Does the Assassin Girl Dream of the Mana Doll?

Sufficient time had passed since Curtis and his party had entered the ruins, and after the sounds of battle had ceased coming from behind the door, Ghost quietly slipped inside.

“This is… terrible. I knew it would be, but…” she murmured, her brow furrowing slightly.

Before her lay a scene of carnage.

Creatures that had been cut in two were among the more fortunate. Others had their upper bodies crushed beyond recognition, presumably from being punched. Limbs were torn off and scattered about.

What was common to all of them was that they had clearly been no match for their attacker.

If it had been low-level monsters like goblins, it would have been understandable. However, as she progressed deeper, she encountered increasingly larger creatures: orcs, hobgoblins, ogres. And then there were the shadow stalkers, shadowy creatures that lurked in the darkness and attacked from behind, which had been bisected head-on as if they were waiting for an attack. There were also remnants of slime-like creatures that seemed to have been blown away by magic.

“Physically and magically, he’s a monster… Although the magic might be from a mage,” she mused, analyzing the enemy forces as she followed the trail of destruction.

Curtis undoubtedly possessed the combat prowess to be called a “hero.” But how much of this devastation was due to him? How much did his mages and warrior companions contribute?

“I guess I’ll have to see for myself,” she sighed softly.

With that, she quickened her pace slightly.

“Lord Curtis, a stone golem from the front and a giant spider from the right! I’ll take the golem!”

A warrior shouted as he blocked the golem’s heavy blow with his shield.

It was a towering shield, a large, thick, gently curved rectangular shield that could protect the entire body when crouched. It was an excellent shield, but it was also very heavy and difficult to wield. However, the warrior skillfully manipulated the shield, enduring the golem’s blows and parries.

“Haha, don’t give me orders!”

Curtis replied to the warrior as he turned towards the right.

His movements were… inhuman. He wore a metal shoulder guard over a leather jerkin, gauntlets, and greaves. He was not wearing a helmet, perhaps confident that no blows would land on his head. Compared to the warriors who wore chain mail and various metal parts, he was lightly armored, but certainly not light—the armor probably weighed nearly 10 kilograms. Yet, he moved with a fluidity and agility that belied the weight of his armor.

As if mocking the giant spider that raised its forearm to crush him in response to this movement, he stepped even closer to it. Faster than the descending forearm, his sword swept out and severed the giant spider’s head. This was a creature that normally required a group of people to prepare for and defeat, but in-front of this man… it was as fragile as mud.

“Well, don’t just stand there! Push on, all of you!”

He shoved the thief in the back, urging him forward.
No one dared to complain. He had the martial prowess to silence everyone around him. If that was the quality required of a hero, then he was undoubtedly a hero.

“Well, he’s a monster,” Ghost concluded, observing the scene from afar.

His power and speed were superhuman, but it was his reaction speed that was most astonishing. It was as if he could see things that were invisible, suggesting an extraordinary ability to sense presence or perhaps an innate talent.

…Ghost concluded that it was the latter.

After all, Curtis had shown no sign of noticing her presence here. While he reacted instantly to hostility, his awareness of non-hostile entities was inconsistent. It didn’t seem like he could fully sense presences. Of course, he was still far better at it than a normal human, but…

That put Ghost at a disadvantage. Her specialty was ambush attacks from outside her target’s awareness. Fighting someone who could react to what lay outside their consciousness was a nightmare.

“Now, what should I do…”

She muttered to herself and resumed observing

“They’re progressing almost too smoothly.”

In just one day, they cleared the fourth level, took a night’s rest, and then swiftly cleared the fifth level, proceeding to the sixth. The enemies were becoming increasingly stronger, and it was getting harder for the warrior to hold his ground. The healer was fully occupied healing him, while the magician, who should have been the main offensive force, had been little more than a supportive role. The thief? After disarming traps and detecting ambushes, he merely hid in the shadows.

Only Curtis remained unaffected, as though nothing had changed. Even the Iron Golem couldn’t halt his blade. Perhaps a legendary Mithril Golem could… but such creatures weren’t found in these ruins. When they encountered a snake-like monster that emitted poisonous fog, Curtis inhaled it without so much as a cough. His resistance to toxins was frighteningly high.

They arrived at the door to the seventh level, where the thief began to examine it, noting that something was different.

“This… this is different from before. You see, normally… wait, no, this…”

He hesitated, his hands stopping in mid-motion.

“What’s wrong?” Curtis asked.

“Well, boss, this is a pretty serious trap. I’m not even sure I can disable it, and if I screw up, we’re all headed straight to the afterlife. I’ll need a bit more time.”

“Oh? That’s how it is, huh. Well, in that case, we’ll do it like this.”

With a casual tone, Curtis suddenly shoved the thief forward. The thief, flung with inhuman force, crashed into the door. The trap activated instantly, unleashing a surge of electricity that violently electrocuted the thief.

“Gyaaaaaaaah!!”

The thief let out an inhuman scream and collapsed to the ground. The others stood in stunned silence, their faces pale, while Curtis laughed, amused by the situation.

Once the lightning trap died down, the door slowly opened.

“Well, at least he did one final useful thing. I’ll remember him for that.”

‘Not that it costs me anything’ Curtis thought with a grin.

“What are you all standing around for? We’re moving forward.”

With those words, he stepped through the now-open door, moving deeper into the ruins.

“I see… so that’s how he operates.”

Ghost, who had been observing from a distance, murmured to herself. She wasn’t enraged by the cruelty, nor was she frightened. It made a certain logical sense. Curtis was ruthlessly efficient, using people up and discarding them when they were no longer useful. It was because he was this way that he could succeed in such a mission, and why he had been chosen for it.

Accepting this reality, Ghost continued to follow from a safe distance.

“It seems we have reached the end.”

Beyond the door, after descending a long flight of stairs, they arrived at a chamber where the air was thick with mana.

Pillars and walls, etched with glowing magical lines, surrounded them. Pipes crisscrossed the room, likely acting as conduits for magical power. At the far end of the room stood a large apparatus, clearly designed to protect something of great significance.

Seeing this, Curtis’s lips twisted into a grin.

“Well done, Lord Curtis.”

The warrior, his voice flat but laced with as much praise as he could muster, spoke up. He was clearly still shaken by the thief’s brutal death. The magician and the healer, on the other hand, were completely silent, unable to offer even words of gratitude.

“Yeah, thanks to you guys, the journey here was a breeze. …I appreciate it.”

With those words, Curtis swung his longsword in a wide arc, cleanly severing the warrior’s head. The warrior didn’t even have time to react.

“W-what are you doing?!”

The magician managed to stammer out, his voice filled with disbelief. No, deep down, he understood. But he didn’t want to accept it. He didn’t want to believe that Curtis was the kind of person who would do this.

“What am I doing? Well, you see… this place is a goldmine. It’s clearly hiding some major treasure. And, well, I can’t have you guys trying to steal the glory. Besides, I’m the only one who deserves this kind of honor.”

The magician’s head flew next, just as easily as the warrior’s had. The healer, too shocked to speak, collapsed to the ground, trembling in fear.

“Oh, right. You know, I never actually needed your services. You’ve spent all your time healing that warrior over there, so you’ve been pretty useless to me. But hey, you’ll go down in history as part of the team that found this treasure. You should be grateful for that, at least.”

With a childlike grin, Curtis stepped toward the healer, his face radiating with cruel delight.

“P-please… spare me…”

“As if.”

In one swift motion, the healer was cleaved in half. A heavy, oppressive silence filled the room.
“Now then…. I know you’re there. It’s about time you came out as well”

After a short pause, Curtis called out to the seemingly empty space, his voice echoing through the chamber.

**Next: “The Inhuman and the Assassin’s Tool”**