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The silver-haired girl, conspicuous even in the night, vanished into the narrow alleys that crisscrossed the city. The pink-haired girl, carrying their target, headed to the inn, but she could be dealt with later.

It was better to handle them one by one before any commotion arose.

“Hey.”
“Yeah.”

A brief exchange with my partner confirmed our intent as we entered the alley, following the silver hair. I couldn’t fathom what our client was thinking, targeting such a young girl. What grudge could they possibly hold?

But, having taken the money, we had no choice but to do the job. I only hoped to finish it in one painless strike.

“…?”

The dim alley, illuminated only faintly by street lamps, caused our eyes, accustomed to the light, to momentarily struggle with the darkness. But only for a moment. Our trained eyes quickly adjusted to the dark.

The girl had only entered the alley seconds before. Yet… where was she? The target was nowhere in sight.

“Hey there, taking a stroll this late at night?”
“――!?”

The voice of the girl who should have vanished came from above. Looking up at the faint starlight that filtered into the narrow alley, we saw the silver-haired girl standing above us, gazing down.

She stood with her feet on the wall, as naturally as if it were the ground, making us feel as if we were the ones defying gravity.

“Just two, huh? That’s fewer than I expected. Mercenaries?”
“Are you a wizard!?”
“The answer’s with your friend.”
“What do you—”
“Gah… guh, blub blub…!”

The companion standing behind me collapsed while muttering incoherently. A sphere of water clung to his head. He struggled to pull it off, but his hands only splashed through the liquid.

“…Impossible.”

There had been no indication of spellcasting, no incantation I could have missed. Had the girl cast the spell without any chant, forming the water sphere before we even noticed?

Unthinkable. Such feats were the domain of wizards who had spent decades honing their craft.

“Only one of you needs to talk. Consider yourself lucky.”
“…Damn it. I surrender. Just… spare our lives, please.”

Resistance was futile. I was already within her range too. I dropped all my concealed weapons onto the ground, clasped my hands behind my head, and kneeled.

Damn it, where did I go wrong? I should have never taken this job in the first place.

――――――――…………
――――……
――…

“Hmm, Master is late…”

It had already been thirty minutes since Master said she’d be back soon. Where could she have gone? Maybe she got lost.

“Should I go look for her? But I don’t know this town at all either…”
“Hey, Momo, why are you pacing around in this small room? Open up here.”
“Whoa, yikes! W-Welcome back, Master!”

While I was wondering what to do, Master peeked through the window from outside. Even though she could fly, I wish she wouldn’t come and go from strange places. As I opened the window, Master slipped smoothly into the room.

…No, it wasn’t just Master. Two men in black clothing, encased in large bubbles, were carried in as well.

“Who are these people!?”
“Don’t make a fuss; you’ll wake Stell. These guys apparently tried to kill us.”
“And you brought them into the room!?”
“They need to be interrogated. Don’t try anything foolish. I can fill those bubbles with water faster than you can act.”
“I get it… Damn it, who the hell are you people?”

The two men in black seemed to have already been dealt with by Master. One of them, who was glaring fearfully at Master, was better off. The other lay unconscious, water spilling from his mouth.

…Fortunately, it didn’t seem like he was dead. What exactly did Master do to him?

“Alright, let’s get straight to the point. What was your objective?”
“…To eliminate the kid sleeping over there. And anyone who got in the way.”
“What…?!”

Instinctively, I moved to shield Stell, who was still asleep on the bed.

Good, she was still asleep. She hadn’t heard the conversation. But why was she being targeted?

“From the way you’re talking, it sounds like someone ordered you to do this. Who’s your superior?”
“…I don’t know.”
“I see.”
“Blub…! I’m-bluagh-telling the truth! I don’t know anything!!”
“Master, stop! You’re going to kill him!”

With a snap of Master’s fingers, water began to fill the bubbles surrounding the men. I rushed to intervene, but Master just looked down at the scene with cold eyes.

It was just like the orphanage in Elnato. If I didn’t seriously stop her, Master would probably… really kill them.

“Ugh… A woman! Her voice wasn’t young. That’s all I know!!”
“Master!!”
“…Fine, that’ll do.”

With another snap, the water in the bubbles was siphoned off and expelled through the window. The men gasped for air, choking and sputtering on the remnants of water as they tried to speak.

“Present all the information you have. If you had been a bit more perceptive, you wouldn’t have had to suffer so much.”
“Master, you’re going too far!!”
“We were nearly killed for no reason. This is nothing compared to what we’ve endured.”
“No! I don’t want to see you like this!!”

Master’s anger wasn’t because she was personally threatened; it was for the sake of others. When we were attacked by the ghost, or during Ms. Mytia’s incident, her anger was never about her own wounds.

Master was strict, but she wasn’t a cruel person. So I didn’t want to see her go any further down this path.

“…You’re naive. Don’t you think you could have been killed?”
“It’s alright. I won’t die. I won’t leave you behind.”
“…You really are foolish. Fine. I’ll hand these men over to the authorities tomorrow. You two, don’t you dare run.”
“I don’t think… Cough… we can even escape…!”
“Smart. Momo, there should be some rope in our supplies.”
“Yes, I’ll get it right away!”

I retrieved some sturdy rope from Master’s belongings and bound the black-clad men tightly. The rope was tied securely, ensuring they wouldn’t escape easily.

“How does that look…?”
“Looks good enough. For now, let’s address the immediate issue… and then we’ll deal with this.”

Master took out a sealed envelope from her pocket. It was the letter that Stell had given her, sealed with wax.