“It’s been a while.”
“Oh boy, look at this.”
As Sien revealed himself, a man wearing a jester mask with a wide, torn grin playfully shrugged his shoulders.
“What brings the person who said our time together was disgusting back to this place?”
“Who said I never wanted to see you again?”
“Oh, did you not?”
“To be precise, I said our time together was disgusting, and that I’d see you again.”
At Sien’s words, the Faceless One removed the mask covering their face as if the deep male voice coming from beneath it until a moment ago was a lie. A cold, dignified woman’s face was revealed.
“— Monica Thirteen, the thirteenth Thief Master of the Veneto Thieves’ Guild, greets the esteemed Nightwalker.”
“Are you happy to see me again?”
“I’m so happy I could cry,” Thief Master Monica replied, sounding as if she were talking about someone else’s business. “So, what are you here to steal like a thief today?”
“You certainly don’t hold back, even in front of a guest.”
“A guest?”
“Yes, I have some work I’d like to commission,” Sien answered Monica’s suspicious gaze. “Swift and accurate, with absolute secrecy. That was the catchphrase of your Veneto Guild, wasn’t it?”
“Ah, well, it is as you say.”
Suddenly, the playful male voice of the jester mask echoed once more.
“There’s a rumor I want you to spread in this city.”
“What kind of rumor?”
“A rumor that I’ve fallen for Lady Marin, the daughter of the Serpent Family, and that we’re having a secret affair. And…”
At Sien’s words, a rare sense of bewilderment and agitation flickered in the Faceless One’s eyes.
“I did hear that you proposed to her. To the lady of the Serpent Family, whose marriage to the Charlemagne royalty was already finalized, no less.”
“Yes, you seem well-informed.”
“It would be harder to find someone in this city who doesn’t know.”
There was no way the world-renowned Thief Master wouldn’t know about something that had the entire Republic in an uproar.
“Anyway, don’t tell me you’ve actually fallen for the daughter of the Serpent Family?”
“As if,” Sien said, his voice sounding offended. “However, there is a need for it to look that way.”
“Aha.”
The Faceless One soon understood Sien’s intention.
“You’re trying to establish a minimum amount of justification and appearance with a tragic love story.”
“That’s just your imagination.”
“Well, that much isn’t too difficult. By the way…” The Faceless One continued with a sly smile. “To think the ‘Nightwalker,’ who values truth more than anyone else, would want to spread such a false rumor.”
“Who said it was a rumor?”
Sien spoke up, unfazed by the man’s sarcasm.
“You can come in now, Marin.”
An informal, casual address. The smirk on the Faceless One’s face vanished instantly, even though the face behind the mask could not be seen.
“Um, Sien.”
Following Sien, a lady dressed in an unmistakable ‘secret meeting outfit,’ hiding her identity with a robe but clearly a daughter of a noble family, revealed herself.
In the mansion of the most secretive person in this city.
“………. I’m doomed.”
Seeing that, the Faceless One, who had been maintaining their composure, muttered softly. They likely never imagined they would become so deeply entangled with the ‘eyes of the storm’ who had turned this country and the Charlemagne Kingdom upside down.
“Heh, I didn’t see anything.”
The Faceless One continued, feigning ignorance.
“Not Don Sien of the Nightwalker Family who is here, nor Donna Marin of the Serpent Family, and certainly not the secret meeting between the two.”
“Right, I get it, so could you leave the room?” Sien said. “Because I’m planning to turn that ‘first rumor’ into a fact starting now.”
“I missed you, Sien.”
Lady Marin also lifted her hood and smiled shyly. She sat down right next to Sien on the sofa, almost clinging to him.
“Hmph, I never thought I’d experience being kicked out of my own house.”
“Who told you to leave the mansion? I told you to leave the room.”
As he spoke, Sien pulled something from his robe and held it out. It didn’t take long to realize it was an official bill signed by Shylock di Medici, the president of the Republic’s National Bank.
“For your information, this is the down payment for taking the job.”
“Hmph, don’t you worry. Even I’m not so tactless as to interfere with the love between you two.”
As soon as the bill was accepted, the Faceless One smiled as if the previous bewilderment had been a lie.
“Besides, such a beautiful and secretive love story… my mouth would itch if I didn’t go to a bamboo grove and chirp about it like a sparrow.”
The voice came from behind the jester mask with its torn mouth.
“I’m glad we understand each other. Go ahead and talk as much as you want.”
“Then this tactless, humble fence will take his leave now. Please, take your time talking.”
The Thief Master withdrew with an exaggerated bow, leaving Sien and Marin alone in the room.
“There’s no sign of anyone watching.”
“… Is that person someone we can trust?”
“Yes,” Sien replied to Marin’s suspicious question. “The Veneto Thieves’ Guild is effectively under the influence of my family.”
“It would be faster to look for something in this country that isn’t under the influence of the Nightwalker Family,” Marin shrugged as if she were exhausted by the thought. “Anyway, what exactly are you planning?”
“About what?”
“Spreading this kind of false information will only add fuel to the fire. There’s no way my family members will believe it, and even if they did — “
“What do you mean ‘believe it or not’? It’s all true.”
“…. What?”
“I simply asked them to spread the truth. Including our ‘secret meeting’ tonight,” Sien said, calmly sipping the tea on the table. “In about two days, everyone in the city will know what happened between us that day.”
“That, what happened between us that day — what do you mean?”
Sien spoke in response to Marin’s question.
“You said you’d rather die together than not be able to marry me.”
“?”
Ignoring Marin, whose face was turning bright red in bewilderment, Sien continued.
“Did I make anything up?”
“W-Wait! What exactly is the content of the rumor you told that person to spread?!”
“Hmm, let me see… You said it would be better to die than to marry a prince as greasy and disgusting as butter from the Charlemagne Kingdom.” Sien spoke calmly while sipping his tea. “After that, the two of us secretly headed to the night sea, and we looked up at the sky together there. What was it you said? Did you say you liked the night sky seen from there?”
“?”
‘I like the night sky seen from here.’
‘On the surface, no matter how many stars pour down, the world doesn’t shine.’
“And you said if you couldn’t marry me, you’d rather be swallowed by a familiar just like this.”
“You, you told him all of that…?!”
Marin, whose face had turned as red as a carrot, asked back in horror.
“Well, I left out the part about you being naked, so you should be grateful,” Sien replied calmly.
At the same time, that story was by no means a fiction.
“So, I also swore on the name of the Star and Dagger. That I would take you as my bride.”
“!”
“Therefore, I am going to confess that this story people are talking about is entirely true, once again under the family crest.”
The symbol of absolute trust held by the Nightwalker Family.
There was no way the people of this continent wouldn’t know the meaning behind the name of the Star and Dagger.
And just as Sien said, it was the ‘fact’ exactly as it was, without a single exaggeration or even a slight change in wording.
“Because a fact doesn’t necessarily mean the truth.”
Inside her bright red face, Marin finally caught her breath. She realized the weight behind Sien’s words.
“I’m not particularly trying to persuade the people of your family.”
A good story, especially a tragic love story, becomes a justification more powerful than any plausible logic in itself.
At the same time, this world is built on justification.
“We just need the persuasive power to support our claim.”
“Was this all… your idea?”
“Yes,” Sien replied. After a long silence, Marin spoke up, her ears turning red. Her voice was somewhat smaller than usual.
“Thank you.”
“There’s no need for that,” Sien replied in a deliberately cold voice. “It was that kind of deal from the beginning.”
For the sake of his family and kin, Sien Nightwalker could do anything. He was far from a good person who would respond to the plea of a mermaid who didn’t want to become human without any compensation.
“Right, yes. It was that kind of deal.”
“Why?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
Marin’s voice trailed off timidly. Sien muttered in bewilderment.
“You’re a completely different person from when I saw you on the water.”
“I can’t help it!” Marin replied, her ears turning bright red again. “W-We are powerless outside of the water…”
***
That dawn. A certain secret room within the Governor’s Palace.
However, in that place, which had once been called the room of the ten-man committee, only two rulers were talking, unlike usual.
“Did you know it would turn out like this from the beginning?”
“How could I, esteemed Grand Duke?”
A cold voice, the likes of which had never been heard before. In the face of that voice, even the man who supported one corner of this country could only catch his breath quietly.
Just like the mermaid who had previously set foot on land, the man outside the water was powerless.
No, even if it were on the water, he probably wouldn’t be able to guarantee a victory against that monster.
“I only hope the Admiral’s words are true.”
In front of Admiral Rafaello, the true ruler of this country, the Mother of Assassins, spoke in a cold voice.
She was skilled at reading the human heart. She didn’t stop at just knowing whether someone was lying or not. Admiral Rafaello also knew that fact better than anyone.
That in front of her, Laila Nightwalker, one could only speak the truth.
“When I heard the stubbornness my sister showed to the Nightwalker Family, I honestly just felt relieved.”
“And why is that?”
“Honestly, I wasn’t very fond of that marriage either. A puppet head of a family who can’t even decide the whereabouts of his own younger sister as he wishes.” Rafaello replied with a bitter smile. “It seems I was equally powerless, whether on the water or off it.”
“That doesn’t sound like you, Admiral.”
“As you know, the fate of our race isn’t something we can decide with our own hands.”
The words were uncharacteristically dejected.
“Do you think it’s any different for humans?” Laila asked, as if it were amusing. “There is no such thing in this world as a being who can determine their own fate as they wish.”
“Ah, I have heard the esteemed Chairperson’s lecture well.” Rafaello continued sarcastically. “In the future, when I reject a human’s fate, I’ll keep in mind that it’s equally shitty for both this side and that side.”
“And yet, my son is trying to save that child, whom you are watching while sucking your thumb, from a fate she does not want.”
“Wow, that sounds just like a prince in a fairy tale.” Rafaello sneered again. As if this different race before his eyes could never understand them. “You must be very proud to have such a gallant prince, Your Majesty.”
“Regrettably, my son is not a prince, and I am not a queen either.”
“Then what are you?”
Laila replied with a smile.
“Assassins.”
***
A short while later, in the Charlemagne Kingdom.
“Oh, my love!”
The Third Prince, Eric Charlemagne, felt as if he had been struck by lightning out of nowhere.
“What are you doing! Bring me my sword and armor this instant!”
“P-Prince? A sword and armor? What do you mean…”
“I am going to rescue my love, Lady Marin!”
Prince Eric raised his voice, showing off his white teeth shining brilliantly above his gallant square jaw.
“From those wicked villains of the Nightwalker Family!”
Like a hero who had heard the news that his beloved princess had been captured in the Demon King’s castle.