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The entrance to Defel.

Two guards were checking the identities of those entering the city.

I knew that for a few coins, even those without ID would be let through, but I didn’t even need to do that; I simply presented my Academy student ID, and they let me pass without any issues.

Since this was the closest city to the guild hideout, I had often relied on it.

Therefore, even though there wasn’t a single familiar face in the city, there wasn’t a corner of it that I didn’t know.

However, my destination wasn’t inside the city; it was the guild hideout outside.

Even if the location was supposed to be hidden, it wasn’t a place to visit in broad daylight, so I chose a random inn and rented a room.

“Go to the room in the middle of the second floor. Meals aren’t included, so order as you like. You can eat out too, but there’s no place like our inn.”

“I’ll let you know if I think of anything.”

I was aware that the food here wasn’t that great, but there was no need to point it out. It wasn’t unpalatable.

Holding the key I received, I went upstairs to find that the cramped room contained an old bed, a small table, and a hanger for clothes—sufficiently furnished for a room.

If it had been during my assassin days, I would have been grateful for even a personal room, but a few months of Academy life had dampened all those sentiments.

I tossed my simple bundle on the table and lay down on the bed, the distinctive smell of dust penetrating my nose. No, it was just the dust coming off the blanket.

I waved my hand to disperse the dust in front of my face and got up.

Instead of languishing in this dilapidated room for hours, I thought it better to head out and left the inn.

As I stepped outside, I could hear the innkeeper’s voice behind me proclaiming that their food was quite good, but I pretended not to hear and walked out.

The streets of Defel felt both familiar and strange.

It had only been a few months since I last saw these streets, yet some shops had gone out of business while others had expanded, becoming much larger than before.

I stopped by a weapon shop to get my sword sharpened, visited a bookstore to buy a novel but set it down after hearing the price, and wandered into a café to quench my thirst. Before I knew it, the day was fading.

I should probably head back and get ready for a proper outing.

Returning to the inn, the innkeeper asked if I wanted dinner. After hearing the question for the third time, I conceded defeat.

“Let’s go with a menu under three silver coins, please.”

“Oh, you’re more generous than I expected, young lady. By the way, are you not having any of this?”

The innkeeper asked while twisting his wrist as he held his hand up in front of his face.

I wasn’t of an age to be unable to drink, but considering I would be visiting the hideout soon, there was no need to indulge in alcohol.

“I don’t need it.”

“Okay. Just wait a moment. I’ll bring out my special dish.”

With that, he left his wife to manage the counter and disappeared into the kitchen.

Cooking with that big frame of his—I struggled to imagine how that would look.

Yet, how long did I wait? Soon enough, delicious aromas wafted from the kitchen, and several appealing plates were set before me.

I wondered why he mentioned being generous when I ordered food, only to realize my sense of money had slightly malfunctioned.

At the Academy, the cheapest menu item was one silver coin, while the meals I usually shared with friends were five coins each.

In fact, even the cheapest item at one silver coin could buy quite decent food for commoners.

And here I was, ordering a three-coin dish just for myself…

Perhaps considering my situation, the innkeeper focused more on quality than quantity, but even so, it was a bit overwhelming for one person.

However, after the first spoonful of soup, one forkful of potato, and a piece of meat, I changed my mind.

Sure, my memory of this inn was that the food wasn’t particularly good, but what I was eating now could easily rival the fare of a decent restaurant’s head chef.

“How is it? Good thing you didn’t eat out, right?”

“Not long ago, she said our place would go under if this continues and that she had to come up with some solution, and then she started making food like this.”

It was a reminder that a few months is a significant amount of time.

I knew it was best to eat just enough to move, yet I found myself scraping the bottom of the bowl clean.

*

I changed into my assassin gear and stepped outside the city.

Even in the dark of night, the guards were still stationed at the city gates, but it posed no trouble for me to sneak out.

After leaving the city, I shifted my footsteps off the well-maintained path and headed towards the mountains.

Though the underbrush was denser than before, I had no trouble finding the guild hideout located halfway up the mountain.

In an area not visible from the typical mountain path, there stood a tiny shack.

Other assassins reportedly run various businesses to hide their presence, but our hideout was in shambles.

Given that we barely received any assassination requests, it would have been better if we had other businesses as side ventures—yet, we lacked even that, perpetually running low on funds.

In truth, it looked like a small hunter’s cabin from the outside, but the hidden basement inside was quite spacious.

Remembering that all of this had been built from the blood and sweat of our assassination members, it was remarkable that it hadn’t collapsed yet.

Keeping my distance, I climbed a tree to survey the area.

While the Deretia family’s soldiers were nowhere in sight, I proceeded cautiously, maintaining my concealment as I entered.

There were no signs of life, and it seemed the assassins who had been left dead had all been cleared away, with only the occasional bloodstain remaining.

Slowly, I searched the inside of the guild hideout, prepared to stay overnight if necessary.

Unless there was a secret room only the Guild Master knew about, I had checked every place I knew but found nothing particularly useful.

Perhaps this was a poor guild from the start, or maybe someone had already ransacked it; either way, most of the money and valuables were long gone.

The only thing I managed to retrieve from the secret space was a small token.

This token, engraved with a skull design clutching a gold coin, was worth keeping.

With this, I would truly be able to enter Defel.

Still unsure, I searched once more before leaving to see if I could find the scroll with my Master-Servant Mark, but once again, I couldn’t locate it.

*

In the heart of Defel stood a building far larger and more extravagant than any surrounding it; it was even bigger than the mansion where the Lord of Defel resided.

Even in the dead of night, the building was brightly lit. Thankfully, the soundproofing magic kept the noise from spilling over into the surroundings.

Inside it lay the most lavish yet most depraved space in all of Defel.

A gambling hall where money didn’t look like money.

While there were various back stories, it was still a lawful establishment. However, my goal was not the gambling area on the surface, but the one beneath it.

Sneaking through the maze-like corridors within the building, I arrived at a room tucked away in a corner. Before the small door stood men who looked the part of skilled swordsmen, keeping watch with great diligence.

As I approached, they immediately placed their hands on their sword hilts to guard against me, but upon showing them the token I brought from the hideout, they quickly lowered their hands.

Instead, they took my token, inspected it closely in front and back, and then stepped aside to let me pass.

Without so much as a hint of tact in holding the door open for me, I opened it myself to reveal stairs leading down instead of a room.

I had only visited this place once, when I followed the Guild Master here.

Before that, I had no idea such a place existed in Defel, nor that a token was needed to enter it.

In the depths of the building, in the underground of Defel, everything existed.

An illegal gambling hall on a scale unmatched by what’s above ground, an auction house for goods of uncertain origin, people sold as mere toys, and brothels where bodies traded hands for sums exorbitant for just one night—all of these existed underground.

Our assassin guild hadn’t been struggling with poverty for no reason.

Given that such dark corners of Defel existed, we weren’t the only assassin guild.

While we didn’t resort to outright brawls, competition existed, and we were always left with lowly requests as a result.

Thus, when the request to assassinate Selian came in, the guild staked its very survival on it.

Well, that’s all in the past now.

I asked the attendant nearby for directions to my desired location.

I arrived at the General Store.

True to its name, it was a place where all sorts of things could be bought and sold. The owner bought even illegal or dangerous items without question and would sell whatever the customer wanted.

It could be people, items, or information.

Following the guidance of a waiting staff member, after a brief wait, I entered the transaction room when my turn came.

Aside from the slightly dim lighting characteristic of an illegal trading place, it resembled a regular shop.

Upon stepping inside and catching sight of the sales attendant’s face, I froze without realizing it.

“What’s the matter, customer?”

It was the elf who had been groping my thigh in the carriage.

…Why on earth was an elf in a place like this?