Chapter : 8
“Hmm, hmm, my apologies. By the way, Sir Nocturn, you’ve come as well. Did you come to see your junior?”
The blue-clothed devil glanced at the black-clothed devil, then spoke to the snowman.
“Shall we begin?”
I leaned my upper body against the edge of the basket while looking at the snowman.
The snowman, who had his hair tied back, met my eyes.
He finally opened his mouth.
“We will begin the interrogation.”
Amid the strange expressions of the adult devils, I clenched my fist tightly with determination.
“Assassin, what is your name?”
I answered loudly.
“No. 1!”
A strange silence fell for a moment.
“It’s No. 1!”
To be precise, it was Immortal No. 1, but since only our Head called me that with “Immortal” attached, I deliberately left it out.
Everyone except the Head called me No. 1 or monster.
That was my name.
My mother, who disappeared when I was 18 months old, called me a monster, but my nanny gave me a name.
No, wait—wasn’t it the Head who gave it to me?
“You are now Immortal No. 1. It is a precious name bestowed by the Head. If you are called No. 1, you must immediately stand in place and wait for orders. Do you understand?”
“I understand! I am No. 1! No. 1!”
I liked that name.
So I gave the name No. 2 to my poison needle.
Yes, those daggers that were now in the snowman’s arms instead of mine…
‘Why isn’t he asking the next question?’
As I stared at him, the devils—whose faces had briefly darkened—brightened again.
The snowman showed no change, but his voice sounded slightly strange as he asked the next question.
“How old are you?”
“I am four years old!”
“…Four. Four years old, is it? And who gave you that name earlier?”
Seeing that the devils treated my name as important information made me feel a little pleased.
So I answered smoothly.
“The Head gave it to me!”
“What is the Head’s name?”
“The Head is the Head!”
Someone let out a long sigh.
But as I kept answering excitedly, I realized something was wrong.
“Ah, this isn’t right! Start over!”
“…What?”
“An assassin does not reveal information so easily!”
“It’s a pity you realized that so late.”
One of the four people watching the interrogation covered his mouth as he coughed.
But the snowman didn’t even glance at him and continued speaking.
“However, you’ve already been captured, and you even received a snowball as a gift—and a bribe. So wouldn’t it be fine to talk freely?”
“…!”
The one in blue let out a hollow laugh.
After checking the devils’ expressions once, I tilted my head and answered the snowman.
“The snowman is right! Continue!”
“Good. Then who is the Head?”
“The Head is the respected Head! The Head to whom I must be loyal forever!”
At that moment, the black-clothed devil, who hadn’t spoken until now, said:
“…She memorized it. All of it. Not quite brainwashing, but close.”
The snowman stopped speaking.
He slowly closed and opened his eyes, then shifted his gaze toward a burly old man who had been watching with a serious expression.
When the old man gave a slight nod, the snowman spoke again.
“Then, do you know anyone in your family whose name has more than five letters?”
“…Ergen Clopod!”
After searching my memory, I shouted the name of the younger sibling of our family’s heir.
At my words, the snowman remained silent, but the other four sighed.
“So it’s a known name.”
“As expected. Tch. I could tell from the stiff cushion.”
“I want to go and crush it right now.”
“…If not for the imperial protection, I would have already gone myself.”
It seemed Ergen Clopod was important information too.
As I stared at him, waiting for the next question, he looked at my snowball.
What?
“As a reward for the assassin who spoke so well, I’ll give you another one of those. You can use them alternately.”
“…!”
“We will end today’s interrogation here. Eden.”
“Yes!”
The blue-clothed one, who had straightened his posture at some point, answered.
“We will interrogate the assassin again next week. Prepare a warm room to confine her in and maids to watch over her until then.”
“Yes!”
Strangely, the blue-clothed one answered while looking at me, not the snowman.
“I’ll give you another one as a reward.”
“Another one.”
“Give you.”
“….”
The next morning.
I hugged the snowball tightly in both arms and stared blankly for a long time.
“A reward…?”
Something you receive for doing well.
Something only the heir always received.
And now, I had received it.
From a damn mage. From a devil.
But I couldn’t refuse.
My voice wouldn’t come out, so I had no choice!
The green-eyed devil said the second snowball would be finished and given to me by today.
“Then after ten interrogations, I’ll have eleven!”
I imagined being surrounded by snowballs.
It was perfect.
After a while,
I carefully climbed down from the bed, avoiding the water beside it, then quickly scurried up the wall and onto the ceiling.
With the snowball tied to my back.
After that, I ran along every ceiling I knew, shouting:
“Two snowballs! Twooo! One on the snowman assassin’s back, one on the belly!”
As I went around singing loudly, I saw devils looking up at the ceiling with wide eyes, waving their hands.
“Two! There are two!”
Whenever they waved, I rolled forward and sideways on the ceiling.
The first snowball on my back rolled along with me.
It was a bit disappointing that it didn’t grow as big as the snow outside, but that was fine.
Soon, I would have two!
After rolling around to my heart’s content, I came down slowly, panting.
Then I followed the smell of bread that had been lingering.
By a sunlit window, there was bread, soup, salad, and meat that melted in your mouth.
I quickly looked around, and someone passing by shouted:
“Oh, I set my meal by the window, but suddenly I’m full? It’d be nice if someone ate it!”
Oh.
I immediately moved closer to the food.
“They said it would be nice if someone ate it! That means it’s discarded! …But it’s still warm!”
Confused, I tilted my head.
Then I hid in the shadows and waited until the devil disappeared, before approaching the food again.
The smell was so rich and fragrant.
Standing on tiptoe, I inhaled it deeply when suddenly, something rolled toward me.
A small cylinder.
“Who’s there?! Show yourself!”
I shouted while glaring around fiercely, but only silence answered.
I peeked at the cylinder, then after confirming no one was around, I nudged it with my foot.
It stopped in front of the window, and when I set it upright, it was just the right height for me.
Using magic, I safely climbed onto it.
“U-uh…”
After one last threatening glance around, I carefully looked at the food up close.
Gulp.
I swallowed, then scooped some soup with a spoon.
It tasted just like what I had eaten in the dining hall yesterday.
After that, I lost all restraint.
“Nom nom, nomnomnom, mm…”
When I finished eating, I flopped down beside the cylinder, hugging my snowball.
And at that moment—
A yellow-haired devil, who had appeared without me noticing, tried to take my snowball.
“No!”
Smack!
“Ah. But if it isn’t washed, something bad might get on it, and then the young lady might get sick—”
“Waaaah!”
Without saying another word, I ran away from the devil.
I wanted to go to the ceiling, but running felt better, so I kept going.
Then suddenly, I bumped into someone and fell backward.
Thud.
“…”
“Who are you?! Devil!”
I shouted while sitting on the ground and looking up.
The person I collided with looked down at me quietly.
“Devil?”
He had gray eyes tinged with blue.
They didn’t shine like stars—they gleamed like the edge of a blade.
After glancing at him, I quickly got up, ran over, and hugged my snowball again.
Then I prepared to leave—
“Hmm. Ah.”
A voice came from behind me.
“You’re the intruder.”
His voice sounded like falling rain.
Curious, I turned my head slightly to look at him.
His expression was completely different from before.
Like… he was imitating the man in blue.
It felt like the real thing and a fake at the same time.
Strange—but I liked what he said.
