Reset Life – Chapter 95

Chapter 95: What Have You Been Doing Until Now?! (1)

I sat next to Aila with a cup in my hand.

“Drink this.”

“Thank you.”

She took the cup and fixed her gaze back on the night sky. The night sky in the mountains, dotted with stars, looks even clearer.

I inadvertently stared at her.

Under the bright moon, her ash-gray hair shimmering silver looked much more mature and beautiful than before.

She turned her head, perhaps feeling my gaze.

With the cup to her lips and her eyes wide open…… she’s still cute.

“Ah, this? It was bothersome to grow it out. It doesn’t suit an assassin, does it?”

She touched her hair, perhaps misunderstanding my gaze.

It’s quite a shame, but her hair, which used to reach her waist, now only reaches her shoulders in a ponytail.

I said with a slightly bitter smile.

“Did Levidian cut her hair too?”

“Well. I don’t know. But how’s my hair? Does it suit me?”

She held the end of her hair and shook it lightly.

If she had a calm and intellectual appearance, it would suit her in its own way, but Aila still looks best when she’s lively. I smiled and nodded.

“It suits you well.”

“Yeah! I knew you’d say that, Risel. Hehe.”

She sat with her knees together and sipped the soup from the cup with both hands. I stretched out my legs, straightened my back, supported myself with both hands, and tilted my head back.

Stars, stars, stars, stars, stars……

The night sky with countless stars has a fantastic beauty that makes you feel like you’ll be sucked in just by looking at it.

I said, looking at the stars.

“Aila, I have a question.”

“Yeah, anything.”

“Since when have you been an assassin?”

“Hmm, you might not believe it, but including me, none of the members of Mangya have ever killed anyone. We’re different from the Black New Moon.”

“Ah, is that so? My apologies.”

Well, they wouldn’t be able to operate without establishing legitimacy.

I heard Aila chuckle.

“It’s nothing to apologize for. It’s stranger for an assassin not to assassinate. Um, and more than anything, I’m not an assassin. I’m the Master of Mangya.”

“The Master doesn’t work?”

“No. I mean I don’t do the easy work of just going somewhere and killing someone. I analyze the information that comes in, set the dates, grasp the overall situation, and do all those bothersome things. But I became the Master because I had the sense for it.”

“Ah, I see. It’s like gifted education?”

“Similar.”

I nodded. Her strange words and actions made a little more sense.

Seeing through the essence was her nature, and analyzing information and grasping the situation must have been something she learned from a young age. Plus, she would have been exposed to the underworld early on.

Her mystery is somewhat understandable.

“But this isn’t the end, is it?”

“What end?”

“You’re still hiding something, right? It’s strange that you’re revealing things so readily.”

“Hehe. Women naturally have many secrets. And a woman is only truly womanly when she has secrets. Does that make sense?”

I looked up at her.

She was looking at me with her face resting on her raised knees. That subtle and alluring smile was dizzying, but strangely, I didn’t feel anything strange towards her.

Even though such a beautiful woman is next to me, I’m only thinking of one person.

“Do you know anything about Levidian, or the Master of the Black New Moon?”

“I think Ibi-unni was the same. She probably knows that the Master of Mangya is named Maya.”

“Well, that’s true. How could she not know after spending so much time together? But more than that, I couldn’t even imagine it. The woman known as the Sword King was the King of Assassins.”

I sighed deeply.

I might be thinking a bit extremely because I’m a little desperate. But the fact that she’s the Master of the Black New Moon is still hard to believe.

More than anything, I’ve never felt like she was hiding anything from me in the past few years.

Aila lifted her head and rested her chin between her knees.

“Even if you’re a bit dense, I was also deceived.”

“Dense? Who? I even gave her a ring!”

Aila turned her head sharply. Her wide-open eyes were like those of a nuthatch. Then she chuckled.

“Pfft! A ring as the first gift, I pity unni. Originally, you should give small accessories little by little, and the ring should be the final decoration.”

“I think differently. Necklaces and bracelets would be inconvenient for sword training, and hairpins or hair accessories wouldn’t mean much, right? And you can’t give a weapon as a gift. She’d be happy, but it’s not appropriate for a man to give a woman as a gift.”

“I don’t know. Maybe it means, ‘Protect yourself well with this and don’t give it to any other man but me!’”

“If that’s the thought, I’d rather give a wooden sword as a gift. Saying, ‘At least you won’t die with this.’”

“Unni could kill someone even with a spoon in her hand.”

“She could do it with her bare hands.”

We looked at each other and exchanged smiles.

The Levidian that Aila and I remember was that kind of person. A comfortable person we could talk about and joke about without feeling burdened.

And that person is currently a potential ‘enemy’.

Who could grasp this reality?

Aila said.

“Whew, I wasn’t going to say anything because it’s still inaccurate, but Ibi-unni probably found out that she’s the Master of the Black New Moon only recently.”

“What do you mean?”

“So…… while the Mangya lineage has been well preserved within the Hind family, the Black New Moon’s legitimate lineage has been forgotten. Since everyone in that lineage is scattered. Anyway, Ibi-unni and I are family by blood.”

“Considering that, you two don’t have anything in common?”

“The person who contributed the most to shaping my personality is my dad. I truly love him, but sometimes I resent him.”

She made a complicated expression and rested her chin between her knees.

Baron Dakard really did something he shouldn’t have done in this world. The kid is basically good, but to leave her gruffness alone, that’s not something a parent should do.

And to make his daughter say such a thing?

“I’d like to meet your father sometime.”

“It’ll be difficult. Anyway, I’ll tell you more about Ibi-unni’s situation as soon as I figure it out. It seems like we’ll have to attack soon.”

Aila shrugged. I lifted the cup, drank the soup, and smacked my lips. Hmm. It leaves me wanting more because the portion is small.

“By the way, how many people are there in total?”

“Which people? Their side or ours? Or the hidden ones?”

“Everyone.”

“It’s originally a secret, but…… well, it’s not someone else’s business anymore. Mangya has roughly 80 members, and the Black New Moon has about 50, excluding trainees. The people I brought are 20 of them, and there are about 70 trainees on their side.”

So they were trainees. No wonder they seemed clumsy.

“Then how did you end up coming here from Yorchensia?”

“Did I say Yorchensia?”

Huh? Oops, I didn’t! I met Aila’s sharp gaze and said shamelessly.

“The topic came up. I just remembered it.”

“Really? Hmm, I guess so. Actually, around last year, Mangya was planning to go to Yorchensia to have a showdown with the Black New Moon. We were going to propose that we choose a leader in an efficient way since we’d both die if we fought each other. But then they suddenly disappeared. We were preparing diligently, too. Tsk. So I immediately returned home and focused on gathering information. You know, you visited Hiltenpens, right? The contact I received then was about that.”

“Ah, I see. So you found out about Levidian then too?”

“No. I found out about that recently.”

Well, that makes sense. If Aila had known that Levidian was the Master of the Black New Moon, she would have revealed her identity to me and told me about her.

Or she would have suddenly appeared in the Imperial Capital and had some kind of showdown with Levidian.

She pressed her fingers to her temples. It seems like it’s a headache to think about it again.

“Even though I tell the kids below to report as accurately as possible, they don’t listen at all. I can’t even figure out the background of how Ibi-unni became the Master of the Black New Moon. I don’t know if unni has been involved with the Black New Moon from the past, or if she just became the Master because she’s the strongest person following the bloodline. I said it earlier, that’s why it’s uncertain.”

I suddenly thought of Jay. Unlike Old Man, Jay’s reports were unusually full of roundabout words that lacked his own opinions or key points.

I can fully understand her feelings.

“Ah, by the way, how is AJOR doing these days?”

“Yeah. These days, we’re preparing to establish a branch. I need to visit the site sometime……! Hey! How did you……?”

I was startled and looked at Aila. She had an expression like a well-fed cat.

“Information is a requirement for assassination. Mangya has been steadily collecting information, even if they didn’t know anything else. You must have heard of AJOR’s hidden boss, right? ‘You can’t whisper without avoiding the ears of the sky.’ It’s quite famous, isn’t it?”

“Sky Ears…… Was that Mangya?”

The independent information organization that conquered the information of the Empire, not just the Imperial Capital. That was Sky Ears. Then it makes sense that they came all the way here.

She grinned and said cheerfully.

“How is it? A woman who’s more charming the more you know her! Sermaila Hind! Hehe! It’s a shame I couldn’t become the popular star of the Imperial Capital.”

“Yes, yes, Miss Maya. Ah, so now you become Maya Hind? Maya…… It suits you quite well.”

“From now on, I’ll be called that more often…… but I want only Risel to call me Aila.”

Aila suddenly said with a serious expression. I widened my eyes at her sudden change in attitude.

“Woohoo! I can also talk seriously like this!”

Seeing Aila suddenly brighten up her expression, I chuckled. But her appearance felt more exaggerated than usual.

I don’t know exactly, but let’s just call her Aila. It’ll be uncomfortable if the title keeps changing.

I shrugged and said.

“I thought you knew everything I didn’t say for some reason, so there was a reason for that. What, you have no secrets at all?”

“I told you before. I was also curious about what you could hide from me. It’s okay. I won’t invade your privacy.”

“Ah, yes. Returning to the original topic, how are you going to deal with 50 assassins and trainees?”

Her smile faded. Considering her personality that always smiles, that’s close to expressionless.

Aila said.

“First, I’m thinking of negotiating. Since we have the same roots, I want to go down a path where we don’t harm each other. If it really doesn’t work, we’ll choose a decisive battle, and we’ll have to use the second to last resort.”

“What’s that ambiguous resort?”

“Yeah. Putting a knife to your neck and shouting in front of Ibi-unni, ‘If you don’t surrender, I’ll start Mangya’s first business!’ Even Ibi-unni wouldn’t be able to help but be shaken. Hehe!”

“It’s certainly a reasonable idea, but are you really going to do it?”

“Uh-huh? Tsk. You’re not angry, you’ve grown a lot. If you ask if I’m really going to do it, of course. That’s also one of the possibilities. You know I didn’t come all the way here to see you for nothing, right?”

I nodded. To be honest, I didn’t know. You’re still deep and dark inside, Aila.

“Then what’s the last resort?”

“Annihilation. We’ll have to erase the name Black New Moon from the continent.”

Aila revealed a chill that was unlike her.

At times like this, it would be standard to be intimidated by her seriousness, but I know her personality.

While she speaks resolutely, she’s worried about that situation happening, and if it does, she’ll make a decision like a knife. And after everything is over, she’ll cry alone.

I naturally raised my hand and wrapped it around her shoulder. When I applied a little pressure, she flinched but leaned on me.

Friends are good.

“It’s okay. The worst won’t happen. Trust me.”

“Thank you. But I’d rather believe in powdered poison dart frog. It’s a strong anesthetic ingredient, at least.”

“Hey, when someone’s trying to comfort you, just accept it. Okay? Is that how you always are?”

“Who am I? Hehe. But, Risel.”

“Why?”

I answered crookedly, and Aila quietly leaned against me as if collapsing onto my lap. Her back touched my chest diagonally.

Aila pulled my arm and made me wrap it around her neck. She quietly said, holding my arm lightly with both hands.

“Still, I’m glad you’re here. It’s hard not having anyone to lean on.”

“What’s so good about having friends?”

“Right. Thank you. I’ll just be like this for a while.”

Aila remained quietly leaning against me.

A strange scent wafted from her hair, tickling my nose. And she was warm leaning against me. Are women always such warm creatures?

I put my other hand around her shoulder. She twitched her shoulder as she breathed softly, but soon breathed comfortably.

My heart should be pounding in this situation where a beautiful lady is nestled against me defenselessly, but my heart was the very definition of tranquility.

She’s a grown woman now, but no matter what happens, she’s my friend.

There’s no way I could have any strange thoughts when a friend trusts and leans on me.

A moment of silence passed. Only the wind blew gently, softly ruffling my hair and hers.

I don’t know how much time passed, but when she called my name, I was able to answer with surprising composure.

“Risel.”

“Yeah.”

“You’ll stay my friend forever, right?”

“Of course.”

She was silent for a moment. I felt her head lower slightly.

“You can forgive me even if I do something wrong to you, right? Even if it’s an irreversible mistake, you can forgive me with a smile, right?”

“Absolutely. If you made such a mistake, it would be because you had no other choice.”

“Thank you. I’m glad you’re a kind person.”

She gripped my arm tightly. At her action of relying on me, I hugged her firmly.

“No matter what happens, I’m your friend. I can scold you if you do wrong, and be happy for you when things go well. It’s natural to share sadness together and help you with difficulties as if they were my own.”

“Thank you, Risel. I feel much more at ease.”

She gripped my arm even tighter. I could feel a slight tremor, as if her heart was greatly shaken.

Well, that’s understandable. She might have to fight a life-or-death battle with someone she thought of as a sister.

But I’m here.

As long as I’m here, I can’t stand by and watch either of them get hurt or die.

I vowed to control the world so that I could prevent all wars that would happen during my lifetime.

If I can’t even prevent small conflicts like this, compared to war, how can I achieve that goal?

Even the conflicts of those I know!

So Aila, it’s okay to be anxious. Because you have someone to support you.

“Risel, thank you again for saying that. I don’t think I’ll be able to say this if not now…… I’ll tell you now.”

“Okay. What is it?”

“I’m sorry. I probably won’t be forgiven by the ‘me’ of ‘now’.”

“What do you……!”

Crack!

My right arm, which she was holding, snapped at a right angle between the wrist and elbow.

White bone pierced through the flesh.

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