I Did a Good Job For the Villain's Early Education - Chapter 45.2
Chapter 45.2
“And besides, you shouldn’t just kill people willy-nilly. You have to be prudent. Actually, you shouldn’t kill at all.”
“She attacked first.”
“And that’s why we’re discussing appropriate disciplinary action, aren’t we? There’s no need to stoop to her level.” Her gently curved eyes were inappropriately bright for the situation. Avel, observing Cheza’s expression, plucked a flower from her hair.
“Your hands are better suited for flowers than blood, Your Highness.”
Squeeze.
Avel pressed the flower into the prince’s palms.
“You’re…”
“Cute? Innocent? Good at putting a positive spin on things?”
“…Fine. Fine, just get on with it.”
“Yes, sir.”
Clang!
“Hey, what’s your motive? Why did you come to my room? Let’s start with that.”
“….”
“Do you want to become a permanent ice sculpture?”
“I don’t want that.”
“Then talk. Do you really want to die?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“But I can’t die.”
The answer was strangely resolute.
“You can’t kill me either.”
“Why?”
“That’s…”
“Then just stay like that.”
“I’ll talk.”
She seemed like an expert.
“This first. Why were you trying to kill me?”
“I was told to kill all witnesses.”
“And the original objective?”
“To kill the First Prince.”
It was the expected answer, but still infuriating. Why try to kill a kid who diligently studied and even graduated early? The kingdom should be celebrating him, not trying to eliminate him!
‘Well, that would be a waste of taxpayer money, I guess.’
“Who’s behind it?”
“I don’t know.”
“…What?”
“I don’t know.”
“Someone must have hired you.”
“He wore a cloak. Probably a man.” Wow, an answer that might narrow the possibilities by half, or might not.
“The money? You must have received a down payment.”
“I didn’t.”
“Huh?”
“He said he’d pay me after I completed the job.”
“A contract?”
The brown-haired head shook.
“Are you insane?”
“…Huh?”
“You don’t know his name, you don’t know his face! And you took on such a high-risk mission? What? Get paid after you finish? How’s that supposed to work? He’d just disappear after you’re dealt with!”
“….”
“You get a contract! You get paid! And then you do the job!”
Cheza, unable to listen any longer, interjected.
“What’s the point of a contract for an assassination?”
“So you can drag the client down with you if things go south! Become a vengeful ghost!”
“…I see.”
Avel’s round face was as red as a ripe sweet potato. Her clear voice had been practically shrieking this whole time.
“How do you even make a living working like this?”
“Um.”
“In this cruel world! With no one to rely on! How! How can you do this kind of work?!”
“Avel, calm down.”
“Okay.” Avel’s energy deflated like a switched-off lightbulb, but then she flickered back on, lifting her head.
“No, but seriously, how have you been making a living?”
“First.”
“Huh?”
“First assignment.”
‘Right. Someone experienced wouldn’t take on such a shoddy job.’
“Judging by what I saw earlier, you’re not particularly skilled either. Why not find something else?”
“I can’t.”
“Is there some kind of vocational calling for murder?”
“I have to, if I want to die.”
“What are you talking about?”
The woman lifted her unfrozen hand to her neck. As she pulled down her high collar, a tight, black choker was revealed.
‘No, not a choker. A thread?’
“That’s…”
“Stitches.”
Cheza was right. Her long neck was meticulously sewn together with black thread, as if her head and body had been reattached.
‘No way.’
This being a world with magic, the existence of unusual beings wasn’t out of the question.
‘The heroine had some kind of power too.’
But usually, it was fairies, spirits, dragons…things like that, wasn’t it?
“Um, how old are you, exactly?”
“I was born during the Lilike dynasty.”
“Your Highness, what does that mean?”
“The Lilike dynasty…that’s three dynasties ago. They fell a thousand years ago.”
“At least a thousand years old…” A thousand-year-old ancestor with stitches on her neck!
“I want to…end my life.”
“And…that’s why? You have to kill people?”
“Kill ten thousand, or save ten thousand.”
Her peach-colored brow furrowed slightly. A thousand years, and then ten thousand. The sheer scale of it made Avel’s head spin.
“Are you kidding me? You’re killing people because you want to die? What a party it’ll be in the afterlife.”
But that was that, and this was this. The loneliness of an immortal? Who cares?
“Get a hobby! Enjoy your eternal life to the fullest!” Avel was far too human to understand the yearning for eternal life or death.
