Volume 3 Chapter 7 Holy Church - Don't Do It. The Premise Is Broken
The capital city of the great Kingdom of Alexandria. It is a bustling city that attracts many people from both inside and outside the country, making it one of the most important cities on the continent. But where there is strong light, there is always darkness...
On the outskirts of the capital, there is a slum. Deep within it lies something hidden.
...The Dark Guild.
This is an illegal organization where people come to request shady jobs that they can't talk about openly.
It looks like just a simple shack, but this is the entrance to the Dark Guild. When you tell the receptionist, who pretends to be a local resident, the secret password, you are led to a staircase that goes underground. At the end of that staircase is where the Dark Guild operates, taking care of the capital's dark dealings.
Even the kingdom's dark side knows about its existence, but they still can't grasp its full extent. The reasons are that the guild regularly moves its hideouts and the members are very tight-lipped. They never betray each other. No matter how much torture they endure, they will never sell out their friends.
This is not just a sense of camaraderie; it is due to the ironclad rules they have set.
For traitors, the punishment is heavier than death.
A group of criminals united by iron rules──that is the Dark Guild. They hide their violent nature and quietly sharpen their fangs deep in the dark slums, even during the day.
The iron rules and the rogues gathered under them... The Dark Guild is always wrapped in a unique tension, but today, the atmosphere is even more charged than usual.
The reason, of course, is that a member who went out on a job the other day has not returned...
"What on earth is going on?"
...They are being questioned by the client who came to check on the progress. In front of men dressed in all black, a man with his face hidden by a hood speaks with a tone of disbelief. Although his appearance is obscured by a deep hood and robe, the voice is unmistakably Chris's.
Chris, who is smirking mockingly from under his hood, is met with a snort from a bearded man who seems to be the leader.
"What's the big deal? If they haven't come back, it means they're dead."
The leader shows no sign of guilt, which makes Chris narrow his eyes.
"I was expecting something more from the Dark Guild, but is this all there is?"
With a hint of killing intent in Chris's words, several men in black shift their stances, ready to draw their weapons──"Just forget it"──but the leader stops them.
"What's the big deal? You're up against [Cedric, the Prince of the Silver Peaks] and [Miranda, the Blade Maiden of the Azure Moon]. There's no way you can get satisfactory results for that amount of money."
Sitting back in his chair, the leader looks smug, and Chris clicks his tongue in frustration. They had sent out members to scout the Dark Guild, either to find a reason to start a rebellion or to make trouble for the Marquis family... but the result was total annihilation.
Of course, it was Randy who caused the annihilation, but since there are no witnesses, it naturally falls on the two already famous figures.
"Here, this is your penalty."
The leader tosses half of the advance payment that Chris had received. Given the nature of the Dark Guild's work, the possibility of failure is always high. Returning half can be considered generous.
"If you pay more, we can send our elite with you, you know?"
The leader, with a mocking smile, sees that Chris is still young. In other words, he is saying to go cry to his parents or just go home.
"Even if you send your elite... what do you think the success rate of the job will be? Since you're talking big, I expect to hear something good."
As Chris's eyes darken, the leader finally makes his face serious.
"...At best, 50-50. More likely, 4 out of 6 will fail."
Leaning closer to Chris, the leader looks straight into his eyes and says, "Think of them as that kind of opponent." The job is not an assassination or a sudden attack. Even for a relatively low-contact mission like gathering information and finding weaknesses, the chances of failure are high.
In other words, that's the level of the opponent.
Chris stares at the leader for a moment...
"Hmm. Surprising. You actually tell the truth."
...He sighs, looking unimpressed. He was planning to witness their deaths if they pushed him, but now he feels like the rug has been pulled out from under him just before that moment.
"Of course. I don't want to send my subordinates to their deaths for a reckless job."
The leader snorts, and Chris pouts, saying,
"This is boring. But well, for example, what if I told you to sneak into the academy?"
The leader raised an eyebrow at Chris, who was speaking from behind him. "The academy?"
"The Royal Academy? That's impossible, but I really wish we could avoid that. There are some dark side there. It's not a big problem, but there are knights too. I'd rather not get involved with them."
The leader sighed heavily, and voices of agreement rose from those around him. They had been targeted by the dark side multiple times, so they definitely wanted to avoid getting caught.
"...Even if it's the academy, if it's a place where the dark side can't see, it should be fine, right?"
"If there is such a place."
The leader shrugged, and Chris said, "Well, I'll contact you again," before leaving the underground. He hurried up the stairs and opened the door of the makeshift hut a little to check his surroundings.
After confirming that there was no one around, Chris quietly stepped out of the hut and quickened his pace.
"Oh no, it's already this late."
Walking under the dark night sky, Chris muttered to himself.
"If I'm going to die anyway, I should have gone with them..."
Chris pouted, but then changed his expression to a big smile as he looked up at the moon in the night sky.
"Well, I guess it's good that I got some information, at least."
In reality, Chris didn't get any information at all. But he knew that the assassins he sent were wiped out on the same day.
This showed that Cedric and the others were very sensitive about the assassins... In reality, it was just Randy who went a bit overboard, but Chris, not knowing that, concluded that Cedric and the others were overly cautious.
Wiping out the assassins. Was there information they didn't want to be known, or was it something else...?
"If they come to the capital and get watched, they should suspect the 'dark side' first..."
...Did they clear the suspicion of the dark side, or did they have 'confidence' that there were no dark side?
Chris couldn't make that judgment, but one thing he knew was that the Marquis family was on high alert. ...By the way, it was all Randy's fault.
"I wonder what would happen if something happened to their precious daughter... especially at the academy."
With a sly smile, Chris was thinking about luring Elizabeth and the others to a certain place in the academy and having the dark guild members attack them.
If something were to happen to the daughter in a part of the Royal Academy where the dark side and knights were gathered, the Marquis, who was on high alert, would definitely not hold back. This was a shallow plan, of course, and Chris knew that.
But he thought it might be fun if it worked out. Even if it didn't, he would probably witness someone dying.
Maybe it would be Elizabeth or her master. Chris believed that Randy wouldn't be able to handle the dark guild members.
"If I'm going to call them out, it should be the old school building. No one goes near that place... I need to think of a way to do it."
With a grin, Chris quickened his pace. This was going to be fun, he thought, as he looked around while leaving the slum street.
After passing through the streets, Chris, pulling his hood down deeper, arrived at the cathedral. He entered through the main gate, which was barely still open, and walked through the chapel, heading straight for the back door that only authorized people could enter.
He was almost stopped by a man waiting in front of the door, but he nervously took off his hood and smiled, saying, "E-excuse me. I'm Chris Row."
Chris was allowed to pass through without any issues and headed to a room located in the middle of the hallway.
When he opened the door and entered, he was greeted by...
"Sir Chris... welcome back."
"Hey, I'm back. Annabelle."
...a woman named Annabelle, who was Chris's fiancée. Annabelle was a student at the academy and the daughter of the high priest.
"S-Sir Chris, weren't you supposed to spend the afternoon with me──."
"Sorry, sorry. I had an urgent matter."
Even though he almost stood her up for their date, Chris showed no signs of guilt as he reached out to Annabelle and said, "Shall we go home?"
Normally shy, Chris showed his true self only to her. It wasn't about trust...
"But, but──."
"Be quiet. If you keep making a fuss, I might just spill the beans about your dad misusing important donations for the poor, you know?"
...It's simply because he has complete confidence that he's definitely the best.
"But, according to the goddess's teachings..."
"I wonder what would happen if the Pope found out..."
"......"
"That's right. If Annabelle behaves herself, I'll keep quiet."
Chris nodded with satisfaction at Annabelle, who had completely fallen silent.
"Okay, I'm leaving now. Make sure you keep your story straight."
Chris took Annabelle's hand and left the room.
"Alright. This is going to be fun!"
Chris walked away with a smile, but unfortunately, he had no idea that the basic assumption behind his shallow thinking was falling apart.
However, maybe one should feel a little sorry for Chris about this one thing.
No one knows yet that the guy who just seems to be daydreaming at school is actually a dangerous musclehead leading the final boss.
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