After parting ways with my friends at the café, Mariel and I strolled through the festival streets.
For some reason, with the usual image of Mariel in mind, I had decided I would be the one to cover the expenses for the day. Unexpectedly though, Mariel today didn’t hesitate to spend money.
Of course, she didn’t pay the full amount outright; she used various means to negotiate and manage a discount.
“Thank you for watching! After a one-hour break, we will switch members and continue the performance!”
Even after all the spectators had left, the actors’ voices carried loud as if promoting to the nearby streets. With that sound trailing behind us, Mariel and I exited the theater once the play had ended.
In one corner, people gathered in a crowd hoping to get autographs from the actors, but since neither Mariel nor I had much interest in the cast, we headed directly toward the next shop to explore.
“Hmm, how was it? Did you have fun?”
“Yeah, sure… It was fun.”
The play was a retelling of the grand tale of the first hero, using familiar elements to most people, which enhanced the engagement of the story.
Even though it was my first time watching a play, I found it rather enjoyable.
“Come on, your face looks like you didn’t enjoy it.”
Without realizing, I must have let my expression show, as Mariel pointed it out.
But let me just reiterate—I found the play pretty decent.
“Nah, not that expression? Your face doesn’t look just like one who’s bored… You look slightly off color.”
Mariel tilted her head in thought and scrutinized my face closely from right up front.
“Hmm… You don’t look tired… Is there something that’s bothering you?”
“Nope, nothing’s bothering me. Seriously, it’s nothing.”
Trying to hide my expression as Mariel worried about me, I gave her a broad smile. However, she wasn’t fooled by my grin after already seeing the discomfort on my face.
“It doesn’t look like ‘nothing.’ Come on, tell me.”
Mariel persisted in questioning me.
As I remained silent without answering, she gave up asking and instead grabbed my hand, leading me somewhere.
“I can’t just sit by. Let me give you some counseling again like last time, come on!”
She led me to a relatively secluded café located in a less populated area, to a corner table that was divided by a makeshift partition where we could avoid prying eyes.
Without even asking what I wanted to drink, Mariel simply ordered two coffees, then sat me down and quickly got to the heart of the matter.
“Well, here, where no one around can listen — go ahead and spill your troubles to this Saint!”
Mariel’s confident certainty that I had something troubling me wasn’t speculative or a baseless suspicion.
Because of her surety, it was nearly impossible to keep pretending, so I carefully mentioned the thoughts that had been nagging me since before.
“Um… It really isn’t much. It’s just… déjà vu? I feel like something similar has happened before, or maybe I saw it in a dream… This kind of thing has been happening frequently lately.”
“Hmm? Isn’t that something that happens from time to time? Aren’t you just being overly sensitive, Hero?”
Mariel acted as if it were nothing to worry about.
Normally, I might’ve followed her lead and dismissed it as irrelevant, but this persistent déjà vu feeling I had wasn’t something I could ignore because of the aforementioned play.
It was undoubtedly the first time I had seen it.
Even more so since it was a script specifically adapted by the theater troop, one I had no reason to be previously acquainted with.
However, during the play, I was continually startled as if I were foreseeing every detail.
‘The actor playing the hero is about to speak… Next, the Four Heavenly Kings will suddenly jump in. The hero’s group will struggle but eventually triumph…’ and so on…
I wasn’t just anticipating the main storyline but also understanding all the finer details ahead of the play’s development.
Even the audience-unexpected twists were so accurately foreseen it felt less like déjà vu and more like a form of clairvoyance.
Could these be precognitive dreams?
“Umm… Lady Saint? You know about the Goddess or the Hero more than others, right?”
“Guess so? Since I’m the sole representative of the Goddess, She sometimes communicates with me in various ways.”
“Then… Do you by any chance know anything about the powers of the Hero? Like, if they possess some form of clairvoyant power….”
A preposterous tale that most would laugh off, especially if I wasn’t the Hero, if Mariel wasn’t the Saint.
Yet Mariel wore a solemn expression, giving the matter genuine thought.
“Hmm? Now that you mention it, there’s a minority group somewhere on the continent that supposedly foretells the future through divination… But that surely doesn’t apply to you.”
“I have no knowledge of fortune-telling, and besides, isn’t that more like superstition?”
“Sorry, Hero. As much as I’ve thought about it, I just don’t know. As I said before, the Goddess doesn’t see the future either. One of the Goddess’s teachings is about learning from the past to move forward.”
“Come on, don’t worry about it too much. It’s not uncomfortable or problematic, and it’s just deja vu at most, right?”
“Hero, even if you say that… If at any time it feels off or you need any help, you must tell me. The Hero’s body isn’t solely the Hero’s alone, after all.”
“Yes, don’t worry.”
Unlike at the start, now I had a composed countenance while Mariel was the one worried.
Perhaps I shouldn’t have mentioned it and caused her concern, but I didn’t feel sorry towards Mariel. Rather, it felt inappropriate to thank her.
Instead, I decided to express gratitude rather than regret.
“Still, talking about it like this sure has made me feel better. Thank you, Lady Saint.”
“Heh-heh, don’t mention it! That’s part of being a Saint! Oh, and you don’t need to pay the consultation fee I mentioned last time. Since I was the one who grabbed you first, it’s on the house for the festival period!”
True to her character, even in her previously somber expression, Mariel smiled as she casually mentioned the consultation fee.
In that moment, I thought to myself how fitting she was as a Saint.
…Wait, hold on? Does she even deserve to be called a Saint while mentioning consultation fees?
?
“Wow, you sure are having a lot of fun, aren’t you? Hanging out with your assassination target to watch plays.”
The dorm room after wandering with friends through the festival streets. An eerie and familiar yet repulsive voice greeted me from the dark.
“…Shouldn’t you care?”
Without even turning on the light, 2nd Number lounged on the couch as I stood by the door.
“You’ve improved, haven’t you? Being able to breach the academy dormitory security.”
This is the academy dormitory where high-ranking nobility’s children reside, with top-tier security.
From before I accepted the assassination mission and came to the academy, Number 2’s skill level was nowhere near this, but it seems he’s improved over time.
“Anyway, it’s understandable that you wouldn’t know, having been out on missions for such a long time.”
In response to my sarcasm, Number 2 retaliated with matching sarcasm, making it all the more irritating.
“The day is already done, and there are only two days left until the deadline. Surely Number 3 wouldn’t betray, but I guess you’re concocting some grand assassination plan, eh? Truly living up to the master’s favorite assassin reputation!”
“Fuck. Coming here every day and yammering on, aren’t you tired of that yet? That damn ‘Master, Master, Master!’ nonsense! Couldn’t you just shut up and stay in some corner?”
A word I used to say often but now felt awkward uttering, I screamed at Number 2 with raised voice.
Number 2, however, merely shrugged his shoulders and showed no other reaction.
“True, with the Master-Slave Mark in place, betrayal wouldn’t even be conceivable. Hahahaha…”
He started to laugh softly but then louder and louder.
“So. You’re nothing more than a mere tool of thought, the guild master’s sword. Ah! So this is the ego sword from the stories!”
He stopped his laugh with difficulty and continued.
“Anyway, if you need help, don’t hesitate to ask. I should help our Number 3, who’s struggling.”
I almost threw the empty teacup nearby at Number 2, but decided against it; it would cause only unnecessary noise, and nothing would change.
Once Number 2 finished speaking, he got up, patted my shoulder lightly, opened the door, and left.
Given it’s the girls’ dormitory, if anyone spotted the unfamiliar Number 2, there would be quite the commotion, but he disappeared silently as if his stealth was at its peak level.
Even after Number 2 left, I remained in the dark room, immersed in thought until deep into the night.
A rather modest plan had already been devised. The only uncertainty was how Number 2 would behave.
Though Master and the Master-Slave Scroll weren’t nearby, complicating the plan, Number 2’s daily taunts were unpredictable.
But I wasn’t overly concerned. Number 2’s skills, no matter how much they’ve grown, were still no match for mine.
Ruining the assassination plan, defeating Number 2, and protecting Selian—these three things were my only priorities.
I repeatedly reaffirmed them to myself as sleep finally overtook me.
