Chapter 14 - Chapter 14: "It's My First Job, You See"
Gokigenyou! I am Violia Nico Fortesia!
I am currently at the House Castane villa in the west of the Elsemarin noble district!
And now, it is my first job! My heart is pounding!
"Listen. Exactly fifteen minutes. Kill the head of Castane and his three wives for sure by then. At worst, we don't need the valuables. ...And Violia. I'm leaving the arson to you."
"Very well. I shall carry it out perfectly!"
I shall kill them properly, I intend to take every single valuable, and I shall set the fire! I do not pull my punches!
"Chesta. You got it?"
"Mm."
...And. I have just noticed.
The drug addict is back to his senses...!!
"Ah... by the way, Doran."
"Yeah."
The drug addict, Chesta, was looking at me while tilting his flashy blonde head.
"Who's this?"
...As expected of a drug addict. It seems his memory has flown away.
However, I can certainly see reason in those amber eyes staring at me now.
"It's Violia. She joined us today."
It is extremely late, but this is my third self-introduction.
"I am Violia Nico Fortesia. I did speak with you yesterday, though."
"Sorry, don't remember."
I thought so. Or rather, if he did remember, I think he should be so ashamed he would want to bury himself in the ground immediately. Last night, he seemed to be looking at the stars inside a cave.
I wonder if this drug addict will start looking at the stars again after combat today? ...Just as I thought that, his eyes suddenly sparkled as he stared into mine.
...However, that sparkle was not a twinkle, but a glare.
"Heh... your eyes look like rubies."
A hand reached out and touched my cheek.
It was cold. ...Come to think of it, his left hand was a prosthetic.
"Red eyes. Rare. Creepy, though."
After saying something quite rude, Chesta stared intently into my eyes. Does this man not realize that 'when you stare into someone's eyes, they are staring back at you'? I was glaring straight back at him, but he did not seem to care at all. As expected of a drug addict!
"Hey, Chesta. That's enough."
"I know, I know."
Chesta gave one last fierce glint in his eyes, stared intently into mine... then moved away from me and gave a light wave of his hand.
"Well, I'm off. It's four people to kill, right? I'll do two. You guys do the other two."
And then, he quickly ran into the mansion.
...It is incredibly irritating, but well, for now, it is fine.
"...We're moving too."
"Yes. Indeed."
Seeing Doran run off after Chesta, I also quickly entered the mansion.
I have entered the mansion.
Doran was to enter through the front entrance. I was supposed to enter through the back door, so I went around to the back. By the way, Chesta entered through a window somewhere.
Entering through the back door, I was immediately in the kitchen. It seemed the cooks and maids were also fast asleep at this late hour. It was quiet, but...
...Looking around the kitchen a bit, I found the stairs to the basement. Well, it is ten to one a wine cellar, so I shall ignore it. I shall search there last.
I left the kitchen and passed the row of servant rooms.
Having received an education as a young lady, walking gracefully without making a sound is a piece of cake for me. A young lady must be able to walk without sound even in high heels, sprint at full speed in high heels, and descend stairs three steps at a time in high heels. Ohohoho.
No, I am currently wearing leather boots, though.
With this kind of work, my outfit cannot be a dress.
The black clothes that blend into the night and the boots that do not hinder movement all seem to be mismatched items, but well, there is no problem.
After all, I have brought my weapons properly. That is enough for equipment. Armor is just a decoration for assassination!
Now, I cannot wait to test-fire this new bow. I shall find the targets and kill them quickly!
Normally, I should go to the second floor where the bedrooms are.
But I have a hunch. A sign of magical power, perhaps.
Following my intuition, I headed toward the guest rooms.
After all, even if I went to the second floor now, Chesta, who should have entered first, would already be working! In that case, it is more rational to go elsewhere, is it not?
...And in the guest room, as expected, my intuition was correct and the target was there! As expected of me!
However... it was a bit unexpected.
"H-Hahaha! As I thought, thieves have come!"
The one there was the head of House Castane.
And the one beside him... was not one of his three wives.
A small build. A hooded cloak. Clearly an aura of 'this side.'
...Who is this?
"I hired a guard, thinking this might happen!"
But the head himself revealed who it was. It seemed that person was a hired guard. In other words, they are my enemy.
What is their weapon? From what I could see, they did not appear to be holding anything like a weapon, but does that mean hidden weapons? Bare-handed combat? They seem a bit small for that, though.
And above all, because they were wearing a hooded cloak tightly, I could not see their face well. ...I have no idea how they will move.
However, I know this much.
"...A formidable foe, I see."
The enemy standing before me.
This person is, without a doubt, a formidable foe. My sixth sense is telling me so.
"Then I leave the rest to you!"
While I was watching the head escape through a large window, I felt a presence at my feet.
Immediately moving from that spot, as expected, the floor where I had been standing a moment ago exploded!
"Oh... you are a lightning user, are you not?"
There was no way there would be an answer to my question, and again, the floor and walls exploded as if targeting me.
It seemed this guard hired by the head of House Castane used lightning magic. I see. If they fight with magic, it makes sense that they do not have any obvious weapons. Since they have a small build, I thought they would not be a bare-handed fighter, but magic. I was slightly surprised.
However, this lightning is troublesome.
After all, this is a narrow room. I have managed to dodge everything so far, but I do not think I can keep avoiding it forever.
...Likely, the opponent's mental strength and magical power are not inexhaustible. In that case, the most effective way to fight a magic user is a battle of endurance, waiting for them to wear down.
But they likely decided on their fighting style knowing that. If they did not, they would not be doing this kind of underworld guard work.
And I, too, cannot afford to take my time.
After all, I have a time limit of 'fifteen minutes.' I must kill, take, and burn within fifteen minutes! I do not have time for a leisurely, elegant battle of endurance in a place like this!!
So, I shall attack. Rather than defending or dodging, attacking is what suits me best!
"Even a magic user is human! They die if you kill them—!!"
Lightning is not something you can dodge at the last second. If I get close, the lightning will flow toward me and bang. So I must always use large movements to dodge. Furthermore, the weapon I am currently holding is a bow. From the above, my correct way of fighting would be to take a large distance here... but I avoided it by crouching extremely low and charging in!
And then, a direct approach! There is always a gap between spells! If I aim for the moment they miss a shot, I can definitely land an attack even if my weapon is a bow!
"Tch, you—!"
However, the opponent also has what it takes to do this kind of work.
Against me, who had managed to dodge lightning several times, they showed some signs of panic, but still handled it firmly.
Namely, they pulled a knife from their sleeve and threw it to counterattack.
"Oh, what a good arm you have!"
And I was slightly panicked by this. After all, the enemy's knife had sliced through my right arm.
Tsu, blood flowed thinly and fell to the floor. This is quite bad, is it not?
But even if I am panicked, I do not give up! Rather, this is a chance!
I lowered both hands and stood up. Then blood flowed, traveling down the arrow gripped in my right hand.
...Once I confirmed that, my next action was decided!
Namely, attack! Attack! Attack! That is all!
I knew the lightning was coming, so this time I dodged by circling the room in a large arc.
It is not necessarily about trying to dodge with the minimum movement, but rather, moving outside the opponent's expectations. That is the secret to victory.
Yes. The opponent likely expected me to make another death-defying dodge. Therefore, I did not miss the gap that was created in the opponent's defense.
I jumped onto the bed, and using the bed as a springboard, I made a large leap. While closing in on the enemy, I readied my bow and...!
"I have you—!!"
I fired the arrow! ...Out the window!
"Eh?"
At that moment, an expression of astonishment appeared beneath the guard's hood.
The one I targeted was not the guard.
The original target. The enemy's guard subject. The head of House Castane himself! If it is a slow-footed pig, he is still well within range of my arrow!
The head of House Castane, who was escaping through the window, received my arrow, convulsed, and died. I did it!
"Ohohohohoho! It is much faster to do this than to go through the trouble of fighting a guard—!!"
When I raised a triumphant laugh, the guard was momentarily flustered, but immediately moved.
"Oops, how dangerous."
Predicting that lightning would strike, I quickly moved away from that spot. Then, as expected, the lightning flowed exactly as I had predicted.
...From what I could see, the opponent seemed to be quite panicked. I could see their confusion as if I were holding it in my hand. Perhaps this person is inexperienced. They seem so panicked by the mission failure that they cannot see their surroundings.
Likely, this person has never failed a mission before. For an assassination, they could likely do the job well enough with just that lightning magic and throwing knives. Finishing off someone who has taken measures against magic with a knife is indeed an effective method. But this time, I was the superior one! Ohohohohoho!
"Now then. Should you not be withdrawing soon?"
After a few seconds of glaring at each other, sensing that the opponent was lost on how to move, I decided to prompt them.
"Your guard subject is dead. And soon, my comrades will be here. ...Do you intend to fight one against many? By the way, I have already achieved my objective. I have no intention of dealing with you any further. If you also have no will to fight, let us part with a smile here."
The opponent seemed to hesitate, but then suddenly looked at me suspiciously.
"You... who are you? I didn't hear that someone like you would be here."
"Now, I wonder who I am?"
"It looked like you used some strange technique."
"I am not so kind as to reveal my hand to you."
After some trivial exchange, I heard footsteps coming down from the upper floor. It seemed either Doran or Chesta was coming.
"Shall we call it a day? My comrades are coming here now."
The opponent also seemed to hear the footsteps. They appeared to have decided to withdraw.
"...Remember this."
"Yes. Take care of yourself."
The opponent spat out a parting threat and immediately used some magic.
The magic seemed to be one that released a flash of light. It was incredibly bright.
...And when the flash subsided, the figure of the guard was no longer there.
I had prepared a knife in case they attacked me, but... well, it was not necessary.
"Violia. Are you alright?"
"There was a little kitten, but I chased it away."
Doran, who had rushed into the room, looked slightly panicked when he saw the scorch marks in the room and the shattered floor. On the other hand, I felt like 'I've done it.' It is a good feeling when the opponent is panicked and you are perfectly composed!
"...I'm sorry. There was no information that a guard had been hired... it's my failure for not detecting it beforehand."
"Oh, it is fine. I enjoyed myself."
"The injury..."
"Do not touch me."
But this is different from feeling good. I brushed away Doran's hand as he tried to touch my right arm with my left, and I quickly stopped the bleeding by tearing the bedsheets into bandages.
I also wiped the blood from my hand, and now. That is a relief.
"Now, Doran. Do not make such a gloomy face. The fun is just beginning, is it not?"
"Yeah. You killed the head, right?"
"Yes. That thing lying dead in the garden is the head."
When I pointed toward the garden, Doran looked at it and muttered, "I see."
"Then, we'll scavenge for valuables. I killed two, and Chesta killed one."
Oh my. Chesta said 'I'll do two,' but in the end, Doran took two from him. Ohohohohoho.
"Knowing that, I can steal to my heart's content with peace of mind. I shall handle the first floor. After all, the bedrooms and dressing rooms must be on the second floor, right?"
"Yeah. Me and Chesta will search upstairs. You take the first floor."
"Understood."
Glancing at the clock, there were seven minutes left. I must hurry.
After that, I put everything that caught my eye into my Spatial Bag.
...This is why a Spatial Bag is the best! It is a bag that can even fit a whole dragon corpse! A lifeline for a thief! With this one thing, you can carry out any theft with ease!
"Now, the last is the wine cellar."
While emptying the mansion with tremendous momentum, I finally went down the kitchen basement stairs.
...As expected, it was a wine cellar. All sorts of wines were lined up. It seemed the head of House Castane had a hobby of collecting wine.
"Quite a good selection is gathered here."
I can at least appraise things to some extent. I can roughly tell the value of the wines lined up. Well, this is not the time for appraisal. After all, they are all going into the Spatial Bag together.
However, there was one wine that caught my eye.
It was nothing special, not even a particularly high-class wine. But... it was a wine made at a winery owned by House Fortesia.
...I shall take this back and make it a celebratory drink for my first job!
After gathering the wines into the bag one after another... I saw something that normally would not have been visible.
"Oh... a door?"
I noticed a door behind the shelves that would not have been visible if the wine had been lined up.
If a door has been found, I have no choice but to open it! I shall open it!
"...I am flabbergasted."
I was flabbergasted. I was truly flabbergasted.
When I opened the hidden door behind the wine shelves in the wine cellar, what was there was, well, a mountain of money!
Likely, he hid his fortune in the villa like this to evade tax revenue.
But if he had this much money, he should have just paid the reward to Doran properly. Truly, a noble who is stingy with payments has no redeeming qualities!
Now.
So, I completely snatched the valuables and things I liked from the first floor and the wine cellar in the basement.
And once I finished snatching, it was time for the cleanup.
In other words, the long-awaited main event! Arson! I am so excited!
I ignited a piece of paper soaked in distilled liquor.
I dropped that paper onto a carpet also soaked in distilled liquor.
Instantly, bowari, the flames spread.
"It is burning quite well."
Yes. I have burned it.
Setting fire to a place one normally does not burn gives a sense of the extraordinary.
By the way, looking at the flames in a fireplace is calming, but looking at a floor burning is exciting. It has the opposite effect of calming. How strange.
"Adding oil to the fire is exactly what this is, is it not?"
Finally, after enjoying the arson to my heart's content by scattering oil I got from the kitchen and using House Castane's debt certificates and promissory notes as kindling, it was time to withdraw.
This kind of fire play is not interesting if one is caught in it. Once it has grown to a certain size, it is best to watch it from the outside!
After finishing the arson and going outside the mansion, Doran and Chesta were waiting a short distance away.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
"...You did it quite flashily."
The mansion was already amidst the flames.
"I scattered all the oil and distilled liquor I could find."
"Good work."
I think so too!
"At this rate, likely nothing will remain."
"Indeed. Now, let us return."
I took a step away with the burning mansion behind me... then, I remembered the weight in both my hands.
"By the way, Doran. If there is space in your Spatial Bag, could you put this in?"
I handed Doran a bag filled with gold coins. My hands had been occupied by this until now. It was inconvenient!
"I don't mind, but... did something happen? Is your bag malfunctioning?"
"No. Purely, I have reached the capacity limit of my Spatial Bag."
With the burning mansion in the background, Doran was wondering, "Just what in the world did you steal that much...?" but well, he will find out soon enough!
"Now, let us return! Once we are back at the hideout, it will be time for the spoils of war presentation!"
I am just so looking forward to it!