Yuri Empire

“… Assassin?”

It was the morning of the fourth day of summer, three days after the mining city of Eureka and the “Labyrinth” tunnels began operating.

As usual, Yuri was tidying up the day’s work and reports when she was interrupted by Cassia, the captain of <Kuroyuri>, who came to visit her in her office, asking about an assassin.

“Oh, and did I mention that we caught one of those guys last month?”

“Muu… you left us in charge of training, but Yuri forgot about it?”

It hadn’t been two weeks yet, and she could have remembered with a little effort. Knowing that Yuri had completely lost track of it, Cassia’s mouth twitched in frustration.

“I’m sorry. It wasn’t a particularly memorable person.”

“That’s true, but…”

This is the first time that a group of assassins from the Volmisian Empire visited the city of Ulysses… I think it was around the 30th of last month or so.

It was a very unimpressive opponent, so my memory is a little hazy. Maybe I’m not so wrong. By the way, even though they were a member of the Volmisian Empire, they were not an assassin belonging to the national army.

A group of five assassins registered with the Explorers’ Guild branch in one of the cities of the Principality and used the【Transfer Gate】to come to the city of Ulysses in the Yuri Empire.

The magic【Spatial Grasp】deployed in the city of Ulysses at the time of their transfer revealed their true identity, and Yuri was notified of the fact that ‘a person with a criminal record’ has invaded the city.

Immediately, Yuri ordered the children of the Yuri Empire to capture them, and as a result, all five assassins were easily captured in less than ten minutes.

―――I guess it’s not surprising that this doesn’t leave much of an impression.

Incidentally, there were two males and three females in the group of assassins, so the males were turned into food for the children of <Kuroyuri>, and the females were taken to Yuritania and imprisoned in the city’s underground.

By training them with the <Kuroyuri> girls, I was going to strip them of all the information they had.

“Does that mean you’ve made some progress?”

“Yes. I finally got it all out, didn’t I?”

“You’ve done well. ―――Come here.”

Yuri patted her knee.

Perhaps sensing her intention, Cassia’s cheeks flushed red.

“… ye, yes.”

Yuri sat down on the chair and let Cassia sit on her lap. The bad-natured talk and behavior of before disappeared, and Cassia became as quiet as a borrowed cat.

Cassia, or rather most of the <Kuroyuri> children, are usually unpolite and provocative, calling their master “Yuri”. In fact, Yuri knows that they want to be pampered and dominated more than anyone else.

“Well done.”

“Huh…”

When Yuri gently stroked Cassia’s head on her lap, she narrowed her eyes in happiness.

Her face was so cute. I was tempted to accidentally reach my fingers inside the hem of her skirt, but I think I should restrain myself now.

… Well, I’m sure Cassia would be simply delighted if I did.

“So, where were these assassins from?”

“Yes. It seems to be a private underground organization called the ‘Poisoned Chain’, based in the Volmisian Empire and active in the country and neighboring countries. It is an organization that receives orders from noblemen and wealthy people for assassinations, kidnappings, manipulations, etc. It has 28 members in total. Therefore, only about 20% of the entire organization has been captured by the Yuri Empire.”

“Hmm… The fact that it took me more than 10 days to get the information out of them even after being ‘trained’ by you is…”

“As you can see, she seems to be quite skilled. The level itself is only slightly higher than 40, but I appreciate the fact that she had enough experience as an operative. It would be better to continue the ‘training’ for a month or so to bring her completely to her knees and make her a useful pawn for sister・・・・.”

The <Kuroyuri> girl calls Yuri “sister” when they go into “submissive mode”.

Apparently, Cassia was already in that mode. When I tickled her on the chin and under the neck like I do with cats, Cassia’s expression relaxed as if she were in a state of ecstasy.

“I’d like to have some useful people. Can you get the other eighty percent?”

“I’d like to say that if it’s your sister’s order, I’ll carry it out right away. But I think it would be wiser to leave this to <Nadeshiko> rather than <Kuroyuri>.”

“Well, that’s how it is, isn’t it?”

The best at espionage and manipulation in the Yuri Empire are the children of <Nadeshiko>.

The order itself, to break into the Volmisian Empire and capture the entire private underground organization that has its roots there, can be carried out by the children of the <Kuroyuri> without any problem.  But, if Yuri wants all of this to be done in secret, Yuri should ask <Nadeshiko> to do it.

“All right. Then I’ll talk to Partita, the captain of <Nadeshiko>, and give her more detailed information about the organization.”

“Yes, sister.”

“Good girl.”

After saying this, Yuri gently touched her lips to Kasia’s forehead.

Immediately, Cassia silently urged her to touch her lips as well. With a small smile, Yuri did as she wished and kissed her lips there as well.

“By the way, what was the purpose of the assassins’ invasion of Ulysses?”

“Oh, that’s right, that’s what I should have told sister first. Are you aware of the fact that a princess from the Kingdom of Rapier is currently staying in the Tourist Resort Area in northern Ulysses?”

“You mean Princess Yubel, right? I’ve been monitoring her, so I’m aware of her at least.”

The entire city is monitored by the magic【Spatial Grasp】, so if a certain amount of noblemen visit the city of Ulysses, the fact will be immediately known to the caster, Yuri.

Of course, Yuri knew that the first princess of the Kingdom of Rapier, named Yubel Rapier, had been staying in the Tourist Zone for two weeks, using the【Transfer Gate】from the Holy Land of Nimun with her knights.

The Kingdom of Rapier is a small country located further west than the Holy Land of Nimun, which is located to the west of the Yuri Empire.

In addition, unlike the mountainous areas where Eureka’s city is located, the climate changes rapidly, making it difficult for people to live and grow crops.

The majority of the country is not rich, so it is more accurate to call it a ‘weak country’ rather than a ‘small country’.

“So the assassins from the ‘Poisoned Chain’ are targeting the princess?”

“Yes. The client of the assassination seems to be the second prince of the Rapier Kingdom.”

“Oh my, what a murderous person.”

I wonder if it’s a messy situation regarding the succession to the throne.

The Rapier Kingdom is a nation that is quite far away, so when they decided to target the life of the princess while she was staying in Ulysses, they probably decided to do it nearby rather than sending assassins. Since there is no such thing as a ‘criminal organization’ in the Yuri Empire, it was probably a matter of convenience for the Volmisian Empire.

“Even so… It’s foolish to attempt an assassination in “Ulysses”.”

“That’s true. You can never kill someone in that city・・・・.”

The entire city of Ulysses is protected by a【Life-Saving Ward】, and anyone who dies within the city will always be ‘saved’ and unable to die unless the cause of death is ‘lifespan’,・・・・

This is true even in the Tourist Resort Area, so even if Princess Ubel were to fall victim to the assassin’s blade, her life would certainly be saved.

It would be foolish to think that they were going to commit an assassination in a city where assassinations are absolutely impossible.

“… Are those assassins are any good?”

“Hmmm… At least, I think their skills are passable…”

Cassia responded vaguely to Yuri’s words, lowering her eyebrows as she did so.

The fact that the city of Ulysses is protected by a【Life-Saving Ward】is not a hidden fact, and it is relatively well known by the citizens.

The fact that you can’t even get that level of information proves your incompetence, doesn’t it?

―――On the other hand, what about Princess Yubel? If she is in danger of being killed by assassins and has taken refuge in Ulysses, knowing that it is a city that is protected from death.

This princess may be a very intelligent person.

Since it was a good opportunity, it would not be a bad idea to try to make contact with her.