Chapter 5: Assassination (3)
I understood. I know what that damn assassin bastard was talking about.
This son of a bitch. He's dead.
With a strong ability, it might be difficult to counter even if you know the information, but I can easily handle someone with that assassin's level of skill.
As I thought about how I'd crush him, the corner of my mouth naturally curled upward.
[The Goddess Who Sees Fate is astounded by your evil smile.]
Huh? What nonsense is this?
While I was trying to make sense of it...
"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry..."
"I'll discipline my sister properly. Please forgive us just this once. Please..."
Ah! I almost forgot.
Two women with identical faces, presumably twins, are kneeling with pale complexions and apologizing.
Now I feel bad.
Feeling inexplicably apologetic, I gently placed my hand on the shoulder of the woman I assumed was the older sister.
I spoke in the most grateful voice possible.
"No, I should be the one apologizing for bumping into you. Your sister seems well-mannered, actually."
"Um... I'm the younger sister."
"Ah. I see. Anyway, I'm the one who should be sorry."
At my apology, both women look at each other with awkward expressions.
I stood up and continued walking before attracting any more attention.
After briefly looking them over, I could see them visibly relax with expressions of relief as they sighed.
"Lord Cain, what would you like to do with them?"
"Huh? Do what? Just leave them be. I bumped into them because I was distracted."
Her eyes widened at my admission of fault.
[The Goddess Who Sees Fate is surprised that you have at least a shred of conscience.]
"Please just go away" almost escaped my throat, but I swallowed it back down.
Come to think of it, that Constellation probably doesn't remember, but before I died, she definitely sent me a message saying she was disappointed in me.
She should have been worried about me dying, but instead she had the nerve to say she was disappointed.
I'd like to curse her out, but thinking it would only make things worse if I gave her more attention, I ignored her as if I hadn't seen anything.
Eventually, we arrived at the David Family Estate.
Entering the family estate was no different from the previous cycle.
But.
As we went inside the building.
Many butlers and maids at the entrance bowed courteously in greeting.
And among them was the one who assassinated me in the previous cycle.
...I'm pretty sure this situation didn't happen in the previous cycle.
From what I remember, there definitely wasn't a line of butlers and maids greeting us at the entrance like this.
...Ah. Is it because of the shoulder bump earlier?
That would explain the butterfly effect. In the previous cycle, I went straight to the estate after leaving the hideout, but this time I was delayed a bit because of bumping into those twins.
Were the butlers and maids not ready in the previous cycle?
While I was deep in thought, Rishe whispered from behind so only I could hear.
"Lord Cain, is something wrong?"
"No. Just thinking. Let's go to my room quickly."
As I said this, I headed toward my room.
As the bowing maids and butlers at the entrance began to fade from view, I pointed at the assassin.
"Tell me about that guy's background."
"I-I'm not from the David family, so I don't know much."
"I know you're Rishe, so just tell me."
"?!"
When I revealed that I knew her identity, Rishe stopped in her tracks. Her face turned pale as she froze.
"I-I'm so—"
As she began to apologize with an apologetic face and a bow, I quickly cut her off.
"No need to apologize. Your father obviously ordered you to do this. More importantly, tell me about that guy's background."
"Yes, understood. The person you pointed to is Bilg, a butler who recently joined the David family."
"And?"
"I heard he ranked first in the entrance exam. He's 25 years old, 173cm tall, weighs 65kg, and has talent for assassination."
Bilg... that name sounds familiar.
As I pondered Rishe's words, I remembered the Cult, a villain organization from the game.
The Cult.
According to the setting, they're an organization trying to bring down the five Constellations in the world, but in reality, they're just a bunch of murder-obsessed lunatics.
They might have been created with that purpose originally, but now the executives and members are just people who joined to commit murder.
I definitely remember Bilg as one of the members of the Cult.
Of course, I had forgotten about him because he wasn't one of the executives but just a regular member.
Who would memorize all the game settings anyway?
Anyway, that's not what's important.
Why would the Cult want to kill me?
It's true they enjoy killing, but they're not completely irrational.
...Ah! Cain, you bastard.
Like a lightbulb going off above my head, I suddenly realized why they were trying to kill me.
Cain, that dog, must have been in contact with the Cult members while running his underground guild.
And the Cult members are trying to cut loose ends in case information leaks out.
So basically, I'm cleaning up after Cain's mess again.
Damn. How much crap has this guy left behind?
No, that's being too generous. This isn't just crap. This is diarrhea level.
Thanks to Cain, I've been stabbed in the gut twice. That alone shows this is worse than just crap.
Having realized the cause of this situation, I shook my head.
Watching from the side, Rishe must have thought it was because of her, as she bowed her head deeply with an extremely apologetic expression.
"I'm not doing this because of you, so don't misunderstand."
"Yes..."
"For now, go do whatever you need to do. I need to think about something in my room. Don't let anyone in."
"Understood, Young Master."
With those words, Rishe vanished in an instant.
As expected of an assassin. She's incredibly fast.
As soon as she disappeared, Philip approached me, apparently having waited for this timing.
"Young Master, I've prepared the hot spring water and alcohol."
"Good. Thanks for your hard work. You go do your job too."
Philip flinched at my words, but I ignored his reaction and headed to my room.
When I reached my room, I opened the door.
...Let's check first.
After entering the room, I searched under the bed, in the wardrobe, on the desk, in the blankets, and everywhere else.
But contrary to my expectations, I didn't find any listening devices.
There must be something here.
While I don't know much about Bilg specifically, the Cult's assassins are extremely thorough.
Not only that, but in the previous cycle, Bilg followed me at the perfect timing when I went to the bathroom.
Considering this, there must be at least a listening device in the room.
With that thought, I searched through the pillow.
-Thud!
Found it!!
When I was lying down earlier, I couldn't feel it because of the cotton, but now that I'm searching directly, there's a slightly hard part.
Still, let me check to be sure.
I opened the pillow's zipper and checked inside.
Inside was fluffy cotton and a finger-joint-sized black device.
Just as I thought. Let's not break it for now.
The moment I break it, he'll know I've noticed.
Instead, I should use it to my advantage.
I put the listening device back into the pillow and opened my status window.
David von Cain.
Age: 20.
Traits: Game Setting Ability, â Death Regression.
Talent: None.
After selecting Game Setting Ability, I opened the Cash Shop.
Items that anyone would find appealing appeared in the system window before my eyes.
Hmm... what should I buy?
With that thought, I scrolled through the Cash Shop.
[The Goddess Who Sees Fate is intrigued by your strange behavior.]
So the Constellation can't see the system window, huh.
Well, I expected that. The regression ability comes from the system, and given that it affects the Constellation, it would be strange if she could see it.
But I don't have enough points to buy anything decent.
Now that I'm actually trying to buy something, I have too few points and can only window shop.
Hmm... is there really nothing with good value?
As I scrolled down with diminishing expectations, I found something unexpected.
This will do.
***
Bilg, dressed as a butler, entered his room during his break time.
He took out a communication orb from his desk drawer.
"So, what's the result?"
"David von Cain survived."
"This... I didn't expect that. Who would have thought that ruffian noble would survive?"
"What should we do? If we leave him alone, information might be revealed to the David family."
The executive of the Cult, who was Bilg's superior, slowly spoke.
"Right. Kill David von Cain tonight."
"Understood."
With those words, the communication ended. To ensure a perfect assassination, Bilg put a dagger from his desk drawer into his inner pocket.
Hmm... but how did that ruffian Cain survive?
According to the David family assassins, Kim Su-yong was destroying the underground guild that Cain was running.
Upon hearing that, he was certain.
Ah, David von Cain is going to die today.
Honestly, Kim Su-yong is a recently famous adventurer in the public eye and one of the special admission students at Reyston Academy.
Looking at skill alone, it's nearly impossible for a regular member of the Cult to defeat him.
Therefore, he thought Cain's underground guild would be destroyed and Cain would die by Kim Su-yong's sword, but today he returned as if nothing had happened.
Did Kim Su-yong let him go?
That would make sense. From what he heard, Kim Su-yong is somewhat soft-hearted.
Considering that Cain and Kim Su-yong are students at the same academy, it wouldn't be strange if he spared him.
Being a son of the David family probably helped too.
Just in case, it was good that he installed the listening device in advance.
Thinking there might be unexpected variables, he had installed a listening device in Cain's pillow, but he didn't expect it to be this helpful.
Let's see what the target is doing now.
Bilg took out a crystal orb from his inner pocket and infused it with mana.
Cain's baritone voice began to come through the crystal orb.
-Sigh... what should I do now?
From the first words, his voice was filled with worry.
Judging by his reaction, it's clear that his underground guild was destroyed, just as the David family assassins said.
Bilg perked up his ears.
-At this rate, I'm definitely going to be kicked out of the family.
At least he knows what situation he's in. Normally, he would have just started drinking recklessly by now.
-Hmm... if I tell Father about the Cult's information, I probably won't get kicked out.
Hearing Cain's words, Bilg narrowed his already narrow eyes even further.
Indeed, this guy needs to die.
If left alone, information about the Cult will leak to the David family.
-Hmm... I'll talk about it tomorrow. I'm tired today anyway. I should call Rishe.
He needs to die tonight. If he had gone to talk to David von Thomas today, Bilg would have killed him immediately even at the risk of danger, but true to his ruffian nature, he thoughtlessly postponed it.
Just as Bilg was about to turn off the crystal orb, thinking there was no need to listen further...
-Rishe, let's sleep together tonight.