An Assassin's Offer

“I…” Flashes of a man impaled by rocks flitted through Ryu’s mind. His hands began to shake. His voice came out in uncertain bursts. Beads of sweat quickly formed on his forehead, trickling down into his eyes. “You- I- No-”

“My partner is dead, and you two were at the scene. So one of you had to be the mage that killed him.” Her words echoed with an authority that stabbed deep into Ryu’s chest. “It could’ve been either of you, but based on the fact that this little girl had to practically carry you out of there, I’d be hard pressed not to think it was you.”

The woman quickly put her gun behind her back. She had seemingly tucked it into her pants as the hand quickly reappeared with nothing in it. A quick push later and Chika was scrambling into Ryu, clutching his shirt with a death grip. Ryu wrapped her in a tug as she began to softly cry. Seeing her like that was forcing him to bottle up his own emotions. He had to be strong so she would be fine.

“I don’t care about you killing my partner.” The woman sat in the desk chair that was next to her. “Honestly, good job. No, that’s not why I’m here. Since you killed him, you take his place in the royale. So I’m here to offer you the same chance I gave my partner. Work with me and I’ll make sure you survive till the end.”

“What?” Ryu’s mouth ran dry. She wanted him to kill more? To join her in killing?

“I’ll even throw in something extra; I’ll do my best to protect those around you as long as we're partners.” The woman motioned to the still crying Chika in his arms. “I doubt Jormungandr’s Priestess is willing to protect her. Or her estranged daughter and granddaughter.”

His grandmother wouldn’t protect his mother or sister? Ryu scoffed at the idea at first, but as the thought lingered in his mind, he quickly realized that the white-haired woman wasn’t wrong. He couldn’t see his grandmother protecting the people he loved. She only appeared because he had awakened his ability to use magic. To her, his mother and sister were still useless.

“I’ve done my research on you two. Your family is the only one with clear ties to the royale- your grandmother. She won 50 years ago, and no mage has won since, leaving the mage reward in her hand for half a century.”

“What?” Ryu blurted out the question without realizing it. He knew next to nothing about this ‘royale’ that everyone kept mentioning.

The woman blinked, surprise written across her face. “Do you not know what you got yourself into?”

Ryu shook his head.

That seemed to be the wrong answer for the woman. Her surprise quickly gave rise to confusion as she began to mumble to herself. Her eyes glazed over as the room went quiet.

Ryu’s own heart was beginning to pound. It was speeding up. Every second that the woman didn’t say anything caused more sweat to form, for his heart to beat faster, for it to beat harder.

Finally, the woman got up and walked over to the combined Ryu and Chika. “You haven’t heard about any “Battle Royale” between Mages, Assassins, and Soldiers before?”

Ryu shook his head.

“What about your grandmother? Her title as Jormungandr’s Priestess?”

“I only learned about it today, just an hour or so ago.” Ryu’s voice was quiet. Her questions resounded throughout the room as if he was being interrogated. The pressure of each question weighed heavy on him.

The woman, hearing his answers, let out a soft sigh. “And me? Do you know my name?”

Ryu shook his head. “Should I…?” He wondered if the woman in front of him was actually someone famous. Though, by the fact that she was a part of this battle royale, he figured she must’ve been something else. Something that he would’ve known only if he had been a part of mage society, under his grandmother.

“No.” Her response came out with a breath of happiness. “No normal person should know my name,” A sad smile formed on her face. “But, you aren’t a normal person anymore.”

“Eh…?” Ryu’s mind went blank.

What was she talking about? He wasn’t normal? Sure, he had accessed magic, but he didn’t even know how to actively do that. Nor did he have plans to ever use magic again. Not after the grogginess that it had given him that afternoon.

And that wasn’t even counting for Chika, who was still in his arms. Even if he wasn’t a normal person, she most assuredly was. Her small shoulders were still trembling from having a gun pointed at her for who knew how long.

“My name is Akari Hayashi,” The woman, Akari, slightly bowed as she introduced herself. “I’m an Assassin by trade, and you, Ryu Hajime, have just gotten yourself involved in a very deadly situation.”