16 – The Duke
As John was covertly moving along, he comes to a halt.
Because a pair, a man and a woman, had blocked his path.
He was certain that they were not his new clients. John’s principle was not to accept other assignments when already on a job.
He observes the pair.
The man had a mask on, covering his face, and had a big muscular body. On his back, he carried a huge sword that looked at least 150cm in length.
The woman next to him was wearing a partially unzipped, provocative leather suit and had what looked like bat wings and a swaying thin black tail from behind her.
“A demon?”
John cautiously reaches for the dagger secured at his lower back.
The duo in front of him were no ordinary figures.
Especially the woman who looked like a demon was dangerous.
“An assassin of the first class looks this feeble?”
The woman said, a mocking smile on her face.
“Don’t let your guard down.”
A man donned in a mask warned her with utmost caution.
From their attitudes, John was sure that they came to obstruct his mission.
Trust was as vital as life itself in this line of work.
Without hesitation, John pulled out his dagger and charged at the woman.
Just three steps separated them. He was confident he could sever an artery with a single breath at such a distance.
As expected, neither of the two in front of him could respond to his swift movements.
“Damn!”
John, who had closed the distance in an instant, exhaled as he swung his dagger at the woman’s neck.
But then,
Something like a round bunch of white fur emerged out of the blue blocking the trajectory of his blade.
“Master!”
The fluffy creature yelled.
John wasn’t surprised to hear this animal-like thing speak. There was nothing more surprising than a demon standing right before him.
He maintained his usual calmness, relying only on the sharpness of his carefully maintained blade.
He figured he would swiftly cut through a creature like this before moving to slice the demon’s artery.
But his blade stopped barely a millimeter from her neck.
“Squeak!”
The interfering creature, deeply cut and bleeding, sprawled on the ground.
So, what had stopped the motion of his blade?
John gaped at the blade he held.
The woman’s index fingernail was blocking the tip of his blade.
“You’re quite a nuisance, throw away your blade.”
The woman stated, sounding annoyed.
‘Just because she says so, who would compliantly throw away their weapon?’
John couldn’t believe it.
However, as soon as her words ended, his hand involuntarily unfurled, dropping the blade to the ground.
“What…!”
John tried to pull his body away in surprise, but her voice was faster.
“Don’t move.”
As if caught in high-level binding magic, John couldn’t move his body.
“Ugh…”
He tried as hard as he could, but couldn’t even speak.
Only then did John notice the tattoo on her abdomen.
‘Is it a succubus…’
He had never seen a succubus before.
A demon that he thought only existed in stories.
Her body was voluptuous and fluffy here and there. It wasn’t particularly attractive to John, but there was a strangely fascinating charm exuding from her.
“Can’t I just taste this before you get to work?”
The succubus asked the masked man, licking her lips with her bright red tongue.
“I was told not to touch the carrier and just handle the artifact. Hurry up.”
From Noble mtl dot com
The man gave an indifferent instruction.
“Tsk, what a bore.”
The succubus moved so close to John that their bodies nearly touched, grabbed his chin, and lifted his head up.
She met his eyes and gave him a hint.
“Loosen and give me the sword on your waist.”
“Okay…”
Now, John’s eyes were completely loose and hazy.
The succubus’s incantation itself was powerful, but if you looked into her eyes, the effect would be multiplied.
The succubus took the sword and pulled it out of the scabbard.
“Ooh, it’s pure Mithril? Are you using such a luxury item just to enchant something like dispel?”
“What do you think, is it possible?”
The man asked next to her.
“With this, it’s possible to do even greater magic than originally planned. For example,”
She stroked the Mithril sword’s blade with one hand. Then, three magic circles appeared in the air and disappeared, absorbed into the sword.
“What did you do?”
“Removed the existing enchantments, added Explosion, and enhanced the power.”
“……”
Though the man maintained his expression, he was quite taken aback on the inside.
Explosion was a level 5 area-of-effect magic spell. Among all the commonly known spells, it was the most powerful.
It was surprising enough that the enchantment was so easily executed, let alone reinforced a second time.
This could already be classified as a national treasure.
“hehehe, making the spell this powerful will make for easier targeting.”
The succubus smirked playfully.
If the spell is triggered, the only ones in the kingdom who could possibly be accused would be two high-level magicians above level 5.
One of them is part of the noble family and hence excluded. That leaves only one person – Duke Hex.
The kingdom would be ensnared in great turmoil.
And this was precisely the masked man’s mission.
“There’s some room left for a little fun, shall we play a prank?”
With a cheeky smile, the succubus etched another magic circle onto the blade.
The man cast her a questioning glance.
“They implemented such clumsy security. I just copied them. Of course, I deliberately left a small loophole. hehehe.”
The succubus sheathed the sword and handed it back to John.
“I’ll return this to you.”
With a dazed look, John took it and strapped it on his waist.
“Forget everything that happened here. After we disappear, you just go back to what you were doing.”
The woman left one last hint for John and then turned away.
Just then,
“M-master…”
A white-furred creature sprawled on the floor as if pleading for help.
“Hasn’t it been recently under the pact? Shouldn’t we save it?” the man who had also turned around asked the succubus.
“Whatever, consider this attempt a failure. The creature is as useless as a bag. Males, I swear…”
As she clicked her tongue, the man wore a hardened expression.
“The one you serve is also a male. Mind your words.”
“Okay, got it. Shall we head home now?”
She gave a disgusted shake of her head and disappeared into the darkness.
The man also disappeared, and the cloudy eyes of John returned to their original state.
“Huh…? What am I doing here…?”
John shook his head shakily and rubbed his forehead.
Suddenly, the realization that he needed to quickly perform his task filled his head.
“This is not the time. I need to finish the contract quickly.”
He checked the mithril sword he wore at his waist and quickly moved towards his destination, the central theater.
————————————–
A few days before the second meeting with Princess Beatrice.
I was troubled by a sudden thought.
‘How do I arrange a meeting in a place with no smartphones and no contact books?’
‘How do I plan the date course? I don’t know anything about this place and there’s no internet.’
The first meeting was like an introductory meeting between families, so I didn’t have to worry about such things.
But the second meeting was supposed to be a private date, and it was a concern.
I realized how foolish I was when I confided such concerns to Maria.
‘I’m a noble, right.’
Her reply was simple.
“Tom, we’ll set everything up for you, just wait.”
And finally, on the day before the meeting.
I was summoned by Maria and I was in the receiving room.
“First of all, this is tomorrow’s schedule.”
I receive the paper that she extends to me and read it.
An early dinner at a famous restaurant.
Tea time at a nearby upscale cafe.
Watching a play at the royal central theater.
The details were lengthy, but there were three main categories.
‘The theater…’
I was subtly looking forward to it.
There hadn’t been much entertainment since I came here.
There were novels here, too, but the books that were usually purchased at a noble’s house and put in the library were mainly elegant pure literature.
So naturally, more attention went to the play than to the food and drink.
“The title is… The Knight Who Saved the Prince…”
Considering that the prince is the one being saved, I guess the knight is a female knight.
As I’m thoroughly scanning the lower part of the paper, Maria approaches me and starts a conversation.
“Are you interested in theatre?”
“Well… Yes, I am.”
Even though it is a bit awkward to completely deny it, I confirm for now.
“The princess enjoys theatre regularly. And this play is apparently to her taste.”
“That’s unexpected.”
Usually, girls tend to favor prince charming or Cinderella stories.
“Unexpected? Girls usually like these kinds of stories.”
Maria gives me a look of suspicion instead.
“Ah…”
I had forgotten that fact. The world is reversed here.
“I never explained my world’s standards to these people, did I.”
But there’s no point explaining it now.
“And take this.”
What she hands me is an antique bracelet made from metal.
No, it’s almost a wrist guard, rather than a bracelet, for such a broad accessory.
When I take it, it’s much lighter than I expected.
“It’s a mithril alloy bracelet. It can hold a significant amount of magic power.”
I concentrate a bit while looking down at the bracelet.
“Oh…”
Although it is much smaller and lighter than the crystal bead I touched before, I can still feel magic power that is almost three times as much.
“It could easily fire off ten magic bullets. Hmm… Two or three shields, perhaps.”
“Thank you. But why this, all of a sudden?”
“I heard about it from Celianna. I’d been spending too much time with those guys, that it never occurred to me Tom wouldn’t have any magic power,”
Maria laughs, her voice tinged with self-mockery.
‘Those guys’ must be the men of the Anderson family.
“I hope you never have to use it, but keep it for protection anyway.”
“Yes, I will make good use of it.”
I tried on the bracelet. Its size naturally adjusted to my wrist.
A faint magic seemed to circulate within my body.
‘So magic has different feelings, too’
The energy from the crystal ball had a somewhat darker, damp feeling whereas the magic flowing out from the mithril was refreshing and cool.
“Well, you’re off the hook. You must have told Tom you’ve got taste.”
“But without magic, it’s like half a charm, ha ha.”
“No, even if it is a devil, my great-great-grandfather is the only one I know who can shoot an arrow in a second with absolute silence.”
Was that monstrous inspiration? I wouldn’t like to see it again.
“Who knows? Tom might find a new paradigm of magic at university.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
Laughing, I brushed off her joke.