I've seen a lot of smiles in my life, but none as painful as this one. His steady gaze, which used to be fixed on me, had turned bitter.
"Harris—"
Before I could finish, he turned his head with a smile that vanished when he heard the sound of a warning shot from a distance.
"Now, Brissie!" he said, glancing at me seriously.
I released his hand with a slight reluctance. Before leaving, I cast a quick glance at the crowd of people in dark blue cloaks and neon blue crow emblems moving toward the crowd of black robes.
"Stop!"
I flinched as one of the black-robed soldiers appeared out of nowhere in front of me. But then, a familiar red-haired SURVIVE agent knocked him out.
"What happened?!" asked Debora, taking my wrist.
"Huh? He didn't tell you about the circumstance?" I asked her back while running beside her.
"No! We came on his bare SOS call!"
My eyes widen. It sounded like Harris had been waiting for this moment to come. Whether he intended to get rid of them all at once, I doubt he was aware of the forthcoming sacrifices.
"Ah! How could they have been so devious?!"
We took cover behind the wall of a building. I glanced at Debora who was exhausted for a moment, even as some of them started heading toward us based on the movements of their shadows.
"I don't think Harris really asked me to go," I said, loading the stun bullet into my handgun.
"Then what?" Debora asked as she reloaded her handgun.
I stepped closer to the wall, clutching my handgun. "No offense, but he appears to be testing me with all of you as his sacrifice."
"What?!" she shrieked with wide eyes.
Bang!
As several black-robed individuals drew near us, I shot them until they fell to the ground. I immediately pulled Debora to run toward Harris and the others.
"Brissia! Didn't he warn you not to go near him?!"
"He did," I said, "But if we don't help him, more of our colleagues will suffer injuries and pain."
We cast a glance at several agents who were slumped on the ground. I straightened my gaze once the noise became clearer. There was him, the one responsible for the trial's difficulty and for not giving me a second chance if I failed.
"Harris!"
He turned to me in surprise.
"Why are you still here, Brissie?!"
"I'm…"
Harris looked behind him when the bullet I fired toppled a black robed figure that was approaching him.
"…Not leaving this mess without you, Harris," I continued as I lowered my handgun.
Our eyes locked for a moment until Debora passed me and grabbed Harris by the collar.
"How dare you to do that?! You called for us and act as if you've incited another district feud!"
"Not me, but they will!" Harris interrupted as he removed Debora's hand from his collar.
"If we get involved with them without headquarters' approval, we might get into trouble!" Debora chirped.
"The lives of the people here are more important than our lives, have you forgotten?!"
"Their lives depend on ours, Harris!"
I tried to separate those who were busy arguing while the others were struggling physically and mentally, though I failed in the end.
However, amidst the groans, my eyes caught sight of a figure wearing a black crow mask running out of a yellow, two-story building. My instincts moved me toward that place as soon as possible, leaving behind the duo 'diplomats' who were busy fighting for the interests of their respective countries.
As I opened the door, I could hear a loud squeak throughout the place. The contrast between the silence and the outside environment prompted me to instantly reduce the sound of every step I took.
The light from above kept the room from being too dark. Whatever it was, it helped me locate a room with explosives even though the moon had never seemed that bright to me.
My body froze as a bullet passed me silently toward the room's weathered wooden door. When I looked back, someone was standing on the steps pointing his rifle at me.
"Ah, you noticed."
I clenched my fists tightly and stared into his eyes. He, who was supposed to be executed that day, looked at me casually with disdain.
"By the way, I didn't shoot earlier. I'm giving you a warning," Tyler said.
Bang!
It annoyed me because he always dodged my bullets nimbly. If even Debora was overwhelmed with opponents out there whom she considered shrewd, I was glad she didn't come with me.
'Tyler' didn't hesitate to counter my attack by shooting me with a soundproof rifle. I ducked, occasionally checking whether the bullets hit the room containing dozens of TNT boxes.
"Look who's worried about things she shouldn't be."
My jaw hardened hearing that. "Get lost!" I hissed as I shot his arm.
He winced in pain and spontaneously dropped his weapon. It was a bit of a shock to see him suddenly off guard, but I couldn't stop shooting at him. I stepped over his long rifle lying on the floor, aiming my shot to push him away, sending him limping up the stairs.
As soon as he was out of my sight, I ceased firing. I sighed and walked over to the room with the worn-out door. When I opened it wide, I discovered something even worse than the TNT boxes.
Time bomb.
"Sh*t…" I muttered, looking around. The absence of eye witnesses or tools that could help me explain my findings prompted me to rush out of the building.
I was well aware that I had meddled far too much in a world that was not mine. However, I couldn't ignore the fact that they, like people in the future, deserved to live in peace.
"Debora!"
As soon as I got close enough to her to call her out, she was shooting the enemies who were constantly firing at the SURVIVE agents. "Harris was right. There's a lot of explosives tied to a time bomb in the yellow building!"
Debora quickly turned to me."What?! Gosh, why didn't you tell me sooner? I will regret it for the rest of my life if you were in trouble."
She, me, and all of us would be regret if I didn't hurry up and leave. While Debora and I were at the center of the chaos and busy protecting the agents, there was nothing to do but wait for the countdown to stop.
"Hey, you! Let's check whether there is TNT in the yellow shop house!" Debora said to the two agents who were passing by. They nodded then ran with her toward the building while protecting themselves from the bullets.
When I pulled the trigger, my handgun made a 'click' sound which made Harris turn quickly to me. The memory of when I abruptly shot 'Tyler' flashed before my eyes.
"Look out, Harris, Brissia!"
My eyes widened and my body reflexively moved away when I saw a body in a dark blue cloak slamming toward us. Harris and I stared at each other in shock when we saw an agent sprawled on the asphalt and not moving.
"What's the use of your powers, Brissia?"
We both turned to the quiet female voice up ahead. With graceful steps, she passed by the black robed figures who were busy fighting with the agents, seeming not to care about her existence.
"You command them?" asked Harris distastefully.
Madame Ouden stopped ten meters in front of us and chuckled. "There has always been one of them who has the ability to control gravity but not emotions."
Harris aimed for Madame Ouden's head, making me hold his arm.
"What are you doing, Brissie? Let me go!"
I shook my head slowly. I couldn't let that woman die while I wasn't sure what my alternative was.
"You two, move aside!"
A blue light whizzed past us, blowing Madame Ouden a bit far away. Not only Harris and I were astounded to see it, but also the agents and the horde of black-robed troops.
Apparently, it was Fayrl and Hansen who were standing not far behind.
"That power is yours, Brissia. You shouldn't be hesitant to use it," said Fayrl with irises and palms glowing bright blue.
However, suddenly a purple light shot toward her and sent her flying back forcefully. Fayrl was sprawled quite far from the crowd.
"Fayrl!" Hansen screamed her name. His hostile expression caused the light in his irises to become even more intense as he turned to face Madame Ouden.
The stones on the road began to lift into the air as if they had lost their gravity. Then they suddenly shot toward the woman.
"Aaaah!"
A roar of pain rang out as several black-robed figures and SURVIVE agents collapsed onto the asphalt. The suffocating sight froze not only me, but all of us.
"Hmph."
The purplish-black haired woman calmly stood there, unharmed, lowered her right hand that was originally held low. "Youth today are very discourteous."
I clenched my jaw, watching her warily as the purplish light in her palm glowed. However, at the moment she raised her hand, she was suddenly thrown away along with someone who appeared out of nowhere and hit her hard.
"Hey, you troublesome agents."
A man with dark blue eyes walked toward us, causing me to lower my handgun. His gaze and firm step reminded me of Harris's visit with me to Bouville.
"Are you here to discipline us?"
When Harris popped that question with the same look of disbelief I had at the start, I looked back. Hansen helped Fayrl up, causing me to heave a sigh of relief. And when I looked back up, Veron was walking away to help the agents who were struggling to their feet.
My eyes also witnessed an unbelievable sight: everyone apart from Veron, Harris, myself, and Hansen, sprawled on the asphalt as if they had just been hit by an alien gravity. As to when and who caused it to happen, I believe it was one of the two rescuers tonight who did it when they got here.
***
I stood with Harris, Debora, Fayrl and Hansen who looked down wearily in front of Drey's room. Veron and Alessia escorted all the agents back to headquarters and immediately asked to speak to Drey. Strangely, everyone seemed to know Alessia when they seemed clueless about Veron.
"So your power came naturally?"
The question Harris threw at me made the others also turn to look at me. An image of someone attacking me from behind flashed through my memory.
"I guess I got it when we fought bandits in Bouville that day."
Harris just nodded silently, but Fayrl was different.
"Wait, what are you guys doing in Bouville?" asked Fayrl, looking at me and Harris in turn suspiciously.
"Just one of my escapes with a travel companion," Harris replied.
His words provoked a reaction of rolling their eyes, making me unable to stop myself from snorting in amusement. But then, three people came out of Drey's room.
"I can't believe that this is your doing again, Reister," said Drey, looking flatly at Harris who only lowered his face with an expression of guilt. This time, he looked genuinely guilty. I was glad he realized his carelessness.
"Debora, Harris, Brissia, come here."
Debora shifted her gaze from the window to Drey, looking slightly irritated. I pushed her and Harris into Drey's room with me before the gray-eyed man lost interest in talking and decided to punish us right away.
"Thanks to your finding, the bomb was defused. However, you have acted rashly and injured many of your friends."
I looked down while Harris nodded slowly and resignedly.
"Senior Drey!"
We turned to Debora who called out to Drey desperately.
"If I may speak, I'm grateful that Harris and Brissia told us."
Drey stared flatly at Debora, who was still standing with a determined gaze.
"It's like what you said during the orientation month, that 'an agent's life depends on the lives of other agents'. However, Harris put all his might to protect us. Brissia also skillfully gave us a clue to the location of this bomb. Protecting the district is the same as protecting us. The hometown of our colleagues, Senior."
Debora's story left me speechless. Harris didn't look like he wanted to deny it either. However, Drey's sigh then made us flinch and returned our full attention to him.
"One person has a broken bone and five people are bleeding… The uproar you caused really reminds me of my fellows," said Drey, shaking his head.
He then motioned for us to leave before returning to his room. Debora breathed a sigh of relief while I glanced at Harris, who seemed a little relieved at Drey's forgiveness as well.
"Brissia," Alessia calls out, making me turn to her.
"Our arrival at Archtier is not without reason. There are two special guests waiting for you somewhere," she continued with a sincere smile.
My eyes widen. The image of two people who always smiled beside me and accompanied me on campus days crossed my mind.
As if he knew who they were referring to, Harris motioned for me to hurry off. I would have done it without anyone telling me to. But this time, I asked him to come with Veron and Alessia outside the base.
"Eh, why?"
"It's a rare opportunity. Just come along," I said, smiled slightly at Harris's surprised face.
A smile rose on his lips. His gaze that seemed to say thank you made the corners of my lips lift up too.