Mareida Angel

Rank: Unknown

【HP】 5 【MP】 0

【Attack】 1 【Defense】 1 【Agility】 2

【Attack Support】 – 【Defense Support】 –

【Thinking pressure】  0%

【Main Skills / Special Ability】None

【Comprehensive evaluation】… 1-G

*This is based off the ability of Fulandol’s Unified White War capability benchmarks*

【Data was taken from the Saint Frideswide Girl’s Academy Admission Information】

“This is… too tragic.”

The young men read out casually, as his line of sight shifted from the parchment. Pitch black darkness, was all he could see in the front entrance hall. Not a trace of light in sight. The young man stood up carefully, making sure not to topple the seemingly expensive chair. He then left with a sigh.

“This is certainly tragic, so far I had not seen such a low status number. Or rather, I wonder if there was the rank [G] in the training school’s capability evaluation.”

“Well, it’s the first time I’ve seen something like that too.”

The person who was walking beside the exasperated young men suddenly took the report. Seeing the single digit ability value, he could only give a dry laugh as he smiled and smoked his tobacco.

This man that from a simple sight could be seen as someone of 40 years, actually was the boss of the youth in the office. But his sloopy armor, free-flowing hair and the messy unkempt beard eliminated any charm he might have. The youth waved his hand to disperse the tobacco smoke.

Despite releasing an adult-like atmosphere resulting from his tall and slender stature, he’s actually between his 17 years old. For the sake of completing various missions, he had to deal with all of atrocities lying in his way, including tobacco, liquors and even dangerous drugs, even though he wasn’t keen dealing with all these adult’s habits.

Even though a large number of bottles can be seen neatly placed on the table in the entrance hall, a few of these bottles had already been broken and scattered across the carpet below. Not to mention one of these whiskey bottles was worth a few months of his salary. The stove wasn’t lit, clearly showing there was nobody staying here.

Leading up to front of the hall, there was a spiral staircase leading to the second floor and a door connecting the two rooms of the dining room and the reception room. The boss waved his walking stick towards the ceiling, to which Kufa silently nodded.

While holding the long knife holstered on his waist with his left hand, he slowly took a step forward.

“Well, first of all was how did the ability get that low a value. Putting the ability aside, it’s just too pitiful. What we need to see is the future growth.”

–But in the end, her Rank (class) is still unknown and her MP (Mana) is actually still zero. What the hell?

Turning around while giving him a sharp stare, he checked the report from the hands of the boss.

“I would like to confirm that this wouldn’t be school admission information for young children right?”

“Of course not. She enrolled in April of this year… but she began to study three months ago in the Frideswide Academy, which focused on the aristocratic ladies, to develop their genuine ability Mana. It’s amazing that since birth and until now, lady Merida has not discovered her Mana. Of course, what kind of potential she has is anyone’s guess.”

“In other words, it’s already been thirteen years&

hellip;”

“This is an incredible thing. Usually the ability to awaken before and after the age of seven should be the norm, since this is the “Mana.”

Mana can empower a variety of abilities, from the physical ability of ordinary peoples, but it was only the selected aristocratic class that was given the gift. -No, just the opposite. It should be said that it is precisely because they hold the Mana that they will be granted the privilege of the nobility, in exchange for them to be accepted in the stand against public criticism against【Foreign Enemies】.

“And when it comes to Angel family, note that one of the three knights of Duke 【Paladin】was you!”

Faint breathing mixed in with his voice echoed down the spiral staircase.

The power of the ability one can get from Mana is classified into eleven kinds of “classes” according to its functionality.

“【Fencer】 with excellent defensive power, 【Gladiator】 with powerful attack power, and 【Samurai】 with agility which can’t be compared from the rest. On top of that, there are 【Gunner】, 【Wizard】, and 【Cleric】, which are of great value in long-range combat. In addition, there’s the swift and tricky【Maiden】 and【Clown】…”

Most of the Mana abilities of those mentioned belonged to one of the order, as the aristocratic title was determined by the contemporary home of the military exploits. -With the exception of three.This special case was the three knights of Duke’s home. They are known as 【Paladin】, 【Dragoon】, 【Diabolos】as they were treated as special beings, whether they were identities or abilities, as compared to other nobles outside the three superior orders.

To say why they had special treatment was because these ranks were very strong and scarce.

After all, dozens of families belonging to the eight lower-level subordinates were different to the higher order of only three families. Dragon Knight rank was inherited of the Sigsar house. A symbol of the Knights of the La Mall house. Then the last one which inherited the blood of the Paladin–Merida, born of the Duke of Angels.

Mana was carried in the blood, and through the blood of successful descendants. So aristocratic children were still born aristocrats. And their potential capacity was considered and the purity of the noble blood of deep links.

This logical relationship was also the reason why the upper class was able to rise to the top. Their bloodline had inviolable superiority over lower level nobility, let alone the civilians, as their children would no doubt have a higher concentration of Mana – … well, this should be the case.

But what if all these knowledge opposes all of the previous mission, meaning…

“So lady Merida… is not the real daughter of Angel’s house…?”

“That’s right, and now it’s been suspected.”

The boss whispered while nodding his head. He also reached the end of the ladder to the second floor.

Clearly, nobody was living here, seeing that all of the gas lamps were closed. The youth was still following the direction of the boss with a cane. By the way, we also received a bunch of reports from the boss.

“In other words, baby-swapping?”

“No, it’s not very realistic at the time of birth to be able to pull that off unnoticed.”

“Then, that means……”

Contrary to the young man, it was difficult to say there was extortion involved, but the boss who was over thirty years old didn’t hesitate to speak about it.

“Very simple. Merida isn’t the real child of Fergus Angel, the head of the house of Angel. There is a possibility that she may be an illegitimate child of her mother, Merinoa Angel, and the target.”

“…”

Seeing the abnormal information on all of the reports, they still went down quietly in the line of sight.

The boss chatted in the usual tone to continue the gossip, while igniting the new tobacco.

“The person responsible for this work was the head of the Mordrew Ludwig Merchants’ Guild, who was a member of the council, Mordrew. As Marinoa Angel father, he was also, to lady Merida, was her grandfather. To him, cutting blood ties with the Paladins was totally unacceptable. The fact that his daughter’s marriage to the Knight’s Duke makes it even more unacceptable, for which he should be proud of. Due to this, the truth must not be uncovered, and all the social ties established by Mrs.Marinoa were forced to be destroyed.

“In other words, the master of this mansion, is also one of the affair “suspects”??”

As the young man looked up, the roof of the mansion still exuded a quiet, natural feeling despite how old it looks. He opened the door in the corridor, which led to a dark room, inside sits billiards table.

– This is not an empty shell to me. The young man frowned in a weird manner and closed the door without making any sound.

When the boss reached for his pocket, he brought out a stack of reports.

“——Gemstone merchant, Giovanni Aylesi. In the past, at the time of Mordrew’s visit to his father, the eleven-year-old Miss Marinoa had a great deal of spare time. To pass time with her, Giovanni the young guy often performed his favorite piano tune, while Miss Marinoa gave him a portrait of her as a gift to express her gratitude. The two seemed to get along well.. or so it seemed. ”

“Only that? It’s a story when she was eleven?”

Kufa couldn’t help but be surprised; even the boss scowled as he continued reading the report.

“The most important thing is that the investigation stalled – her friends in boarding schools, classmates, the young men and women in trade unions, and even their relatives! In short, although there was exchanges with the Marinoa’s family, of all the people that were casually questioned, didn’t reveal any useful information!”

“They have already spent so much effort, so let’s simply ask Marinoa directly…”

The boss interrupted him while shaking his head.

“Unfortunately, she’s already under the grave, as of five years ago.”

“I see…”

“There! This is the part where you play!”

The boss clicked his fingers loudly.

“Your task is to become the talentless Merida Angel’s tutor to help her 【Paladin】 awakening, guide her, and finally educate her to become worthy of the Knight Duke’s house!”

“What if it doesn’t work?”

“Although it was the pressure that Mordrew had repeatedly exerted, she didn’t seem to have improved at all, so it became necessary to hire a professional instructor. ”

“I understand that, but …”

The young man took out the form with the devastating ability value, and sighed with exhaustion.

“… why me? If it’s a task, I would like to continue to conduct interpersonal survey as it is now.”

“No, there is no more suitable person than you.” The boss gestures to himself. “Think about it, this is the face of all our troops, who are strange and weird! It’s impossible to give such a delicate task to them. If you look like a good kid on the outside, then you can’t be the enemy!”

“Okay, I understand. Then I refuse.”

He stormed off before the boss could stuff the report back into his pocket. He turned to the corridor at the end as they open the door, but the pleading voice followed him.

“I~ beg ~ of ~ you ~ ~ this is something the Duke requested you know? Just help Daddy once, okay?”

“You are just lucky that you picked me up by chance. Now that you’re wanting to take advantage of me, you act as if you are the best ‘FATHER’ in the world. You are such a bastard. ”

“Okay, okay, let’s talk about it.”

The boss’ side was mixed with a number of actions and gestures, it seemed to be some sincere accost to Kufa.

“The situation is no longer the stage of your choice, and things are starting to get worse.”

“That means?”

“It’s the criminal organization. Just got to know that Lady Merida’s ‘talentless’ rumors are being spread like wildfire across the country. It’s okay if such rumors are just being the usual gossip topic of those aristocratic women. However, those bad guys are already beginning to uncover the truth behind Mrs. Merinoa. To those in favor of abolishing the class system, the shakening the Duke’s foundation is definitely a delicious bait!”

“It’s really boring.”

They went to the end of the corridor, and pushed on the door at the same time.

Surprised looks mixed in with with the evil grin of criminals gathered on them from the opposite side of the door.

“”…………………………””

It seemed that there were also unexpected intruders for the other side as well, which resulted to seconds of silence due to the embarrassment.

Here was the study. The bookshelves and the chairs seemed to be very comfortable, and neatly arranged on the wall. A man dressed in high-end brand of tuxedo was sitting neatly on an office chair, he was clearly lacking upper body strength.

Around him, were dozens of men dressed in high-necked black clothes. The men were clearly dangerous, and from the atmosphere it’s expected that they are all equipped with weapons. The gas lamp light’s glare reflected on the blade, exuding a brilliant luster.

“…It’s boring?”

Then, the thugs took out their pistols together and pulled the trigger.

As the hair-raising gunshots were fired, Kufa raised the knife on his waist with the distinct sound of friction coming from the sheath.

His wrist moved faster than a bullet as he pulled out the knife, blocking those raindrop-like bullets altogether in a blink of an eye. He was quick, to the point where the gunshots could only be heard after he had finished deflecting all of the bullets.

His muscles made a crunching sound. With a burst of the momentum, he kicked the floor and rushed out.

He sliced through one as he charged into the middle of the group. With outstanding agility, he gracefully slashed through them, flying blood splattered on his cheek, and at this time the enemy’s group finally realized that his speed was at a superhuman level.

“Damn -”

One of the thugs held the youth at gunpoint – at that moment, his counterattack was over. Hands and knees on the floor from three swift blade flashes. First a swift cut aimed at the neck, followed by a slash to the left shoulder and armpits. With the third hit done, the body was separated as the blade was put back into the sheath.

Just when blood began spewing from the slashed parts of the black shirt thug, the youth stomped on the floor. He adjusted his bearing while being slightly disorientated, then began running away with his body onto the ground, almost as if he was fast-crawling. At the same time, a few swift blade flashes danced on the thug’s slashed wounds, effectively dealing the fatal strike.

“There’s still one more!!”

Following the boss’ training, he kicked the wall with all his strength to accelerate towards the next person standing. He dashed through the spaces between the chairs, further increasing his already inhumane speed, and under one supersonic blade strike, the enemy’s head was –

“Zing” A sharp frequency could be heard right after that hit. The enemy, to his surprise, was able to retaliate and take his hit in what deemed as milliseconds. Not satisfied, he pumped further strength into his strike, but was still not able to take it down. With this, the both of them endured each other in this state with incredible force applied to each other. – Damn strong, he thought.

After a longer glance, he saw the last one was dressed differently to the rest, with a worn black jacket over ordinary clothes, and a scarf covering their face, only exposing their deep eyes. Basically the same height and build as Kufa, so they’re probably male.

“This is impossible.. How could you kill all my men in under 5 seconds.. That dark uniform, could it be that you guys were from the cavalry regiment guild?”

“Oh, speaking about this, where are you people from, then? The subtle leather jacket you wearing pains my sight, and I am about to take them off right now!!”

In a blink of an eye, the youth let out a kick with all of his might. Almost as if he kicked with godlike accuracy and strength, repeatedly into the enemy’s jacket-covered abdomen, thighs and then into the left side of the head. Despite his efforts, none of his attack seemed to work, as if he was hitting a rock-hard figure. It was futile.

Then he turned around and used his heel to attack the face – before the moment hit, the other foot was caught.

It was a bandage coming from the sleeves of the black jacket. While the young man fell on the ground, the black jacket man lifted his rusty boots up high, and strongly pressed down – to crush the youth body.

He rolled towards the enemy’s back, picked up his momentum like a ballet dancer in an instant, then swung out a double kick using both of his legs right into the back of the black-jacket enemy’s head.

If it was just like the usual enemies, all these kicks would have been suffice to take them down. But all these didn’t even make the black-jacket man move one bit. This moment he saw something in the opponent’s eye. Fear, he thought. Now he has something to take advantage of. In an instant, he galloped to the enemy’s position, took out his knife and slashed through the left leg’s vein in a quick swift motion, followed by a graceful jump-back, returning to his previous stature.

As they were trading, the boss took out a long barrel gun and stood in the far front, aimed at the black jacket man and pulled the trigger. A thick-big-headed bullet could be seen traversing through the thin air between the individuals. Just when it was about to land the hit, a bandage flew out from the the jacket’s hem, effectively deflecting Boss’s bullet.

The black man jacket slowly waving start, from the cuffs and pendulum in the emergence of numerous bandages under the clouds.

That move was purely based on instinct, and had even surpassed the conventional magic prowess. Furthermore, his blade couldn’t slash through the body underneath, it was as if it had an unbreakable armor beneath. Pretty sure it was due to those bandages, he thought. In an instant, he swiped out his knife and held in one hand, with the other hand holding the blade, forming an attack technique known as ‘Dual Wielding’. The boss took out his barrel and aimed at the enemy simultaneously, letting a mouthful of tobacco smoke while he was doing the move.

“Yo, nii-chan! Are you investigating? Did you find any useful information?”

“Who knows, what about you, master?”

Just as the sounds dropped, the black jacket man came down in an instant from the knee-high table. The youth slashed it into two pieces right after that. It was at this moment that the enemy seized the perfect opportunity to escape. He jumped out through the gap of the opened windows.

The black coat crashed through the glass and gave a harsh crackling sound, which dived into the darkness and escaped. Although the young man immediately rushed to the window, but the shadow of the target has long been gone.

“Can you catch him?

“Not now. ——Well～, that guy is really strong. If I was to speak about his strength in one word it would be the same as you.”

The boss began to completely relax from the shoulders down, the growth of the revolver back to the arms.

The youth still maintained a vigil look, waving a knife on the blade of blood on the floor. And then suddenly noticed something like.

“That’s, Aylesi is…”

The boss silently to the office chair, with his hands grasping the hair of the men in the tuxedo lying there.

Lifted his head rudely, watching his face. Then immediately let go of his hand, very silently shaking his head.

“Already dead”

“… that is to say, is Aylesi the” black “side?

“Who knows, maybe he was tortured to death without knowing anything, or he might have been murdered after he had uttered the secret – so didn’t I say it? The matter was very urgent!”

The boss picked up the rolled up parchment in front of him, readily thrown to the youth. After waving a hand to catch it, he once again looked at the summary of the task written on it.

“Merida Angel …”

Disastrous ability value. A heretic existence which cannot utilize mana despite belonging to royalty. On top of this there were outrageous requirements, such as having the master cultivate young girls into supreme knights…….

This cultivation period was especially worthy of attention. Be her tutor, approximately three years until Merida Angel graduated from the Frideswide Girl’s Academy. This is a long-term task that has not been done before.

There was always the feeling that it’d turn into 3 difficult years of living undercover like a spy.

“………Really no way. I can not accept this task of being the tutor for the “talentless girl” Lady Merida Angel. But, there is one thing I care about in any case.”

“What?”

“This task – why in the end given to us? Setting aside the matter regarding the investigation of Marinoa-sama’s interpersonal relationships, it should be fine leaving jobs such as family tutor to the knight squadron and those belonging to the more normal organizations.”

Being asked the question of course, the boss turned the blood stained face of the enemy and lit the tobacco.

“… no such thing … no doubt this is a very suitable for your work”

“What do you mean?”

“Hey, don’t play a fool with me! Our identities and our works are the same.”

In that place, all over the darkness.

Furniture covered with knife marks, a large number of scattered dead bodies, the smell of death were as if suffocating.

Wearing something like a uniform while gazing at the night, his body was also tainted with sticky blood –

The man holding a cane, laughed and said.

“- Assassins.”