"W-What is this?!"
The letter was blank. There was nothing there.
The color is as white as a blank canvas.
"…"
An awkward gust of air blew between the four of them as they huddled around the letter.
"I think we're a bit screwed."
Rick was the first to speak.
"They told us that this letter contains everything, like their mentors and their locations."
"W-What should we do?"
Rick turned his head sharply.
"Maybe Meilyn made a mistake when she unsealed the letter?"
However, Meilyn strongly denied this.
'Hmm.'
Simon tried to think of something, but he didn't seem to have a good way to solve the problem either.
He tried shaking the letter gently, flicking it, and trying to see if there was anything else inside the envelope, but he got nothing.
Just when everyone was out of ideas and staring at the letter in disbelief…
Turn!
"What-?!"
Meilyn screamed. A jet black magic circle suddenly appeared in the middle of the blank letter.
Sound! Ring!
Accompanied by the sound of iron blocks interlocking, a dark barrier spread out from the letter and enveloped the four of them.
Camibarez let out a startled cry, and the other three gathered around him, keeping their guard up at the sudden change in surroundings.
(Confirmation of class 1 security document. Activating memory summoning spell.)
A clear voice was heard from the letter.
"Oh, is it possible…?!"
Meilyn spoke up as if she realized something.
"Since the contents of the letter cannot be revealed to the public, did they replace it with a high-security spell like this?"
"I think so too!"
Rick chimed in, clapping his hands in understanding.
(Confirming recipient.)
This time, a magic circle opened in front of the four of their faces.
(Meilyn Villenne, Simon Polentia, Rick Hayward, and Ursula Camibarez. Recipients identified.)
The circle in front of them disappeared as quickly as it appeared.
"Very interesting!"
Rick exclaimed. Their fears now gone, the four of them looked around with faces full of curiosity.
Good grief!
Crimson flames filled the empty air. Pieces of paper fell from the flames, gathering in the air to form words.
Everyone's eyes widened as they stared at the words.
{Revenge}
Neutral Area Special Agent Dispatch Authority Dark Area
"Impossible!"
Rick gasped, continuing to scream,
"Revenge! Unexpectedly it's Revenge! Our delivery mission was amazing!"
"What is Revenge?"
Simon asked, unable to contain his curiosity.
"They are guards in neutral territory."
Meilyn replied in return, running a hand through her light blue hair.
"You know, since the neutral territory is completely 'neutral'—as the name suggests—neither Kizen nor Efnel have influence over it, right? So there's a private organization working for the Land of Darkness, taking missions from Kizen."
"And of all those private organizations, Vengeance is the most famous!"
Rick almost grinned widely.
"It's an organization of necromancers that fights against the priests! Maybe we'll go fight the priests too!"
"P-Priest, you said…"
Camibarez's eyes looked around in horror.
Confusion.
As they spoke, the pieces of paper burned to ashes, and new words took their place.
Seiwirr Griezmann. The intelligence department, ranked third, was approved by union officials.
Meilyn nodded.
"Hm, hm. This person must be our mentor."
Now, a scroll emerged from the fire, its edges slightly charred. It opened to reveal a map.
A building was marked in red in the village where the four of them had just arrived.
"Maybe that's where we should meet the mentor?"
"I think so too."
Good grief!
The map burned into nothingness, and the darkness that had enveloped them lifted, revealing the city around them once again.
"Wow! As expected of Vengeance! Can you believe they show their class even in a simple letter?!"
While Rick was making noises in excitement, Simon visualized the map from before and compared it to the view he was currently viewing.
"Shops, shops, docks…"
He nodded while checking the buildings one by one.
"Mhmm, I see. This way."
"Very good, Simon!"
The three of them followed after Simon. Seemingly in a very happy mood, Rick whistled as he put his arms around Simon's neck.
"Wahaha! How fun is it to be a special agent?!"
"He."
Simon chuckled and nodded.
"Oh please, commoner…"
Meilyn said while putting her hand on her forehead.
"You're the one who worries me the most. Please don't act rudely in front of the mentors later. They are also the ones who control our grades."
"Of course, of course. I am also a reasonable person."
Meanwhile, Camibarez stood close to Simon, gently reaching for the hem of his robe.
She was like a wary kitten.
The sound of doors slamming shut across the village and the slightest scream from people half a block away caused her to flinch and hide behind Simon.
"Cami, are you okay?"
"Oh yeah!"
He tried his best to smile. He seemed to be having a little trouble adjusting to the new environment.
"It's over there!"
Rick shouted. It was the tree house they saw on the map.
This house stands out from the other houses in the village, because the other houses are made of clay. The sign says it is a small shop in the village.
The four of them walked in nervously.
"Excuse me."
As the group leader, Meilyn led the way to the building. They were worried about how to recognize their mentor, having no password or secret code to confirm who the mentor was, but…
* * *
* * *
They all were not worried.
After all, there was only one person sitting in the shop. He smiled brightly, showing his pearly white teeth.
Presumably wearing a Vengeance uniform, he wore a gray suit with a green patterned tie. His blonde hair was longer on the left side, covering his eyebrows but leaving his sharp nose fully visible. He was also quite thin, which made his sharp jawline stand out even more.
Overall, he was a handsome man with thick eyebrows and an oily smile. He spoke first, opening his arms wide.
"Welcome ~ come, Kizen's students!"
Her voice was higher than expected, almost approaching a soprano. The four of them bowed in unison.
"Nice to meet you!"
"Now… make yourself comfortable and sit down."
He combed back his messy bangs, closed his left eye, and smiled with his white teeth gleaming in the sunlight.
Soon, the four of them were sitting around a table. They all straightened their backs and put their hands in their laps, trying to look as polite and courteous as possible.
"Haha, you don't have to be so nervous. You can relax in front of me."
He put his hand on his chest and continued,
"As you can see in the letter, my name is Seiwirr Griezmann. I work for the intelligence department at Vengeance."
Let us introduce ourselves as well. First, I am Meilyn Villenne, the leader of the group!"
Meilyn started to introduce them all one by one.
you could feel Seiwirr's eyes shining, especially when he introduced Simon.
"So you must be SA1 Kizen who has been the source of many rumors."
Meilyn and Rick glanced at Simon enviously. After all, the SA1 title was treated with respect wherever they went.
"Satisfying."
Seiwirr brushed his protruding bangs with the back of his hand and blinked.
"It was only natural for Kizen to send students as outstanding as the four of you to work with me for a week at Vengeance."
Listening to Seiwirr's explanation, Simon sighed inwardly.
'That's a relief.'
In fact, he was a little worried about the delivery evaluation after the seniors from the Mutant club scared him.
There are many bad examples.
Starting from a mentor who would go from a lover to a screamer in an instant, one who physically abused his students, a mad scientist who tried to turn his students into living corpses, one who sexually harassed female students, and a vengeful mentor who wouldn't give up any work to be done during the entire evaluation period and gave his students a zero at the end of the evaluation.
However, based on first impressions, Seiwirr seems to be one of the few necromancers who at least has some common sense.
"Seeing young astrologers like you reminds me of the old days when I was a student. Many of my professors offered me to become their direct disciples, but…"
But he seemed a bit talkative.
"By the way, where is the letter?"
"I have it."
"Please hand it over. I'll take care of it."
Simon politely handed over the letter, but Rick interrupted,
"We were so surprised because there was nothing written on the letter! And then, we didn't expect to see such a sight! Wow!"
"Rick!"
Meilyn gave him a sharp look, but Seiwirr just smiled and added,
"It's natural that you're surprised when you first see it."
Seiwirr pulled his bangs to the side again, winked, and showed his white teeth.
"Actually, I was like that too, and…"
He started pouring out stories like a waterfall.
While listening to her story, Simon looked at the letter she had placed on the table.
'…'
He could vaguely see something blurry on the letter that should have been a blank sheet of paper. Simon opened his eyes wide to see, but Seiwirr took the letter and put it in his pocket before he could decipher anything.
"Um, Senior…? Seiwirr."
"Please call me 'Agent'."
"Ah, yes, Agent Seiwirr!"
"Of course, I will call you all agents too. Agent Meilyn."
Seiwirr winked as he pushed back his bangs that always fell out. The movement seemed out of the ordinary. Simon wouldn't be surprised if he continued doing it even after he died.
"I don't care if you are a student. As long as you have the same job as me, we are equals who can trust each other in our lives."
"As expected of Vengeance! You have a good mindset, Agent!"
Rick gave a thumbs up with both hands. It seemed he had completely fallen under Seiwirr's charm.
"Please…"
Meilyn kicked Rick's leg to warn him not to act up.
"Agent, I want to know what mission we will be going on this time."
"That's a very good question, Agent Meilyn!"
Seiwirr said while snapping his fingers.
Then their surroundings became dark, just like when they opened the letter.
"Sorry, this is for security purposes."
With that, Seiwirr gestured for them to come closer. The four of them leaned in so close that they couldn't even sit on the chairs anymore.
"Our mission is to secure one important person."
"Important person?! Who is that person?"
Ask Rick immediately.
"I like that you're participatory, Agent Rick. I'll be sure to reflect that in your mission attitude values."
"Thank You!"
Seeing that, another flash of jealousy appeared on Meilyn's face. She leaned in even more, taking everything seriously.
"It is nothing other than…"
Simon's ears perked up, his nerves growing.
"Nothing else but..."
Everything was fine, but Simon wished he hadn't kept putting it off.
After taking one last look at the curious reactions of the four, Seiwirr said in a very small, almost silent voice,
"The Saint Candidate."
The four students' mouths immediately dropped to the floor. As if he had been waiting for such a reaction, Seiwirr smiled in satisfaction.
"AA Candidate for Saintess?"
"Yes, Agent Simon. We, Vengeance, have recently received first-class intelligence from an agent who infiltrated Efnel!"
His voice became furtive.
"That in this neutral territory, a girl with a high divine aptitude that rivals even the greatest Saintess in history was born.
"!"
"And we also received intelligence that Efnel mobilized his pastors to bring the girl to them."
He started to stretch out his fingers.
"Incidentally, this has something to do with you as Kizen's disciple. I assume you know about the Saintess of Purification?"
How come?
The Saint attempts to wipe out the entire first year of Kizen by possessing the body of Francesca, the assistant head teacher of Poison Alchemy.
His plan was foiled by several students, including Simon, and he was killed by Nefthis. But his 'Purification Essence' was then inserted into Anna's body, allowing Simon to travel to the Holy Federation.
The Saintess of Purification was involved in Simon's life in many ways.
"Efnel is anxious right now. It has been so long since the death of the Purification Saintess, yet the next Saintess has yet to appear. It is rare for such a long period of time to pass before the next Saintess descends."
Everyone nodded nervously as they listened to Seiwirr's story.
"In fact, the most suitable person to become the Saintess of Purification is in the neutral area. Efnel seems quite confident this time. And we will…"
Seiwirr clapped his hands.
"…secure the girl before Efnel does."