"Are you there, Richard?"

"No, I'm Poorard, answering on Richard's behalf. Of course I'm here. Who do you think picked up the phone? My dad?"

If he was offended by my sarcasm, Feng Hai didn't express his disapproval. Instead, he went straight to the topic at hand.

"I'm afraid I've some very bad news."

I immediately felt a chill run down my spine, and inadvertently tightened my grip on my smartphone. Gulping, I ventured with my question.

"What bad news?"

"Regarding Anastasia…we've been betrayed."

"Huh? Betrayed?" When Feng Hai first mentioned Ana's name, I thought something terrible had happened to her, that Ling Dan failed to concoct a serum, and that she had gone into a critical condition or her Woeful Poison Body was acting up or something regarding her health. However, Feng Hai's next sentence took me by utter surprise. "What do you mean, betrayed?"

"Exactly what I said."

"By who?"

"…I don't think you'll be surprised when you hear this, but…it was by Ling Dan. He turned on us."

"What do you mean?" I demanded, unable to conceal the panic in my voice. "Did he kill Ana? Trick us by giving her some sort of poison or lethal injection? What did he do to her?"

"No, Ana is still fine…sort of. Unfortunately, she was forced to flee. Ling Dan didn't try to harm her – not directly, anyway. Instead, he called the Federation on her, and they a.s.sembled a military team to hunt her down and…terminate her."

For a moment, I couldn't speak. I wasn't sure I heard Feng Hai right. That just sounded implausible, yet at the same time, he was right. I wasn't surprised by who betrayed us – Ling Dan was an outsider, and none of us fully trusted him. We had essentially coerced him to a.s.sist us, and it was no secret that he resented us for it, even though we agreed to pay him for his efforts. But after taking our money, he turned on is like this…not only was it a breach of contract and our trust, he actually sought to harm one of our own.

"b.a.s.t.a.r.d…" I finally growled, venom in my voice.

"Yeah. We're going to take him out soon…after we resolve this."

"Do you need my help?" I asked. Obviously I wasn't referring to taking the treacherous Ling Dan out. I meant to ask how I could a.s.sist Anastasia in her current predicament. "How can I help?"

"There's nothing you can do to help, honestly," Feng Hai replied frankly. d.a.m.n, that hurt, but that didn't make it any less true. "I'm just letting you know so that you don't get left out of the loop. I don't want you panicking and recklessly rus.h.i.+ng off to find her when you find out later, so best I tell you now and get you calm and composed. In any event, what Anastasia needs now is to hide somewhere, so the less people who knows where she is, the better. I don't want the police to cast mind-reading or telepathic spells on you and steal her location from your memories. To be honest, even the Silver Wolves and I don't know where she is planning to hide. If any of us are captured and interrogated – even by magic means – we would not be able to provide an answer."

That made sense. I appreciated the sentiment even though I loathed the method. However, we had little choice. The Federation had abilities that were beyond imagination – if they wanted to pry the truth out of our minds through magical means, they could easily do so. This was for Anastasia's good. As much as I wanted to help her, I would only hinder her escape if I was privy to vital information concerning her destination.

So I sighed in resignation and lowered my head.

"I understand."

"If possible, we would like you to come and say goodbye to her before she pulls her disappearing act."

That sounded perfectly fine to me. There was a chance that I would never see Anastasia again, so I would like to wish her well before she ran off.

"Where are you right now?"

"In our home city, you know, where our HQ is. Lupin City. Don't worry. Anastasia will not be going anywhere today. We're helping her pack up and prepare, so you can come anytime. Don't take too long, though. She can only stay around in Lupin City for three days max. She might be gone as soon as tomorrow."

That was pretty far from Flandor City. A few hours by train, but since this was Anastasia we were talking about here, it was well worth the trip. If I could catch the 9am train today, I should be able to make it to Lupin City by afternoon…

"All right. I'll be there today."

"Actually…if you don't mind, we'll pick you up in an hour or so. Just wait wherever you are, and send me your current address."

*

It didn't take long before the Silver Wolves' hovercraft appeared over the horizon and set down in the ma.s.sive parking lot outside Melina's manor. My two charges had already gone off to school, but I managed to submit an online application to take the day off, citing extenuating circ.u.mstances. I doubted they would accept it, but to my surprise Director Taylor approved of my request for leave. However, she gave me a single condition.

"You're going to Lupin City, correct?" she asked, evidently having read my application for leave. "Then perhaps you could take on a mission on behalf of our academy?"

Just like Jing Tian Academy, the high school section of Saint Teresa Academy also received a bunch of missions, which they posted on the bulletin board for second year students and older to take. I was considering taking several of the missions to alleviate my boredom and gain much needed combat experience, but since this was just my first week here in Flandor City, I decided to lie low for now and adjust to life here before going out on any missions. Moreover, I also needed to teach Adrian and Melina, and obviously I couldn't disappear in the first couple of weeks of teaching them for a mission that might take me anywhere from a few days to a week.

That was also my concern when I queried about the mission that the headmistress, Taylor, a.s.signed to me.

"Will it take too long? I need to be back quickly for my private tutor job."

"It shouldn't take you too long, I hope. It's a standard combat mission. Exterminate a bunch of monsters that have been a.s.saulting a small, remote neighborhood on the edges of Lupin City, and you'll be done."

Easier said than done. Still, that was bad news for the small neighborhood. To be hara.s.sed by a bunch of giant Cyclop Rats…of all the critters to attack them, it had to be these wolf-sized rodents with single demonic red eyes. They were absolutely disgusting…but at least they weren't bugs. I hated bugs even more, and was relieved I didn't have to deal with giant insects for this mission. Now that would scare the h.e.l.l out of me.

I would keep my distance and kill them with fire. Though these days I was focusing more on my ice magic, which benefited greatly from Teacher Einsberg's lessons…

"All right, I'll do it." I accepted the online request and marked my decision on the form before sending it back to Headmistress Taylor. She regarded my submission with an approving smile and nodded in the holographic window.

"I await your good news."

"Yes, ma'am." I saluted, and then clicked off the holographic window. Shortly after that, the hovercraft descended and I waited for the ramp to lower before hopping on. Redfield, as expected, was waiting for me in the pa.s.senger bay.

"Good to see you again, Richie."

"Same." I looked around, as if expecting to see Anastasia, but obviously she wasn't in the hovercraft. Of course Feng Hai wasn't going to take the risk and bring her aboard a transport that could be intercepted by Federation forces and searched thoroughly. And if that was the case, they wouldn't require me to go all the way to Lupin City in the first place. We could just say our goodbyes here. So I studied the safety harnesses and noted how empty the bay was, bereft of its usual complement of mercenary troops. That wasn't a big concern, but I felt obliged to ask. "I hope everyone in the Silver Wolves is doing fine."

"Yeah, we are. Of course we're all highly strung up because of that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Ling Dan's betrayal, but otherwise we are fine. Most of us want to fight the Federation forces, but the boss ordered us to stand down. Ana also doesn't want us to fight. Says she would rather leave the Federation, and requested our aid to escape." He sat back down on a chair and strapped the safety harness back on, and I followed his example, while continuing to watch him as he elaborated. "She has no intention of sharing the details of where she will go to…and I suspect she doesn't know herself. All the better. The less we know means the less information that the Federation has."

"I don't understand. Why is the Federation after her in the first place? Why are they persecuting her?" I adjusted my gla.s.ses and scowled. "If it's about her links to the a.s.sa.s.sin's Guild, I'm sure Instructor Feng Hai already settled that long ago, and she has proven her loyalties to the Silver Wolves, not the a.s.sa.s.sins. They can't arrest her over that."

"No, that's not the reason. It's the Woeful Poison Body." Redfield's expression was severe. "You might not know this, but the existence of the Woeful Poison Body is a terrifying one. Ling Dan alerted the Federation to the danger…the threat her condition poses to civilians, and thus they are mobilizing to terminate her, even though we've a.s.sured them that we can keep the danger contained. Their stance is that they will not take the risk, for the sake and wellbeing of the citizens of the Federation."

"They can't do that!" I protested hotly, but Redfield shook his head.

"They can, and they will. The life of one person in exchange for the lives of the many. Weighing the individual against the collective on the scales and deciding to prioritize the safety of the latter. The government has to make hard choices, even if we don't like them."

"I bet that f.u.c.ker Ling Dan found out that he couldn't concoct a serum or a solution for Ana's condition and so he decided to hide behind the Federation and request that they exterminate Ana. Just so he can cover up any embarra.s.sment over his failure and move the attention away from him."

My voice was bitter. If I ever saw that Ling Dan again, I would smash his face in, the law be d.a.m.ned. I didn't care if I got sued for physical a.s.sault. The f.u.c.ker deserved it. Redfield evidently agreed with me, and he nodded with a scowl.

"And we paid him too. He took the money and then turn on us. He won't be getting away with this." he then smirked. "And we don't plan on forgiving you. We mercenaries have our ways of making someone die…by accident if necessary."

The dark side of mercenaries. They weren't soldiers from the military, or police. They were hired guns who often skirted the wrong side of the law, and killed for a living in a modern world where murder was outlawed. Of course they would have their ways of operating in the shadows. While nothing could surpa.s.s the a.s.sa.s.sin's Guild in terms of taking the life of a high-value target, mercenaries often partic.i.p.ated in such missions too.

"Speaking of which, I heard you accepted the mission in the outskirts of the Shrewsbury neighborhood. Seems like they have a giant rat infestation problem." He sighed and clasped his fingers behind his head as he leaned back in his seat. "We Silver Wolves would have accepted the mission if it wasn't for the recent difficulties."

"I accepted the mission as a condition in return for being granted leave by Saint Teresa Academy," I explained. "It's not as if I actively sought out a mission in Lupin City on purpose."

"I know, I know." Redfield chuckled before he inclined his head toward a shadowy section of the pa.s.senger bay. "And I'm sure you didn't bring those kids along on purpose as well, right?"

"Huh? What kids…?" I trailed off when realization dawned on me and I scowled, swiveling around to face the darkened area. "Adrian and Melina, are you both there?"

"Ah…we got found out again."

The two kids sheepishly emerged from beneath the cover of their cloaking device. Redfield snickered and gestured for them to strap in. I turned to glare at him.

"Hey, if you know they were onboard, why didn't you just kick them out?"

"Come on!" Adrian objected. "Master, you can't just throw us off the hovercraft! You were planning on having an adventure without us, aren't you?!"

"Why are you calling me Master all of a sudden?!" I demanded, a sense of suspicion growing within me.

"Because I'm trying to be like Majic. And you're so similar to Orphen/Krylancelo! So I'm going to call you Master from now on!"

"You do realize that I'm not a stabber, right?" I asked, burying my face in my palm.

"Sorry, Sensei. But we both thought this would be a great training experience."

I turned to Melina, feeling disappointed that the one person I could trust to have any common sense would go along with this nonsense. At least she wasn't pretending to be Cleao or something, or I would rage. Like, literally.

Then again, she was behaving meekly, like a certain Melida Angel from another anime series. One about a.s.sa.s.sins. And we were flying off to meet an ex-a.s.sa.s.sin. Funny how ripping off from so many different anime and light novel series would somehow establish weird and completely unintended connections.

"I thought it would be fun to bring them along," Redfield finally answered, once he had finally succeeded in holding his laughter back. "They are your apprentices, after all. And I'm sure they will want to say h.e.l.lo and goodbye to Ana. After all, they were around when we brought that b.a.s.t.a.r.d alchemist back to try and cure her."

"Eh? The alchemist? What happened?" Melina looked at us blankly. I suppressed a heavy sigh and scratched my head in exasperation.

"It's a long story. Well…since we have nothing better to do right now, I might as well tell you a bit about it…"