Chapter 57

□ Second Princess of the Alte Kingdom, Elisabeth S. Alte

When I came to, I found myself being carried on Marie's back.

I had thought it was still twilight, but now the sun had completely set.

"Ah, you're awake?"

"Aye. ...Why am I being carried on your back?"

"You must have been tired and fell asleep. You played a lot today, after all."

That might be true.

It was the first time in my life that I had played to my heart's content.

"We're almost at Lord Gideon's mansion."

"Then I should start walking on my own. I can't show my dignity as a princess while being carried."

"Yes, ma'am."

Marie's back was warm, but I got down and started walking on my own.

I could already see the preparations for Lord Gideon's reception.

"That's far enough. I'll walk the rest of the way on my own."

"You're right. If I go any closer, the guards might question me."

"Marie."

I looked into Marie's eyes and said with determination,

"Thank you."

It was, to the best of my memory, the first time I had ever said those words.

I had never said them to anyone, nor had I ever had the opportunity to say them.

"You're welcome."

Marie smiled and, for some reason, put the fox mask she had been wearing on me.

"It was a good memory for me here. ...Let's meet again someday."

"Aye! We will... definitely meet again!"

And so, my holiday in Gideon, which became the most memorable day of my life, came to an end.

After returning to the preparations, I was scolded severely by Liliana and the others, who had been running around looking for me.

But I could see tears in Liliana's eyes, and I knew she had truly been worried about me.

"I'm sorry."

When I said that, I was surprisingly scolded even more.

If something in me had changed today, it was surely because of Marie.

I now have a goal.

To visit Gideon again with my elder sister and, hopefully, with Terezia.

To do that, I must first tackle the mountain of work that has been piling up.

Thus, the holiday in Gideon came to an end.

◇◇◇

□ Alte Kingdom's Lord of the Robes, Alzear Britis

In the middle of the night, I was working alone in the palace's library.

Since the war six months ago, I have been continuing to organize documents and numbers after returning my territory.

That is my job now.

Compared to managing a territory, the work assigned to me is light.

So, I end up doing the work that hasn't been touched yet... but today, I seem to have been too focused on my work.

The light here is provided by a magic item, so there's no cost for fuel... but still, it's probably time to wrap up.

As I was thinking that,

"Lord Alzear Britis."

Someone called my name.

Looking in the direction of the voice, I saw a woman there.

She was dressed in black men's clothing and wore sunglasses indoors, a suspicious figure.

It would be natural to think she was an assassin or a killer.

But I didn't think so.

"I have something to talk about regarding the incident with Princess Elise... Princess Elisabeth in the Duel City of Gideon."

"...I'll listen, guest."

And so, she began to speak.

The second princess's elopement.

The commotion with the thugs in Gideon and her encounter with the woman in front of her.

The sightseeing in the city of Gideon.

And the battle with the assassins hired by other nobles—likely those who coveted the rights to the Gideon territory.

"I see, so it turned out to be such a... peculiar situation."

It had taken quite an unusual turn.

"At first, I thought you were the mastermind behind the incident. I thought you were orchestrating everything, including the assassins."

"Why did you think that?"

"You are the lord of the Britis territory that borders Gideon, and you were known to have a bitter rivalry with the previous Lord Gideon. And... you recently lost your only son, who was the heir, in the war."

That's true.

It's an undeniable fact.

"Your son was fifteen at the time. He had already come of age and participated in the war as a noble of the kingdom."

Yes. My son died in the war, as one would expect.

"What were you thinking at that time?"

I could feel her gaze through her sunglasses, staring at me intently.

"Unlike your son, the Gideon family's heir had not yet come of age and did not participate in the war. As a result, only a substitute officer died. And while you, Lord Britis, lost both your heir and your territory, the Gideon family continued to thrive, inheriting the territory from the previous lord. What did you think about that?"

She paused, took a breath, and then said in one go,

"The Gideon family has a territory that produces abundant wealth and an heir to entrust the future to. I have worked hard for the kingdom, yet why... why do I have nothing left?"

She said it as if performing on stage, as if echoing my own thoughts.

"You have every right to feel that way."

"...You say that as if you've seen it. We've never met before, have we?"

"I created the dialogue based on the character profile I gathered from the information."

I see, that's quite an impressive imagination.

The content of the words is almost accurate.

Indeed, I had thought that way and had even wept alone in my room.

If you could understand that much, it would be natural to think I was the mastermind.

"Yes, I was angry at everything. I was angry at the royal family for sending my son to a war they had no plan for, at the Royal Guard for not protecting my son, and at Gideon for having everything I had lost."

So, I made plans to take revenge on all of them.

That was...

"But you understood that your feelings were a grudge. You also thought, 'Half of it' was a mistake to direct resentment."

—Ah, you understood that much.

"Is that not so?"

She asked me, as if confirming.

I had to decide how to respond.

I chose to simply state my feelings and the facts.

"...I was struggling with whether to take revenge on the royal family, the Royal Guard, and Lord Gideon. But as you said, I understood that it was a grudge and a mistake to direct resentment."

Still, I couldn't just do nothing. The sense of injustice was too great to let it go.

"So, I left it to fate."

"Yes, that's why you made an uncertain plan."

She held up three fingers to indicate.

"The key points were three. Whether Princess Elise would abandon her duties and leave the mansion when you told her about the fun of Gideon. Whether the Royal Guard could still fulfill their mission even if you interfered with their duties. And whether, if the first two points went well and Princess Elise wandered around Gideon, it would be a well-governed city where she would be safe. If any of these points were met, you thought they were doing their jobs properly and that everything that happened to you was your own fault, didn't you?"

That's right.

I exaggerated the story of Gideon to the second princess, who was known for her free-spirited nature.

I deliberately provided incorrect documents to interfere with the Royal Guard's duties in Gideon.

By doing these two things, I increased the "probability that the princess would leave the mansion."

That was all I did.

"Only if all three points were problematic would harm come to the royal princess, and the responsibility would lie with the Royal Guard and Lord Gideon. You would have taken revenge on all of them."

Whether my resentment was a grudge or if they were at fault.

I asked the heavens.

"The plan was not well thought out, and it wasn't necessarily a situation that would happen because of their fault. ...But it was about ninety percent successful."

"But it didn't come to that, did it?"

"Yes, for the royal family, the Royal Guard, Lord Gideon, and Princess Elise herself, this incident is just a story of a 'willful princess who ran away and enjoyed sightseeing in Gideon.'"

"...Thank you."

Upon hearing her words, a word of gratitude slipped out of my mouth without my intention.

"Why are you thanking me?"

Why did I say thank you? I thought about it, but my heart had already spoken.

Even after a little more thought, I still felt it was appropriate to thank her.

"Because you, by chance, were there to save the princess, I was able to come to terms with it."

Yes, the circumstances of this incident.

That was the answer for me.

"It was just bad luck."

The death of my son, the plight of my territory, everything... it all boiled down to that one phrase.

It wasn't anyone's fault in the kingdom.

It wasn't anyone's fault except for me.

It was just bad luck.

"This result is not something to blame anyone for. My son went to war and died by bad luck. In the territory, an epidemic broke out by bad luck. No one was to blame. ...It took me a long time to come to terms with that, and I did some very wrong things."

"Yes, using Princess Elise's life as a dice roll is something I have my thoughts on."

Ah, I indirectly caused harm to Princess Elisabeth.

She is free-spirited, but fundamentally kind.

I used her as a touchstone, I did.

"But, as you said, this incident is just a story of a 'willful princess who ran away and enjoyed sightseeing in Gideon.'"

So, no one will be punished for this incident.

It will probably end with Princess Elisabeth receiving a scolding, she said.

"But that's not enough..."

"If you want to reflect, then from now on, work hard to make up for it to Princess Elise. Here, start with this."

With that, she threw me about three bundles of documents.

"What is this?"

"I gathered evidence and records of the illegal activities of Duke Borozel, who sent the assassins after Princess Elise. Use this as an excuse to punish him, saying you found it while organizing documents."

I was surprised.

This is something that should be kept in a noble family's secret safe.

She must have gone to the Borozel territory immediately after saving the princess and obtained this and brought it here.

"Well, my business is done, so I'll be going now."

"Wait. Who are you?"

When I asked, she smiled a little and said,

"Just a passing reporter."

And with that, she left, like mist being blown away by the wind, like a shadow disappearing in the sunlight.

End II

◇◇◇

□【Reporter】/【Shadow Assassin】Marie Adler

The day after spending a day with Elise, I was sprawled out on the terrace of a popular café in Gideon.

"...I'm so tired."

The cause was clear. I was still tired from yesterday.

Obtaining the ticket, going on a date with Elise, eliminating the assassins targeting her, gathering evidence of Duke Borozel's illegal activities, and talking to Lord Britis... I did all of this in one day. And the last three were done after dark.

Sure, I'm a super-class job. My total level exceeds 500.

My stats aren't as high as a pure combat super-class job, but they're still incredibly high. My AGI is in the five digits, and I can move at supersonic speed. I'm a superwoman.

But HP and stamina are different, and mental fatigue and MP/SP are also different. I'm sleepy.

But I can't just sleep.

Today is the day of the highly anticipated event, "Super-Class Clash." I have a meeting with Ray and the others, so I can't oversleep.

"Ray..."

The first time I met him was in the Noz Forest, when I... Marie was working as an assassin.

To fully embody Marie, the protagonist of a manga about an assassin, the one thing I absolutely couldn't do without was... killing people as an assassin.

However, in this "Infinite Dendrogram," Tians are intelligent beings that live just like humans.

Killing such beings as an assassin was something I hesitated to do (though I didn't feel the same about the kind of people I killed yesterday).

So, I chose the path of an assassin who only kills Masters, who don't die when killed.

Unlike Tians, they can resurrect, and they don't really lose their lives.

They were suitable targets for role-playing as an assassin.

That's why I trained in stealth and shadow-related jobs in the world of Tiandia, completed the trials, and became a super-class job, "Shadow Assassin," and continued working as an assassin who only killed Masters.

By the way, I chose stealth-related jobs because they were similar to Marie's combat style in the manga. I also had her use disguises and clones in the story.

My success rate was high, and I was able to learn new ways to depict assassinations as I carried out my missions.

It was a good job that benefited both the real world and "Infinite Dendrogram."

...When I had to target a super-class "Plague King" who had indiscriminately killed thousands of Tians and was internationally wanted, I thought I was going to die.

I managed to defeat him and send him to "Prison," though.

I met Ray during my most recent job, a PK (Player Killer) of beginners in the Noz Forest.

I didn't know who the client was, but I was offered a very high price for my skills.

I had some reservations about the job because it involved indiscriminate killing of mostly beginners, but on the other hand, it was a type of assassination I had never done before.

I also remembered a scene from "Into the Shadows" where a group of inexperienced apprentice assassins were brutally slaughtered, and thought, "This might help me bring Marie to life," so I decided to give it a try.

So, I took on the job of killing all the Masters who entered the Noz Forest... and Ray was one of my targets.

At that moment, I became interested in him.

First, he survived my Embryo's attack even though he was a beginner.

Second, he defended against the second attack and even deflected the third with sheer willpower.

He was eventually penalized by a bullet creature that combined "Black Tracker" and "Blue Scatter," but the important thing was not the result.

What was important was his expression and emotions during those actions.

He was alive when facing death.

Yes, he was alive.

I am alive too.

But that's not what I mean.

He was seriously trying to survive.

In this "Infinite Dendrogram."

Whether he was aware of it or not, he was seriously living in this "Infinite Dendrogram," in the game.

As a result of being in this "Infinite Dendrogram" for a long time, some players become like that.

There are also those who enter the "Infinite Dendrogram" from the beginning without thinking of it as a game, like a certain religious group.

But he was different.

He was a beginner, a rookie... and yet, he was one of the most serious players I had ever seen.

It was very intriguing, and I had a feeling that "if I keep watching him, something I lack might be filled," "the Marie in me might come to life,"...

After that, I searched for Ray, who I thought had recovered from the penalty.

Along the way, I was attacked by a fur-covered... no, the "Destruction King" on a battleship, and the Noz Forest disappeared, but I found Ray and his Embryo, Nemes.

I approached them while they were talking to Luke, pretending to be a passerby, and then joined their party.

By the way, my job was always "Shadow Assassin."

There is a passive skill called "Stealth Concealment" in the stealth-related passive skills.

If you have a stealth-related job as your main job, the level of the stealth-related job is hidden, and the highest level of the other jobs you have learned is displayed as your main job.

So, only my levels for "Reporter" (and another job) are visible, and my stats should appear accordingly.

I can also remove the concealment for party members, but since my goal was to infiltrate Ray's party, I didn't remove it.

...There was the issue of how to handle the passive skill "The Pen is Mightier than the Sword" of the "Reporter" job, which increases experience points.

Yes, it's simple in theory.

If I change my job to "Reporter," the passive skill will activate.

However, if I switch my main job from a stealth-related job, the total level concealment will be removed.

If that happened, it would be a disaster.

So, I kept my job as "Shadow Assassin" and secretly used an item that amplifies the party's experience points for a certain period to achieve a similar effect.

It's expensive, though.

It costs 100,000 ril for a 30-minute effect.

But I thought it was worth the expense.

...I did receive money for the beginner hunting.

Reflecting on it, I feel a lot of guilt and think, "I shouldn't have done it," but if I hadn't, I wouldn't have met Ray, so it's complicated.

So, I acted as a party member, traveled with them, and then that battle happened.

The battle with the goblin horde and their leader, the "Great Miasma Galdoranda."

"Galdoranda" was a strong