3. And so the story begins. (3)

It’s weird. It’s weird. It’s weird.

What is this? It’s easy. Way too easy.

An easy job like this might as well be given to new agents that just graduated from the training centers. No, even easier. It’s about as easy as the trainees’ graduation exam.

But.. they’re paying me this much? Does the organization have that much money lying around?

No, even if it was, they shouldn’t be giving me a job this easy when I’m busy with instructor work. It reeks of something awful.

“The problem is which side..”

Is it the organization? What’s the problem? Did they find out about my embezzlement of some of the Utopia Project funds?

Or when I made deals with the non-humans, did they find out I did a deal with them to sneak some of the cash into my own back pocket?

Or did one of my bloody disciples finally decide he or she wanted payback for all that time?

No, I can’t rule out the possibility of the Empire. It’s normally an irrelevant place, but that insane imperial princess could have dug a trap by removing all the key information.

Like a master fisherman throwing out a baited line waiting in anticipation for the big catch to bite.

But knowing my life so far, if I ran away thinking with that logic, it could just as easily turn out it actually was just a plain easy job, and I got scared for nothing and ended up getting chased by the organization! Is the sort of story that could happen.

So do the job and infiltrate for the time being. If I get caught by the organization then I can use my connections I’ve made till now to do something, if I get caught by the princess, then I need to bide my time and run away.

Unless I end up waking up without arms or legs and a “I still love you even this way!” type yandere is around, hm... Uhh.. now that I think about it that could be more than possible. Normally reality is a lot worse than fiction. But I just imagined it. Damn it.

“I’ll give it a shot.”

Just a barony. And one far out in the countryside to boot. So I infiltrated in to collect information.

I’d hoped the information I’d find was something along the lines of an evil god cult’s hidden hideout, or some anti-empire resistance organization, those kinds of uneasy expectations!

Wow, isn’t this way overdoing it?

No matter that this is the literal middle of nowhere of the empire, they’re all but openly stating that they’re an anti-empire rebel(AER) army.

A month since I was hired as a gardener, today as well I received orders that I couldn’t tell whether they were gutsy or just plain stupid.

“Now, do it like this.”

“Yes, boss.”

I took a pair of gardening shears and trimmed a bush in the garden to form a shape, this is a perfect AER symbol.

The emblem engraved on the statue far away over there was the AER symbol along with the house’s symbol.

There were already so many AER symbols everywhere that if this was the capital, the entire family would already have been arrested to be served the full torture course.

No, right now I’m so damn anxious at this point I’d actually prefer it if some AER members showed up, isn’t this apprehensive feeling because of some different reason entirely?

If they’re outright plastering the symbol everywhere the empire’s army could just charge in at any moment and take us all in!

Is this a trap, or is this the Empire’s trap! At this rate surely it won’t end up with me in the imperial prisons shouting “I’m innocent!” and either my former subordinates or the princess herself showing up and making me choose between marriage or death, right?

“Ohh, you’ve got good skills.”

“I’ve done this since I was young. If I couldn’t I’d have starved to death.”

I push away my unease for now and show off my shearing skills.

Hmm. Although I’d learned this on the fly but this is still an imperial gardener-level skill!

It would be hard to see this level of skill in a rural barony.

The princess as a kid was filthily hard to please so since most people assigned close to Her Highness lasted three months tops, 1 month at the shortest and so I had to pick up the slack and learn the other employees’ skills.

Well because of this her half-imprisoned knight order all became multitalented. Because they couldn’t even run away.

“It’s done.”

“Ohh, perfect. Good work, Kisen. I’ll put in a good word for you to my lord and have you as a permanent gardener for the family.”

“Thank you, boss.”

Although I say that with my mouth please don’t. I don’t want to go into the AER.

To be honest they’re all just playing on the Emperor’s hands, every time something big happens in the Empire he just grabs a few of them and executes them as a distraction, I have no wish to get tangled up with them any time soon.

As for the personality of our emperor, you could say it’s trash among trash. Even our boss who’s the head of an evil among evil organizations would be a saint compared to him.

Considering the purges in the imperial court were worse than the purges at the organization, I think that explains it all.

What kind of imperial court has more purges than an evil organization. Because it’s the strongest? Is there that many talented people!

“But I still have a really bad feeling about this.”

As it stands I’ve already gone and made three more AER symbols where they’re already overflowing.

Although to them it’s a symbol of secrecy, to think they’d go and stamp this pushover-confirming symbol which is known to just about everyone among the empire’s agents and personnel alike.

And the organization ordered me to collect information. If I had around another month then I could grab everything I need to, but there’s no guarantee that the imperial army won’t charge in first.

So..

“You are already surrounded!”

“D, damn it! Shit! Destroy all the important information, meet up at the promised place!”

Let’s go and take some relevant-looking documents and report it to the imperial troops. At the organization I can just say that the AER got caught by the empire’s troops and I snuck out in the confusion.

Hmm. Although it’s a bit of a pity that my creations are going up in flames, compared to my life they’re not worth anything at all.

Just in case, I’m observing them with a dwarven telescope after hiding myself. At my rough estimates it seems that they’re freshly trained new recruits. Thankfully it doesn’t seem like the imperial family’s involved in this case.

If there were, then someone would be tapping me on my shoulder, and when I turn around I’d see either the princess or her direct subordinates, with one of the princess’s personal battlemage corps priming a magic artillery circle above my head, telling me to surrender or die.

But I can’t relax with just this. Let say for example, an arrow comes flying out from that brush.

Fhit! Fhit! Fhit!

Hmm, or a bunch of people wearing black clothes show up.

Shuk! Shuk! Shuk!

And spout lines saying come peacefully or get hurt.

“Instructor Naruan! This is the organization’s orders. I strongly urge you to come peacefully.”

Wow, what are these kids that’re all third-rate villains from their appearance and their lines. It’s exactly our organization’s style.

And it actually is our organization. This is why I like our organization. It doesn’t stand out too much and get sacked by the empire.

“What’s the problem?”

Depending on the situation it might be better to just go along with them.

Seriously, just how much have I done for them till now! And how much in the way of bribes have I fed them! It was all in preparation for this moment!

I even had dinner with your department’s manager, and you! It’s not bad trying those kinds of lines.

“Instructor.”

Uh, hang on, this isn’t good.

“Rood, what brings you all the way here.”

Aruen Rood.

A beastkin half-blood, a disciple of my third cohorts along with Sia and Rein. And the one standing as captain of the most unique paramilitary group among all our paramilitary groups.

When the other kids were vice-director or vice-captain at best, there was only one reason why this kid was the captain.

Because only his unit, the Darksword, could change their captain with brute force.

With the aim of eliminating internal enemies, the Darksword is a group that only acts on the boss’s direct orders.

And that means..

“Can I take it as you do not mean to leave me alive?”

They’re a group used purely for assassination. Ah, or could it just be he’s here to give me one for? If any of them were to give it a crack I’d thought he’d be the one most likely to.

“It is not.”

“The Darksword has mobilised, yet you’re leaving me alive? Sounds a bit hard to believe.”

Ah, or is it that the boss found out about my embezzlement, but he’s sent my disciple to take it easy on me?

Alright, considering what I’ve done for him so far he could let me off easily. In that case I could pretend to just go along and be captured..

“The imperial princess has made a deal.”

Or bullshit.

What the hell! I need to run like my life depends on it. Just what the hell did she do, that a group of the boss’s direct subordinates is out to get me?

His mind was like my past life’s Freedomland(1) which said it would never make a deal with the Empire! That boss made a deal!

“It seems the imperial family took quite a liking to you, instructor. To the point that the princess herself slowly drew the noose around the organization’s neck.”

“It’s not that much.”

It’s really not. Yep. It’s not.

Although I did make quite the achievements during the great war, but I rolled my subordinates how stupidly hard!

I rolled them about as much as you would in a black soul game. I made them roll and roll and roll even more to the point that they said “ah, what. War is easier than training?” while laughing, that was how hard I rolled them on a daily basis.

Although my own disciples rolled as if their lives were still attached to their bodies but those kids were pretty disposable so I basically rolled them to the point it wouldn’t matter if they died.

And because of that the princess’s direct troops = bunch of fellows that would stick their swords in my backs at any moment, and you want me to go back?

And the imperial princess is there too.

The princess who’s so perpetually lively that I’d prefer the one with dead soulless eyes that I first met.

She’s so damn lively that in the past it was just to the point that I would just get fired if I annoyed her, but now she’s lively enough to tear me from limb to limb if I piss her off.

I will be forcibly married!

To hell with it, I was being an annoying little shit because I wanted to be fired, what’s this bullshit. The emperor’s got his head screwed on wrong as well. You can’t get it more screwed than that.

Even if it had the official approval of the imperial family, i.e. the princess, but she’s saying she’s marrying a commoner whose background is unknown, so what the hell was he sending me a message of congratulations for?

The normal thing to do would be to threaten me discreetly, or if he’d come with a large sack of money to tell me to take it and piss off, I’d have more than happily taken it and run.

But even when a person is worrying this much the surrounding people are still preparing with clinking sounds.

I’d preferred it if they’d let their guard down a bit.

“Then will you come quietly with me?”

“Hell no.”

If I go I’m dead.

No, dying is the easy way out.

To think I’d go back with my own two feet to a place that starts purges out of boredom, a political fight when they’re bored that makes me struggle with my brain.

And under the premise of marriage to royalty, and among them, that imperial princess. There is absolutely no reason for me to voluntarily return that insanity among insane worlds.

“Then, I, your disciple will escort you personally.”

Very unlike his normal behaviour he formally bows his head and pulls out a greatsword, and as he did the others pulled out their weapon as well and pointed them towards me.

Ha. Seriously. Damn he’s brought a lot of them. Just the ones in my field of vision alone number around at least fifty, and considering he’s also brought others like the ones with the bows surrounding me as well, he’s probably brought at least a hundred fighters?

Did he bring everyone in the Darksword or something?

“Do you really think you can take me?”

“I’ve grown a lot since then.”

“Rein said the exact same thing not so long ago and he wasn’t much.”

“He was always the weakest among us.”

“You’re that confident, and yet you bring the entirety of the Darksword on me?”

“I was taught to prepare for the worst even if the probability of victory was over 90%.”

I never taught you to use that on me.

Wow, look at those sparkles.

Sword ki is a given, there’s a few that looks like they’re going to hit sword aura soon as well. Ah, this is dangerous.

Should I just run away and yell to the imperial army it’s an evil organization!

No, since the princess started all this they could yell you evil cur! And blindside me instead.

In that case I need to finish it here.

Damn it, I need to sneak back to the organization to pack what I need and run away again..

To start with I’ll send a help call with the voice of my soul.

-Don’t wanna.

An immediate answer came. Says no.

-Haaang, you’ve done neglect play with me all this time and you’re calling for me as soon as you disciple shows up to stick something pointy in you? Do I look that easy to you?

That.. alright, let’s try this.

-If I die I’ll tell my disciples the password to my safe!

-Wazzat for? To let me have fun under a new owner?

-No, because I’m certain that the kids’ll melt you down the moment they see you.

-.. Wut. What’s with that weirdly convincing argument..

Eh, it worked.

To be honest from Rood or any of the others of Sia’s cohort’s point of view this kid was nothing less than the demon king of the end of the century.

-Hmm.. don’t really like it cause it feels like I’m losing out.. but if owner dies that’s that too..

-I’ll take you around from now on. The organization’s already fubar. It made a deal with the imperial princess.

-Hmm.. hmmmmmmmm... Ah, dunno. If you lock me away one more time then I really dunno what’s gonna happen then.

And the thing connected to my soul, is speaking to me. To call its name. To open the gate, and let it come to me.

The feeling of summoning a contracted spirit that I’d read in a book. Maybe, this would be similar to that as well.

This was a miracle made due to a ritual of a different type of contract. Because it was the only object that I, without any mana whatsoever, that every other summon rejected, could successfully contract with.

“Magic?”

“Weren’t we told Instructor Naruan couldn’t use magic?!”

“Do not be alarmed and attack!”

The men that were shocked by the silver light in my right hand charged in.

But, the face of their captain Rood was the only one to pale at the sight.

“C, could it be..”

“Come..”

And that ‘could’ is right. Yep. It’s exactly what you’re thinking of.

“Arcadia.”

A flash of silver light lit up the night sky.