"Hmm, so it wasn't an attack by an organisation," Nine mused. The assassin was indeed from an organisation, but only because he had been contracted by someone to do it. He was a young boy, probably not even in his teens yet. The most interesting part was that this assassin was a Beastman! He was a rabbit-type Beastman, with the matching ears and tail.
Could it be that someone had fallen in love with Nocturne and wanted to kill her before the wedding so that Nocturne wouldn't get married?
Somehow, the Truth skill was telling her that it was true. She suppressed the urge to sigh. This Vampiric childe of hers was really bringing her a lot of problems! Not to mention that she was still angry with him, he was really pushing the limits here.
Nine felt like massaging her temple but resisted.
"Okay, just let them be."
"Master," Shade said, protesting. Even though his Master was the strongest, he couldn't be on his guard all the time!
"It's fine. I just want to have a little fun. Don't I have you and Seyton?"
Shade reluctantly gave up protesting, realizing that his Master had already made up his mind. He resolved to stick around closer to ward off any attacks.
Over the course of the next few days, the assassin visited Nine countless times whilst she roamed outside her residence.
The assassin, having thrown a dagger whilst the target was in the midst of a spar, but ended up being deflected, "…"
The assassin, who stealthily poisoned the target's drink, but saw no reaction, "…"
The assassin, posing as a hurt civilian, ignored, "…"
The assassin, giving the target a gift, but got attacked by the target's fan club, "…"
The assassin, who tried to infiltrate the target's class, but ended up locked out because they were late, "…"
The assassin, who set a trap spell on the target's residence gates, but never saw it activating! "…"
The assassin, who handed the target a poisoned umbrella when it was raining, but only ended up being disdained, "…"
The crying assassin, who had all their attacks rendered useless, weeping outside the target's residence in the rain, but was still ignored! "…!"
The poor assassin, who had been thwarted numerous times really broke into tears at his latest failed attempt, where he was fake crying. The fake tears became real tears that he couldn't hold back. He couldn't help but wail, feeling awfully wronged. When had he ever failed this miserably before? Even his teacher in the camp said that he was a genius! He shouldn't have failed at all!
To make things worse, the rain stopped when he really let himself go and cried for real, so he had no excuses to make even to himself when he wanted to say that it was the rain, not his tears that were running down his face.
Nine looked at the sobbing assassin outside her gate and bit back her laughter. The assassin was so fragile and fun to bully! His reactions were really cute! Each time she saw his face crumple, she felt the urge to bully him again. The assassin was short and cute, looking delicate and fragile, like a little girl. He had dressed up as a female the entire time, trying to garner some sympathy from her.
Too bad, she could see through his disguise at first glance! Not to mention, the tracking spell on his skin was still active, and she could find him even if her eyes were closed! She could feel her terrible mood being blown away by the little assassin. She even felt an urge to keep him.
Shade looked at his Master's stoic face, but his eyes were gleaming with schadenfreude, causing him to feel bad for the assassin instead. Master found a new toy to play with, and it seemed like his mood was better now, so Shade tactfully let it be. Seyton was of the same mind, ignoring everything.
Nine exited the gates, making sure to press the spot where the assassin had placed his trap spell, which was seen in the eyes of the already crying assassin. He only cried harder after seeing it. Nine had to forcibly shove down the laughter that wanted to break out.
She bent down and consoled the crying boy, brushing her thumb against his tear tracked face, causing his tears to falter at her sudden kindness.
"Why are you crying, little girl?" Nine questioned, a smile breaking out on her face. She really couldn't hold it in! The dumbfounded look on his face was just too funny.
The poor assassin went into a daze at the smile on his target's face, feeling like he saw flowers and sunshine blooming around the target. He was so dazed that he forgot to answer or take any action. Even after all the attempts, he had never seen the target smile at anyone, only now!
Waiting for an answer but not receiving any, Nine picked up the assassin who was still dressed in female clothing. He looked like a little lolita that had gotten lost, and the way he had cried to heart-wrenchingly would have suckered anyone else in. Too bad she had already seen all the tricks of the trade. There was no way she would fall for such a clumsy trap!
"How old are you?" Nine asked, poking the stunned assassin's cheek.
"Ah, I'm twelve," the boy couldn't help but blurt out, unintentionally telling the truth as he was still stunned by his target's looks.
Nine casually carried him into her residence, where the stunned assassin snapped back to his senses. Where was the target taking him? Into the residence? But he hadn't been able to get in no matter how hard he tried! This practically delivering the gift onto his doorstep.
But…why was the target taking him? It couldn't be that the target was a lolicon…? Startled, the boy was shocked at his own thoughts, staring hard at the target's face. No matter how he looked, it didn't seem like that was the case?
Feeling the doubtful stare, Nine looked back at him. She had wondered how he hid his ears, but looking at his braided hair, she could tell that his hair had been grown long to be able to hide it by tying his hair a certain way.
"What's your name?"
Prepared, the young assassin answered cautiously. "My name is Justine," he said, seemingly feeling shy.
"I'm Nine. You're soaked to the bone, so we'll give you a bath before we find your parents, okay?" Nine said soothingly.
The young assassin, 'Justine', whose name was Justin, panicked inwardly. How could be explain that his parents didn't exist in this city? Not good! His ears! How was he going to hide it if someone tried to wash him?
Nine handed him off to Shade, who brought the young assassin for a bath whilst Seyton fetched a change of clothes. Justin struggled a little but went into another daze when Nine smiled at him, causing Shade to whisk the boy off before he could protest.
Nine hid her laugh. Too easy. She had something to look forward to in the following days. She really wanted to see how long he could keep his 'secrets'.