He took a deep breath.

He had only used two spells he had memorized in advance.

But he was mentally exhausted. It was because he had to handle mana delicately in a place with more people than usual.

He had the potential to accidentally kill a member of the royal family.

But it went better than expected.

He couldn’t have done it with his old skills. It was possible because his skill in handling mana had improved through battles.

He looked at the assassins. They were just twitching after being hit by the ice arrows. Their bodies were frozen.

In front of them, a middle-aged man who appeared to be the Second Prince was sitting on his bottom, staring at the corpses.

His expression still suggested he didn’t understand the situation.

Soldiers guarded the places where the royal family went, and they scrutinized people. Suspicious individuals couldn’t even get close. Yet, such an incident occurred.

He didn’t know for sure, but he suspected the person in charge of the scene would lose their head. They allowed suspicious individuals with blades, and many of them, to enter.

“Your Highness!”

“Are you alright!”

Knights rushed from afar. Their faces were all pale.

The soldiers who had been outside belatedly controlled the surroundings.

They made exaggerated gestures and fussed about. It seemed they were doing so even more to cover up their mistakes.

The prince’s expression changed frequently. He seemed to be feeling all sorts of emotions. He looked around and then hurriedly stood up.

The noble seemed to be seething with anger at the fact that he had cowered in fear of the Assassin and collapsed.

He redirected his anger. The Prince reached out and picked up a plate from the table. The plate flew towards the Knight in front of him.

“You idiotic fool!”

The Knight’s head was cracked and bleeding, yet he remained still. Perhaps it was easier to pay the price this way.

If the royal family had died, it would have been a different story. Since his life was saved, as long as he skillfully avoided the Prince’s wrath, he wouldn’t lose his head.

Rael watched the Prince huffing and catching his breath.

He understood how he felt.

He remembered being stabbed by the Assassin’s knife.

The protagonist was also surprised and flustered. At that time, he couldn’t think of anything. He was filled with anger to the brim.

If the protagonist hadn’t stepped up and killed the Assassins, it wouldn’t be strange if he were a cold corpse by now.

As he was thinking that, he felt someone’s gaze. The Prince, who had been yelling at the Knight, was now staring at him.

His steps moved. He seemed to be approaching to say something. The protagonist had saved his life, so he deserved to hear words of gratitude.

But he couldn’t.

He had been feeling strange mana for a while. Following the lingering scent that only emanated from the Poisonous Herb, he turned his head and saw a Butler.

The Butler had been putting his hand into his pocket with a hesitant expression for a while. After much deliberation, he felt the gaze on him and immediately turned his back, attempting to escape.

“Assassin!”

The Nobles reacted sensitively to the protagonist’s shout. Many had died from the chaos caused by the Assassins just now.

As their attention was drawn to the protagonist, he shouted again. This time, he pointed his finger at the Butler trying to leave the hall.

“The Assassin is escaping!”

The Knights’ heads snapped around. They seemed to be trying to avoid punishment by doing their duty now, yelling at the top of their lungs.

He couldn’t hear well because he was covering his ears.

It sounded like he was telling the Soldiers to quickly block him.

The Butler pulled something out of his pocket and brandished it. What he held was a Dagger. He swung the Dagger and shouted,

“It’s a poisoned Dagger! Get out of the way!”

The Nobles startled and moved aside. As they pushed and fell over each other, a path was created. The Butler kicked open the door and rushed out of the hall.

“You must catch him! Don’t let the Assassin escape!”

The Knight shouted dramatically. His life depended on it. The Soldiers, who had received orders, chased after him.

Each of the Nobles left the Banquet Hall. It was unknown if there were still Assassins remaining.

It was not a relaxed situation where he could receive thanks.

The Prince seemed to have given up on approaching, and disappeared from his seat, escorted by his Guards.

“Don’t take it too personally.”

The Count next to him said. It seemed he was concerned that the Prince had disappeared so abruptly without saying anything.

The protagonist didn’t think so. Unlike the protagonist, the Second Prince had tried to approach him even in the midst of the chaos.

He would have done so if he hadn’t heard the shout that there were more Assassins. In any case, a thank you could wait until later.

More than that, he was curious about who was behind this incident.

“Who do you think orchestrated this?”

The Count flinched and lowered his head. He seemed to be thinking of those who might do such a thing.

“It could be the Duke’s family in the Capital City.”

“The Duke?”

“The First Prince addresses him as uncle and treats him with respect. He has considerable influence over the Knights. But it’s hard to conclude that he did it.”

“Why is that?”

“Because there are too many people who would benefit from harming His Highness in the current situation. While he might gain the most, we cannot rule out others.”

The Count took my hand. I could feel his warmth where our hands met.

“Thank you for saving His Highness.”

“I wasn’t looking for thanks.”

I shook my head. In that brief moment, the Protagonist risked danger to save the other person for their own sake.

The Protagonist was already disliked by the opposing side. In such a situation, if the Count’s faction fell, the Protagonist could also be in danger.

Only when the factions were balanced could the Protagonist rest easy. They would be too busy fighting each other to pay attention to the Protagonist.

In an evenly matched situation, the Protagonist’s value also increased. Leaning too heavily to one side was not good for the Protagonist.

The Count was not foolish. He didn’t think I had helped purely out of goodwill. Nevertheless, his expression remained unchanged.

“Still, I want to express my gratitude to you.”

“Why?”

“Choosing a faction means risking your life and boarding that ship. If the captain of that ship had died, we would have drowned in the sea and met a miserable end. Saving His Highness is no different from saving all the Nobles who believe in him.”

Listening to the Count, I felt that what the Protagonist had done was more significant than I had thought.

“There were Mages there, but no one moved. Only you did.”

“Why would they help?”

The Mages were part of the Neutral Faction. That meant they belonged to a different faction. If they had helped, it would have been taking sides, so it was right for them to stand by.

However, the Count seemed to think differently and shook his head.

“Though they don’t belong to either side, they are still Nobles. They have a duty to protect the Royal family. The fact that they didn’t means they weren’t capable of it.”

“So you’re saying I’m more skilled?”

“You are susceptible to compliments. Anyway, be careful for a while. It’s dangerous enough for Assassins to appear even here, so His Highness will look for you once the commotion dies down.”

The Count said that and disappeared. He also had to leave the area in case he was targeted by the Assassins.

The Protagonist also moved. The Soldiers were escorting the Nobles out. The Banquet was as good as over.

As I was about to leave, someone approached. It was an Old Man who had been standing far away.

He ran over to me, panting. Perhaps because he was an Old Man, his stamina was weak.

“What’s wrong?”

I didn’t know why the Old Man had approached. As a neutral party, he didn’t need to greet me like the Count.

It was even more so because the Magic the Protagonist used wasn’t particularly impressive.

Although the Ice Arrow was an intermediate Magic, the Old Man was also of that level.

I thought about what the other person might say.

What the old man actually said was unexpected.

“Just now, why did you use magic?”

I was speechless for a moment. I didn’t understand what the other person meant.

“What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said. Magic is hard to shoot well. At best, you can create one and launch it, but you accurately shot eight. Was there really a protagonist involved?”

The old man asked, as if trying to resolve his curiosity. Only then did I understand the intention of his question and nodded.

The old man was simply curious if I had truly protagonist-level skill to be able to use magic in that situation, even with so many people around.

From what he said, accurately hitting a desired target in a crowded space was very difficult.

Even the Protagonist, who was excellent at handling mana, hesitated.

When he confirmed, admiration spread across the Old Man’s face. He even said it surpassed the level of an intermediate Mage.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Even hearing his praise wouldn’t allow the Protagonist to break through the Wall.

What happened to the Assassins?

They’re all dead. Or rather, they were already dead.

His words were strange. They were wielding swords and killing people. If they were truly dead, they shouldn’t have been able to move.

They are the Dead.

The Dead?

They are Corpses revived by a wicked group. Lately, there have been many instances of Corpses being unearthed. It’s a troublesome matter. I wonder if someone is deliberately doing this. This time, the Capital City might have been in danger too.

Listening to his words, something suddenly came to mind.

It was the fact that Dark Mages were gathering in the Capital City. He didn’t know what they were planning, but he never expected them to resort to such assassinations.

It seemed they were also getting involved in the fight. The Old Man’s expression twisted. He seemed aware of the existence of the Dark Mages.

Did you know?

Of course. No matter how carefully they move, they can’t escape the gaze of those of us established in the Capital City.

The Old Man tightened his grip on his staff.

Until now, nothing serious happened, so I pretended not to know. But to commit such acts, I won’t let it stand.

I see.

He offered an appropriate response. It had nothing to do with the Protagonist.

He felt the Old Man’s gaze.

This time, something rather interesting came out.

What you did this time was truly remarkable. Perhaps the Nobles will make a move.

All I did was cast a single spell, though?

The important thing is that you did it in front of the Nobles.

…?

He didn’t understand what difference that made.

Casting a single spell in front of the Nobles didn’t seem that remarkable. He thought causing a commotion with Golems last time was more impressive.

The Old Man smiled faintly and told him to wait and see how the Nobles would react. Hearing his words, he became curious about what actions the Nobles would take.

***

A few days later, he visited the Royal Palace again.

He looked around.

He felt the gaze of the Nobles, but nothing much had changed.

They were all positioned according to their respective Factions.

It seemed the Old Man had spoken carelessly.

‘Wait a minute.’

As he was thinking that, Rael looked at the Nobles once more. The number of Nobles standing by the Second Prince was large.

Last time, a Noble died, so the number should have decreased. However, it was no different from before.

It was strange.

Looking closely, some faces caught my eye.

They were the Nobles standing on the opposite side.

Only then did I understand what the Old Man said.

Seeing the Protagonist step forward, some Nobles switched sides.