Thalia-san looked rather relaxed. While waiting for me she was reading a small book, from this distance I could tell it was a book about food. Ah wait, that's just a menu.
I casually walked towards the table Thalia-san was in and helped myself to a seat opposite of her.
"Good evening, Seven."
"Good evening. I arrived just in time right?"
"Mhm."
Thalia-san nodded, seemingly pleased.
"I really enjoy being with you. It's rather comforting."
That sentence made me flustered for a bit, I really have to hand it to her since she really knows how to please someone.
"S-Same here. So what will we talk about?"
"To invite you for a night meal without preparing a topic is truly clumsy of me."
It's also partly my fault for being weak at long conversations, I'm only good at listening.
"Ah, I know. How about we talk about our childhood?"
I suggested, but Thalia-san reacted repulsively. I guess she didn't like that.
"Can I simply hear about your childhood instead, Seven?"
She suggested with a bitter smile.
We spent the whole night talking about ourselves and decided to go home at exactly 12 o' clock.
Since Thalia-san was drunk, I wanted to accompany her home and surprisingly she allowed it.
"Where do you live, Thalia-san?"
I asked her while walking through the pavement path, crowds of people bustling by as we went.
"Orc Slayer's Inn, Room 42..."
And then Thalia-san passed out so I had to carry her behind my back. Is this girl really a deadly assassin like what the Guild Master described? I didn't know assassins could be so... Uncool.
She was pretty light, so just like Aria she didn't burden me at all. Rather, this feels like I'm just holding a single column of paper.
Since I didn't know exactly where the Orc Slayer's Inn was, I went to the Lodging District just adjacent to the Merchant's District and asked the people there where it was.
And finally I found it. But something looked off. There were many suspicious looking people guarding the entrance. And they were inspecting the hands and appearance of the people who wish to enter. Although they look like guards, they definitely aren't since the guards in this city dress like imperial knights, not adventurers. And guard duty doesn't include more than ten people to keep watch of a single inn.
And they most definitely do not inspect the appearance and hands of visitors. So something felt fishy here.
If I'm not mistaken, those guys are looking for someone who has a missing finger, has silver hair and golden eyes. If there's anything other than that, that would be a whole other coincidence.
...
As I expected, one of the suspicious people spotted me and pointed us out to his colleagues.
"Haa... I knew it. Summon Magic Sword."
I conjured a magic sword enchanted with flight magic and boarded it straight away. Thalia-san seems to have fallen asleep so I wouldn't want to wake her up, I carried her on my back.
Even if she's a criminal, to be honest it would leave a bad taste in my mouth if I ignored this. There's a possibility she'll be executed once she's captured.
"Hurry up! Don't let them get away!"
As my own magic is something close to being a part of my own body when conjured, with fair ease I ordered it to ascend and get us out of here. And even though it was easy to control my intentions, it was hard controlling my visualization. If I messed up like earlier and imagined the sword flipping sidewards, I, including Thalia-san would both probably fall.
"Stop! You stop! Get down here right now!"
We've covered a considerable distance from her pursuers now. That being said, the gusts of wind from flying is terribly cold and rough.
"Mrghm... Seven..?"
"Owh, you're awake already?"
"Why are we flying? Hold on... What happened while I was asleep? I'm sorry I just closed my eyes and I lost consciousness."
She's adorable, but I really shouldn't forget that she's a murderer. I've more than doubled check already if she's really the one the Guild Master is looking for and she certainly is. There's no other Thalia Ronacsof who completely match her.
"Say Thalia-san, how did you lose your pinky finger on your right hand?"
I inquired her while holding and examining her hand. I already knew the reason why though, since Alric himself told me of how he cut it.
"Uh... I accidentally chopped it off while I was preparing food."
"Pfft..."
I couldn't hold in my laughter and almost lost control of my magic sword. The sword staggered in mid air as if shaking and we almost hit a guard post.
"What's so funny?"
"It's nothing."
Maybe I should keep it a secret that I know she's a criminal for now. Since she's an assassin and she's behind me right now, I have a bad feeling I'd get myself killed if I revealed that I knew.
Although that isn't the case right now, something just feels unsettling...
"..!"
The sound of something sharp hurtling in our direction from my left side reached my ears and a shard of ice drew close to my face. The unforeseen event left me in a daze and I immediately got ready to draw out another sword.
Clang!
However something else came to my rescue first. The sharp javelin of ice shattered into tiny inelegant pieces upon being intercepted by something solid.
A long sword made out of bright mithril stood in my way as if to guard me. And a cold familiar voice I couldn't be mistaken with came to light.
Ryan Bang.
"Thalia Ronacsof, or shall I address you as Natalia Gliese? I've finally found you at last."
The Guild Master was in front of us. Floating in mid air like a poltergeist.
Thalia-san didn't give a reply but instead, more than 40 swords environed the two of us, circumscribing us from the Guild Master.
"Surrender now and I may spare your life."
"Only the truly strong can decide the fate of one's life and death."
He proposed Thalia to surrender but she answered with something a villain would say in a world where weaklings are devoured by the weak.
Various other swords of varying shapes and sizes started to appear in large numbers. They were coming out of Thalia-san's storage ring.
Before long, the two engaged in a long ranged battle. The swords that belonged to Thalia-san discharged at the blink of an eye towards the Guild Master who was protected by thin layers of ice that kept repairing itself the more it was damaged. The attacks did consistent damage, however they were only so much as close to break through.
"Give up now, you damned murderer! You killed my wife! Do you intend to kill me and Alric too!?"
"..."
Once again, she didn't give him a response. I was starting to feel the guild master's rage pouring through. Giving me the feeling that I'm so dead if he ever notices me. The cold air that was exuding from his figure was gradually making me chilly.
"Seven Clavery! Retreat from that place at once! Are you her accomplice!?"
I gulped my saliva in complete speechlessness and looked at Thalia-san. She looked at me back and shook her head leisurely.
I know her well enough for her to not involve me in her personal matters.
"I-I'm not."
I answered his doubts and I felt Thalia-san's clutch on my sleeves loosen up.
"Please let me go down, Seven."
"O-Okay..."
Doing as she said, I ordered the sword we were riding to descend to the ground. The Guild Master watched us impatiently while levitating in the sky.
Thalia-san looked unbothered by that and ordered her swords to point upwards.
"Will you be okay?"
I asked, her expression was telling me she was sorrowful and I didn't know why she would be so.
"I'm sorry for almost getting you in trouble, Seven Clavery."
I can tell she was about to say more, but it was cut off when an arrow came darting at her head. It was defended against by one of her swords at hair's breadth. Because of the speed of which she manipulated the blade in a hurry, her cheek got wounded by her own sword.
"A-Are you okay?!"
"Mhm, it's just a scratch."
I hurriedly looked at where the arrow came from and confirmed it was from a window on one of the town's buildings.
"Thalia-san, behind you!"
There was an assassin looking guy who was going to strike Thalia from the back but to my surprise, her swords moved before I could even warn her.
Ten swords rushed towards that person.
At first I thought she was just going to confine him by surrounding him with them.
But what happened instead was something gore.
The swords struck down the assailant as if a downpour of rain. Ultimately crucifying him to the pavement floor.
"...What?"
I was feeling slightly disturbed. This was the first time someone got murdered in front of me. Even through my adventures this didn't happen before... More than that, a person committed the murder in such an unsightly way.
The culprit however showed no signs of regret. A natural killer.
"J-Jordan! You bitch, go die!"
Another assailant joins the fray and got himself helplessly slaughtered by the hundreds of swords on guard.
Before long, the sky was infringed upon by an unbelievable artillery of blades.
"Commanding all these swords with levitation magic using your own manabrain. You're so talented yet you chose the path of a killer. What a waste."
"If I could take that path, I wouldn't have become a murderer."
"Yet here you are now, a filthy wretch."
The Guild Master scoffed and a large number of unfamiliar adventurers revealed themselves, encircling Thalia-san.
"Seven Clavery, come here now before I see you as a criminal as well."
I hesitated for a moment, I couldn't leave this girl's side when she's struggling here alone.
Thalia-san looked rather grim.
She didn't speak or react, in fact she wasn't showing any expressions. But I know what she would say either way and I silently left her side.
"Charge!"
The Guild Master roared, his voice was amplified by wind magic for everyone to hear.
The adventurers and his scouts standing by, charged in all at once. Holding weapons of all sorts, from swords, spears, maces to bowguns. All pointed on one person.
"S-Stop!"
I shouted after laying my eyes on this frightful scene. There were too many people, how can an assassin deal with this many people at once!?
Suddenly, the sounds of screams and yells of agony came from Thalia-san's directions.
Blood started raining and spraying from all directions. No way, there were atleast fifty people, and she's pushing them back?!
A drop of blood descended on my nose. And that's when I realized what was happening. All these people are ones who don't want to kill a fellow human, however, Thalia-san is different. She's not afraid to take a life at all.
"K-KUAGHHH!"
"EUGH!"
No way, although this is naive of me, the sounds of people dying are not something anyone could just simply ignore.
"S-Stop... Thalia-san, stop!"
I ran towards the crowd of people. When they dispersed, I saw the many corpses on the ground, mostly all were diced up and shredded.
"Y-You! You motherfucker!"
These idiots! I get that their friends and companions died but she's not someone they can beat!
The person who recklessly approached met the same fate as his companions, diced up and cut in half by swords.
The rest remaining looked frightened and slowly backed away as Thalia-san made her way to them.
I hurriedly confronted her straight away. I can't let her kill more. Out of fifty people, less than ten was left and among them was the Guild Master who couldn't seem to overpower her. This is no different from a genocide.
"Thalia-san, please stop."
I held her by the hand. Her clothes and face was drenched up in blood, her face didn't seem to show what she was thinking at the moment.
From looking at her previous prey, she shifted her gaze to me. It didn't scare me at the bit since it didn't release any sort of killing intent.
While holding her hand, I felt that it was cold. So cold I could compare it to ice. Was she hit by the Guild Master's attacks or something?
Swish!
Another idiot rushed in and interrupted us, this time by trying to impale her side with a spear. Thalia tried to cut him down with the sword she was holding. But I summoned a magic sword just in time and blocked her slash while summoning another to block the random person's attack on Thalia.
"..."
She looked at me with eyes that looked like she was mad at me, did I trigger her by doing that somewhat?
My heroism as I expected, ended up pointless since the guy behind me got crushed to death by a great sword the size of Durian.
"Seven... Don't get in the way."
She told me strictly. The array of swords under her control pointing at me.
"I-I don't want to."
I adamantly resisted while summoning about a hundred magic swords with almost all of my mana to counterfeit her in case something goes wrong.
Eventually, hundreds of swords with two different owners pointing at their targets could be seen about the night sky like nearby stars.
"..."
Thalia slowly raised her hand. I thought she was going to rain down her swords at me but she touched her lips instead.
Then she grabbed my waist and pulled me close to her.
"Mhmph."
To my utmost bewilderment, our lips were suddenly pressing against each other. Her tongue forced itself in and a strange sensation flowed through my body.
As quick and abrupt as she did the deed, I felt like I was afflicted with narcosis. I felt incredibly drowsy.
I tried to resist, but the most I could do was drop on my knees. Feeling all the magic swords I conjured disassemble into particles of mana.
The last I saw from there was Thalia-san wiping her lips.
Ah... I got kissed by another girl again.
At that moment, I completely blacked out.