Fantasy Assassin in a modern world

185 Not good killers

In a distance on the roof of a random building, a man was watching the battle happening at Sekiko Academy. He was watching the battle through some sort of small telescope. When he saw the leader of the group of kidnappers talking calmly with the one he was supposed to kidnap, the man on the roof contacted someone.

“They failed, what should we do next?”

“Eliminate all the evidence.”

“Roger that.”

The man opened the large suitcase on his side, inside the large suitcase contained a disassembled sniper rifle, two short swords, and a switch. Among the things inside the large suitcase, the man took out the switch, he then pointed it in the direction of Sekikiko Academy and pressed the switch.

‘Click’ with a clicking sound what came after was the loud sound of explosions. In the direction of Sekiko Academy dust and smoke erupted as the bodies of the dead kidnappers started exploding one by one. The man did not leave immediately after as he needed to confirm that all the bodies have blown up properly.

...

Fade quickly used his body to cover Ichika and Erika, he used a [Protection] spell to dispel some of the damage coming from the exploding corpses. It was a good thing that the explosions weren’t that strong, but they were strong enough to deal with one body and not leave a trace.

Ichika and Erika were a little stunned by the sudden explosions but they were not afraid. Even without Fade’s protection they had their ways and could survive these explosions albeit with some minor injuries, so it was great for them that they had Fade’s protection.

.....

After the explosions seemed to stop Fade looked around and saw the corpses on the ground had turned into dust from the flames of the explosions, and that the fire was also spreading.

“You two go and call for some help, I already checked there are no more enemies within the campus.” After saying that Fade was about to leave but was stopped by Ichika.

“Mr. Fade were are you going? I haven’t given you your payment yet.”

“The contract has not been completed you said to kill all the enemies here, there are no more on the campus but there is still one hidden a bit further away.” Once he said those words Fade no longer stayed and quickly used his wires to swing to the nearby building.

...

The man on the roof looked at the corpses on the ground and saw that all of them have exploded properly.

“The losers have been eliminated all shreds of evidence are gone. What should I do next, should I complete the original mission and capture the girl myself?”

The person on the other end of the call was silent for a while seemingly deep in thought, after a few seconds the other person responded.

“I do trust your skills, but the other party is that unknown assassin who defeated the Elegant Scorpion who had been ranked in the dark rankings. Since he’s an unknown variable how about you retreat for now and-” The person wasn’t able to finish what he was going to say when he was interrupted.

“Sorry boss, it seems I no longer have a choice that assassin is coming right here and he’s quite fast.”

“Your location has been compromised, how did he know?”

“I don’t know but based on his speed he’ll be here in twenty seconds. I’m going to be silent for a while boss.” The man ended the call and took out the two swords in his large suitcase.

...

Fade reached the rooftop where he sensed the person watching from a distance. Upon arriving he saw a man wearing a grey sweatshirt, brown pants, black gloves, and holding two short swords. The man smiled at Fade.

“You must be the famous, Fade. Your rise to fame is truly fast and I can see why. The way you fight is so efficient, you do not even hesitate in any move you make. Truly you are an inspiration to all the assassins who want to make it big.”

“It seems that you know me, but I don’t have any information about you. So do you mind telling me your name?” Unlike the others he just fought Fade didn’t quickly attack the man in front of him since he felt danger.

“Well, that’s surprising I thought that you would immediately attack as you did with the others.”

“Unlike those weaklings, you are worth talking to.”

“Hoh, well, I’m flattered the urban legend that made the entire underworld of Leim City has such a high opinion of me. As for telling you my name, unfortunately, I no longer have such a thing, it has been wiped out long ago. Nowadays people just call me Ace.”

“Ace is it... So are you a part of that group who wants to kidnap Kurumi Ichika or are you just a spectator from a different group?”

“You have so many questions, does it matter to you if I was one of them or not? I can already tell from that lingering killing intent you’re emitting that no matter what I answer you will kill me.” Ace smiled helplessly as he shrugged his shoulders.

“That’s not true depending on what your stance is on Kurumi Ichika you might not be a true enemy. If that’s the case I’ll just lightly beat you up enough for you to faint and then bring you to Ichika so that she could decide what to do with you.”

“Heh, it seems that the legendary Fade is also a dog of the Kurumi Clan.”

“I am no one’s dog, but it is indeed true that Kurumi Ichika hired me.”

“Well, well, what to do? Hmm, before I give you an answer, I want to know something, and since you asked so many questions I should at least get to question you once, right?”

“... Fine, as long as it is something that I can answer I will. What do you want to know.”

“How civilized of you... I just want to know, Fade why did you become an assassin and such a peculiar assassin at that? Picking your clients and only accepting jobs that punish the wicked, why do you do it, is it for money, power, or fame? Also who judges who is wicked or who is not you?”

“That’s more than one question, but since I think it’s a pretty good question I guess I can answer it for you. About how I judge who is wicked or who is not, that’s of course, based on my own opinion. Everyone has their own judgment on what’s good or evil, it may sound biased but I just need to follow what I think is right.”

Fade spread his hands as if saying that’s how it goes.

“Now for your first question why did I become an assassin... At first, I had no choice, I was trained to be like this, but now it’s different. The money is good, but I do not do it for a such thing, the truth is I continue to be an assassin because of a promise I made with someone dear to me.”

When Fade said those words, Ace could hear the sadness in his voice, the loneliness. Ace might not be able to see the face underneath Fade’s mask but he felt like the other party should be smiling a lonely smile at this moment.

“I see... I shouldn’t have asked that question, now it’s making me a little reluctant to kill you... Truth be told I just wanted to have a little conversation with you since you are quite a mystery. For some reason, I had that urge you know, and for the first time in a long time, I wanted to know more about the person I’m about to kill. Now that I have spoken with you it seems like we are kindred spirits. I’m very similar to you, but unlike you who already escaped, I’m still bound with chains and like the Capell Family I too am a dog with a leash and a master. I envy you a little Fade, but I’m also quite annoyed. I don’t know how you did it but you’re able to gain freedom, and then just as you were about to fly away you once again chained yourself to a promise this time.”

“That was my own decision...”

“That just makes it worse! You actively got yourself caught and now you’re under a tighter leash, called emotions. It makes me feel a little frustrated, if I had a chance to break free I would never get caught again.” Ace looked at the night sky his eyes full of longing.

“Is that so... It seems like you too aren’t that a good killer. Someone with the same profession once told me that emotions only get in the way, and you can’t be a good killer if you had any. So you and me, who can’t fully separate emotions from work, aren’t really good killers.”

“Yeah, I guess we aren’t...”

The two then stared at each other for a while, and speaking another word the two charged at each other.