A Death Row Convict Teaches at a School of Magic

Once back at the inn where Felt and the others were based in the city, Olene, who had been on guard, made a subtle nod and opened the door for her.

“I am back.”

“Welcome back. Are you sure you weren’t tailed?”

“For god’s sake, Sasha, you’ve got to trust me.”

Stepping inside, Sasha was in the middle of calculating the amount of money on her desk.

Not even looking at Felt, her subsequent words were emitted.

“So how did it work out?”

“It was a failure. On the contrary, I ended up getting in a fight with him.”

“Hmm…After all, he is just a criminal,” Sasha remarked with no change of facial expression. A platinum coin danced on her finger. “Then let’s wipe out the impediment at the earliest opportunity. We can extract a little more from this city. We are almost to our goal.”

“If you want, I can go right now. The others are a little too weak to win.”

“I suppose you could use ‘Flame-colored Shark’ for a surprise attack. As I recall, their rate isn’t that much different.”

“Right, but he’s an extremely tricky guy. He detected the four of them who were watching him from a distance.”

“Hehー”

A hollow response was uttered by Sasha. For her, who specialized only in negotiating and left all the wild dealings to the bodyguard, Kanaki may not have struck her as being all that threatening.

“Incidentally, if I asked you to go finish him off right now, would you be able to accomplish that?”

“…That would be difficult. Even if I fight him from the front, the Garrisoned Corps or Kaguya will probably sniff me out before I can settle the fight. If so, the odds would be against me since I am the one whose face is exposed.”

“I see.”

As if she had been turned down for a game, Sasha nodded casually.

“Let’s strike at this from a different angle, then.”

What Sasha pulled out was a map of the City of Seal.

On the map, various places were marked, and Sasha indicated with a small finger the place marked with a “●”.

“This is where the house called Lezerit is situated. Remember the girl you observed today at the school gate—the one who appeared to be less fortunate—?”

“Yeah.”

She felt bad for that girl, but the pony-tailed girl’s face instantly sprang to mind.

“So, why don’t you go over here now and kidnap that girl, Felt?”

“…What?”

The chain of reasoning was so tangential that Felt was unusually lost for words in Sasha’s voice.

“Hey, are you listening? So―”

“No, I heard you, okay? I did hear it, but it was too out of nowhere or, more precisely, what is the point of abducting the girl?”

Sasha was, true to her outward appearance, in her teens or thereabouts. As such, she was severely sensitive about being questioned or objected to her instructions.

Felt, who has been associated with her for more than three years, was keenly conscious of her behavior, but she would occasionally say something so outlandish that she was obliged to interpose.

“I bought this story from an informant that this girl is the only daughter of ‘Soundless Ogre’.”

“…You must be kidding me.”

It was a complete shock that rendered Felt speechless.

While not directly acquainted with the “Soundless Ogre,” she had heard many episodes about him since she first entered this realm. Looking around the world, there were probably plenty of people with superior capabilities to him. He, nevertheless, shared the same limitation as Felt: he lacked magical power.

In this world dominated by magic, especially in the Kingdom of Ortesia, a magic powerhouse, not many people can achieve such great feats. The “Soundless Ogre” was a person Felt admired.

How could such a man’s only daughter be such a frail-looking girl?

Agitation was stirring in Felt, but Sasha continued the narrative without seeming to mind.

“Even though I used a platinum coin to obtain this knowledge, I also learned something else intriguing as a result. The daughter has formed a mentor-apprentice relationship with ‘Eraser’ and teaches magic at the school! There have been speculations linking ‘Soundless Ogre’ to ‘Eraser,’ and don’t you find this a bit fishy?”

“…Indeed.”

He― Kanaki―knew “Soundless Ogre”.

All other words were not heard by Felt; solely that remark was playing in her thoughts. But that alone was enough for her to listen to.

“I understand. So, I should just go and kidnap this girl named Eto, right? As long as I don’t kill her, I can handle things a little rougher, right?”

“Yeah, once we have her captured alive and ‘Eraser’ steered to an isolated location, the rest is up to us. In exchange, you must stoutly refrain from touching any members of the Lezerit family. They are not evil people.”

“I know.”

For Sasha to have gone around squashing the merchants of the underworld to the level of being called “Cannibal Merchant,” it was not merely for her own profit. When Felt first learned of this, she was beyond astounded and appalled, but seeing how Sasha has since developed into a somewhat feared figure in the underworld, she began to believe that it might not be simply a pipe dream.

“By the way, where is Kanaki now?”

“Kanaki… Oh, you mean ‘Eraser’. Earlier in the regular call, they came in saying he went home. The owner of Kafka’s has probably been carried there, too, and he’s most likely setting up for the assault.”

No one’s going that way, though, Sasha added in a voice dripping with derision.

Felt, on the other hand, was not entirely relaxed about the situation. Kanaki had confronted her earlier at the coffee shop with such a decisive sense of self-assurance. It would be prudent to assume that he was preparing to turn the tables on those on watch.

“Sasha, in case the surveillance gets knocked out―”

“I get it. At that time, I will move to the next potential base while having Olene protect me. Even I don’t underrate the opposing side that much!”

“R-Right. Sorry.”

Felt made a bold suggestion, and Sasha seemed to have obviously put some thought into it as well. Despite her lack of combat skills, Sasha remained outstanding in terms of her abilities as a merchant and her quick wit. Besides, if Olene, who was S-rated, stayed here as an escort, there would be no cause for alarm.

Even so, Felt was unable to shake off the memory of Kanaki’s face that he had shown her in that coffee shop.