The Founder's Irritation

“Why do you refuse the oracle?”

Dahachie was irritated.

He had been irritated ever since he received the oracle.

Behind the mask of a smile that he had to wear as the Founder, he had been enduring it this whole time.

Along the way, he had killed several people just to take his mind off it, and after setting foot on the uninhabited Sacred Mount Zahan, he had even gone and killed one of the cultists traveling with him before he could stop himself.

And yet.

“You were chosen, you know?”

The man standing before him, the assassin once feared as the “Grim Reaper of Ashgo,” would not nod in agreement.

Despite being appointed to the role of guide by the noble god, he refused to accept it.

He refused to become the guide.

When Dahachie, who wanted it so badly, could not have it.

“I shall say it once more. Come with us, the ‘Purple Dual Rings’. Together, we shall welcome the Miko of Slaughter and offer every life in this world to our noble god!”

“I refuse.”

The same curt answer, again.

Since meeting Dahachie, this man had uttered nothing but these words.

(I don't like this...... I don't like it one bit......! Not a single thing about it!!)

Dahachie's eyes crinkled and the corners of his mouth turned up, even as he deftly ground his teeth.

◇ ◇ ◇

The noble god, Death God Alogoros.

It was 30 years ago that Dahachie first received an oracle from his god.

At the time, he was already renowned as a first-rate assassin, but he was exhausted.

The underworld trade: kill and be killed, and tomorrow it might be you.

He had convinced himself he'd never had normal sensibilities to begin with, but it seemed he was only human after all; after day upon desolate day, his spirit had reached its limit.

It was at just such a time

that he received the Death God's oracle.

<<<My name is Death God Alogoros. Kill Inareda, the alchemist of Sorenak.>>>

......He called himself a god, but to put it bluntly, the only thing this being had instructed via oracle was a simple assassination order.

But when Dahachie heard those words suddenly ring out in his head, he was fired up!

(A presence both divine and sinister! So this is what Divine Aura feels like!? A god...... a god actually exists!!)

Utterly intoxicated by the Divine Aura and walking on air, he leapt out of bed in his nightclothes, ran out of the inn, raced that same night to the neighboring town of Sorenak, and cut off the head of the alchemist Inareda, who lived there.

<<<Well done.>>>

The god's words that rang in his head the moment he killed Inareda were extremely brief.

Nevertheless, to Dahachie, those words were more valuable than any jewel he had ever received as a reward.

(The god has noticed me...... The god has deigned to recognize me!)

He had grown up rough in the slums and slid straight into the life of the underworld trade; he had always been a pest to society.

And yet a god, a great being, a being far above any human, the noble god, Death God Alogoros, had recognized him as worthy of an oracle!

(I have become an apostle of Alogoros-sama!!)

From that day on, Dahachie changed!

Where once he had killed with his head hung in gloom, spewing envy and hatred at the whole world, he now killed with his chest out, a smile never leaving his face, every inch dignified!

And while carrying out the many assassination orders that now and then came down as oracles, he founded the ‘Purple Dual Rings’, a cult devoted to praising Alogoros and offering souls to his god, and had been vigorously active ever since!

He believed that he, and he alone, was the foremost believer of Death God Alogoros, and he thought he contributed to Death God Alogoros more than anyone else in this world.

......And then, after the months and years had passed, came that oracle about the “Miko of Slaughter.”

The Death God's oracles had always been concise, such as “Kill so-and-so” or “Do not expand the organization too far”, but this oracle was different.

<<<My miko, the Miko of Slaughter, descends. The white-haired girl, the youngest daughter of Toveil.>>>

The oracle came down as abruptly as always, and Dahachie froze in sheer astonishment.

There was simply too much information.

This oracle must be something special.

He didn't know what the Miko of Slaughter meant to Death God Alogoros, but the oracle went so far as to call her “My miko”.

This was not something that could be taken lightly.

And then, the words “The white-haired girl, the youngest daughter of Toveil”.

As the Founder of the ‘Purple Dual Rings’ and still a first-rate assassin, Dahachie naturally had the faces, names and factions of the nobility of the neighboring countries drilled into his head, so he guessed at once that the Miko of Slaughter was Shula Toveil, age 6, the third daughter of the Count Toveil house of the Demes Kingdom.

(I must go and welcome Shula-sama immediately.)

In fact, Dahachie had thought just that, the same as the other cultists when they heard the oracle.

Presumably, the Miko of Slaughter was someone special to Death God Alogoros.

And since she was called the Miko of Slaughter, she would likely kill many people to offer her soul to Death God Alogoros, just as he did as an apostle.

However, he had never heard any rumors that Shula Toveil was a child gifted with talent for combat.

Though recognized by the Death God as the Miko of Slaughter, her power had not yet blossomed, and the current Shula was no different from any other young child.

That was exactly why she needed someone to protect her and guide her.

Someone was needed to teach her how to kill, the joy of it, and the splendor of offering up souls, and to raise her into a fine Miko of Slaughter.

(And for that, I, Dahachie, the foremost believer of Death God Alogoros and the Founder of the ‘Purple Dual Rings’, am the only one fit for the task!)

So Dahachie thought.

Until now, he had been blessed with oracles and had killed many people by them, but looked at another way, you could say he had been nothing more than Death God Alogoros's errand boy.

No, he had no complaints about that in itself.

However, guiding a miko whom the god cherished was a mission so important that it stood apart from any divine command he had received until now.

(My work thus far has been recognized, and the god has bestowed upon me an important divine command. ......It would be reasonable to judge that my rank as an apostle has risen!)

So Dahachie thought, his face flushed with excitement.

However, whether the god knew what was going on in Dahachie's head or not, the oracle that followed completely blew his excitement away.

<<<The miko's guide is not among you. It is the ‘Grim Reaper of Ashgo,’ who dwells deep in Zahan. Bring the miko and the guide together. That is the divine command laid upon you.>>>

......He was not the guide.

Bring the miko and the guide together: that was the divine command.

In the end, he was just an errand boy.

Dahachie was disheartened.

However, an oracle is an oracle, and a divine command is a divine command.

Besides, for the likes of him to feel any dissatisfaction with the god's will was presumptuous in itself.

Dahachie suppressed his heart, hid his emotions behind a smile, and set off for Zahan to fulfill the divine command.

◇ ◇ ◇

And yet.

And yet, and yet, AND YET!!

The man before him was treating the noble god's oracle with contempt!

Being appointed as the guide was an honor beyond compare, and yet he didn't understand that!!

Dahachie was irritated.

He had been irritated ever since he received the oracle.

And now, that irritation had reached its peak.

The killing intent riding on his 【Intimidation】 intensified, and in response, the 【Intimidation】 from the “Grim Reaper of Ashgo” grew stronger too.

The two of them stood there without weapons, in postures as if they were having a casual conversation...... but if a mouse were thrown between them now, it would likely die of shock, struck by the intense killing intent.

At some point, the noisy chirping of the insects and birds all around had fallen completely silent; all that remained was the occasional strong gust of wind and the stirring of the leaves.

“......Founder-sama.”

In that serene space, the voice of the man stepping out from the shade of the trees echoed clearly.

“What is it, Priest Ogad?”

He was the last remaining cult member of the ‘Purple Dual Rings’ accompanying Founder Dahachie.

“I've caught a suspicious little girl. What shall I do with her?”

The one Ogad was restraining with a knife against her neck was a girl so young that her presence in these deep mountains seemed out of place.

Black hair, black eyes, and white skin.

She wore a black jacket that seemed to be made from sewn-together wolf pelts.

“............”

Seeing this, the face of the “Grim Reaper of Ashgo,” which hadn't so much as twitched until now, twisted for just an instant.

The name of the girl being restrained was Emi.

She was the beloved disciple of the “Grim Reaper of Ashgo.”