It was nighttime when we had reached the outskirts of the bandit base. At any rate, it was still too early to do anything. Looking at the moon, it would still be a few hours before midnight. I brought the Cursed Children along just like before, but I warned everyone not to intervene with my mission.

“Are you sure you’re doing this alone?” Velar asked me in concern.

“No one can do this but me. This is a stealth mission.”

He subtly shook his head and glanced towards the direction of the enemy. “Where did you even get the confidence for such skills?”

“I am more than meets the eye.”

I jumped up to the tallest tree I could find and pulled out the spyglass. It was a bit hard to see in the darkness, but the faint moonlight was a little help. I frequently observed all the observable enemy movements while waiting until almost midnight came. I had observed what I could, and learned what I could from the bandit yesterday. The information I had was decent.

I jumped down back to the ground and handed the spyglass to Velar. “Wait for me here.”

“In case of emergencies, you know what to do.”

“Yeah.”

With that, I drew my hood in and sprinted towards the bandit base. As I was still further away from the base, my movements were still less restrained and a bit more noisy. However, as I got closer, my steps got more silent and movement became stealthier. My mind was sharper and more focused, and truth be told, I was a bit excited to do this mission.

Why did I even decide to go through all this trouble to do this? I could have done nothing and rest. However, that might drive me insane. My mind was unstable, my emotions were a mess. I was a mess. Everything was wrong, the situation was wrong, something was wrong with me. I was like a broken machine that cannot work properly, prone to failure.

My identity, what made me me, was broken. Everything was dull. Tasteless. I had no appetite. I wanted to get out of this spiral of despair. I had to do something. To get my mind off things, to start fixing things. This mission was part of fixing myself.

I was going back to my roots. An assassin. To kill, to assassinate. To eliminate the target. I just thought perhaps it would return the spark in me, to return to what it was. Maybe I could feel it again. The satisfaction, the thrill, the pleasure, the fun. Not this emptiness. If I were to be stuck like this, I’d rather be back to the ways of my past.

Thus, here I was. To return to my roots. Or at least, trying to.

I reached the western side of the base’s wooden wall, away from the main entrance. There was a watchtower, with a lone guard standing. However, he was sitting down and half asleep. The moments of peace made them quite lacking. And from what the bandit I captured yesterday said, everyone else didn’t seem to mind. In short, everyone was lacking.

Perhaps that was to be expected from mere bandits. Don’t expect proper discipline.

I moved a bit further, putting a bit of distance from the watchtower. There were a bit of gaps on the logs they used on the walls, and so I took a peek for a moment. Seeing that the other side was clear, with some wind I jumped over to the other side. Upon landing, I swiftly moved to hide on the wall of the nearest building.

Looking from the side of the wall, I saw a couple of guards talking to each other.

“That damn Okuma isn’t back yet,” said one. “That guy owes me some money.”

“Didn’t they go to get money?” asked the other.

I listened closely to their voices.

“Yeah, but where the heck are they?”

“You should calm down. Not easy to find people to rob, you know.”

“Yeah? But motherfucker hasn’t paid me for a week!”

“Hehe. What did he buy it for, anyway?”

“It ain’t for buying anything. It was for gambling.”

“Hahaha! Then the coins aren't coming back to you, man.”

“I’ll fucking kill him if he doesn’t pay me!”

“Yeah, good luck getting your money. Shouldn’t have let the shit borrow from you.”

“He said he’d pay it with interest.”

“Hahahahaha! And you believed him?! You’re more of an idiot.”

“Shut up!”

I quietly pulled up my medium daggers as I looked around the area, making sure there was no one else around. There should be some people inside the buildings, but I should set them aside for now. They were likely to be sleeping already. I ought to focus on the people outside, as they were more likely to discover me. Once I have wiped out the enemies outside, target the insides.

Yes, I was intending on wiping this entire base out.

I dub this mission — Operation: Clean House.

“Hahahaha! Fucking idiot. Anyway, I gotta leak.”

The bandit began walking in this direction to take a piss. Nice timing. I hid in the shadows and I saw the guy walk past and stop a little bit ahead at the secluded area. He started peeing. With one dagger in hand, I calmly approached the man.

These people, or rather, the people in this world, had powers. The conventional way of killing like in my old world would hardly work properly here. That was why I had to be more decisive in killing a bandit who was fully awake. I might not be able to kill them instantly if they were strong. And I was especially wary of people in this land. Even mere bandits were stronger than average compared to the homeland.

With Physical Enhancement, and magic imbued into my blade, I snuck up right behind the bandit and covered his mouth, and swiftly stabbed my blade into his throat. At the same time, a small burst of magic shredded his throat inside before he could even struggle. He immediately limped lifelessly.

I dragged his corpse to the darkness and hid him there — just in the dark corner of a building. I planned to wipe out the entire base within thirty minutes. Could I manage that? Well, wouldn’t that be a challenge for me?

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

From the closest darker corner to the other bandit, I focused the muscle enhancing technique on my throat.

In a whisper, I said, “Hm, this voice, hey, hey.” My voice turned deeper and changed completely, turning into the voice of the bandit I killed. Yeah, with Physical Enhancement, I got better control of the vocal muscles and stuff, so I could change my voice easily than before.

Once I was ready, I took a deep breath and let out a somewhat quiet call to the other bandit.

“Hey! Hey, man! Check this out,” I said to the other bandit while hiding in the shadows.

I heard faint footsteps coming closer. “What? What are you doing?”

“You need to see this, it’s pretty cool and funny!”

“Fuck man, what is it?”

“Come.”

His footsteps became closer. I readied myself. And then the moment he was within sight, I stealthily eliminated him, piercing and shredding his throat. His wide eyes stared at me before his life snuffed out.

I quickly dragged him into the shadows.

Now then, I took care of a couple. I proceeded to the nearby watchtower, but I encountered a bandit casually walking while yawning. I took care of him quietly and hid his body inside a small room, must be the shitter or something, didn’t exactly look deeply, but it did smell a little.

Anyway, when I was done with that, I headed straight to the tower where a guard was sleeping. I made sure first if there was anyone nearby, but it was clear. With my powers, I instantly reached the top and quietly stepped beside the sleeping man in his chair. How defenseless. People that sleep were the easiest to kill.

I slit his throat, and it only took a brief moment for him to limp. I kept him sitting down on the chair to pretend he was still asleep. Towers were most noticeable, gotta keep up the appearance that everything was still normal.

I jumped off the tower and jumped over to the roof of a building. I heard voices on the other side of the structure. They were turned away from me and were standing next to each other. I held daggers in each hand and leaped right into them. Amidst my descent, I stabbed my blade on the back of their necks, while pushing them onto the ground. They rattled for a moment before I cast magic on my blades. I pulled them into the shadows before quietly moving quickly around the area again.

I was merely a passing shadow that blended perfectly in the darkness. My steps light as a feather, my movement as swift as an eagle, as silent as a cat. I eliminated every person outside with swiftness and cleanliness. Unlike last time at the pirate ship, I had a better control of myself. Well, this time I didn’t have the time to do whatever I wanted with the enemy I killed…

I took out another enemy on a watchtower. And as I landed, an enemy suddenly came out from the corner.

“Wha—”

I swiftly held his hands, keeping him from pulling out his weapon, and at the same time stabbing into his vocal cords. After that one, I swiftly searched the area for any enemies, and it was clear. Good. Now to proceed to the other buildings. There were multiple buildings, not counting the biggest building at the center — that was for the enemy boss.

I approached one of the shabby buildings. The door was not even locked or anything. In fact, they were flimsy or simple. They were not made for security at all. This was already described by the bandit yesterday. At any rate, it made things easier for me.

I quietly entered inside. There were only a few bandits here sleeping on their beds. I stepped into the middle of them, pulling out my small daggers, pressing them between my fingers. After conjuring the strings, I threw my daggers in a sweeping motion, and the daggers stabbed into their necks. They flinched, apparently about to go into fight mode. I had to give it to them, they were quick to react, so quick. Too bad, I was quicker.

I triggered the magical slashes, and the next moment, blood splattered all over the place like a fountain. Flesh and bone flung into the air. I conjured barriers to shield myself from the dirty stuff. The room was stained with blood. I didn’t hold back much on that, I wanted to be certain they were dead in an instant, all six of them.

I retracted my blades. Once they returned to my fingers, I flicked off the blood before returning them to their sheathes.

I proceeded to the next building. I killed them all roughly the same way. In the third building, while I was walking in, someone woke up. What bad timing. I quickly blended into the shadow. But he seemed to have noticed my presence. He walked around the room suspiciously.

He walked closer to me. Catching him off guard, I pierced my blade into his throat and slowly and quietly put him down to the floor. With that guy done, I eliminated the rest. I left the building and jumped on top of a roof, checking the surroundings. That should be all of them.

I turned my gaze towards the big building, almost like some sort of warehouse. There were some gaps on the roof, I may be able to get through there. Before moving in, I approached one of the nearby corpses and poke my special blade into their blood. Their blood crawled to my blade and spread out like veins. With the added efficiency materials, it didn’t feel like there was anything different. Hm.

I sheathed the blade back and started quietly climbing to the warehouse roof. There was a small hole in the upper top side of the wooden wall, and I entered through it. I clung and jumped onto one of the wooden beams. Looking down, I saw a spacious room. It was well lit with lamps. And then I saw quite a surprising scene. There were naked women laying on some sheets on the floor.

And then there was a man. He was muscular and big, he was naked as well. A fearsome looking guy, had scars on his body. Truly looked like some sort of veteran in combat. I wouldn’t want to fight that guy head on.

“Hehehe,” he lecherously chuckled while grasping one of the women. “Don’t get all weak on me now. The night is ripe.”

The night is ripe? What the fuck?

I looked around, there was no one else, no other bandits but him. I heard one of the women faintly whimper. Could they be captives and slaves? There were young women, mid teens, late, and some older. What a nasty situation. But not entirely a strange scene to me.

I quietly jumped onto the next wooden beam, trying to get closer to the enemy. Or rather, on top of him. My steps were completely quiet and light while I held my breath.

“Why are you moving away, love?” He lightly slapped a girl’s cheeks. “Where would you even go? You’re my little sweet, tight toy.”

I jumped into another wooden beam, blending into the shadows of the ceiling. Enemy target seemed intoxicated, emotional state — perverse. Thoughts should be clouded, unlikely to expect any attack. Enemy height: 6’5”, Weight: around 92 kilograms, Weapons: Unclear, Threat level: High. Assassination success rate: High.

My mind was sharp, turned up to a hundred in focus. All I could see was the target moving around. It was just the two of us in this world. And I was the one who would remain after this.

I slowly and quietly pulled out my special blade enchanted by blood. I waited for the most opportune moment, like a predator waiting for the best moment to pounce at its prey. I observed as the target forced himself onto the defenseless women. As I watched, my hands involuntarily tightened, my brow frowning slightly. But I quickly regained my composure.

“Aaaah! That’s so good, nice tits. So tight!”

Once he had hit the climax, he laughed and slowly stepped back, panting and sweating. He grinned as he observed the women with a satisfied, sadistic expression.

He took a step back. And I stepped forward, making myself fall from the air. At that moment, he noticed my presence. He abruptly turned towards me with a stern and sharp glare.

“Wha—!” He stepped away. But it was too late.

I pushed the blade into his chest. I was aiming for his neck, but he evaded it. Still, this was enough. The blade dug into his chest, and I triggered the magic slashes. His chest was shredded. He dropped to the ground as I remained on top of him, my blade still in his flesh.

He looked up at me with wide eyes. “H-How?! T-This c-can’t be. H-How could I n-not sense you…?”

“... Maybe I was better than you.”

Blood came out of his mouth. “... N-No. This can’t be h-how I…” His voice faded away. His life had been taken.

My target was dead, what remained was silence. I took a deep breath as I withdrew my blade. I stared at the corpse, then at my blade. This should be the moment where my emotions rise, where warm feelings form in my chest. Where a smile would radiate on my face. Where I felt satisfaction and pleasure by accomplishing a mission. My successful elimination of the assassination target.

Why…?

So why did I still feel empty?

It was just done. The mission was done. And that was it. Nothing more.

I took in a shaky breath.

None of this makes sense. Nothing. None. This can’t be… I can’t… Why?

My mind went blank. I couldn’t understand. What I thought to be the solution… only made me feel worse about myself. I gripped my dagger more tightly that my hand began to tremble.

This isn’t how it’s supposed to go…

I did everything. Cleaning out the entire base. Stealthily killed everyone. It was the finest job well done. Perfect. And yet, nothing. Nothing but an empty dark abyss in my heart. I was starting to fear the abyss.

My lips trembled.

How terrifying it was to face the abyss.

I heard metal rattling nearby.

“Goddess?”

That returned me to reality. I turned towards the source of the voice. It was a little cage. And inside was a monster. It seemed to be reaching out to me.

“Goddess…”

It knows me…?