So that's Gram.
Princess Amelia, there's something I wish to discuss with you.
Would you mind joining me at my mansion?
What are you playing at?
Don't interrupt us, you nobody.
Hey, guild master or not, you don't get to insult the Silent Assassin!
I know perfectly well who he is.
The hero and his party are meant to devote themselves to slaying the demon lord.
That is one of the core rules of our society,
and yet here this fool is, goofing off.
Why, you!
My time, my choice.
Nobody tells me what to do.
Goodness, how heartless.
That man who gave his life to get you out of the palace must be rolling in his grave!
Who exactly are you talking about?
Saran Mithray!
What a pathetic way to go out, but it was quite the show.
I'm so glad I put cameras on the Night Ravens.
Happy to hear it.
What? Oh, you wish to see the footage for yourself?
I still have it, of course.
Admitting that to my face will be your biggest mistake.
I find it so hard to understand the way peasants speak.
Not that I need to.
Guild Master!
What are you thinking?
You want to hurt these adventurers for no reason at all?!
Kerria!
Capture Princess Amelia! Kill anyone who gets in the way!
Raul! Take Kerria and get out of here!
Gotcha!
Conceal Presence.
They can still see you, Akira!
Hmph! I knew you had an advanced Conceal Presence skill.
The Night Ravens' cameras revealed as much.
Once I learned you were hanging around the princess,
I had Mystic Eyes much like Saran's developed for them.
But if it goes out of control with Amelia nearby...
Gravity!
No way!
I'll hold them off!
Give them hell and then run!
Understood!
This way, Amelia!
After them! Don't let them escape!
You're running, right? I've got you.
I can fly! What do you think? Amazing, isn't it?
Thank you, Latticenail.
You're a lifesaver.
This is nothing. I like you guys, after all.
How beautiful.
Yeah, it really is.
MY STATUS AS AN ASSASSIN OBVIOUSLY EXCEEDS THE HERO'S
Welcome back, Night.
I couldn't hold them off very long.
No, you did plenty.
Okay, I'll be heading out now.
Are you sure?
If you're going to spill blood, I don't want to be around to see it.
Okay.
Welp, see you someday soon!
Did you go see Gram?
Yeah.
He had his boosted troops with him.
And they injured you? They must truly be formidable.
I can take them one-on-one, but the numbers game is hard to overcome.
They have countermeasures for my Conceal Presence,
and none of my attacks did any damage.
It felt like the impact of my blows was being dispersed.
They must be buffing their gear with the mana generated from the boosters.
Fighting them head-on will get me nowhere.
But you're an assassin. You must have your ways.
Hold on. Why are you assuming Akira's going to accept the job?
Now that Gram has you in his sights and has failed to capture you,
he'll throw caution to the wind and pursue you even harder.
That's the kind of man Gram is.
Amelia.
It's late, so go to bed. You too, Night.
Huh? But...
Master...
I want to be alone for a bit. Please.
Per your orders, we have eyes on every route out of the capital.
And how's the search going?
We're gathering information as we speak.
We'll know where the princess is staying within a day's time.
Find out before noon tomorrow.
Y-Yes, my lord.
Er...
If I may ask, why are you doing this?
For entertainment.
These losers will use up their lifetime supply of mana in a year and die.
So why bother to treat them with care?
As long as I have the boosters, I can replace as many as I need.
And once I sell Princess Amelia to the demons, I'll get my hands on the rare materials
it will take to produce boosted soldiers of a much higher caliber.
Now...
I'm turning in for the evening.
Have additional boosted troops out on guard tonight, just in case.
As you wish.
If I don't kill him, he'll keep coming after Amelia.
Moreover, he mocked Commander Saran's final moments.
That man cannot be allowed to live.
My mind is made up.
I should get my assassin tools ready in case I run into any boosted soldiers.
Oh...
Wait, I remember this.
The commander meant it for you. I'm sure it'll come in handy.
Huh? I hope it's recording.
Hey, Akira.
Commander Saran?
Surprised?
I'm recording this in case anything bad happens to me.
There's no telling what the future holds for the two of us, after all.
Although it's not like I have a big secret to let you in on or anything.
Sorry, are you disappointed?
No, I'm not.
I just wanted to revisit something I've said to you before.
Be an assassin who respects life so that you may return to your family alive.
You're fine that way.
One day, Akira, you'll go home to your world.
To a land that's peaceful, where you won't be faced with constant bloodshed.
What the hell?
So don't you go thinking about avenging me or anything, okay?
Why...?
You don't need to feel responsible for any of this world's goings-on.
In fact, you mustn't.
And that naturally includes my death.
At the risk of repeating myself, revenge is a fool's errand.
But given how intelligent you are, I'm sure you know that already.
Why now?
I... I'd finally made up my mind!
Why'd I have to hear this now?
So much in life is out of our hands.
But I trust you not to get swept away by emotion.
Now, in case you're wondering why I'm so invested in you...
I think it's because I'm so enamored with you and the man you are, Akira.
My, how embarrassing to say.
I'll leave it at that.
Commander Saran, I hope you'll give me a good scolding someday...
for being an utter fool and not listening to you.
So you're going?
You're still up?
If you're headed out to do my dirty work,
it is my duty as your client to see you off.
I'm going to kill him now.
How will you deal with the boosted soldiers?
I'll do what needs to be done, but I won't spill any blood I don't have to.
Is that acceptable?
So assassins aren't indiscriminate killers, huh?
Very well.
Wait.
You didn't go to bed either?
How could I?
Akira, don't go.
I can tell.
Deep down, you don't want to kill anyone.
Am I wrong?
You're right.
Then don't!
Forgive me,
Amelia.
You came to see me off, Night?
Just give the word, and I will help you.
Sorry. Let me do this on my own.
Understood.
As you wish, Master.
A fellow hitman...?
The Silent Assassin!
Just my luck to end up competing with a big shot for this job.
However...
I'm not letting you have my target!
He's absolutely right.
I'm not letting him have my target either.
At this point, all I could think of was Commander Saran's face.
There's so much in life I can't do anything about.
This isn't worth it!
But I can't back down now!
And I'm not special in that regard.
The same goes for everyone.
Even this hitman, who the crown probably sent here.
We all deal with things we wish we didn't have to.
Including Crow, Night, and Amelia.
This world is so damn unfair...
Same with Kyousuke, the hero, and the others, summoned to another world out of the blue.
Maybe the demons and their lord too.
Even the king who brought us here...
Gram must be going through it as well.
And, of course, Commander Saran did too.
Which is why I must...
Akira.
I'm so sorry.
What? Why are you apologizing?
Is it because you went even as I tried to stop you?
But...
I'd made up my mind to kill him, but when it actually came time,
I couldn't stop shaking.
And yet...
After I killed Gram, I felt nothing.
I'm scared of myself for not batting an eye at taking a man's life.
For becoming a real assassin.
Akira...
It's so stupid.
I could've just killed the king of Retice when I had the chance.
If I'd done that, Commander Saran would still be here.
That's not your fault!
If this was gonna happen either way, sooner would've been better.
The guy I was until yesterday, the guy you tried to save...
He no longer exists.
There's no going back now.
So I'm sorry.
It's okay.
I'll be with you, no matter what happens or what you become.
Amelia...
I've always watched you blaze your own trail.
I'll do the same,
because I learned from the best.
Even I don't know what'll become of me in the future.
I might turn into a terrifying monster.
But if you're still willing to stick by me and watch over me,
I think I'll be able to keep going.
Don't go forgetting me now.
I have decided to dedicate my life to you, Master.
I am with you all the way.
What did you say?
Uncle...
Sir Gram's been assassinated?
Was it him?
Actually, it couldn't have been anyone else.
Do you have a moment?
What's up?
My Intuition skill has been nagging at me all morning.
Something's happened to Akira.
What do you mean? Don't tell me...
No, nothing like him dying or suffering a grievous injury.
All I can sense is that he's undergone some transformation.
If he's still alive, we can ask him about it. We did agree to meet again.
You're right.
Nobody is an exception.
We all experience some kind of loss.
What matters is what we do afterward.
I intend to settle things with the demon lord eventually.
What will you do when that time comes?
You're coming with us, Crow.
Of course. I'm a man of my word.
Let's be off, then.
Yep!
Amelia and Night accepted me even after I became an assassin.
So I'll accept my cross to bear too.
I don't know if I have any right to return to my world after this.
But Kyousuke, the hero, and the rest of my classmates...
Should it ever be necessary to kill in order to get them home safe and sound,
I'll take the job...
as an assassin.
EPISODE 12: ODA AKIRA BECOMES AN ASSASSIN
Translation: Sriram Gurunathan
Timing: Krzysztof Kunc Editing: Riley Dalton
Quality Check: William Haggard