“The words say one thing, but… rejecting the request itself will probably be difficult.”
“Is it hard to refuse?”
“Maybe.”
Then why advise me not to trust Yuron? Now I’m just filled with suspicion and unease.
Ashel, who warned me not to trust Yuron too much, immediately contradicted herself, leaving me somewhat flustered.
No, is it really a contradiction?
Don’t trust Yuron. It’s better to refuse the assassination request. But refusing will be difficult.
When you think about it, it’s not completely contradictory.
Hearing it doesn’t change what I need to do or what will happen; it’s just a vague warning that heightens my alertness.
“What’s the reason?”
“The reason… Hah, it’s not really your fault… Um, how should I put it…”
Ashel turned her head slightly, avoiding my gaze with a sheepish expression, scratching the back of her head lightly as she answered.
“So, the thing is… I owe Yuron quite a bit.”
Debt…?
Ah, is she talking about the costs of raising and adopting the orphans she’s taken in?
Indeed, there was a premise that most of her somewhat meager income went to taking care of the orphans, leaving her wallet always tight.
But was it to the point of being in debt?
“If you leave without me, that’s fine, but if you want to take me with you, that debt will be a problem. If you leave without a word, I don’t know how Yuron will react.”
Is she worried that Yuron, unable to use Ashel anymore, might stop taking care of the orphans and just dump them?
Hmm, yeah, that might actually be the case.
I don’t think Yuron is that wicked, but you never know a person’s true character.
It’s only natural for Ashel to be concerned about the future of the children left behind.
“If the debt is the problem, can we somehow resolve it with money? I could lend you some as a deposit.”
“Uh, well… I guess that depends on Yuron’s heart…?”
Is she a bit taken aback by my bold brag about money? Stumbling over her words, Ashel continued with a bit more detail.
◆◆
Due to the lack of power, the Guild had to deal with chronic financial issues.
However, no matter how tight the finances, it can’t be that there’s no money to take care of a few orphans. If it were that bad, they would have gone bankrupt long ago.
In other words, Yuron using the orphans’ upbringing costs to exploit Ashel isn’t because he desperately lacks money.
It’s not about money; it’s about keeping Ashel, a valuable asset, bound to him.
Therefore, repaying Ashel’s debt isn’t a matter of the amount but of Yuron’s intentions.
If money were urgent, we could manage with cash, but if power is crucial, he could refuse no matter how much was offered.
And right now is indeed that ‘crucial situation.’
“Is a valuable asset who can fight Lakan one-on-one something you can just let slip away for money?”
If she can stand toe-to-toe with Lakan, that means she’s at a veteran level in the kingdom’s knight order.
Under normal circumstances, you wouldn’t send such an asset on an assassination request for mere coin.
So, would Yuron simply give up the chance to use such strength as an assassin?
“At least I would try to keep her no matter what excuse I’d have to make.”
As Ashel said, if there’s a way to ensure I can’t refuse the assassination request, Yuron would undoubtedly choose it without hesitation.
It’s not a matter of morality; it’s simply a natural choice for a leader.
If he suspects that I am determined to take Ashel, he will make any excuse to keep her bound.
Whether it’s the treatment of the orphans or something else… whatever it may be, he’d find a justification to hold onto Ashel.
“So, we should keep our relationship a secret from Yuron?”
After listening to Ashel, I asked after a moment’s thought.
If he doesn’t know that we’re trying to recruit Ashel, he won’t even think of using her as leverage to force an assassination request on us.
“Hmm… I feel a bit uneasy about that. Even if you guys don’t know, I still need to tell him I’m leaving.”
Ashel clicked her tongue in response.
If she were to leave Pesengwigel, she’d have to ask Yuron to take care of the orphans without her first; if she suddenly left the city, he would definitely find it suspicious.
“Got any decent excuses?”
“Of course not. Yuron knows better than anyone that I don’t have anywhere to go.”
Well, that’s true; she was stuck in the slums of Pesengwigel because she had no place to go.
If someone like her—no, a Beastfolk—suddenly abandoned the orphans and left for somewhere else, anyone would find it odd.
“So what are we supposed to do? Nothing works, this is really a pain in the neck in so many ways.”
Freedah, who had been listening, let out a frustrated sigh and snapped.
This wasn’t the stuttering tone of someone addressing a stranger, but rather the coldness you’d expect when facing an enemy.
But her words were correct, so I didn’t bother to point it out. I honestly had similar thoughts.
Is dealing with this risk and hassle really the right move just to recruit one companion from the original story?
“Well… there are a couple of methods we might consider.”
Ashel, while shooting Freedah a sidelong glance, thought for a moment before speaking up again with her ideas.
“Two? Spill it.”
“First, you could give up on taking me with you—”
“Anything but that.”
I flatly shook my head.
Give up? After all the trouble I went through to recruit you from the slums, there’s no way I’m letting you go now. Not a chance.
I felt like I was a poor amateur investor who sunk too much in a failing stock, but even so, I couldn’t give up.
Why?
Because this is a real safe asset! As long as it doesn’t get delisted halfway through, a fantastic future is guaranteed.
Just hanging on will surely yield victory, so why drop it? That’s nonsense.
Remember, enduring immediate loss on a long-term investment may seem foolish in the short run, but in the long run, it always proves its worth.
So this isn’t a sunk cost; it’s an initial investment.
The initial investment to acquire Ashel Kazaar, the gray wolf of the hero party, who participated in every battle from the middle of the original story to the final showdown.
Worth any amount of resources. Without her, I’d struggle to spot enemies deep within the depths of the dungeon.
Of course, while I could find a patrol officer with similar skills to a fully-developed Ashel, using her as a replacement…
‘Where on earth would I find such talent?’
Finding a patrol officer with those qualifications and skills, especially one who’s free to join our party, is horrendously difficult.
It’s on a whole different level compared to just killing a couple of crime syndicate bosses.
“You mentioned another option, right? Just tell me what that is. I’m not going to listen to any nonsense about going back.”
So it was only natural for me to be unable to relinquish Ashel after going through all that effort to recruit her.
Sure, it might be inconvenient and troublesome at the moment, but thinking ahead, this is ultimately the quickest and easiest path.
“The alternative? …Well, that’s really just a trivial measure.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Whether it’s trivial or not is for me to judge, so just tell me what it is.
“So basically, we’d accept Yuron’s request but insist on making our own plans.”
Ashel answered, shrugging her shoulders, as if it was no big deal. It could very well be the best option we have right now.
“If we handle everything from planning to execution, it might take a bit of effort, but at least we won’t get blindsided by Yuron, right? I can’t guarantee it, but it’s likely.”
“That’s… yeah, that could be it.”
I tilted my head slightly, contemplating whether it would really go that way, and finally nodded.
Sure, if we handled both the planning and execution ourselves, there probably wouldn’t be room for Yuron to interfere.
The problem is, how do we come up with a plan to lure Lakan and Haval out from their base for an assassination…
“Got any good plans?”
“…You’re asking me? I’m not the assassin; you guys are. You should handle that.”
Ashel replied incredulously.
“I told you before, we aren’t real assassins; we just have those titles and are treated like mid-level officials.”
“But surely you’ve seen or heard something, right? No ideas at all?”
Ashel looked at me incredulously, as if to ask if I had been slacking off all this time.
“……”
I found myself at a loss for words, just swallowing dryly.
The only thing I ever did under the Eagle Eye was kill everything in sight or smash everything.
But saying that I labeled that as ‘assassination experience’ felt a bit embarrassing even for me.
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