“……Aren’t you Demian’s wife?”

“Why? You said you don’t consider Demian as your grandson.”

Howard’s lips quivered.

It was still something he couldn’t say out of shame and lack of conscience. At the very least, it was something he should say after apologizing to Demian.

More precisely, after receiving his forgiveness.

Of course, whether that would be possible was uncertain, but Howard stood up without saying much.

“I should be going now.”

“What? Ah, yes. Take care.”

Although looking strangely at him suddenly leaving, Arasila didn’t stop him. She was rather glad, as there were many urgent things to do.

After seeing off Howard out of courtesy, she hurriedly moved her steps.

She still didn’t know why he had revealed the secret of the Ronde Count family to her, but decided to focus on more important and urgent matters first.

“Tell Colin to come to the study!”

“Yes, madam.”

Arasila, who ordered a passing maid, sat on the sofa in the study.

Before long, Colin appeared. He had come quickly as he happened to be in the mansion, not out for investigation.

“You called for me?”

“Colin, it’s not an owl. It was a barn owl.”

“……Pardon?”

Momentarily confused by the abrupt statement, Colin soon gathered his wits. He let out a small exclamation and nodded.

“No wonder, when I searched based on an owl, not even a speck of dust came up.”

“That’s what I’m saying. They look similar, and the drawing on the cloth was smudged, so I got confused. Let’s start over with barn owl.”

“Yes, understood.”

“This time, let’s do it right.”

Arasila, who was already feeling anxious as her vacation given by the magic tower was almost over and unproductive days continued, steeled her resolve.

When she could focus entirely without worrying about other things, she had to discover something.

Her eyes blazed with determination.

Colin searched for guilds or assassins using barn owls as symbols, while Arasila wandered the streets spreading word that she was looking for barn owls.

A bite came after about three days.

As usual, she was walking down 4th Avenue street wearing a robe with a white fur scarf, when someone suddenly threw a stone at Arasila’s feet.

‘What’s this? Did someone make a mistake?’

As she was about to ignore it and move on, another stone flew at her. Judging this to be intentional, Arasila turned her head in that direction.

Then, she saw a black figure standing at the entrance of a dark alley, gesturing for her to follow.

Arasila, who had cast a defensive spell on herself just in case, followed the figure.

After going deep into the winding alley for quite some time, the other party stopped. A large full moon poured moonlight over the two of them.

A man with his face hidden behind a mask looked Arasila up and down.

Because of the robe, it’s hard to tell if it’s a short man or a tall woman.

The man, who had been scrutinizing her with appraising eyes, spoke first.

“Are you the one looking for barn owls?”

“What if I am.”

Realizing she was a woman from her clear voice, the man relaxed his tension a bit. He asked in a more relaxed tone:

“Why are you looking for them?”

“Because I have business.”

The man’s face twisted at the simple and unfriendly answer.

He was already stressed because there was someone going around mentioning barn owls on the streets lately, and now the attitude of the person he met was arrogant, making him dislike her even more.

‘No need to hear more. It’s better to just kill and get rid of her.’

Having made that judgment, the man quietly slipped his hand to his waist. A knife was hidden there. He intended to cut her throat before she could even scream.

The man charged forward, detecting no threatening movement from Arasila.

Taat―!

If he had known that the face under the robe belonged to the future head of the magic tower, he wouldn’t have foolishly rushed in first.

“Don’t blame me……!”

But knowing nothing, he immediately plunged the knife towards Arasila’s chest.

Ting!

“……?!”

It was blocked as if a transparent membrane had formed around her.

The knife stopped in mid-air, leaving only one finger joint’s distance.

While the man faltered in surprise, Arasila suddenly reached out and removed his mask.

“……Wh, what!?”

The man hurriedly tried to cover his face, but his head wouldn’t turn. It was because Arasila had already restrained his entire body with a binding spell.

The man dropped the knife from his hand as the strong magical force constricted his whole body. Frustration filled his eyes.

“Damn it! You were a magician?!”

“You shouldn’t have rushed in so carelessly.”

Arasila clicked her tongue softly and lightly pressed on his shoulder. Completely bound by magic, the man was forced to kneel.

His face, fully revealed in the moonlight, was covered in scars. They were probably traces of his activities as a member of an underworld guild or as an assassin.

Arasila spoke in an indifferent voice.

“From now on, end all your answers with ‘yo’. Understood?”

“Why should I……! Kuk, yo.”

As soon as he resisted, feeling his throat being choked, the man quickly surrendered.

Even if he was used to rough work, no one wanted to die.

Arasila, looking down at the man who had become much more docile, abruptly asked.

“What is barn owl?”

“……Pardon yo?”

The man blinked stupidly.

Due to the long hood of the robe, Arasila’s face was completely hidden from his view.

“Answer immediately when I ask once. Begin.”

“Be, begin yo! ……But, it’s a bit confusing that you’re asking me what it is after going around looking for barn owls yo.”

The man who answered reflexively gave a slightly bewildered look. Arasila, who had crossed her arms, replied leisurely.

“I was looking because I didn’t know. Well, is it something like a guild name or a password?”

“Um, it’s similar yo.”

“Why did you approach me and try to kill me just because I was looking for barn owls?”

“Well, actually……”

The circumstances the man reluctantly revealed were roughly as follows.

He was originally an assassin working for an underworld guild, but he recently became independent.

He didn’t part ways badly with his former guild, so he kept in touch with his colleagues there.

Then one day, an anonymous client came to the guild.

This person entrusted a secret job while offering an enormous amount of money that surprised even the underworld people.

“In our world, it’s implicitly forbidden to ask about each other’s requests in detail. Moreover, since I’ve already left the guild, I couldn’t receive detailed information about guild business yo.”

Whatever the request was, the guild recently completed it successfully.

The guild master, who received a huge sum, distributed money to guild members more generously than ever before.

The man also heard the news and congratulated his colleagues. Along with a cheeky request to include him if such a big job came in next time.

But the problem started from then on.

At some point, guild members began dying one by one.

No one knew the reason, but a few days ago, they started to suspect it might be because of the anonymous client.

“Was the client’s name Barn Owl?”

“No, but… they said the man wore clothes with a barn owl drawn on them. So everyone called him Barn Owl yo.”

Since they couldn’t know his face, identity, or status, they gave him a distinctive nickname based on what was most visible.

Arasila frowned, feeling like something was on the tip of her tongue upon hearing this. The man continued with a gloomy face.

“Now that even the vice guild master has died, the guild members are completely scared and hiding. We don’t know how great Barn Owl is, but he’s easily taking out quite skilled people yo.”

“So you came looking for me? Thinking I might know something about Barn Owl?”

“Yes. They’re still colleagues and friends I’ve known for a long time. I wanted to help since they’re scared, not knowing when they might die yo.”

It was a rather emotional and gentle statement for someone who made a living killing people.

Arasila rubbed her forehead, lost in thought.

Given the circumstances, it seemed the guild the man mentioned had killed Oscar after receiving money from Barn Owl.

Then, what Arasila truly needed to catch was not the guild, but that anonymous client.

“Where are those people now? Are they scattered?”

“No, saying united we stand, divided we fall… They’re all gathered together to prepare for any possible attacks yo.”

“That seems more dangerous.”

If they’re all gathered in one place, wouldn’t it be easier to deal with them in one go?

Seized by an inexplicable ominous feeling, Arasila released the binding spell and yanked the man to his feet.

The man, who stood up suddenly as if being pulled like a radish, looked at her with a dumbfounded expression.

“Guide me.”

“Ye, yes yo? Where……”

“Where else, take me to where the guild members are gathered. Me, now, immediately.”

Arasila’s deep blue eyes glowed brightly under her dark hood. The man stepped back hesitantly with a flustered face.

He protested timidly, stammering:

“How, um, sister? How can I trust you and take you there? How do I know you’re not someone sent by Barn Owl to kill us… yo?”

“On the contrary, I’m someone who came to catch that Barn Owl, so stop talking nonsense and guide me.”

“But… yo. I don’t know what to believe about a person I just met today to sell out my friends… yo.”

“Ah, really.”

Unable to bear the frustration, Arasila swiftly took off her robe hood.

Lavender-tinged light purple hair, a small white face, sapphire-like blue eyes.

She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. So much so that he completely forgot about the extremely wicked things she had done to him just moments ago.

The man, who had been staring at Arasila in a daze, soon raised his index finger with a shocked expression. He recalled seeing her in the newspaper.

“Th, th, the future head of the magic tower?!”

“The future head of the magic tower speaks informally.”

“Madam Future Head of the Magic Tower!”

“Yes, this should be trustworthy enough, right? So guide me quickly.”

The man, who knew well that Arasila was a noble young lady from a prestigious family and destined to become the future head of the magic tower, nodded vigorously.

His former colleagues would probably prefer being arrested en masse by the future head of the magic tower rather than being massacred.

The two people, their faces hidden again by robes and masks, moved swiftly. Trying hard to shake off the eerie feeling creeping in.

The guild members were said to have built a cabin deep in the forest on the outskirts of the capital and gathered there.

As they climbed the mountain diligently, the man and Arasila also introduced themselves.

The name of the man, who seemed careless for an assassin, was Riley. It was a pretty name that didn’t match his fierce appearance.

The two people moved their legs busily without resting for a moment, and finally arrived at the middle of the mountain where the cabin was built.

“Huff, huff, is it here?”

Arasila, who had never climbed so intensely in her life, asked while breathing heavily.

Riley, bent over with his hands on his knees, answered painfully beside her.

“Huff, huff, ye, yes, huff, it is yo.”

“……Why is your stamina so poor for an assassin.”

He seemed to be having an even harder time than Arasila, who had weak physical strength due to being a magician with little need for physical exertion.

Riley, who even made an obscene dry heaving sound, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and said,

“I’m originally the type to settle things in one go without needing stamina, sister yo.”

“Ah, I see.”

Arasila, who had caught her breath, turned her gaze from the still panting Riley to look at the cabin.

The cabin with its lights off was quiet. It was hard to believe that at least ten guild members were gathered there.

‘Are they all asleep? Or……’

Arasila squinted her eyes as she examined the surroundings of the cabin.

Somehow, she had an ominous feeling. She strode forward and flung the door open.

“Oh, sister! You should knock… Huh, it opened?”

Riley, who had hurriedly tried to stop Arasila, made a puzzled face. He knew his former colleagues were thorough with securing the door.

Arasila boldly stepped into the dark house.

Riley also hurriedly followed. She used magic to brightly illuminate the interior.

They closed their eyes momentarily at the dazzling light, and when they opened them―.

“……Hup!”

A shocking scene unfolded before their eyes. The corpses of people who had died bleeding were strewn about like garbage.

Riley froze, covering his mouth at the sight of his former colleagues brutally murdered.

Even Arasila, who wasn’t accustomed to such scenes, felt nauseous and lightly tapped around her chest.

She painfully rolled her eyes to survey the inside.

As a result of the fierce battle, all the tables and chairs were broken, and the side windows were all shattered.

‘Ha…… Was I too late?’

As Arasila rubbed her forehead and let out a small groan,

Riley, who seemed too shocked to do anything, suddenly raised his hand and pointed to the kitchen.

“The back door over there is open, sister. Judging by the blood trail leading that way… someone must have escaped yo!”

“What?”

A glimmer of hope crossed both Arasila and Riley’s faces. They quickly ran to the back door.

Arasila immediately cast a tracking spell and detected the presence of those engaged in a chase in the middle of the night mountain.

Fortunately, it seemed not much time had passed since the game of tag began, as they weren’t too far away.

“This way!”

“Yes yo!”

The two ran like mad, pushing through the undergrowth. Even when their breath caught in their throats, they overcame it with willpower and kept running until…

Far away, they could faintly see the rear end of the pursuer. Arasila didn’t hesitate to launch a magic projectile.

Thwack!

“Argh!”

Unexpectedly attacked from behind, the pursuer fell forward.

He had three more companions with him.

Momentarily startled by their suddenly fallen comrade, the three quickly hid behind trees. It was a wise choice, or they would have been hit by the same magic projectile.

As the pursuers stepped aside, the limping figure struggling forward appeared.

It was the sole survivor who had escaped alive among the attacked guild members.

“Riley, you take care of your friend. I’ll handle the others.”

“Yes, understood!”

Riley approached the survivor almost as if flying.

The pursuers, due to Arasila’s presence, couldn’t easily touch him and held their breath.

Magicians capable of both attack and defense simultaneously were extremely troublesome opponents.

“Come out while I’m asking nicely. If I have to drag you out, you might not be able to walk on two feet.”

Arasila, who had approached near the fallen pursuer, issued a threat.

She had already located their positions with her tracking magic. Even if all three rushed at once, they wouldn’t be able to break Arasila’s barrier.

Moreover, as her robe hood had come off while running, there was no one who didn’t recognize her as none other than Arasila Vandermir.

The pursuers, exchanging glances with each other, slowly emerged from behind the trees. Not to surrender docilely as she had said.

Bang!

“Ah……!”

As a smoke bomb thrown by one of the pursuers exploded, a hazy smoke obscured the view.

Arasila reflexively raised her arm to cover her face.

Soon, there was nothing left where the smoke had cleared. Skillfully, they seemed to have fled while carrying their fallen comrade.

Arasila, who had tracked the presence of those fleeing quickly in three directions, was about to chase after them immediately but hesitated.

“Bredy, you bastard! I’m here! Wake up, will you! Bredy!”

It was because Riley was bawling while shaking his friend who had collapsed on the ground.

It seemed she should help them first.