Assessment. 09:37

“‘A concern,’ you say?”

Nothing like he had been a moment ago in the interview, the man in white-rimmed glasses leaned back in his chair, relaxed, and turned his palm toward the man whose face was hidden by his robe's hood, inviting him to go on.

“I speak of the demon sword ‘Soul Devourer’ that the brat mentioned. ‘Soul Devourer’ is the sealed demon sword of which even fairy tales speak...... Such a thing, in the hands of a brat like that? Hardly.”

Letting out a sigh of exasperation, the man in the robe crossed his arms.

“According to his application materials, it was sealed away in his family's barn, though.”

The giant woman added this as she flipped through his resume.

And sure enough, it said: ‘On my 18th birthday, I encountered “Soul Devourer” in my family's barn. Following its guidance, I murdered every villager.’

That seemed to have been roughly 2 years ago.

“Hah! A fairy-tale demon sword sealed in the family barn? What, is his family home some ancient ruin or somethin'!? And any way you look at it, that sword's a cheap, mass-made piece of junk!”

The one speaking so mockingly was the middle-aged man with stubble and a large scar on his forehead.

But still, the man's lips twisted into a smirk, and he put a question to the man in white-rimmed glasses.

“But, Ambitious...... you took a liking to that brat. Didn't you?”

The man in white-rimmed glasses...... Ambitious, responded to the question with a soft chuckle and a quiet nod.

“Exactly, Short Warp. I intend to welcome him as a member of this reborn ‘Purple Dual Rings’.”

He declared this firmly to the man with the scar on his forehead, Short Warp.

Cheeks flushing, the giant woman gazed at Ambitious's profile, so brimming with confidence.

Smooth Stan let out another sigh.

“If the Representative hath so decided, I have no objection...... yet it is, unexpected. That one is a madman who kills people believing some sword lying about to be a fairy-tale demon sword, is he not? Does he not put you in mind of our predecessors?”

“Whatever the piece, I'll show you I can make good use of it, Smooth Stan.”

Ambitious smiled boldly at the question from the robed man, Smooth Stan.

“People are treasures. Lives have value. That's why killing them turns into money. But that goes not just for targets, but for comrades too. People who share your aspirations, you have to treasure them. Besides, Smooth Stan, you shouldn't speak so ill of our predecessors, should you?”

Ambitious leaned forward, spreading his hands in front of his chest as he began to speak from the heart.

Beside him, the giant woman, cheeks flushing, began taking notes fervently, determined not to miss a single word Ambitious spoke.

“Sure, the executives, the previous Founder Dahachie included, were strong, but every one of them was out of his mind. They spouted gibberish about their god this and their god that, never made any real effort to grow the organization, and dumped almost all the job intake and money management on me. But thanks to that, I got a thorough grounding in the ABCs of running an organization. It's precisely because they were incompetent that I am who I am today. In that sense, fufu, I really ought to thank them.”

......Let me explain one thing here.

Once, ‘Purple Dual Rings’ had been a small cult, a gathering of assassins who worshipped the Death God Alogoros.

With Founder Dahachie at its center, they committed murders daily for their faith, but beyond being a religious group, their organization was also something of a mutual-aid society for assassins no established organization would take in.

Hence there were a fair number of assassins in ‘Purple Dual Rings’ who put on a show of faith while really belonging for their own protection, and these were Ambitious, Short Warp, Smooth Stan and the rest.

Founder Dahachie, the former representative of the organization, appointed those with deep faith as executives.

Ambitious and the others had been running the day-to-day business of ‘Purple Dual Rings’ as an assassin organization even back then, but within the organization, they were seen as nothing more than a faction kept out in the cold, never given a real post.

But then, a few years ago, that changed.

Founder Dahachie, claiming to have received some kind of oracle, took the main executives of the time on an expedition somewhere and then vanished without a trace.

Ambitious, ambitious by nature and always watching for his chance, naturally didn't let this opportunity slip.

He swiftly purged most of the remaining fanatical executives who were squabbling over who would succeed Dahachie, and Ambitious and his group took over ‘Purple Dual Rings’ lock, stock and barrel.

From then on, they kept running the organization, making use of nothing but the name recognition ‘Purple Dual Rings’ had built up, while stripping out its religious side as far as they could.

Thanks to that, ‘Purple Dual Rings’ was now no longer the baffling cult it had once been, but an assassin organization whose name rang out across Hamejika, the Golden Continent.

“......Dahachie simply didn't treasure people. If anything rubbed him the wrong way, he'd purge them on the spot, even his executives. Watching that, I always used to think, ‘Ah, what a waste~’ ......I'll say it again. People are treasures. Lives have value. Comrades who share your aspirations must be raised with care. Dahachie was a lesson in what not to do.”

As Ambitious spoke, crossing his arms and looking off into the distance while reminiscing, Short Warp snorted.

“Will he even grow? That brat.”

“With what you call a junk sword, he's cut down 40 people. He must have some kind of talent.”

“Hmm.”

Ambitious continued speaking with a smile.

Short Warp conceded that it might be true and refrained from further comment.

That young man's movements, his footwork, his build, his magic power control.

Based on what he'd confirmed during the practical exam held before the interview, it seemed he was still lacking in many areas, but there was still something that shone.

He thought he might as well give the boy some training in the “Grim Reaper Style” that Short Warp himself had once acquired by imitation.

“And if he doesn't amount to anything?”

“I'll say it again, Smooth Stan. People are treasures. Just by being alive, they have value.”

To Smooth Stan, who continued to press the issue, Ambitious gave a beaming smile and added this:

“In other words, a decoy, a suicide bomber, a punching bag, whatever it is, there's a use worthy of their value, isn't there?”

【Dahachie】

The former Founder of ‘Purple Dual Rings’.

A man who mastered the special ability 【Invisible Slash】 and even managed to corner Emi's Master.

Appeared in Arc 3.

【Grim Reaper Style】

It's just what Short Warp calls it, for convenience; no such school actually exists.