Chapter 22

That night, I sensed a presence outside of my window.

Someone was there.

“…”

I tried widening my senses from inside the room. I couldn’t hear anything, but there was definitely someone there.

“Everyone is asleep.”

The two second-years had fallen asleep before Ark finished talking.

Perhaps they were so relieved to be back in the dormitory. I doubted they would wake up.

Ark was also sleeping very soundly. He must have felt quite satisfied after talking so much.

I could hear their regular breathing.

“It must be for me then.”

The presence outside was not moving. It was as if someone was waiting for me.

I made sure they were all asleep one last time and then sunk into the shadows.

“It’s nice to meet you, ‘Shadow Crosser.’”

A figure dressed entirely in black was standing in the dormitory garden. Judging by the voice, the stranger was a woman.

“Good evening. Uh, what do I call you?”

“You can call me Swarm Cloud. I am a Right Foot for Her Majesty and act as a go-between for the areas surrounding the Royal Capital.”

“You have an alias.”
“Yes. Though, I hardly deserve it.”

Swarm Cloud’s voice sounded quite young.

My guess was that she was the same age as my brother in law, if not a little older. Mid-twenties, perhaps.

“Why are you here? Am I to receive an order?”

“Of course. That being said, we usually wouldn’t send work to a Right Hand whose base of operations is Sol.”

“I understand that. I’m not used to this city yet.”

“I know. However, there were some Left Hands who insisted on having you do it.”

“Left Hands? Why?”

The Left Hands protected the Queen. Were they involved with this?

She was a Right Foot, but the job was coming from the Left Feet.

“It is rather complicated, so you must listen and use your own judgment.”

“Very well.”

“Then let me explain. …There are a number of bases for Makoku spies within the city.”

“That’s no surprise. I’m sure we have spies in every country as well.”

“Indeed. And usually, we will keep an eye on them but will do anything to interfere. But two unfortunate events have occurred recently. The first is quite simple. Information that should not be leaked has been leaked.”

“That’s a big deal, isn’t it?”

“Yes. The Moon Poet was targeted, so we believe there may be an informant within the castle.”

“Should you really be telling me this?”

The Moon Poet read the trajectory of our two moons, Eidano and Kaida. And through doing this, was able to predict when the Moon Beasts would appear on the Shadow Moon Road.

“That is not a problem. We are currently trying to wash out the traitor. Besides, there is no taking back what has already been leaked. However, the way that it happened is the important part.”

“An informant… Ah, I see. They contacted the Moon Poet.”

The Moon Poet likely stayed within the castle. That meant few people had direct access.

And it was not at all easy to enter the royal palace.

“Someone was able to get in. At least, we know that they got into the first inner compound of the castle. The Left Hands were astonished.”

“How far is that? I never went in through the front gate, so I don’t know.”

“…”

The Right Foot shook her head. Why?

“Just think of it as the place within the castle with important facilities. If you go through the castle gates, you will see the entrance to the outer compound, which has two moats. The gate to the inner compound is inside of that. And the first inner compound is the deepest part.”

“So, they got pretty far into the castle then?”

“You can say that. It is the fault of the Left Hands who were supposed to protect the castle gardens. I imagine a number of people will lose their jobs for this.”

Lose their jobs… More like heads. Brutal.

“Alright, I understand that. But what is the other thing?”

“We found out the name that this infiltrator used. It is ‘Through.’”

“Through? Was it a ghost?”

“I don’t think so. This person called Through is a magician who belongs to the group, ‘Grass Snakes.’ We have since found out that reinforcements are being sent from their headquarters in Makoku.”

Reinforcements, huh? Things were moving fast.

An all-out mobilization of their spies.

“Could it be, that you want me to annihilate the Grass Snakes?”

“That would be asking too much. Besides, the ones in the city are just a local branch. If you killed them all, the Grass Snaked will just go underground. As long as they don’t take our information, we can tolerate their activities.”

They preferred to keep them active and in sight. That way, they could leak false information.

Having them under their control would mean they could be useful later on.

“So, Shadow Crosser, we want you to eliminate this ‘Through.’ We think this person has magic to evade detection barriers. Royal Right Hands were sent out, but all failed to make contact.”

“I thought Royal Right Hands were supposed to be brilliant. I guess I was wrong.”

“No, Foul Feeder, Beheader, and Thousand Needles are brilliant. And yet they couldn’t even find their target. We believe it’s because Through has some kind of magic that tells them they are being pursued.”

“I suppose it doesn’t matter how strong an assassin is if they cannot even find their target. But no one can use two types of magic, so this Through’s abilities are…”

“Knowing when someone is approaching, or something similar.”

“And so, you want me to do it.”

“Yes. If reinforcements arrive from Makoku, there is a danger that their activities will spread into the castle. And we currently have no way to stop it.”

“Of course, this Through is the only one who can easily go into the inner compound. And so you want me to eliminate them. I see.”

“Yes. It is an irregular request, but will you accept it?”

It was incredibly risky to work in an area that wasn’t your own territory.

“Fine. I’ll do it. I will assassinate this ‘Through.’”

I didn’t know anything about this person, and it would be dangerous working in this unfamiliar city.

However, I was now interested in Through. And so I accepted it.