…

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Briefing

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…

Ting

Ting

Fingers pressed and swiftly moved over the digital keyboard.

Seated behind a desk, Hadrian’s utmost attention was on the holo-pc.

His handler had sent him an email, containing information that she gathered about the target.

Unlike his previous assignment, the mission has two objectives for him this time.

The first was to acquire an item of importance.

And the second was to eliminate a man named Keres Komarov.

To the client, the former was important to be retrieved.

As per his handler’s advice, the first was to be prioritized as much as the latter.

With the briefing done, Hadrian was left to his devices.

At present time, he is reviewing the additional details of the objectives, and planning carefully on how to achieve both successfully.

If he went in on his own, Hadrian would have no issues in executing the target and retrieving the item. He has a few methods of achieving both at the same time.

But…

Due to a certain redhead, who wanted to return the favor (no matter how many times he insisted that he did not need it), Hadrian had to redraft his plans to include Natasha in the operation of the assignment.

To avoid any misunderstanding, Hadrian had to report the young girl’s situation and involvement with him to his handler.

Crown Plaza was, after all, a special establishment with a hidden connection to AEONS.

Words flew fast when the topic of rumors revolved around one of the special members of the organization.

To his dubious luck, Hadrian was part of said special members.

Ergo, he was already resigned to the idea of being one of the new hot topics to discuss by the chit-chatters in HQ.

Not that it was the first time it had occurred…

Luckily, his handler discussed the matter with the higher-ups and the owner/founder of AEONS (his grandfather, who was coincidentally in his office in HQ at that time).

He was permitted to proceed with the mission however he wished.

Of course, Natasha’s involvement in the assignment will be noted, but they would view her actions as off the record.

That was the unanimous decision of the higher-ups and his grandfather, after they had been notified of the situation.

Considering as the contract she signed was merely a mutual agreement that involved the two of them, the high council did not regard her as an extended member of the organization.

No.

In their eyes, they consider her as an unexpected but willing asset, who volunteered to assist a member of their special forces, which would be Hadrian in this case.

That was fine with Hadrian.

Admittedly, he was a bit worried they might consider her as a potential risk to the assignment.

Or worse, to the organization, by extension.

Although, as he mused on it, the higher-ups and his grandfather might keep a close eye on her even after the mission ended, and they part ways.

Knowing his grandfather, Hadrian would not put it past the old man to consider recruiting the girl into AEONS.

If that were to happen, Hadrian would have no choice but to intervene personally and do his best to dissuade the old magician.

Even without knowing her background, it was rather obvious that Natasha had a rough past.

Informing her that the world was not as normal as she had been led to believe might take a toll on the girl’s state of mind.

Granted, Natasha has a great ability to learn and adapt to her surroundings, and she just might accept the supernatural side of things.

But, considering the girl’s current somewhat rebellious personality and unpredictable mindset, it would be a huge leap in assumption on his part to be optimistic of the possibility.

The chance of that happening was as abysmal as his grandfather behaving for a whole month.

“Haaah…”

Sighing out loud, Hadrian idly twirled the fountain pen in his right hand.

He had just finished drafting another plan based on the additional information that was given to him, and it seemed like his line of thought went in a different direction as soon as he imagined his grandfather and Natasha meeting in person.

To be specific, it was not the thought that stressed him out.

Rather, it was how Natasha would respond to the offer if his grandfather had approved of her character.

“…ngh…”

The mere image of it was headache-inducing in his opinion.

Heaving another sigh, Hadrian dismissed the thought in the back of his mind and busied himself on setting the holo-pc into its tablet mode.

With the device folded into its compact form, he pressed on its corner and the screen came to life through the clear surface.

Standing up with the holo-pc in hand, which prompted Maya to rise and go down from the desk to follow him, Hadrian walked around and made his way towards the door.

Vrom

He activated one magic circuit for a second –

Snap

– clicking his fingers to cancel the silencing spell that he cast earlier around the study.

Creak

He exited the room, mindful of letting Maya pass through first before he does, and closes the door behind him.

The master and familiar slowly made their way downstairs.

They arrived at the lounge and saw Natasha sitting on a couch, whose attention was on the TV.

“– life is wasted on the living –”

“– everybody lies –”

"– there are two sides, two players. One is light, the other is dark –"

"– I am certain that a sewing machine would relieve as much human suffering as a hundred lunatic asylums, and possibly a good deal more –"

"– do you understand the difference between dying for something and dying for nothing?"

"– more is lost by indecision than wrong decision."

Her face was set into a bored expression as she flipped through the channels absently, one hand holding up the remote was supported as she leaned on the arm of the couch.

Her back was facing him as he arrived, but he saw her expression on the reflective surface of the glass covering the fireplace beneath the TV.

Stopping by the doorway, Hadrian watched in mild amusement as Maya silently jumped over the back of the couch and onto the front.

Fwump

“…!”

From his spot, he noticed the way Natasha’s shoulders stiffened once she felt movement near where she was seated.

Her head snapped to the side, her shoulder-length red curly hair moving along as she did so.

Leaning on the side of the doorway, Hadrian chuckled softly at the flash of emotions that cycled across her face when she noticed her new seatmate.

First, there was alarm, next was surprised, then bewilderment.

For someone who maintained a firm grip on her emotions, the redhead was quite entertaining to observe whenever she did display them every once in a while.

For almost a minute, Hadrian was treated to the amusing sight of Maya and Natasha staring at each other.

Clearly, Natasha has no idea what to do in her current situation.

“…”

“…”

Eventually, the silence between them was broken.

And surprisingly, it was Maya that did it.

“Mreow.” The familiar greeted softly, staring up at Natasha with her big, stark blue cat eyes.

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“Um…” was all that Natasha could utter as she stared back, bewildered by the sudden staring match she found herself participating in.

Hadrian chuckled again.

But this time, it was loud enough for Natasha to notice his presence in the room.

Had she been alert and not distracted, Natasha would have grabbed one of her hidden knives and thrown it in his direction by reflex.

Natasha hates being sneaked up on.

She abhorred it even more when someone was quieter and better than her in that category.

The only reason her instinct failed to act this time, was due to the beautiful cat that she found herself drawn into having a staring match with.

Unsure whether to be annoyed at Rey, the cat, or at herself, Natasha dismissed the thought and focused on the present.

The girl turned to him, blinking in surprise as she did so.

“Maya is saying hello to you.” Hadrian interpreted with a small smile.

“Oh…” Natasha mumbled.

Then, she looked down to the familiar still staring at her.

"Um, hello to you too.”

“Mrow.” Maya was quick with her response.

By the emotion he sensed from her via familiar bond, she was pleased.

Shaking his head lightly, Hadrian walked around the couch, taking a seat at the other end.

Natasha watched in muted amusement as Maya slowly turned around and went to her owner, plopping her body beside him with a purr.

With her short yet thick silver-white fur, the black tiger-like stripes that decorated all over her body, her cute triangular ears, and big adorable vibrant blue eyes.

Maya was, no doubt, a feline from a rare breed.

The female cat was unbelievably beautiful, much like her master in that regard.

But she was quite clingy to her owner, following him almost everywhere in the penthouse whenever he was in sight.

Natasha would have felt offended by the quick and easy dismissal from the cat, but seeing Rey – the same guy who gave thugs a one-sided beat down the other day – seated on the same couch as her with a clingy feline cuddled up next to him was amusing, to say the least.

Just from body language alone, Natasha can discern that this was a regular routine for them.

Hadrian interrupted her musings when he held the holo-tablet in his right hand and extended it in Natasha’s direction.

Seeing the questioning glint in her eyes, along with how she glanced between him and to the device, Hadrian was prompted to explain.

“This is a holo-pc. It’s a highly advanced technological device exclusive to certain members of the organization. Currently, it’s in tablet form. I’ve set it that way for you to review the reports of the operation easily.”

He let go, pulling his hand back once Natasha grabbed hold of the other end of the device.

The redhead had a look of wonder as she examined the holo-tablet.

“Is this the same thing I saw in the study earlier?” Natasha asked, recognizing the familiar shape of the device.

Hadrian chuckled at the term for his invention.

“It is. Just think of it like my weapons, this holo-pc has two forms. The one you saw before, and now this one.” Hadrian paused, then added. “And another, but it’s similar to this one.”

“I see…” Natasha nodded, brows knitting as she focused on the screen. “So, what am I looking at?”

Hadrian blinked, thinking for a few moments before he let out a sigh.

Then, he extended his hand to her again, much to her confusion.

“Give it here for a second.” Hadrian said, flexing his fingers as emphasis.

“Hm?”

Confused and intrigued, Natasha returned it to his hand and looked on as he pressed on the corner of the device.

Ting

“…!”

Her eyebrows rose up and disappeared behind her bangs, seeing the light on the screen change as the interface vanished, leaving behind an empty dark glass.

Natasha blinked as the young man unfolded the device and expanded it longer.

He grabbed both parts and then pulled gently, splitting it into two.

Laying one glass on his lap, Hadrian focused on the one in his hand and pressed it on the corner of the screen –

TING

– bringing it to life.

He took a few moments to set the two devices into the screen-sharing feature, so that what he would see on his tablet, she would be able to see it as well on hers.

Then, he offered the other piece of the device to Natasha, who slowly took it from his hand with a bemused expression on her face.

With her attention on the screen, Hadrian grabbed the one on his lap, bringing up a file with a few swipes of his finger, and spoke.

“As you are seeing on the screen right now, this is the mission.” Hadrian stated calmly, starting the briefing of the operation.

He pressed on the screen and held it, slowly scrolling down for her to view the images and info about the objectives in the assignment.

“In this mission, there are two objectives. The first is to retrieve an item, and the second is to eliminate a target.”

“…”

Natasha was silent.

But her green eyes were focused and attentive to the details of text that she was reading on the screen, along with what he was providing.

“First, let’s discuss the target.”

Hadrian scrolled down, and stopped at the profile of the target.

“This is Keres Komarov. Male, age 31, single, and publicly known for transferring cargo internationally here in the ports of Moscow. While he has legal permits, this is simply a front to cover his real interests. You see, this man has been dabbling his fingers into some business ventures of questionable nature, such as transporting kidnapped people, trading of illegal weapons, production and selling of harmful drugs in the course of three years to a select group of people. He’s one of the parasites in this city who has managed to avoid the attention of proper authorities through bribery and blackmail.”

Hadrian paused.

“…?”

Sensing soft waves of anger nearby, bright cyan eyes glanced sideways to an eerily quiet girl, who was looking at the tablet screen with her usual monotone expression.

Her eyes, which were usually calm and cold, are now dark and exuding a murderous intent.

Natasha stared down at the image of the target, unblinking.

Her hands gripped the sides of the tablet a bit too roughly.

On one hand, it was fortunate that Hadrian made the holo-pc with advanced functions and extreme durability in mind.

Otherwise, he would have been worried by how much force Natasha was using in gripping the sides of the tablet.

The powerful enchantments cast upon it, along with the materials it was made from, allowed half of the holo-pc to handle the pressure, so he was not worried about its treatment.

On the other hand, it was not hard to discern what she was currently thinking about.

Seeing her rigid form like this had, once again, reminded Hadrian of the kind of life she had experienced before they met.

Vivid cyan eyes dulled lightly, recalling a certain emerald-eyed knight who stayed at his side during the brutal events of the Moon Holy Grail War.

The girl sitting on the other end and his beloved knight were vastly different from each other.

There was no comparison, but the girl’s monotone mask and her eyes, different in shade as they were, strongly reminded him of the latter.

In truth, it was the essence of her eyes that (perhaps) made him reminisce on the memories he had of his first Servant and trusted friend.

Even when she knew that she would eventually return to the realm, where a great many heroic spirits of her caliber dwell, his beloved Servant stood by him through it all, beautiful and proud.

One of the best memories he had of her was when the war was finally over.

The happiness and relief in that smile of hers, knowing that she had kept him safe from the threats that plagued him throughout that brutal event.

It was thanks to her that he managed to survive that cold-blooded tournament, and he would be forever grateful to her.

He just wished –

“Rey?”

Hadrian blinked.

Within a split second, the vision of a legendary female knight was replaced by the red-haired girl sitting on the other end of the couch.

The girl, Natasha, remained monotone in her expression, but her green eyes looked at him with a hint of confusion and, dare he say it, slight concern.

Looking away from her and to the tablet, Hadrian exhaled quietly.

He pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose, a reflex mechanism to distract himself from his thoughts.

Regaining his composure, he leaned to the side on the arm of the couch and focused his attention back on the tablet.

His actions did not go unnoticed.

Natasha stared at him and saw how he moved.

… almost as if he was distancing himself from her.

Why that was, she had no idea.

And it did not sit well with Natasha, as evidenced by the slight downturn of her lips.

She managed to stop the frown from materializing fully, as she looked away from him to reset her expression into its usual impassive state.

Despite her success, the urge to look at him again, to read his expression and see a hint of his true thoughts, remained strong and was difficult to dismiss.

With a soft huff, Hadrian broke the somewhat tense silence.

“Sorry, it is nothing. Let us return to the briefing.”

His face set in a calm yet elegant mask that drew a glance from Natasha.

“As I was saying before, the target was able to avoid any obstructions and issues when it comes to his illegal dealings since he started over a few years ago. Unfortunately for him, it is different this time.”

“Why is that?” Natasha asked, glancing at him with a raised brow.

“Because, this time, he crossed the line with the client.” Hadrian answered bluntly.

“According to my handler, the client is quite a virtuous sort. They met Mr. Komarov here and did a business deal with him. The legal kind, and for the record, no, the client didn’t know about his true nature. To be fair, a background check had been done, but it wasn’t thorough enough, and it was too late to back out from the deal by then.” he added, seeing the curiosity in her eyes.

“Ah…”

Natasha nodded in understanding.

“When came the time to transport an important cargo of his, Mr. Komarov proposed a deal with him again, assuming that the client would choose his company to ship the containers. The client was not pleased by his presumptuous attitude, seeing as the plan was supposed to be a secret, but most importantly, the offer that Mr. Komarov proposed then was not to the client’s taste.”

“Due to this, the client made a deal with a different shipping agency, and that is when the issue grew serious. Several of his containers that were expected to arrive in US ports had been raided by a group of pirates two weeks ago. My handler though, after a few days of investigation, found out that those ‘pirates’ were actually mercenaries in disguise, hired by Komarov. Because of this recent turn of events, the client had had enough and forwarded a request to the organization. The rest is history from there.” (1)

Natasha listened in contemplative silence, nodding again once he was finished.

“And the containers, what’s inside them?” Natasha inquired, appearing thoughtful.

“Personal valuables, I heard. Some contained newly produced vehicles, some were precious artworks, and others were precious materials. I heard that one container was filled with copper ores. I don’t know what the client intends to do with them, but apparently, it was intended for some future project.” Hadrian answered casually.

The redhead paused, surprised by the list of stolen goods.

“What happened to them now?” Natasha asked curiously. “I mean, this is a lot to steal in one go.”

“Hmm… based on the intel, the copper ores were sold off, so no chance of retrieving that back. The rest had been stashed away in Komarov’s safe houses. Therefore, once I get my hands on this pest, I’ll have to see if the items can still be retrieved. Perhaps he keeps a ledger of some kind on his person.” Hadrian mused aloud, almost forgetting that there were two others on the couch with him.

As for his seatmate, Natasha was stunned.

The more she hears the details of the mission, the more she realizes how high the cost the clients must have paid for Rey’s services.

This… job was unlike the ones she was used to taking in the past.

No, it was more akin to a request issued by a VIP client, and then assigned to an exceptionally talented mercenary, who was supported by a well-funded benefactor.

It dawned on her then.

The dots were connecting the more she mused on it.

The penthouse, the respect people gave him, his prowess in combat, his dignified character, the stylish clothes, and the highly advanced weaponry.

True, his regal bearing and virtue does not explain why he made a dubious choice in career, but at least she managed to sate her curiosity in knowing more about him.

The young man seated afar from her was a professional among professionals.

…something which she was striving for.

The more Natasha mused about it, the more likely the possibility.

And to her astonishing luck, she managed to force her way in by wanting to return a favor that he tried to turn down a few times.

Shaking her head lightly from the sudden pressure on her shoulders, Natasha cleared the lump in her throat and spoke up.

“And the second objective, Rey? What is it?” she asked, snapping Hadrian out of his musing.

Turning his focus on the tablet, Hadrian hummed as he scrolled down before stopping on a profile regarding the second objective.

“This is the second objective.” The magician announced.

Natasha paused, blinking as she took in the image of the object in question.

“This is… a book? Your client wants you to retrieve a book?” Natasha asked, incredulous. (2)

Hadrian chuckled, shaking his head lightly as he enlarged the image on their screens.

“It’s not a book. It merely appears similar to one. No, this is actually a small safe with advanced security measures. To open it, one would need a drop of the client’s blood to gain safe access. Komarov does not know this, and he stole the safe without knowing how to open it.”

Slowly, he flipped through the few images, so that she may remember its appearance.

“There’s something inside that is of great value to the client, thus it’s imperative to retrieve this item safely. And before you ask, no, I do not know what is inside, nor is it important to me or to the organization to know what it is. What matters is that the client wants the item back.” Hadrian explained further, having noticed the questioning look in her eyes.

Natasha wore a thoughtful frown on her face.

“And if he forced the safe opened somehow, what happens then? How will it be done?” Natasha asked after moments of deliberation.

“Not possible. The materials used to make the safe caused normal methods to open it useless. The client once mentioned that using heavy machinery to force it open does not work at all, so that route is simply not possible in Komarov’s case.” Hadrian pointed out, carefully omitting the fact that there was a bit of magecraft involved to prevent such a scenario from occurring.

Natasha nodded slowly, whilst wondering what kind of material was used to make such an item.

“I see. Then, it’s highly likely that Komarov’s still trying to open it.” Natasha theorized.

Hadrian nodded.

“Yes, so there’s no need for us to worry about him stealing it. It’s also possible that the safe is nearby wherever he may be dwelling, which brings us to the fun part.”

Face impassive, Natasha merely stared.

“Which is?” she prompted.

Hadrian’s response was a bright smile, dazzling her again as dimples adorned his cheeks.

“Reconnaissance.”