I was running in a deep forest.
Winter will come soon. Snow falls on this region mercilessly. When winter comes, you can not enter the mountains like this.
If you do not hunt now and do not make dried meat or salted meat, the table in winter will be lonesome.
I do not want to repeat last year"s failure.
Let ‘s do our best to make my ten-years-old winter happy.
Alright, I took off a large rabbit at once.
“Even though hunting is going well… I can not find anyone”
Recently, I was looking for an a.s.sistant for a.s.sa.s.sination.
There is a limit to what one can do.
However, not everyone is okay.
To have magical power is the minimum condition.
I looked for a child in an ordinary household with magical powers as they are at a rate of about 1 in 10,000 people.
Even if you have magical power, you may spend a lifetime not knowing that if you do not know how to use it.
It is difficult to find such a person, but if you have eyes of Towerhades who can see magical powers, you can search efficiently.
In spite of such expectations, even when searching through the entire Towerhades territory, I could not find a child with magical power.
“… Do I have to search in areas other than Towerhades?”
It is better for me to find an a.s.sistant as soon as possible.
An education would take at least two years, and an additional year to have actual experience of a.s.sa.s.sination. I would like to find someone within a year.
A powder snow began to fall.
I thought that it was cold, but it cold enough for snow to fall.
Let"s go to see Dia tomorrow.
As it is snowing, it is impossible to cross 320 km over two mountains.
I have been meeting once a month, but considering that I can not meet during the winter, I do not mind going around twice this month.
“…”
I felt a sign.
I hold the bow… but then I notice that the sign is not a beast but a person.
The place where I am is deep inside the forest, with wolves and bears.
No one should be hunting here. Who would dare to choose such a dangerous hunting ground?
While wondering about it, I go over to where they are.
It was a girl. She looks about my age.
It is cold enough to snow, but she is barefoot with only a thin, dirty rag cloth. She is trembling in the cold while embracing her body which is so thin that it is about to break.
She is thin with gloomy hair, and she has nearly starved to death. I think that her facial features are good, but I do not really know if that is also the case because of how starved she is.
It is crazy of you to enter such a dangerous forest without any equipment. How she is still alive is a miracle.
… And, what surprised me most is that she has magical power.
I could not find magical powers after looking at every single Towerhades inhabitant.
However, it seems that she does not know how to handle magical powers, magical power is smouldering deep inside my body. This is not different from the ordinary people, and the girl himself will not be aware that she has magical powers.
“I-I do not do anything wrong, s-so do not do bad things.”
I appeared in front of her, but she was frightened since I was not doing anything.
“… Who are you? Why are you deep inside this forest?”
“M-My village was poor, I-I was thrown away, I-I can"t return to the village… t-the Towerhades territory over the mountain is rich so I tried to g-go there…”
The girl"s started falling over in the middle of the explanation, so I supported her.
… she is as light as a feather.
“I want to hear the story, but please eat before that.”
I smiled and handed out the sandwich that I brought for lunch.
The girl had surprised eyes.
To get food from others, it seems to be impossible for her living in a poor village that needs to have its population reduced.
… I heard that the territory next to me has incompetent lords and are imposing heavy taxes out of greed.
The girl finishes eating a sandwich.
She looked very happy.
She noticed my eyes and her face turned red. Finally, it seems that she could afford to care about the eyes of others.
“Well, you seem to be heading towards Towerhades, and I am the son of Lord Towerhades.”
“… Why is it such a coincidence?”
Certainly, it is a terrible coincidence.
But, I think that it is destiny.
“If you feel like it, you can become my exclusive servant? I need your power.”
Finally, I found someone with magical power.
In addition, I was evaluating her.
The action after the abandonment by the population reduction is good.
She did the judgment that it is useless to return to the village, she excluded it from her options, she sought out the possibility of survival and executed it.
It is a necessary qualification as an a.s.sa.s.sin that they can take the right actions in extreme conditions, and it is hard to learn aptly.
The girl looked up at me and was shedding tears.
“What happened?”
“I am happy, it is the first time that someone said they needed me, it"s been said to me that people do not need me all the time, I was always treated like a disturbance…”
I embrace that girl.
“You will get dirty.”
“Yeah, but you will shine if you get clean.”
“I will do my best.”
“Oh, please work for me forever, I need you.”
Certainly, the girl is currently dirty. But she is a diamond rock.
… I found a good find. Let"s take her home and grow her slowly. As an a.s.sistant for a.s.sa.s.sination.
◇
Someone is shaking my body.
“Please get up, Rougue.”
It"s a soft hand. It is warm and comfortable.
I am want to sleep faintly to enjoy this feeling.
There was a girl with bright blond hair.
12 years old and wearing servant clothes… She is face-to-face with me, she is my dedicated servant.
She is very pretty and always attracts visitors, especially men"s eyes. TLN-FBI OPEN UP
“Rougue, you know, I will mischief if I do not get up.”
A girl shaking me with a quiet voice says such a thing.
“Good morning, Tart”
“Good morning, Rougue, it"s unusual for you to sleep late.”
【Super recovery】I do not need much rest, but it was because of yesterday being unreasonable so that my recovery cannot catch up.
“It is time for having breakfast, I will do my best with today again!”
“It"s a pleasure, let"s go.”
“Yes!”
“Tart, I had a dream, two years ago, when I first met you.”
“… Wow, it"s a bit embarra.s.sing, you were awesome at that time, and I was only bones and skins.”
“I did not think you would be such a beauty when I picked you up.”
“… ~Tsu! Rougue!”
Over two years, the slender girl regained a healthy body and a pretty appearance.
Nowadays she has moderate meat. She has good growth for her age.
… I do not intend to use such hands, but there is no doubt that it will become a figure that can be used as a honey trap in the future.
While seating at the table, Tart serves me and then stands behind me.
“You don"t have to act as a servant all the time.”
I talk to her while eating breakfast made by tart.
Breakfast is bacon and egg, with the bacon made in the province. Both are my favorite things.
“No, I cannot because I am Rougue"s exclusive servant! For Rougue"s living comfort, I need to always be your servant.”
I want to keep her for the support of the a.s.sa.s.sination. To that end, it is convenient for her to be my dedicated servant.
So, as long as we can behave as an employee who is not unnatural, it would be good.
There is no need to be a servant every day.
Nevertheless, she tries to do both the a.s.sa.s.sin a.s.sistant ‘s training and work as a servant.
“Tart, you are doing really well”
She is a hard worker and that"s why she keeps growing and can be trusted.
“I was dead unless you picked me up… More than anything, you told me that you needed me, so this life is for Rougue"s sake.”
It is not an obsession to the employer, it is a word out of the bottom of her heart.
I get up and stroke the soft blond hair of the tart.
“I"m happy, I need Tart.”
Every time I need her she is there and helps me endure my hard training.
Indeed, in just two years she grew up as an a.s.sa.s.sin and gained enough knowledge to be a n.o.ble exclusive servant.
… When I explained to my father that I picked up her and raised her to be an a.s.sistant for a.s.sa.s.sination I made two promises to my father.
One thing, I will teach her with responsibility. My father does not partic.i.p.ate in Tart"s education.
Two, because I am giving the skill of Towerhades to an outsider, in the unlikely event she betrays us, I will kill her.
First, perhaps because teaching deepens her understanding.
The second one convinced him, it is dangerous to give technology to people that are not family members.
… However, Tart never betrayed us.
I made her absolutely loyal by applying my brainwashing techniques from my previous life.
Tart"s feelings for me are worship and loyalty, looking from the outside looks like romantic feelings, but such feelings do not exist.
That is an obstacle to our relationship.
“After finishing eating, Father said that you need to come to the study, and there is a special story.”
“I understand, I will go.”
A special story?
Finally, is it time for real a.s.sa.s.sination rather than training?
I have grown enough and I got an a.s.sistant.
I am confident that I could do any a.s.sa.s.sination.