Its weird how things turn out in this world…one second ago, I was on my way home from shopping for a pet…and now, I'm sitting in a table with five people who were a bunch of assassins. One of them, being my so called aunt.
Located in a fast food restaurant that opens for 24/7, I was found reading the menu, looking for the choice of food that I was craving for. And despite this weird turn of events, I was only ever nervous of the fact that my Mary would come to beat me senseless after finding me in the worst and most dangerous place there is in the kingdom.
"Hmm, I'm getting the the A5 choice, what do you want Hamil?" asked my Aunt as she smiled her way to me.
"...I think I'll pick B4, burger steak with eggs." I said as I put the menu down.
"Hmm, and what about the rest of you?" she said as she turned to the other four people that were on the table. These people who were somewhat familiar to me for some reason but I could never fully recognize them…
"I'll take C3…Chicken and burger special." said a brunette haired boy who was seemingly wearing a long sleeved shirt, and a beanie that seemed to fit well with his calm and sleepy eyes.
"...I'll get A1, Chicken and Rice…the standard." said a black haired boy whose hair was combed slick-back and was wearing a rather plain polo shirt with long sleeves and black pants.
"...I'll just get the fries and cheese burger set." said a brown-skinned girl that wore a light pink cardigan shirt, a short skirt and black leggings.
"...hmm, I don't know…maybe I'll also get the A5 set as well but with the strawberry shake." said the girl who seemed to look like a student, seeing as how she had graded glasses and wore a uniform that came seemed to come from a public school.
From the looks of their appearances, they were probably trying to blend in with the public. Because just about a minute ago, they were all assassins that wore black from head to toe. Their bloodlust was gone and so was the Eire presence they showed when they came out from the shadows.
It made me wonder who these kids were to the Crow Talon clan, seeing as how they were just kids the same age as me.
It was probably around four in the morning, and we were the only people at this restaurant, so it kind of felt very quiet as we ordered our foods. When the waiter came to list our orders one by one, I had a look around the place and noticed that my aunt was the one staring at me the most with her calm but threatening smile.
While we were waiting for our food to come, the tension in her stare was digging deeper into my face. It was clear to see that I had to start the conversation in the table to resolve the reason why we were here in the first place.
"I'm guessing that you brought me here because of what I just did."
"...Its not 'What you just did' its 'Where you came from' that bothers me. Tell me, how did you know about the market?" without ever making any hesitation, she spoke her intentions. As she asked this, the pressure became more and more tense…but noticing this, I could see that it was only affecting me…and not anyone else, as it could be seen that they only gaze at my direction with a suspecting expression.
"...Does it matter where I got the information about the market?" I asked, looking to my aunt with a straight expression, not giving in to her tension.
"It does matter. I've never expected that you were capable of passing through the black market, but without preparation…you would have died if they knew a speck of information about you. If they knew who you were and were you came from…and since you did pass through the black ridge market, I worry that you might not survive if you go back again."
"..." I could only ever wonder why she was acting with such worrying look on her face. It was no doubt that she cared for her nephew.
"So tell me…what did you do at the Black Ridge Market?"
"...If your worried about the fact that I gave out any information about myself, then your wrong. I know enough about the market and the ways to hide myself from their attention entirely."
"...explain." she said as the tension she gave me lessened.
"I know that they offer a tour for first time visitors, but I turned them down. I know that they used a magic marking tool using the coupon paper but I didn't accept it and I knew that they wouldn't give up on simply just these tactics of information, so I hid myself while they tried to search for me…I'm confident that the people working at the market would not find any slice of evidence that I was even there."
"...I see." saying this to her, only silence weeps and finally a smile came across her face. Looks like her worries were sent away.
"So, are there any more questions left?" I asked.
"Hmm…I don't think-"
But before she could finish, another voice came to stand.
"..neh…You've grown pretty cute, haven't ya." the girl with the brown skin and pink shirt spoke to me as she poked my cheeks with a rather strong press.
"..." and I only ever looked to her with my brows furrowed on what she was doing.
"Neh, can you tell your name again?" her tone was rather listless as she began to make fun of my face by poking even harder at them.
"...Hamil, and you?" as I asked, I went to grab her finger. But as I went try and reach for her finger for a quick second, she only ever pulled back before I could even do anything.
"...Sexual Harassment." she said as she slowly backs away from her chair with her finger wrapped around by her hand in safe keeping.
"Ah, don't worry about her, she's just like that." said Aunt Mary as she just smiled at the interaction.
"Hmm…is that so?"
"...Hamil."
"What?"
"...Are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
"...Your eyes, their shaking."
"..."
"Why?"
"...its nothing, I'm just tired." as I turned away to avoid her gaze, I was meet the first rise of the sun…and there, my heart calmed as the morning breeze came to sway the trees outside.
****
"..."
"..."
"...Hamil."
"What is it Aunty?"
"...Are you scared?…scared of coming back home?"
"..." but silence only swallows the conversation. There, Mary knew the answer was in her sight, the expression of her nephew's cold gaze was never warmed by the sunrise. The expression only told her of one emotion that came to reach his heart without him ever knowing.
That emotion was fear.
'...I see. It's not me who's afraid of going to the clan…its him…Hamil is afraid.'
As we the food finally arrived, everyone ate except for Hamil who only stared at the reflection of himself at the shining image from the egg's surface.
"neh, Aunty."
"Hmm? What is it?"
"...When will I be going back?" asked Hamil as he stared at his aunt with the unchanged gaze.
"Hmm, there's still a few things I have to prepare first before going back, so maybe around the day after tomorrow." answered his aunt.
"Is that so?"
"Yeah, by then we should be finish with our current mission." she said.
"I see, well…I'll just meet you guys at the usual apartment." as he said this, he stood up from his chair and began walking away with the tray of food with him.
"Aren't you going to eat?" asked her Aunt.
"No, I"m not in the mood to eat today…I'll just have this bagged and I'll bring it home."
"Hmm…okay."
Saying yes to this, Hamil gave his food to the waiters to have it bagged and after doing so, he left the restaurant without ever saying a word of goodbye to his aunt.
"Hmm, that was kind of rude. Don't you think so?" said the boy who had a slick-back hair.
"I can't really blame him for acting that way." said his aunt as she showed a furrowed look of worry.
"...Either way, I'm quite shocked to find him looking a bit better than I would have expected." said the girl that was wearing a school uniform.
"...yeah, I would have expected him to look weaker but the air around seems dangerous enough." said the kid with the beanie.
"Hmm, he was able to detect us even with all the training we've put into the past few years at the training camp…are we really that bad? I was super confident with how I was hiding my presence behind the tree." asked the girl who was brown-skinned
"...What do you think teacher?" asked the girl with glasses.
"What do you mean?" and Mary looked to them with a curious raise on his brow.
""How strong is he?"" they asked.
"...I don't know. But seeing as how he was involved with the tragedy about the demons invading the academy, I's say that he's grown strong…"
"But how strong?" they asked.
"Last time I checked, he was D-rank hunter…but hearing him going against a demon invasion and surviving could only mean that he's grown."
"...that could only mean that he's a C-rank." said the boy with the slick-back hair.
"Maybe…" as Mary said this, a smile of joy showed on her face. She was obviously happy with how much her nephew has grown despite the short amount of time has passed since they last meet.
""…."" and the group kids could only ever envy how this boy was able to make their teacher smile even without him here proving anything to her.
The group of kids under the supervision of Mary Clinton, the Royal Beheader, was only ever this strong in the guise of being an assassin. They were at a Level of about C-rank which was quite high for the age of 17 and this was only ever possible because of the environment that the clan had provided them with. With their current mission which was to watch and learn from a professional like Mary, they continue to learn and grow as a member of such a powerful clan.
Yet they could not hide their envy and curiosity to why or how it was even possible for Hamil to have reached their level despite not having the benefits the same as them. The last thing they remembered of him was that he was the weakest student of the camp they trained in when they were still 12 years old. And yet, five years has passed since then, and they have attained a level that was worthy of being called a genius. But now, they worry if the person that was related to their teacher was even a better genius. All of this tension will fall and come to truth under the day when the clan would test the boy of his true strength. There, they will surely have to watch as it unfolds the growth he had gathered from the past five years of his freedom.
But for now, they will have to wait…
AN: HEY….SORRY FOR THE RECENT SLOW UPLOADS. I'M CURRENTLY WORKING ON A SECOND BOOK SINCE I'VE BEEN HAVING AN IDEA TO MAKE A HAPPY GO EASY BOOK ABOUT FARMING. I'M WRITING THIS BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT I'VE BEEN HAVING A FEW SLUMPS WITH THE PROGRESSION WITH THE MAINLESS CHARACTER, SO MAKING A DIFFERENT ENTIRE BOOK WITH A DIFFERENT GENRE WILL PROBABLY HELP ME FLOW MORE FORWARD WITH MY MINDSET. HOPE YOU GUYS READ IT. I'M TRYING MY BEST TO AT LEAST RELEASE ONE CHAPTER PER BOOK PER WEEK.
IT'S TITLE IS: HOW TO CREATE A FARM WITH THE ALL-KNOWN BOOK.