During the discussion, I had both Miyako and Satomi draw a rough layout of the castle, at least to what they know. But that assistance was minuscule. At the very least, it was a good start, and I had a sense of direction. It beats knowing nothing at all. The good thing was that the room where the young lord was kept was on the ground floor. And I had an idea of where it was thanks to the innocent soldier I killed. But to my dread, it was on the other side of the castle from here.

  I crouched in the shadows near the greenhouse. There was a ninja guarding a dark corner several meters away. After checking that there were no other eyes around, I swiftly ran to the side, away from his peripheral vision. I immediately snuck up and conjured a magical wire and swiftly wrapped it around his neck. What I disliked about this world was magic, well sometimes, because I could no longer enjoy the sweet joy of an enemy’s slow death as he was choked while on a stealth mission. I tightened the wire and snapped his neck. It was just too risky to try to choke the air out of them for too long.

  Not that I was a sadistic person or anything. There was just an art in killing. That was what I tended to enjoy. Everyone enjoys art, don’t they?

  Well, not like I could use the wire all the time, considering the effort it would require to kill.

  I dragged and pushed the corpse into the dark corner.

  Man, being extra careful is tiring.

  On another occasion, I could have been more direct and struck them with a dagger. And it fucking sucked that there were no grasses or bushes or hedges around here, would have been? good cover for just about anything.

  I continued on into the hallway, walking with completely silent steps. I stuck to the corners, sharpening my senses to the max. To be honest, I had never tried infiltrating a stronghold of ninjas. This was the first! And thus why I was being the most careful in a while. Thankfully, I didn’t think I had become rusty.

  There were rooms along these hallways, they must be used for guests or something. But the halls were not exactly good places to find cover on. I jumped up to the wooden beams and foundations — wow, just how hard did they go to search for wood? From what I learned, wood was essentially a luxury. Metal beams might be even cheaper.

  There was a ninja sitting in the top corner, on top of the wooden beams. I suddenly came up to him, and he recoiled back in surprise. He didn’t even sense me coming, what a weakling. Before he could make a sound, I pushed the side of my hand onto his throat, and he was rendered unable to shout.

  I grasped his head and moved behind his back, wrapping my arm around his throat. He tried to make another sound, but I was choking him. Pouring a good amount of mana into my arms, I snapped his neck. He limped.

  Neat.

  I gently put him back and left him sitting where he was.

  I wonder if the ninjas back on Earth do the same at their stronghold.

  I had only faced ninjas during missions, annoyingly so. And we wouldn’t go about attacking them without reason or provocation. Ninjas basically belonged to another organization, but ours held no hostilities towards them. The rivalry was just between its people, and well, mostly me. I just hated whenever they were intervening in my missions. Bunch of pieces of fucking shit.

  Not only would they steal my kills, but sometimes they were employed as guards. Really made things harder for the lot of us. Just like it was making things harder for me now, but multiplied.

  I got down and headed for the central corridor. There might be more eyes outside than inside after all. But just as I was about to take a turn, I stopped in place. I subtly took a peek. There were a couple of soldiers on guard, while a ninja was also watching from the ceiling. I could reroute, but I was expecting the same thing, considering it was inside the building. Still, I may be luckier in another path.

  You know what they say; don’t push it.

  I swiftly dashed ahead in complete silence, the people at the turn failed to notice me. Even the ninja. Tsk tsk tsk. I just had to be glad that they were incompetent.

  I noticed a light coming, and I quickly jumped up to the ceiling, my hands clutching at whatever and feet resting on the side surface. I waited for the soldier holding a lamp to pass by. Sometimes, you don't have to kill everyone in your way. Especially if there was a ninja ahead. If I attempted to eliminate this soldier, the lamp might fall, or he might cause a small thud as I killed him.

  Therefore, I let the soldier pass by. He should be someone patrolling all over, so I shouldn’t have to worry about him going back anytime soon. Now the way clear, I swiftly made my way to a ninja hiding in the shadows in a corner. He saw me, but it was too late.

  I struck his vocal cords and instantly went behind him, snapping his neck. Physical Enhancement truly was handy, I never would have been able to do something like this easily. You know how hard it is to snap a guy’s neck? Too hard, and too much sweat, that it’s not even worth it in a stealth mission like this. People struggle a lot. Use a wire or a dagger to make your day easier. If you plan to become an assassin or some shit… you didn’t hear that from me.

  If I didn’t have Physical Enhancement, and didn’t have anything else to worry about, I might have resorted to outright stabbing them in the neck.

  I dragged the body into a room. From what Miyako said, these were mostly empty rooms without guests. And the one I put in the body was indeed empty. The guests just left recently, after all. I silently closed the door. I continued onward, and killed another ninja on the ceiling — like last time, I left him there.

  There are a lot of them, huh?

  Like every spot there was a ninja, there were even those that I had to leave alone. There was no need to waste time on them. Like here, for instance, there was another ninja a bit distant from here, right outside. But no benefit in killing him. And it was quite amusing that they couldn’t even detect me. What sort of training did they get? Must be a pussy’s training.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  I turned into a corridor. This one was a bit narrower than the main one. I killed a guard and lifted him up to a wooden beam. I killed a ninja and threw him into a closet with cleaning tools in it. On the way though, I saw some interesting things. Items that didn’t quite fit to be in this place. Interesting. Miyako mentioned they were scattered all over the place. This Yoshio was quite a collector.

  Anyway, I cleaned up some more enemies to clear my way until the target room was within sight. There were people, three ninjas, in front of the door. Not only were there surprisingly too many in one place, they were also out in the open. There were also a couple of guards standing beside the door. There was something interesting happening here. I quickly hid behind a wall and quietly watched. I had cleared out the enemies that might see me in the area, so I was safe.

  A moment later, an old man in a robe exited the room. Based on the description, he wasn’t the target. He shouldn’t be that old. He spoke to the three ninjas, and then they started walking away. However, the robed old man suddenly stopped.

  Hm?

  Alarms were blaring in my mind, and I quickly withdrew my head.

  Did that old man notice me? Impossible.

  I held my breath and silenced my presence as much as I could. I waited for about ten seconds before slowly taking a peek again. I saw a glimpse of the ninja group leaving.

  That was creepy. And a close one.

  I sighed in relief.

  At any rate, the room was guarded, which could mean that someone important was inside. But I couldn’t be sure. Two door guards, and there should be ninjas as well.

  Fucking hell, this is a bit difficult to go completely stealthily, isn’t it? How should I go about this?

  I contemplated. I couldn’t make a commotion whatsoever. If the target was inside, he might sense it. The best option was to somehow take them all out quietly, there was no way to sneak into that room.

  Let’s start with one.

  I jumped onto the ceiling and clung to the wood. Holding out my palm, I conjured a small ball of ice. I then casually dropped it onto the floor, causing an echoing thud. It wasn’t too loud, but it should be enough for the guards to hear.

  “You heard that?”

  “Yeah.”

  I faintly heard the guards talking.

  “Go check that sound.”

  “Right.”

  I could sense one guard coming towards me. I waited for him to arrive. He looked around until he noticed the ball of ice. Curious, he approached and picked it up.

  “What the hell is this?”

  I quietly landed behind him and conjured a wire, instantly wrapping it around his neck. At the same time, I dispelled the ice ball before it hit the floor. I snapped the guy’s neck with the wire and quietly put him down.

  I returned to the ceiling, but shifted my position away a bit.

  I dropped another ice ball.

  “Hey, what is it?” the remaining guard asked in a hushed tone. But there was no reply.

  He gestured to someone, and I sensed someone coming. A ninja. A dark-clothed man came up and looked around. His eyes widened in surprise and quickly moved to check up on the soldier, to see whether he was ?merely unconscious or actually dead. But I came down behind him and tightened my arms around his neck. There was a cracking sound, and I gently put him on the floor.

  Would you look at that, my victims lined up nicely.

  I couldn’t employ the same strategy now. They might become more alert. My guess, there were at least two ninjas watching the entrance, and now subtracting the one I killed, so at least one remained. At least there were fewer enemies to worry about. Hm, could I freeze the guard for a moment to go after the ninja?

  My ice was extremely durable.

  Alright, let’s give it a try.

  If there were more ninjas than one left, I was sure I could take them out.

  I inhaled for a moment. Afterward, I abruptly got out of my cover and swiftly charged towards the soldier at the door. My movement was completely silent.

  The moment he saw me, he opened his mouth. But before he could let out a voice, he froze — ice instantly engulfed him. I immediately turned my attention to the ninja hiding on a turn. He was caught off guard and confused about what had just happened.

  Before the ninja could do anything, or sound anything, I crushed his vocal cords with my fingers. Immediately, I came up beside him and broke his neck. As he fell, I slowed him down so as not to make a sound. Immediately I returned to the guard that I froze.

  I dissipated a small part of the ice, just around his neck, not the mouth. I reached out and crushed his neck with my bare hand. The ice dispelled, and I slowly put him on the ground.

  Wow, all done within two seconds. Crazy.

  Assassins with Physical Enhancement was insane, I tell you. Of course I was praising myself, if you didn’t realize.

  Checking around, there was no one left.

  I faced the door and knocked, pouring some mana into my throat muscles. “My lord, I have something to report. I’m coming in,” I said with a random man’s voice.

  I opened the door, and there was a person facing a covered corpse on the table. He was sitting, a depressive air around him. I stepped and walked inside, closing the door behind me.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “It concerns our forces, my lord.”

  “What is so important that you have to tell me at this hour—” he suddenly stopped. “Are you a soldier…?” He turned around. He might have sensed something strange about me. Well, I was not walking like a soldier after all; I was lighter on my feet. No clanging of weapons or armor as well.

  But it was too late.

  The moment he turned around, I had already drawn my beautiful, precious dagger, enhanced with Armament Magic. I swung my blade and slashed his throat. But I wasn’t done. If this person was as powerful as I had heard, one strike wouldn’t be enough. And thus, I also stabbed my blade into his heart. After that, I also stabbed him in the throat. Three deadly strikes.

  However, for a moment, I saw strength in his eyes. And so, I quickly slashed his torso, causing a wide tear, and then stabbed him in the chest.

  Five strikes is just ridiculous.

  I pulled out my blade dripping with blood.

  With that, he fell to the ground. But he was still glaring at me. He couldn’t make a voice anymore, but I could feel his anger and resentment.

  I took a deep breath. “... I am still not feeling that satisfied. It isn’t like the old times anymore.” But I should set that aside for now. “My condolences for your son. Perhaps you’re wondering why? Well, my client was left with no choice but to mandate your execution.”

  He was still glaring, but the light in his eyes was fading.

  “Another life for my precious dagger. Ah…” I recalled that I was thinking of a name for it, a final name. “Mandate. Absolute Mandate. Hm, that should be a good name.”

  I hereby name my dagger Absolute Mandate!

  Pretty cool.

  “Your clan will fall into chaos after your death. Well, you can only blame yourself. You shouldn’t have gone after someone who has a contact like me. At least you tried to make things better for your island. But it will all be for naught.”

  His eyes slowly closed. I couldn’t hear a breath from him now. I flicked ?the blood off my dagger and put it back in its sheath behind my waist.

  Target eliminated.

  I glanced at the body on the table. I was just curious about the person Miyako fell in love with. Approaching the corpse, I shifted the fabric covering his face.

  Huh, he is good looking.

  No wonder Miyako fell in love. Well, not my business.

  I covered him back up.

  Time to lea—

  The door slammed open, and I sensed a rapidly moving attack. Instantly, I conjured a barrier right at my face, just in time to block multiple projectiles. The projectiles bounced in the air. I grabbed one. It was a thin metal rod with a sharp tip. I frowned. I already knew what kind of person uses this type of weapon.

  “What have you done?” At the door, there was an old man, a one eyed old man wearing a robe-like outfit.

  Well, shit.