The Former Assassin Becomes a Noble Lady

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As I approached almost a month since enrolling in the Academy, all the students slowly began to find their respective places.

Some formed groups with commoners, while others huddled together from a young age as nobles. There were also jumbled groups whose reasons for clustering together were a mystery.

Among those groups, the one I found myself in was, as everyone knows, the Selian-Anne-Elysia Trio.

Since Selian was famous from the first day of school, some students approached her, but in the end, they couldn’t stick around and ended up leaving.

Anne, on the other hand, has been friendly with every kid around as she moves from place to place. Of course, after all her wandering, she quickly returns to sit with Selian and me at the back.

Me?

I don’t know why, but nearly a month has passed, and aside from Selian and Anne, I haven’t managed to become friends with any other kids. Sure, as classmates we exchange simple greetings and say hi when we bump into each other outside, but that’s about it.

There were definitely kids who approached me during the first actual swordsmanship class, so how did it end up like this? I seriously question my social skills.

I’ve tried to reach out and start conversations to befriend other students, but just as I’m talking with someone, Selian naturally comes over to strike up a conversation with me. Consequently, I can’t help but pay attention to her, which inevitably leaves the conversation with the other student unattended.

?

?

!

Now that I think about it, was it all my fault?!

If someone tries to strike up a conversation and suddenly starts talking to someone else, it’s only natural to feel slighted.

But it can’t be helped. If I have to choose, my life is more important. I hope that my connections in the Academy won’t just end up being Selian and Anne!

What? You say there’s Ian?

Ian is that… uh, what’s it… kind of like a bonus that comes along when you buy something?

I don’t think it’s polite to compare a person to an object, but you could say it’s a vague feeling like that?

When I talk with Ian, we get along comfortably and consider each other friends, but since we belong to different groups from the beginning, it’s only natural for me, who’s glued to Anne, to think that way.

Anyway, now that most students have settled into the class, I’ve slowly found some leisure to pay attention to what’s happening outside our group.

And as I do, situations that I used to overlook while focusing only on Selian suddenly catch my eye.

“Hey, here… the chocolate bread I mentioned earlier…”

A timid girl handed over some bread, only for it to be snatched away by a girl who was giggling with others.

“What’s this~? Where’s mine?”

What about mine? What about mine?

The boys and girls in the group all throw a comment or two at the girl who brought the bread.

However, the girl has no bread and is instead stammering apologies.

“I-I’m sorry… um… this was a request from Sena earlier…”

“Hey! If you’re going to send us on an errand, at least order enough for us too, not just your own!”

“What are you talking about? She’s the one without sense, why are you coming down on me?”

Ah, this is a situation I’ve seen many times. No, to be precise, I’ve experienced this situation countless times.

Back when I was in the Assassin Guild, I was the youngest and often called upon for various errands.

In fact, calling it errands was just a front; they simply called me over to vent their stress.

I don’t know what was so amusing for them to bully me all the time in the little Assassin Guild where we faced each other every day, but I remember it being quite stressful for me at that time.

So what did I do?

What else was there to do? I just grit my teeth and trained. I guess I can say that my current skills were honed thanks to them.

When the bastards who bullied me used to try to call me on some errand, I’d pull out my sword, flicking off imaginary dust while releasing my aura, and they’d quiet down on their own.

If they didn’t stop and kept annoying me, one poke would surely shut them up. Poke!

Eventually, all the ones who used to bother me disappeared, except for the Guild Master. I don’t mean to say I killed them, just that the bullying stopped.

Putting that aside, the situation before my eyes seems pretty obvious.

Under the guise of a favor, the girl who delivered the bread is indeed one of their group, with a flimsy excuse of being a friend’s request.

I’m not a good guy to intervene, nor is it necessary. But thinking back to those memories, I can’t help but get angry, right? So it wouldn’t be unusual for me to step in.

However, even if I jump in now, this bullying won’t just disappear. While the bullying in plain sight might stop, the harassment would continue behind the scenes since they belong to different groups. In fact, it could even get worse.

So for now, I’ll hold back.

Instead.

“Oh my, it’s been a long time! I didn’t expect to see you at the same Academy…”

I reached out and grasped the girl’s hand, striking up a conversation.

We were obviously strangers, and the girl showed signs of shock. However, before she could say anything, I turned to the wretched bastards in front of me.

“Sorry to interrupt your fun. It’s been a while since I met this friend. Can I take her for a bit?”

I said with a cheerful smile, but naturally, a retort sprang up at this sudden situation.

“Who the hell are you? What’s up with that…?”

“Hey, hey. That’s the one who hangs out with Selian…”

Fortunately, one of the group recognized me and blocked the soon-to-be protesting one. I’m not particularly grateful, but it’s relieving to have the annoyance gone.

“Well then, we’ll be on our way.”

I forcibly took the girl with me and left. The girl held captive by me looked bewildered, trying to see what was happening, turning her head back and forth with a confused expression.

And the place we arrived at was a corner of the courtyard where people wouldn’t easily notice us.

Ah, if someone saw us, they might think I’m trying to mug this girl.

I pulled the girl even further away, to the back of an inconspicuous storage shed.

The more I dragged her, the more terrified she seemed… but I’d let her go once the misunderstanding was cleared up.

Finally, after arriving at a spot unnoticed, I opened my mouth to the girl.

“I’m sorry for dragging you all of a sudden.”

“I, I… I don’t remember what I did wrong, but… I’m sorry. It was my fault…”

The girl, her face filled with fear, apologized in reverse. Ah, she has a serious misunderstanding.

“No, don’t say that. I just brought you over because I wanted to talk.”

“But…”

“I promise I just want to talk. If you’re that scared, it’ll hurt my feelings, you know?”

After soothing her for quite a while, she finally seemed in a state ready to converse.

“I’m Elysia. I’m in Swordsmanship Class 1.”

I lightly bowed my head towards the girl as a greeting. The girl timidly returned the gesture, much like a squirrel on alert.

“I’m… huh? Elysia? Elysia?”

The girl, who had been on guard against me, suddenly widened her eyes and began examining my face left and right.

What’s this?

“But Elysia… no, when I see this silver hair and red eyes, it’s definitely…”

She’s mumbling to herself now. This feels ominous. It seems like I’ve touched something I shouldn’t have.

“Are you… Elysia Frentz?”

Have I ever mentioned the name Frentz since coming to the Academy?

No. I never brought up the name of House Frentz, not even when talking to Selian. Of course, it’s information meticulously manipulated for assassination requests, but there’s always a what-if, so I’ve tried my best to avoid bringing up the name Frentz.

Yet this girl in front of me has mentioned the name Frentz, which I’ve never once said in the Academy.

“It’s me! Yuli Atillea! We used to play together when we were little!”

Ah… I’m screwed…

*

“I see… It must have been hard. I didn’t even notice. Sorry about that.”

Luckily, I managed to brush it off. The fall of the Frentz Count family due to a demonic race attack is a well-known fact that happened over a decade ago.

Therefore, saying that Elysia Frentz, now alone, had her memories of childhood friends blur due to all the struggles she faced seems to have passed muster.

“No, I should be the one apologizing for not recognizing you.”

I waved my hands dismissively and continued.

“By the way, are you referring to the Sword Master from House Atillea?”

One of the only eight Sword Masters in the continent is Craig Atillea. That means the girl in front of me is from a family close enough to share the same name as a Sword Master.

“Yeah. That’s my father.”

Huh?

That makes even less sense. How could anyone dare bully the daughter of a Sword Master? It’s an act that just doesn’t make sense unless they’ve truly lost their minds.

Seeing the confusion on my face, Yuli seemed to want to clear my doubts.

“I don’t really resemble my father… I can’t use a sword well. Because of this, there’s not much interest in me within the family anyway. My father wants my brother and me to be strong…”

There are heirs determined to carry on the family name, but neither I nor my father wields a sword well. As a result, I end up drifting apart without any merits or talent.

Even so, it’s Atillea. The Marquis Atillea. Even if the Sword Master doesn’t take action, noble heirs from decent families would still instinctively tread carefully around the Atillea name, yet they still bullied Yuli, which means they’re at least a little influential noble class.

Moreover, even though the Academy has rules preventing any family from directly or indirectly interfering with its affairs, established by the Empire, it defies common logic for such behavior to be tolerated.

“So don’t worry too much. And by the way, El… Ah! I’m sorry, that habit from back in the day slipped out…”

“No, it’s perfectly fine to call me El.”

Seeing that I said it’s fine to call me El, she brightened up with a big smile over just a nickname.

“Yeah! El! Anyway, you don’t have to worry about getting in trouble. Really, don’t worry about me.”

This poor girl is even looking out for me in this situation.

The one in pain should be her, yet she’s worried about someone else.

Really… it’s been a long time since I’ve felt this way.