Before lay a grand city, seemingly ripped straight from centuries past.
Finding myself standing atop a pristine, marble balcony, I opened my eyes to such a magnificent sight; for so reason, I had appeared on the edge of that place, so precariously positioned that even a single step forward would send barrelling towards the ground, many dozens of tres below.
Subconsciously, I raised my gaze away from that ominous thought.
There, right before , a pair of vibrant moons―one small, one large―appeared to gently kiss in the distant night-ti sky.
It was an unarguably breath-taking sight, but that's what made it take all the more aback.
I accepted a Red Contract, which should have ant the Antagonist was in danger, and yet it placed directly in front of such a sensational view?
The contrast was so stark that it just didn't feel right.
But, before I could look around to get a better idea of my location...
"Who...?"
A small voice sounded from behind . Turning around, what entered my eyes was a girl in a silk nightgown.
Two knees on the floor, she sat with both hands clasped at her chest, her skin blanched like clay beneath the reflected moonlight. Like a waterfall of ink, her hair cascaded down to curl in a pile on the evidently spongy carpet beneath her, and irises of vivid scarlet seed to softly smoulder beneath the sa pale radiance in the sky, subtly wavering and pointed right in my direction.
Within those eyes, which were faintly red even outside their sockets, I could spot a glistening wetness. At that mont, the Librarian finally gave the final nugget of information I had been waiting for.
Except...
[Due to the nature of a Red Contract, your starting location and disguise will be altered.]
[Your identity is the personal bodyguard of the Young Lady Archduchess, Lucretia de Christina-Rasa.]
Glancing down, I belatedly realised my own clothes were of astounding quality.
The reasoning behind my peculiar starting location, which was far too scenic for sothing said to have been urgent, and a disguise which put in an odd position for soone whose goal was to assassinate another.
'Young Lady... I see.'
Ordinarily, if I was chained to follow alongside another person and protect them 24/7, my range of actions would be heavily restricted, and clearing the Contract would thus beco considerably harder. But, I tried not to think that way.
Because I realised.
[I implore you, Enki. Sincerely.]
Unlike what I had been conditioned to assu so far, killing the Protagonist actually wasn't the highest priority I should have――That wasn't my number one responsibility.
[Protect the Antagonist at all costs.]
"..."
Sothing of a higher priority than even eliminating the Protagonist―Or rather, the whole reason I was supposed to eliminate the Protagonist in the first place.
Alongside the Librarian's words resounding within , such a purpose was realised.
And, simultaneously, a lancholic, yet picturesque scene was engraved in my mind:
Of a distressed girl at the end of her tether; down on her knees, weeping silently before the silent light of the twin moons that shone upon her lonely self, like a cruel spotlight to underscore her lanting state.
Cold hands clasped together in a prayer to the gods silently observing her from above. With no one to turn to, no one whom she could ask for help, it was natural that what she should rely on, would rely on, could only be that. Filled with the sense that everything was already over, there was only that which could save her, after all.
Bestowed by the gods. Divine intervention; a miracle from heaven.
And, in such a seemingly hopeless situation.
Without any prior warning.
Without any known precedent.
"...Hey."
I showed up.
"You're the archduchess...? Lucretia, right?"
Between this cornered girl and the twin moons of the unforgiving midnight sky, I appeared, blocking the accursed spotlight that enveloped her entirety.
And, eting her naturally incredulous gaze with a relatively composed look of my own.
"I'm Enki. Your new bodyguard."
With only a little bit of awkwardness, I stated firmly.
"You've got nothing to worry about. Now that I'm here, you're safe."
Thus marked the start of a Contract―the first of many―which would take just a bit too long to complete.
❖─────★★★☆☆─────❖
Establishing a pool of information about this unfamiliar Illusory World was the number one precedent.
Firstly, the list of Tags shown in the Contract Details included things like #Shoujo and #OtoGa―terms which I had absolutely no clue what they ant. Obviously, the latter indicated what type of ga it was, but since I had never played an "Oto" ga before, that didn't really help out at all.
Although, in that regard, the Librarian could provide assistance, so I wasn't too worried.
Most of all, as expected, I was concerned about the Protagonist.
Naturally, I knew very little about the different "variants" of Protagonists, so I also wasn't sure what exactly a 'Beloved' was, or what threat it posed, if any at all. For now, I could only presu it ant the Protagonist was easily well-liked by others, sort of similar to my own Charismatic Trait.
One of the most important things I needed to find out was the Protagonist's hidden power as indicated by the #HidingTruePower Tag, as well as the surroundings and the general circumstances.
anwhile, the Antagonist―Archduchess Lucretia de Christina-Rasa. For one reason or another, she judged that the problem could no longer be solved with her own power.
eting her like this, I had hoped that she would be able to tell why.
"Sir... Enki, was it?"
"Ah, you don't need to call sir. Just Enki's fine."
Sitting on either side of a small, yet evidently extravagant table within the room attached to the balcony on which I appeared―which turned out to be the Antagonist's very own private bedroom―she, who only appeared to be in her middle teens now that I saw her properly, slowly opened her mouth.
"Alright. Then, Enki... You claim to hail from another world... is that correct?"
I nodded without hesitation.
"Yes."
"And your purpose is... to protect ?"
"That's right."
"..."
Through a minor amount of trouble, I managed to explain my part as concisely as possible. I'd understand if she refused to believe , though there might be so complications if she did. Either way, following the silence that ensued, she simply nodded.
"It seems... the Winter Mother has not abandoned us after all..."
A low mutter escaped her lips that I was able to grasp only barely.
Honestly, I expected her to deny it for a while longer, growing more suspicious of and any hidden intentions I might have, but fortunately, that proved to be a needless concern. Whether it was Professionalism, Charismatic, my Authority, or sothing else that subconsciously persuaded her to rest her faith in , I wasn't entirely sure.
Perhaps, it was a sh of all of the above.
Or perhaps, that was simply a display of how desperate she truly was.
In any case, the Antagonist's expression, which was previously tense, full of reservation, visibly relaxed. eting my gaze resolutely, all of a sudden, the appearance of soone fitting of the noble title 'archduchess', erged.
Crimson eyes that glead with phosphorescence in the surrounding midnight sobriety and a straight face that conveyed the gravity of the situation perfectly.
"Embedded deep within the heart of our Drakon-Rasa Empire, there exists a parasite."
The Antagonist spoke to .
'Parasite'.
With but a word, I understood what she was talking about even without needing it stated explicitly. Of course, that didn't an she wouldn't continue on her own.
"A filthy, vampiric parasite that exists only to tarnish the face of our empire and bring it to ruin; as if to perform a devilish larghetto, it slowly whittles down the future of our grand state, and in turn, our clueless, innocent people will fall victim."
Her face remained predominantly expressionless, but her tone grew increasingly venomous with every word such that her brows furrowed deeply.
That sort of hatred, born out of sothing profound.
"Recently... I have taken cognisance of the reality of our future."
That sort of loathing, tempered steadily and sharply by a cold realisation.
Rested quietly atop her lap, porcelain fists tightly clenched, the Antagonist's――A yet-adolescent girl's words resounded.
"If our empire is to be saved, the parasite must be exterminated at any cost."
Hearing that, the ends of my lips couldn't help but be tugged upwards, as if by so mysterious force. Wasn't it the sa sentint as the Librarian?
A parasite whose continued existence would result in the end of everything; sothing ought to be exterminated, eliminated, annihilated, killed and destroyed in every sense of the aning.
That―――is the job, the purpose I have been assigned.
It goes without saying, but there could only be one such existence.
"That parasite's na is Ayla Tichá."
'Sothing to be exterminated...'
For so reason, the Antagonist's words sparked sothing within . Sothing unfamiliar, resembling a sort of confidence I hadn't known for a long ti.
"...Archduchess."
Addressing the young lady before , I t her gaze firmly, still evidently afflicted by so source of trepidation. My pulse slowed, and my heart felt surprisingly calm.
3-star Difficulty? It made no difference. My objective remained the sa, and at the end of the day, so would the outco.
"Getting rid of such parasites is exactly why I'm here."
That's why.
"So, don't worry."
This ti as well.
"Just leave it to ."
The Protagonist will die at my hands.
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