a house
"Number 258 has been captured by the Sword Saints?

Yes, he was captured after failing to assassinate the Sword Saint. He was captured after failing to assassinate the Sword Sage. After that, he was left in the care of the Sword Master's apprentice.

'A disciple of the Sword Saint?　The first princess?

'No, my name is Ravert Lanwalker. He is the most famous man in the country right now, and he is the one who is engaged to be married to the princesses of Nanor, Warbest and Arcadia, after the events of four years ago in the kingdom, the thwarting of a demon attack in the Papal States, and the defeat of a goblin horde.

The Lanwalker, that frontier count's bloodline?

Yes, that's right.

Well. It can't be helped. Activate the magic that I had prepared for the Sword Saint. It seems a shame to destroy that thing, the masterpiece, by someone other than the Swordsman, but the war with Nanor is coming up. If the death of the frontier earl's child can cause the frontier earl to be a little more upset, the results will be good.

All right. I'll make arrangements.

The son of a frontier count, he'll never be as good as the one we've created.

　◇ ◇ ◇.

...it's not a good idea.

　After I got out of the bath, I lay down on my bed in my room. After that, I ended up having to wash the three of them, and I was exhausted, both physically and mentally.

　I managed to persuade them to leave my back alone, but it was still very beautiful, with a woman's softness and not a single blemish on it. And the three of them making lustrous sounds every time I touched them. That was really bad. Because every time I touched them.



　And that was bad enough. My thread of reason was about to be snapped.

　 Did yesterday's announcement blow up a lot of things, after all?　That's the only way to go, I guess.

　The three who took a bath with me went home satisfied, but Aeris, Ferris, and Pricia, who didn't go in, were a bit dissatisfied, so I'll probably have to go in again.

　I'm happy to go in with you, but I don't want to just go in with the momentum of doing so. That's why I'd like to ask you to refrain from doing this, but I don't think that's possible.

　I was thinking about this while lying down, but my mind was more tired than I thought, and before I knew it I had fallen asleep.

　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇.

"...hmmm?　What is it?

　.........I had fallen asleep before I knew it, and I woke up to find that it was a little noisy outside. I felt like I was having a very good dream about something, but I forgot all about it. The only thing that remained was the feeling of something very soft in my hands. What was it?

　It's late at night when you're thinking about that, and slamming it down!　and the sound of running down the hallway, and the door to my room is opened vigorously.

'Brother, wake up!'

　And it was May who came in, looking quite impatient.

'What's going on, this late at night?　I don't want to disturb the neighbors...

'Haku's in trouble!　Come quickly!

　I'm about to tell her that she's going to be a nuisance to the neighbors, and Mei says that as if to cover it up. What do you mean, Haku is in trouble? However, Mei-chan's expression was impatient and looked as if she was about to cry.

　I stood up straight and went to the room where Pricia and the others were sleeping. Then

Haku-chan, calm down!　I'll be fine!　It's all right here!

　I can hear Pricia shouting from the room. What the hell is going on?　When we reach the room, we see Haku in the room, flailing around with a knife, Aeris trying to stop him, and Ekla flying around to check him. Pricia tries to get close to Haku, but Ferris and Roy stop her.

'What the hell happened?'

Mr. Ray!　Please!　Please help Haku!　Please!

　Pricia hugs me with tears streaming down her face. No matter how much I try to ask, all she says is that I should help Haku. I'm about to ask Pricia again what happened.

'Whoa!

"Yikes!

Curse!

　An enormous amount of black magic power blows out of Haku. What an amount of magical power!　It's less than me, but still, it's not as much magic as I can hold at my age. Aeris and Ekla are blown away by that blowing black magic wind.

　However, if you look closely, you can see that they hold their heads quite painfully and hold their right arms with the bangles attached to them. The bangles on his right arm must be painful because he attacked Aeris and the others, but why is he holding his head in pain?　Could this magic have something to do with it?　But Haku didn't give me the time to think about such things.

''Ugh, Darkness, Magic, and Deep Shadow Assassin, Shadow the Ripper!

　Haku activates his dark magic. This couldn't be.......isn't this a level 9 magic? The black magic power that was blowing around until just now changes shape into a black shadow and wraps around Haku.

　That coiled shadow changes shape again and becomes like a cloak. His entire body is covered by the cloak and all you can see are his red eyes. In both hands, before you know it, you have a knife with a red blade and an all-black knife.

　And the constraint bracelet on his right arm was also forcibly broken and removed by magic power. Blood flows from that arm. However, it's quite bad if I leave it like this.

　Thanks to that bracelet, I couldn't attack the people around me, but I don't know how it will work once that restriction is gone. I don't even know the effect of that magic.

　However, since that magic was activated, Haku's presence has become ambiguous. He's right in front of me, but he's so present that if I take my eyes off him, he's going to disappear.

　And then Haku holds his knife at the ready........nah!　He blinked for a second, and then Haku was gone!　I activate my direct-signal and magic detection, but I can't find them. d*mn it, where's the.......back!

　Suddenly, my presence and magic detection reacted behind me, and I avoided it as I rolled forward. At that time, I felt a knife pass over my head.

　And in the meantime, Haku's presence disappears again. It suddenly disappears from in front of my eyes, and then moves instantly behind me. It slips past my sensing. It's gotta be some kind of a trick. I lean my back against the wall to prevent them from getting behind me.

　Then a black thorn pops out of the floor. Tsk!　I jump to the side and avoid the black thorns. The black thorns pierce the wall, but Haku doesn't show himself. And now I'm showing my back. I pull out my Rowga from my item ring and look back directly at him. And

　Gakin!

　And then there was the sound of weapons clashing. In front of me was the figure of Haku, who was waving a knife with his body only halfway out of the floor.

　........So that's what it is. The black shadow cloak has the ability to dilute its presence and make it difficult to find, and it can move through the shadows. And that it is possible to change the shape of the shadow and attack it. Maybe something like that. What an assassin's magic.

　It's a dark magic that can be used individually, but this magic allows you to use all of them at the same time and increases your ability. It's quite tricky.

"Come on, Haku!

　I jump out the window, calling for Haku. Fighting indoors against an assassin is quite a disadvantage. You can't even swing a rougher in that small room. Then it's definitely better to go outside to fight. Haku jumps out the window to chase after me.

　I set up my Loga and look at Haku. But Haku, who jumped out of the window, looks a little strange. He is talking about something with his face down from a while ago.

　I couldn't hear much of it at first, but I could hear it little by little, and I started to cry at the words I heard. Haku's mutterings were "I don't want to hurt you", "Don't hit me", "Don't lock me in a dark place", over and over again, "If I kill you, you won't hurt me", "If I kill you, you won't hit me", "If I kill you, you won't lock me in".

　He didn't say that at noon. One possibility I can think of is that head-holding gesture. It looked pretty painful. That must have been a switch that brought back Haku's trauma.

　...and to make him listen to me from a young age, he did things I could never have imagined. To create the assassin named Haku.

　Haku's eyes are empty, like he can't see me anymore. I guess I'm just a prey to Haku now, too, and I'm just a prey to keep my suffering in check. Or so I thought.

Grrrrrr!

　Haku holds his head again. And next time I look up, it's Haku looking at me in pain and sadness. His eyes are not empty like before, but have a light in them.

Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh.

Huck!

　Fumbling, Haku tells me to run away. But it's pretty painful to say that, too.

"Onii, ki kita ni kasete. I don't want to kill you, too!

　Haku shouts this with tears streaming down his face. But every word Haku says is wrong. I don't want to hear those words.

"Haku, I'm not going to leave you and run away. If you can hurt me, hurt me. I'll take it all in and then I'll stop you!

What's wrong with you?　........ugh!

　Haku questions my words and asks me, but he seems to be nearing the end of his rope.

'Why?'　Isn't that obvious?　I told you when we got to this house. You're my family now. And I didn't take it for granted that you'd stop Haku. So, Haku. Now tell me what you want, but...　Tell me what Haku wants to be done now!

　When I use the word family, Haku looks at me with wide eyes. And tears stream from his eyes without stopping. And then, as if he had made up his mind, he shouts the words I've been looking for.

"O-nii, help me, help me!

　Haku exclaims that with tears streaming down his face. ........You finally said it. But the next moment, Haku holds his head again and screams out loud. And then, as if he has lost his strength, he collapses from his knees. After a little while, Haku looked up, the light from earlier did not reside in his eyes. But

I'm gonna do the lights!

"I understand, Master Ray.

　Hang on, Haku. I'm gonna get you out of here.