Chapter 10: Steel Assassin(5)

Ta-dak, ta-da-dak.

The sound of brisk footsteps echoed from a distance.
A girl wearing goggles, sprinting at high speed.
Her ash-gray hair fluttered as she charged forward—it was Cynel.

“…Boss?”

“Cynel, take him down.”

Cynel’s eyes met mine as she passed by.
With a nod, she drew her dagger from her thigh.
Whir. She caught the spinning dagger mid-air and rushed toward Dagas with terrifying speed.

“Grr, ugh…! That woman from earlier!”

“…”

Bang! Taang!

Dagas, flustered, fired at Cynel, but she effortlessly dodged the bullets with a tilt of her head.
In the narrow, dead-end alley, Cynel’s ash-gray trail streaked through the air as she closed in on him instantly.
Her dagger slashed with ferocious precision.

Kagagagak!

Dagas raised his gauntlet just in time, the iron plate scraping against Cynel’s blade.

“[Sharpness]!”

Dagas swung his empty fist at her, but Cynel’s kick landed on his abdomen first.
A counterattack executed in a split second.
Before he could react, Cynel withdrew her dagger and drove it downward.

Puuk!

Blood sprayed from Dagas’s shoulder as the dagger plunged in.
He groaned in pain, his face contorted.

“Guh, gaaah…!”

Dropping his gun, Dagas collapsed, rolling on the ground.
Cynel kicked his pistol away and wiped the blood splattered on her face with her gloved hand.
She’d disarmed and subdued him completely.
In this state, his magic was useless.

Judging the situation under control, I holstered my pistol and walked down from the building.
Cynel, bloodstained, greeted me.

“Good work, Cynel.”

“Yes. But that voice earlier…”

“We’ll talk about that later. For now, we’ve got to wrap things up with this guy.”

The contractor, Ironclad Dagas Phillip.
Originally, my job was just to provide his location.
But his unexpected resistance had made this far more exhausting than planned.
Without Cynel, capturing him would’ve been near impossible.
The adrenaline of the fight began to fade, and I approached Dagas, dragging my tired body.

“Ugh…”

“Tough day for both of us, huh, Dagas?”

“Mr. Trillo’s… ugh, hunting dog?”

“You’ve got it wrong. I’m not one of their pals.”

Dagas looked at me, confused.
It wasn’t surprising he’d assume I was with Valiant, given I’d been with them.

“Then… who are you?”

“Someone who makes a living selling out guys like you.”

“…”

“You wasted our time running.”

Liam, the Valiant executive leading the operation, had been taken out by Dagas.
But now that we’d caught him, it was time to contact Mr. Trillo for the remaining payment.
I reached into my pocket for my phone, but a strange sensation stopped me.

Click.

The cold touch of metal grazed my skin.
Turning to Cynel, who stood protectively beside me, I saw her staring behind me with a startled expression, her dagger in hand.

“Stop. Drop your weapons and freeze.”

“Cynel, who’s behind me?”

“The security force.”

The security force.
I couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh.
Valiant’s flashy moves must’ve drawn attention, but I hadn’t expected the security force to show up this fast.
No sirens, either.
They were likely nearby and stumbled upon us by chance.
Keeping my phone screen off, I spoke to the security officer behind me.

“Can I turn around?”

“Hands up, and you can.”

“Alright.”

The pressure of the gun at my neck eased.
Raising both hands, I turned slowly.
There stood a blonde girl holding a notepad, aiming a gun at me, and a man with black hair.
Black hair wasn’t common in this city, especially not paired with a thick scarf over a coat.
A memory clicked, and I tested a name under my breath.

“Nay Terdos.”

“…You know me?”

Her reaction confirmed it.
Nay Terdos, the main heroine of War City.
That meant the man behind her was Usher Hayes, the protagonist.
Usher always wore that scarf to hide the suppression device around his neck.
Such a distinctive duo was rare in this city.
My guess that nearby security officers had found us was correct.

“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t.”

“You trying to play games with me?”

“Is that what matters right now?”

“Then what does?”

“That the security force is threatening me for no reason.”

I shrugged, slowly lowering my hands.
With Dagas, a wanted criminal, lying on the ground, I could pass as a bounty hunter to smooth things over.
The priority was keeping Mr. Trillo’s involvement under wraps.
Valiant was a criminal organization—getting tangled with the security force would complicate things, especially since I hadn’t been paid in full yet.

“Who are you?”

Nay tightened her grip on the gun, demanding my identity.
I prepared to weave telepathy into the conversation as I answered.

“Percival Smith.”

“Percival Smith?”

“Yeah, I’m…”

As I gathered mana to cast telepathy, my vision plunged into darkness.
I realized what happened only after hearing Usher’s voice.

“Stop. Try anything funny, and you’re dead.”

Usher had moved in front of me in an instant, his palm inches from my face.
He didn’t know my magic but had sensed me preparing to cast and acted first.
A feat only the protagonist could pull off.
Seeing this, I raised my hands again.
Even if Cynel were the one facing him, Usher’s magic activation speed outclassed hers.
War City was a munchkin novel, after all.

“Hold on. I’m not looking to fight the security force.”

“What were you trying to do?”

“Just add some context to my explanation.”

“Then what about the woman behind you?”

Usher gestured toward Cynel with his eyes.
Turning, I saw her gripping her dagger, ready to move.
Even against the security force, she was determined to protect her employer.
Feeling a twinge of pride, I gave her an order to reassure Usher.

“Cynel, stand down.”

“Yes.”

Cynel sheathed her dagger.
Still, Usher kept his serious gaze fixed behind me.
We weren’t the only ones here.
Dagas, clutching his shoulder, lay sprawled on the ground.
As I glanced back, I noticed him staggering to his feet, then bolting toward a narrow alley to escape the chaos.
But in my opinion, running from Usher Hayes was a foolish move.

“Tch.”

Blink.

In an instant, Usher vanished and reappeared in front of Dagas.
He grabbed the fleeing assassin’s head.

“I told you to stop.”

Area Binding.

Usher’s signature technique in the novel.
Locking the surrounding space with a blink, he slammed Dagas’s head into the ground.
Nay, watching, covered her eyes with one hand and shook her head.

“Usher, I told you not to kill if you can help it.”

Her voice carried a sigh, a scene straight out of the novel.
Only then did it truly hit me—I was really inside the world of War City.