Assassination

I truly hadn't expected a girl of about nine to have this much energy when shopping.

Women, as creatures, seemed to become infinitely strong the moment they went shopping, every cell in their bodies activating and driving them to walk back and forth through the market without end.

And she barely bought anything, either. As a member of the Prodia Family, I didn't really need money in daily life, but I could still receive twenty gold coins every month as pocket money for my own spending.

Most of my gold coins were used to reward the servants. Especially Lilith. So that, after she ran away in the future, she could still live with dignity, I often rewarded her with even more gold coins in private. Even if she didn't earn wages as a maid, the income she should have saved up by now was definitely more than fifty gold coins. With savings like that, she could already live quite respectably in the Asura Kingdom.

Of course, I had brought money for today's shopping trip too. Before I reincarnated, my family wasn't well-off. When I was in university, aside from that little bit of living allowance each month, I would also take the initiative to work part-time jobs and earn money.

Now that I had finally reincarnated into another world and become a rich person, I had long wanted to spend extravagantly at least once.

In the end, Isolte dragged me into clothing store after clothing store. One after another, and in every single one she had to change clothes and try them on. Back and forth. I had no will to live!

However, while she was trying on clothes, I still took the chance to buy two items I was very satisfied with.

One was a very finely made mage's robe.

Its main colors were blue and cyan, and the robe was embroidered with magical runes that enhanced wind-attribute magic.

According to the clerk selling the robe, "The material of this robe is the outer hide of a water-type Demonic Beast that lives in the Great Forest, the Giant-Eyed Chameleon. It provides resistance against specific magical attacks, with its resistance to water and earth attributes being the best."

That was very useful. Demonic Beasts rarely used fire magic. Aside from dragon-type Demonic Beasts, it was rare to run into Demonic Beasts that could use fire magic.

What interested me the most was that this magical robe came with a hood. The hood was fixed in place with a special magic circle, and after being put on, it would not be lifted by wind or other non-physical forces. It could conceal the wearer's appearance and block wind, among other functions.

You might think the function of concealing one's appearance was very useful. But I solemnly tell you, the windproof function was actually the most important.

When I used the skill "Invisible wings" to fly through the air, the strong wind blew my hair all over the place. According to my predictions, if I frequently used this skill without making any changes, I estimated I would start showing signs of baldness before I even turned twenty.

I deeply felt the effort the maker of this magical robe had put into using wind magic to prevent hair loss. That windproof magic circle alone was enough for me to buy it outright at full price.

The moment I got home today, I had to thoroughly figure out the magic circle on this hood and learn it immediately.

Then I would add a hood like this to all my clothes.

It was just too practical.

In the end, I bought this magical robe for the sky-high price of fifty gold coins and changed into it on the spot. Considering such an excellent design, I did not haggle with the clerk.

Isolte seemed to think that was a pity. What she meant was, buying clothes without haggling was the same as buying them for nothing. Shopping without haggling had no joy.

But she also seemed to like this magical robe of mine very much. After all, it was clothing with blue and cyan as the main colors, and she liked blue a lot.

Unfortunately, there was only one robe. Otherwise, I could have bought another one to give her.

The other item I bought was something even more incredible. A Fittoa Territory specialty, a powerful "aphrodisiac" costing ten gold coins a bottle.

Calling it an aphrodisiac wasn't quite right. It should be more appropriate to call it a stimulant. After all, this bottle of medicine wouldn't bewitch a person's mind; it would only amplify the desires in their heart.

The novel hadn't mentioned it, but when the shopkeeper chatted with me, he brought it up. This "aphrodisiac" had a far more elegant name: the "Holy Grail of Depravity."

It seemed to be a veiled jab at the fact that half the annual sales of this "aphrodisiac" went to the Millis Holy Country. What an ironic yet pleasant-sounding name.

Considering that the Fittoa Territory might disappear because of the Displacement Incident, the price of this "Holy Grail of Depravity" would probably shoot up like a rocket too.

I directly and generously took out two hundred gold coins and bought all of this shopkeeper's Grails, while also reaching a long-term agreement with him.

He would go to the Fittoa Territory to buy this Grail for me, and I would purchase them all at the price of ten gold coins each.

I had a premonition that after I broke away from the Prodia Family, this batch of Grails would become one of my greatest sources of income. Unfortunately, because the production materials were scarce, this small merchant would probably only be able to buy three to five bottles in half a year.

Actually, having Philip help me buy this Grail would be more suitable. With one word from him, maybe he could purchase every Grail in the entire city of Roa. But I did not want him to regard me as a precocious pervert.

I secretly did all of this while Isolte was trying on clothes. To prevent these Grails from being discovered by her, I even had the hidden guards protecting me in secret show themselves and help me send this batch of goods back home.

Later, I would prepare a secret base and store this batch of supplies away, waiting until they appreciated in value so I could make a huge profit.

The everyday shopping trip continued. At noon, I treated Isolte to a hearty meal at a high-end King Dragon Kingdom-style restaurant.

The two of us were both martial artists, and our appetites were quite large. She didn't stand on ceremony with me either, and the two of us ate a lunch that cost nearly three gold coins.

However, compared to the money I was about to make from buying the Grails this morning, this bit of money wasn't even worth mentioning.

After we finished eating, we continued shopping. Since we were shopping near the restaurant, the clothing stores we visited in the afternoon were much higher-class than the ones in the morning.

Just as we reached a shop that specialized in making women's shoes for nobles, an accident occurred.

First, the pedestrians on the road suddenly decreased. In their place appeared some people who deliberately concealed their faces, with longswords hidden inside their cloaks. At first, I didn't pay much attention.

But as more and more of them gathered together, I had no choice but to worry.

This was absolutely not normal. I didn't know whether they were coming for me. I immediately pulled down my hood and dragged Isolte, who was trying on shoes, into the changing room.

She had not noticed the situation outside. She probably thought I was going to lose control of my beastly urges and do something to her in the changing room, because she nestled against my chest and mumbled, "Not here. We're still young."

I did not notice her expression and spoke directly.

"Senior Sister, a lot of people with weapons and concealed faces have come outside. I don't know if they're here for me."

"Huh? How many enemies are there? Are they strong? What should we do?"

"I already saw more than eight just now. It looks like they're still gathering, so there may be more and more of them. Senior Sister, did you bring a weapon?"

"No. Why would I bring a weapon when shopping?"

"All right, I'll lend you my sword. We'll charge out together. I don't want to get trapped in this room after they've gathered everyone. If they just fire a single fire spell at this shop, the two of us will be roasted into 'roast mandarin ducks.'"

I didn't know whether this world had animals like mandarin ducks, but in any case, Isolte did not pick up on my joke. She looked extremely nervous.

I lent "Meteor" to her. I could use magic myself, and with a weapon in her hands, she would count as one more fighter. That was more practical.

She, too, looked outside with a grave expression.

Just as I was about to count down and rush out, I suddenly heard a bang. It was the sound of the door of a shop next door being smashed in. Along with it came the clanging and banging of weapons colliding.

The moment I heard that, I relaxed. Looks like this wasn't an assassination aimed at me.

But one accidental shout made my heart clench again.

After the fighting began, a man's voice shouted from next door, "Protect the princess!"

This couldn't be Princess Ariel, could it? If she died, as her guardian knight, I'd be hard-pressed to escape blame. I'd definitely be accused of failing in my guard duties and be buried along with her.

At that point, my only choice would be to flee the Asura Kingdom overnight and become a wanted criminal of a great nation. After all, Rudeus was hunted by the Millis Holy Country for over a decade just because he secretly used a divine-level detoxification spell. The family and friends around him were all beaten to death because of that pursuit. And that was under circumstances where a country was still willing to take him in.

Right now, I had no foundation whatsoever in any other country. When the time came, in order to prove his own innocence, my grandfather would definitely take the initiative to send people after me too. Just thinking about it filled me with despair.

Although I knew Ariel's fate was extremely strong, and according to the course of history she should be able to survive this assassination, I didn't dare gamble on it.

I glanced at Isolte. She knew I was the princess's guardian knight, and understood clearly what I was about to do next.

She tightened her grip on the treasured sword in her hand and stepped out of the shop first. I followed close behind.

All the pedestrians on the street had already fled. In front of the shop up ahead, more than six people in black were surrounding the outside. There should still be black-clad men inside the shop fighting Ariel's guards.

Looks like they had trapped Ariel's group inside the shop.

Isolte took up a sword stance and stood in front of me. I didn't greet the other side. Even if the person inside wasn't Ariel, I was definitely getting involved in this today.

I opened with a combo of Water Splash plus Icicle Field, directly pinning all six of them in place.

As it turned out, one of the opponents was a very experienced magician. He cast a fireball at the ground, dispelling the freezing effect on the two people standing at the front.

Two extremely burly men drew their swords and charged toward us.

I said quietly to Isolte, "Focus on the one on the left. Leave the one on the right to me."

In front of Isolte, I formed a wind field, slowing the enemy's speed as they passed through it.

Then I used saturation attacks, generating four Wind Blades around the burly man on the right—above, below, left, and right—to attack him. This man had plenty of combat experience. The moment he saw wind forming in my hand, he immediately slashed straight ahead of himself and successfully blocked one wind blade.

But his imagination limited him. The wind blades to his left, right, and below sliced open both his shoulders and his lower leg. He dropped to the ground as if he had tripped over himself.

Isolte's attack next to me also went very smoothly. Just as the burly man on the left swung at her from the left side, I saw her block the incoming attack with the body of her sword, then flow with the momentum into the Water God Style's commonly used "parry-counter," cutting straight into the big man's face with one strike.

We smoothly dealt with two enemies. I immediately began preparing to attack the remaining enemies. At present, Isolte and I had each knocked one down, and the enemy still had four left.

Close-range attacks were still too dangerous. I decided to wipe them out directly with long-range saturation attacks.

Just then, for some reason, Isolte's sword suddenly slashed toward me. Because it was too sudden, I didn't react in time. And because it was her attack, I froze where I stood.

I saw her swing her sword at me, but when it struck toward my chest, the blade suddenly turned sideways. The spine of the sword smacked into my chest, sending me staggering backward and falling. At that moment, I heard another whoosh, and an arrow skimmed past my skull. It scraped my hood off.

That was close. Even a few strands of hair on my head were shaved off.

Furious and flustered, I drove my magic forward like my life didn't matter and cast an enormous fireball spell, Exodus Flame. I strengthened the fireball with magic from red all the way to purple. With this move, even if Orsted came, he'd have to lose a layer of skin.

Just as I was continuously strengthening the spell, Isolte shouted at me, "Idiot, this is the city! Are you trying to destroy this whole area?"

Good thing she reminded me. I regained my calm. I really had just taken a stroll around the gates of hell, and it scared me so badly I'd lost the ability to think calmly. I fired the fireball into the sky. That would call reinforcements faster, and once the fireball dispersed directly, the mana wouldn't recover either.

I saw a massive explosion bloom in the sky. Those enemies all stared at it, dumbfounded.

The assassin who could use magic glanced at me, then immediately shouted, "Retreat!" He threw a smoke bomb at the ground and fled together with the three other assassins at his side and inside the room.

I had no intention of stubbornly chasing them. These people weren't assassins targeting me. I had no need to risk my life to pursue assassins who were trying to kill Ariel.

Soon after, the city's patrol knights had already run over from behind.

I said to them: "I am Dolin Prodia Greyrat, Her Highness Ariel's guard knight. This badge can prove my identity. Someone tried to assassinate the princess. They've already fled in that direction. There are seven of them in total, and one on the roof was using a bow just now. They're wearing pure black cloaks. Hurry and pursue them."

"Yes!"

Since I had come here already, Isolte and I entered the shop where Ariel was.

Inside, everything was a mess.

Five bodies lay on the floor. Two were obviously assassins at a glance. As for the other three bodies, I couldn't tell whether they were employees of this shop, unlucky people who had also been trying on clothes here, or Ariel's subordinates.

On the body farther inside, I saw one of the little brats from the Silver Palace garden who had been about to make a move on me last time. He was definitely one of Ariel's subordinates.

Several younger children were holding that body and another heavily injured child as they cried!

I walked forward and cast healing magic on that severely injured child.

Fountain of Life.

O spirit of the sacred spring! Please send merciful rain down upon the parched earth. Purify the wounded soul, and pour eternal life into the decaying flesh. Fountain of Life!

I cast the advanced healing spell I currently knew on him. His stomach had been slashed open horizontally. Looking through the wound, I could see the intestines in his belly, and blood had flowed all over the floor. He looked like he was on his last breath. With such a serious injury, even intermediate healing magic probably wouldn't have been enough to save him. Seeing his wounds recover, the injured child showed me a grateful expression. The children gathered around him also breathed a sigh of relief and stopped crying.

At that moment, a girl who had been lying off to the other side beside the dead child ran over to me and roared, "Dolin, why did you only come now? Aren't you Lord Ariel's guardian knight? Aristia and Victor are both dead! Why didn't you come earlier? Those assassins just now—why didn't you chase them? Why didn't you avenge Aristia?"

I glanced at her and didn't answer such a braindead question. I was afraid she'd drag my intelligence down to her level.

At that moment, a girl behind her whose face looked somewhat uncoordinated shouted to stop the girl roaring at me.

"Colinu, shut up. If Dolin hadn't come over to heal Karam, he would have died. Did you want to kill him? The six assassins outside had all joined the battle. At that time, Dolin must have been fighting them. And you're still questioning him after that? If Dolin hadn't held back the six enemies outside, our casualties now would definitely be even worse."

The moment I heard her voice, I knew she was Ariel. She was rather calm in the face of danger, wasn't she?

I walked up and saluted her, then said bluntly, "Lady Ariel, forgive me for speaking plainly, but the three corpses on the floor today are all inseparable from you. You are the greatest culprit who got them killed. Under normal circumstances, what member of the royal family goes shopping without bringing a large contingent of guards? If you wanted to enjoy the freedom of strolling through the streets, just using a magic tool to change your appearance was far from enough. You also needed to throw in the lives of two loyal subordinates and one innocent commoner before it would be enough."

"Of course, their deaths were also related to their own lack of skill, to their failure to successfully block the enemy's attacks. But the person most responsible for causing their deaths today was still you. If you hold the lives of those around you and the citizens of your kingdom in such contempt, then please speak with the king. I wish to resign my title as your guard knight."

"How dare you! Dolin, do you know what your own status is? How dare you speak to Ariel in that tone." The two girls beside Ariel and Luke said those words in perfect unison.

I swept a contemptuous glance over the three of them in turn. My eyes were full of provocation, as though saying, A bunch of trash. That meaning reached them clearly.

Then I left the badly battered shop without even looking back. Isolte followed me, holding her sword. She looked exactly like a loyal guard, which pleased me greatly.

Outside the door, a large squad of patrol knights had already stopped. I did not know whether it was because they had heard what I had said inside, or for some other reason, but they did not enter the shop.

I said to the highest-ranking knight among them, "In the name of Princess Ariel's guard knight, I order you to summon two more squads of guard knights, then immediately escort Princess Ariel back to the palace and report the entire process of today's assassination attempt to the emperor, including the fact that Her Highness left on her own without permission. I still have to pursue the assassins, so I will not escort the princess with you."

"Understood. We will obey your orders."

Of course, pursuing the assassins was only an excuse because I did not want to escort Ariel together with them. After that, I sent Isolte home, then returned to the Prodia Family's villa myself.