It was lunchtime in Aelfsige Academy. Gale, Clere, Jacinta and Reynard's were discussing among themselves at the cafeteria.
"Clere told us that the four new teachers were assassins which you've fought before. Is that true?" Reynard's asked.
Gale was surprised by Reynard's question and he looked at Clere for an answer, but the latter nodded and replied.
"My Mom told me there wasn't any reason to keep it from Jacinta and Reynard. They ought to know since they could be targeted with you."
"Makes sense," Gale said. "I can’t figure out Principal Stella at all. She shouldn’t have hired these assassins."
"Why do you say that?" Jacinta asked.
"A while ago, the principal met Kasumi and me, and specifically said she prioritizes students' safety and well-being in this academy. We discussed a little about the incident that happened in City Plaza," Gale replied. “If she really wanted peace, why would she hire assassins as our combat instructors?”
"Are you in trouble because of the principal?" Clere asked. "It wasn't your fault that you were fighting assassins under broad daylight."
"On the contrary, the principal wants me to participate in the annual school tournament," Gale sighed. "She wants a representative in the top five for the inter-school competition."
Clere and Reynard became instantly intrigued and sat straight. "Does it mean you're gonna fight?"
"Nope!" Gale said affirmatively. "I will lead a group as Kasumi's assistant and a student instructor instead. Speaking of which, would the three of you join my group? I need five people at least."
Upon hearing that Gale wasn't going to participate, they were disappointed. Nevertheless, Clere and Reynard's agreed to join but Jacinta declined. "I can't reveal my powers to the public so I will pass."
"That's fine. It's only right that you lie low about yourself. I’ll look around for other members," Gale replied.
At that moment, noise was approaching gradually into the cafeteria. The group looked, and saw the Four Abominations coming toward them with Valerian.
"I heard you like Kasumi, Mr. Valerian," asked Porneia the Bewitcher. She leaned her shoulders against Valerian and the latter looked embarrassed and helpless. “How do you think I compare with her?”
"Why wouldn't anyone like her? Kasumi ranks in the top ten in both teachers' and students' polls," Gwen the Scrooge said. “Give it up, Porneia. You’re nowhere near her level.”
“Hic. I need more alcohol,” Asti the Drunkard remarked as she emptied her wine bottle into her mouth. She staggered as she walked but she somehow managed to follow the group as they walked to the cafeteria.
“Hah! Too bad they don’t sell alcohol in schools,” Beatrix the Glutton said. “But look at all these delicious food around us! How long is lunchtime?”
The Four Abominations saw Gale from a distance and pulled Valerian with them to greet Gale.
“Heya, handsome,” Porneia winked as she greeted Gale. “Remember us?”
“…”
Gale was speechless and Gwen laughed at his response. Valerian was surprised that the new teachers knew Gale and asked, “do you ladies know Gale?”
“Of course we do,” Asti replied. “I was hospitalized for a month because of him.
Let’s spar again some day, okay?”
Gale was immensely annoyed at the Four Abominations’ presence. “Smells like Dylan’s handiwork. If the four of you want to fight — ”
“Hold it right there,” Gwen interrupted. “We have nothing to do with Dylan since then, and we’re not here to fight.”
Gale raised his eyebrows as he couldn’t believe what he heard. Clere, Jacinta, Reynard, and Valerian looked at them to figure out what was going on.
“However,” Gwen continued. “That doesn’t mean we don’t have a score to settle. You and me.”
“…If we aren’t fighting, then what score are you talking about?” Gale asked.
“The time isn’t ripe yet,” Gwen said as she walked away. “You’ll know soon enough.”
As Gwen walked away, the rest of the Abominations and Valerian followed. They queued with the rest of the students for their food as though nothing had happened prior. Gale scratched his head and thought hard, but he didn’t understand the vendetta between Gwen and him.
Clere saw that Gale was clueless, and she said, “don’t worry about it. As long as Dylan isn’t involved, I’m sure it’s some trivial stuff.”
“I hope you’re right.”
Meanwhile, Stella and Kasumi were looking at a monitor at the principal’s office and they observed the interactions between the Four Abominations and Gale.
“What’s happening, principal? Why do they know each other?” Kasumi asked.
Stella stared at Kasumi in disbelief. “Didn’t Gale tell you anything?”
“No.”
“The four new teachers are the assassins who fought with Gale at Babel Square when he was saving another student by the name of Sunny,” Stella answered.
Kasumi’s eyes widened and exclaimed, “what?! You hired assassins to be our combat instructors?!”
“Why not?” Stella remarked. “They make excellent combat instructors since they fight a lot.”
Confusion and rage filled Kasumi as she struggled to find words to express her feelings. Stella calmly drank her tea and answered to Kasumi’s feelings. “Chill, girl. They aren’t going to fight Gale and they aren’t hired by Dylan anymore. They’re my soldiers now.”
“If so, why do you show me these things?” Kasumi said.
“When I got these four teachers into our academy, Gwen specifically said she wanted revenge. While I don’t know what kind of revenge she’s looking for, she did say she’s not looking for Gale’s life. I took her at her word, but I’ll need your eyes to keep me informed about her and Gale.” Stella said. “Gale is a student of Aelfsige Academy and it’s my best interest to help him out.”
“But you knew that these assassins are going to look for trouble with Gale!” Kasumi retorted. “Why did you hire them then?!”
“Would you rather Dylan hire the new teachers or I hire them?” Stella asked. “They had every reason to work with Dylan instead of me since he paid good money too. But they wanted a job that wasn’t shady, and that’s where I edged out.
From my agreement with the Four Abominations, I was able to learn more about Dylan and the organization behind him. However, these are assassins and I’m not able to fully control them. That’s why I need you to keep an eye on things and make sure nothing goes out of hand.”
Kasumi glared at Stella, and she slammed her palms on the coffee table. “You knew for a fact that Gale can fight, so you surmised that nothing bad should happen to him even if they fought, didn’t you?! That’s why you took the bold move and hired them!”
Stella nodded in acknowledgement. “I have two students to think about. Dylan, who has the backing of the Last Legions, and Gale, who provoked influential lynchpins to wrath because of the City Plaza battle.
Gale isn’t the kind of person who will start trouble, but trouble follows him like a magnet. However, Dylan likes to start trouble.
By hiring these assassins, I weakened Dylan’s forces, and prevented them from fighting Gale. Wouldn’t you agree that I’m looking for the most peaceful option here?”
It was infuriating but true. Kasumi couldn't utter a word in response. Stella saw that Kasumi didn’t have anything to say, so she continued.
“Gale can handle himself well, but I'm asking you to keep an eye on Gwen. As I've told you before, she's a sore loser. We need to know what she's up to."
Kasumi took a moment to ponder before heaving a deep sigh.
"Shouldn't we tell Gale too?"
Stella replied. "I'm sure he's aware. It's the sort of unspoken trouble that he's used to."
Kasumi finished her coffee and headed out of the principal's office. Stella leaned back on her sofa and said to herself.
“Dylan and Gale. I made my move, so what will you boys do?”
Satori Nakano was one of the top ten beauties of Aelfsige Academy. She was number six among the students.
Though Satori was beautiful, she was widely regarded as a tyrant. She earned a reputation for gathering potential recruits with seduction and manipulation so that she could form a team to challenge the annual school competition. The Student Council and the Occult Research teams were the top two teams which represented Aelfsige Academy for the inter-school competition, but Satori’s team was third.
Eager to make it into the top two spots, Satori trained hard and tried to invite Hideki Mizushima into her team. Hideki flatly rejected as he cited his kendo club, but deep in his heart, he didn’t want to be associated with Satori’s tyranny.
Satori perceived Hideki’s inner feelings, and remarkably changed for the better. She no longer picked on new recruits as she did in the past.
Instead, Satori got her fighting group to train hard, in the hopes that Hideki would change his mind about her. Hideki noticed Satori didn’t act as manipulative and unruly as before, but he didn’t think too much of it.
As the annual camp approached, Satori wanted to look for an opportunity for Hideki to join her group. Satori invited Hideki to have ice-cream after school to talk about the subject.
Satori asked. “Hideki, the annual training camp is coming and it’s a tradition that we’ll start forming our teams after the annual training camp. Have you thought of joining a team?”
Hideki lifted his eyes and saw Satori’s expectant look. “I haven’t decided whether I should join a team or create one. However, I’m leaning towards creating my own team.”
“Who are you inviting for your team?”
Hideki pondered for a while. “I’ve been meaning to ask Clere as she’s my childhood friend. Outside of that, I haven’t really thought about it.”
Satori was surprised. “Aren’t you going to ask Gale?”
Hideki didn’t want to reveal the fact that he considered Gale as his rival in strength. He hoped Gale would have his own team so that they can compete. “I’ll probably ask him if he’s not already in a team.”
Satori then asked. “What don’t I join your team, and if you can’t find numbers to fill your team up, I can get some of my friends to help?”
It was an indirect way of getting Hideki into Satori’s group, but Hideki was aware of her intentions. “Your team was full from last year. Wouldn’t some of your friends be left out?”
“Oh, they will be fine. The annual competition only allowed five in a team, and we can only register a sixth person as a backup if one of them falls sick, but my group of friends are more than that.
They can always form a second team if they want to be in the competition!”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Hideki replied. “I have to consider a couple of invitations from the kendo club too, so I’ll need to think about it before I can give you an answer.”
Satori pouted. “You’re always thinking about it. Can’t you tell that I really want to be in a team with you?”
Hideki smiled at her. “Your team was third last year! Your team don’t need a major reshuffle to break into the top two!”
Satori replied. “It’s not the same if I’m not doing it with you! Please, Hideki, could you consider me as one of your members?
It’s fine if you don’t want my friends as part of your group yet. You can look for others to join you, and if you can’t fill the numbers, I will ask my friends to help!”
Hideki was aware that Satori wanted to be in the same team, but he also knew he was a source of contention among her friends. Satori spent way less time with her friends after Hideki transferred to Aelfsige Academy because Satori was always looking to spend time with him.
Satori’s friends had been training hard for her, and Hideki was concerned that if Satori joined him, their friends would snap.
“Satori, your friends have been training hard for the tournament, and they are looking forward to your participation. It would enrage them if you joined me and leave some of them out!”
Satori couldn’t hold her disappointed feelings anymore. “And why have you singled our Clere to join you and no one else?!”
Hideki explained, “Clere told me she never participated in the annual tournament before. Both of us are doing it for the first time at Aelfsige Academy, so it made perfect sense to partner with her.
You have a dedicated group of friends who have been training with you! It would be different if it’s your first time and you’re alone.”
Satori was disappointed. “And you’re willing to trample on my feelings because of them?!”
“I’m not trampling on your feelings! We hang out most of the time, haven’t we?”
Satori simmered down because Hideki always spent time with her when she asked for it. “How do you feel about me, Hideki? It’s been some time now and I’m sure you’re aware of my feelings toward you.”
Hideki answered. “I think you’re great.”
“So, would you date me?”
Hideki pondered hard to give a proper response.
“My Uncle Kenji is coming down soon and he’s planning my sis to settle down soon. He mentioned to me that he wants me to settle down too, and he will start making plans for that.
Let me speak with him first and I’ll answer you.”
Satori became upset. “Why do you need your uncle to tell me if you liked me or not?”
“Because when my parents died five years ago, my uncle became my guardian for a while and I feel that he should be involved!”
Satori started to tear. “You’re always like this. I like you a lot because you’re so gentlemanly and kind. But when it comes to decisive matters, I can hardly get an answer from you.“
Satori abruptly got up of her seat and ran away. Hideki was conflicted because he didn’t know if he should chase her down. If he chased her down, he wouldn’t be able to give her a proper answer anyway. But if he didn’t chase her down, that could hurt her even more deeply.
Hideki decided to chase her down.
Satori felt devastated because her efforts to impress Hideki wasn’t working. She longed for a man whom she could entrust her life with but Hideki was too nice to her and maintained a distance. Satori was also a prideful lady, so she didn’t want to be seen as desperate and thought she should have a clean break from him.
However, when Satori saw Hideki running after her, her heart melted and she forgave him promptly. After Hideki put on his jacket on Satori, she recovered from her sadness and he sent her home.
A couple of days before the annual school camp, Gale brought Jacinta to Agatha to discuss about how Jacinta could exit from SPAW.
After Agatha heard about Jacinta’s plight, the former sympathized but she shook her head. “I don’t have a way to pull Jacinta out from SPAW directly.”
Gale couldn’t believe that with Agatha’s influence and power, she couldn’t help Jacinta. He asked. “Why?! Jacinta could definitely be useful as one of your agents!”
Agatha replied. “The World Alliance and SPAW have a give-and-take relationship with me. They rely on me for intel and I’m given autonomy to do whatever I want as long as I don’t interfere with their long-term goals.
I can’t pull one of their prized psychic users and claim it as my own! SPAW wants a monopoly of psychic users and they will declare war on us!”
Jacinta was dejected from hearing that and Gale patted her on her back. “I will definitely get you out some way or another.”
Jacinta was comforted by Gale’s words, and Agatha knew if she left it as is, Gale could jeopardize her plans with his convictions. She sought for the best-case scenario for everyone.
“However,” Agatha continued. “If Jacinta joins a criminal syndicate, that syndicate will protect her.”
Jacinta quipped. “Wouldn’t SPAW crush the syndicate that is housing me?”
Agatha laughed. “If that was so simple, we wouldn’t have any criminal syndicates in society! There are a multitude of reasons why it’s difficult to uproot syndicates. Some syndicates have an army of assassins that can rival SPAW, while others have a multitude of legal businesses that support a country’s economy so SPAW turns a blind eye on them.
SPAW may be powerful but it can’t simply crush everyone with an iron fist.”
Agatha looked into her computer and analyzed her records. “There are a few psychic individuals that have escaped SPAW and joined criminal syndicates for protection. The most well-known example was Celinda from the Flowers Of Death.”
Gale met Celinda before because she wanted to recruit Sunny to join the Flowers Of Death. Celinda was a beautiful short girl with twin pig-tails and pink hair.
Agatha began revealing Celinda’s past. “Celinda’s score for psychic powers was eighty-six out of a hundred. SPAW saw her as an elite operative and wanted her to assume a leadership position within the psychic department.
However, Celinda found out that her parents were killed by the general who enrolled her into SPAW. Out of revenge, she killed the general and fled.
The boss of the Flowers Of Death sympathized with Celinda and took her in. SPAW made numerous attempts to retrieve Celinda back, but the Flowers Of Death repelled and killed many of their operatives. Ultimately, SPAW decided that it was not worth the effort.
Celinda has a huge bounty, but SPAW rarely dedicate teams to retrieve her back anymore.”
Gale responded. “But the Flowers Of Death tried to coerce Kasumi and Sunny to join them!”
Agatha answered. “Which is the lesser evil? SPAW uses people and discards them when they are useless. The Flowers Of Death coerces people to join them, but they protect their own.
We aren’t like May, who can stand on her own feet and face any challenge that is thrown at her. May could crush SPAW singlehandedly if she wanted to, so nobody messes with her.
But it’s not the same for Jacinta. Without protection, Jacinta would be another fugitive living under the shadows of society! Is that what you want for her?“
Gale and Jacinta were silent as they pondered their options, and Agatha continued her discourse.
“Colonel Jack is becoming one of the most difficult opponents I’ve faced in recent years in the political arena. He’s planning to supplant the need of our Sigrun Enterprise using research, and the World Alliance is inclining their ears toward him.
Thankfully, our Sigrun Enterprise can’t be easily replaced by science. We’ve spent years infiltrating and building networks around the globe, and we have relationships in both the underworld and powerful governments. My sources of intel and influence far outweighed the power that Colonel Jack can provide, so I have a decent leverage against the World Alliance since the information I have can be used for or against them.
This delicate balance must be maintained for now. We aren’t ready to stand toe-to-toe against SPAW, but I’m pouring everything I’ve got into making sure that we will do so one day, and that will be the day I can stretch my arms toward Jacinta to welcome her into our family.
Unfortunately, this may take some years, and Jacinta can’t wait for that to happen. I don’t intend to allow Colonel Jack ruin Jacinta’s life, so I’m suggesting to place her under the care of a strong adversary against SPAW.”
Gale and Jacinta realized that Agatha’s hand were tied, but Gale wasn’t convinced. “Wouldn’t that put Jacinta on the path of an assassin?! She would’ve to kill to survive!”
“I’m only suggesting the Flowers Of Death because they have a strict moral code of what they can or cannot do. Not everyone in the organization subscribes to its moral code, but if you’re under a good leader, you wouldn’t become a bloodthirsty assassin.
The Flowers Of Death’s moral ethos is more of a vigilante group rather than a criminal syndicate. In the past, these girls punish infidelity and unfaithfulness. Today, those who follow the moral ethos only take assassin jobs that benefit society or to protect people.
As long as Jacinta is connected to the correct leaders, she won’t be led astray.”
Gale was conflicted because he tried hard not to get Sunny into the Flowers Of Death, but Agatha’s recommendation was for Jacinta to join them. It didn’t make sense to him. Seeing Gale’s hesitation, Agatha offered an alternative option.
“The other syndicate to join is obviously the Black Diamond Syndicate, but they are in turbulent times since their leader is vulnerable at the moment. Moreover, they are facing mole problems. I wouldn’t recommend them for the time being.”
Gale asked Jacinta. “You’ve heard Aunt Agatha, and the decision lies with you ultimately. What do you wish to do?”
Jacinta had no intention for Colonel Jack to ruin her life, so she decided to go for the lesser evil. “I’ll join the Flowers Of Death. It seems like that’s the best choice at the moment.”
Agatha reached out and took Jacinta’s hands to comfort her. “I’ll be with you every step of the way, alright? Trust me, and you will see light at the end of the tunnel.
Moreover, I’m registering you as one of my secret agents too. If the Flowers Of Death isn’t working for you, I’ll pull you out from there.”
Jacinta was moved to tears with Agatha’s warmness, and Gale placed his hands on her shoulders to assure her. “I’m with you too! We’ll get through this together.”
It almost sounded like a confession, and Agatha looked at Gale with a sly grin. Gale turned away in embarrassment.
Gale then asked Agatha. “So what do we do now?”
“I’m going to have a conversation with the Boss of the Flowers Of Death, and recommend Celinda as Jacinta’s overseer. We’ll have a response in no time, because recruiting a psychic user is tantamount to striking lottery for these syndicates.
However, that doesn’t mean Jacinta would get into the Flowers Of Death immediately. She will be under probation and they will question her loyalty. For the next few months, Jacinta will be a triple agent.”
Agatha made a few phone calls and a meeting with the Boss of the Flowers Of Death was scheduled promptly.
Celinda and Camelia were watching their television in their apartment in the evening as they waited for their dinner to arrive. They lived in a luxury penthouse and their apartment had a magnificent view of Aelfsige City at their balcony.
The public outrage over the City Plaza battle didn’t die down, and Camelia asked Celinda. “Didn’t you want to find out what happened at City Plaza? How did it go?”
Celinda was snacking on peanuts as she replied. “Gale was the prime target. They sent over a hundred assassins against him, but he was only subdued when he sacrificed himself to save his classmate.
Later, someone insanely strong massacred Gale’s captives and saved him. Now, SPAW can’t explain why they allowed such a big battle to happen in the city.”
At that moment, the doorbell rang and Celinda rose to get to the door. “Food is here!”
Celinda opened the door and there was a person whose face could not be seen. It was about 1.86 meters tall, and wore a tall hat with very long sleeves. The person shrouded its face with its energy so no one could see its face. When it spoke, a lady’s voice came out.
“Good evening, Celinda! Can I come in?”
Celinda was shell-shocked that the Boss of the Flowers Of Death visited her. “O-Of course! Camelia and I were watching TV and waiting for dinner! Do you want to join us?”
The Boss walked in to the apartment, and Camelia immediately turned off the TV and stood straight. The Boss spoke. “Be at ease. I don’t need dinner, but hopefully both of you are ready to go out with me once you’re done with dinner.”
Camelia and Celinda looked at each other and asked. “Where are we going, Boss?”
“To see the Mistress Of Secrets. Apparently, a defector from SPAW wants to join us, and she has the same powers as you, Celinda.”
Celinda was pleasantly surprised. She was more than happy for psychic users to leave SPAW, so she asked. “Whose team will this new person be in?”
The Boss was facing Celinda, but both of Celinda and Camelia couldn’t tell if it was looking at them or something else because the shroud covered its eyes. “I want you to oversee this girl, naturally. Both of you have psychic powers and it will be good for both of you to sharpen each other’s powers.
Moreover, the Mistress Of Secrets recommended you because you follow closely to my moral ethos.”
Camelia smirked. “Ivy is going to be pissed if she finds this out! She’s been wanting a strong recruit for a long time!
How’s this new girl’s psychic power level?”
The Boss replied. “This girl broke the scale at a hundred and fifteen.”
Camelia and Celinda were wide-eyed. “At a hundred and fifteen?! SPAW would be hopping mad if she defects to us!”
The Boss nodded. “Her name is Jacinta Heywood, and she’s the classmate of Clere Sigrun and Gale Gainsborough. She personally wants out of SPAW because Colonel Jack is eyeing her body.
There’s no reason for me to refuse since it aligns to my moral ethos and we’re receiving a powerful ally. However, it also means we’re going into a fight with SPAW over Jacinta, and I need the both of you to prepare.
Valerian Tze is in our city right now. We may have to deal with him too.”
Celinda and Camelia were pumped. “We’ll get ready to fight!”
“First of all,” the Boss said, “have your dinner.”
The Boss of the Flowers of Death, Celinda and Camelia met with Agatha, Gale and Jacinta at an abandoned island off the coasts of Aelfsige City. It was cold and windy, and Gale took off his jacket to cover Jacinta.
Celinda looked at her boss and the latter nodded, so she began to run towards Agatha and Agatha received Celinda into her arms.
“Aunt Agatha! It’s been a while!”
“It sure is! How have you been lately?”
Gale was dumbfounded that Celinda and Agatha had a good relationship. Turning to Gale and Jacinta, Agatha explained. “Celinda came to me too when she wanted to escape SPAW, and I recommended her to join the Flowers Of Death.”
Gale could only stare blankly. He always thought the Flowers Of Death were his enemies, and it was evident that he needed to rethink about it.
Celinda replied Agatha. “I’ve been well! How’ve you been?”
“I’ve been well, honey! You looked more and more beautiful!”
The ladies took a moment to savor their reunion and the rest of them stood by silently.
After a while, the Boss of The Flowers Of Death walked towards Agatha, and Agatha greeted. “Rafflesia, you look pretty well.”
“Same to you. Let’s get down to business, shall we?”
Rafflesia motioned Camelia to draw near, while Agatha did the same with Gale and Jacinta. Rafflesia looked at Jacinta and asked, “You must be Jacinta Heywood. Nice to meet you.”
As Jacinta could not see through the thick shroud that was covering Rafflesia’s face, she awkwardly reached out her hand for a handshake. “Nice to meet you too!”
Rafflesia turned to Gale and said. “You must be Gale Gainsborough.”
“Nice to meet you too,” Gale replied.
As Rafflesia and Gale shook hands, Rafflesia unleashed torrents of power into its hand and squeezed hard. Gale saw that Rafflesia was testing his power, so he immediately gathered his strength and channeled his [qi] through his hand.
The ground began shaking as Rafflesia’s and Gale’s power clashed. The rest of them could not approach the two since their powers sent shockwaves which repelled them. Gale had to channel half of his powers while Rafflesia used less than five percent of its strength.
After a moment, Rafflesia stopped channeling its power and Gale did the same. Agatha then asked Rafflesia, “What do you think? Is he a good candidate?”
“He passed my initial test.”
Gale and Jacinta had no idea what was Agatha up to, and Gale surmised that there was a hidden transaction happening between Rafflesia and Agatha.
Rafflesia continued. “Celinda has become very important to me, and now you’re giving me Jacinta. Our business relationship will flourish further if this continues.
Tell me, what are your conditions?”
Agatha replied. “Give up on Kasumi and get Ivy off Sunny.”
“Absolutely and that’s a small price to pay. Anything else?”
Agatha continued. “As usual, I will provide intel if SPAW is after Jacinta. I expect to be paid according to my business rates.”
“That’s a given. Will Jacinta be providing intel for you or she’s going to be ours completely?”
Agatha answered. “Jacinta will be a triple agent until her loyalty is proven to you, just as how it was with Celinda.”
Rafflesia replied. “Agreed. But the conditions have been too little for Jacinta. She scored over a hundred for psychic prowess and I can’t name five psychic users who are in the nineties.
You know what they say about a deal being too good to be true.”
“Skirmishes against my agents and Gale with his friends are not allowed with Jacinta. Celinda will remain status quo and it’s fine if she fights against us,” Agatha said.
Rafflesia pondered a while before answering. “Agreed. I doubt Jacinta will follow my orders if she was tasked to fight your people anyway.”
Agatha concluded. “With that, I’m happy with our agreement. We’ll discuss the final details once SPAW realized they lost one of their prized assets.
Take care of Jacinta as how you’ve taken care of Celinda.”
Rafflesia turned to Jacinta. “I’ve concluded my agreement with the Mistress Of Secrets. Are you agreeable with what we have discussed so far?”
Jacinta nodded, but Gale warned.
“If you turn Jacinta into a mercenary assassin who abandoned her morals, I will have your head.”
Gale unleashed his killing aura and everyone had felt the weight of his power on their shoulders. Rafflesia responded with its own killing aura to show that it was not intimidated.
“Young man, who do you think you’re threatening?”
Gale was unperturbed and he unleashed his killing aura beyond his limit. Blood flowed from his mouth and blood stains appeared on various spots of his body where the silver needles were pressing his energy channels. The place shook as Gale’s killing aura pressed on the ground. Steam arose from Gale’s body and Rafflesia knew Gale was serious.
“I don’t care what Aunt Agatha have agreed with you. You’ll sleep one day and realize you couldn’t wake up if you do not heed my warning.”
Agatha smiled to herself while Camelia and Celinda got ready to fight, but Rafflesia raised its hand to stop them.
Rafflesia asked Agatha. “Does Gale know about it?”
Agatha shook her head, and Rafflesia replied. “I will consider your proposal, Agatha. This brat is cheeky to think he can fight me, but I don’t dislike fools like him.
Celinda, Jacinta is yours from now on. Do what you need to do now.”
Celinda walked to Jacinta and passed a hidden device in her hand.
“This is a psychic transmitter, and it is used to calibrate your psychic power’s frequency to my own. We’ll be able to talk to each other in our minds through telepathy with this device until you’re used to the frequency without the device. Hide it behind your ear and it will stick to your skin.
This is developed by my partner, Camelia. She’s a scientist, and that’s why we’re a team.”
Jacinta placed the device behind her right ear, and Celinda spoke to her through telepathy.
“Can you hear me, Jacinta?”
“Yes!”
Celinda continued. “This device should be undetectable by SPAW, but once you’re used to the frequency, destroy it. I will communicate with you through telepathy when I need you.
I’ve heard from Aunt Agatha that you’re going for a school camp, so we’ll have to postpone our recruit induction program till later. Fulfill your duties as a SPAW spy normally and I’ll catch up with you once you’re back from camp.”
Jacinta nodded, and Rafflesia concluded. “You may be in probation, but we consider you as part of the Flowers Of Death. There are many rules and regulations you need to know, but no matter what happens, we will protect you from now on.”
Jacinta slightly bowed and replied. “I appreciate that.”
Rafflesia then bid Agatha farewell. “Till we meet again, Mistress Of Secrets.”
Agatha replied. “Yes, and it will be soon before I contact you again.”
Rafflesia nodded and walked away to its speedboat. Celinda and Camelia followed suit.
Rafflesia thought to itself while walking. “Gale Gainsborough. Very interesting. If my eyes aren’t deceiving me, the blood stains on his body indicate the [Silver Needles Training]. To be able to emit such power under severe resistance is incredible.
I will definitely consider him as a candidate.”