Former Assassin - Arc 1 - Chapter 0
I, who was nameless, was often addressed by the number 19956.
Ever since I could remember, I’d lived in the dingy back alleys of the slums. Without fail, a man would come to me. He’d give me a hit list and I’d kill those on it to get paid.
For a long time, such was my life.
I never thought that killing was bad. It was just a means of survival.
It didn’t mean I had a reason to live—or to die.
Rather than living, I was merely existing. I was alive because I wasn’t dead.
When I was hungry, I’d eat.
To eat, I needed money, so I worked.
That’s all. It’s almost instinctual.
One day, after decades of such a life, I received a request to assassinate the so-called Crown Prince of this country.
“…I can’t afford to lose him, and him alone.”
Someone was protecting the man I was hired to kill.
He was quite adept.
“—I’ll protect him, even if my life is forfeit.”
What a strange thing to say.
He’d sacrifice his life for someone else?
I, who’d always lived only for myself, had no clue what he was talking about.
Yet, I could sense that this man was dangerous.
—I might not be able to make it out alive.
I didn’t think I was afraid of dying.