The Former Assassin Becomes a Noble Lady

---

“What should I do first?”

I stood in the middle of the room and asked Frecia, but she walked towards me as if she hadn’t heard my question.

As she got closer, her cute appearance became even more noticeable. Despite being someone I had never seen before, she felt remarkably familiar.

Frecia walked right up to me, brushed past my side, and then turned around.

Smack!

“Hyah!?”

I screamed in surprise as Frecia suddenly slapped my butt. My senses heightened, and I instinctively yelped at the unexpected attack.

“It’s normally two slaps… but I’m letting it slide with one.”

“Y-yes? Huh?”

I didn’t understand what she was letting slide, but I responded anyway. Had I done something wrong to Frecia?

Yet no matter how much I thought about it, I found no answer. After all, Frecia and I had just met.

Unlike my bewilderment, Frecia had a satisfied smile on her face.

Instead of answering my confusion, she immediately got to the point.

“Um… there’s only about ten minutes left until lunch break… so I think this magic would be good.”

Her voice was so soothing that I started to feel drowsy too as Frecia reached out her finger into the air to draw something.

The concentration of magical energy at her fingertip began to create a magic circle.

As far as I knew, magic circles were typically drawn on objects. Whether it’s on the ground, paper, or an item. However, I had never heard of someone drawing a magic circle directly in the air on the spot.

Frecia was moving her finger around so quickly that I wondered if she was doing it correctly, and eventually, her finger stopped.

Whoosh—

The magic circle drawn in the air glowed brightly.

The magic circle not only shone but also approached me, shrinking in size until it finally settled on my chest.

I slightly unbuttoned a few buttons of my blouse to check, and there it was, a small magic circle made up of simple shapes engraved on my chest.

“Boss, what is this…?”

“I’m going to test some of the magic I developed on you. This is one of them. Just let me know how it felt after today’s class later this afternoon.”

“Then what’s the effect of this magic?”

I asked Frecia about the magic’s effect because knowing it would help me pay more attention to that part. But she opened her mouth again, now with a blank expression.

“That’s a secret. Knowing the effect might change how you feel about it… so find out for yourself.”

Having said that, Frecia returned to her seat on the sofa.

“Alright, I need to take a nap again… so just come at a reasonable time after school if you’re not too late.”

With that, Frecia snapped her fingers, and an eye mask that was rolling around on the floor flew up and covered her eyes, while a teddy bear waddled over from the corner and snuggled into her arms.

Then, she flopped down on the sofa.

It was clearly almost time for afternoon classes to start, yet she seemed ready to take a long nap.

I wondered if such laxity was allowed in the Magic Department, but it wasn’t my place to interfere. If I annoyed the boss, I’d be the one to suffer.

I carefully closed the door, so Frecia wouldn’t wake up, and stepped outside.

*

“Today is a free sparring session. Pair up and spar freely. I’ll be watching, so don’t slack off!”

The first opponent I paired up with was Selian. Of course, there would be plenty of time after class for sparring with Anne, Yuli, and other classmates. But the sparring with Selian was where I felt I could really let loose.

Facing off, Selian and I both charged at each other. Normally, our swords would clash around the center, but—

Clang!

By the time Selian had taken just two steps, I was already right in front of her. For some reason, I felt more energetic today.

But even against my unexpectedly fast attack, Selian easily blocked it.

Then, I decided to press Selian, moving more aggressively with quicker strikes.

Thwack! Thwack!

Even with my increased pace, Selian was still blocking my attacks with ease.

Clang! Clang!

We were now locked in a test of strength, swords clashing. I wasn’t sure how much my exertion would affect it, but both of us were evenly matched at this point. Our eyes met over our swords.

In a fight, it’s important to read your opponent’s gaze and utilize your own. So, I stared into Selian’s eyes to catch her next move.

Whoosh!

In that moment, my face felt hot. W-what’s happening?

Flustered, I pushed away Selian’s sword and stepped back a few paces to create distance.

Thump thump thump thump

I placed my hand on my chest and felt my heart racing. What’s going on? Why is this happening?

Selian seemed to notice something was off as she lowered her sword and approached me.

“Ell? Is something wrong?”

With a worried look, Selian placed her hand on my forehead.

“I don’t feel like you have a fever… are you okay?”

My racing heart sped up even more, feeling like it was pounding now. I worried that Selian could hear my heartbeat, so I averted my gaze from her.

This… I shouldn’t say it, but I feel like I’m completely in love… Well, Selian’s a Hero candidate, so she can sometimes be intimidating, but she’s kind-hearted, pretty, capable, and comes from a good family. A perfect woman anyone would fall for.

But even if Selian is beautiful, I’m a guy, right? Is it really natural to react like this? Safe yet dangerous?

Still, I want to find out more now. I never acted like this before, but why all of a sudden during our sparring?

“Ell? Selian?”

Noticing something was off, Anne and Yuli, who were sparring nearby, approached us.

“What’s up? Is Ell hurt?”

Realizing the issue was with me rather than Selian, Anne stared at my face like Selian had.

Thump thump thump thump thump

When I met Anne’s gaze, my racing heart began to race even more wildly.

What’s wrong, heart? You’re not an animal! If you’re a person at all, how about remembering just a moment ago when you raced while looking at Selian and rethink your life?

Whoosh!

Turning my head away, I suddenly caught sight of Yuli’s face.

“Ell? Are you okay?”

Thump thump thump thump thump thump

“Uh…! Ah, it’s nothing!”

I used formal speech without meaning to, but I couldn’t afford to worry about such trivialities.

Have I always been this weak-willed? I’m not a person; I’m a beast!

Just a moment ago, my heart raced at the sight of Selian, and now it’s racing again at seeing Anne, and once more at Yuli. Of course, all three of them are beauties, but this is shocking.

“Umm… I’m just tired. I think I need to rest in the infirmary for a bit.”

I stood up from my spot and headed straight to Professor Ferrent.

“I’m really tired, so can I go to the infirmary?”

My racing heart refused to calm down. I was probably still blushing.

“Hmm? If you’re saying that, you must really not be feeling well. Understood. I’ll inform the professor for the next class, so just rest in the infirmary until you feel better.”

I gratefully waved off Selian, Anne, and Yuli, who were insisting on taking me, and hurriedly left.

*

Now, I found myself standing in front of Magic Building Room 707. Instead of going to the infirmary, I cautiously walked to Frecia’s lab to avoid being seen by others.

Creak

I turned the doorknob gently and was relieved it wasn’t locked.

“Hey, Boss?”

Frecia remained silent, possibly still asleep. It felt daunting to wake my employer, so I sat on one of the chairs and began to ponder.

Earlier, I had been too flustered to think, but now that things had settled, I started to figure out why I reacted that way. Surely, it had to be the effect of the magic Frecia cast.

I had spent quite a bit of time with Selian, Anne, and Yuli. Sure, I had experienced little fluttering feelings occasionally, but I had never lost control like this before.

“Phew. I’m not weak-willed.”

I almost thought I was trash.

“Eh…? Is it already evening?”

Upon my musing, Frecia seemed to wake up, rubbing her eyes as she removed her eye mask. Stretching like a baby kitten while hugging her teddy bear was adorably cute.

“No, it’s still class time.”

“Huh? Then why are you here?”

“It’s because of the magic you cast earlier. That… the magic made my heart race too much, so it was hard to focus on class, so I slipped away.”

I recounted everything that had happened earlier to Frecia.

“Um… the intended effect was to accelerate actions… but it seems my heart accelerated instead… Then I’ll modify the third stroke of the magic circle…”

Somehow, Frecia began murmuring to herself. Could it be that she could determine the problem and fix it just from what I experienced for a moment?

I wondered if magic could really be adjusted that easily, but I knew it couldn’t be that simple. Although I wasn’t well-versed in magic, I did recognize what Frecia was doing might be quite impressive.

“Ah… I’ll release the magic now. Today’s experiment ends here. If I need you for further experiments, I’ll call you again… and of course, if you need any additional compensation, you can come any time.”

When Frecia drew a simple magic circle, I noticed the magic circle that had been engraved on my chest had disappeared.

“Here… this is your compensation for today.”

I felt a small bag handed to me. When I peeked inside, I found it contained a substantial amount of silver coins—more than enough to get by for now.

“Feel free to call on me anytime!”

Loyal service!

Leaving behind a pensive Frecia, who was much more deep in thought than when she had been dozing off, I exited the lab. Luckily, I reached the infirmary before the classes ended and could lie down on a bed.

However, when Selian, Anne, and Yuli came to find me after school, my heart started racing again, though not as much as earlier, indicating that the magic’s energy was still lingering, so I had no choice but to skip the rest of class and rest.