By dusk, Rhode stood by the wall of his family’s large courtyard and glanced back at the empty space behind him.

Sure enough, he still planned to go see what kind of people these “assassins” Waymen talked about really were.

He climbed the wall with practiced ease, then jumped out of the estate.

By the time he reached the street he’d agreed on with Waymen earlier, night had already fallen.

Actually, the people at home probably knew he’d snuck out again. They just didn’t bother stopping him.

Rhode had climbed out and run off too many times already. No matter what they did, they couldn’t keep him in line.

So over time, the family had more or less tacitly allowed Rhode to leave by climbing the wall. As long as he didn’t go so far as to stroll out right in front of the guards, no one would drag him back.

Rhode stood where the snack stalls had been that morning, and without realizing it, a lost look appeared on his face.

What exactly was he chasing? Was it really about these “assassins”? Or was he simply being driven by curiosity?

Rhode didn’t understand. He didn’t even understand himself.

It was like someone asking himself, “Wanna come?” and then, for some reason at all, answering, “Yeah.”

“So you really came.” Waymen was dressed in utterly ordinary clothes, so ordinary you could probably find several people on the street wearing the exact same thing.

It was nothing like the image Rhode had imagined, with a huge black robe and a face mask.

“What exactly are we going to do?” Rhode asked.

There were still people walking back and forth nearby, though the number of pedestrians at night was incredibly sparse.

Most people were staying inside brightly lit houses instead.

At a time like this, Clinton’s tavern was an especially lively place. People from all trades and all races could be found there.

Running into a stunning girl or a handsome boy in a tavern was entirely possible.

In the tales of bards, taverns were even the starting point of many legends—though if you thought about it calmly, most of those stories were pretty unreliable.

“I’m giving you a chance to take part in my mission,” Waymen said darkly. “Even if you mess things up, I don’t care.”

For an assassin, letting a third party interfere in a mission was extremely dangerous.

Never mind whether the mission could be completed. The assassin’s own life might be at risk too.

Waymen wasn’t some rookie, so of course he knew all that.

But he still intended to let Rhode understand what kind of people assassins really were, so the boy wouldn’t keep romanticizing them.

Though if Rhode still admired assassins after this... well, then he’d recommend the little guy become one.

Because if someone could see dark things and still long for them, that meant there was something pretty dark in his heart too. At the very least, he was twisted in some way.

“You don’t care even if I mess things up?” Rhode was stunned. “Aren’t you going to... you know? You’re not worried I’ll ruin it?”

As he spoke, Rhode drew a finger across his own neck.

“From the moment I decided to bring you, I was already prepared for the mission to fail.”

“But that’s fine. The biggest advantage of neutral assassins is freedom.” If they succeeded, they got paid. If they failed, they lost their lives.

Neutral assassins had no master, so they didn’t have to face the tragedy of returning after failure only to be executed by their employer.

An assassin who could complete a commission was a good assassin. One who couldn’t was a rookie assassin.

To be honest, there weren’t many people in this line of work, so Waymen wasn’t worried about the awkward situation of running into someone else with the same target.

“Have you prepared yourself for your values to take a hit? You’re about to see blood.”

“If you’re not ready, turn back now.”

“...” Rhode stood stubbornly behind him.

“Then just follow me.”

“You only need to bring your eyes and your brain. Watch carefully, and think carefully about everything that happens next.” Waymen scooped Rhode up in one arm like he was carrying a sack of rice.

“I can walk by myself.”

Waymen glanced at Rhode and said in a flat tone, “You? You won’t keep up with my speed.”

The next moment, Waymen vanished from where he stood, taking Rhode with him.

A few passersby rubbed their eyes, wondering if they’d imagined it. The two figures that had been nearby just seconds ago had suddenly disappeared.

But they hadn’t disappeared.

They were moving across the rooftops.

Using the blind spots created by the eaves, Waymen erased himself from the public’s sight.

Even while carrying a child, his steps were still light, making not the slightest sound.

At the same time, Rhode realized in shock that Waymen had changed clothes at some point. “When did you change?”

“Basic assassin stuff. Don’t make such a fuss.” Dressed in black now, Waymen brushed it off lightly.

“...” Rhode’s eyes were still wide. Instant outfit-changing was basic assassin stuff?

“There’s a lot more basic stuff than that,” Waymen replied perfunctorily.

“Then...” Rhode wanted to ask something else, but before he could finish, Waymen suddenly stopped, and the rest of his words were forced back down.

“We’re here,” Waymen said to Rhode. At that moment, he was holding Rhode while standing on the wall of a courtyard.

Different people moved in and out of the courtyard, but none of them seemed to notice Waymen standing on the wall.

Using the height of the wall and the tower at the edge of the courtyard, Waymen concealed himself with ease.

This was the target’s location.

“Are we really okay talking this loudly?” Rhode whispered.

“Relax. I know magic. Our voices won’t carry out,” Waymen said irritably. Thanks to his spell, their voices wouldn’t travel beyond three meters.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be speaking this calmly at this volume.