I watched Emilia waltz straight out into the open deck where it was intentionally emptied for her plan.

The guards were waiting for the signal as they hid around the deck, making sure that they could not be seen.

Lisa and I were amongst them as well, where we were positioned behind some crates that had a clear view of the deck.

Since Emilia felt that we would be her final trump card in case her guards were not enough to take the assassin down, we had to hide from her guards as well. That means I was once again wearing my mask while Lisa had her hood up to hide her face.𝐎𝑽𝓵xt.𝑐𝗈𝓶

“I still think this is a bad idea…” I whispered while keeping my eye on the Nekomata captain strolling around without a care.

“Mmm… She will be fine… I think?” Lisa remarked casually.

“You think?”

“Mmhmm. I tried using my Clairvoyance to see into the future and I saw her still alive and all so there’s a high chance that we’ll get out of this ok. Though that might also mean the assassin could have found out about her plan and chose not to show up at all.”

Oh right… I actually forgot she had Clairvoyance magic… Hey, you can’t blame me? I rarely ever see her use it!

“But it still means that she will last through today right?” I asked.

Lisa shrugged, “Many things can change. The fact that I told you about this might even influence it enough that the vision I saw earlier ends up being overwritten.”

Wow… So it was that unreliable? No wonder she doesn’t use it all the time. I guess the joke about some time traveller moving a single chair and ending up changing the future drastically applies here.

Oh well, this just means that I need to pay more attention to Emilia tonight.

Ugh… I even tried to tell the Nekomata that this is a bad idea since not only does this clearly look like a trap intended to bait out the assassin, she’s also putting herself at unnecessary risk too…

The problem was that there was nothing I could say since her main priority was money and she wanted to take the assassin out as soon as possible to get her money back. She really wanted to open up her ship for business as well.

Seriously… This girl would really go this far for money…

I sighed before directing my attention to the cake I had received as ‘payment’ from Emilia to help watch over her tonight.

Mmmm~ Delish~

Lisa giggled and moved closer to me until her shoulder was pressing up against mine, “Ehehehe~ Even though we didn’t get our shopping date, this is nice too, don’t you think?”

“What? You’re talking about how we’re hiding behind some boxes watching our friend try and bait out her killer?”

“Ehehehe~ If you were to ignore that, we’re just sitting out here admiring the night sky and air, aren’t we? Oh, can’t forget about enjoying the sweets too~”

Ah. I suppose she does have a point~ The cake is indeed very nice~

But as though waiting for this exact moment, someone jumped out to stand in front of Emilia with their sword drawn.

Woah, the assassin actually got lured out? Even when it’s so obvious that Emilia was using herself as bait?

Either the assassin was dumber than I thought or the fact that this was a trap doesn’t even matter to them?

Emilia seemed quite surprised by the presence of the assassin and it quickly became apparent why.

“Mikhail?! What are you doing? Get back to your place!”

Hmm? She knows that guy? So he’s not the assassin? Then why did he jump out with his sword in his–

I didn’t even get to complete that thought before that Mikhail guy lunged towards Emilia, his sword thrusting towards her chest.

To her credit, she did not panic and pulled out her blade from her waist in a flash and parried it, knocking his sword to the side easily.

She then twisted her hand and struck the pommel into his face, knocking the guy flat onto the ground in a single blow.

She spun around and readied her blade, as though expecting to be attacked again.

That Mikhail guy did not move anymore, his grip on his sword loosening as it clattered noisily on the ground.

Everything was silent for a good long moment as everyone seemed to hold their breath, expecting something else to happen.

When the only thing that happened was a gust of wind blowing across the deck, Emilia slowly lowered her sword to glare at the unconscious guy on the ground.

“Really?! After all that I’ve done for you?! Even after I loaned you money for your daughter’s wedding?! You dare try to stab me in the back?! Get this piece of trash into the brig, I’ll torture him myself later!!”

That spurred a few of the guards that were in hiding to rush out and pick up the unconscious assassin.

Emilia sheathed her blade and huffed loudly, “We’re opening the ship tomorrow, tell everyone to prepare. I want runners out in the morning to deliver the news to the city folks too.”

Her subordinates let out a chorus of affirmatives before running off to do as she had directed.

Emilia then stormed off, presumably to head back to her quarters.

I turned to Lisa, “That was… Anti-climatic…”

Lisa shrugged, “It is what it is. I think we just expected too much from it. Say…. Since we’re in such a good spot, how about a quickie before we go?”

Ugh… I don’t actually mind… Maybe we can have a quick one before we go back to Emilia…

But for some reason, I felt that this whole situation was a little weird.

I don’t actually have a reason for it, but it was just a weird feeling that bothered me ever since that assassin guy appeared.

“I think we should go and check on Emilia first before that…” I suggested.

Lisa giggled, “Oh Aster~ Do you want a threesome with her? I think if you pay her enough, she wouldn’t mind joining us~”

That’s not why I wanted to go find her but… I won’t deny that the idea did appeal to me so I just kept my mouth shut.

The both of us snuck our way back to Emilia’s study room again, finding the Nekomata already there drinking straight from the bottle.

She slammed the bottle down, not even turning to acknowledge our presence.

“I helped him, you know?! Even gave him a loan without interest! He followed me for five years now! He was one of the few who I could trust my back on! Yet he really would come and stab me in the back like this?!”

Lisa gave her a look, “Did you do something to piss him off recently or something?”

“Of course not! I didn’t even hound him for the money he owes either! I even allowed him to pay me back in increments with no minimum payment too! I did nothing!”

Well… That’s only on the money side of things… What if she did something else that made him turn against her? 

Lisa giggled, “Oh let’s just leave it all behind! How about we just forget about it and have a quick threesome? I’m sure that would cheer you right up!”

Emilia scowled at her, “Only you would be cheered up by something like this. Arrghhh… Fuck it… If you want, go ahead and fuck, I’ll just watch. I can at least do with something to distract me from this…”

I was just about to start protesting when I felt pain hit me in the head and my vision went blurry.

My instinct was to try and curl myself up and cradle my head in pain but found that I could not move.

Instead, my hand slowly reached for my sword and I was appalled when I drew it to raise it into the air, aiming to attack Lisa while her back was turned.

No, no. Fuck you, you don’t.

[Mind Shield]

Instantly, I felt the pain disappear and I regained control over myself, my sword dropping onto the ground which made both of them turn to look at me in surprise.

“I… I was being controlled! Someone tried to control me to attack you!” I cried out, wanting to warn them about the situation quickly.

Lisa opened her mouth to speak but then suddenly snapped it shut, her eyes seemingly glazing over.

No…

Lisa tried to grab for my throat but I was faster than her and quickly used [Static Shock] to paralyse her for a moment.

While she was paralysed, I muttered a quick apology before I knocked her out with a quick strike to her head. I then healed her before moving to tie her up with a rope, not wanting to risk her hurting herself or us when she wakes up later.

Emilia was already standing beside me with her frown on her face, “I knew this was too easy… Fuck!!”

She kicked at her desk in frustration before turning to me, “Lady Aster… I need your help…”

Well… I can see that… But where do we even start?