Assassins Suppressed

「…It’s you.」

The intruders’ gaze took me in as I stepped out of the alley. They readied their daggers. The next moment, Ice Pillars crushed them.

I then headed back to the inn. Then I spotted the guy watching the place I was staying in walking my way. It seems he realized something went wrong from the sound of the Ice Pillars crashing earlier.

Pretending to not know who he was, I simply walked forward. The guy too wore a completely innocent look.

The instant we passed by each other, he thrusted his hidden dagger toward me. I parried it with my staff and chanted a spell.

「Deadly Pain.」

「Ugh… Aaaaaaaahhh!」

The assassin convulsed from the unbearable pain. I tied his arms up with a rope and gagged him as well. Now he can’t bite his tongue off. I’m glad I carried some handy tools to restrain someone.

Next I struck his head with my staff to knock him out and carried him on my shoulder.

「All’s well that ends well.」

Carrying the intruder, I went back to Sachylis to inform her the fight was over. I will have to send the guy I captured to the Order so they can extract information out of him.

「You suppressed three people in such a short time. Will I be able to do that too?」she asked as she watched me heading towards the knights. I answered her without hesitation.

「Yeah. If you learn Skills and how to fight properly, you can do this in no time at all. Spirit Archers are especially excellent at surprise raids like this.」

I recalled the trajectory of the arrow she fired. It was both precise and efficient. A clean shot.

I suspect that in the near future, I can leave security to Sachylis and the others. I’m sure the other guys in charge in security would have improved by then.

A week later, I visited the main office of Meigis Company to ask how the sales of the healing medicine was going.

「How’s it going?」

The firm had stopped selling in other branches recently. There were worries that sales would drop if people had to come all the way here to buy.

「We’re doing great. As you know, our goods are sold out on the same day.」Count Meigis said, smiling.

I sort of expected this. Apparently the demand doesn’t decline just because it’s a little bit harder to buy now. That showed how much Cardinal Georgis was cutting the supply.

But what’s important isn’t the sales. Our goal is to shake the foundations of the Cardinal’s political power.

「How’s the politics side going?」

「Things are going as well as expected. Most of the nobles who came here to buy wanted to form an alliance.」

So the nobles themselves come to purchase the medicine. They could just send someone else. But the fact they’re not doing that means there’s something more to it, and not just because the medicine is precious.

「You still sell to them even if they don’t form an alliance, right?」

「Yes. I don’t even ask them to join us.」

I see. Many nobles are coming to our side without even being asked. I don’t think it’s because they’re grateful for the medicine.

But judging from the situation, I can make a guess. Everyone hates the Cardinal and they want someone – it doesn’t matter who it is – to take him down. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, so to speak.

「So the other nobles are forming a faction with you as the leader, huh?」

「Exactly. Today Cardinal Cedar and Count Cassa came to form an alliance. Both are prominent figures in the church. So far that’s thirty people in total.」

「That’s quite a lot. Are they all anti-Georgis?」

Cardinal Georgis gained incredible power in a short amount of time. So much power, in fact, that he was able to intervene with the Guild and designate advanced job classes as inferior. A sudden rise in power also meant he made plenty of enemies.