When I woke up in the morning, Lili was already gone.

This wasn’t particularly unusual. On days when there were staff meetings, classes requiring special preparation, or events, instructors had to start their mornings early. And in Lili’s case, on top of that, she was constantly being pulled away for VIP protection duties or to assist the knight order whenever something came up.

Because of that, Class One had the most self-study sessions among all five classes.

Her business this morning was likely escorting Kilpus back to the royal capital.

If it were something trivial, she would have told me the day before. The only times she couldn’t do that were when it involved Kilpus, who had secretly visited the school, or matters related to dungeon curriculum and other confidential lessons. That’s why, when she left without saying anything, it was even easier to figure out.

Most likely, her task this morning was to escort Kilpus to an inn that served as a relay point, where she would hand him over to the royal guards. Something like that.

I silently went through my stretching routine.

A child's body is terrifying. Though my overall performance had declined, my fatigue was practically gone. One night of sleep, and I was almost fully recovered. What insane regeneration.

After washing my face, I changed into my uniform and fastened my scabbard belt around my waist.

The gladius that had taken Lili’s strike already had a chipped blade. It had been brand new, taken from the supply warehouse after the battle against the homunculus had shattered my previous one. Still, being a standard-issue weapon, it couldn’t be helped. Cheap swords are nothing but trouble. A perfect example of "buy cheap, pay twice."

With a sigh, I sheathed it at my waist. I’d have to replace it again by the end of the day.

With the key Lili had entrusted to me, I opened the door.

Breakfast was in the cafeteria. At this hour, it would be crowded. That was why I usually avoided it, opting instead to buy bread and side dishes from the cafeteria’s store the day before to eat with Lili in our room. But last night, we hadn’t had the time for that. Lili had been stuck escorting Kilpus, after all.

It wasn’t as if I was on a battlefield where I didn’t know when my next meal would come, so skipping one wouldn’t be a problem. Still, considering I wanted to grow my body as quickly as possible, every bit of nutrition was valuable.

Just as I locked the door and started walking, I caught sight of someone leaning against the wall—Riona. Instinctively, I jumped like a startled animal.

"Whoa!?"

D-D-Damn it, that scared me…

"…Morning," she said.

"Don’t just sit there without making a sound! I nearly had a heart attack!"

"Mmm…"

She played with her hair, sulking a little.

"It’s the instructor’s floor. Wouldn’t it look weird if a student was hanging around?"

"Then at least knock," I retorted.

"If Lili came out, it’d be awkward…"

"Don’t sound so pathetic. Lili left early this morning. She’s not here anymore."

"Oh, I see."

As I started walking, Riona followed beside me.

She was oddly subdued.

"So, why were you waiting for me?"

"I don’t wanna run into anyone else."

"Relax. No one knows about what you did. Officially, you were marked as absent due to illness. Only Void and Oujin know the truth."

"…Those two are exactly the problem. Especially that wild dog. He looks like he’d actually try to kill me."

No one’s going to commit murder at school, idiot. Only an assassin would do something like that.

"So, what was up with that delinquent, anyway? Why was I on his radar? I don’t remember doing anything weird…"

You were doing nothing but weird things. In a different sense, though.

"…"

"Honestly, that guy’s the real enigma. I guess he’s a good person to everyone else, but still…"

I wanted to explain, but doing so would require revealing my own identity. A tricky situation.

"Are you scared of Void?"

"Huh?"

"He's big, you know. I just wondered… if he reminded you of something from the past."

I was thinking about Riona’s history.

She had suffered under adults. She had probably been left with both physical and emotional scars. It wouldn’t be surprising.

As we reached the cafeteria entrance, more and more students filled the area. The school store was packed as well.

Ugh, annoying. Maybe I should wait until the crowd thinned out.

"That’s not it. Void’s just a kid. He’s not scary at all. If anything, His Majesty was way more terrifying."

Hearing someone talk about my father like that… It felt strange. Maybe this was what it was like to have a child’s perspective. If this were my past life, I would have laughed and agreed.

"Kilpus—His Majesty is kind," I said.

"Yeah, I know. He even forgave me. But still, I just can’t. When he’s right in front of me, my body freezes. I feel like I have to kill him, like it’s an instinct."

Riona continued.

"No, it wasn’t just that. It was something deeper. Adults are scary, sure, but that wasn’t all…"

I couldn’t quite put it into words either, but I understood what she meant. It was the fear of being swallowed by something enormous and unknowable.

Whether for good or ill, I suspected that was what it meant to have the qualities of a king.

"Even when I had my blade at Kilpus' throat, he didn’t even blink. His expression didn’t change at all. He just looked me in the eye. He didn’t resist, but somehow, I knew I couldn’t kill him. That was a first for me…"

Riona looked down at her hands, curling and uncurling her fingers.

She was hesitating.

Assassins don’t hesitate. The first thing they kill isn’t their target—it’s their own conscience. Only after that can they take lives without doubt. That’s how true assassins are made.

But Riona still seemed to have a shred of reason left.

The proof? Just before she had thrust her blade forward, she had apologized to Kilpus.

A true assassin kills without emotion. But a failed one, a half-baked killer, hesitates and kills only to survive.

Right now, it seemed that Riona was still clinging to the latter.