After everything calmed down the mysterious lady introduced herself to us with a stoic face.
The way she introduced herself was so monotone and emotionless that it felt like a robot was the one talking to us.
"I'm sorry for suddenly testing you, the way these three wrote so highly about you guys in the report made us a little suspicious. Due to this the boss himself wanted to see if whether or not they were just exaggerating."
"…"
"Oh, I'm sorry. Let me let you go now."
As if she forgot about him, Murielle nonchalantly let go of Fred who was struggling to breathe just a while ago.
"Pant! …. Pant!"*
"Ehem*, let me introduce myself properly this time, my name is Murielle Lathraia. I am one of the 4 High Jesters, so although I don't like too sophisticated words, you are to address me with the same amount of respect my position deserves."
"4 High Jesters?" (Jericho)
"they are the 4 people with the highest position in the organization other than the Boss. They are in charge of different important sectors each, with madame Murielle being in charge of assassination and infiltration."
"!?... does it make sense that were already meeting a final boss character this early?"
"That's what I wanna ask!"
Through the trip coming here, Jake brought some video games that they can play in order to not feel bored. Due to this the kids were now a little familiar with term used in games such as Bosses, Heroes, and skills.
{Inside the Jet}
"Oh! it's just like the novels I read at the orphanage."
"You have novels in the orphanage?"
"yep, a sister there was addicted with them, saying something like "At least it's not an illegal addiction like drugs, I'm sure God would forgive my sins if it's only this much!" or something."
"…"
{Back to the present}
"Anyway, the reason I came here wasn't solely to test you guys."
"?"
"The boss issued that since it would be more effective this way, we were allowed to take in personal disciples of our choosing who we can train and grow ourselves."
"What!!!???"
"Then does that mean?" (Ken)
"Yes, I was interested in someone here so I wanted to recruit them."
{who?}
Amidst everyone's confusion she started walking to certain girl with red hair.
"Millie Adolf, do you wish to be my disciple."
"ah…. Me?"
"Yes, you."
"Wait, wait, wait!" (Des)
"what's the matter, Des?"
"If were basing it solely on gifts, shouldn't Fredrich and Jericho be better suited for assassination? Or did you somehow read the report wrong?"
"No, I know that her gift is [Fire bender], I mean I even confirmed it myself just now."
"Then wh-"
"They're boys."
"…eh?"
"I don't want to take in male disciples."
"…"
{This woman…}
"Although if they manage to graduate properly they might be under my jurisdiction, but until then I'm only taking Millie, that's that."
Seeing as the woman has absolutely no plan on changing her decision, Des didn't continue the matter any longer.
{all that's left is Millie's decision.}
Since everybody was paying attention to her she didn't know what to do and just froze.
She couldn't think straight and was panicking from the inside as she didn't expect that as soon as they arrive she would be forced to make a decision as important as this.
{Wha- wha-wha awawa … s-should I d-d-d-do}
That was until someone patted her shoulder assuring her.
"Go with her." (Jericho)
"huh."
"If you go with her you will get a significant head start from the rest us. This will allow you to reach your goal faster so go, stop worrying about us."
"…"
Before they went to take Ken's exam Millie and Fredrich talked about their goals, and why they decided to join the organization together with Jericho.
"I… want to be someone special."
Fred said with an extremely embarrassed face, he didn't want the two to look at him right now so he buried his face under his arms.
"Special?"
"Yeah… you know, as an orphan we don't really get to live out our dreams, so when we suddenly received gifts…. I just thought that I could be somebody special in the world like that pitcher I met before."
"ahhh"
A year before the appearance of gifts a famous baseball team's bus broke down in the middle of our town. They were supposed to play an international match that day but unfortunately the bus's engine suddenly broke, leaving them stranded until the car was fixed.
Feeling bored, the team's ace pitcher roamed the town looking for something interesting to do. It was then that he met Fred who just ran from the orphanage due to an argument with Orson.
Seeing the boy crying the man taught Fred how to play baseball. He gave him a baseball glove and played catch with Fred.
After a while the man suddenly asked if Fred wanted to see his famous fastball, to which Fred replied with an immediate yes.
Standing on a make shift mound the man then threw the baseball as fast as he could. This led to the ball reaching speeds of over 175 km/h, stunning the young Fred.
Unfortunately, the ball ended up going straight into a lake, lost forever.
The man was planning on signing and a new ball ang giving it to Fred but the teams manager suddenly came and told him to hurry up or they will be late. Since he could no longer do so with a ball, he signed Fred's shirt instead and went on his way.
That day the man appeared on TV and won the game as the starting pitcher.
This experience changed Fred as he was no longer a cry baby and became even more self-confident.
"I see… Millie?"
But although Fred's reason was very understandable it couldn't compare to Millie's.
"As you guys probably already know…. When we were stuck in the mountains my parents passed away while protecting me from the cold."
"…"
"I think this experience might be the reason why I gained [Fire Bender] as my ability. Because more than anything else in the world, at that time, I wanted to do everything I can to give them at least the tiniest bit of heat."
"…"
With tears on her eyes Millie struggled to continue, but when Jericho was about to stop her she stubbornly didn't listen.
"I know that I'll never have the chance to do that in this life, but I never want to experience that same feeling ever again."
"That's why I'll become stronger, so that when the time my gift is needed, when the time my family is in need of it, I can use it with full confidence."
"…"
"…"
being told words like that, neither Jericho nor Fredrich had the right, nor the will to decline her of her goals.
...
"…Ok, I'll be going on ahead."
Said Millie with a smile.
"Hmph, we'll catch up soon anyway so don't worry and save us a seat at the top." (Jericho)
"Hehe, overconfident as usual."
As if she made up her mind, Millie faced Murielle with steady eyes, a far cry from what she showed a while ago.
"I want to be your disciple, please accept me."
Said Millie while bowing her head.
"That's what I was planning to do in the beginning."