He was a strange person.
His first response was "Assassin? I see", extremely flat.
This handsome man was accompanied by a dignified knight-like woman named Silvia, and a cute demi human girl named Eko.
I became his slave.
Me, a former assassin that has 『unable to attack』 added to her contract. When I wondered why he would want to buy such a defective item, he said "I want you to become a Blacksmith Master".
Not a sex slave. Not a housekeeper either. A Blacksmith Master.
I don't know what that means.
——————–
On the road to the town of Pae Ho, he spoke to me about a lot of things.
If I had a family. About what were my hobbies. About what I preferred to do on my holidays. About anything that I was especially good at.
I wasn't able to give him a straight answer.
Lucia-sama―― The now dead Duchess had picked up an orphan. That was me.
I had no name. If I had to say one, it would be 『Shadow』. From an early age I was raised as an assassin.
I had no family. I had no hobbies. I had no holidays. The only thing I was especially good at was assassination.
But I can't say that.
Now that I've been named Yukari, I am nothing but a mere slave.
——————————-
"Can you tell me about your past? "
I got angry when he asked me that.
I don't want to talk about that. Those were my immediate thoughts.
What happened in the past? Why was only Lucia-sama executed, but I survived? Once that is revealed, the way they look at me will change. I realize that there's nothing I can do. This feeling of constraint in my heart will not disappear, it'll continue to be plagued by this huge injustice.
But it's useless to speak of it. In that case, I'd rather not talk about it.
Therefore, I hid it. I retreated back into my shell. I decided to draw a line between me and them, and simply work like a plain slave.
I am just useless, the same as my thoughts. And that's how I kill my emotions.
＊ ＊ ＊
"Shall we form a team?"
All the members were gathered around the dining table.
So, I decided to declare this in a loud voice.
"So, it's finally time."
"Time! "
Silvia and Eko were in high spirits, and nodded as they answered.
"A team you say? "
Yukari inclined her head to the side in wonder.
First of all, we haven't talked about our goals to Yukari.
"I'm aiming to become first place in the world. Silvia and Eko here, are friends who will help me accomplish that. I'd like to ask for your help too, Yukari."
"I am your slave, Master. Of course, I'll help you if I can, but… first place in the world? "
Yukari's doubts seemed to grow deeper.
"The first place in the world. Do you know what it means, Master? "
"Yeah."
"Are you kidding? "
"No."
She isn't believing me at all.
Yukari's cold expression felt as if she was stabbing daggers with her eyes.
But at least, as a by-product, I was able to draw some "disgust" emotions from her. Maybe if I keep having her show her emotions little by little like this, she will be able to become more familiar with us. Let's keep doing it diligently. Diligently…
"Second-dono. I've been wondering about it since a while back, but how would you accomplish becoming the top in the world? "
Silvia followed up with that question.
"Very good question, Silvia Virginia."
"Why my full name…?"
"Waginia."
"It's Virginia, Eko."
"Waginia."
"...Vir."
"Waginia! "
"Whatever, that's fine."
Hey, are you really fine with that? …Err, back to the talk about being the number one in the world.
Well, there are many things to it, but I guess "that" is the easiest to understand.
"There's a simple way to becoming the number one individual in the world."
"Simple? "
"Yeah. Earn the titles for all the skills and continue to defend those titles. In other words, never lose a title battle."
"...Haa? "
Silvia opened her mouth and stared at me blankly.
『Title』―― This is the top rank of each skill.
Let me explain it by using [Archery] as an example. There are nine types of skills in [Archery] going from "Soldier Archery" up to "Dragon King Archery". In order to win the Title in [Archery] you must first raise all nine skills to Grade 9. That is the first condition.
The second condition is to participate in, and win, the Title Competition which takes place once every six months. The Title Competition is a tournament-style 『Game』 for those who have met the first condition for the Title acquisition.
By meeting the second condition, you are given the right to challenge the current Title holder. So, if you win against the current Title holder, you'll be able to steal the Title for [Archery].
There are only two other methods of getting a Title, "Be the first one on the server to acquire the first condition" or "Successfully defend your Title in a Title match". Therefore, it's impossible for more than one person to hold the same Title.
In other words, that Title means the highest peak of that skill, both in name and rank.
And getting it for all the skills―― That makes it very easy to understand.
Of course, "Full Title Domination" is a factor that can be said to be enough for the top spot, but I don't think that is all there is behind "the real world's first place". There were various other criteria in Mobius' 『World Ranking』, and they all were combined when deciding the rank.
However, as a clear goal, Full Title Domination seems like a good first step.
"Do you know about Title matches? "
"Y-yes, of course! W-will Second-dono enter that tournament!? For all the skills!? "
Silvia rose up in excitement and exclaimed.
"To be the world's top, that's obvious."
"T-that is――"
"Impossible."
Yukari broke in the chat between me and Silvia.
Just a single, clear, cold-spoken word.
"What was that? "
"I said it is impossible, Master."
When I asked her, she just repeated it indifferently.
The air in the surroundings became heavy.
"Why do you think so? "
"It's a matter of course. People can't become that strong."
"That's not a reason. Why do you think so? "
"...Like I said, one can't become that strong."
"What's your basis? "
"..."
After asking her, Yukari simply shut her mouth.
I'm not sure why, but the one thing I understood was that she was angry.
"I… don't really like frivolous talks."
"Don't change the subject. On what grounds do you think that? Why can't one become that strong? "
"Why you say…"
"People can't become that strong. Why do you think so? "
"That is a matter of course."
"But, why do you think so? "
"That is, because I ...! "
Yukari raised her voice――
"...forget it, it's nothing. If you'll excuse me, I'll go back first."
She immediately regained her composure and returned to her room as if escaping.
I wonder what was the continuation of those words. Considering her situation of being a nameless assassin, I could vaguely guess.
Maybe Yukari wasn't raised as a "person" since she was a child. Being an assassin surely had been a severe job. Incidentally, I know the pain of trying to "become strong". The strictness and the difficulty of "defeating people". As well as its fleetingness.
That's why she was angry that I was frivolous.
I'd totally agree with her. That is, if that person was not me.
"Dangerous, that Yukari."
Silvia spoke. Certainly, dangerous. The way she raised her voice but immediately swallowed what she wanted to say afterwards. What's the meaning of that? A burst of pent up emotions, something that surpassed what she could usually control.
"She's mentally unstable. It might be natural considering that she was forced into slavery in that slave store until I bought her... But still, to try to control herself to that extent?"
"It felt like she wanted to say something but was forced to hold it down."
"Forced to hold it down? "
"That's how it looked to me. What do you think, Second-dono? "
"To me… she looked scared that her secret might come to light."
When I said so, Silvia happily laughed with a "Fufufu".
"What? "
"Nothing, sorry. I wasn't making fun of you."
After apologizing, she said "It's just", as she continued.
"A woman often shows emotions opposite to what she's feeling."
Who knows, maybe both our opinions have some truth in them.
When Silvia finished saying that, she carried the half-asleep Eko, and they both went back to their room.
As she was leaving, I felt that for the first time since I met her, Silvia was beautiful… but I quickly changed my mind after seeing the napkin electrostatically stuck in her butt.
——————————
Next morning.
We rode our horses towards the lower-class dungeon, 『Ashaspern』, located about 15 minutes east of the town of Pae Ho.
You might wonder why we going to a lower-class dungeon now. The answer is, for the "team formation".
To form a team, you must complete a so-called team formation quest. The contents are: "Clear a lower-class dungeon with three or more team members". It's a very simple quest, since any dungeon is fine, as long as it's a lower class one.
Well, speaking clearly, there are some other facts, like completely clearing all the monsters from the dungeon or clearing it within two hours, but since they won't pose any problem, I'll just omit them.
And since the most efficient way to earn experience so far was doing a clear out of the Limptfert dungeon, I still planned to stay in the town of Pae Ho. That's why I chose the Ashaspern dungeon, thinking that we'll clear it faster since it's nearby.
———————–
And thus, we arrived.
A cave similar to a gaping mouth on the side of a rocky mountain in the forest.
It's been a very very long time since I last dived into this dungeon. Even then, I only came to the Ashaspern Dungeon once.
...It was at this time, that I had completely forgotten.
The Ashaspern had a nickname―― the 『Blown Away Dungeon』.