"Haaaaggghhhhh....haaaa..."

"We.. managed to defeat all of them.. somehow.."

"Well, I'll be expecting that paycheck now, thank you."

In the middle of a castle, stood 2 people. Silence.. isn't present here. The 2 of them argued, and argued until they exited the castle.

Behind the both of them were piles of bodies, laying on all corners inside.

"See, I told you we should've taken that other route. It should've been a breeze if you didn't alter the plans midway."

The guy was shaking his head, and was smirking. The other one with him didn't say anything, and continued to walk.

"Haha, see? You just realized it, didn't you?"

The guy said, while he terrifyingly grinned.

"Oh, shut up. You didn't even help me, there."

The other one finally said, who's hiding her pissed off face beneath her hood.

"Now, now, I believed in your capabilities. It's also your responsibility, you know?"

The guy came up with an excuse, as he was just following and slacking off, while the other one cleared the path for him.

"Fuck, ok, I guess I'm at fault there."

The other one said, while the guy who was talking to her smiled.

"Wow, did you, the great and powerful Cylo just admitted her mistake?"

"Shut up, Dan."

"Hehe.."

----------------------------------------

I, Cylo, was the only one carrying the whole team throughout the assassination. The team is composed of 2 people, my mentor, Dan, and me, the mentee. We were set on an assassination by an unknown person who gave us the contract to kill a king. Apparently, that king was corrupt. While he showed a kind face in public, privately, he's the total opposite. Slaves in his castle, assassinations led by him, and human trafficking. I just couldn't refuse to wipe out that scum. We personally spied the castle, and discovered all of this to avoid being tricked by that unknown person.

After 3 days, we left the castle with no one alive except the freed slaves. I used to be a knight, so saving people is kind of my duty, as well. 

The city that king's castle stood on eventually got conquered by the Excrim Empire. The Excrim Empire was the most largest empire in this continent. It already conquered this city, Porta, the city of Krux, and a lot more.

Frankly, I'm not a fan of empires. But if it steers that city into another direction, then I guess it would be a lot better than how that king facilitates it.

After a day of travelling and resting, I went back to work. I need to find him, Nyx, that is. I don't know where he is, but I know I can get leads if I continue on working here. My work isn't exactly humane, but hey, I need money. And this is where I'm good at. At assassinating, facilitated by this hidden assassination guild, Excrima.

Look, I just found this out as well. The Excrim empire and the Excrima guild are all in one side, basically the latter focuses on hidden ways to take out the enemy opposing them, and some assassination requests from other people as well. That's why I'm against them conquering, but hey, I have another purpose to be here anyway, so I can't leave.. yet.

"Oho, you're back already?"

He was sitting on the bar section of the guild. He's also very, very old.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Yeah. It was fast this time.."

"Heh.. sure it was."

The old man's name is May. Girlish as it may sound, but he's the top assassin here in Excrima. I haven't seen his power, and I haven't seen him take any contracts, so far.

Dan went inside the door next to the leaderboard chart on the wall. The door leads to the office of the one that facilitates Excrima. A few select people know her name, and unfortunately, I'm not one of those people, so I just call her Boss. Hey, it's not like there are other bosses around here.

"So, *hick* what happened..?"

I forgot that the reason why this old man doesn't take any contracts is because he's always drunk.

"Well, we did finish the mission.. but.. let's just say there are other casualties involved."

We couldn't kill anyone that wasn't our target. That was one of our rules here, and that's why I sometimes get no paychecks at all.

"Aaaah, well *hick* that's alright, Dan is teaching you, right?"

I WISH.. he does nothing at all.

"Oh, speak of the devil."

Dan suddenly came rushing out the door, looking gloomy. It seems like he was scolded because of me. Hahaha, that's what you get, you lazy fuck.

There weren't that many assassins around, so the bar section isn't that crowded.

"Aggghhhh, the Boss' threatening sermon scares the hell out of me everytime."

Ha! Good for you.

"She even aims at gun at my head if I talk back. God, I hate you so much, Cylo."

HaHAhAHaHA!

"But... I get all the pay. Hahahahahaha, I'm the mentor, after all, right?"

Damn it, that thing slipped out of my mind!

"Hey, now, *hick* calm down, Cylo."

I WASN'T going to do anything, you know.

All we did that day was talk. Every assassin is required to take a day off, since the Boss says she "cares" for her "employees", after all.

The next day, I met Dan hanging around the alley going to our guild. Our guild was behind huge buildings. You could say that the buildings were actually covering the real guild inside. 

We went in, and the Boss instantly let us in her office. It pays to have this slacker as a teammate, I get special treatment. Hahahahaha...

Well, anyway, I won't get that special treatment after this. This is my last contract with him, as the Boss finally sees me as a full-fledged assassin. All my emotions were halved, because that would mean more money for me, but less time I get getting contracts, as I need to start from the bottom. Whatever, I'm winging it.

There was a contract board inside the Boss' office. There were a ton of them, each having their own difficulty settings. As for my last contract, I didn't get to pick it. The Boss suggested it, much to Dan and my surprise. I don't know if I should be worried, because she's too extreme. Everything around her screams extreme, or badass, or anything associated with the word Danger. Well, of course she would be dangerous, she's an assassin, after all.

"Here. This one just came in today."

She showed me the contract, and a picture of a fugitive.

"Woah.. are we going to kill him, boss?"

Dan said, while sitting down comfortably in one of the chairs in the Boss's room.

"Well, not quite."

She said, while looking at the back of the picture.

"Look here."

She showed us what she was looking at, and it showed a date. 

"12-25-14xx? This photo was ages ago!"

Dan was confused, because the Boss never tells a joke. Or display, on this matter.

"See, that's the problem."

She showed us another picture of the man in the photo.

"The man is a notorious thief. He stole legendary items, and there was no one who could stop him. He leaves this pendant after every crime that he commits. He was dubbed as the "Blue Phantom"."

What now? Are we going after his descendants or something?

"So, what? You're going to ask us to retrieve his stolen items?"

Dan stated, which made the Boss angry and aimed a gun at his head.

"Sightings of him are the talk of the country. The contractor here wants you to put an end to this mystery. If he's still alive, and possibly still doing the same things he's done ages ago, I want you to not kill him, but capture him. The pay for this one is hard, and it would make you rise up to the leaderboards fast, wouldn't you think?

So the Boss picked this because... it's surprisingly hard?!

"How isn't he dead? Isn't it possible that there's another one like him?"

Dan raised a good point, honestly. Why are we chasing dead people?

"Well, the problem isn't with him, it's his Guise, actually. The man can see... through people's past. Using that, he blackmails people, and the people just lets him get away with what he has."

...Wait, Holy shit... What?!

"You'll need to gather more about his whereabouts so I suggest you start now."

And there ARE NO LEADS..?! Are you serious?!

"Alright, got it."

Said Dan. I forgot this was his expertise, so we should be in the clear for now..

...

If he's really dead... and all the sightings were all fake... then I'd drop this thing now, but I feel like I could get something out of this...

Chasing the dead, heh, this is probably the most ridiculous request I've ever taken.