"So...How was it? How did your first kill felt? I would definitely have mixed feelings if my first kill was a beautiful woman, hehe" Arno asked and creepily laughed.
"...Don't know but I think that I wouldn't feel different if it was a man instead. I mean...it's life like life, there is no need to feel different by killing someone ugly or beautiful. These things are irrelevant." I honestly answered.
"Well, well, well...it seems that someone is trying to act cool. Tell me, is it because there is a beautiful woman right in front of you that you don't have to kill this time?" Arno immediately tried to tease me while grinning.
"Agh!" Arno groaned when Raksaya immediately drove the hilt of her sword into Arno's stomach with a calm expression and at such speed that I had a problem seeing her move.
I couldn't even catch her move with my eyes...I guess she isn't a leader just for fun.
"Don't listen to him. Were you able to complete both objectives?" She asked me with an expectant smile.
---
'Although I sent someone to keep me informed about Akashi's progress with his mission, it's still pretty hard to verify whether he really completed the secondary objective.' Raksaya thought while looking at Akashi as if she was looking at a diamond.
---
"Well, words are only words, you will probably know in 1 week's time." I said with more respect in my voice after seeing her strength.
"No need to be so formal, let's go somewhere else. We are in the way of other people." Raksaya said with a smile and led both of us to a quieter place.
As we were walking I felt like someone was intensively watching us and when I turned my head in that direction, I saw Silver looking at us with a complicated expression.
...This might become a problem later in the future. I will need to be careful even in this base where everyone is "family".
I thought while returning my attention in front of me. I am not a narcissistic person but a lot of people were already calling me talented and trying to win my favor even before my first real mission. I can already expect even more people coming my way since I was able to flawlessly complete this mission, adding up with our leader's attention on me...
Judging by her age and Silver's age...he must be adopted. I wonder how will he handle all of it...
Even though I am progressing really fast, I can't drop my guard down around him, after all, I am stronger than him only in direct combat. Here, we are taught assassination! Not to mention that he can pay someone much stronger to help him, however, that person would still need to truly reconsider if he wants to go against the leader's orders and against our law here...Many people who are living here actually consider other members as their family. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that this has become a creed here.
...
After I talked with Raksaya for more than 15 minutes, she decided to excuse herself, apparently, she has a lot of paperwork to do.
"Are you ready for another training?" Arno said with a particularly sadistic smile that didn't suit him.
"What kind of training?" I asked with a helpless and tired expression.
"Don't worry, you can hit the sack for today, you have done more than enough already. However, I will still at least explain to you what kind of training it will be. You know...so you can sleep better tonight, hehe." Arno said with a creepy laugh.
To be honest...there are very little things I am afraid but if I were to name one of them...
I thought and quickly put hands on my ass as if to block it while vigilantly looking at Arno, ready to bite my tongue off at any second.
"Eeew, boy, what the fuck are you thinking about me?! ...*cough* Ehm, the next training will be much different from others where you could escape pain by learning. This time, you will be forced to endure the pain if you like it or not. Most of the assassins tend to like experimenting with poisons and most of the time it's on their targets, however, just because you are the assassin, doesn't mean that you should apply the poison only to your weapons and to your targets. You need to learn how to endure some of them, of course, it's impossible for your system to be fully resistant to poison but your system can adapt to a few weaker ones and negate their effects. Take for example drugs, they are also practically a poison and by building your resistance against it, you will be able to negate their effect or at least effectiveness." Arno gave me long-ass explanation even though most of the things he said already came to my mind on its own but I guess it's reassuring to hear it from professional.
"Alright, I will go back and sleep for today." I said and decided to leave to go home.
"Wait, since you were able to complete your first mission, here is your yellow emblem with red eyes. You were also given your own quarters so if you want, you can rest here, in case you decide that moving here from your home every time is too annoying. Also here is the card with your money from the mission on it." Arno quickly stopped me when he saw me leaving so quickly.
"...Is there some kind of hidden meaning inside your words?" I asked him with narrowed eyes.
"Nope, you read too much into my words, you can continue living with your mother as you fit but make sure that you won't mention anything to her." He waved his hand to deny my suspicion and said with a small smile.
"As long as she won't be put in danger, I won't tell anyone even if I will be tortured" I casually said with a nod.
"Muhaha, no one will torture you here, kid...you are reading too many books. Well, at least not on your current types of missions. Mine missions are a bit different and sometimes very dangerous and I don't mean dangerous to my life...death is the smallest danger there is to it." Arno said playfully with a proud smile.
I don't think you should be proud of it...
"Ah, how much is on this card?" When I was about to leave, I stopped to ask for the last time.
"Hm? Well, it's a nice sum but it's still believable so just tell your mother that you have made this much after 4 months of working for me. She should believe it. I also paid back what you have owned to the guy in the weapons shop, from your card of course." Arno said with a smile and waved at me before turning around and leaving.
I should also leave... I thought and left the underground through the elevator.
It's really nice that you can put it on your tab because I had no money when I wanted to buy the tools. But I guess it doesn't work for everyone, that guy let me do it just because of my special emblem. Also, the prices here are pretty exaggerated and I have heard that poisons are probably the most expensive thing down here...So even though I made quite a lot of money from this first mission, I would still be hard-pressed to buy 1 quite potent poison. I have heard from the shopkeeper that there is also "ZOO" exclusively built for breeding poisonous snakes and other poisonous animals. It's also said that they have new species that have yet to be discovered by the rest of the world.
...
After I arrived home, my mother was surprised by how much money I made but she didn't get suspicious and instead she said that she is proud of me.
It's really hard to lie to her...I wonder what she would think of me if she knew what my "job" entails. Maybe I should ask Raksaya if she can help me. They are the organization of assassins...they should also know some brainwashing techniques.
I thought with a sad expression while eating my dinner and watching my mother's back as she was washing dishes.
---(Time skip: 1 year)---
I am already member of this organization for more than 1 and half-year.
The most straining training was probably the one with poisons but I was able to get through it by gritting my teeth. There were also times where I had to bit my lips or stab my leg just to feel other pain than the pain of being eaten from inside.
Arno also made a few pranks by giving me aphrodisiac, it was probably worse than the pain of being eaten from inside. There was also a time when Raksaya came into my training room while I was under their effect. I naturally stopped myself from jumping at her since she could slice me in half if I tried it but when she saw my eyes with the desire to ravage her, she immediately glared at Arno who was watching everything from the corner.
He just scratched back of his head with a silly smile and immediately received a Raksaya's kick into his private parts. After seeing the sight of Arno's whining while fidgeting on the ground, made the effect of aphrodisiac almost disappear from me. Raksaya also noticed it so she seductively smiled at me and then slowly left the room while wiggling her round ass which made the suppressed effect of the drug appear once again. She left both of us fidgeting in the room, one from the pain and another from frustration.
At that time, I swore that one day I will kill Arno in his sleep.
I started learning how to use every weapon that was on the racks nearby training grounds because if I wanted to advance to Arno's rank, I need to have minimal knowledge of how to use every weapon available to me, be it even a pen. I was also given training in firearms but to be honest, I didn't like it even though I complained about it during my first mission, I liked throwing poisoned mini-daggers much more than loud firearms. Even with the special silencer, they were still louder than mini-daggers tearing through the air. Not to mention that 90 percent of people in higher ranks always used only weapons with a blade instead of firearms.
...
"Leader, can I have a word with you?" I entered the Raksaya room after knocking 3 times and asked her when I saw her sitting at the table, doing some paperwork.
"Hm?" She raised her head and when she saw me she smiled.
"No need to be so formal with me, didn't I already told you this, Akashi?" She stood up from her seat and went in front of her table and sat on it while crossing her legs.
"I am sorry...Raksaya" It said with my half-opened eyes.
"Good. Now, you can tell me why you are here." She nodded and said with a smile.
"I wanted to ask if you have some techniques to alter memories or completely get rid of certain memories." I asked with a calm expression.
"?! You- Don't tell me you want to do that thing..." Even Raksaya's smiling face turned into a shocked one when she heard my words and she couldn't help but ask me in disbelief.
"Yes...I am almost 22 years old and my mother is already accustomed to me not being at home most of the time, however, whenever I am at home to visit her, she always hides her sadness from me. I can detect that she is extremely sad with the fact that I am no longer living with her. She is all alone and even though she is beautiful she never tried to find someone else after my father's death. I want to get rid of her memories of me and my father." I said with a sad and forced smile.
"...Are you aware tha-" Her expression immediately changed to a cold one and the entire atmosphere around her changed when she released just a bit of her killing intent.
"Yes, I know that this is selfish of me. This is only my own selfish request. I have no right to decide this without my mother being aware of this. I don't want to risk anything, I can die anytime and if she somehow got to know it which she will if she won't see me for more than year...I don't even want to know what would she do." I said while without any fear looking straight into her sharp eyes filled with overwhelming killing intent.
"*sigh* You have grown so quickly...You are the first one to calmly look into my eyes when I was in my angered state. Alright, I might be able to do something about this request of yours but...I will need to think about it first." Raksaya reluctantly said and accepted to at least think about my request.
"You can go if that's all" She said with a tired tone and waved her hand showing me to leave.
"Yes, thank you for hearing me out, I wish you a good day, lead- Raksaya" I said and exited her office.
"Haaah" I inhaled a cold air and my back started to sweat when I recalled her killing intent.
She is something else...Thankfully, I was able to go through it.
---Inside the Raksaya's office---
'Do you really need to do this? You are sacrificing your own happiness for the happiness of your mother however I wonder if she would call it happiness if she knew the reason behind it.' Raksaya thought while looking with a sad expression at the door which Akashi used to leave her office.
"*sigh* Why does this always happen to the talented individuals?" She asked herself aloud with a tired tone.
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