episode_0100

I’ve finished checking the contents of the .

I didn’t understand everything,

but I confirmed that I could read it all the way through.

If I keep reading, I should be able to learn a few skills.

‘I’d love to master all of it, but…’

That’s impossible.

A mage with only 50 MP can’t cast a 500 MP Meteor, right?

It’s the same here.

The beginner-to-intermediate skills in the are usable with some effort,

but the advanced ones are out of reach.

However.

Our assassin cat can use them.

…With that thought, I stood up and placed the into my dimensional bag.

“Shall we get going?”

When I stepped out of the secret room, Alice waved at me.

“Did you check the manual?”

“I did.”

I showed her a black shadow hand as I spoke.

“I even learned a few skills.”

“Whoa. Is that a hand? A hand you can move freely?”

“Well, yeah, but…”

The maximum I can summon is four.

Their range extends up to 50 meters,

but the farther they are from my body, the weaker their strength becomes, so their effective attack range is actually quite short.

Within 1 meter, their strength is comparable to mine,

but at around 5 meters, it drops to the level of an average Korean man—say, ‘Lee Junseong.’

At 20 meters, their strength is about that of a child,

and at 50 meters, they can barely lift a single pebble.

…But,

this is purely about raw strength.

The farther they are from my body, the harder it is to channel mana into them.

So, the practical attack range is only about 50 cm.

Still.

This is more than enough.

“More than enough?”

“Want me to show you?”

“Yeah!”

“Then I’ll just hit you once.”

“Huh?”

I immediately swung my fist.

But.

Alice couldn’t lightly dodge… my punch.

Tap!

A shadow arm sprouting from beneath her feet lifted her ankle and tripped her.

Because of that, her evasion got messed up.

Poke!

I lightly pressed my finger against her forehead.

“How’s that?”

“Wow… This is a much better attack method than I thought?”

“Right?”

If Alice had taken it seriously, she could’ve easily blocked a finger tap like that.

But.

The important thing was that I succeeded in tripping her.

It means that someone like me, a D-rank, can disrupt the stance of Alice, who’s close to S-rank.

It’ll work on other enemies too,

and it means I can support the others in battle.

‘Just tripping them alone makes me useful.’

Trip a warrior, and their defense crumbles.

Trip a mage, and you disrupt their spellcasting.

Of course.

They can just dodge, but…

‘The true power of the Shadow Arts lies in stealth.’

It’s stealthy enough to deceive even gods.

If used offensively, you can pull off a clean ambush like this.

Thud!

“Whoa… Even though I’ve seen this attack before, I couldn’t react at all because of how stealthy it is… This is insane.”

I tried it on Alice once more as a test,

and again, she couldn’t react.

At this point, I doubt there’s a single enemy who can react to ‘Shadow Trip.’

“How is it?”

“Now I fully understand why Lady Serena personally led the subjugation. And why our Cain was willing to act as bait to take them down. It’s that incredible.”

The descendants of the Shadow Clan only deciphered half of the , so their attacks lacked refinement.

They mastered stealthy movement to the point where even gods couldn’t detect them,

but they couldn’t apply it to offense.

However.

Over time, they’ll decipher more of the .

They’ll wield even stronger techniques,

and they’ll be able to pull off stealth like this too.

Then?

What happens?

‘Can royalty or nobility withstand assassination attacks so stealthy that even the Hero’s party can’t react?’

They won’t.

They’ll be assassinated instantly,

and the puppet king prepared by the Shadow Clan’s descendants will seize power.

Then?

What happens?

‘Nothing good, I’d bet.’

…Thinking about it,

this subjugation mission was important enough for me to act as bait.

‘It was an incredibly crucial mission.’

In reality, there was no real plan—

I was just wandering around aimlessly before getting kidnapped, but…

‘As long as I keep my mouth shut, no one will ever know!’

I just have to stay quiet.

…With that thought, I checked on the kidnapped people.

“Oh, thank you so much!”

“To think the Saintess of the Goddess of Light, Lady Serena, came to rescue us herself!”

“Long live the Hero’s party! Long live!!!”

Everyone was cheering loudly.

Right.

That’s the normal reaction.

They were kidnapped and nearly killed,

only for the Hero’s party to personally come to their rescue.

Of course they’d cheer and thank the Goddess of Light, Serena.

“But… who’s that guy over there?…”

“He doesn’t look like part of the Hero’s party at all…”

“Huh? Didn’t you hear them call him ‘Master’ earlier?”

“So… the Hero’s party’s master?… That guy?…”

“That kind of man is their master?”

“I think the Saintess called him her husband…”

“Is that really true?”

“I heard it too… That man is the Saintess’s husband?… Pfft…”

Their impression of me was negative.

Well.

That’s only natural.

All they saw was me turning assassin corpses into crystal.

They might think I’m a dark mage,

or even a villain.

A guy like that—the Hero’s party’s master? The Saintess’s husband?

Of course they wouldn’t believe it.

But.

I don’t plan on saying anything.

‘It’s better if my reputation stays low.’

The Hero’s party’s reputation should be high,

but mine should stay low.

‘If I want to do dirty work behind the scenes unnoticed, it’s better to stay under the radar.’

Ideally, I’d avoid dirty work altogether,

but sometimes it’s necessary.

…That’s one reason,

and it’s also better to have less recognition when I secretly meet up with Marianne for dates.

‘Honestly, that’s the most important part.’

So I stayed quiet, but—

“Everyone.”

“?”

“If you insult my husband, Cain—the one and only friend of the Goddess of Light, Lady Serena—divine punishment may rain down from the heavens.”

“!!!!!!”

“F-friend?…”

“The Goddess of Light, Lady Serena’s friend?…”

“Yes. The only person Lady Serena has acknowledged as her friend. He is also the future husband of Lady Ria, the daughter of the Goddess of Light, Lady Serena.”

“!!!!!!”

“The Hero’s husband?!”

“That’s right! I’m going to marry Master!”

“Gasp!…”

“Then we…”

“Oh, we’re so sorry!!!”

“To think we’ve been in the presence of such an esteemed figure without realizing it!!! This lowly one bows his head in apology!!!”

“……”

Suddenly, my recognition shot up.

Ah.

This isn’t what I wanted.

“Sigh…”

So I told them to keep quiet.

“Enough. Just forget about me.”

“Huh?…”

I gave them a simple explanation.

It’s good for the Hero’s party to be famous,

but at least one member should stay low-key to operate in the shadows.

I’d prefer if my recognition didn’t rise.

…That’s what I told them.

‘Ever since Serena announced me as the Hero’s master, my recognition did go up, but…’

That much is fine.

It’s better if only the information that the Hero’s party has a master spreads,

without details about what kind of person the master is.

That way, I can claim to be the Hero’s master when needed,

but otherwise move around like an ordinary person.

…I even added that extra explanation.

Then.

They all nodded in understanding.

“If that’s what you wish, Lord Cain, we’ll comply.”

“Good.”

“Then… even your behavior earlier was intentional?…”

“So that’s why!”

When they asked for an escort, I refused by saying, “Figure it out yourselves!”

They assumed I was deliberately acting cold to avoid building up my reputation.

“He risked himself as bait to subdue the evil organization the Goddess of Light, Lady Serena, deemed dangerous… and to save us…”

“From the start, he only ever intended to rescue us.”

“Ah… To think such a noble soul was among us… and I didn’t even realize…”

The misunderstanding keeps getting worse, but…

Sigh.

Interpret it however you want.

“Let’s go back.”

I was about to head back to the inn, tired of thinking about it… when—

“Wait.”

“Hm?”

“Where’s Kkamangi? Didn’t she come with us?”

“Now that you mention it… She was with us until halfway.”

Kkamangi had disappeared.

Huh?

Why’d she vanish midway?

…Just as I was about to look for her—

“I’m right here.”

“?”

Kkamangi popped out from the ceiling, covered in blood.

“Blood? Are you hurt?”

“Ah… This is the enemy’s blood.”

“Enemies? There were still enemies left?”

“Yes… I saw about five trying to escape… I knocked them all out and gathered them… Was that the right thing to do?…”

“You did well, but… there were escapees?”

“Yes.”

“Uh… guys?”

The Shadow Clan’s descendants have strong bonds—they’d never flee alone.

…That’s one thing,

but they’re also the type to guard the with their lives, so fleeing isn’t an option.

However.

There are also those like Valosque, who aren’t part of the clan.

Those guys might run,

and it’s fine if they do.

They’re just ordinary bandits, so letting them go doesn’t matter.

‘The Hero’s party let enemies escape?’

In the game, they never let a single one get away,

but until Kkamangi mentioned it, I had no idea there were escapees at all.

So I asked, and—

“We were so focused on Cain being captured that we…”

“Your safety was our top priority, Master…”

“You come first, my husband…”

They were so preoccupied with me that they didn’t even notice the fleeing enemies.

Meanwhile,

Kkamangi calmly analyzed the situation and subdued every last one.

‘She’s more capable than I thought.’

She’s a cat strong enough to fight Alice to a draw,

so her combat skills go without saying.

But.

Being good at fighting and being useful in actual combat are two different things.

‘Some are great fighters but end up being liabilities in real battles.’

There are plenty like that.

The type who love fighting so much they ignore all strategy and charge in, ruining everything.

Or those who are strong only in specific situations and pathetically weak otherwise.

And so on.

I’ve seen cases where hiring skilled mercenaries backfired because of this.

So I’d been meaning to test her abilities at some point.

‘This is a passing grade.’

…That’s what I thought, but—

“……”

Kkamangi was silently staring at me.

Huh?

Does she want something?

‘Hmm…’

I gave her some of the treats I’d given Serena.

Munch munch.

She ate them happily.

‘She’s cute too.’

The white puppy Serena is adorable,

but the black cat Kkamangi is also cute.

So I petted her, but—

Ah.

As an ancient hero, maybe she dislikes this?

…That’s what I thought, but—

“More… please pet me more…”

In a timid voice, she nuzzled her cheek against me, asking for more pets.

So cute.

So I petted her more.

[Revisited Kkamangi AI illustration.]