"Roswaal arranged it. He told to find a girl in the Slums. Golden hair, makes a living stealing."
Roswaal had sent her to find Felt?
Gojo's brow creased. What was the angle here? Hiring Elsa to hire soone else? Maybe his own identity was too conspicuous for that part of the capital, so he'd used a middleman to avoid drawing attention. That tracked well enough.
But why did it have to be Felt specifically? And from the sound of it, Roswaal hadn't even known her na. He'd given Elsa nothing more than a physical description and told her to search.
That was strange. If he already had a target in mind, why be so vague about it?
"He didn't order you to kill anyone?"
"No. The client wanted the insignia. Everything else was at my discretion."
Gojo tilted his chin toward ili. "And this ti?"
"We were to attack the people around Emilia, and the villagers, separately."
Elsa spoke without hesitation. She'd already committed to this path. No point holding back now.
"Wouldn't it have been easier if you'd handled it yourself?"
"Roswaal had conditions. There had to be enough ti for people to react. So I had ili use Curses instead."
A question mark the size of a billboard materialized in Gojo's mind.
What was the point of that? Ordering an attack was one thing. Deliberately building in a window for the targets to respond was another entirely. If the goal was to kill, no one would issue that kind of restriction.
And the targets weren't even Emilia herself. They were the people around her.
The more he turned it over, the less sense it made. Roswaal didn't seem to want Emilia dead. Back in the Royal Capital, Elsa had only escalated to lethal force because of Gojo's interference. Yet Roswaal kept engineering these incidents, probing, testing sothing through Emilia's surroundings without ever striking at her directly.
The man was wrapped in too many layers of mystery. Trying to pin down his intentions was like grasping smoke.
"Anything else you can tell about him?"
"Nothing." Elsa shook her head. "I've t him twice. Beyond those etings, there's been no contact."
Gojo considered for a mont, then turned to ili.
"Has Roswaal ever t ili?"
"No. He only dealt with ."
"Does he know the details of your plan?"
"No. How to carry out the job was left entirely to ."
A picture was forming. "I think I've got the general idea."
"So, mister, does that an you'll let us go?" ili clasped her hands together, eyes wide and shimring. "We failed our mission, so we won't be coming back. You have my word..."
"You're cute, kid, but the helpless act doesn't work on ."
Gojo pinched both her cheeks and stretched them apart, grinning at the exaggerated pout she was trying to sell.
"Mithter... you're bweaking your pwomise..."
Her words ca out garbled through the stretched skin, like soone talking with a mouthful of water.
"Wrong. I keep every promise I make. And I promised I'd give you a proper lesson, rember?" He released her cheeks and looked at Elsa. "This one stays with ."
Sothing cold flickered across Elsa's face. Then Gojo continued, and the coldness gave way to sothing more complicated.
"You too."
"Oh?" She pointed at herself, one eyebrow raised.
"If I used my slightly lodramatic companion's words, I'd say I'm 'gathering allies.' We could use so extra hands for the things ahead."
His lips curved. It wasn't exactly noble, using a child as leverage against a dangerous and beautiful assassin. But compared to death, it was a considerably better offer. And pragmatically, he needed the help. Outside of himself and Beatrice, his group consisted of Subaru and Felt, neither of whom brought much to a fight. Adding soone with real combat ability would make a difference.
"And just to be clear, I'm not asking for your consent. I'm informing you."
He patted ili's head and fixed his gaze on Elsa.
ili stole a glance at the assassin but said nothing.
"What an unexpected turn of events." Elsa's lips curled, though amusent and sothing sharper coexisted in her expression. "Are you sure about this? If I recall correctly, your relationship with Roswaal is rather... involved."
"Doesn't matter. As long as you stay out of sight, there's no problem. He doesn't know this kid's face anyway."
Elsa looked at ili. The calculus was transparent. As long as the girl remained in Gojo's hands, Elsa couldn't act against his wishes. The child was collateral, plain and simple.
She didn't agonize over it. Gojo was right. She had no choice. Not unless she was willing to abandon ili entirely.
And that wasn't sothing she could do.
"It's not as though I have any options, is it?"
She answered with his own logic, and the two of them reached an understanding.
"Um... what about Mother?"
ili raised her hand, voice small and tentative.
Truthfully, who she worked for didn't matter much to her. As long as she could stay with Elsa, she'd go along with anything. Elsa felt the sa. They were assassins. Serving different employers was the nature of the job. Their so-called Mother was, at the end of the day, soone stronger than them who held power over their lives. No different from Gojo in that respect.
The reason they'd stayed with the organization this long ca down to two things: the Sin Archbishop of Lust's implicit threat, and the fact that Elsa enjoyed combat. She thrived on it. She loved the thrill of battle, the intimacy of spilling a target's innards. The assassin's trade kept her supplied with interesting prey.
Elsa turned to Gojo, a aningful smile playing on her lips. "I imagine that's not our problem to worry about. Isn't that right?"
He understood perfectly. If he wanted their service, the baggage that ca with it was his to shoulder. A Sin Archbishop, equivalent in standing to the original Witches, would be a formidable enemy by any asure.
"Of course." His smile didn't waver. If anything, it brightened.
But then again, when has that ever not been the interesting part?
"Very well. Everything as you wish."
Elsa rose and dusted herself off.
"When you need to reach , ili knows how..."
"Hold on." He waved a hand, stopping her mid-departure. "I'm not that heartless. Letting you leave looking like that would weigh on even my conscience."
He pointed at her shredded clothes.
He brought the two of them back toward the village. Near the outskirts, he sent ili to find Subaru and had him procure a set of won's clothing.
Gojo tossed the outfit to Elsa. "There. That should do."
"Though don't expect to pay for it. I'm drowning in debt as it is. An assassin like you shouldn't be hurting for coin."
"Goodbye."
Elsa pulled on the clothes without ceremony, gave him a nod, and turned to leave.
Watching her walk away, Gojo scratched his head with mild disappointnt and glanced at ili.
"I was sort of hoping she'd offer so money to help with my debts."
ili peeked up at him, then poked her index fingers together. "I don't have any either. Elsa keeps all the job money."
"Unbelievable. Using child labor and not even paying wages..."
They returned to the village together. The villagers still didn't know the full story. All they'd gathered was that so children had wandered into the forest and gotten lost. Seeing the last missing child brought back safely, relief washed over every face.
When the parents learned it was Gojo who'd rescued them, gratitude ca pouring out from every direction.
"Oh, it's nothing, really. Hardly worth ntioning. But if you insist on showing your appreciation, I wouldn't say no to a few Holy Gold Coins or anything like that. Ma'am, is the butt-patting thing a local custom around here?"
By the ti he escaped the onslaught of village hospitality, he was spent.
"They're certainly enthusiastic."
"Yeah, everyone in the village is great."
Subaru nodded, knowing exactly what he ant.
"Subaru. Betty." Gojo's tone shifted. "What happened today, especially the parts about Elsa and ili, stays between us. Not a word to anyone. Not Roswaal, not Emilia, not Ram or Rem. At least until I've taken care of a few things, I need you both to keep this secret."
"Betty can't be bothered with your tedious sches." Arms crossed, nose in the air.
"Leave it to ! My lips are sealed tighter than titanium!"
Subaru thumped his chest. He understood the stakes. As fellow otherworlders sharing the sa goal, Gojo was the most trustworthy ally he could ask for. Without him, Subaru didn't want to imagine how many more deaths it would have taken to untangle this ss. If Gojo said secrecy was necessary, then there was a reason. All Subaru had to do was trust him.
"Good. That puts my mind at ease." Gojo's smile returned. "Now, about ili, the three of us need to get our story straight..."
The afternoon evaporated in the village, mostly because the villagers wouldn't stop showering them with food and gratitude. By the ti the group made it back to the mansion that evening, they were too stuffed from village cooking to touch the dinner Rem had prepared.
Subaru's party had vanished for an entire afternoon and returned with a strange little girl in tow. Emilia and the others were understandably curious. Gojo delivered the explanation he and Subaru had rehearsed.
The gist: Beatrice had discovered a Curse on Subaru, traced it back to what he rembered as a dog bite from the village. Mabeasts had infiltrated the area, the situation was urgent, so the three of them had gone to handle it. ili was a village girl who'd been so impressed during the ordeal that she wanted to follow Gojo.
Simple enough. Nothing that invited deeper questions.
"Please allow to express my gratitude. As the lord of these lands, the fact that my people faced danger without my knowledge is a failing on my part..."
Roswaal offered his thanks in that peculiar, lilting cadence of his once he'd heard the account.
"Co on, Roswaal, no need to be so formal. We're living under your roof, after all."
Gojo waved it off with a laugh.
"Actually, I've been thinking things over the past couple of days, and there's sothing I'd like to discuss with you."
"By all ans. Whatever is within my power, I won't refuse."
"I might need a small assist from Emilia as well."
"?" She blinked, caught off guard by the ntion of her na.
"That's right. I'd like to borrow your insignia for a bit. Just while Roswaal and I talk. I'll give it right back."
"The insignia?"
She hesitated. Ever since it had been stolen, she'd been protective of it. But after a mont's thought, she nodded. Gojo had saved her life, and in the ti they'd spent together, a degree of trust had ford. Besides, Roswaal was right there. As her supporter, he wouldn't allow anything untoward even if Gojo had ulterior motives.
She drew the insignia from where she kept it close to her body and placed it in his hand.
Gojo turned to Roswaal. "If you don't mind, I'll co find you in the study later... oh, wait. The study still hasn't been repaired, has it? The parlor, then."
"I shall be waiting."
Roswaal nodded, and the matter was settled.
After leaving the dining room, Gojo pulled Subaru along and headed straight for Felt's room.
"Okay, what's going on? Where did this co from all of a sudden?" Felt stared at him, baffled. "You were acting all mysterious before, and now you're marching off to negotiate with Roswaal?"
"The timing's right. That's all."
He stretched, loose and unhurried.
Elsa's information had confird what he'd suspected. Roswaal wasn't wholeheartedly devoted to Emilia's cause.
...
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