After clearing the wall, Kiichi and Tasia landed hard in the courtyard, gravel flying under their feet as they got closer to Sévon and Esme.

  Kiichi wasted no time.

  "What was that?You mentioned that she was in line with the Puppeteers, I believe.They are manipulators. information intermediaries. parasites.They don't fight each other directly. They don't create methods.So give an explanation."

  Sévon just stared at Kiichi and did not give him any response, silence came after. Esme and Tasia did not want to disturb the rising tension that was about to arrive.

  "Well, why are you being quiet?"

  Sévon sighed before giving his answer.

  "Yes, you're right I did say that she might be part of The Puppeteers.But as we already know… your listening has always been selective."

  Kiichi's face changed.

  "What?"

  This time, Sévon avoided looking at him.

  "I think I mentioned I was not 100% certain of the information before explaining the operation," he said coolly.

  There was no accusation in the words.It was clearly replayed in his memory.

  "I'm still not entirely sure about what I know."

  He let out a slow breath. He had only heard Sévon say "fight" and "restrain," without paying attention to the warning.

  There was a long silence.

  "You did," Kiichi finally acknowledged.

  His shoulders became less tense.

  "I overreacted."

  A brief silence.

  "I made a mistake."

  Esme gave him a quick glance. Tasia remained silent. Sévon finally turned to face him. He shrugged a little.

  "Noted."

  Then he turned to face the destroyed house. His eyes narrowed a little.

  "There is no strategic reason to stay since she decided to withdraw."

  Esme tensed up a little.

  "So we're just heading out?"

  "For the time being," Sévon remarked.

  He turned and started to move in the direction of the compound's outer wall.

  "We're going back to Kurayamiya."

  None of them disagreed with Sévon's statement. They were all in agreement with Sévon's assertion. They merely nodded.

  Without saying anything more, he turned and started moving in the direction of the compound's outer gate. Softly, the gravel moved under his feet. Silently, the others trailed behind him.

  In the darkness, the shattered house remained motionless. The only evidence of what had just happened was the broken beams and ripped window. One by one, they went through the gate. The last person to leave was Esme. She stopped for a moment and looked back at the shadowy building. She turned away and gave a gentle click of her tongue.

  The agency was silent the following morning. As usual, Pixia sat behind the front desk with her legs crossed and looked mildly interested as she flipped through a glossy magazine.The door parted. She raised her gaze.Sévon went in first, followed by Kiichi and Tasia.

  With her hands in her pockets, Esme entered last.Pixia's expression instantly brightened.

  "Well, take a look at this," she exclaimed. "Everyone returned."

  Halfway through the magazine, she closed it.

  "How was the job and what was the win percentage, more importantly?"she inquired.

  There was no response. Tasia strolled silently by. Pixia gave a blink.

  Sévon gave a small smile.

  "Pixia, good morning."

  He moved in the direction of the desk.

  "I see you're still the same as always."

  She cocked her head. "That didn't address my query."

  Sévon's smile faded a little.

  "Is Shuren present?"

  Pixia noticed the change in tone right away. Her face softened.

  "She's in her office."

  pointing to the corridor.Sévon nodded slightly.

  "I'm grateful."

  He passed the reception area without waiting.Without saying anything, Kiichi trailed behind. Tasia's footsteps were almost noiseless. Esme stayed a moment longer. Pixia leaned forward a little.

  "So?" she muttered.

  Esme looked back at her.

  "There is no percentage."

  Then she turned to leave. Pixia lowered her magazine slowly.

  "Oh."

  They came to a halt outside Shuren's workplace. Compared to the rest of the agency, the hallway seemed quieter. Sévon gave a single knock.

  From within:

  "Go in."

  He let the door open. Kiichi instinctively moved forward, but S?on blocked him without even looking by slightly extending an arm.

  "What?"

  S?on swiveled his head just enough to meet his eyes.After maintaining eye contact for a moment, Kiichi let out a breath.

  "All right."

  He took a step back. Sévon turned to look at Esme. a tiny two-finger motion.Esme froze.

  His gaze remained fixed. Her confidence from the previous evening wavered. She walked past him into the office after straightening a little. Sévon trailed behind. With a gentle click, the door shut behind them.

  The hallway was silent. Kiichi gazed at the entrance.

  Tasia gazed at Kiichi.Kiichi gave his head a scratch.

  "Want to grab a bite to eat?"

  Tasia rolled her eyes.Tasia let out a sigh.

  "Do you consider food during a period like this?"

  He gave a shrug.

  "All right."

  Together, they strolled down the corridor.

  "You finally made it back and judging by your expression… you have something to discuss with me."

  Sévón said nothing, he didn't nod nor did he deny it. He simply looked at her. Shuren leaned back slightly. Her eyes moved and landed on Esme. The temperature in the room dropped.

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  "And you," Shuren said.

  Esme stiffened.

  "Why are you not at school? Did you ditch again?"Her voice didn't rise.

  With no idea how to react, Shuren was intimidating to Esme all alone. Esme flexed her fingers at her side. Her throat was constricting. She instinctively checked for some kind of support from Sévon.

  Esme needed something from him, but when their eyes first made contact she could remember the moment Sévon made a remark to her about how he would report to Shuren on why she ran away from school.

  There was no other option for Esme other than to tell the truth.

  "Yes," Esme said, very softly.

  Shuren let out a slow breath. "You don't listen to anything."

  Esme gave a wince.

  "Do you not know how your father feels about your schooling? Or do you just not realise that you are repeating the year?"

  Esme's jaw became tense with every measured word from Shuren.

  "I..."

  "You didn't attend school, why? I don't know; perhaps because you weren't there." Esme glared.

  Shuren glanced at Esme for a moment longer before she exhaled.

  "We'll discuss your punishment later."

  Her tone was so final that it did not give any chance of hope. Shuren turned back to Sévon.

  "Now we can talk about the mission."

  Sévon gave her a small nod.

  "Yes, but first I have one question. How did we not catch him?"

  Esme looked in Assad's general direction and was shocked to notice that he was reading the book about which Vonessia gifted to him.The more disturbing thing was that he was just sitting there doing nothing but listening, even though that was only a brief amount of time.

  "Who..."

  "You don't need to know."

  Esme was confused, why would Shuren suddenly cut her off when she tried asking a question about the guy who was sitting on the chair like he belongs there. What was the meaning of it?

  "Alright then Sévon, we can have our chat. The both of you,get out of the room and give us some space."

  Assad did not say anything to that and simply closed his book. He then stood up from his seat and straightened himself before taking his slow steps to the door. He walked past Sévon and stood there for a moment. Sévon saw Assad stand next to him and smiled.

  Taking out one of his hands from his pockets he flicked Assad on the forehead. Assad felt the slight pain and grabbed his forehead.

  "It's been a while since you arrived at the agency. We haven't had any small talk yet, right?"

  Assad stopped grabbing his forehead and looked down on the ground for a moment. A smile came as he looked at Sévon's direction.

  "Hey Sévon and yea it has been a while."

  Sévon also grinned as well.

  "How about this, meet me at the octagon in ten minutes."

  Assad was bewildered and wondered why he would ask that. If they wanted to have a chat, wasn't it best to just talk at a random place.Why would he choose the place for training out of locations?

  He couldn't put his mind to it and just let it go. Assad nodded to Sévon's request and left for the door. Esme just stared, still filled with confusion on who Assad was and why was she not allowed to ask questions.

  Esme also left for the door as Sévon asked her to leave as he wanted to talk with Shuren privately.

  "Someone straightened up.You've only been here for a few days," "But you now have a different posture."Sévon said calmly.

  Shuren gave Assad a quick glance before giving him a single nod.

  "He's adjusting more quickly than anticipated."

  "Give me a clear explanation for what happened." She phrased the question.

  For a fraction of an inch longer than what he needed, Sévon nodded his head and was ready to begin with his logical explanation. The chair that hosted Sévon was identical in style and size to the one that contained Assad's body before his departure.

  "I really don't need to be rushed by you, so pay attention,the culprit for the murder that we were investigating.was a female named Esyn Lantana,which you already know off" said Sévon.

  At that moment, Shuren paused, then nodded her head.

  "To recapitulate, we were taking the necessary steps, as previously planned by us, to take her in for questioning, so we could figure out the reason why she killed Masao Shirai."

  "We approached her compound at night; it was quiet when we entered her bedroom, she appeared to be sleeping, however, that was not the case as she had in fact been awake the entire time and sent me flying to a wall with some sort of force.

  "What do you mean she used some sort of force?" Shuren asked.

  "She weaponized her blood. And whatever launched me wasn't physical."

  He paused.

  " So that means that she had Dynamokinesis, combined with blood manipulation."

  Shuren didn't say anything, she was just listening to Sévon continue on with his mission report.

  "Oh before I forget,at first I thought that she was connected to The Puppeteers, however, that was my mistake because they do not have any combat training, so that leads us to another group."

  Shuren remained silent as she went to her cupboard to retrieve a pack of cigarettes before taking one out and placing it in her mouth. She then retrieved a lighter and ignited the cigarette, exhaling the smoke while continuing to ponder about Sévon's report until she reached her conclusion.

  "The Scarlet Wolverine Sect."

  Sévon agreed, and after that conclusion there was a period of silence.