PROLOGUE: 5 YEARS AGO

*Yawn*

A young boy stretches his arms. His black hair rustled in the chilly wind.

「Well that was easy.」

The boy yawns once again.

At midnight, the city lights pierced through the dark sky. However, those lights would not dare to enter the dark alleys of the streets.

The dark-haired boy reaches into the right pocket of his black trousers, skillfully pulling out his flip phone. He looks through his contacts as he slowly walks toward the radiance of the city.

The boy presses a few buttons and brings the phone to his ear.

「Hello?」

The line connects.

「I’m all done here.」

The boy’s lazy voice echoes across the alley.

「Good. We’ll put it in the books.」

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

The chattering of people and the clinking of glasses could be heard on the other side of the line, like there was a festival. The boy, however, took no notice.

The gruff voice continues.

「You want another job, 〔Gun〕?」

The boy known as 〔Gun〕 stops walking.

He turns to look at the end of the alleyway.

A vile stench coated the walls with a thick, dark-red substance. A lifeless pile of bodies was strewn about the narrow alleyway, their flesh drenched in fresh wine. Several of these bodies had countless holes piercing them.

The boy grips the hard and black piece of metal in his left hand.

「Yeah, what jobs have you got?」

「Rank C – Guard – protect the client from assassina-」

「Next.」

The boy interrupts the gruff-voiced man.

「Rank A+ – Deliver-」

「Next.」

「Rank B- – Wanted – Find the murderer from the [Tachibana Incident] 3 years ago. Still at large.」

「Dead or alive?」

「Preferably alive. Authorities want to question him.」

「Next.」

「No good, huh?」

「Not interesting.」

The gruff-voiced man over the phone sighed.

「How about: Rank S – Sweep – Wipe out all the members of the Zuji-gen factor.」

「Boring, but I guess it’s better than the others.」

〔Gun〕 sighed.

「Pay?」

「5,000,000 yen.」

「…」

〔Gun〕 remained silent. His feet had once again stopped moving.

「Why’s the reward so big?」

The boy asked in suspicion.

「The client asked for you specifically.」

The gruff man explained.

「Knowing how much money you need, they naturally started raking out the cash.」

「Wipe out? As in kill?」

〔Gun〕 inquired.

「The client wants complete domination.」

Domination

That single word pierced through the darkness of the alley.

〔Gun’s〕 lips slowly curved. He was smiling.

However, this smile was not the innocent smile of a child. This smile was much darker than that. This twisted smile almost seemed too cruel to be on a 12-year-old’s face.

「Time limit?」

「1 week.」

The gruff voice answered instantly.

「Then I’ll finish this tonight.」

「…Suit yourself…」

*Kkk…beep…beep*

The call ended.

The boy casually returns his flip phone to his pocket, once again walking towards the city lights. However, another light illuminated the dark alley.

「I’m tired.」

The boy brings his hand in front of his mouth, yawning.

Unlike the warm lights of the city, this light was chilling. Once seen, the light, colder than the piece of lead in 〔Gun’s〕 hands, would submerge one in complete darkness.

-Yes. As 〔Gun〕 walked slowly towards the city, his gleaming red eye pierced the darkness of the night.