Chapter 2 - Precious Companions

"The Sukunaku has given me a greater purpose, filled with substance and value—better than the world can afford." "The process of becoming an operative builds good character and helps me view life from a perspective I never thought was attainable," he stated with a smile.

Jin rolled his eyes in envy, wishing he had the same level of enthusiasm his friend had. His friend Ken felt like he had experienced some form of enlightenment—a kind so intimate that it resonated with every fiber of his being.

The problem, though, was that Jin couldn't relate to it.

"Come on, Jin, we are going to be late."

Jin sighed as he came out of the tub. He noticed they were the only ones left in the bathing hall—they had been wasting time talking while everyone had finished cleaning themselves.

Jin grabbed his towel and violently dried his hair with it upon realizing how late he was going to be.

"Mia is going to kill us for being late."

Ken laughed in response.

Jin stared at him, slightly embarrassed and curious.

"Why are you laughing, Ken?"

Ken shook his head,

"Nothing important really; it's just that it's quite strange that Mia's reaction is the only thing that worries you at a time like this."

Jin arched his brow, almost looking confused.

"What do you mean by that?"

Ken shook his head, surprised Jin didn't get his point.

"You're hopeless, Jin," he simply replied as he headed to the dressing room.

"Hey! "What on earth are you talking about?" he yelled out as Ken started walking out to the dressing rooms.

They both got into the dressing hall and found three other operatives still getting dressed. Among the operatives ready to leave were the familiar twins, Akito and Akio.

"Only God knows what you two have been doing alone in the bathroom for this long," stated Akito with a villainous grin.

Ken shook his head, almost unfazed by what he said.

"Do you have to make it sound like that?"

But Jin, on the other hand, was red-faced on hearing this, grabbing Akito by the shirt,

"Why do you always have to make everything I do sound so weird?"

Akio and Ken simply laughed, enjoying the little drama going on presently.

Akito simply responded with a smile.

"Is that even a valid question?" "Because you ARE strange!"

Jin scowled at his response, taking it personally.

"What did you say?" he asked as he clenched his other fist as if ready to pound his fist into Akito's face.

"Hey hey, wait for a second, guys!" interjected Ken and Akio in unison as they sensed what was about to happen, ready to intervene before things got out of hand.

Moments later,

They were all at the dining hall, which is now moderately packed with several operatives still having breakfast.

The four comrades—Jin, Ken, Akito, and Akio—sat down, waiting their turn to be called to receive their rations.

Ken observed the amount of food remaining and felt a bit relieved.

"At least we are not too late," he remarked as they were given the signal to proceed to take their rations.

The typical breakfast for the average operative was a porridge meal made of key ingredients recommended by the kingdom's top nutritionists and handpicked by the royal staff.

It was a meal that was pitched to give the right proportion of nutrients needed for carrying out missions that required a lot of strength and mental clarity.

Rumours suggested it contained a safe dose of hard drugs that boosted the release of energy and reduced the appetite for sleep and rest, giving insomnia at reasonable doses.

This was given the name "Yosuri," an amalgamation of the words "Yoi Kosuri," meaning "Good Medicine."

The quad settled down, ready to eat their rations, but got startled at the sudden outburst right behind them. Even Akio, who is always calm and coordinated, could never outgrow the shock from the sudden appearance of the impulsive girl.

Mia Kaori.

Primarily, she was the third in the group by intimacy, in the sense that it was always Kaori, Ken, and Jin going on various missions together as a team, with Akito and Akio joining in only when they deemed it necessary.

The red-haired Mia Kaori was almost dreaded by the twins, who wondered how Ken and Jin could always maintain their sanity during missions with such impulsive characters among them.

Mia knew about this and would always tease them to her heart's content with pointless facts that somehow got under their skin. And it was this sadistic nature that cultivated their dread for the character.

She set her bowl of Yosuri next to them and was about to sit at the edge of the quad before suddenly changing her mind and forcingly sitting right between the four, to their annoyance.

"Good morning, Boarnerges, and the twin idiots," she said casually.

"I'm surprised your brain is sharp enough to remember a trope from the scriptures," commented Akito, who felt dissed by her greetings.

"Oh shut up, ugly trash like you shouldn't even whisper when I'm talking!" she fired back.

"Says the beautiful damsel with a chest as flat as a chopping board," responded Akito before putting the next spoonful in his mouth.

Akio swore, shaking his head as he knew something bad was about to happen. Mia wasn't going to let Akito live a normal day after roasting her like that.

Akito paid no attention to her after saying what he said but got shocked when Mia poured her food on his head, emptying the contents of the bowl on him with her spoon.

Everyone around them gasped in amazement at what she had just done, wondering how Akito would react to this.

Akito simply took out his napkin and started wiping off the food from his hair. Though his first impulse was to react with violence by challenging her to a duel or better yet, attacking her head on right now.

But he knew better than that.

Mia was an impulsive, cheerful, and outgoing person—and a beautiful one at that—but she was no weakling.

Ranked by the authorities as one of the strongest female operatives, she was a swift killing machine that only operatives at elite levels could outclass.

Of course, neither of the twins had to take her behavior for granted, but they found themselves doing so.

Why?

Maybe because they were close to Jin and Ken, and for that to continue, they would need a thick skin to tolerate Mia, no matter how messed up she tends to be.

Missions with the trio were the most fulfilling, and at this point, the five of them knew each other on a personal level, and their tolerance for her gradually became second nature. But what she did just now was going a bit too far, and almost nobody would blame Akito if he lost his temper right now.

She knew this and, in an awkward attempt to calm his mood, smacked him across the head,

"Stop glooming already, jeez!" she said as she forced a spoonful of his food into his mouth so suddenly that it made him choke.

Jin gave him a cup of water immediately to help him stop choking.

"What's your deal, Mia?" "Do you want to kill me?" he yelled out at her.

"That's the spirit!" she remarked.

"Damn it!" he swore right before Mia put her arm around his shoulder, making him feel uneasy.

"You're so cute when you're angry; I like that," she remarked right before standing to leave.

"I'll be waiting at the Missions Board," she said right before looking straight at Jin for about a second.

"See you guys soon," she said right before leaving.

Ken took note of what just happened and smiled.

All five operatives stood right before the missions board, which consisted of posted advertisements with different ranks in the mission's hierarchy.

The hierarchy ranked from class C to class S represents quite obvious levels of difficulty.

Referring to regular missions,

referring to professional missions,

referring to ELITE missions, and

referring to suicide missions.

The operatives were ranked according to their accomplishments by class, as having a given number of straight successes in regular (C) missions ensured promotion to the professional (B) class of operatives, and so on.

Mia had the highest rank among all of them, at B-class, and the rest of them were still at C-class.

Normally the operatives wouldn't even have the luxury of selecting a mission conveniently, but this occurred because the city was at peace currently, there wasn't any conspiracy of any sort going on, and all the missions yet to be undertaken were not urgent.

On a normal day of war or political unrest, combatant operatives would be dispatched regardless of whether they chose it or not.

But for now, missions were mostly selected by choice as the greatest matters to be absolved by the covert operations of the Sukunaku simply lacked necessity.

Mia looked carefully at the missions board, and after several minutes of examination, she finally found the mission after her own heart.

the assassination of two former elite operatives