The Former Assassin Becomes a Noble Lady

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Crunch crunch

Hmm… the apple that just entered my mouth is really sweet. But I don’t indulge in savoring the taste and instead chew it vigorously and swallow.

Gulp, as soon as the apple goes down my throat and my mouth is empty,

Swish

Crunch crunch

Once again, a beautifully sliced piece of apple pushes its way into my mouth. I accept it without a word and chew it down diligently.

And again, again, again…

The only sound reverberating in the hospital room is the crunching of my apple.

……Someone get me out of here.

*

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was an unfamiliar ceiling. I briefly questioned why it wasn’t my room, but soon recalled the situation just before I fainted.

Trying to assess the situation, I tried to get up, but I felt something pressing on my stomach, leaving me in a half-hearted position, unable to move properly.

Looking down to inspect the cause of the weight, I found a black cat curled up on top of the blanket covering my belly. It usually only sleeps in sunny spots that are perfect for naps, so what on earth is it doing here?

Maybe it liked that my belly was like an air mattress? The up-and-down motion while I breathed might have been comfortable like a rocking chair.

I carefully raised my upper body so as not to wake the cat.

“Meow~”

It seemed my attempt at sneaking up was in vain because the cat sprang awake at the slightest movement, jumping down from my belly and darting out through the slightly open door.

Well, since there’s a cat and I’m lying on a bed that looks like a hospital room, it must be the Academy’s infirmary. I never had a reason to come here before, so I had no idea what it looked like, but here I am, hospitalized.

Tap tap tap

As I sat there dumbfounded, lost in useless thoughts, I heard footsteps outside the room. The door creaked open and Frecia entered.

“Oh, boss.”

I knew from the sound of her footsteps that she had been running until just before entering the room, yet once inside, she walked slowly toward me, as if nothing had happened, and gently sat down on the chair beside the bed.

By the way, if she was running in the hallway, that means she noticed I had woken up. How did she know? Did she catch a glimpse of the cat darting out of the room?

“Lie down.”

With that, Frecia’s hand pushed me back down. I could easily resist the touch of a small girl unaccustomed to any physical training, but I decided to go along with her and laid back comfortably on the bed.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

I had so many questions I wanted to ask, but Frecia beat me to it. I felt it would be rude to answer with a question, so I checked my own condition first. While I would need to move around to determine everything, for now, I felt no discomfort or pain.

“Maybe?”

“That’s a relief.”

After exchanging those brief words, silence fell upon the room again. The oppressive silence felt a bit uncomfortable, and just as I was about to voice my curiosity, Frecia opened her mouth before me once more.

“Uh… um…”

However, the hesitation in her voice was quite unlike the confident Frecia I knew. She always exuded confidence, no matter the circumstances—be it bright daylight or through her own fatigue. Her confidence was not something easily concealed.

That’s why her current demeanor felt refreshingly new to me.

“Um… I’m sorry…”

After much hesitation, she finally uttered a word of apology.

?

“Excuse me? Why are you apologizing, boss?”

“Because of my situation… because I tried to protect you… and got hurt…”

The girl in front of me seemed genuinely to think my injury (though I’m not sure if I am injured considering my current state) was her fault.

“No, that’s not it. I’m getting paid for this job, after all. In situations like this, you should make full use of me. Sure, unforeseen circumstances came up, but that’s not your fault; that’s the problem of those above us, right?”

Despite my attempt to reassure her, Frecia’s expression still showed no signs of softening. In fact, her shoulders slumped even more, and her head hung lower.

“After all, it’s a relationship tied to money…”

It was only then that I understood why Frecia appeared so gloomy. I could empathize with her feelings. Although I now have many friends, before coming to the Academy, I didn’t have anyone remotely resembling a friend.

Regardless of what kind of life she lived, it surely wasn’t smooth sailing. So I took my hand and gently placed it over her little hand resting on the bed.

“Well, you see, while it’s a contractual and formal relationship, that doesn’t mean we can’t be friendly on a personal level, right?”

“Really…?”

Finally raising her head to look at me, Frecia’s eyes were those of a girl her age.

“Of course. Or do you think I only see you as just an employee? Do you mean to say I’m the only one who sees us as close?”

Dory dory dory dory

I tried to joke around a bit, but Frecia’s head spun wildly. Her long hair fluttered about cutely, but if she kept that up, it was bound to make her dizzy, so I stopped her.

“So will you continue to work with me from now on…?”

Her voice was soft, crawling along, but filled with hopeful anticipation as she asked me. My answer was already decided.

“Of course. And according to the contract terms, it states that neither party can arbitrarily terminate the contract without mutual agreement. I will never terminate it.”

It seemed she finally recalled the terms she had written in the contract. Frecia took my hand, which I had placed on hers, and nodded.

“Yeah. For life, I won’t terminate it.”

For life, huh… I hadn’t thought that far… but looking at Frecia’s joyful face, I wondered if I needed to point it out.

And on second thought, a part-time job that pays five gold coins a month for life doesn’t sound half bad, does it? It’s just a side gig that’s only needed when necessary, and I even get additional pay. I might actually end up keeping it for life.

“Ah, but what happened to that demonic race?”

Since Frecia seemed to have calmed down somewhat, I brought up the topic I was curious about. I remembered striking down one of the demonic race’s hands just before I fainted, but I had no idea what happened afterward.

“Yeah. I killed it.”

It was strangely peculiar hearing a cute girl casually say she killed someone with such a bright voice.

“Did you do it alone, boss?”

“Yep.”

It seems my boss is much stronger than I thought.

“And about the compensation for getting hurt during the cleanup… I’ll definitely make sure to give you something for that.”

“Excuse me? Why are you doing that, boss?”

“? You got hurt while doing my job. Of course, I have to take care of you.”

“No. While I do like money, it’s not your fault. If we’re being specific, it’s the Academy and Felches’ fault, so can’t I just collect from them later?”

While it’s questionable whether the higher-ups would actually provide compensation, I certainly didn’t plan to get paid from my boss. After all, I usually have my own pay, and the injury I received while protecting her was something I wanted to do.

“Is that so…? Okay, I understand.”

Frecia tilted her head for a moment, then stood up.

“Then you rest well, Elysia. I’ll make sure to get a lot of money from them.”

“Yes…?”

Frecia made that absurd statement as casually as if she were taking a stroll, then promptly left the infirmary.

Uh… will she be okay…? After all, Frecia is a professor, unlike me, who’s just a student, so she should be fine, right?

Yeah. I’ll trust Frecia and just rest like she said. Of course, the Academy is in full swing with classes now, but when would I get a chance to skip class like this again?

Tap tap tap

Just as I had settled back down to catch a nap, I heard the sound of running footsteps outside the door again, and before I knew it, the infirmary door burst open not with a creak but with a bang.

In this sudden situation, unable to sit up or lay down properly, I turned to look at the door, and the first person who caught my eye was Selian. Following her were Anne and Yuli.

“Uh… hello?”

In my awkward position, I raised my hand lightly to greet them, and Selian approached with an almost tearful expression.

“You are really…!”

“Hey, Sel?”

I was about to say something to her, but her movements were quicker than mine.

With a big stride, Selian rushed over and wrapped her arms around me.

Though I felt flustered, I was unexpectedly pleased that Selian had grown to care for me like this. It was rather amusing to think that the same person I once tried to assassinate was now expressing such genuine concern for me. They say you can never know how life will turn out.

I lowered my awkward hand and placed it over Selian’s back, soothing her.

“We were all worried too, but especially Selian, so you have the duty to accept this much affection.”

“I see you’re okay… we’ll come back again later, El.”

It seemed that was their intention all along, as Anne and Yuli waved lightly and left the infirmary.

As I comforted Selian, stroking her back gently, she gradually seemed to calm down, and her trembling began to subside.

However, just as her slightly trembling body seemed to finally relax, it began to quiver again, but this time differently, as if she couldn’t suppress her anger.

?

Suddenly, Selian jolted her head up. Of course, our eyes met.

The look in Selian’s eyes wasn’t one of concern for me…?

No…?

Huh…?