Volume 3 Chapter 38 Chris - Opportunity Arrives
After being attacked by Harrison and getting hurt, Chris didn't go back to school even after a week of suspension. The reason was simple: his injuries hadn't healed yet. He told his worried foster parents he was taking time off to "get his mind right," but really, he was just resting to heal.
He hadn't told anyone about his injuries.
If he talked about it, he would have to explain everything that happened, so Chris was using his very basic holy magic to heal himself little by little every day.
Of course, if he asked the Pope for help, he could have gotten a skilled priest to look at his injuries──though the Pope himself wasn't very good at holy magic.
But that would mean he owed the Pope a favor, and Chris really wanted to avoid that.
And now, it was already the evening of the third day after his suspension ended...
Finally, his injuries were almost healed, and Chris could move like before. He decided to head to the church to check out what was going on.
From the Pope's attitude and the rumors among the believers, he could figure out a lot of information.
The rise of beauty products.
The simple but effective use of carriages.
Even commoners could see that the Marquis family was doing better than before, especially with their recent focus on new areas of business.
The Marquis family was gaining power.
The royal family was completely falling behind.
For Chris, this was the best situation. The royal family probably didn't like the Marquis family getting stronger, and the Marquis family knew that too. Still, bringing Elizabeth back to school showed that the Marquis family couldn't clearly tell who their friends and enemies were, Chris thought.
The way Elizabeth was exiled was so forceful that even the noble society whispered it was "too much." Chris had actively spread false testimonies, but things moved quickly regardless.
The exile happened because of many hidden motives, but because of that, the Marquis family didn't fully understand the situation. So, they purposely put their daughter in a very public place, making it harder for the royal side to act.
A place where the kingdom's knights and dark forces were protected, and where many eyes were always watching.
On top of that, the Marquis had assigned Elizabeth a skilled bodyguard disguised as a maid──at least, that's how Chris saw it.
It seemed like they were throwing her into danger, but really, it was a way to limit the enemy's movements. Even though she was a noble girl from a complicated family, the kingdom had a duty to ensure her safety since she was attending school like the other students.
What would happen if Elizabeth died at school?
Rumors would spread, and the Marquis and the royal family would be in a situation that couldn't be fixed.
It was the perfect atmosphere for an assassination, but the method and location for that assassination were still not decided.
As Chris wandered around the church, hoping to come up with a good plan, he spotted a familiar girl.
"Hey? Annabelle. Long time no see."
"I-I haven't seen you in a while."
Seeing Annabelle shrink back, Chris smiled and said, "Don't be so cold."
"By the way, I heard you're close with Miss Elizabeth and the others?"
As Chris leaned in, Annabelle hesitantly nodded, "Y-yes..." Chris had asked that question without thinking much, hoping to find a clue. So, Annabelle's response made him want to ask more.
"Really? The Occult Research Club, right? What are they up to?"
Chris wasn't interested in the Occult Research Club, but he was curious about Elizabeth. Annabelle nodded silently.
"W-We're trying to solve the Seven Wonders together."
Annabelle squeezed her hands in front of her skirt, and Chris turned away, genuinely uninterested, but then suddenly turned back.
"Wait, the Seven Wonders? I think one of them is about the old school building, right?"
Seeing Chris suddenly interested in the Seven Wonders, Annabelle eagerly started to speak, "Y-yes. We just solved the fifth one the other day..." but she couldn't share all the details, so her voice trailed off.
"Okay. So the only ones left are the 6th and 7th?"
"N-No... the 6th one too, so now it's just the 7th left."
"What's it about?"
Chris was really interested this time, but Annabelle knew that Chris's whims weren't new. She handed Chris the notebook she always carried.
"[Tower of the New Moon]... the old school building at night during the new moon?"
Chris covered his mouth with his hand to hide a smile.
"Are you really going to try something so dangerous?"
"Um, well... actually, I haven't gotten permission from my father yet."
Annabelle looked down again, but suddenly raised her head and said,
"But, but──Senior Randolph and the others are going instead!"
Even the Archbishop Ridley wouldn't agree to activities at the school in the middle of the night. Instead, Randy and 3 others were going to take pictures of various things with a camera.
"Oh, I see. But isn't it dangerous for just students?"
Chris pretended to be worried, but he was really just trying to find out if they had any protection. Especially since he still thought about the maid, Rita, who had hurt him badly, he needed to think about how to prepare for an attack.
"It's, it's not dangerous at all! Senior Randolph and Sir Luke are really strong, and just the other day, with the fifth wonders──."
Annabelle started to say more, but then remembered their promise to keep quiet about the Void Walker. So she quietly mentioned that they had all defeated a Specter together.
"A Specter? Wow. Stronger than I thought, but is that all?"
Chris thought that Randy and Luke had taken down the Specter together, so he was considering adjusting their plan a bit. He believed they could handle a Specter, but he thought Randy was a bit weaker.
Still, in Chris's mind, it was "just that." And he had received even more useful information.
"If you're going to the Tower of the New Moon, it has to be on the new moon... isn't the next new moon tomorrow?"
"Y-yeah. So I'm in a bit of a hurry... I need to prepare the materials to give everyone..."
Feeling a bit sorry, Annabelle said, "Sorry for holding you up," and Chris, not usually this honest, raised his hand. He wasn't worried about Annabelle; he just wanted to hurry to the dark guild himself.
"Okay, then I'll hurry."
As Annabelle quickly left, Chris waved with a big smile and said, "I'm looking forward to your report!"
* * *
After parting with Annabelle, Chris, wearing his usual black robe, stepped into the dark guild for the first time in a while.
"Long time no see. I thought you weren't coming back."
"I had some issues."
Chris shrugged, but the leader of the dark guild didn't ask anything more. What mattered were the target and the reward.
"It's urgent, but tomorrow night... the target might be free."
"That's a really sudden request."
The leader frowned, but sudden assassination requests were common. Compared to that, having time for investigation was better. They had enough time to send someone to Victor Territory to gather more information.
Still, there wasn't much new information, even with all the adventurers around.
It made sense. Recently, Randy hadn't been seen in town, so the new adventurers wouldn't know him. They were saying things like, "We've been told not to mess with the lord's young master," which made it seem odd for adventurers to go after a noble's heir.
In the end, without any new information, they decided to sneak into the old school building tomorrow night.
"Since it's a new moon, the old school building at night will be so dark that even the teachers won't be checking."
Chris laughed happily, thinking, "I can't believe such a chance has come." He had been thinking about how to lure someone to the old school building, but he never expected Annabelle to help him.
Maybe it was because of his usual behavior, Chris thought, looking straight at the leader through his hood.
"There are 4 of them. They'll probably be wearing black robes like me."
"What's that? Is it some kind of curse?"
The leader frowned, and Chris shrugged, saying, "Something like that."
"Anyway, you must come to the old school building tomorrow at midnight... but──."
Chris was laughing casually, but then he suddenly got serious and looked at the leader.
"There's one thing you need to be careful about. You should keep an eye on the maid who lives and works at the target's house."
Even though Chris's face was hidden by a robe, his serious tone made the leader raise an eyebrow and ask, "Maid?"
"Yeah. Actually, she's not just a regular maid──."
Chris started talking about a bodyguard pretending to be a maid. He mentioned how Marquis forced the maid story into the plan and how Elizabeth survived in Beast Forest.
Normally, this would sound like a silly story, but the dark guild had actually lost a few people without a trace, just like that. These facts created a strange connection between the two of them...
"Got it. We'll keep an eye on that maid too."
...And that's how the idea of Rita being the strongest started to spread.
"This is your advance payment."
Chris handed over the biggest bag he had ever given.
"You're really putting in a lot of effort, huh?"
"Well, there's an unusual maid involved."
Chris shrugged and quietly said, "This time for sure," as the leader silently accepted the bag.
"Alright, see you on the day."
After Chris left, the dark guild quickly started planning for the next day.
* * *
Late at night the next day...
On the rooftop of the school building where the old schoolhouse was visible, Chris was waiting with the dark guild members for the target to arrive.
Even though it was a new moon outside, the lights from the dorms and street lamps made the area a bit bright. With this much light, Chris and the dark guild members could see their surroundings well enough.
"They're here... I sense 4 of them. Must be the target."
According to the leader, the presence was still at the front gate, but at this hour, it could only be the target. He ordered the gathered assassins, "Alright, get into position."
The dark guild assassins disappeared into the old schoolhouse for a while...
"They're coming──."
Chris spotted 4 figures sneaking closer to the old schoolhouse.
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