Chapter 10
‘If there’s a problem, this is the perfect chance to confirm the target’s power…’
Since she still hadn’t been able to determine whether Riss truly possessed any abilities, this crisis was actually a fairly good opportunity to force his real strength to surface.
‘We can’t leave a scene of corpses here.’
However, if he did step in under the assumption that he had power, it would likely result in a massacre.
Eil only wanted to confirm his strength—she had no intention of dealing with the aftermath of that power.
“Eil, this looks dangerous. Let’s just do what they’re asking.”
Without much reaction, Riss calmly took out a pouch of gold coins.
His expression was hidden by his robe, but Eil was certain he was wearing a supremely bored face.
‘Is this the composure of the rich? Annoyingly so.’
But in a place like this, such composure meant nothing.
Yielding to thugs would only fuel their greed further.
“No. If you give them money once, they’ll keep following us and demanding more.”
Eil pushed the gold coins Riss had taken out back into his hands and firmly refused. He tilted his head slightly.
“Hm, you look like you have a solution.”
“Yes. If you allow me, I’ll take care of it.”
Eil’s answer was dry, but Riss’s lips curved faintly under his hood.
Taking that as permission, Eil left the trembling guide and the unreadable Riss behind, and walked toward the armed men.
“Be careful, Eil.”
His voice at her ear was gentle—but his attitude wasn’t.
For someone worried, he was letting her go far too easily.
‘So I’m still at that level.’
She frowned slightly at the thought that she still had a long way to go.
They had only recently met, but she hadn’t expected him to be this indifferent toward her presence.
She needed to get closer to the target.
More precisely, she had to become close enough to naturally extract the secret behind Kassion’s power.
‘Guess I’ll have to work hard to seduce the young master.’
Sighing, Eil reached for the emergency poison needle hidden in her thigh—just then—
“Guh!”
“Ugh…!”
The thugs suddenly groaned and collapsed one by one, until all five of them fell to the ground in an instant.
It happened in just a few seconds.
‘W-what? I haven’t done anything yet? No matter how much of a genius I am, this shouldn’t be possible—something’s off…’
Eil frowned, scanning the fallen men.
On their necks were tiny red marks—like mosquito bites—that slowly faded away.
‘What… is that?’
She quickly looked upward, but only saw a dilapidated building. No presence was detectable.
As she stared at the broken upper window, she felt a gaze behind her and turned.
“Eil, what happened?”
Riss had approached her at some point, looking at her curiously.
Eil quickly hid her surprise and shrugged casually.
“Seems like another group attacked. There are a lot of faction fights around here.”
“I see. I’m glad you’re safe, Eil.”
So, without lifting a finger, the situation had resolved itself.
Riss glanced at her with a somewhat reluctant expression and lightly patted her shoulder.
“Well then… I’ll continue guiding you.”
The frightened guide led them into the arena after a series of complications. Eil and Riss took their seats in a designated special box.
She had thought coming indoors would reduce attention, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
‘Why do the stares feel even more intense?’
Because Riss wore a black robe, all attention naturally shifted to Eil—standing beside him with her striking silver hair and radiant appearance.
Feeling the sticky gazes, Eil restrained the urge to throw her sword and instead sat neatly beside Riss.
“Alright, place your bets! A chance for a fortune! Betting closes soon!”
The arena roared with excitement as staff moved through the crowd collecting wagers.
Aside from killing being forbidden, anything went in this brutal arena.
‘Honestly, you couldn’t find a decent bodyguard in a place like this.’
As expected from such harsh rules, no one sane could win here.
Everyone who entered this place was, without exception, insane.
Even within the Black Rose, requests involving this arena came with additional danger pay.
“Hey, rich-looking guy over there, haven’t you placed a bet yet? Why don’t you stake something?”
“First time here? Be polite, and maybe we’ll help you out.”
“We can actually predict the winner pretty well. Just three gold coins for info…”
As she watched the violent, chaotic matches below indifferently, new unwanted pests approached and demanded money.
‘Why are there so many damn beggars here?! Do they think we’re easy targets?’
Annoyed, Eil suddenly recalled the flashy golden carriage they had arrived in.
‘…Yeah. We probably are.’
Sighing, she stood up.
Meanwhile, Riss was once again calmly taking out his coin pouch, which only made her want to scream.
‘My ten million gold… what a bunch of fools.’
With a frustrated smile, Eil roughly grabbed the pouch from Riss and stepped in front of the men.
“Move. You’re blocking the view.”
“Are you interested in information too, miss? We might give it for free if you play with us.”
“Ohhh… she’s young and pretty.”
One of the men suddenly reached out and brushed her cheek.
Normally, she would have dodged it easily, but her attention had been elsewhere—on Riss.
“Wow, soft skin…”
The man grinned shamelessly, his face flushed with excitement.
Eil frowned deeply.
‘I want to kill him right now.’
Her hand instinctively reached for the blade in her coat.
She had lived as an assassin long enough to develop killing intent—but not enough experience restraining it.
‘Just smash his skull and call it a mistake? People make mistakes, right?’
Her rationality, previously sealed by the thought of “ten million gold,” began to blur.
Just as she was about to lose control, a memory surfaced—something she once said to Death.
—
‘Eil, normally smashing someone’s head isn’t called a mistake.’
‘Then what about half?’
‘Don’t even joke.’
—
The imagined scolding jolted her back.
‘No. If I do that, my identity will be exposed… but I still want to break his head.’
For the first time, she felt the limits of her patience.
Then—
“Eil.”
“…My young master.”
Forcing down her turbulent thoughts, she slowly turned around.
Riss stood there, gently holding something out to her with an unusually soft expression.
