Outaishihi ni Nante Naritakunai!! 369

Shinigami and the Blunder

“… He’s a pro after all.”

A man pretended to be Princess’s husband of all people and participated in masquerade balls. I calmly watched as that man ran away from the ball venue and chased him.

◇◇◇

“He’s quite fast…”

I pursued the man who fled into the dark night. At first the man was running at a normal speed, but after he looked around as if he noticed something, his speed remarkably increased.

“Tch, I was noticed.”

He probably realized I was following him.
I clicked my tongue as I couldn’t think of any other reason for his change and similarly increased my speed. He didn’t seem to know where exactly I was, but he was still incredibly perceptive. I never thought I’d be noticed.

“…”

The man ran through narrow alleys.
It was a splendid getaway; I had no choice but to think he’d prepared in advance.
The Royal Capital of Wilhelm is now my territory, so I feel I’m too familiar with it to lose no matter where he runs to, but he’s quite good.
A person who wasn’t so familiar with it would lose sight of him in no time.

“… But, he has a long way to go.”

I didn’t lose sight of the man’s back. We entered a less populated place where it would be easy to catch him. I’ll close the distance and catch the man here. I made that decision and considerably increased my speed.
Maintaining a low posture and using Hiyuma’s secret art, I immediately caught him at a speed impossible for the average person.

“―― Got you.”
“Ah!?”

My hand caught the man’s neck from behind, stopping his movements. I didn’t mean to, but perhaps I caught him carelessly, as the man skillfully escaped from my hold. After all, he’s quite skilled. He doesn’t seem to have high fighting ability, but I can’t underestimate him. Maintaining a slight distance from the man, I faced him. When the mask-wearing man looked at me, his lips distorted.

“… Crap. Red Shinigami? It’s the worst…”
“To call me like that means you work for Sahaja. Assassin Guild… Black, huh?”

I didn’t expect an answer, but the man shrugged his shoulders and denied.

“No, I’m not an assassin. I’m just an information broker.”
“… An information broker, you say?”
“Right. In this harsh world I was ordered to do this by my employer. Because I’m excellent. Haven’t you heard of me? The information broker Kaleidoscope. That’s me.”

With those words the man removed the mask.
What appeared was a stunningly beautiful male face, though quite unlike the Crown Prince’s. But, his face changed the next moment.

“… Ha?”
“Aah… My shoulders feel stiff.”

I stared at the man’s face as he rotated his shoulders.
It took a mere moment. Everything was different from before.
He seemed be slightly older than me.
He had unruly black hair similar to mine, tied in a short ponytail. His bangs extended to his right side, and a black eyepatch with a showy pattern covered his right eye. His left eye was shining golden.
His physique also changed. His build was slightly small and lanky. But, I understood he was trained.
It was certain that he was the same kind of person as me.

“You…”
“My specialty is disguise. That’s why I’m called Kaleidoscope.”

The man spoke in a light tone, but what he did couldn’t be simply called a disguise.

No matter how I look at it, it’s not normal that everything, from the feel of his hair to his physique, changed.

“What are you?”
“Eh? Are you perhaps cautious of me? Whoa, I made Red Shinigami cautious, could I actually be someone amazing?”
“As if.”

His cheeky words said without reservation got on my nerves. The man raised his hands and said, “Scary, scary,” not looking frightened in the slightest.

“You ask what I am. Hmm, as I introduced myself, I’m a humble information broker, Kaleidoscope. My name is Abel. Naturally, I’m not an assassin and I’ve never killed anyone. My special skills are escaping and information gathering. I like cute girls. My hobby is saving money! … Is that enough?”

The man unreservedly gave me information about himself with an attitude that I could only see as making fun of me.
I could believe he wasn’t an assassin. Because, he didn’t have dark eyes characteristic of assassins. They’re the unique sign of people who have killed. The man who introduced himself as Abel didn’t have them.
Be that as it may, the man who called himself an information broken didn’t seem like an ordinary person. His disguise skills were terrifying, and it was clear he was trained.

“―― What did you go to masquerade balls for?”

I carefully approached the man. Abel laughed and kept me at a distance.

“I said I’m an information broker, right? Naturally, it was for work. But I won’t say anything el~se. Because, I received money. Protecting information about my clients is my job… Ah!”
“Ah!? What?”

When I called out to Abel after he loudly shouted, he said impatiently.

“It’s this late already! I may not look like it, but I’m quite busy! And so, if we can meet again, please treat me well!”
“Wai…!”

For an instant the man’s golden eye appeared to shine red. Because I was surprised by it, my actions were delayed by a moment.
But, that moment proved fatal, and Abel disappeared before I noticed.

“… Red?”

I might have imagined it. However, the light I saw now was familiar.

“Eh…?”

Hiyumas’ left eyes shine red when using secret arts. That glow seemed similar.

“… No way, is he a Hiyuma survivor?”

But, the man’s eye was gold. Hiyumas’ eyes are red. There are no exceptions.
Moreover, when a person contracted to a master uses secret arts that use eyes, a magic formation carved into the eyes appears. And yet, I couldn’t see that magic formation on him.
Which means, it’s impossible for him to be a Hiyuma, but still.

“Uwaaaaa! I’m curious!! What was that!?”

Finally, I remembered information about the information broker called Kaleidoscope. I’d heard that name in Sahaja several times.
A jack-of-all-trades who doesn’t undertake assassinations. However, he leans strongly towards being an information broker, and he introduced himself as such. His special skill is disguise. His name, Kaleidoscope, came from disguise skills that no one could see through.

“That means, it’s related to Sahaja after all…!”

The information broker who I know appearing makes that certain.
I must quickly report it to Princess and her husband.

“… Nn?”

I finally noticed at this point.

“Perhaps… I was told to capture him alive, so this means I let go of my target…?”

My first ever blunder like this made me turn pale.
What should I say?
Both Princess and her husband, the Crown Prince, must be waiting, believing I would capture Abel.

“That I… let go of him after cornering him? Despite knowing that he’s an information broker from Sahaja on top of that? No way… It ain’t funny…”

Be that as it may, the reality won’t change.
Abel escaped, and I have no way of pursuing him.

“Aaaaaaa…!”

It’s the worst.
I crouched on the spot and, while holding my head, seriously worried about what I should report to Princess tomorrow.

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