An assassin named Cliff, who prided himself on being exceptionally good at cutting people down, received a request.
[Target: Isaac Upperhills. Killing is forbidden. Recover only one of his fingers as a 'warning'.]
"Assault? Really...?"
Not murder, but assault. And just one finger. 'This is easy.'
There were rumors that Upperhills had defeated the Blood Mage Malakai, but in the end, it was just a duel between mages. He probably just got lucky, shooting fireballs from a distance. There was no way he could cast spells after having his finger cut off.
The real problem was the aftermath. Messing with a mage from the Magic Tower, regardless of who was behind it, would definitely lead to an investigation. To avoid getting caught, he needed a suitable 'scapegoat'.
He asked an informant in the capital's underworld for the name of the most conspicuous mercenary corps lately.
"The Hans Mercenary Corps?"
He thought he had misheard. Could you really name a mercenary corps so carelessly...? Anyway, according to the informant, the 'Hans Mercenary Corps' was a new group that had appeared suddenly and was rapidly growing in power.
Perfect prey.
Being new, their rules probably weren't too strict, and since they were expanding, they'd be actively recruiting members. 'I'll just infiltrate them disguised as a member, take care of the target, and then leave behind a mercenary corps ID.' The assassin Cliff's plan seemed perfect.
I sat across from Hans and Marcus in a tavern. For reference, these two apparently got to know each other after the Malakai incident. Normally, I would have brought up the assassination right then...
But Marcus was curious about how Anna was doing, so we started with that topic. Marcus was startled to hear about Anna's recent situation.
"You're going to send her to the Magic Academy?"
"Yes."
"The money for that, ah. Of course you'd have it."
"Hahaha."
After the princess became my backer, I became an openly wealthy person. My dream of 'becoming rich and unknown' was shattered.
Damn it...
Still, I don't regret it. Without the princess, 'destroying the thesis of someone who pisses me off' would have been impossible. I said to Marcus.
"Actually, she's in the middle of her entrance exams. I just don't know how to teach her the most important thing, magic."
"But you're a mage, sir. Why can't you do it?"
At Hans's question, I just silently tilted my glass. My magic is different from others. To teach it as it is, I would have to implant a mana-driven Turing machine in the other person's brain and force them to perform physical calculations.
Without that, it's impossible to use magic like I do. The 'Mana Turing Machine' is a dangerous spell that turns the subject into an imbecile if it fails. Of course, right after I was transmigrated, I developed this spell without even knowing it was dangerous...
'I can't gamble with someone else's body.' Marcus carefully opened his mouth.
"Then what about getting her a different teacher?"
"Damn it... I don't want to do that."
I'm already in a situation where I can't even teach her things like history or art. I don't know them either. Even teaching her natural studies was difficult.
That's because the scientific theories on the exams are full of errors. I'd rather bite my tongue off than teach something wrong. In a situation like this, to entrust even her magic to someone else.
My pride was hurt. 'Should I just line her stomach with oil and leave her magic to fate...?' She has a huge mana capacity, so there's a chance she'll grow well on her own. ...
Anyway, I'll have to think about this problem a little longer. I changed the subject.
"Actually, this is the main topic. I have something to tell you both."
"What is it?"
"There's been a bit of a threat to my safety lately, so I'd like you to be on guard."
Hans's eyes gleamed.
"Is it the Winterheart family?"
"Probably."
"Got it. I'll let my boys know too."
Following Hans's reply, Marcus also spoke.
"I'll also speak formally with the guard captain. That there's a threat of assassination against a key figure."
Everyone agreed without even asking for the details.
Grateful people.
I'll have to buy the drinks tonight. It was right then. A strange man approached our table and spoke cautiously.
"Um... excuse me, are you perhaps Captain Hans?"
He was a man with an ordinary appearance. Hans put down his beer mug and looked at the man.
"I'm Hans. Who are you?"
The man bowed deeply, as if moved.
"My name is Jack! Actually, when my hometown was suffering because of goblin raids, I received help from your mercenary corps, Captain. Thanks to you, my family was able to stay safe. I've always admired you!"
He took a coin purse from his coat and said.
“It's not much, but I'd like to treat you to a drink today!”
Hans stroked his chin and glanced at me. It meant to ask if it was okay for the man to join us. I looked at the man.
Around the contours of his face, I could see the crude stair-stepping effect of mana. It was a pathetic disguise device compared to the princess's. I immediately sent a Telepathy to Hans and Marcus. I controlled it to be much weaker than with Count Ludwig Everglow. -'I think he's using a disguise device.
Be careful.'
"Ugh."
"Cough!"
But it seemed controlling it was still a bit difficult. Hans and Marcus scowled deeply. I'll have to be really careful from now on.
The disguised man studied our expressions.
"Is something wrong?"
I answered.
"No, no. I just stepped on their feet under the table... haha."
"... I see."
We let the guy join us. We had to find out what he was up to. As the drinks flowed, the man revealed his ambition.
"Actually, I want to become a mercenary who helps people, just like you, Captain! Please accept me as a member!"
Hans and my eyes met. We communicated not with Telepathy, but with a look. 'Let's see how far he goes.'
'Okay, Mage sir.' Hans laughed heartily and slapped the man's shoulder.
"Hahaha! I like you! Then let's start with the initiation test."
"... Should I go catch a goblin or something?"
"What's with the stuffy talk! Here, you have to pass the initiation test given by our youngest member!"
"What. I was the youngest? Not that it matters..."
I stepped forward as if I had been waiting.
"It's a tradition in our mercenary corps. If you can drink this and stay standing, you're one of us."
I skillfully mixed honey mead and distilled liquor to make a cocktail. Then I added a little magic only to the man's glass. I moved vaporized alcohol into his glass using vacuum distillation.
The man's drink, while looking the same, had now become a 'real bomb' with at least double the alcohol content.
"Now, bottoms up!"
The man drank without suspicion, and before long, his eyes started to glaze over. Like that, one glass, then another, I gradually increased the alcohol content of the man's drink. And just like that, thud, Jack collapsed.
We took him to a deserted, dark alley.
"Ugh... where is this..."
As the cold night wind touched him, the man seemed to sober up a little. I asked in a low voice.
"So, is your client Winterheart?"
The man's body stiffened like a stone. Before he could say anything, Hans and Marcus, who were on either side of him, simultaneously pounced and subdued him.
"Kugh! How...!"
"What was the request? My life?"
"N-no! I wasn't hired for murder, only for 'assault'! Just one finger...!"
Just one of my fingers. Is that really it? And not that the head of the Winterheart family had gone mad and tried to kill me?
In that brief moment while I was lost in thought. The eyes of the assassin lying on the ground flashed. His fingers began to twist into a strange shape, forming a hand seal.
I had heard that while not as common as incantations and magic circles, some people used hand seals to cast magic. Instantly, the 'Memorizer' in my pocket activated.
Shwiiik! Fwump!
"Kraaaaaaah!"
An iron ball flew, and the assassin's scream tore through the dark alley. The ring finger of the assassin who had been forming the hand seal was now shattered.
Ugh! Blech.
And then I vomited. I'm still not used to bloodshed.
"Hkkk...."
The man was clutching his hand and rolling around in the back alley. Let's think positively. Assassins are supposed to cut off their ring fingers.
At least, that's how it was in the game I played in my past life. I cast a healing spell on his hand, from which blood was gushing.
"What should we do with this guy for now?"
Catching him was good, but dealing with him was the problem.
Marcus said.
"Knowing Her Highness the Princess... she'll uncover who's behind this and dismantle the Winterheart family."
"Then it wouldn't be bad to just inform her and see..."
"But."
Marcus continued.
"The Empire is currently at war. The assassination of a First-Class Medal recipient can, in principle, lead to collective punishment.” I was at a loss for words.
My medal... was it that heavy a burden? Still, collective punishment is a bit much. It's true the father and son did something stupid.
But you can't just execute the second daughter who was quietly playing with dolls in her room.
"Then for now... let's detain him in the Magic Tower's annex."
The Guard Corps jail is safer, but if we put him there, rumors will spread. I wanted to keep things quiet until I could ask the princess her thoughts on collective punishment. With the help of Hans and Marcus, I locked the assassin in the annex.
Naturally, it was the one our school used to use. Marcus asked me.
"It seems like the soundproofing isn't very good here?"
"It only looks that way on the outside, not on the inside."
I had already installed the same sound-absorbing panels throughout the room as I did during the 'Bell Tower incident'. Even if he screams, no one outside will hear him. It's a perfect detention cell.
No one would bother to come looking here, so he likely won't be discovered. Afterward, I sent a letter to the princess.
[If someone were to...]
There's nothing to be gained for me by physically wiping out the Winterhearts. So, I need to change my strategy. In the long run, exploitation and oppression are more efficient than plunder and murder.
I'll show you the viciousness of capitalism, Winterheart.
Princess Isolde's office.
"What is this now..."
Isolde was bewildered as she held Isaac's letter.
[If someone were to try to harm me, what would Your Highness the Princess do?]
"I thought he would tell me his next research topic..."
The letter contained a question that seemed more suited for lovers who had just come of age. 'What would you do if I were about to die?' Honestly, it was a bit childish.
'Could he have sent this because of the Winterheart family?' On a simple level, it could be interpreted that way. But... no matter how rotten the Winterhearts were, would they be foolish enough to send an assassin after a recipient of the First-Class Medal of Honor?
Making a simple threat would be their limit... At most, one finger. Anything more than that would mean mutual destruction for the Winterhearts as well.
'Or has the person behind Malakai shown up?' No. That can't be it. Sir Valerius has already stepped in on that matter, so I don't need to worry about it.
A Great Mage is a walking strategic weapon. What on earth is going on? The princess considered whether to show this letter to her secretaries.
But she soon shook her head. 'It seems like it would only cause strange misunderstandings...' While she herself was confident, having personal rumors circulate about the princess during wartime was of no benefit.
Moreover, Isaac was her most cherished strategic partner. She could not tolerate that relationship being tarnished by needless rumors. At times like this, who else could she consult with so freely?
"So... you came to see me, Your Highness?"
"That's right."
In the end, she went to see the Dean. The Dean thought deeply. In the past, when the princess sought her out, it was only for major issues like suppressing the southern rebels or dealing with Imperial criminals hiding in the Free City.
But these days, every time they met, it was only about Isaac Upperhills. The Dean skimmed the letter and spoke.
"Why don't you just go and ask him directly what the intention of the letter is?"
"Actually... I already went to his lab. But he wasn't there."
The Dean nodded silently. Ever since Giuseppe had gone on a business trip, Isaac rarely went to the lab. The Dean was well aware of this because she had hidden a positioning enchantment for safety in his Memorizer pendant.
For now, she had let it be, as it was within acceptable limits. After all, geniuses get their inspiration even while resting. After a moment, the princess asked.
"Do you have any other ideas where he might be?"
"In that case, he'll be at the Magic Tower's annex. That boy went there to rest right after his speech, too."
"How would you know that, Dean." ...
The Dean just smiled without a word.
"... Something feels a bit off, but thank you for the answer."
The princess rose from her seat. She planned to go to the Magic Tower's annex for now. ... And the princess saw.
The subordinate she had come to cherish most had tied someone to a chair and was holding them captive. Was it a sign of torture? The person was missing a finger.