My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero's (暗殺者である俺のステータスが勇者よりも明らかに強いのだが)

So that's Gram.

Princess Amelia, there's something I wish to discuss with you.

Would you mind joining me at my mansion?

What are you playing at?

Don't interrupt us, you nobody.

Hey, guild master or not, you don't get to insult the Silent Assassin!

I know perfectly well who he is.

The hero and his party are meant to devote themselves to slaying the demon lord.

That is one of the core rules of our society,

and yet here this fool is, goofing off.

Why, you!

My time, my choice.

Nobody tells me what to do.

Goodness, how heartless.

That man who gave his life to get you out of the palace must be rolling in his grave!

Who exactly are you talking about?

Saran Mithray!

What a pathetic way to go out, but it was quite the show.

I'm so glad I put cameras on the Night Ravens.

Happy to hear it.

What? Oh, you wish to see the footage for yourself?

I still have it, of course.

Admitting that to my face will be your biggest mistake.

I find it so hard to understand the way peasants speak.

Not that I need to.

Guild Master!

What are you thinking?

You want to hurt these adventurers for no reason at all?!

Kerria!

Capture Princess Amelia! Kill anyone who gets in the way!

Raul! Take Kerria and get out of here!

Gotcha!

Conceal Presence.

They can still see you, Akira!

Hmph! I knew you had an advanced Conceal Presence skill.

The Night Ravens' cameras revealed as much.

Once I learned you were hanging around the princess,

I had Mystic Eyes much like Saran's developed for them.

But if it goes out of control with Amelia nearby...

Gravity!

No way!

I'll hold them off!

Give them hell and then run!

Understood!

This way, Amelia!

After them! Don't let them escape!

You're running, right? I've got you.

I can fly! What do you think? Amazing, isn't it?

Thank you, Latticenail.

You're a lifesaver.

This is nothing. I like you guys, after all.

How beautiful.

Yeah, it really is.

MY STATUS AS AN ASSASSIN OBVIOUSLY EXCEEDS THE HERO'S

Welcome back, Night.

I couldn't hold them off very long.

No, you did plenty.

Okay, I'll be heading out now.

Are you sure?

If you're going to spill blood, I don't want to be around to see it.

Okay.

Welp, see you someday soon!

Did you go see Gram?

Yeah.

He had his boosted troops with him.

And they injured you? They must truly be formidable.

I can take them one-on-one, but the numbers game is hard to overcome.

They have countermeasures for my Conceal Presence,

and none of my attacks did any damage.

It felt like the impact of my blows was being dispersed.

They must be buffing their gear with the mana generated from the boosters.

Fighting them head-on will get me nowhere.

But you're an assassin. You must have your ways.

Hold on. Why are you assuming Akira's going to accept the job?

Now that Gram has you in his sights and has failed to capture you,

he'll throw caution to the wind and pursue you even harder.

That's the kind of man Gram is.

Amelia.

It's late, so go to bed. You too, Night.

Huh? But...

Master...

I want to be alone for a bit. Please.

Per your orders, we have eyes on every route out of the capital.

And how's the search going?

We're gathering information as we speak.

We'll know where the princess is staying within a day's time.

Find out before noon tomorrow.

Y-Yes, my lord.

Er...

If I may ask, why are you doing this?

For entertainment.

These losers will use up their lifetime supply of mana in a year and die.

So why bother to treat them with care?

As long as I have the boosters, I can replace as many as I need.

And once I sell Princess Amelia to the demons, I'll get my hands on the rare materials

it will take to produce boosted soldiers of a much higher caliber.

Now...

I'm turning in for the evening.

Have additional boosted troops out on guard tonight, just in case.

As you wish.

If I don't kill him, he'll keep coming after Amelia.

Moreover, he mocked Commander Saran's final moments.

That man cannot be allowed to live.

My mind is made up.

I should get my assassin tools ready in case I run into any boosted soldiers.

Oh...

Wait, I remember this.

The commander meant it for you. I'm sure it'll come in handy.

Huh? I hope it's recording.

Hey, Akira.

Commander Saran?

Surprised?

I'm recording this in case anything bad happens to me.

There's no telling what the future holds for the two of us, after all.

Although it's not like I have a big secret to let you in on or anything.

Sorry, are you disappointed?

No, I'm not.

I just wanted to revisit something I've said to you before.

Be an assassin who respects life so that you may return to your family alive.

You're fine that way.

One day, Akira, you'll go home to your world.

To a land that's peaceful, where you won't be faced with constant bloodshed.

What the hell?

So don't you go thinking about avenging me or anything, okay?

Why...?

You don't need to feel responsible for any of this world's goings-on.

In fact, you mustn't.

And that naturally includes my death.

At the risk of repeating myself, revenge is a fool's errand.