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Volume 6 Chapter 1 Part 7

「You must’ve been glad that they found you worthy back then. 」

「Yes, when I was chosen to become an Assassin, I really thought I was suited for this job. In the slums, a person’s life is as light as a pebble. But it was only when I started killing people that I was able to fully realize the true weight of life. We kill because someone wants it, and that’s better than death that nobody wants, don’t you think? 」

「Then what does that mean if many people want to see me dead? 」

Yana said with disgust.

「If many people want you dead, then that means that your life must be truly worth it. 」

「I’m not happy about that at all. 」

Yana sighed deeply.

「But it’s true that even I have people I want to kill more than anything else in this world. 」

「People like Theo Cornero and his Mage Siluca Meletes? Why do you want to see them dead, exactly? 」

「Elmer and Salvador… my two lovers were killed because of them. That’s why I hate them more than anyone else. Just by looking at them, I can tell they trust each other deeply. I never met anyone else who’d be like that before. 」

When she finished talking, Boltz saw pure murderous intent in Yana’s eyes.

There weren’t many other people who had the same look about them, at least not among the ones that Boltz knew. And that look in her eyes was not something artificial or faked, but something that looked genuine. That’s something that he really could expect from someone who was responsible for the assassination of the two Archdukes at the same time.

「I’m going to separate the twin Werewolves from the Chamberlain. Then you can have your chance at fighting the chamberlain one-on-one, right? 」

「Can you really do it? 」

「Of course. If I just show my face, those two will target me for sure. I took one of them hostage, lured their mother out and killed her before their very eyes, and Werewolves will always try to take revenge on those who’ve wronged their clan, without exceptions. 」

Yana said proudly.

「So, I kill the Werewolves and you kill the Chamberlain. Once that’s done, we can proceed to kill Theo Cornero and the Witch from Elam, right? 」

「Probably… 」

If it’s a Lord and their contracted Mage, then he has already assassinated such targets countless times before.

「I don’t know if I’ll be able to win against Siluca Meletes’ Chamberlain, but I accept your request nonetheless. After all, Theo Cornero is also a target whom I’ve failed to kill. 」

「I really hope that you’re going to succeed then. 」

Yana smiled with satisfaction.

「So, when are you going to do it? 」

「Sooner or later, Lord Pederico is definitely going to try sending an army to defeat Theo Cornero once and for all. If that happens and the resulting battles will continue to drag on, then both Theo Cornero and his contracted Mage won’t be able to move as freely as they otherwise would. If we choose that moment to strike, the Chamberlain and the Werewolves will have no choice but to go after us. 」

「So we just have to wait until then… 」
Muttering so, Yana wondered about something for a moment and then she twisted her body mysteriously.

「In that case, why not have some fun during that time? 」

Boltz glanced at the Black Witch and scanned her entire body with his keen eyes. Even for a woman, her body was especially ripe and alluring. It’s no surprise that Salvador, who was a renowned womanizer, got addicted to her and kept her as his lover for quite some time.

However, Boltz bluntly averted his eyes from her in the end.

「I think I’ll refrain from doing it. If I were to lie down with you, I’m afraid bad luck would come to me. 」

* * *

Guided by Irvin, Siluca went to an abandoned seaside village, and once she got there, she saw that there were indeed many ships abandoned on land. She wondered exactly how long they’ve been stranded there.

According to what Irvin told her, unless you go offshore, you won’t get caught in the Maelstrom. However, fishing on the beach does not require a large boat, and the amount of fish that can be caught there is limited, which means that the fishermen had no choice but to risk going further offshore if they wanted to bring any good haul home, but if they got unlucky enough to be swept away by the tide or wind, and go out too far into the sea, they were basically finished.

As a result of that, In time, many of the villages that depended on fishing for their livelihood were deserted.

Siluca chose one ship that was relatively undamaged from among the abandoned ships, and carried it to the sea with static and motion magic.

Since she was going to use that ship as a decoy, she couldn’t have possibly asked Irvin to steer the ship for her. There were no sails or oars on that ship in the first place, so Siluca had no choice but to use magic to move it the entire way. She planned to stay on the ship until she would reach the Chaos Vortex, then board a broom and observe the bottom of the vortex from the sky in search of the
「Be careful, Lady Siluca. 」

It was quite a challenge to get the ship underway, but fortunately she was able to catch the tide that was moving offshore at a steady pace.

When she reached a sufficient distance away from the shore, Siluca stopped using magic and allowed the ship to drift away on its own. However, since the ship that she picked up was a stranded one that has not been properly taken care of in quite a while, the ship soon started taking in water here and there.

「That’s precisely why I hate ships… 」

They rock, get wet, and then sink easily.

She should have scooped out the water to stop the ship from sinking, but there was no bucket for her to do so. Her only hope now was that the Chaos Vortex would form before the ship sinks completely.

It wasn’t until sometime later that she noticed that the speed of the ship had suddenly increased.

「Thank you for being a greedy, monster… 」

A large amount of seawater has already accumulated at the bottom of the ship, and it wouldn’t surprise her at all if the ship sunk to the bottom of the ocean at any moment now.

Siluca straddled her broom and she soared slowly into the sky, where she observed the sea surface from the sky.

She found the center of the vortex soon enough.

This was the second time she was gazing upon it, but she was still overwhelmed by how strange of a sight it was. It was as if there was a bottomless pit right in the middle of the ocean.

However, the vortex gradually began to expand into a funnel shape. She didn’t know how deep it was, but it was obvious with just a glance that the center of the Chaos Vortex must’ve been well below the sea level.

Even though she was terrified of what was before her, Siluca summons all of her courage and lowered the broom into the center of the vortex.

A roaring sound resounded at the center of the vortex, and the wind was blowing strongly in there. The sea water became droplets and hits her like a slashing rain that could always find its way to her ,no matter how hard she was trying to avoid it. It was also painful for her to even breathe.

If she were to mishandle her broom even a little, she’d fall right into the depths of the vortex, so Siluca slowly descended, paying close attention to her surroundings and to not to lose concentration.

The bottom of the ocean was dark and indistinct. However, it seemed that something was wriggling in there. In order to ascertain the true identity of that something, Siluca tried to descend as deeply as possible. As she approached the bottom, the diameter of the vortex became narrower and the slope became steeper, and the circumference became like a wall of seawater. A ship swallowed by this tremendous torrent would probably fall apart in an instant.

Siluca put aside such thoughts about the vortex and focused on manipulating her broom.

After descending to the point where it seemed like there was no further way down, Siluca summoned a Will-o-the-Wisp and continued to fly towards the bottom of the ocean with it by her side.

For a moment, the center of the dim vortex was illuminated by a bluish-white light.