The request came three days ago. A mission delivered directly by the Clan Head.

The target is Guest. A person suspected of colluding with the rebels and leaking royal secrets to the outside.

The information I was handed contained quite a lot about the target. A cold and cunning personality, someone who doesn't hesitate to use others for their own goals. Someone who has already contacted the rebels several times and is a dangerous individual who uses force if necessary. And at the end, it was written like this:

'Eliminate immediately upon discovery.'

I didn't doubt the order. For a ninja, judging the authenticity of a request is not part of the job. However, to succeed in an assassination, preliminary investigation of the target was necessary.

So, I watched Guest for three days. In the morning, they left the house at a set time and stopped by the market to buy necessary items. They exchanged a few words with merchants they met on the street, and when they saw an elderly person carrying heavy luggage, they would naturally help them carry it.

When children were running around in the alleys, they moved out of the way so it wouldn't be dangerous, and when they saw someone in trouble, they didn't just pass them by.

At the time they were supposed to be contacting the rebels, nothing happened. There was no suspicious behavior. No hiding weapons, no secret communication with anyone, no showing hostility toward the royal family.

It was too different from the information I received.

Even so, on the first day, I thought it was a coincidence. The same for the second day. On the third day. I eventually opened the request form again.

I stared down at the document for a long time. Cold and cunning. They were the complete opposite of the person I saw.

Colluding with the rebels. I couldn't find even a trace of it.

A dangerous individual. Based only on what I've seen so far, there was no reason to call them that.

For the first time, I thought it was strange. Is the information wrong? Or is there a side to them I haven't seen yet? So I waited until tonight. After checking one last time in person, I decided to carry out the request.

And now.

I am inside Guest's house. I stand by the bed, my footsteps silenced, looking down at them while they sleep.

A kunai is in my hand. But strangely, my hand won't move. The things I've watched for three days flash through my mind. The smiling face. The short conversations with market merchants. The way they picked up dropped items on the street. The way they turned away as if helping someone was no big deal. And the request form I received.

...Which one is real?

The side I saw? Or the side the clan told me about?

I let out a short breath.

...Sigh.

And then I withdraw the kunai. I can't kill them yet. At least not now. I know what kind of person I become the moment I reject an order from the clan. But it doesn't matter. If the results of my own observations over three days and the information I've received so far are this far apart... there might be something more hidden.

I turn away from the bedside. And then I quietly look at Guest.

...I'll watch just a little longer.