Hiring. 09:52

“You're hired.”

The young man had been called back into the chapel where the interview was held, and he had barely sat down, still stiff with nerves, when Ambitious, the man in white-rimmed glasses, opened with those words.

“Eh......”

The small sound slipped out of him in spite of himself.

Of course, the young man had come to this interview hoping to hear exactly those words, but to be told so the very instant he sat down, well, it was only natural that he'd be left dumbfounded.

Eyes wide and mouth hanging open, the young man froze, his handsome face twisted into a goofy look.

“We of ‘Purple Dual Rings’ welcome you. Everyone, a round of applause for the birth of a new assassin.”

Pachi pachi pachi pachi!

The moment Ambitious made that grand declaration, the members of ‘Purple Dual Rings’ who had surrounded the young man with their presence hidden revealed themselves all at once and clapped!

The young man's thoughts, frozen by the suddenness of it all, gradually, gradually began to move again.

First, the young man was surprised.

By the sudden announcement of his acceptance.

By the masters who had surrounded him without him noticing.

By his own carelessness, which meant he could have been killed at any moment.

And next, he was overjoyed!

That he could belong to the organization he admired!

By the sheer skill of the masters he would now get to learn from!

By his own future, in which he could grow stronger and stronger!

“Th, thank you very much!”

Clenching his fists, he shot to his feet and bowed deeply from the waist.

He had stood up with such force that the chair he had been sitting in tipped backward, hitting the floor with a loud crash.

His face turning bright red, he curled his tall frame small and hurriedly righted the chair, then sat back down with an apologetic look.

“Hahaha, how fresh and heartwarming.”

Ambitious let out a slight, wry chuckle, but then clapped his hands once, sharply—pan!

With that single action, the slightly relaxed atmosphere in the room shifted.

The applause stopped all at once, and the world fell silent.

Ambitious's clear voice resonated even more strongly.

“Well then, I know it's sudden, but now that you're one of our comrades, I'll give you a mission anyone could do.”

“A mission?”

“Didn't I say? It's nothing difficult.”

The young man looked tense and a little uneasy, and Ambitious flashed his white teeth in a broad smile.

“From now on, you'll learn our codenames and our basic combat styles. In other words, put simply...... self-introductions.”

“I see.”

The young man's face relaxed at once.

......Everything he was thinking had been showing on his face and in his attitude this whole time, but as you can see, he was honest by nature.

As an assassin, this was an area for improvement going forward.

Now, the young man looked relieved, but Ambitious wagged his index finger and clicked his tongue, chi, chi, chi.

“But you mustn't take other people's introductions lightly. Trying to understand the other person is the foundation of communication. What are they thinking, what do they like, what are their weak points, what makes them suffer, how can you kill them most easily...... always act with those things in mind. This is very important.”

“Yes!”

“And understanding the other person matters with the people who become your comrades, too. To work together more efficiently and get the job done without fail, you need mutual understanding with your comrades. That's what self-introductions are for.”

“Yes!”

“We don't believe in secrecy. Especially not among comrades; we keep nothing from each other. It's how we build trust and create a better working environment. You're a member of ‘Purple Dual Rings’ now, too. We're like a family, you might say. So I trust you won't keep secrets from your family either, hm?”

“Yes!”

While Ambitious spoke, the members of ‘Purple Dual Rings’ lined up in a single row centered around him.

Their physiques and clothing were each unique, lacking any sense of uniformity.

But they all had one thing in common: a menacing air.

They had made their living by killing people.

A wicked professional pride, self-assurance and the gravitas of long experience, all born of that history, unmistakably seeped from them.

The sunlight from the windows lit only their feet, so their faces were lost in shadow, impossible to make out clearly.

That made it strangely terrifying.

Without thinking, the young man got to his feet again and swallowed hard.

“Well then...... I'll go first.”

With that, the man with the scar on his forehead, who had been standing beside Ambitious, stepped forward.

Though a middle-aged man, his slender body was well-trained, and he covered that blade-like physique in unique clothing that looked as if it were made from stitched-together animal hides.

The young man, at least, had never seen clothes like that before.

Was it his own original design?

“The name's Short Warp. I mostly fight up close, with 【Body Strengthening】 on. And not just that......”

The moment he said those words, Short Warp's figure suddenly vanished.

At the same moment, a hand chop came to rest lightly against the young man's neck.

“......Like so. I can use a special ability called 【Short-Range Teleportation】. That's where the codename comes from. Good to have you.”

The young man's heart was pounding at the suddenness of it all and he couldn't move a muscle; Short Warp clapped him on the shoulder and went back to his spot.

“N, nice to meet you.”

“He's an old hand, and the strongest man in this organization. His skill is the real deal. His true forte is close-quarters combat, which lets him make the most of his special ability. After all, this is a man who once studied under a certain legendary assassin said to have no equal in close-quarters combat.”

“......Studied under him, my foot. I just pestered him for a while, till he beat me to a pulp and ditched me.”

Short Warp shot a mild glare at the smiling Ambitious for adding that, snorted sourly and looked away.

“Next, then, it is I.”

With those words, the man with his robe's hood pulled low, his face completely hidden, stepped forward.

His grimy gray robe was covered in densely written, unreadable characters, and unlike Evil Sword's show-off bandage cloth, it clearly carried some kind of magical effect.

Perhaps it was a relic from a dungeon.

“I am Smooth Stan. A mage, as you see, and no great hand at fighting. But I can wield most any magic, and my experience as an assassin is long. While you remain a fledgling, I shall oft be the one supporting you, so you would do well to remember it.”

“Yes, nice to meet you.”

Smooth Stan spoke flatly and then immediately retreated to his position.

It was an eerie voice, devoid of emotion and lacking intonation.

And with his face hidden in the shadow of his hood, the young man even half-wondered whether he was an evil spirit out of the fairy tales, come back to the world of the living.

“His specialty is high-speed incantation. He can fire off magic many times faster than an ordinary person. Lean on him plenty. Next...... Big Lady, if you would.”

“Yes.”

Prompted by Ambitious, the next to introduce herself was a giant woman over 3 meters tall.

Her size had overwhelmed him even during the interview, when she had sat, probably, in a specially made chair, but now that she stood, the sheer pressure of her had multiplied several times over.

Taking care not to hit her head on the chapel ceiling, the woman began her introduction in a deep, imposing voice that matched her appearance, yet she spoke with surprising politeness.

“My codename is Big Lady. As you can see, my body is large, so I am not suited for stealth. I excel at taking attacks head-on and crushing the enemy.”

“Yes, nice to meet you.”

Not suited for stealth.

That was certainly true.

After all, she was even bigger than the large doors of this abandoned village's chapel.

How had she even gotten into this building?

“Her power is something else! In her hands, a fortress might as well be a pile of toy blocks. She's careful in her work, too, so as her junior, you should learn all you can from her. I'm sure she'll make a wonderful senior for you.”

“Oh, no, wonderful, that's too much......”

Praised by Ambitious, Big Lady blushed and fidgeted.

And she cast passionate glances toward Ambitious from time to time.

Seeing that, the young man caught on at once.

She was...... in love.

“N, n-n, next is me, isn't it!”

And, paying the fidgety giant no mind whatsoever, a short, chubby man said that and stepped forward.

He was a timid-looking middle-aged man with a little toothbrush mustache, three small birds perched on his shoulders.

It was winter, yet for some reason this man wore a white tank top, baring thick, flabby arms that had clearly never seen any training.

Clearly unlike the rest, this one guy just looked kind of weak, the young man thought.

“Um, well, I'm, you could say, the newest after you, um, you might think, ‘at his age?’ but, um, I thought a job that doubles as feeding my pets would be just the best, so I started this work, and, um, my hobby is petting my pets, I really, really love my pets, and, um......”

The man tried to introduce himself, stammering and wiping his sweat with a handkerchief, but his story was all over the place.

Unable to bear it, Ambitious cut in.

“He's Monster Master. What people call a ‘familiar tamer’, and he commands an Assault Chiwanwan, a green dragon and three Bulletpeeps. He himself is weak, as you can see, but killing with monsters can be passed off as natural, which is very handy. He's not someone to look down on, you know.”

“Yes! I would never look down on him!”

At Ambitious's warning, the young man sat up straight, set his face into a sharp, serious look and said so.

To be honest, inside, he was totally looking down on him.

“N, n-n-n, nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet ya.”

Wiping his sweat, Monster Master stepped back.

A lot of characters showed up, but there's absolutely no need to remember any of them.

【Body Strengthening】

A very popular magic power manipulation technique.

The effect is exactly as the name suggests: strengthening physical abilities.

Whether they are conscious of it or not, most people in this world use it, and therefore it is not considered a special ability.

Appears from Arc 2 on.

【Short-Range Teleportation】

A very powerful special ability.

With this special ability plus high-level close-quarters combat skills, Short Warp is quite a formidable foe.

If you look at the way he died, you might be able to imagine why a man like him was once a subordinate of Dahachie.

【Dungeon】

A term appearing for the first time.

It seems they exist in this world as well, but they will make a full appearance from Part 2 onwards.

【Evil Spirit】

Actually, it has been mentioned as far back as Arc 1.

【Familiar Tamer】

People who tame and command monsters, tracing their craft back to Sakura, the great adventurer who appeared in Arc 11.

Since Sakura herself communicated with monsters through her special ability, it is thought that the general techniques of familiar tamers were developed by those who followed her.