Chapter 11
Under the dark night sky, her silver hair gleaming as if emitting light, Erica gently brushed her hair back and looked up at the sky.
It was the time when the sun had set, the sky darkened, and the moon was taking the sun’s place.
Standing on a high rooftop, Erica waited for someone amidst the steadily chilling breeze.
Her superior, her friend, and someone who was absolutely essential for today’s mission.
Also, someone who made a habit of arriving late.
‘Why is he so late…’
Erica closed her eyes slowly and checked for any presence around her.
Within a 1km radius, she could sense her subordinates holding their positions and preparing for the mission, clear indicators of their presence.
But, that was all she sensed—only her subordinates.
Thinking he might have received the wrong location and ended up somewhere else, she tried to detect anyone besides her team. But again, there was no one else.
And just as Erica opened her eyes again…
“Whew. I’m not late, am I?”
“…Would you stop showing up without any presence?”
“Wow, it’s been a while!”
“…”
Erica sighed inwardly, beginning to tie her hair as she looked at the man who seemed to disregard her words entirely.
This was Ryu Yeong, her friend, superior, and the centerpiece of today’s mission. As usual, he was late, though not to a degree that would interfere with the operation.
While it irked her that he was always like this, there wasn’t much she could do—he was her superior and the commander, after all.
Seeing him after such a long time, Erica quickly got back to preparing for the mission, thinking to herself that, as always, he hadn’t changed.
“Hey, I said it’s been a while.”
“Let’s just get this done, alright? It’s an important one.”
“Yeah, it is, but…sheesh, a few months apart, and now you’re all cold with me. You’re the team leader, and I’m the commander, you know?”
“Cover your face already.”
“Sigh. Really, you’ve got no heart, no heart at all. If you knew where I just came from and what I was doing, you’d be shocked—even you. Or maybe you’d be just plain annoyed?”
Ignoring Ryu Yeong’s chatter beside her, Erica subtly tugged on a fine mana thread connected to her subordinates, signaling the mission’s start.
“You know you’re late, right?”
“Am I? Ah, I really thought I got out as quickly as I could.”
“That’s why we’re doing this right, okay? I went through hell to get this.”
“You spent a lot of money, didn’t you?”
“…And it’s worth it for how valuable this mission is. You know the plan, right?”
“Of course. So, we start with an explosion in the northwest…”
BOOM—
Before he could finish, a massive explosion rang out from the northwest. Erica and Ryu Yeong exchanged glances and nodded as they looked toward each other.
Erica launched herself in the direction of the explosion, while Ryu Yeong darted in the opposite direction.
The mission had begun in earnest.
‘So, he said he’d be resting for a while, but…guess there was no need to worry,’ Erica thought as she leapt into the air.
Known as the leader of Squad 1 in the Black Shadow Corps and called the “Silver Tracker,” Erica was one of the founding members of the corps. When Ryu Yeong mentioned he’d be taking a break from work, she’d wondered if something had happened to him.
If she’d had more time, she would have sought him out to check in, but she was on the verge of completing a task that had consumed over a year, so she couldn’t leave her post.
Seeing Ryu Yeong after nearly six months reassured her; there was nothing to worry about. He exuded the same mischief as always, and his mere presence instantly dispelled the heavy tension, just as she remembered.
The tension over the mission’s importance had been building within her moments ago, but seeing Ryu Yeong’s face relaxed her and lifted her spirits.
Sometimes, his lighthearted nature bordered on frivolous, but ironically, that’s what made her feel secure whenever he was on a mission with her.
Whirring—
“Oh, and I forgot to mention—this is me showing up as a special favor for you!”
“Hey, you—what?!”
Whirring—
“…Ugh!”
Just as she was about to shout at him to stay focused, Ryu Yeong vanished, leaving Erica talking to thin air.
She chuckled despite herself.
“Seriously.”
Though she spoke with a hint of complaint, a smile had formed at the corner of Erica’s lips.
She could already sense that today’s mission would be a success, and she had Ryu Yeong to thank for lifting her spirits out in the field after so long.
The Black Shadow Corps’ transition from a typical mercenary group to a “specialized” one actually began quite modestly.
It all started when we flawlessly completed an assignment that no one else wanted: “stealing a gem from a duke’s residence.”
It was then that I first realized how my ability to move through space without leaving a trace was perfect for retrieving items. Conveniently, the core members at that time all had abilities that supported mine.
After that event, we gradually began to receive only covert and secretive assignments, and as word spread, the Black Shadow Corps became known as a mercenary group that handled “delicate matters people couldn’t talk about openly.”
Since I didn’t have any particular objections to this, I simply went along with the flow—and before I knew it, the Black Shadow Corps had grown to this extent.
‘Erica’s still the same.’
Erica, a founding member of the Black Shadow Corps and the leader of Squad 1, hadn’t changed much from the last time I saw her.
Her usual cold voice, her grumbling, and her underlying concern were still there, along with a hint of affection.
She was exactly as I remembered.
If there was any noticeable difference, it would be that her figure had become even more defined, as if she had lost some weight or intensified her training…
BOOM- BOOM-
My drifting thoughts refocused as the sound of explosions echoed all around.
Despite having publicly declared my “leave” through Addy, I was here on the field personally because this mission was crucial.
Addy had recently delivered some good news.
A lead had finally been found on a request that no other adventurers’ guild had managed to resolve and which Erica had been pursuing relentlessly for over a year.
However, the report concluded that, to complete the task, the assistance of the Black Shadow Corps commander—that’s me—was necessary.
Addy had even come to my office that very night to show me the documents as soon as possible.
‘At last, I’ll get to see what that hourglass looks like.’
The request that had piqued Erica’s competitive spirit was, relatively speaking, one of the simpler types.
At least by my standards.
Compared to combat or infiltration, finding an hourglass supposedly filled with the bones of demons or angels felt far safer. Once I pinpointed its location, sneaking in to retrieve it was easier than a meal.
The object we needed to find was an hourglass containing bone powder instead of sand.
Though I had no idea what purpose this hourglass served, the client had emphasized that it was of immense importance and should not be damaged under any circumstances.
They even offered a reward of 50 million gold for its retrieval.
‘Alright. There’s one down.’
For this mission, my presence was necessary because Erica had not been able to precisely locate the hourglass.
Simply put, today’s strategy was a decoy operation.
While Erica and Squad 1 drew attention across this expansive area—large enough to be called a “village”—I would search the suspicious buildings for the hourglass.
There were two particularly suspicious buildings that Erica hadn’t been able to infiltrate alone, and I had made sure to memorize their exteriors.
“What’s going on?!”
“It’s an attack! Everyone, battle positions!”
“Who the hell…? Could it be those church people caught on?!”
“We don’t know yet! Just get ready!”
‘Hmm.’
Hiding on the rooftop, I listened in on the frantic voices below.
Judging by their mention of “the church,” it seemed certain that this group had something shady going on.
‘Guess this place isn’t it.’
Even without going in, I could tell that this building didn’t contain anything of high value.
If it housed an item as precious as the 50-million-gold hourglass, they wouldn’t have left it so easily to rush off somewhere else.
‘Alright, not here…’
Whirr—
As soon as I concluded it wasn’t here, I transported myself to the rooftop of the central building where I had met Erica earlier.
Only one building remained.
The issue was that I didn’t know exactly where that building was located.
“There he is!”
“Eliminate the intruder!”
“Waaaah!”
In contrast to the quiet moments before, the area around the building where Erica and I stood was now alive with activity.
Soldiers armed with various weapons chased after our black-clad squad members, and thanks to the earlier explosions, fires had broken out everywhere, turning the “village” into pure chaos.
Sizzle—
From where I hid on the roof, I sensed an intense mana pulse behind me.
It was a massive, powerful mana surge, incomparable to the smaller skirmishes happening throughout the village.
It was about 350 meters from here.
‘There.’
I felt it instinctively.
That’s where the 50-million-gold hourglass was located.
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