NOVEL NEXT Chapter 85: Assassin’s Order Meeting and Finding a Friend
Narrator POV
The meeting of the members of the assassin Order ended.
Rio decided to leave as fast as she could.
Despite attending the meeting, she has no intentions of taking part in the assassination mission.
In the first place, the reason she is here in Riles is to look for a friend.
She only came to this gathering because of her curiosity.
She immediately regrets the fact that she came to this meeting.
[Let's just look for Kazue.]
"You, you, you, and you, come with me."
Out of nowhere, someone called for Rio.
The voice was commanding and even belittling.
Aside from Rio, there were 3 other people whom he called.
Since all of the people here are wearing hooded robes to hide their identity, there should not be a person who would recognize them there.
Rio thought.
[Who the heck is this guy?]
Just like Rio, the 3 guys who were called were also clueless as to why they were called.
"Haah?" <Rio>
Rio replied
At the same time, the other one reacted to this call.
"Me?" <Large Man>
A large man muttered in confusion while pointing at himself.
He was one of the four who was called with Rio.
"Me, Why?" <Thin Man>
A thin man carrying a bow said wondering why he was called to.
"..." <Silent guy>
The other man also looked at the person who called them.
He turned around and wondered what the guy have to say.
"I am Deadstain."
All of a sudden he introduces himself.
This time he sounded high and mighty.
[What's up with this guy? Deadstain? That did not sound like a name.]
Rio thought finding the guy's name funny.
"I am Deadshadow" <Thin Man>
"Call me Ironstreak." <Large Man>
"Call me Scarlet Shot" <Silent fella>
"...?" <Rio>
There was a moment of silence.
And during that silence, the guy was looking at Rio.
It was as if they were waiting for Rio to say something.
[Hmnn? Ah!... ]
Hearing this, Rio realized that they were stating fake names.
It seems that they are using "Fake Names" to introduce themselves.
Confused why these people were looking at her, Rio asked.
"W-What?" <Rio>
"What's your name..." <Deadstain>
The guy replied with an annoyed tone.
[Eh? do I have to introduce myself?]
"R-r-- Ah... -sigh-"
Rio made a resigned sigh.
[I almost revealed my real name, Aaa~ whatever, I'll just use the name I use in games]
Honestly, Rio was not happy about this.
She feels cringy at the fact that she had to introduce herself in such a way.
She also thinks that although the "fake names" of the other guys sound cool part of her also thinks that it was cringy.
It was like seeing a group of guys introducing themselves with their "Chuunibyou names".
For Rio, this was comical.
"Crystal Eyes" <Rio>
[For some reason I feel itchy. This is the name I used in games I played. But as expected speaking it out loud feels a bit cringy.]
Rio blushes as she stated her fake name.
Crystal Eyes is the name she uses in online games she plays.
Normally she would add the number "003" at the end of the name as she does online.
This time she decided to not say those unnecessary numbers as it sounded odd.
[Argg... I already knew this but this assassin order thing is not my thing. I really should just leave.]
Rio turned around without minding the man who called her and those who were called.
When Rio did this, the person who called was very upset.
"Hey! Who told you guys can leave?" <Deadstain>
Rio ignored his words as she decided to have nothing to do with them.
"Oi! you, did you not hear me?" <Deadstain>
Deadstain, said this time with a threatening note.
-sigh-
Even though Deadstain called Rio in such a way, Rio did not even try to turn around.
She wanted to leave ASAP.
With this Deadstain became furious and grabbed Rio by the shoulder.
He then pulled her and turned her around to face him.
The two met eye to eye.
He was forceful and gave no thought about what Rio would feel about it.
"Where do you think you're going?" <Deadstain>
"Ha?" <Rio>
"Did you not hear me? I called you earlier, are you pretending that you did not hear me?" <Deadstain>
"I did hear you but I was just about to leave so don't bother me." <Rio>
Rio said indifferently to the man.
This only made Deadstain more annoyed.
"This woman." <Deadstain>
Rio sighs.
"If you have nothing else to say, can I leave?" <Rio>
"Who said you can leave?" <Deadstain>
"..." <Rio>
Rio was annoyed.
She turned her back once again and walked forward.
"This b*tch" <Deadstain>
Deadstain spitefully muttered.
Deadstain reach his limits and kicked Rio's back as she was walking away.
As a result, Rio stumbled to the ground.
"How dare you. A weakling like you should not be talking back to me like that. You should just shut up and obey me." <Deadstain>
[What's this guy's problem? He's acting like a lame egotistic grunt.]
Rio gaze at the man's eyes and read his mind.
With the help of Rio's Unique Skill (Eyes of the Mindreader), Rio was able to hear what was on the man's mind.
[This woman, her level and stats are low. How did she manage to join the order with just this? F*ck what are they thinking by recruiting this person? She's weak. The only stat of her that can be called decent is her AGI. But damn she's weak. Since these guys are weaklings they should work for me. Rather than being useless, they should use themselves to serve me.]
For some reason, Deadstain was able to see Rio's stats.
By reading his mind, Rio knew this and just stared back.
By the way, the man was thinking.
It appears that he somehow managed to see Rio's stats.
Rio realized at that moment that the man might have a skill that could show the man information she did not want him to see.
[...he must have some kind of "Appraisal" skill.]
Rio deduced.
She was right.
Deadstain has the skill "Stat Appraisal (I)".
With this, he was able to see the physical stats of other people.
Aside from those people wearing equipment that blocks appraisal.
And for those people who have specified skills that could block his Appraisal skill, he could freely see their physical stats and level.
Thus, after seeing the stat of Rio and the other guys he called just now.
He deduced that he was stronger than them and decided to boss them around.
That gave him the confidence to act that way in front of them.
He was not afraid of any of them fighting back.
He was very sure that none of them would be able to defeat him in battle.
"Why do we have to do that?" <Large Man>
Asked one of the guys present there.
"It's because she annoys me." <Deadstain>
"Just because of that?" <Large Man>
"Yeah... got a problem? do you want me to do the same for you? That includes the two of you." <Deadstain>
The large man was annoyed at Deadstain.
He said with such a high attitude.
He was completely looking down at Rio and the other three he called earlier.
This treatment is not that unusual considering the background of Deadstain.
Deadstrain's real name is Charles Einthe.
Charles Einthe is a noble from the Empire of Ecclesia
He came here to Riles to join the Noble's Summit later today.
As the summit will begin at nightfall, he still had time to attend the Assassin Order's meeting.
He leisurely came here knowing that the meeting place was not that far from the city where the summit will be held.
The information he heard in this meeting was something that would be discussed by significant individuals during the "Nobles' Summit".
This information would only be available to the more influential individual and that does not include Charles.
If only Charles was a noble with a higher stature, he could have known that the saint was the target of this mission.
His status was not high enough to be informed of this information.
He was lucky enough to hear about this classified information.
If he was not a member of the order he would have never known about this news at the summit.
After all the information that the saint's mission is a secret among the higher-ups.
Charles Einthe, AKA Deadstrain was recruited into the Assassins Order 1 year ago.
He was a fund of torturing and killing innocent servants coming into his mansion.
In the span of 1 year able to accomplish 3 assassination missions.
He even killed people for fun.
He was a cruel person with no regard for human life.
His lust for torture and death was the main reason why the Assassin Order recruited him.
Probably, this was the reason why the order wanted him to join them in the first place.
As a noble, It was natural for him to boss around people who he considers to be lower than him.
This is why he acted bossy around Rio and the other three.
He sees them as individual who is not lower than himself, and that is why he acts this way.
After all,
He used his skill Stat Appraisal (I).
It revealed their stat and he was able to confirm that these people were weaker than him.
With this skill, he was able to see the name and the numerical Stats of people.
Amongst the people who joined the meeting.
He called out those people weaker than him as the [Appraisal] skill had revealed.
Those people are Rio, Etenala, Gilur, and Danex.
Etenala, Aka Scarlet Shot is an elf who has the job class, Archer.
She came here to Riles as one of the escorts of the nobles who came to Riles a few days ago.
She joined the Assassins Order after getting involved in an extermination mission at a bandit camp.
There were members of the Assassins Order who also joined the mission and found that Etenala has what it takes to be a member of the order.
Plus, she could not decline this offer as the order promised her a handsome amount of rewards.
Compared to her earnings as an adventurer the pay that the order offered is more than 10 times what she earns as an adventurer.
As she needed money she joined the order.
Gilur, AKA Ironstreak is a beastman who has the job class Warrior.
He came to Riles for the same reason as Etenala, he also escorted high-ranking people from Claren.
He joined the Assassins Order after experiencing to end one life in an underground fighting den.
There is where they recruited him to join the order.
They saw something in him.
He was not strong, nor was he smart.
He only has this "Love" for battle.
He loves the feeling of a fight where his life is on the line.
The thrill of battle is his reason for living.
And by joining the order he may experience many battles that involve this kind of thrill.
Lastly, Danex.
Danex, AKA Deadshadow is from Riles, and he lives in Vestir.
He works as a guard in the city.
A demonkin- Imp and has the job class Thief.
He joined the Assassin Order as he enjoys killing.
Naturally, the members of the order wanted him to join them.
His target is the innocent people within the city.
He was the perfect killer.
"Since you four are weaklings, I will take you all with me." <Deadstain>
Deadstain said in his proud voice.
Deadshadow, Ironstreak, and Scarlet Shot were all displeased with his attitude.
It would have been easy but they do agree that it would be easier to do this job if they work with others.
Although they did not like Deadstain they still accepted his offer after some deliberation.
"Alright, we decided to follow you." <Ironstreak>
Ironstreak said instead of the other two.
It was much easier for them to just agree.
They may not like the Deadstrands attitude of looking at them as if they were his servants.
But they decided to try to work this out.
They did this with heavy hearts.
Deadstain looked back to where Rio was and realized that she was no longer there.
He looked around to find her but he could not see where she was.
"Where is the other one?" <Deadstain>
"She's... gone..." <Ironstreak>
"She was there moments ago..." <Scarlet Shot>
"She must have used (Stealth) as she left, I did not notice her leaving." <Deadshadow>
"Tsk." <Deadstain>
Deadstain clicks his tongue.
Just like the other three, he also never noticed that Rio have already fled.
In the end, this group of four assassins worked together to find the saint.
Later on, Deadstain will encounter a female adventurer who was with the saint.
He will then die at the hand of the adventurer.
Meanwhile, the other three tried to follow the female adventurer but were captured by an incredibly powerful masked man.
.
.
.
[STUPID]
Rio mocked Deadstain as she was running at full speed to escape from the eyes of Deadstain and the other guys.
[He's all talk if he was "that" strong he should have noticed me leaving... In the end, he's not that impressive.]
While they were all distracted listening to Deadstain, Rio used her (Stealth) skill and sneaked out.
The skill (Stealth) works as one would expect it to do, by using this skill it will be harder to detect the user's presence.
By using this skill Rio sneakily moved away and once she was able to gain some distance she ran at full speed.
She used all of her movement skills such as (Accelerate), (Speed Boost) and racing away from them.
When Rio was certain that no one was tailing her.
She removed the black cloak she was wearing and stored it inside her dimensional bag.
She did this because she was nearing the entrance of the city.
She did not want others to think of her as someone suspicious.
After which she went on toward the city and look around town.
She was surprised that there was a long line of adventurers and travelers trying to go inside the city.
After a long time of waiting she was able to get inside the city.
"This city's atmosphere is gloomy..." <Rio>
Rio said as soon as she notice how depressed the place looked.
Vestir, the capital if Riles.
Compared to the other cities she passed during her travel, this city was gloomier than the rest.
It seems that the rumors she's been hearing about a war happening are true.
Because of this, the city is now in this sorry state.
She was certainly expecting more, after all this city was the capital of the country known for the word "Boundless Love".
She ignored this and moved forward to her destination
The first thing Rio did was to go straight to the adventurer's guild.
This place was the most probable place where she could find information on her friend, Mizusawa Kazue.
Just like any other City, the adventurer's guild would be located at the city's heart.
She entered the city and aimed to enter the adventurer's guild.
After walking for a while, several large buildings caught her eye.
When she saw those buildings she was certain that one of those building should be the adventurer's guild.
3 prominent buildings caught Rio's eye.
One was a 3-story building that looked very familiar with its architectural design.
From what she remembers the architectural design of the structure resembles a pair of building at the Artesia Empire Capital.
That building was the Adventurer's guild and the Scale Atelier building.
When she went near the structure she realized that this building was a branch store of the Scale Atelier.
As a result, she shifted her gaze at the other building standing across the streets.
"Ah... this means... That building is the adventurers guild." <Rio>
She said to herself confirming this fact.
She looked at the building located not so far away.
Even without anyone informing her, she knew that the other large building was not the adventurer's guild.
She knew that the large wooden structure was the adventurer's guild.
Just by just looking at the appearance of the 3rd building she knew that it was a building for worship.
This building reminded her of the "churches" built in their world.
Rio went toward the large wooden building.
And as she expected it was the adventurer's guild.
She entered the building and immediately felt a heavy atmosphere.
The adventurers inside were silent.
Compared to the adventurer's guild she visited so far this place was the most silent.
No one laughing loudly and only the whispers of the adventurers could be heard.
[Hmnn, this adventurer's guild feels very heavy.]
Rio thought.
She went toward the receptionist's table and saw a female cat-eared beastman beyond it.
It was the guild receptionist.
She knew this as the cat girl was wearing the familiar "Receptionist" uniform of the adventurer's guild.
"Welcome, how can I help you, dear Adventurer?" <Receptionist>
The cat girl receptionist replied with an out-of-place joyful voice.
What can I help you with miss Adventurer?
The female receptionist asked Rio as soon as she entered her sight.
"Ah..." <Rio>
Before she answered, she looked around.
The adventurers were all acting weird.
They were all quiet and or talking in a low voice.
Rio thought.
[Arg... at this rate, it would be hard to eavesdrop on their conversations later... Should I just ask the receptionist for the information I need?]
The receptionist saw that Rio was looking around.
She made a sad expression.
She knew that Rio has noticed the heavy presence of the adventurers in the guild.
[Ah... this is why I hate War... -sigh-]
Was the thoughts of the Cat-eared receptionist.
Of course, Rio saw this thought with her unique skill (Eyes of The Mind Reader) and felt sorry.
The receptionist put herself together and show Rio a bright smile.
If Rio was not using her skill, the receptionist might have deceived her that she was all fine.
Rio felt a bit sad for the receptionist.
"First I will go and eat." <Rio>
"Oh! is that so? Please have a seat and I will have the servers attend to you." <Receptionist>
"Thanks." <Rio>
Replied Rio to the bright voice of the receptionist.
Rio ordered food at ate for a while.
Usually, she would use this moment to eavesdrop on the other adventurers for information but since it was like this she was unable to hear anything from them.
They were speaking in such low voices that she was only able to hear unperceivable mumbles.
[Aa~ as expected I can't gather info like this.]
Rio decided to ask the receptionist later as she finished her food quietly.
After Rio ate a plate of vegetables and meat she went toward the cat-eared receptionist from earlier.
"E-E-excuse me." <Rio>
Rio stutters.
Even after being in this world for about half a year, she was still the same shy girl.
It was a mystery for Rio, when she talks to nice people she stutters and feel shy.
This is also why Rio prefers listening for info from the loud-speaking adventurers than asking it from the guild receptionist herself.
She managed to somehow survive like this all this time, and this time she had no choice but to ask the nice receptionist.
[Ara... what a cute female adventurer.]
The receptionist thought as she listened to Rio stutter.
"Are you done eating?" <Receptionist>
"Uhm... yeah..." <Rio>
"I see... What can I help you now miss Adventurer?" <Receptionist>
"Ah, uh... I was just wondering if you saw a female adventurer with 3 wolf Familiars around?" <Rio>
"A female adventurer with wolf Familiars you say? Hmnn..." <Receptionist>
The receptionist tried to remember the such person in her mind.
Unfortunately, when Kazue visited the adventurer's guild she did not let her familiars go inside.
Meaning, the receptionist did not know that Kazue had a familiar despite meeting her before.
"I haven't seen someone like that around. But I think I've heard adventurers saw such person around?" <Receptionist>
"Ah! Really!" <Rio>
"Yeah. Maybe I've seen her around... do you have any more description of that Female adventurer you're talking about?" <Receptionist>
"Uh... Umh..." <Rio>
Rio thought.
"She has long black hair. She usually ties it in a high ponytail. S-she also uses a Katana" <Rio>
"Katana... Hmnn?!"
A certain girl came into that receptionist's mind.
"Perhaps that girl has these sharp-looking eyes???" <Receptionist>
The receptionist frowned in a way her eyes looked serious.
"Ah! Y-yes! That's her! I think that is the same person." <Rio>
The receptionist saw a bright smile out of the shy adventurer upon hearing her.
She wanted to see that smile more and wanted to help the shy adventurer more.
"I remember her. I think her name... was Mi-... Miku-- No..." <Receptionist>
"Mizusawa Kazue!" <Rio>
"Right! That's her name! I remember since I processed her "D-rank Promotion" a few days ago. If I am correct, I think she stayed here for the night and slept on the second floor." <Receptionist>
The receptionist pointed at the balcony on the second floor where Kazue slept the night before.
Rio's Expressions bloomed like a small child hearing good things from her parents.
It was the most innocent smile that the receptionist saw after a while.
It made her day.
"Really?!" <Rio>
"Too bad, she left early this morning... But! I know she'll be back soon. I just know since a few days ago she managed to complete Several D and C-ranked quests in a few days! That girl surprised me that time. I did not expect her to be that excellent!" <Receptionist>
Rio nods in amazement hearing good things about Kazue.
"Right! Kazue-chan is Amazing after all!" <Rio>
"Hahaha~ it seems that you like that girl very much. You two must be good friends." <Receptionist>
Rio realized that she was overacting as she always does when it comes to her friend, and she suddenly got embarrassed.
She could not help but act like this.
Kazue is her bestest-best friend after all.
"Ah, Uh... Yep." <Rio>
Rio replied honestly while doing a reserved nod of agreement.
"Fufufu." <Receptionist>
The receptionist's mood had brightened up seeing such adventurers around.
Wanting to help Rio, she came up with an idea to help her find her friend.
"Hmnn, from the looks of it your friend must be in the field doing a quest. If I remember it right she took several monster subjugation quests. Unfortunately, I could not remember the specific quest she took." <Receptionist>
"I see... that's unfortunate." <Rio>
Rio looked down as expected.
"Sorry, but... since it's her I think she will be able to finish the quest she took in several days. How about this? When the time when she returns here to report the quest's completion, I will tell her about you and ask her to wait here. How does that sound?" <Receptionist>
"Ah, that would be great." <Rio>
"Good! You can count on me!" <Receptionist>
"T-thank you..." <Rio>
After leaving a message for Kazue to the receptionist, Rio left the guild.
Rio has told the receptionist to tell Kazue to meet her in the guild.
All Rio has to do now is to wait for Kazue to return and hear about her message at the guild.
Since this was the case, Rio decided to look around the town while waiting for Kazue.
"Hmnn, what now..." <Rio>