousand years ago, turning from the more animalistic monsters to nearly human in some cases as our two species bred.

  Now, over a thousand years after the first of the Beastkin were sighted on the shores of Monros, our two species are very nearly indistinguishable. However, that hasn’t stopped the stigma that accompanies those who share beast blood.

  Those with animalistic attributes, such as animal ears and tails, are still seen as lesser beings. That is until you head to the Pleasure District. From what I’ve observed, fewer people hate the Beastkin than they’d like you to believe.

  But that’s just one writer’s opinion on the subject.

  ─Robert Germaine. 23rd day of the Third of Harvest. Year 1498

  I paused, letting the information sink in.

  A mix between animals and humans? Seriously?

  I scoffed. Though it seems they are seen as lesser beings here. Every world had those who were seen as lesser. But it was nothing but superiority and bullshit. Marcel was Spanish, and though he was looked down upon by every rich, white nobleman he received a contract from, he was still one of the best assassins in the business.

  Skin color didn’t make you different.

  Just as I assumed the Beastkin weren’t that different than humans.

  Some just want to look down on others. It’s human nature.

  A gurgle shook through me and roused me from my thoughts. I closed the book and quickly shut up my rumbling stomach.

  Though I hated farming, I couldn’t deny the benefits of fresh food. The past few weeks I’d spent here had been tedious, sure, but I ate better than I had in years.

  When breakfast was done, I put the dishes in the sink and went upstairs to the study. It was where I spent most of my considerable free time these days.

  Whatever status magic was, it seemed it had an unexpected side effect. It gave me the passive skill, Language Comprehension. It was listed under the other four skills I’d chosen. I just hadn’t noticed it before.

  So with that handy little skill, I could read anything in this world. Even though I was certain the people here didn’t speak English, to my ears, it sounded like they did.

  The study was on the excessive side of things regarding its decoration. It was a place that the former scribe had obviously spent a great deal of time, and the expensive oak desk and leather chair reflected that.

  The walls were lined with bookcases, holding several hundred books. I wasn’t sure at first, but it seemed like the books were valuable but not handwritten. They were all too uniform for that to be the case, so this world must’ve had a way to manufacture and mass-produce books and paper just like Earth did.

  I was overwhelmed at the start, but it seemed a lot of them were fiction, which, while I had a guilty pleasure for reading, I ignored since I wasn’t reading for fun.

  Today was the day I would leave the farmstead, and I searched the shelves until I found a book that I’d already read but wanted a refresher on.

  It was titled A Brief History of the World by Milkesh Rond.

  I picked it up and immediately scoured through it.

  The book was not a light read, and it detailed hundreds of years of history, things that I had no reference for. It was like how I’d imagine a child who just learned how to read, picking up a university-level textbook on the world, would feel.

  I had no context for any of t
he events in the book. But after a few hundred pages, I began to get a better picture of the world and the geopolitical situation.

  There were a lot of wars throughout Xenai’s history. And it seemed most of the countries didn’t exactly get along. There were pages and pages like that of petty wars for one justifiable reason or another. It all tended to blend after a little while.

  But I had to learn about the world, about how it worked, and there was a lot for me to learn. Too much, even with my near unlimited time to do so. I knew that if I studied relentlessly, I still couldn’t learn everything I needed to know about the world in just a few weeks. It would take years, even if I were dedicated.

  Instead, I focused on the country I was in right now and everything I needed to know about it. The rest could come in time.

  The study also contained several maps. The largest being the world map.

  Next to it, I found a bunch of small maps that held the individual countries. They were rough, hand-drawn, but gave a vague outline of the world and countries. I wonder how they created these maps. Earth didn’t have anything like this.

  The answer seemed obvious once I gave it some thought.

  Magic. Has to be.

  I had no idea on the capabilities of magic, but if the status screen was any indication, magic could probably do things I’d never thought possible before.

  After looking through them, I found the one labeled Chordis, brought it to the desk, and unfurled it.

  Almost instantly, I found Romera Forest, which was where I’d been living. Though the map didn’t detail the farm's exact location, I had a good sense of the surrounding area.

  Romera actually spanned a good portion of the continent and acted as a natural barrier to Duram, the next country over.

  But I was more concerned by the cities that were close by.

  Located just a day or so from here, depending on how deep I actually was in the forest, was Vohra City. It was the closest city around. The next closest was Odra, but that was well over four day’s ride, judging by the map.

  As soon as I scanned the map, a new light appeared on the opposite end of my vision.

  A small circle with a sea of green stretching out around it. As I focused on it, it expanded, growing larger. It expanded to fill my eyesight with a semi-transparent map of the country. It showed where I was in the forest and the nearby city of Vohra.