Volume 2 Chapter 26 (1/2)
Editor: Tan.
Chapter 2 Episode 26
(a.s.sa.s.sin 3)
Day 172 after being summoned to another world.
The gleaming moon rose above the clouds, illuminating the entire area.
”First, let's have you take off the mask. ”
The cornered shadow slowly removed her mask without putting up a meaningless fight.
*Hariri*
Gradually, a woman’s face was revealed. The black-haired woman, who has been disguising herself among the mercenary, is known as Sakuya.
”Now that’s out of the way, shall we have a little chat? ”
”A chat? Don’t you mean an interrogation?”
Considering the current situation, Sakuya presumed that Ryouma was sugarcoating his words.
The conversation was held in a large tent, where the a.s.sa.s.sination was attempted. Aside Ryouma and Sakuya, Lione, Bolts and the two Marfisto sisters are present. The rest of the mercenaries have left the tent to guard the outside.
Indeed, it was a strange atmosphere for what Ryouma called a chat.
”That depends on how we interpret it, no? At least, I'm going to call this a chat. ”
To some extent, Sakuya felt relieved after hearing his words.
(With how this is going, there might be a chance that they decide to not torture me... Nevertheless, I was prepared for death regardless of whether they interrogate me or not, but it does not look like they intend to kill me just yet... )
Sakuya could feel that Ryouma and co don’t have any intention of hurting her at the moment.
However, she has not completely rejected the other possibility either.
But at the very least, she could calm down after confirming that there was no need to look out for sudden attacks.
”So? What is that that you want to talk about, with someone who had just attempted to a.s.sa.s.sinate you?”
”You do not have to be that tense, you know?”
Ryouma answered her with a slight smile.
With the current atmosphere being so heavy, Ryouma told Sakuya to loosen up, in effort to ease the tension in between them. While Sakuya did somewhat become more relaxed, the atmosphere still remained rather heavy.
Although her face showed that she has become more relaxed, there is little chance that she would start to open up to him
(Now then... How should I proceed from here?)
From the start, Ryouma never had any expectation of obtaining useful information from interrogating Sakuya.
That is because there was no way for him to verify whether her answers are truths or lies.
There was simply no need for him to take the risk of being deceived later on.
However, if he let her go just like that, then he would have gained nothing from Sakuya.
”There's nothing that I want to hear particularly. Besides, you wouldn’t talk even if I ask anyway, and I have no means of proving the authenticity of your words either. ”
Sakuya's was amazed at Ryouma's words.
If she were to take Ryouma's words literally, that means there's no reason for him to spare her life.
(This man, just what is he planning?)
Sakuya couldn’t help but feel anxious. Questions began to pop up one after another inside her head.
Anyone would feel uneasy when they couldn’t grasp the train of thoughts of their enemy.
”Then why are you keeping me alive?”
Sakuya was determined to find out what Ryouma is after.
Suddenly, a flash of thought crossed her mind. Since she is a woman, there is another possibility of why Ryouma had spared her.
(Don't tell me, is he after my body?!)
It was natural for her to think that way.
After all, she is quite a beauty.
Long and glossy black hair.
A healthy light-brown toned skin.
Despite going through a harsh a.s.sa.s.sin’s training regime, her chest has developed to quite a substantial size.
Simply put, she boasts such an attractive body, most men would fall head over heels for her.
Although she has been doing all sorts of infiltration and a.s.sa.s.sination work, at the end of the day, she is still a woman.
She still holds the fear of being forcefully violated by men.
As a woman, for Sakuya, death after failure is much more preferable than being defiled against her will.
But as a human, the fear of getting hurt is just as scary.
Even more so when you do not know the man in front of you.
(But wait..., that can't be... If that really was his intention, then he wouldn’t have brought the other women here. )
Her a.s.sumption was quickly rubbished as she looked at Lione and the sisters.
However, with this, she has gone back to square one. She has learnt nothing of the man called Mikos.h.i.+ba Ryouma. Not his goals nor his intentions.
”Well, let’s just say it’s a personal reason. ”
Ryouma replied as he observes her behavior.
”Personal reason?”
Sakuya made a complicated face.
”This... ”
Ryouma pushed out the sword Sakuya previously had in front of her.
”What about it?”
Sakuya was unable to understand what Ryouma was concerned about.
The sword length is two shaku three sun.
This is equivalent to approximately 70 cm in length.
Certainly, this is not a sword commonly used in the western continent.
However, the sword itself was not the reason why Ryouma had spared Sakuya’s life.
”Why did you use this?”
Sakuya became confused at Ryouma's question.
For an a.s.sa.s.sin, a sword is just a weapon.
A tool for killing people.
Nothing more than that.
Seeing Sakuya’s puzzled face, Ryouma changed his question.
”You, are you j.a.panese?”
However, the antic.i.p.ated change in Sakuya’s expression that Ryouma expected did not happen.
Her response was like it was the first time she heard the word j.a.panese.
”What do you mean?”
Sakuya’s answer proved that Ryouma’s theory was wrong.
(What's going on? An a.s.sa.s.sin with this type of sword, has black eyes and black hair; and although her skin is tanned, without a doubt she's ethnically Asian..., yet when I asked if she's a j.a.panese, she didn't show any reaction... Is this coincidental? No, that’s impossible....)
Questions kept popping up one after the other.
Ryouma has not looked closely at Sakuya's face up close until now since he left all the supervising duty to Sara.
Two days ago, he only able to see that she's a woman with black hair from a distance.
It was from Sara’s report the other day that he found out her name is Sakuya.
Ryouma did not realize it yet back then, but he heard such a nostalgic name.
Sakuya.
In Kanji, that would be Sakuya (咲夜) or Sakuya (咲耶).
Without a context, if these Kanjis were read on their own, most people would think that it is a j.a.panese name.
It is definitely not a common western name.
(She might be a j.a.panese just like me!)
It was logical for Ryouma to think that way.
It has been six months since he was summoned to this world.
It would be nice to be reunited with someone from the same country.
However, the fact that Ryouma does not hold any friendly feelings towards the man called Saitou from the Ortomea Empire has not changed.
His only memory of Saitou was when he was taken under custody, which he was not fond of.
Not to mention Ryouma's hatred toward the empire for trying to take his life, it was natural that his impression was of them was not good.
In a similar context, an a.s.sa.s.sin who aimed Ryouma's life is similar in nature, but since her reason to kill and the question about her accomplice are not clear, as a sane human being, Ryouma couldn’t just simply kill her just because she was a threat.
There's also the possibility that she was another summoned person who is forced into an a.s.sa.s.sination job.
Besides, Sakuya is a woman. A beauty too at that...
It was natural for Ryouma to want to offer help to a fellow someone who has the same fate of being forced summon as him.
Mikos.h.i.+ba Ryouma might be a cold-hearted person, but he's still a human at heart. He can be kind and compa.s.sionate at times.
It might sound contradictory, but that is just how a human being is.
Just like a manager who is known for being strict at work, yet is a loving member of his family at home.
In this regard, Ryouma is very much your average human being.