But the moment the poisoned arrow was released, before he could even hear the sound of it piercing flesh, his world spun.
Even the mercenary couldn't clearly see what had happened. The shop owner had just sprung into action and fired the arrow, and before it even touched its target, Ash had already slapped a hand onto his head, smashing him down onto the bar counter and leaving a deep crater, shattering the glasses on top.
If it were an ordinary person, being pressed down at that speed, forget whether their head could take it, their neck would have snapped on the spot. Yet here he was, merely bleeding from the head. At the same time, the poisoned arrow, the moment it flew out, had been caught by Ash and driven back into the man's hand, leaving him with nothing but pained whimpers.
"Honestly, I don't like killing people, and I like killing good people even less. Rasen was a decent guy. He just refused to listen to me, and that's something I truly regret."
Grabbing the owner by the hair, Ash yanked his head up and shook his own head with a trace of regret.
"As for you, I genuinely wanted to give you a chance to keep living. But… it doesn't seem like you actually want to live, does it?"
Of course, he meant what he said.
But more than anything, Ash wanted to use them to assassinate imperial nobles, to draw out whatever hidden cards the Empire might still have.
Since he was operating from the shadows, it made sense to make full use of that advantage. Better to avoid getting carried away and running into unpredictable risks. Letting others scout the path was far safer.
Even if what he was doing felt a bit like something a villain would do, it still left him faintly uneasy. But everyone here had killed countless people themselves. None of them had the right to call him a villain. At best, this was just using evil to counter evil.
But just as he was about to say more to persuade them, someone, apparently drawn by the screams, pushed open the tavern door from outside. And the moment he saw the scene inside… he froze.
Even the mercenary and Sense instinctively turned to look at the sudden intruder.
The priest who had once set out on a journey to find his dear friend, and had parted ways with Ash, Sein.
He had only come to look for someone he'd recently met, maybe try the drink they'd recommended, and ask around among any new patrons for clues about his friend's whereabouts.
But hearing the sounds and screams from inside had made him hesitate outside for a moment. He had thought about leaving, but in the end, his conscience got the better of him. He figured he'd step in and try to stop what he assumed was another bar brawl.
Yet the moment he pushed open the door, he realized… this was nothing like what he had imagined.
This wasn't a drunken fight.
The floor was stained with blood, splattered even onto the walls. A severed hand lay on the ground. Not far away, a young man who seemed dead lay collapsed, having smashed through the wall.
The shop owner he had met before was covered in blood, his head being held up by a man whose face and hands were also stained red. An arrow pinned his left hand to the table. He looked in terrible condition, clearly poisoned.
Behind this man, who looked anything but friendly, stood the female mercenary he had also met before. The beautiful older woman, her sword still stained with blood.
And beside her, a long-haired, expressionless girl stared at him.
More importantly, even at a glance, Sein could tell that multiple layers of defensive magic were woven into the girl's long hair. And there were undoubtedly more spells he couldn't see. She was clearly a mage of overwhelming strength. So much so that he knew instantly, he stood no chance against her.
With blood everywhere, the whole scene looked like some underworld organization conducting business, and he had just walked straight into something he shouldn't have seen.
Sein's heart pounded. He could already picture what would happen next, being silenced along with the rest. His expression stiffened as he swallowed.
"S-sorry for the intrusion. I… I didn't see anything. Please, carry on~ Carry on~"
He quietly stepped back, ready to shut the door and leave, already prepared to run for his life.
But at that moment, the blood-covered man finally turned his face toward him.
"Oh? Sein? Didn't expect to run into you here. Don't worry, come in. And close the door while you're at it."
"That voice…"
Lowering his head instinctively to avoid seeing too much, and to avoid the being silenced, Sein heard the familiar voice and cautiously looked up.
Only then did he clearly see it.
The man committing the violence… was someone he knew.
"A-Ash? Why are you—"
"Close the door first. Then we'll talk."
"N-no, wait… what exactly are you doing? I'm not going to get silenced, am I?", His blood-covered appearance made Sein's forced smile look overly stiff and unnatural.
"What are you talking about? Do I look like that kind of person?"
"So you're not?"
"No, I am. But close the door first. Otherwise, the number of people I'll have to silence will just go up."
"That joke… isn't funny at all."
Even though he wasn't sure if it was really a joke, after hesitating for a moment, Sein stepped back inside and shut the door.
The first time he met this priest had been quite amusing.
And now, meeting him again like this, was just as unexpectedly amusing. Ash couldn't help but think, 'Every time I run into this guy, why is his luck always so bad? Has the goddess already abandoned this poor priest?'
Still, Ash casually tossed the owner aside. Dizzy from poison and impact, the man stumbled and collapsed back onto the bar.
Ash himself didn't even bother standing. He simply turned on his stool, leaned against the bar, propped his chin on one hand, and looked at the visibly nervous priest who kept glancing around.
"So… want something to drink? Since we've run into each other again, it's on me. Pick anything."
"No thanks. In a situation like this, I don't really have the appetite for a drink."
"Really? Free drinks and you're turning it down, that's not like you."
"..."
'How is this treating someone? This is basically a robbery, isn't it? And what is going on here? What do I even do? There are way too many things to complain about!', Sein's expression twisted as if he'd swallowed a fly. He wanted to complain, badly, but given the situation, he couldn't say a word.
Ash casually gestured, and several bottles of wine and clean glasses flew out from the cabinet behind the bar, landing neatly beside him. As he uncorked one and poured himself a drink, he spoke without even looking up.
"I was joking earlier. I just had a little talk with the people here, and some disagreements came up. Right when I was about to resolve them, you showed up."
"That's really unfortunate. Ah! No, I mean, perfect timing! Ha! Haha!"
'You call this resolving a disagreement? You're resolving people!', Sein forced a laugh, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, holding back his urge to complain.
"By the way, why are you here?"
"I'm looking for—"
"I know you're looking for that gorilla-like warrior. What I'm asking is, why are you at this tavern?"
"Yesterday morning, I ran into Wehrlos… uh, a dwarf drifter. He was carrying an injured old cat across the street. I helped treat it, and then he brought me here, said I could gather information at a place with more people, see if I could find any leads on the warrior."
"Wehrlos… ah, Rasen, huh? That guy really was a good person."
Even after becoming a drifter and assassin, having killed who knows how many over the past eighty years under orders, he still cared for stray cats. Honestly, Ash didn't understand this kind of complicated humanity.
Sein blinked in surprise, "You knew that old man too?"
"You could say that."
"We were supposed to drink together today, but I suddenly can't find him. Do you know where he went?"
"Who knows."
"..."
The conversation fell into silence. Sein wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words.
In the end, he let out a long sigh and scratched his head.
"So what exactly are you doing here?"
"Resolving a dispute. I said that already," Honestly, whether it was luck or something else, the fact that Sein had walked right into one of the shadow squad's gathering spots gave Ash a headache over how to deal with him.
But unable to come up with anything better, he simply pointed at the peddler in the distance.
"Why don't you treat him first?"
"What kind of dispute ends up like this?", Sein hesitated for a moment, but still hurried over, starting treatment as he asked.
"We've met before, so I'll give you some advice, don't get involved in this. Forget everything you saw today. It'll be better for you."
"This really isn't some kind of place where people get silenced, is it?"
"I was joking earlier, but this actually is the kind of situation where people get silenced."
"…", Sein was completely lost. He couldn't understand how a tavern had turned into such a dangerous place.
He continued treating in silence, but after a while, his expression turned bitter as he looked back.
"It's too late. His injuries are too severe. He's already dead."
"Dead?", The mercenary's pupils shrank slightly, the tip of her sword trembling faintly. Ash, however, didn't care at all, waving his hand dismissively.
"Then leave him. Treat the owner instead, and you should get going too."
"If the magic special forces find out about this, it'll be a problem. Shouldn't you leave too?"
"It's fine. Just go."
"Then I'll head out. If you need anything, you can find me at the inn nearby."
Sein glanced around one last time, then after treating and detoxifying the owner, left quickly at Ash's urging.
Only then did Sense, who had been silent the whole time, finally speak, her expression hesitant and concerned.
"Lord Ash… is this really okay?"
"It's fine. He's not the kind of person who would report us."
As he spoke, Ash brushed his hand across the table, and the scene seemed to rewind.
The shattered bar instantly restored itself. When he walked to the corpse, a light touch reduced it to dust.
With another press of his hand against the ground, the broken floorboards and wall reconstructed themselves.
In moments, everything returned to its original state, except one person was gone. It was as if nothing had happened.
Only then did Ash calmly look at the mercenary, whose expression was now clearly unnatural.
"I know what you were thinking. That strike just now, you wanted me to trust you, then find a chance to kill me, right? But now your companion is dead. There's no turning back for you."
"How could that be… I only—"
"Better if you didn't. Just follow me to the end."
"Of course."
Her smile was stiff, but inside, a storm raged. She had never expected… to be seen through so completely.
And in the process, she had ended up helping him kill her own companion.
For the mercenary forcing that smile, there was no path left but compromise.
After harming her own companion, there was no way to undo it. The only outcomes left were execution, or defecting to another faction.
This was not a world governed by law. For low-level assassins like them, any sign of betrayal meant that even if they were temporarily useful, they would eventually be eliminated.
Because assassins like them were expendable. The higher-ups would rather kill the wrong ones than let any slip away. At best, they'd be used until the job was done, then disposed of.
This wasn't speculation, it was experience.
They themselves had dealt with plenty of imperial assassins who had failed their missions. None of them had met a good end. And what she had done, was far worse.
After a moment of silent deliberation, she dropped to one knee.
"To serve someone as strong as you is my honor."
"There's nothing honorable about it. Frankly, think whatever you want. But you've already helped me kill your companion. And as for you, Mr. Owner, I won't repeat myself. If you're willing to obey, I can give you a chance to live."
With his back to the mercenary, Ash sat once more at the bar, looking at the owner, who was clutching his healed hand, staring silently at him. Swirling the wine in his glass, he spoke casually.
"Don't look at me like that. And remember, I'm not just talking about you, or the two of you. I mean everyone in your squad."
"But Gazella is already dead."
"That was just an unfortunate accident. Forget him."
"He was our companion!"
Though he had already lost the will to resist, the owner still couldn't help protesting for his fallen comrade.
Ash, however, sounded as if he'd heard something absurd.
"People like you actually care about companions?"
"Are you… looking down on us?"
"It's not about looking down on you. I'm just stating a fact," He waved his hand dismissively,n"You've been assassins for years. When you kill other people's companions, you don't say a word. But now that one of your own is dead, you start mourning? Isn't that a bit unfair?"
"There's no fairness between people to begin with."
"Then now that unfairness has simply reached you," Ash stared at the ripples in his wine, shrugging indifferently, "By the way, you still haven't given me your answer."
"If I refuse, I die?"
"Do you think you have another choice?"
"…"
He couldn't answer.
He had already resisted. There was no path left. His companion was dead, nothing could change that.
Even if he didn't understand how things had come to this, the owner slowly followed suit, dropping to one knee.
At the very least, he didn't want to die yet.
Just like what Ash had said earlier when trying to persuade them to surrender, so long as you're alive, there's still a chance for anything. Once you're dead, everything becomes meaningless.
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