29 There's Competition?!

[In a dark alley near the "royal hotel"]

Two men were talking to one another in a location they were confident was private and where nobody could listen to them.

"We start the operation in two days, our team has had more than enough time to gather all the information needed to complete our task," one of the two men said, he had blond hair and was hiding most of his face thanks to a hat.

"We know," the second one answered, "our client has paid big money for us to get rid of her, so don't disappoint me or it might be over for the two of us."

The two men shook hands after this quick interaction, they needed to make it as short as possible to lower the risks of being found out.

"Oh," the blond one turned towards his partner and spoke, "we are sending five of our assassins to guarantee the kill, so you only need to wait to hear the news of Lilia's death."

"..." he just nodded, and then the two proceeded to go their separate ways.

But unbeknownst to them, someone actually heard their talk: Max.

His super hearing ability linked to the assassin divination allowed him to listen to the conversation as if he was next to them.

And his first thoughts upon hearing it was: "I have competition? Seriously?"

[Other assassins are trying to steal our target, unacceptable]

"So what do we do," these guys were probably from a big organization if they had the guts to attack the saintess using five assassins.

[You have two choices: kill Lilia first, thus stopping their plans and completing the assassination quest, or...]

"Or...?"

[Kill the assassins yourself to assert dominance]

"..." Max was about to complain, but when he thought about it, this might truly be a viable solution, the only issue was if he was stronger than them.

[It doesn't matter, let's kill them by surprise just like any assassin should...]

"What do you mean," Max pondered, he didn't know who those assassins were and their location, so how?

[Well... you could just... wait for them :)]

He immediately understood what his divination meant, and he couldn't help but smile at the plan that was forming in his head.

"Let's do this," he finally got up from his seat after thinking things through and decided to go back to the inn, Elly must be worried sick after all.

***

"I'm back," it was around 2 am when Max returned, he had stayed outside later than usual as the completion date of his assassination quest was closing in.

Of course, the boy didn't expect to see Elly awake at such a time as it was extremely late, but he was proven utterly wrong, because as soon he unlocked the front door of their room, he saw the half-goblin appear beyond the door and hug him tightly.

"Why were you gone for so long?" she asked while not letting go, "now the food I made is cold and I couldn't sleep because you weren't beside me..."

Max couldn't help but feel bad after receiving such affection, but he just patted the half-breed's long black hair and reassured her.

"Don't worry, it's just for now as I have stuff to do..." he smiled, which made her blush.

"O-ok, I'll heat the food then we can sleep," she headed towards the kitchen, but Max stopped her.

"I'll do it, you can rest, I'll come beside you in a bit."

She eventually nodded and went back to the bed, sleeping almost as soon as she lay her head on the pillow.

And as Max ate the food she prepared for him: steak, he couldn't help but feel good about having acquired such a great companion in this world.

"Well... all I need to do for now is to get rid of those assassins and the saintess, then it will be fine..."

His goal now set in his mind, his determination tripled in volume.

And just like that, the countdown to the inevitable clash between Max and those who are trying to kill Lilia decreases by one day.

But at this time, he didn't know that everything would unfold tomorrow, in a manner he didn't expect it to.

***

[In the saintess's room, right after the conversation the two men held]

"Why can't I find anything...!" she had dozens of books on her table, yet none of them talked about an evil divination, or one that had such killing intent in its aura.

She didn't know if she could win against him even though she was extremely strong, and still massively improving.

[My dear, it is futile to worry about such things, in the end, we will win.]

"Maybe you're right..."

Unbeknownst to her though, that mysterious boy was not the sole person going after her.

[We have always been alone, my dear, nobody is going to save us but ourselves]

Her divination was right, even in situations of hopelessness, she could only rely on herself, and this wouldn't change anytime soon.

Because after all...

"I am the saintess," she cheered, determination to stop anybody from harming her and her people now in her eyes.

[That's the spirit, my dear.]

***

[Somewhere in the darkness, in the middle of the night]

A group of five people were standing in a circle, they were all wearing black clothes and had masks covering their faces.

"As you must all know, our target is the saintess, Lilia, she is currently staying in the royal hotel in the kingdom of Atlanta, and we have finally received the order to eliminate her from the higher-ups," the leader of the group informed the others.

"Yes sir!" the four replied in unison, showing their loyalty to the cause.

"The payment has been issued to our encrypted Bank Card, so we will start the operation tomorrow night, when the clock strikes midnight." 

"Sir! Yes sir!"

"Any questions?" he asked, and the other four shook their heads, "good, then we shall meet tomorrow in the usual place to start the operation, sleep, eat, and be prepared to fight."

And with that, the other four dispersed, each of them heading towards their own home to prepare for the upcoming mission, leaving the leader in the darkness.

'Finally...' the leader thought, 'we're finally going to end this bitch...'

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[Author Note]

All the pieces are aligned now... Lilia is ready to fight, Max is waiting for the assassin to strike, and the organization is ready to start the operation.

I hope you guys are enjoying this :).