The Former Assassin Becomes a Noble Lady

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“Of course, Selian is in first place.”

In each of our hands, we held our midterm exam results. Just a few numbers written on the paper resulted in a mix of joy and despair among our classmates.

The same was true for us as we compared our scores, just to a lesser extent than the others. Yuli knew her practical scores would lag behind, and Anne was aware her written scores weren’t great either. Therefore, neither of them had high hopes for a good result. The only reason Anne’s score was slightly higher was due to the higher weightage of practical exams.

And then there was Selian, the epitome of balance. Both her classmates and the teachers acknowledged her as the perfect student, excelling academically and practically to take first place overall in the Swordsmanship Department.

So, what about me?

With Selian around, aiming for first place was already a lost cause. But even so, I couldn’t ignore my grades since I was aiming for a scholarship. Each subject had a small variance in rank, but overall, I landed in second place, just behind Selian.

The finals were still ahead, but with scores like this, I could definitely aim for a scholarship, even if it wasn’t full.

“But what about that cat?”

“Um… I’m not sure. I don’t know much about the meowing thing either.”

Anne asked about the cat sitting on my lap. It had become quite friendly, now coming over to claim my thigh whenever it spotted me, yet I still knew nothing about this cat’s identity—who owned it or where it lived. I could only guess it was well-fed by its shiny fur.

Anyway, since the cat had lost most of its wariness toward me, it was about time to attempt my secret technique again. A technique that no cat could ever refuse. I figured my previous failure was due to the cat’s previous wariness and my own inability to control my strength after not petting a cat for so long.

I slowly stroked the cat from its head to its tail. I must absolutely not let the cat discover my intent.

I am an assassin. An assassin must possess the patience to remain hidden for days on end and must never miss a single, fleeting opportunity. Therefore, I waited for that moment to arrive.

And finally, that opportunity came.

“Purrr…”

A low sound, quiet yet irresistible, the cat purred. It had completely surrendered to my skilled grasp and relaxed its entire body. Not missing that fleeting moment, I acted.

Smack!

I gently gave the cat’s rear a light tap.

Startled, the cat perked up its tail and prepared to jump away, but I was a former assassin and a budding Sword Master. The cat’s agility couldn’t escape my hand.

Smack!

Before the cat could spring from my lap, I gave its behind another light tap. One more, and another.

Swiftly, yet gently, I delivered smacks with just the snap of my wrist.

The cat’s rebellions were quite cute. The first time I tapped it, it tried to escape my lap; the second time, it yowled in protest. By the third tap, it gave my thigh a gentle nibble.

But by the fourth, the cat could no longer resist its instincts. Unable to protest, it lightly scratched my thigh, not using its claws, and stared blankly.

Yes, this is it!

Excited, I used both hands to amplify my smacking.

I only stopped when I noticed my other friends were looking at me with disbelief.

I wanted to continue, but I felt I should be satisfied for today. Well, this much was enough for me, and the sprawled-out cat seemed content too.

Look, the cat is staring at me with a satisfied face.

Whack!

Then, it slapped me and dashed away.

Why! You enjoyed it too!

“Well… I guess I did go a bit overboard.”

Yuli, who noticed the cat’s departure, reached out her hand towards the direction the cat ran, comforting me as I felt the pain of rejection in real time. Of course, Yuli was the only one who truly understood me.

Meanwhile, Selian was looking at me… but it was probably just my imagination that her gaze was fixated on my behind. Yup, just that.

“Ugh… Ian scoring better than me… How humiliating.”

Anne seemed far more troubled by her score being lower than her younger brother’s than by me getting slapped by the cat.

For reference, Ian scored quite high in our class, unlike Anne. Though his practical score was slightly lower, his written score was overwhelmingly higher than hers. In fact, there were hardly anyone below Anne in written scores.

“Speaking of which, it’s funny how Ian and Anne are twins yet look so different.”

Since Ian’s name came up, I noticed it’s really hard to find similarities between him and Anne. The only thing is their red hair?

Their weapon styles, combat methods, auras, and builds were completely different. They kind of resembled each other in facial features, but their size difference made it hard to notice.

“Really? Well, although they’re twins, they’re fraternal after all.”

“I have an older brother too… but we’re very different. Unlike me, my brother…”

Yuli’s voice grew somewhat gloomy. Given her father is a Sword Master, she probably had been compared to her brother many times, both inside and outside.

It’s clear Yuli works hard. Every day, she swings a sword, and she’s never shy about asking professors or us for questions and guidance in her learnings. Yet, despite her efforts, her skills never seem to improve. Sorry to say, but Yuli really doesn’t resemble her Sword Master father at all. If she had inherited even a fraction of his talent, she’d have surpassed her current level long ago.

“Selian! What about you? You have an older brother too, right?”

To lighten the mood, Anne quickly addressed Selian. Speaking of which, according to the materials I read when I was tracked down, the Deretia house had an older brother above Selian. As a Hero family, he was also quite the impressive swordsman. However, I don’t think he ever made a name for himself. Therefore, the expectations of House Deretia lie heavily on Selian, and she is the most promising candidate for a Hero.

“Well… my older brother is quite a few years older than me. When I was younger, I always tried to follow him.”

I think Selian’s brother was about five years older? He was also a graduate of the Academy, if I recall correctly.

“Come to think of it, everyone has a younger brother…”

Anne has a younger brother, and Yuli and Selian have older brothers. You would expect there to be some sisters, but they all only have brothers.

“El also has a younger brother… Oh!”

Yuli, who seemed poised to say something, suddenly clamped her mouth shut with her adorable little hands in surprise.

“S-Sorry…”

?

I tilted my head in confusion as something clicked in my mind—Elysia Frentz’s background information.

The Frentz family had lost all its members in an attack by the Demonic Race in the past. The only survivor from that attack was me, Elysia Frentz, according to the settings crafted by the Assassin Guild.

In other words, all Frentz members, except for Elysia Frentz, had perished, including Elysia Frentz’s younger brother, Zeno Frentz.

Yuli, having been close to Elysia since childhood, would have had some connection to Zeno as well, and what she almost mentioned earlier must have been about him.

“No, it’s fine. That was over ten years ago; I can hardly remember it now.”

There was a chance that if the topic related to him came up, I could accidentally say something I shouldn’t. Thus, I deflected the conversation casually.

Meanwhile, Anne and Selian were both aware of the tragedy that befell the Frentz family, sensing Yuli’s slip of the tongue. Possibly to comfort me, Anne took my hand.

“El! Why don’t you come visit us during summer vacation? It’ll be fun!”

This was likely said to comfort me since, unlike them, I had nowhere to go and would have to stay alone in the dormitory. It felt a bit burdensome, yet I had no reason to decline.

“Really? I’m already looking forward to it!”

“Uh… please come visit our house too.”

Selian, holding onto the opposite hand that Anne had grabbed, spoke up. Given I accepted Anne’s invitation, I had no excuse to turn this down either.

“Sure, I’m grateful for the invitation.”

“Then how about we rotate visiting each other’s homes during summer vacation? If you come to ours, maybe it’ll trigger some old memories?”

Yuli chimed in with her suggestion. However, I felt bad to say that there was no old memory to trigger if I visited her house.

Thus, here we were, having just wrapped up our midterms but already planning our summer vacation.

As we continued discussing whose house to visit first, we suddenly spotted a paper airplane soaring down the hallway from a distance. Whoever launched it had done so perfectly, without wobbling.

In fact, it was flying so well that it didn’t seem to descend at all, which felt quite unnatural.

Thud!

After flying for a while, the paper airplane finally smacked into my forehead, losing power and dropping crumplingly to the floor.

It didn’t hurt or anything, but I rubbed my forehead absentmindedly and picked up the paper airplane.

Scanning my surroundings, I couldn’t see anyone approaching to retrieve it.

However, as it fell into my hand, the paper airplane mysteriously transformed into a letter.

The paper that had been in my hand was now a note.

“Tonight at 10 PM, come to the lab. I’ve already notified the dormitory, so there’s no need to worry. – Frecia Gatina -”

Before the midterms, I had helped with a few experiments starting with the acceleration magic experiment, but it seemed she had refrained from calling me during the exams out of consideration. Now that they were over, I received my boss’s summons after what felt like ages.

Curiously, the magic experiments typically took place at dinner time, but tonight, for some reason, she requested me to come at night.

Even notifying the school felt a bit extreme… It reminded me of the last time I skipped class and took a nap. It seemed my boss was not your average Magic Department student—perhaps I could consider her to be as notable as Selian from the Magic Department?

“What’s this? What’s this?”

“Oh, it’s someone I know summoning me.”

“So, should you go right now?”

“Nah. She said to come around 10, so I don’t need to rush.”

“10? That’s the exact time for dorm curfews. Who calls someone at that hour?”

Normally, there wouldn’t be an issue just explaining, but I was somewhat reluctant to say it was my boss. If I mentioned I was working to pay my bills, my sweet friends would be likely to fuss over me unnecessarily. While it wouldn’t be a huge issue, it wasn’t something I wanted to bring up. Thus, I pondered how to introduce Frecia without mentioning her as my boss.

“Huh? Who is it? Who is it?”

Yet, Anne peppered me with questions, determined to extract an answer. Under the pressure of Anne’s rapid questioning, I inadvertently let one of the titles I had in mind for Frecia slip out.

“Master…?”

Anne, previously holding back, suddenly jerked her head towards me with alarming intensity as if she had heard a frightful sound.

“B-What!? Master!?”

The grip on my shoulders tightened as Anne shook me, stronger this time. Oh, after hearing me call her “master,” I realized they had misunderstood something.

Honestly, even if I volunteered my financial situation, I had to clear up their misunderstanding. So, I explained to my friends what “master” meant.

“Hey, it’s not what you’re thinking. I’m just getting paid a bit for my work.”

Yet, my explanation only incited Anne to shake me more vigorously, while Yuli, with a face like a tomato, buried her head low. Meanwhile, Selian’s eyes bulged comically wide as she stared at me without a clear focus.

Um… Selian? Your unfocused eyes look a bit scary; could you at least make some expression? No, wait, if you’re smiling with those eyes, that might be even more terrifying. Just stay as you are. No, please stay just as you are. I’m begging you.

Eventually, after over an hour of persuasion, I finally managed to clear up their misunderstanding.