The city's main thoroughfare was a chaotic symphony of clashing steel and drunken laughter. The "Heroes" were likely tucked away in silken sheets by now, but for the Assassin Six, the night was just beginning.
"Where are we heading?" Kazuki asked, his voice muffled by a massive, jaw-cracking yawn. He walked with his hands behind his head, his school blazer unbuttoned and fluttering in the damp night breeze. "My internal clock says it's nap time, and this stone pavement isn't exactly a Tempur-Pedic."
"We're heading to the Guild," Rin replied without looking back. She was holding the stolen map, her finger tracing a glowing blue ley-line only she could see. "If we want to move through this world without being hunted as deserters, we need a legal cover. Registering as adventurers is the fastest way to get travel permits and coin."
The group arrived at guild .
Yuuki pushed the heavy doors open.
The interior of the Adventurers' Guild was a cavernous hall filled with the smoke of a hundred pipes. Huge notice boards were plastered with monster-hunting requests, and long wooden tables were crowded with men and women who looked like they had crawled out of a battlefield.
The room went quiet for a heartbeat as the six of them walked in. Six teenagers in strange, matching black-and-grey "uniforms"—modern school clothes that looked like high-end ritual garments to the locals—wasn't a common sight.
Some adventures looked at them looking at their new appearances
"Ameuters" one adventurer muttered.
The group walked to receptionist
"This is no place for kids like you." Ascarrer man with large axe said
Akira glared at him
Yuuki pats his shoulder
" It's ok." Yuuki said reassuring.
Akira roller eyes
As we arrived at reception
Rin stepped up to the reception desk, her expression calm and polite, the perfect mask of a focused student. She placed a small leather pouch of coins—the ones Kazuki had "liberated" earlier—on the wooden counter.
"We'd like to register as a party," Rin said, her voice clear but modest. "Six of us. Starting from the bottom."
The receptionist, a woman with tired eyes and ink-stained fingers, looked up from her ledger. She glanced at the six teenagers in their strange, matching black school uniforms. "First-timers, huh? You look like scholars who took a wrong turn at the library."
"Something like that," Yuuki murmured from behind Rin, his eyes scanning the room's exits and the positions of the armed guards by the stairs.
The woman sighed, pulling out six dull copper plates. "It's standard procedure. Drop of blood on the plate to sync your life-force, and you're E-Rank. Don't expect much. E-Ranks get the 'rat-catching' and 'herb-picking' jobs. You want better pay, you gotta survive the first month."
One by one, the Six stepped forward. They didn't hesitate. They didn't ask questions.
Tetsuya pricked his finger with a hidden needle, his face like stone. Haruto and Akira did it in silence, their eyes briefly meeting in a silent challenge to see who could finish first. Kazuki did it with a lazy shrug, and Yuuki was the last, his blood hitting the copper plate with a cold finality.
The plates glowed a faint, unremarkable grey.
Registration Complete.
Party Name: (Blank)
Rank: E
"Identification accepted,and what do u like to name your party " the receptionist asked.
" I got many names how about army of justice, or Lighting swords" Rin said chuckling
"It's too much can't think of simple name" Haruto muttered
"How about "The Shadow"though it does seem good to me, what do you say boss" Tetsuya asked
"I agree" Yuuki said
"The Shadows , new party. There's an affiliated inn just down the street called The Iron Oak. Since you're registered, you get the 'newcomer' rate. Third floor, back rooms. Try not to break anything" receptionist said.
"Thank you," Rin said with a small, graceful bow.
They turned and walked out as quickly as they had entered. They didn't check the quest board. They didn't look at the other adventurers. They were just six more "weak" kids trying to make a living.
The walk to The Iron Oak was short. The inn was old, the wood creaking under their boots, but it was out of the main spotlight of the capital. After paying the innkeeper, they climbed the narrow stairs to the third floor.
The door clicked shut, and Yuuki immediately engaged the heavy iron bolt.
Kazuki dropped onto one of the thin mattresses, letting out a long, exhausted groan. "God, I thought we'd never get here. My feet are killing me."
Haruto moved to the window, sliding the shutter open just an inch to watch the street below. "The Guild didn't suspect a thing. They think we're just kids playing hero."
"Idiots," Akira muttered, sitting on the floor and beginning to stretch his hamstrings. "They have no idea who's sleeping under their roof tonight."
Rin sat at the small wooden table, spreading out the stolen map and lighting a small candle. "We have our IDs. Tomorrow, we take a low-level herb-gathering quest. It'll get us out of the city gates without the guards asking questions."
Tetsuya stood by the corner, his eyes fixed on the fireplace. "Tomorrow, I find a way to get steel. These E-Rank tags are useless if we can't defend ourselves."
Yuuki stood in the center of the room, the dim candlelight casting a long, sharp shadow behind him. "We have eight hours. Two-man watch rotations. Haruto, Akira—you're first. If either of you starts a fight, you're sleeping in the alley. Get some rest. Tomorrow, we leave the capital for good."
The Guild hall was significantly quieter in the morning, smelling of stale ale and fresh sawdust. The six of them sat at a corner table, a stark contrast to the loud, hungover adventurers scattered around.
"Eat," Yuuki commanded, gesturing to the spread of black bread, thick salted ham, and boiled eggs.
"Mmm.. it's not bad."Kazukis mumbler chewing.
"Still edible"Tetsuya said.
"Though can't compare your cooking boss." Kazukis said patting Yuuki's back
Akira was halfway through a piece of ham when Haruto's hand flashed out, snatching the last hard-boiled egg from the center plate.
"Hey! That was mine, you sleepy swordsman. Akira hissed, his fork slamming into the table an inch from Haruto's knuckles.
"Too slow, muscle head" Haruto deadpanned, peeling the egg with annoying precision. "A real martial artist would have sensed the intent. You're getting soft in your old age."
"Soft?! I'll show you soft when I'm burying my fist in your—"
"Quiet," Yuuki said, not even looking up from his bread. The two of them froze instantly, though Akira continued to chew his ham with aggressive, vengeful eye contact.
Rin sipped her tea, her eyes scanning the quest board from across the room. "The 'Herb Gathering' quest is still there. We take it, we pass the North Gate, and we never look back."
"Good," Yuuki stood up, the chair scraping silently against the stone. "We have the gold Kazuki 'borrowed.' Let's get equipped. We look too much like students. It's time to look like normal adventures."
Yuuki walked into a shop filled with dark fabrics and sharpened steel. He bypassed the decorative shields and went straight for the back rack. He emerged wearing a heavy, charcoal-grey long coat that reached his shins, the collar high enough to mask his face. At his hip hung a straight-edged black sword, simple and balanced—a tool for efficiency, not show.
Haruto found a pair of matching long swords swords with specialized crossguards for parrying. He swapped his school blazer for a fitted midnight-blue combat vest and dark trousers, his movements fluid and unencumbered.
Akira scoffed at the weapons. "I am the weapon," he muttered. He bought durable, reinforced combat clothes—heavy boots and flexible trousers that wouldn't tear during high-impact kicks. He wrapped his hands in fresh white linen, the only sign of his profession.
Rin spent his time in a dusty corner of a magic shop. He didn't buy flashy staves. Instead, He walked out with several ancient-looking grimoires tucked into the satchel of his new deep-violet traveling robes. To the world, He looked like a scholar; to Yuuki, He was now a walking artillery battery.
Tetsuya spent the most gold. He didn't buy armor. He bought a heavy leather roll filled with high-grade smithing hammers, specialized files, and portable bellows. "By tonight," he rumbled, hefting the heavy pack, "you won't be using those store-bought toothpicks anymore."
Finally, Kazuki emerged from a shop specializing in "scout gear." He was dressed in a form-fitting black assassin outfit with a deep hood that shadowed his entire face. Twined around his thighs were two jagged, matte-black daggers designed to slide between armor plates.
"You look like you're ready for a nap in a graveyard," Haruto teased.
"Best place for a nap," Kazuki replied, pulling his hood down. "No one bothers you there."
Yuuki stood at the head of the group, his long coat swirling in the wind. The "Introverts" were gone. In their place stood a unit of professional killers, perfectly camouflaged for the world they were about to enter.
"The North Gate is three blocks away," Yuuki said, his hand resting on the hilt of his new blade. "Check your gear. From here on, we are E-Rank adventurers... until something needs to die."
The morning air was crisp as the gates of the capital groaned open. To the guards, they looked like just another group of over-eager E-Rankers. But as soon as the stone walls vanished behind the thick canopy of the Everdark Forest, the atmosphere shifted. The school kids were gone.
"Herbs at two o'clock," Rin said calmly. He had swapped his school uniform for deep-violet traveling robes, a heavy grimoire hanging from a leather strap at his hip. He didn't look like a scholar anymore—he looked like a cold, analytical mage. "But we have company. Low-level mana signatures. Slimes and Goblins."
"Finally," Akira grinned, cracking his neck.
A green-skinned Goblin lunged from the bushes, shrieking with a rusted dagger. Before it could even blink, Haruto vanished in a blur of midnight-blue. His two new swords flashed in a cross-pattern. The Goblin's head hit the dirt before its body did.
"That's one," Haruto said, putting swords back in sheaths with a bored expression.
"One? That was a scout, you idiot!" Akira roared, leaping over a fallen log and driving a reinforced boot into the core of a giant Green Slime. The creature exploded into a puddle of goo, leaving only a glowing mana stone behind. "I just took out a Grade-1 threat. That counts as five!"
"In what world?" Haruto countered, already parrying another Goblin's spear and counter-attacking in one fluid motion. "Slimes are just overgrown jelly. Goblins have weapons. My kill is worth more."
"Shut up and watch this!" Akira grabbed a Goblin by the throat, using it as a living shield against an incoming arrow before snapping its neck. "That's three!"
Yuuki ignored the bickering, his black long coat swishing as he walked calmly through the chaos. He didn't even draw his sword; he simply stepped aside as a Slime jumped at him, letting Kazuki's jagged daggers intercept it from the shadows.
"Stones gathered. Herbs secured," Tetsuya rumbled, tossing a heavy sack of raw materials and mana stones onto his shoulder. "We have enough."
Meanwhile at Empire's palace.
The sun rose over the palace training grounds, turning the white marble into a blinding field of light. Thousands of elite knights stood in formation, but all eyes were on the teenagers at the center.
"Again!" the Head Knight roared.
Suzuki Minato, the [Holy Hero], stood at the front. His armor was no longer school polyester; he wore gleaming silver plate etched with gold runes. He lunged forward, his legendary sword Excalibur-Lite glowing with a brilliant, holy radiance. With a single swing, he cleaved a massive training dummy made of enchanted iron clean in half.
The class beautities Inoue Aoi and Hashimoto Sakura were showing their skills feeling bored .
"Easy "Sakura muttered
The class gyarus Mori Mei, Yamada Akari and Yoshida Nanami were also training feeling excited.
The class delinquents Oyadama Shogou, Yamamoto Nagi and Kobayashi Sora were also showing off their skills feeling proud.
Aiko sensei was standing aside watching at students training. She looked away thinking about something.
Suzuki Minato noticed her tired expression. He walk to her
"Aiko sensei, are you ok" he asked
Aiko sigh
" I am fine , just... just thinking about Yuuki and his group. Why did they have to leave ? I can't help thinking about them getting into danger."
"I know you are worried but that's what they choosed. You shouldn't be worried about them. They must be in a peaceful place killing times or something you know how they can be. They mind their own business." Suzuki Minato said reassuring her.
"Maybe, you are right" Aiko sensei said.
Inoue Aoi stepped forward, her silver-blue armor catching the morning light. She placed a gentle hand on Aiko-sensei's shoulder. "Sensei, Suzuki is right. You know how those six were in class. They never participated in clubs, they never hung out at the mall... they just existed in their own little bubble."
"Exactly," Hashimoto Sakura added, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "They weren't 'team players.' If they had stayed here, they probably would have just dragged the rest of us down during a real battle. Out there, in some quiet farming village, they can just live a boring life. Isn't that what they always wanted? To be invisible?"
Aiko-sensei looked out toward the distant, dark tree line of the Everdark Forest. "I suppose... but Yuuki-kun always had those eyes. Like he was seeing things the rest of us weren't."
"He was probably just daydreaming about his next nap, just like Shiranui-kun," Tanaka laughed, swinging his practice claymore. "Don't worry, Sensei! Once we defeat the Demon King and become the legends of this world, we'll go on a tour of the Kingdom. If we find them working on a farm somewhere, we'll make sure to drop off some gold so they can live comfortably. That's what Heroes do, right?"
The "Heroes" all laughed, a bright, cheerful sound that filled the training grounds. To them, the Assassin Six were already a tragic memory—weak classmates who couldn't handle the pressure of greatness.
Meanwhile at the forest
As night fell, they retreated to a hidden clearing near a stream. Yuuki knelt by the fire, his hands moving with surgical precision as he roasted wild boar meat seasoned with the very herbs they had "gathered" for the quest.
The smell was incredible—rich, savory, and nothing like the bland cafeteria food from Earth.
Kazuki sat by the fire, his hood down for once, his eyes wide as he took a massive bite of the meat. "Boss... seriously," he mumbled through a mouthful of food. "If the whole 'assassin' thing doesn't work out, you could conquer this world just by opening a restaurant. This is legendary."
"Eat and stay sharp," Yuuki replied, though a small, ghost-like smile touched his lips. "We aren't here for a vacation."
Once the meal was finished, Yuuki turned his gaze toward Tetsuya, who was already setting up his portable bellows and sharpening files near the heat of the coals.
"Tetsuya," Yuuki said, his voice turning serious. "The swords are a good start, but this world is unpredictable. We need an edge they don't have. Something from home."
Tetsuya looked up, the orange fire reflecting in his cold eyes. "You mean the blueprints we discussed?"
"Yes," Yuuki nodded. "Advance our blades first. Use the mana stones we gathered to reinforce the steel. But after that... I want you to start on the 'Iron Tubes.' We need a pair of silenced handguns. If a High-Rank Hero tries to stop us, I want them to meet a real gun before they can finish their incantation."
Tetsuya nodded, his heavy hammer already beginning a rhythmic, metallic beat against a stone anvil. "It'll take time to stabilize the combustion magic to act as gunpowder. But I'll have the prototypes ready by the time we hit the next city."
"Good," Yuuki said, looking up at the strange, dual moons of the Isekai world. "By the time the Kingdom realizes we're gone, we won't just be 'Introverts.' We'll be the most dangerous thing this world has ever seen."
Night falls the group prepared their camp Akira and Haruto sitting around fire.
Some monster appeared but Haruto and Akira quickly move killing every single monster.
Then they both looked at a large orc. Haruto cut it with a sword slash. Akira kicked his neck.
"I call it a win win situation "Haruto muttered sheathing his sword.
"Excuse me! That was my kill" Akira said kicking a rock glaring at him.
"I cut his body first" Haruto said
"I broke his neck first" Akira said
"It was dead before your foot touched the ground, Muscle head Keep dreaming." Haruto said
"Oh why you__" Akira said
Both started fighting.
"Can't you two stop" Rin said
Tetsuya sigh
"Leave them be. They are always like that" Tetsuya muttered joining some parts of metals.
Rin walked over, his violet robes pristine. He held his hand over the monster's head, and a faint magical light scanned the body. "It's a mana-rich mutation. Tetsuya, the bones are high-density. Perfect for the frames you were talking about."
Tetsuya knelt down, his heavy smithing tools already out. He began to harvest the monster's ribs with the precision of a surgeon. "The bone-to-iron ratio will be perfect. It will handle the heat of the 'Iron Tubes' without cracking."
Kazuki dropped down from a tree branch above, landing silently. "Boss, I found a cave two miles North. It's got a natural thermal vent. Tetsuya can use it as a makeshift forge tonight."
Yuuki looked back toward the direction of the Capital. For a split second, he imagined the "Heroes" in their clean armor, eating their breakfast and worrying about his "safety."
" We will divide into group by tomorrow. Group of two. " Yuuki said
"Group of two huh. So who's gonna group with who." Tetsuya asked
"Anyone , just not Haruto and Akira together" Rin said pointing at them still fighting.
Yuuki thoughts for a moment.
"How about me and Kazuki, Tetsuya and Akira and Rin and Haruto" Yuuki said.
" No no, that's you know you are the weakest. I mean not like that you have the weakest job. You know Haruto, Akira and Kazuki are righters of field meanwhile Rin , me and you are rear fighters or support time" Tetsuya said.
"That does make sense . So how about Haruto and Rin, Akira and Kazuki and lastly Me and you Tetsuya " Yuuki suggested.
"That's not bad . Ok I agree" Tetsuya said
"Me too" Rin said
" Anything boss order "Kazuki said yawning
"Ok all settles then. Tomorrow will bring a new day ."
To be continued...