Chapter 10:
Assassination
"WERE THEY STUPID or something?"
Apparently, there was an incident outside the party venue the night
before. My knights spotted a group of armed ruffians running toward the
venue. My knights moved in to apprehend them, but apparently the
hooligans blew themselves up before my knights could even open fire on
them. Either that, or the explosives they carried accidentally went off when
they were shot. Regardless, it was unclear, so the incident was under
investigation.
Considering their destination, they were likely after me, but the
attempt was just so sloppy. I mean, did they really think they were going to
just run past my security? Come on now.
I was alone in my office, but Kukuri suddenly emerged from my
own shadow. "Master Liam, I have a report."
"Let's hear it."
"It's in regard to the attackers last night."
"You figured something out about them?"
"It appears they meant to sneak into the venue concealed within the
party decorations. When the party's theme was changed, the original ones
were moved to a different location. The problem is that they had to have
assistance. In addition, it's likely such crude attackers were likely just a
diversion."
Apparently, quite a surprise had been planned for my party the night
before.
"I should have caught it earlier and told you to cancel the party,"
Kukuri continued, "but fortunately, Lord Wallace happened to remove all
of their hiding places instead."
Wallace's sudden rearrangement of the venue managed to prevent a
bunch of hoodlums from sneaking into my party. Well, even if he hadn't,
Kukuri would no doubt have stopped them before they could strike, so I
was sure things would have been okay in the end.
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"I've got a weird feeling about this," I said. "I mean, it's just
uncanny that Wallace could be so useful."
Of course, I was thankful his actions led to my party going off
without a hitch, but wasn't it kind of creepy? I never thought that Wallace
would ever be so useful. I mean, a capable Wallace practically wasn't
Wallace at all.
"Well, never mind that," I said. "Anything else?"
"I've lost two of my men. We're being targeted by some rather
skilled operatives." Though two of his people had been killed, Kukuri's
voice betrayed no anger. He instead spoke of their deaths as if reporting
today's weather.
"I see. How did they die?"
"They were looking into the origins of last night's attackers when
they were taken out by enemy operatives," he explained.
I'd lost some of Kukuri's highly skilled men... There weren't a lot
of them in the first place, so just a few losses among them meant a drastic
decrease in their strength. Part of me was angry the men went and got
themselves killed, but these were valuable assets of mine and worth too
much for me to treat poorly.
"Are you all right handling this on your own? I don't mind helping
you out one bit if you want my assistance."
Apparently Kukuri didn't want my help, though. "We can't have
you doing our job for us. All I ask is that you please give the bodies of any
enemy operatives to us. Even those can provide valuable information."
"So passionate about your work," I commented. "Very well. If I get
ahold of any, they're all yours."
"Master Liam, there are many skilled operatives after you right now.
I would suggest being especially cautious."
Kukuri clearly worried about me, but I wasn't concerned. "It's not a
problem; I'm favored by fortune. And besides, if any assassins come after
me, I'd enjoy taking them on. It might be fun—I've always wanted to fend
off some assassins. Anyway, if any interesting types show up, you just
send them my way."
"I'm afraid that won't be possible, as our job is to prevent such
people from ever getting near you."
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He takes his work so seriously. This is what I'm talking about! I
wish Tia and Marie would take a page out of Kukuri's book.
"That's too bad. Well, I'll leave the assassins to you as well, then.
I'll be throwing another big party tonight, so I'm sure my enemies will be
all over it."
"Yes, sir." And with that, Kukuri sank back into my shadow and
disappeared.
***
Ciel plodded through the hotel corridors, exhausted from the daily
parties.
"I think I've been to a lifetime's worth of parties already..."
It wasn't just the number either. The parties were also extremely
varied in theme. They hadn't gone as far as holding a bucket party yet, but
there was a truly staggering variety in the types of party hosted day after
day by House Banfield.
"I... I can't let this wear me down. I have to expose Liam's true
character and free my brother from the illusion he's under."
Unfortunately, it was taking the young woman all she had just to get
through each day.
"I can't forgive that Liam for making my father and everyone else
fight in the war while he lived it up every day on the Capital Planet... I
can't believe my father was okay with that!"
Ciel had no idea that Liam had been handling logistics during the
war and looking after the families of the people fighting in the
expeditionary army. Ciel hadn't even been to primary school yet, so her
knowledge of such things was decidedly lacking. She relied purely on her
instincts, and her instincts told her that Liam was just running from the
battle.
"One day...I'll unmask Liam!" Even staggering around exhausted,
Ciel was still fired up with hostility toward him.
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn she
spotted an animal. "Huh?" She heard the patter of feet too, so it couldn't
have just been her imagination. "Wh-who the heck would let an animal run
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around on this floor? It must have been Liam!"
Security on the floor where Liam stayed was strict, so a stray
couldn't possibly have just wandered in. Also, Liam was probably the only
person who could get away with bringing a pet up here.
Ciel ran in the direction she saw the animal go in, but it ended up
being an empty dead end. "I guess I lost it. I should report this to Lady
Rosetta..."
While she stood dreading this new task thrust on her, she spotted
something on the floor—a newspaper.
"What is such a cheap thing doing here? Wait, this is..."
After reading one of the articles, Ciel rushed to Rosetta to show her
the news.
***
"Darling, it's terrible!"
Rosetta burst into my room, making a racket. I was in the middle of
instructing Ellen, and the young girl was blindfolded and standing on a
ball. Ellen was breathing hard and looked as though she was about to lose
her balance at any second. Sweat beaded on her forehead as she neared the
point of exhaustion, but I wasn't ready to let her stop yet.
I left Ellen to her training and dealt with Rosetta myself. "What is
it?"
Clutched in her hands was a disposable digital newspaper. I hadn't
read many of them myself since I was rich—I typically got my news from
my subordinates.
Rosetta caught her breath and then showed me a video embedded in
one article. "L-look at this!"
"What is it? W-wait... What is this?" I snatched the paper out of
Rosetta's hands and trembled with rage when I saw its contents.
The article was about an attack on the Ahlen sword style's
headquarters. However, it wasn't the attack that had surprised me as much
as the attacker.
"Someone's claiming they practice the Way of the Flash, huh..."
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Anger welled up within me. The attacker apparently named herself a
practitioner of the Way of the Flash and defeated the head of the Ahlen
style, another Swordmaster. I didn't care about the Swordmaster; I just
cared about how the attacker identified herself. Squabbles between
opposing sword schools were beneath me. My issue was the attacker
claiming to practice the Way of the Flash.
"So there are finally some pretenders, I guess."
To have defeated a Swordmaster, this person must have had some
skill. I glanced at my trusty blade. It was a trophy from my fight with the
Goaz Pirate Gang, and I hadn't encountered a sword that surpassed it since
then. It was still my very favorite sword.
"I won't let anyone try and pass themselves off as a practitioner of
the Way of the Flash. I'll cut them down myself."
Rosetta cocked her head. "Are there no other members of the Way
of the Flash besides you, Darling? Couldn't she really be one?"
"What? I've never met another one before. N-no, wait a second..."
Master's face came to mind. He told me that he was looking for new
students, so I supposed it wasn't impossible that there could be more out
there... Plus, there must've been someone who taught Master in the first
place. If that person had apprentices of their own, then it really was
possible there could be more of us out there somewhere.
"I guess I have to find out for myself."
I decided to keep my favorite sword with me at all times. At the
moment, though, Ellen was about to fall. I got behind her and caught her
as she stumbled.
"I-I'm sorry, Master."
"You still rely on eyesight a lot, don't you, Ellen? Your eyes are
sharp, but you need to polish your other senses too."
"Yes, sir!"
Rosetta had a strange look on her face as she watched the young
girl's enthusiastic response. "The Way of the Flash is a very strict style,
isn't it, Darling?" she commented. "I'm impressed that anyone could
manage to pass it down."
It was practically a miracle that I even came across it myself. I
couldn't help but wonder what Master was up to these days...
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***
At about that same time, Yasushi was being chased around by a
woman.
"You think you can get rid of me that easily?"
His pursuer was a beautiful woman with glasses and lustrous long
black hair in a disheveled state. When she wasn't angry, she must have
looked like an intellectual beauty, but there was no trace of that at the
moment. With a horrifying look on her face, the normally beautiful woman
hurried after Yasushi.
For his part, Yasushi was running as fast as he could. After all, the
woman had a knife in her hand.
"I-I didn't mean to deceive youuu!!!" he cried out.
"Get back heeere!"
The woman almost resembled Nias. Yasushi had come to this planet
by chance. He met the woman and seduced her in a moment of weakness.
She was his type, so he got carried away before realizing that the woman
was looking for something far more serious than he was.
The problem was that he used up all his money and ended up relying
entirely on the woman to support him. Eventually, she began to pester him
to get a job and marry her. To make matters worse...a baby was strapped
to her back. Even through all the commotion, the infant slept peacefully.
While Yasushi irresponsibly let things progress between them, the two of
them had a child. He missed his chance to escape, but today, he was finally
ready. However, when he finally made his attempt, the woman realized
what he was up to.
"I'm not letting you get away!"
"Gimme a break!"
Yasushi tried to run from the responsibility of family life, but she
wasn't about to let him escape.
Then suddenly, he tripped. "Ah—"
Yasushi fell flat on his face in a rather spectacular fashion, and at
last, the woman caught up to him.
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"You enemy of women!!!" she yelled.
"Nooooo!!!"
The woman's knife sped down toward Yasushi...
***
I sat in the usual side room, waiting for another fun party to begin.
Was I tired of this yet? Of course not. Even if I was, it was my duty as an
evil lord to live the high life. My mood soared whenever I thought about
how I was indulging in luxury on my taxpayers' dime! On top of all that,
something I was particularly excited about was going to happen this time.
"You're beautiful as always, Amagi."
Amagi would be attending tonight's party in her new custom-
designed dress. My heart pounded as I saw her standing before me in
something so extravagant, rather than her usual maid uniform. I had been
looking forward to this for a long time. I sidled up to her.
"Master, I believe you promised not to take me to any parties."
"Don't worry—the venue will be dimly lit tonight, so no one will
recognize you. Boy, am I glad Wallace came up with that idea! I never
considered keeping the venue dark. Now I can take you out without
worrying about what anyone will think."
"And your promise?"
"Y-you can come to one party, can't you?" I asked.
"For goodness' sake. Just this one time, all right?"
"Yes!"
I was satisfied that I was finally getting to bring Amagi to an event.
I was looking forward to it so much that I was barely able to sleep the
night before.
"Why do you wish to take me to a party?"
"Because I want to enjoy myself with you."
To Amagi, I was comfortable saying all sorts of embarrassing lines.
Why was that? Because they came from the heart. I didn't care for flesh-
and-blood women because they could betray you. Rosetta was a good
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example of that. I thought she was a woman with a steel will, but the
moment I'd made her mine, she mellowed out completely. What was that,
if not a betrayal? Frankly, lately I was having more fun teasing the truly
steel-willed Ciel instead.
Wallace entered the waiting room. "Liam, it's time to get things
started."
"Got it. Come on, Amagi."
I reached out and she took my hand, though hesitantly. My heart
warmed as I walked to the venue beside her, hand in hand.
"This is my first time taking you to a party, Amagi."
"It is the only time it will happen," she replied.
In contrast to my excitement, Amagi was rather exasperated, but it
seemed to me she was secretly happy in her new dress too. That made me
happy, but...
"This sucks," I said, stopping in my tracks.
"Master?" Amagi cocked her head.
Today, of all days? This guy has the worst timing.
"Calvin. Why did it have to be today?"
Amagi still didn't understand what was happening and found my
behavior confusing. "Master, what is it?"
Wallace hadn't noticed either. "Something wrong, Liam?"
"We've got incoming."
"Huh?"
I slowly let go of Amagi's hand and called, "Kukuri."
Kukuri rose up from my shadow, holding my favorite sword, and
reported to me as I took it from him.
"Multiple enemies incoming, Master Liam. Our communications are
being jammed as well, so we can't call for reinforcements."
"Got it. Take care of the enemies outside."
Kukuri disappeared back into my shadow, and Wallace began to
panic.
"Wait, Liam! We have strong security, and everyone's identity is
checked at the door. No one could possibly get into this venue with a
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disguise."
"They're not inside. They're outside."
The presence I was sensing was definitely outside the venue.
"Wallace, contact the prime minister," I ordered him. "Tell him I
want permission to engage at once."
"Huh? How am I supposed to do that?" Wallace asked, having heard
Kukuri mention communications interference.
"There should be a wired terminal somewhere near here," I told
him. "I'll send a guard with you, so hurry there and contact the prime
minister. As fast as you can, all right?"
I needed to use Wallace's status as a former royal to get in touch
with the prime minister as soon as possible, meaning that Wallace himself
had to be the one to make contact.
Wallace's face twitched. "You're too much, Liam!"
***
Kukuri emerged outside, his subordinates appearing with him. They
were fewer than a hundred strong, whereas the ninjas surrounding the
party venue numbered at least a thousand. Nevertheless, Kukuri chuckled,
showing his enemies no fear.
"Well, aren't there a lot of you? There are many clans and
organizations I've never encountered, but it figures that you would survive
to the modern day. We have history with the Fire Clan, after all."
One of the Fire Clan ninjas replied, "And I never expected to see
someone like you in this time. It seems all the organizations now have
weakened compared to when they were in their prime...but you appear to
be quite skilled."
The head ninja raised his sword. "You shouldn't still be here—and
soon, you won't be."
Kukuri's men drew their weapons too, but Kukuri only spread his
arms wide. "You've done your research into us, I see. In any case, it
doesn't matter what era we come from. It doesn't change the fact that right
now, we're here."
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The enemy rushed the Shadows all at once, and it wasn't just the
Fire Clan. Assassins whose techniques were based on those of Kukuri's
clan were among the thousand as well.
So they sniffed us out and want to take us on, Kukuri thought. Well,
that's fine by me!
He mowed down any operatives who came at him as he ran toward
the enemy leader. A fierce battle between his men and the dark operatives
of this era played out all around him, allies and enemies alike hitting the
ground dead.
Kukuri reached the enemy leader and swung his massive arms
down, but the enemy blocked the strike with his sword.
"This is the end of you," the head ninja said. "That stubborn master
of yours pissed off the wrong people."
As Kukuri leaped back, he noticed a spaceship had appeared in the
night sky—but that was impossible. No ships were allowed through the
protective shell that surrounded the Capital Planet. However they had
managed to pull that off, the bottom line was that the enemy intended to
use a warship to blow Liam away. The vengeful nobles had finally
resorted to brute force to get rid of Liam, consequences be damned.
Kukuri narrowed his eyes. "Well, this is a problem."
He and his men were in a position to escape, but they were charged
with protecting the many people inside the venue. He was prepared to
return to Liam's side, but the enemy leader slashed at him again. Flames
wreathed the ninja's blade, so Kukuri's arm was burned when he blocked
the blow. The leader seemed intent on preventing Kukuri from returning to
Liam.
"You will be destroyed here with us!" the ninja said.
"You're willing to sacrifice yourselves too, eh?"
Kukuri and his men had thwarted many assassination attempts over
the years, like the one from the previous night. Each time, their enemies
came at them with everything they had, ready to sacrifice their own lives
to fulfill their missions.
Undaunted, Kukuri smiled. "You really are fools."
"What?"
An insect-like mechanical leg sprouted from Kukuri's body,
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severing the enemy leader's arm. The arm burst into flame and vanished,
even as the leader quickly regenerated the lost appendage. The wound
seemed to burn, and a new arm appeared.
Kukuri watched this with a touch of envy. "It seems there's a lot to
be said for abandoning your physical body. Unfortunately, I don't think
we'll be able to adopt that technique ourselves."
The enemy leader held his sword before him, sneering with disgust.
"You were too strong then, and you're too dangerous now. That's why the
emperor in your time turned you to stone—out of fear."
Kukuri cocked his head more than 90 degrees, the angle making his
neck look like it was broken. "Fear? I suppose you can say whatever you
like when you don't know anything. If he simply feared us, he could have
just executed us. That sadistic bastard laughed when he turned us to
stone."
"How can you speak of His Majesty like that?"
Even this dark operative was blindly loyal to the Empire, but Kukuri
had interacted with the emperor of his day himself, so he knew the truth.
"The man was simply scum. Emperors are human too. They have no
special majesty or dignity that sets them apart, and that man was the lowest
of the low: the kind who delights in the suffering of others."
"Maybe it was that attitude of yours that got you turned to stone and
forgotten by time."
Kukuri knew he couldn't change the enemy leader's mind on this,
but there was still something he wanted to convey. "Maybe you're right,
but there is one thing I'm thankful to that piece of trash for. It was only
because of him that we Shadows finally met someone worth serving."
As Kukuri said this, a figure emerged from the venue building. It
was Liam, wielding his favorite sword. The enemy leader signaled to his
men with his eyes and some thirty of them turned to engage Liam.
"How foolish," the ninja leader scoffed. "Did he intend to escape by
himself? Does he think a human being can evade a warship?"
One of Kukuri's men attempted to stop the ninjas from reaching
Liam, but he was only one man against thirty. At this rate, the ninjas'
blades would reach Liam...
Then, there was an explosion. Kukuri's subordinate had blown
himself up, taking the thirty ninjas with him. Kukuri didn't even turn to
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look, knowing full well that all of his men were prepared to sacrifice
themselves to defeat an enemy. He had no doubt Liam would have been
fine even without his subordinate's sacrifice, but this was their way. Being
willing to die for their master was just a part of their duty, so Kukuri
wasn't saddened by his subordinate's death.
Suddenly, Kukuri manifested hundreds of blades from his shadow,
all of them flying in the enemy leader's direction. The leader deflected
those that came at him with his sword, but plenty of his nearby men were
struck. The blades pierced their cores, and the ninjas disappeared in bursts
of flame.
Kukuri took up a bare-handed stance. "Don't underestimate my
master. I wouldn't know how to beat him myself, after all. Anyway, it's
about time I make you regret ever coming after him."
Kukuri's battle with the enemy leader then resumed.
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