Water Magician

To move with haste when there were no doubts, or in the spirit of trying for the time being, the group rented a meeting room at the inn and decided to start treatment immediately.

“Hey, shouldn’t we consider it a little more carefully …”

Sharfi tried to broach the subject, but even Gecko,

“It’s never too early.”

Said and urged the decision to conduct it tonight.

Sharfi was already in a dream-like state after taking the general anesthetic for pain relief that was available at the inn.

And after a long chant, Rihya was ready to activate her magic the moment she said the trigger word.

Also, although there was no clear use for it yet, hot water was prepared.

It was due to Ryo’s doubtful medical knowledge that hot water was needed for surgery, and of course, Ryo, the Water-Attribute Magician, prepared it.

All that was left was for Max to prepare to peel the tattoo off.

The knife to use was decided.

A knife used to extract magic stones … Well, even though it was from a corpse, it was the same knife used last time to strip off that curse tattoo.

Max was chosen as the one to conduct the test.

Basically, Gecko, Abel, Rin, and Warren, who were not involved in this 『treatment』, were watching the laid-down Sharfi from a distance.

Warren held his shield up, and Rin was peeking her head out from behind it.

(Well, if it becomes a situation where a shield is needed, we probably won’t be safe …)

Ryo saw that scene and grumbled in his heart.

Max was taking note by pulling on Sharfi’s skin and pressing on his muscles.

Next to him, Ryo began to spread the ice film around Sharfi’s heart.

Including the heart and the blood vessels around it.

In comics and anime, there would be large blood vessels connected to the heart when it is taken out.

Vena cava that runs up and down, aorta that wraps around the left and right pulmonary arteries, three carotid arteries that exit from the aorta, and finally four left and right pulmonary veins.

If he covers that area for a short time, he won’t die instantly.

Apart from instant death, Rihya was there …

Ryo thought to himself and enclosed the heart.

“Ice film, ready.”

Ryo informed Max.

“Okay. Gecko-san, I’ll start.”

“Yes, please.”

Gecko granted permission.

After a breath, Max’s knife pierced Sharfi’s chest. Then, without hesitation, he cut through the skin and flesh.

However, when he cut about a quarter of what he had planned, the tattoo changed.

The design of the tattoo was a sword that pierced a double-headed eagle, and the sword shined.

Then, a stone spear formed.

It looked like the stone spear would pierce Sharfi’s chest.

“Ryo!”

“It’s okay. I will protect Sharfi’s heart.”

Ryo calmly answered Max’s call.

The tattoo had a mechanism to kill the host if they attempted to remove it.

However, the 『Ice film』 was there for that reason.

Max’s knife cut through about half as planned.

Meanwhile, the tattooed stone spear formed at Sharfi’s heart and collided with Ryo’s ice film.

Kiri Kiri Kiri

It was supposed to be a collision of ice and stone, but the sound of scraping metal echoed in the conference room.

(The ribs have been crushed quite a bit, but it can’t be helped … I hope Rihya will be able to do something about it.)

The heart was protected, but the ribs outside it were the victims of the stone spear.

However, at that time, more problems emerged.

(What? People are coming here in a straight line at a considerable speed?)

Ryo responded to the <Passive sonar> that he had put out.

“Somebody is coming from the window!”

Ryo gave a loud warning so that Gecko and Abel who were looking from a distance away could hear.

“Protect Gecko, Abel. It may be someone who is aiming for Gecko’s life.”

“Leave it to me!”

Abel had some doubts, but he understood that he was not in the situation to ask such a question.

“<Ice Wall 10-layer package>”

Ryo surrounded Sharfi as well as Max, Rihya, and himself who were all standing around Sharfi.

At that moment, people jumped in through the three open windows.

“Black from head to toe …”

Rihya murmured when she saw the three people who jumped in.

Two of the three ran toward Gecko while the remaining one aimed for Sharfi.

“Gecko-san!”

Max shouted with a knife in Sharfi’s chest.

“Gecko-san, it’s okay to leave it to Abel and his party. Let’s concentrate on stripping the tattoo.”

“O-okay.”

Then Max turned to Sharfi and started moving his knife again.

The three thieves were separated, but the actions they took were the same.

They took out a fist-sized item from their bosom and threw it on the floor.

But that was something the people from Gecko’s caravan had seen a while back.

“Smokescreen!”

Yes, it was the smoke grenade that Sharfi used when he attacked the caravan.

“Wind, swirl in my palm. <Tornado>”

Rin cast Wind Magic.

The smoke that had spread in the room was collected by Rin’s spell and exhausted to the outside through a broken window.

(As expected, Rin’s judgment is quick.)

Ryo was honestly impressed.

Ryo knocked the smoke down to the ground with <Squall>, but Rin, a Wind-Attribute Magician, chose the method of carrying it out with <Tornado>.

Correct and quick judgment and action. That determines life and death.

(But the smokescreen attack was also done by Sharfi. I wonder if it is a classic assassin’s ploy?)

Ryo smiled in his heart.

It was certainly effective, but if someone like Ryo or Rin were around, it would be easily nullified …

Of course, they probably prepared for Plan B …

However, the 『Crimson Sword』 was not so naive as to allow them to execute Plan B.

The moment the smoke was collected in the Tornado, Abel had already kicked the floor and was slashing at one of the assailants.

The slashed assailant managed to defend against the blow with a dagger he held in his opposite hand, but with a flowing second slash, his arm was cut off, and with a third diagonal slash from the shoulder, he was struck and died …

And the attack of the other assailant was completely prevented by the Shield-bearer Warren.

As he bought time that way, Abel, who had cut down the first one and approached from behind, beheaded the assailant with one slash.

If they succeeded in setting up a smokescreen, and if it was a battle in the limited space of that small conference room, the assassins might have been able to exert considerable power.

However, their opponent was the B-rank party 『Crimson Sword』.

The two assassins were easily disposed of, indicating that they were not a threat at all.

Incidentally, the assailant who headed for Sharfi alone was trapped in an ice coffin without even a chance to touch the ice wall …

“A little more. Endure it Sharfi.”

Max sliced through his chest with a knife as he called out.

If anyone who didn’t know the situation saw it, it would have been a strange sight.

Moreover, there were the bodies of two assailants and a man in black who were encased in ice.

But Max couldn’t afford to think about that.

The stone spear hadn’t given up on aiming for the heart while the assailants were attacking.

It was a competition between the stone spear and Max.

And finally …

“Okay, I cut it out.”

“<Ice coffin>”

At the same time Max removed it, Ryo enclosed the tattooed flesh with a stone spear in an Ice coffin.

“<Extra heal>”

After confirming that, Rihya activated an Extra Heal on Sharfi’s chest, which was heavily gorged out that even the heart was visible.

That was one of the strongest Healing magic that was said to repair even lost limbs.

Only a few priests in the country could use it.

Ryo didn’t know why Rihya could.

He didn’t know, but he thought it was great that she could.

Then, with outstanding effect, the muscles and blood vessels regenerated, and finally, skin formed over the former wound.

The newly formed skin had no tattoos.

Rihya took Sharfi’s pulse and informed Gecko that there were no complications.

Upon receiving the report, Gecko looked visibly relieved.

“Ryo, these guys in black …?”

“Yes. They belong to the 『Cult』 that Sharfi belonged to.”

Ryo nodded and answered Abel’s question.

“A cult whose livelihood is assassination …”

“The Order of Assassins!”

Rin acknowledged Rihya’s mutter.

“Yes, the 『Order of Assassins』 … it’s more like a legend than a rumor …”

Rihya commented as she thought to herself.

(So it’s in this world too … the Order of Assassins)

Ryo was a little excited.

When speaking of assassins on Earth, Hassan-i Sabbah comes to mind.

The founder of the Order of Assassins, also known as the Old Man of the Mountain.

Of course, he was a real person, colored by many anecdotes and legends.

There were records of his death at Alamut Castle in the Midwestern part of Iran on May 23, 1124.

One of his anecdotes describes his relationship with Nizam al-Mulk.

It was written by Hamdallah Mustawfi Qazvini, a Persian historian of the Ilkhanate era.

He described him in the 『Excerpt History』.

When Hassan-i Sabbah was serving the Seljuk empire’s second monarch, Alp Arslan, the Chancellor then was Nizam al-Mulk.

The Seljuk Empire, created by the first monarch Tughril Beg, reached its largest territory during the time of the second monarch Alp Arslan and the Chancellor Nizam al-Muruk, and reached its peak in the third generation.

There was no doubt that Alp Arslan and Nizam al-Mulk were excellent.

Now, at one point Hassan Sabbah was ordered by Alp Arslan to compile spending reports across the Empire.

But it was a very difficult task to do in 40 days as Chancellor Nizam al-Mulk requested, as it would typically take a year.

But Hassan Sabbah did it.

The vexed Chancellor Nizam al-Mulk messed up the contents of the report the morning of Hassan-i Sabbah’s report to Alp Arslan.

Because of that, Hassan-i Sabbah failed to answer Alp Arslan’s questions, and his honor was lost.

Of course, Chancellor Nizam al-Mulk added further blows to the situation.

As a result, Hassan Sabbah was ousted from the court.

After that, Hassan Sabbah organized the Order of Assassins.

Chancellor Nizam al-Mulk was a celebrity that appeared in high school world history textbooks, and his 『Nezamiyeh Academy』 was a frequent phrase that always appeared in regular tests.

A famous individual as that, Chancellor Nizam al-Mulk, ended up assassinated in 1092.

Who on earth assassinated him …

(Eh? Wasn’t the national emblem of the Seljuk empire a double-headed eagle …? Sharfi’s tattoo is a sword that pierces a double-headed eagle … is this a coincidence?)

There were many royal families and countries in history that had the 『Double-headed eagle』 as their coat of arms or national emblem.

Whether it was the Holy Roman Empire or the House of Romanov in Russia, it was a design that had been common since ancient times.

Ryo’s knowledge was, of course, knowledge from Earth, but of course, he thought that there might be some royal families and countries that used the design of 『Double-headed Eagle』 on 『Phi』.

It might be a coincidence …

But if it wasn’t a coincidence … that was a big deal.

Because that meant that reincarnated people were involved.

(Well, there’s nothing I can do about it thinking about it now. Let’s ask Sharfi after he wakes up.)

After all, Ryo had already confirmed the existence of other reincarnated people due to the curry, cafes, and crepes.

The only question was, ‘Are they still alive?’ and to be honest, it didn’t matter to him if they were.

Ryo considered most matters half-mindedly.

Sharfi, who was asleep, was taken to Ryo and Ra’s room for the time being.

Ra, who was guarding the caravan and the others, seemed to have been waiting with excitement.

Because Gecko ordered him to ‘Never leave here and protect them’, he couldn’t move even if there was a scuffle.

However, Ra trusted Abel more than anyone else.

When he heard that Abel and his colleagues had defeated the assassins, Ryo saw him praising them happily as if it was himself.

Abel and his party were thanked by Gecko and he promised to transfer the rewards to their guild account, along with the rewards for their protection.

Ryo didn’t know the market price, but Max murmured that it would be a considerable amount of money for a B-rank adventurer party and a high-ranking priest class.

Whereas the assailant trapped in the Ice Coffin remained trapped until the next morning.