I'm back!!!
...
"Brother, are you alright?" Eres asked with a worried expression.
"Don't worry, I'm alright." Bloed smiled and nodded. "I was just a bit surprised."
"Is it so?" Eres nodded, but her expression was a bit hesitant.
She could see that Bloed was not alright.
Even though he did his best to feign that nothing happened, it was obvious that his emotions were a mess.
And if she could see it, then Regina and Eve could see it as well.
"Master…" Regina murmured with a concerned look, but Bloed just smiled again and replied that everything was alright.
However, it was not.
Right now, Bloed's chest felt as though it was burning.
It had been burning since the moment he saw that woman. It was a burning resentment that seemed to consume him from the inside.
Bloed thought he had left it all behind. That after meeting Camilla, Tito, Regina, and the others, he had left the hatred for his family behind.
But just now, he realized that he was mistaken.
As soon as he saw the queen. As soon as he saw the face of the woman that once was his mother, the hatred that had been hidden for five years resurged.
At that moment, Bloed felt an intense urge to take out his saber and cut her down.
Fortunately, he managed to suppress it.
Even so, he was not sure if he would have been able to control himself if he would have been alone with her.
Bloed smiled bitterly in his mind and let out a heavy sigh.
'Damn… I guess my resentment is deeper than I thought, huh.'
Shaking his head, he decided to stop thinking about it and looked at the expressionless fox girl.
"Miss Eve, thank you very much for your help."
"It's nothing." Eve nodded. "You are part of Moonlight Glow, and my friend. I'm happy being of help."
"Is it so?" Bloed could not help but smile. "I guess I'm happy about having a friend like you then."
Eve just nodded without replying, however, Bloed noticed her fox tail wagging right and left happily.
Apparently, she was pleased with Bloed's praise.
"… When you go to see her, tell me. I'll go with you." The fox girl suddenly said.
"Huh?"
"She has two demigods. I can help you to intimidate them."
Bloed smiled softly and did not refuse her offer.
Anyway, he already considered Eve a close friend. At most, he would do his best to help her if one day she needed his help.
When Eve saw that, her lips curved up in a small smile, though it disappeared in the next instant, as though it never existed.
She then nodded to Bloed and bid him farewell, disappearing as abruptly as she appeared.
Fifteen minutes after Eve left, Bloed's group arrived at the Mission Hall.
To nobody's surprise, there was a crowd of students waiting for their turns inside it. Just like Bloed, they were here to take missions for their clubs.
Seeing that, Bloed, Regina, and Eres could only wait for their turn patiently. Meanwhile, they checked to see if they could see any new interesting mission.
But not even ten minutes after they arrived, a young girl came down from the second floor of the hall and looked at Bloed in surprise.
"Mr. Bloed, it's good that you are here."
Bloed was startled. He looked at the young woman fixedly and furrowed his brows.
"You are?"
"Oh, sorry about that. My name is Laura. I was going to the headquarters of your club to give you something, but fortunately, I found you here."
After saying that, the girl took a letter from her pocket and passed it to Bloed.
Although confused, Bloed accepted it thanked the girl. He then started to read the letter under the curious gazes of Regina and Eres.
When he finished reading it, his expression turned strange.
"It's from the headmistress."
"The headmistress?"
Regina and Eres were surprised.
"Yes. It says that we were chosen to participate in a special mission."
…
Half an hour later, Bloed, Regina, and Eres were on the second floor of the Mission Hall waiting for the arrival of the Headmistress.
To Bloed's surprise, his club was not the only group invited.
Several other clubs were on the second floor as well. Moreover, each one of these clubs was very famous.
[Guardian Order], [Genius Society], [Mage Tower], [Martial Arts Club], [Crystal Beauty], [Eternal Dream], and [Sword Studies]. The leaders of the seven strongest clubs of the city were here.
They seemed very surprised to see Bloed, Regina, and Eres here, but none of them asked anything. Just like Bloed's group, they just waited for the arrival of the headmistress.
Fortunately, the headmistress arrived after a few minutes.
"It looks like all of you are here. Good. Let's start then."
With a serious expression, the headmistress waved her hand and cast a barrier around the second floor.
When she was sure that the conversation inside could not be heard outside, she finally started to talk.
"As the letter that you received said, the reason I invited you here is that I have a mission for your clubs. A very important mission."
The club leaders looked at each other in surprise before looking at the headmistress curiously.
"What is the mission? Is it something that only we can do?" Mu Quan, the strongest student in the city, asked. After all, it was the first time he heard about the headmistress assigning a mission personally.
"It's not." Headmistress Wave shook her head. "But your clubs are the most suitable to accept this mission. The reason your clubs were selected was that I consider them the most trustworthy clubs in Academy City."
The expressions of Bloed and the others turned serious. Judging by Headmistress Wave's words, this mission did not seem simple.
And just as they thought, it was not.
With a grave expression, Headmistress Wave announced the contents of the mission.
"I hope you can help me to hunt some criminals hiding in the city."