Assassin Leader

"An old soldier with old ideals. Take a page from the West. They know that money is power. A wealthy country is a happy country, right?'''"

- Assassin Leader to Matthew McMahon in Chapter 54

The Assassin Leader (殺し屋のリーダー格) was one of the assassins hired by Leonardo Hapoon to kill Olka Gretcher and her son, and is the secondary antagonist of the Cruise Adventure Arc. On Princess Lorelei, he was the coordinator of the assassins under Hapoon's orders.

Appearance
The Assassin Leader is a tall and slim young man with black hair in a buzz cut. He also has a bit of stubble from his sideburns to his chin. He wears rimless glasses and has two earrings on his left ear, one on the earlobe, and a stud earring above it. He is seen wearing a grey turtleneck under a black suit.

Personality
The Assassin Leader is shown to be a charismatic man, as he was able to convince his fellow assassins to work together to complete their mission of killing Olka. As described by Matthew McMahon, the Leader is like a businessman, thinking about money and always trying to negotiate money deals, even with his enemies. As an assassin, the Leader takes pride in his work and acts very professional about it, as he quickly disposed of an assassin who suggested killing women with children on Princess Lorelei, saying that they are not psychopaths and that their work is built on trust. He is also one who is determined to finish his missions, as even when he was wounded by Matthew and retreated, he was still intent on ensuring Olka's death. Later, when confronting Snoops, he shows that despite viewing the other assassins as comrades, he is quick to turn on them when things turn south for him.

History
After Leonardo Hapoon took control of the Gretcher crime family, he put a large bounty on the family's surviving members, Olka Gretcher, and her son, Gram. The Assassin Leader was then employed by Hapoon to keep the other assassins in order. Later, the Leader pays an informant, whom he later nicknames "Snoops," a considerable amount of money for his services in tracking Olka. To prepare for tracking Olka, the Assassin Leader went to the Gretcher manor and used his smelling abilities to identify her scent.

Cruise Adventure Arc
In pursuit of Olka, the Assassin Leader and the other assassins learn that she is planning on escaping to another country aboard Princess Lorelei and follow after her. On the first night, Snoops loses contact with the Knockman, who went to a room suspected to be Olka's, which he reports to the Assassin Leader and confirms they have found their target. After receiving further information on Olka's group and that they are moving rooms, the Assassin Leader says aloud that they have lost their element of surprise due to the Knockman's impatience. He then tells the other assassins that they will need to work together if Olka is being protected by Garden. He lays out the terms: no infighting, the bounty will be evenly split, and that all information will be shared. An assassin comments that it sounds like a hassle and proposes killing every woman with a baby on board. In response to this, the Assassin Leader and another assassin stab him, and the Leader tells him that they are not psychopaths and that their work is built on trust.

After dumping the assassin's body into the ocean, the Assassin Leader mentions that many of the Hapoon's patrons are also on this ship and instructs the others to not cause any unnecessary commotion if they wish to get paid. He then asks Snoops to continue reporting any information to them, to which Snoops replies that he sells information equally and wishes the Leader good luck in getting ahead of everyone.

Despite the assassins' efforts Olka manages to evade them with the help of Yor and successfully relocates to another room. After the crew staff clean up Olka's old cabin, the Leader breaks in and takes in large sniffs, gathering all the smells inside. He identifies two perfumes, Blue Lace No. 88 and Mermaid Eau de Toilette, and deduces that Olka must have changed her fragrance for her new face. Remembering that there was at least one male and two females in the room at the time, he concludes that the person he could not smell was Olka's female bodyguard. The Leader contacts Snoops and discusses their target's next move, and Snoops predicts that they will try escaping on the second night of the cruise trip.

On the second night, the Leader once again contacts Snoops for any movement, to which Snoops says that he intercepted a transmission that is likely to be from Olka's allies. The Leader then instructs him to notify their teams to get into position for their ambush. Walking around the ship, the Assassin Leader walks by the disguised Olka and her group, who are preparing to get to their rendezvous point. Recognizing their perfumes, the Assassin Leader thinks that while they have popular fragrances, he finds it interesting to encounter them at the same time while also with a woman with no scent. After seeing the group and confirming their numbers, the Leader ominously grins after finally finding them. The Leader has the assassins block off all passages to the ship's bow, forcing Olka's group to go through the roof deck. There, after hiding their presence, the assassins ambush the group and surround them.

To the Assassin Leader's surprise, their sniper is taken out by another Garden assassin, Matthew McMahon. Both Garden assassins then proceed to wipe out a majority of the assassin army, leaving only a few, including the Leader, standing in astonishment. The Assassin Leader speaks up as the Garden assassins clean up, surprised that Yor killed them all and calling her a heartless woman. Yor responds to his jab nonchalantly and he recognizes that she takes her work seriously. Yor proposes that the remaining assassins walk away, but the Leader says it is out of the question, stating that they have already been paid their advance. He adds that there is no way to "walk away" on the boat and that Matthew has no intention of letting them leave alive.

Matthew tells the Leader that Ostania would be better off without people like him, who see war as another way to make money. The Leader calls Matthew "an old soldier with old ideals" and tells him to take a page from Westalis, saying that they know that money is power and that a wealthy country is a happy country. Matthew comments that he expected more foresight from the Leader and tells him to reflect on it while he is being eaten by the sharks. However, the Leader responds that it is not him the sharks will be eating as a Swordsman launches a surprise attack on Yor and Matthew.

After Matthew is knocked unconscious, Yor struggles to fight the Swordsman on her own. Sensing her doubts, the Swordsman tells Yor to withdraw from the fight if she fears death. The Assassin Leader chimes in, saying that they are all hired hands, and even offers to give Yor a share of the bounty if she steps aside. Yor accuses the Leader of playing mind games on her, but the Leader states he is making a legitimate business proposition. Saying that she also kills to put bread on her table, they are the same. Yor is eventually knocked down by the Swordsman, who tells the Leader to finish off Olka and the others. Before the Leader can get to her, Yor hurls her earring at him, stopping him as he dodges it.

Yor suddenly gets a boost in strength after remembering her true goal as an assassin, to the Assassin Leader and the Swordsman's surprise. As Yor battles with the Swordsman, the Assassin Leader intervenes by shooting at Yor, putting distance between her and the Swordsman. After retrieving her weapon, Yor and the Swordsman charge at each other for one final strike. The Assassin Leader attempts to shoot her, but he is shot in the hand and gut by the reawakened Matthew.

The wounded Assassin Leader manages to escape the roof deck and makes his way to the upper deck. Still determined to ensure Olka's death, the Leader thinks about making a new strategy. He then has a brief encounter with Anya Forger, whom he questions why she is staring at him, unaware that she is reading his thoughts. Suddenly, the Assassin Leader smells explosives on the clock. Realizing that Snoops has rigged the ship to explode, he leaves to find him.

The Assassin Leader finds Snoops outside Princess Lorelei on a raft tied to the ship. The Leader zips over with his belt and drops onto the raft. Pulling out his switchblade, he asks Snoops, where he is going. He asks what he was thinking by planting the bombs, and Snoops answers that he did so to send Olka and her guards sinking with the boat. The Leader reminds him that Hapoon has friends on the ship, but Snoops replies that he made the bombs look like they were from the West, which could spark another war, something he believes Hapoon would like. Done with the whole situation, the Leader tells Snoops to get moving, but they quickly turn on each other when Snoops says he only brought enough supplies for one person on the raft.

The Leader lunges his blade at Snoops, but Snoops catches his arm and restrains him while he points his gun at his head. Snoops says he will give the Leader a parting gift: the true fireworks show as Princess Lorelei explodes, and they can listen to the passengers' screams through the bugs he planted throughout the ship. Suddenly, one Snoops' bombs gets thrown overboard and explodes, knocking the assassins off the raft. The men are last seen stranded in the ocean as sharks circle them.

Skills
Supernatural Smell: The Assassin Leader possesses a superhuman sense of smell, using it to track Olka through her and her bodyguards' scents, and is even able to distinguish specific scents.

Snoops
As both of them were hired by Leonardo Hapoon to assassinate Olka Gretcher and her son, they kept a professional relationship, as Snoops immediately reported anything unusual to the Leader, which he relayed to the other assassins. After realizing that Snoops has rigged the ship to explode, the Assassins' Leader finds and confronts Snoops during his escape. He questions Snoops' actions and if he planned to blow up his comrades. Not long after, the two assassins try to remove the other after Snoops reveals he planned his getaway for just one person. Although Snoops had the upper hand, they both failed in their attempt to flee after Loid Forger throws a bomb over them, and the explosion leaves them stranded in the ocean as sharks circle the assassins.

Chapter Appearances

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Anime Appearances

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