Thorough Aftercare

The people who bribed the maid would surely find it suspicious that there was no contact from her.

They'd come directly next time.

It would be troublesome to go looking for their hideout and miss them coming the other way.

She decided to take light naps above Princess Tianis's room while waiting.

When you truly need sleep, even a little time is highly effective.

Just napping eased the eye pain, headaches, and mental confusion she'd been suppressing with pills.

Waiting for someone who could come at any time was the same, but since she was just waiting for prey to take the bait, the mental burden was lighter.

(Here they come.)

A faint sound came from outside the window.

They must be planning to enter through the tampered window.

Without knowing Finn had set a trap.

She got up from her nap and infiltrated Princess Tianis's room.

The maid on watch was nodding off, and just quietly holding incense near her was enough to make her fall asleep.

She also held the deep-sleep incense near the princess so she wouldn't wake up midway.

This way, she wouldn't wake easily.

At the same moment, she heard the sound of someone outside trying to open the window and triggering the trap.

They screamed at the sudden pain.

She opened the window from inside and went out.

"You're noisy. If you're professionals, don't make a fuss just because you lost a few fingers. What if someone hears?"

It was a pair of men.

Scattered fingers lay at their feet, and one man was cradling his now fingerless hand.

"Wh-Who are you?"

"I don't have a name worth giving to third-rate trash."

"You did this too. Don't screw with us."

The men stood up, each holding weapons.

But if they moved around, blood would splatter and cleaning up would be a pain.

This time, Finn had to do everything herself. She wanted to make it as easy as possible.

"Moving around will spray blood everywhere and be a hassle, so stay still."

She moved behind the man who'd lost his fingers and jabbed the back of his neck with her fingers.

Compressing the spine paralyzes the nerves and immobilizes the body.

"Abeh."

With a strange sound, the man fainted.

The other man came at her, raising a dagger.

Definitely an amateur.

That might work against monsters, but this wasn't a street fight. There was no need to wind up.

Just thrust straight and drive it into the vital point.

She trapped his dagger-wielding hand between her elbow and knee.

Since she didn't hold back, there was a sound of bones crunching.

Then she grabbed his neck and compressed the carotid artery.

If he'd been properly trained, he should have resisted somewhat, but he foamed at the mouth and passed out almost instantly.

"They're not even third-rate, they're amateurs… sigh. Any decent guards could handle these guys."

She applied medicine to the wound and tied a rope tightly around the fingerless man's wrist to stop the bleeding.

Then she wrapped the men in sheets she'd swiped.

This way, they couldn't move even if they woke up, and blood wouldn't splatter anymore.

Sighing, she cleaned up the surrounding blood and retrieved the tampering and trap from Princess Tianis's window.

She entered the room and collected all the magical tools as well.

Aftercare was an important part of an assassin's job too.

It wasn't just about killing the target and being done.

But as always during this time, she wondered what she was even doing.

Yohane's work was far more enjoyable.

(Can I sell these? He probably doesn't need assassination magical tools…)

She kicked the two men wrapped in sheets.

They tumbled off the roof and fell.

She'd confirmed the patrol was in a different area at this hour, and there was grass below.

It was a decent height, but they wouldn't die.

No one around at night either.

The refugee camp had also been dismantled.

Finn jumped down the outer wall and moved to the landing spot.

Both were convulsing but still alive.

She tied the sheets with rope and dragged them along.

Dragging two people was quite heavy, but she'd gained considerable strength from monster hunting with Azu and the others. This much was nothing.

She dragged them into an unused warehouse and locked it from the inside so no one could enter.

It was dusty and smelled damp.

The environment was poor, but if there was no ventilation, that meant people didn't come here.

Perfect for this kind of work.

She tied the men to chairs and stripped off the sheets.

Both were unconscious, so she slapped them awake.

"Ngh… My whole body hurts. What did you do, woman?"

"Just pushed you off a roof."

"What!?"

The man finally looked scared.

Did he even understand that in this situation, Finn held their lives in her hands?

"C-Could you please treat his wounds?"

"I already stopped the bleeding. I have some things I want to ask you."

"Then what do you want to know?"

"I heard from the maid. You're supposedly an assassin group? Hard to believe, but… I want you to tell me who hired you and where your hideout is."

"Like we'd tell you."

"Figures."

Finn reached into her clothing and slowly pulled out a pouch.

It contained torture tools.

People tend to think torture requires elaborate equipment, but if the goal is just to cause pain, that's not really necessary.

That kind of stuff is preferred by sadists whose purpose is torture itself.

"If you don't want pain, you'd better talk soon. This is my advice and… kindness, I suppose."

"S-Stop. Don't. Don't come near me."

The man squirmed against his bindings, making the chair rattle.

But it was useless.

She pulled out the first tool from the pouch.

The night was long. There was plenty of time.