Ja'far

"The troops should be stationed here. It's the best position to protect Sin," I think, poring over the detailed map of Sindria. I shiver and rub my arms. Why do I feel...cold?

I don't like it. It reminds me of my time as an assassin, when I would have to stay up through the cold nights, watching out for the other assassins. To weed out the weakest of us, they would make the assassins in training fight to the death in battle royales that lasted for days. By the time I was eight, I'd killed 97 other assassins, including my parents. I still remember the chill of the knife's blade as I slid it across their throats, a chill that is spreading through my body right now.

"You okay?"

I jump at the sound of (y/n)'s voice.

"What the-when did you come in? You're going to give me a heart attack one of these days!" I exclaim.

Keeping a straight face, she raises an eyebrow and smooths the map underneath my fingers. Wait...how did it get that crumpled? I wasn't gripping the map that hard, was I? Well, at least the cold feeling is going away now.

"Ja'far, remember that assassin that I killed? The one that was supposedly trying to kill Sinbad-san? Yamuraiha decided to check on her corpse again. She found out that...she wasn't a real human," says (y/n).

My eyes widen. "What do you mean?" I ask.

"She's an artificial puppet of some sorts. Yamuraiha found some traces of dark magic in the body, which was probably how Al Thamen controlled the puppet. Even the body was put together by magic. Yamuraiha is studying it now in hopes of discovering something Al Thamen's next move," she explains.

She lapses into silence, moving a hand up her arm.

"What is it?" I ask.

"That means I didn't kill anyone," she says.

My thoughts flash back to the time I found her in the firefly field. That lantern...was it for the assassin she killed?

"I'm sorry," she says. I stare at her, confused by the sudden apology.

"I only meant to report this new information to you, not mention anything irrelevant. What do you need me to do for the defenses? Where should I be stationed?" she says.

"Right now, I'd like you to give these plans to Drakon. We'll talk about your position later," I tell her.

She replies with her usual 'hai' before leaving.

I turn back to my map, smiling in relief. I haven't forgotten any of my victims' faces, how their blood felt on my fingers. I don't want (y/n) to ever go through that.