Our next test was going to be a bit more hands on than our first. It was a sizable upgrade that made me scratch my head about my team’s overall readiness. Reina and Naomi were still fighting like cats and dogs right now, and I wasn’t so sure how friendly they’d be with each other for trial number two. I guess it didn’t matter how prepared or underprepared we were, we had to do our jobs as hunters and give it our all.

Since it was sort of a last minute thing, we were briefed quickly. The way Hayashi explained it, it was a simple escort mission. An American hot shot in Utoro had a teenage girl who required protection. We needed to make sure she gets from point A, a public library, to point B, the site of her father’s private jet, where she would be departing indefinitely.

CONTRACT LEVEL: ONE

MISSION: Safety transport target to rendezvous point

MONSTER GRADE: NA

REWARD: 100 Fame Points .ph (per hunter)

EARNINGS: $1,000 .ph (payment pending during evaluation phase)

Naomi, Reina, and I made it to Shimoru Street through different means. After all three of us had taken a private ride from the dojo, the chauffeur dropped us three miles away from the library, where Reina and I took the bus, and Naomi took a motorcycle that was waiting for her at a pick up spot. I didn’t know the punk goth girl could ride until today, where she mentioned being a professional. Reina rolled her eyes at the thought, as if she were jealous or something. Frankly, I appreciated Naomi even more for knowing how to ride—she’d have to teach me sometime.

Reina and I had been walking for over ten minutes by now, and I already felt like pulling all of my white hair out. All of that raw-end complaining about everything was getting on my last nerves. She had something to say about the smallest crap, and I was turning blue in the face from hearing her rant!

“And don’t even get me started on her fashion sense!” she hissed, referring to Naomi. “I swear, that Mr. Dubois must have been on something to even consider our partnership! She is the absolute worst!”

I sighed. “The more you talk, the more I wish it’d been you who knew how to ride a bike.”

“I just don’t understand how someone like her would even want to be a hunter.”

“You know, the same could be said about you.”

Her eyes went low. “I have a very good reason.”

“Right. Your dad wanting to whip you into shape. Hell, maybe she has something that could cap that. Who knows?”

“That book….” she said before she paused. “There’s definitely something on it that we just aren’t seeing….”

I snorted, turning my head to her. “And why do you care?”

“If there wasn’t, then she’s even stranger than I thought!” Reina hissed. “But I doubt it, because she’s committed too much time with it for those pages to be empty. Clearly, she is hiding something….”

“I don’t see how that book is any of your business.”

“Nero, aren’t you the least bit concerned about where her head is?”

“I don’t worry about Naomi.”

“She almost killed me back there!”

“And you tried to kill her. Despite the excuse you’re dishing out, two wrongs don’t make a right.”

“I was only trying to send her a message!”

“A fatal one?” I teased.

“That look in her eyes! I know you saw that! You saw it, right, Nero?”

“Saw what?”

“The look of someone who’s done that before!”

“Done what, exactly?”

“Killed humans!”

I flat-eyed her. “I think you’re reading too much into it.”

“There’s so much we don’t know about her!” she protested. “I say we should keep a look out. She may have ill intentions.”

I laughed. “All right, beside the fact that you two got into it, what merits you saying that she has ill intentions?”

“You know, I’ve heard plenty of stories about bad hunters hiding behind the hero name. Hunters who want nothing but to tear Organization VII from the inside out. Their agenda, unknown. But they run their own sabotage operation for a reason.”

“And you think that Naomi is what? Some type of mole? You are aware that she’s just as new as us, don’t you?”

“This is true, but she could have been hunting before enlisting into the corporation.”

“So what if she has. Doesn’t mean that—”

“Wait, are you confirming that she has hunted before?”

“Come on, Reina. It’s pretty obvious that she’s had some experience before.”

“Well, she could have been meta-skilled! Not hunter-skilled!” Reina confirmed. “There is the proof you need!”

“Cut it out, Reina. Naomi isn’t a bad seed.”

“You cannot with a bold face stand here and tell me there isn’t something off with that girl!” Reina persisted. “She is hiding something!”

“And it’s none of our business if she is. As long as she isn’t hurting anybody, then I don’t see what the problem is.”

Reina narrowed her eyes on me. “You’re too trusting, Nero. There’s something not right about that girl. Mark my words, she’s dangerous.”

I shrugged. “We’ve all got our baggage. I try not to judge.”

Reina huffed in frustration. “You’re impossible. How can you be so nonchalant about having a partner who is clearly unstable? I don’t trust her one bit.”

“Naomi’s been a good partner so far. A little quiet and recluse, sure, but dependable.”

Reina crossed her arms under her chest and rejected my statement. “Hmph. Well don’t come crying to me when she finally stabs you in the back.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

I chuckled. “I think I can handle myself, thanks. Now, if you’re done making my ears bleed, I’d like to focus on the mission.”

We reached the library, Ueno Moto Toshokan. And off the corner of the library was a black Lexus model sedan that matched Hayashi’s description of the carrier vehicle. Inside, I noticed a middle-aged man wearing casual khakis, a simple button down, and a basic baseball hat, looking straight ahead. His hands were on the steering wheel on the right side of the vehicle, and his face was sweaty as shit. The dude was the very definition of a nervous wreck. I exchanged a glance with Reina, who nodded, understanding my unspoken plan. We approached the car casually, and I tapped on the driver’s side window. The man jumped in his seat, his eyes widening before he turned around and stared at me.

“Hey there,” I said amiably. “Hot day, isn’t it?”

The man nodded jerkily, not lowering the window.

“Mind if we chat for a minute? We just have a couple quick questions.” I lifted my jacket hoodie to reveal who I was, Reina removing the scarf over hers.

“You can take a breath,” she advised. “We aren’t going to hurt you.”

“That is, if we confirm your identity. I have three questions that I have to ask. If you answer them correctly, everything will be fine! But if you can’t answer them correctly, getting at least one wrong, then things would progressively get worse from here. Sounds good? Great!”

His jaw dropped, those big fish eyes bouncing between Reina and me. If he really wanted to, he could have hit the gas and burned rubber down this road before I said a word, but the fact that he was still hanging around was a good sign.

“All right. Let’s get right down to it. Question number one: the crow flies over a couple in the desert. What does he drop on top of the woman’s head?”

“Ugh… um, a-ugh, a… gold coin?”

“Correct!” I beamed. “Next question: A mother and her toddler son enter a candy shop and she purchases a lollipop for him. What color is her purse?”

“It’s sunflower yellow, the same color as the lollipop.”

“Good, good. You’re doing great so far. Now for the last question: Whose milkshake brings all the boys to the yard?”

Reina stifled a giggle.

“Ugh, wait… what?”

“Answer… the… question,” I said, flashing him a creepy grin.

“Oh please, please! Don’t kill me!” he begged. “That’s not one of the questions I was told to answer!”

I laughed. “Okay, okay, you got me there. Congrats! You passed!”

“You scared me,” he panted, finally putting the window down a few inches for us. “I nearly went on myself!”

“Then you need to learn to loosen up. You’re not inconspicuous at all sitting there like a sore thumb. You’re making yourself a target with all of that sweating and shaking.”

“There is nothing to fear. I’m Reina, and he is Nero. And we are the hunters your boss hired to transport his daughter to the departure zone.”

“My name is Omo. Please, hurry up and retrieve Miss Halloway. They can’t pay me enough money to put my life on the line here!”

“Tell us how the scene has been so far?”

“Quiet… a bit too quiet, actually! I know they notice us here, they just do!” He dodged his eyes between us again and asked, “Hey, wasn’t there supposed to be three of you?”

“Our third is around. Don’t worry.” I flipped my hoodie back over my head and smiled. “Now, you sit tight with Reina. I will be back with Bridget Halloway.”

Reina got in the backseat while I turned around and headed for the library. Once inside, I searched for Bridget, noting that the crowd was light and the place was uniformly quiet. My eyes scanned from left to right as I walked in between round tables and ducked between rows of bookshelves. Hayashi mentioned she’d be here, and after three minutes of looking around, I thought I finally found her.

She was in the fiction corner of the library, her back facing me. She wore something Reina would wear–a reserved white wool sweater with a long pink skirt. Her nose was buried in a thick book; the blonde was so distracted that she didn’t hear me approaching her. She didn’t realize I was there until I tapped her shoulder and she glanced up, her bright green eyes meeting mine. “Bridget Halloway?” I asked.

She nodded, looking at me curiously. I realized I must look out of place in my dark hoodie over my head, but then the expression on her face fixed right up when she realized who I was. “And you must be, Nero, right?”

“That’s me.” I grinned. “Man, has anyone ever told you that you look like Lili Rochefort from Tekken?”

She smiled. “Only prettier,” she cooed, twirling her bouncy jumbo curls. “Thank you for the compliment.”

“Your father sent me to escort you safely to your destination. But I need you to answer a few questions.”

“It’s a gold coin, and the second answer is sunflower yellow,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Father and his riddles.”

“Precautionary steps must be taken for his lovely daughter. He cares for you a lot to hire three bodyguards.”

“I know. And honestly, I appreciate the effort. We’ve… had a few run-ins with walkers lately. It’s one of the reasons we are leaving to—”

“Shh,” I said, putting a finger over my lips, and then whispered. “You don’t know who is listening. Come on. Let’s go.”

She grabbed my arm and insisted I lead the way. Once we were outside, I acted as casual as possible, the both of us heading to the black sedan. My head jerked up to the building across from us, but the top of it seemed empty. I could swear I’d seen something up there, my eyes shifting to my left, then to my right. My brain wasn’t playing tricks on me, so I discreetly tapped my H-Tec and connected to Naomi, asking her in a whisper, “How is the coast looking?”

“Clear. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

“We are about to move. Keep on our tail.”

I opened the passenger-side back door for Bridget, and she sat in the backseat with Reina, who introduced herself. After another quick look around, I got in the front passenger seat. Right off the bat, they started complimenting each other about their designer clothes, accessories, and shoes. My immediate thought was having a second Reina in the car. But unlike my comrade, Bridget was humble and sweet. Once I turned to my right, I told our chauffeur we were good to go, and our test officially started.

The ride was smooth for the most part—the girls hitting it off in the back, the road clear and the weather calm. I kept my eyes peeled, scanning the horizon and checking the rearview mirror constantly for any signs of trouble. We had made it out of the city and were cruising along an open highway through rolling green hills. Again, I checked with Naomi, who wasn’t directly behind us but was on the same road following close. She confirmed everything was fine, which made me think that we’d lucked out on this mission.

“Shouldn’t count our luck just yet,” I whispered to myself, Omo turning his head to me with a genuine smile.

“Only a few minutes until we drop off Miss Halloway,” he said excitedly as we entered another city, Oni-Nayagi. “After that, I can finally retire with my wife!”

I grinned. “Sounds like a dream, honestly. I’m glad to see you’re a bit more relaxed now, Omo.”

“We are almost at the finish line, that’s why. I’ve been working for the Halloways for over fifteen years, and this is my last assignment. They pay very well, and the benefits are even better. But with their wealth comes many dangers. And if I can be honest with you, Nero, that area isn’t my strong suit.”

I chuckled. “I gleaned that.”

“Some people are just not cut out for this line of work. As a private chauffeur, I’ve seen my fair share of threats against the Halloway family. Kidnappings, extortion attempts, even a few assassination plots over the years. They’ve had to live their lives on edge constantly, surrounded by armed bodyguards like yourself.”

I furrowed my eyebrows. “Shit, that sounds terrible….”

“That’s why this final task is different. Such a burden uplifted from my shoulders. With my retirement comes a freedom one could only dream of. I am leaving Utoro and moving to America!”

“Seriously? Where? East coast?”

“No. South Dakota. My wife loves the natural atmosphere, and the people are very friendly.”

“You’ve been?”

“A few times already. And we loved every visit.”

“I’m happy for you Omo. But you better be ready for those harsh winters.”

“I say, bring it on!” he said with carefree enthusiasm. “Surviving the brutal winter by forging defines a boy from a man. I will embrace the challenge!”

“It’s pretty sweet that you can retire at a young age. I wish you two all the best.”

He bowed. “You are much too kind, Nero.”

As we continued chatting during the drive, I started to become more relaxed myself. I noticed we only had a few more minutes left on the clock now, Bridget in the backseat getting excited about leaving Utoro. She too was headed to America, but she had her sights on my state of New York. We started to have a conversation about the amazing food there and the culture, until I saw a vehicle approaching quickly from behind. It was jet black with tinted windows, making it impossible to see who was inside. As it pulled up dangerously close to our rear bumper, I felt a chill go down my spine.

“Who is that?” Reina whispered nervously.

I reached Naomi, who couldn’t confirm who that was either.

“Saw where it came from?” I asked her.

“First time I’m seeing it. It must have pulled out from a parking lot.”

“Tail it.”

“Maybe we should pull off course just to make sure?” Bridget suggested, my eyes catching Omo’s hands shaking again.

I looked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder and said, “Hey, don’t worry. Just keep on course. If they get much closer, we’ll—” my words stopped short, a loud bang bursting through my eardrums followed by raining glass. The sound of Bridget’s shrill scream followed, where I realized I’d raised my arm over my face to protect myself from the windshield that had exploded. And to my right, Omo with a gaping bullet wound in his forehead.

A thud on the hood of the car made me turn my head forward, where I saw a short punk girl with bright-blue pigtails grinning at me with her horse teeth.

“Howdy, partner!” her raspy voice sang as harsh wind continued to slash my face. “Didn’t mean to intrude, but youz got some precious cargo we after! Hand her over and no one else has to get hurt!”