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Chapter 01
Clink!
Aile, who had been moving swiftly through the dense, towering forest, suddenly came to a stop.
Then she carefully reached toward the pouch hanging at her waist.
“Let’s see now, my little babies!”
As she untied the tightly knotted string, bright yellow gold coins jingled cheerfully through the opening.
“Aww, aww, you’ve all been behaving so well. My pretty little things!”
Jingle jingle!
The dazzling coins followed Aile’s affectionate touch, playing luxurious background music like an orchestra at a grand banquet.
“…So with this, I only have about 500 left to pay off in debt.”
In the Black Forest, infamous for being filled with all kinds of demonic beasts and avoided by everyone, Aile sat casually on a branch covered in pale mist and carefully closed the pouch.
People only knew half the story. The Black Forest indeed had many monsters and corpses, but that also meant there were plenty of ownerless treasures lying around.
“I’d love to go deeper inside if I could…”
Aile’s blue eyes, filled with regret, looked toward the deepest part of the forest.
However, that area belonged to the Casio family, known throughout the Empire as the Monstrous Duke House, making it impossible to approach carelessly.
“Nobody who went in there ever came back, tsk.”
Several fools in the past had been blinded by greed and headed there in hopes of making a fortune.
But afterward, nobody ever saw them again.
‘Guess I should head back soon.’
Aile looked up at the gradually darkening crimson sky and stood up to return to her assassin group.
Then—
“Uwaaaah!”
A sharp scream suddenly pierced through the thick mist.
The peaceful expression in Aile’s blue eyes instantly vanished, replaced by cold killing intent.
“Which idiot is screaming at this hour!?”
True to its name, the Black Forest was dark even during the day.
At night, the already gloomy place became engulfed in complete darkness where one couldn’t see an inch ahead.
It was the perfect environment for demonic beasts.
‘Those bastards are ridiculously sensitive. Even the smallest noise gets you noticed and chased.’
That was why even Aile, a trained assassin, avoided the Black Forest at night.
“Now they’re making things troublesome for me too.”
No sooner had Aile complained than a flock of black crows with red eyes flew across the brick-red sky.
Normally, wherever crows gathered in the Black Forest, there was a high chance of finding either a monster corpse or a human one.
‘Which also means there’s a good chance there’ll be treasure.’
Aile’s feet twitched in hesitation.
“…If someone’s going to die anyway, I hope it’s someone rich.”
Sometimes dead monsters or people carried expensive items.
Especially large monsters. They swallowed everything without thinking, and sometimes their stomachs would be filled with valuable gems.
“It’ll be fine if I just take a quick look, right?”
Staring silently at the now pitch-black sky, Aile eventually turned away from the path leading back to her assassin group.
Estimating the direction where the crows had disappeared, she swiftly leapt through the trees.
‘Ah, come to think of it…’
‘Aile, once the job is done, come straight back! Don’t wander off anywhere!’
‘…Someone said something like that. Who was it again? The captain?’
Brushing back her windblown hair carelessly, Aile shrugged and grinned.
“Mmm, dunno. Don’t remember. Aile never heard anything like that.”
Before long, she arrived at her destination and skillfully hid herself atop a large tree.
Then she cautiously peeked toward where the scream had come from.
‘Hmm? This isn’t what I expected.’
In the middle of the eerie forest, instead of monsters, there was a group of sturdy men wearing deep navy robes.
“Another assassin group?”
Judging by their appearance, they seemed to be assassins like Aile. Though calling them colleagues felt rather generous considering how unimpressive they looked.
Then Aile’s watery gaze landed on a boy around her age.
With pale white skin, black hair, and violet eyes sparkling like amethysts, the boy possessed quite a beautiful appearance.
‘Wow, pretty… no, that’s not the point.’
From his appearance and clothing alone, he looked like the young heir of some noble family raised in luxury.
“Don’t tell me a whole group of grown men are shaking down that little kid?”
Having roughly grasped the situation, Aile closed her eyes and let out a hollow laugh.
She came looking for money, only to find no treasure, some useless thugs, and a pretty young master.
“Uwaaaah, damn it!”
“Hhk! Haaah—s-someone save me…!”
“Grrrk.”
Flash!
As Aile opened her eyes again, all the assassins had somehow ended up sprawled across the bushes.
‘I think somebody screamed again just now.’
Should I help him?
“…Mmm. Saving people isn’t really my hobby.”
