In a dark room with no source of light, six coloured crow symbols radiated. They were the only visible objects in the room.
"Green, I heard that a lady beat you at your game," a voice echoed. It came from the direction of the blue crow. It was the voice of a lady.
"Ahah, you don't mean it? Who was she though?," a manly voice in the direction of the yellow asked.
"I heard she was a captain though. It is quite understandable," the purple crow answered.
"Well, where is red?," the blue crow asked. She had noticed his absence. He would normally have taken advantage of the situation and made jest of Green.
"That is why we are here," a thick voice echoed from the background. No coloured radiated from his direction. He could not be seen. Only his voice spread across the room. "I called this meeting for some reason. One, red is dead. Two, the gold mine is ripe. Three, where is the boy?," the thick voice announced.
"Red is dead? Who could have killed him?," the yellow crow asked in surprise.
"I was unsure of the rumour at first but now, it is true. I guess that one of them has already met his killers," the blue crow replied.
"One of us has met him? We don't even know who the killer is?," the purple crow retorted.
"Silence! Blue is right. One of you has met his killers. Green, the woman you met killed Red. Find her and kill her. Initiate Colour Zero," the thick voice commanded.
"Yes, master," they echoed.
***
Usumu, the furthest district of Sanemi, lies in the coldest region of the nation—the north. The district is surrounded and filled with ice. The ocean is made of ice packs and the temperature is beyond the negative. There is no rainy or dry season in this district—just snow. It snows all the time. Any change in this condition signifies a disaster, either approaching or happening. The roads are completely made of ice. The houses, stores, and other buildings are lined with ice. The only buildings with different architectural structures are the Library, District Headquarters, and Royal inn.
The only way into Usumu is via the Usumi Ferry. The ferry was specially made to accommodate the cold temperature of the ocean route. It is the biggest and strongest ferry in Sanemi. The ferry is not only the special thing about Usumi—the library is. The library in Usumi is the largest and oldest library in Sanemi. It contained a variety of books on different fields and disciplines. It's the most visited library in the world. The library is named after the Great Hero—The Great Hero's Library.
The library is located in the northeast region of Usumi. The library is a seven-storey building. The library is protected by guards. Five guards stood at the entrance, five guards walk around the library walls every three minutes. Fourteen guards are on standby on each floor. Under any circumstances, no property of the library is allowed to be taken out.
"Haa. Why is the weather here always harsh? I don't think I can adapt," Ini said as he shivered. He was walking behind his senior, Fadau. Ini was selected for the Usumi district. Fadau, a vice-captain, was assigned to look after the newbie. This was their third week. Nothing special had happened since Ini's arrival at Usumi.
"When are we ever gonna get a mission?," Ini asked as he kicked snow that had piled up on the sideway.
"Are you that eager to go on a mission?," Fadau asked him.
"No. It's just that some of my friends have gone on missions and here I am. Kicking a snowball," he replied kicking another snow.
"Hmm," Fadau sighed. "Newbies and their needs to go on a mission as quickly as they get selected," Fadau thought to himself.
"Fadau, is smoke a normal thing in this district?," Ini asked.
"No. Why?," Fadau responded.
"Then, what's that coming from there?," Ini pointed in the direction of the smoke.
"What? Follow me!," Fadau instructed as he saw the smoke.
Fadau and Ini ran towards the direction of the smoke. They continued running for about 5 minutes till they stopped in front of a building. It was the library. The two rushed inside the library to find out what went.
"What happened here?," Ini asked as he saw bodies lying on the floor.
"A fight just ensued here. These are the library guards," Fadau said.
"What do we do now?," Ini asked.
"Go and inform the district commander about what happened here. I am finding the culprit," Fadau instructed.
"Yes, sir!," Ini responded and ran out.
Fadau ran up the floors using the stairs. He was not sure if he would find the person behind the attack but he continued searching. He kept checking the floors as quickly and discreetly as possible.
"Looking for me?," a young man asked.
***
"Whoa. So, this is Usumi. It's colder than I thought," a young man noted as he looked around. "Look at the streets too. They are all made of ice. What a magnificent view!," he continued.
"Hey, young man. Stop gawking around and concentrate. See that building?," a young woman said pointing to a very tall and large building.
"Yes. Is that it? It's pretty huge," the young man asked.
"That's the library. What we want is inside," the young woman responded with her arm folded.
"Ok. What's the plan? Sneak attack? What about the library pass? We don't have one," the young man asked.
"No time for a sneak attack. You are attacking head-on," the young woman replied.
"Ohh, I get it. I can kill anybody that gets in my way, right?" the young man asked.
"As long you get what we want," the young woman retorted. "You attack in an hour," the young woman instructed and walked away.
"This is gonna be fun,"
A small black box rolled towards the guards in front of the library which startled them.
"What's that?," one of the guards asked confused. As he bent to pick up the box, it exploded. The explosion blew the guards to pieces. The sound of the explosion shocked the people and guards inside the library.
"What's that noise?," one of the floor guards asked.
"It came from outside. Let's go check it out," another guard said.
Almost immediately, another small black box rolled inside and exploded causing the ground floor to collapse. The walls of the other floors started to crumble and the people started scrambling for safety. The young man was confronted by guards that were around but none of them was a match for him. He fondled and killed about nineteen guards that attacked him.
He made way for the fifth floor, one hundred and seventy-third shelf, and sub-shelf fifty. He looked through materials till he found a scroll he was looking for. He left the shelf and head out when he saw a back of a man. The man seemed to be in a hurry plus he was looking around. "Who is he? Is he by any chance a district warrior? This is my opportunity," he thought to himself.
"Looking for me?," he asked.