161 Pollard’s Death

We had to move right away to avoid the patrol that was coming.

We hid in the backyard of the nearest house, Rose already checked it to be sure that it was empty and that no one would appear.

I could hear the patrol turning on the corner about a minute after we hid.

Now we have to get to Pollard's house. The problem wasn't going there, Rose made her job and already had located a few hiding spots in between and with her checking the patrol's movements there was no way that a patrol would surprise us.

The problem was the guards, we could probably take them out quickly but if the patrol notice that they aren't in their post they would notice that something is going on right away.

So we have to somehow get into the house and kill him without them noticing.

The place where Pollard was staying was a two-story house. Four guards were guarding outside and two inside, the four guards out were split between the front and back door. None of them have moved from their places so far.

The house was also part of the route of two patrols so if we try to kill the guards there was no way that they will not notice that there is something wrong, and we can't bet on the fact that they are mindless goons.

I had two options right now. Go inside the house, kill those two guards fast and take care of Pollard without anyone noticing it. The other was to see if there is a way for Hayley to get a visual of the target so she can freeze him to death.

The problem with the second options was that Hayley has never killed another person, and I can bet on her not doubting, and also the possibilities of finding a spot hidden, near and from where we can see Pollard was impossible.

It's been a while since I infiltrate into a place to kill a target, it's similar to Isabella's rescue, or when I had to kill Jamie. I can believe that all of that happened in the last weeks.

Milo, Hayley, and Mark were going to stay hidden outside but ready to act if anything goes wrong. Rose explained that one of the guards was on the first floor checking the stairs. And the other was on the door to Pollard's bedroom.

This made clear that the NDR got scared after what Dante did. They have improved the safety measures, so at least they are not caught off guard if another attack occurs.

I surrounded the house and with the help of Rose managed to find a window on the first floor that I should be able to use without being detected.

After waiting for the last patrol to walk away I got to the window, the electronic lock didn't work, so it was easy to open it and get into the guest's bathroom. I tried to move as silently as I could.

I closed my eyes and focused on my hearing. I had Rose to tell me the movements of the goons, but we don't know what kind of abilities they have.

I left the bathroom and moved around to take a look at the guy's aura… if the aura was that of a defensive type, this might get even more difficult than what it already was.

There was no way to get into Pollard's room without killing at least one, and I have to be sure the other one doesn't notice what is happening. So the best was to kill the two goons that were inside the house.

I waited for the goon that was guarding the first floor to move around on the first floor. He went through the living room into the kitchen, this was the farthest place from the stairs, but the guards of the back door might hear if I try something here. I waited for him to leave the kitchen and go into the dining room.

Slow worked in an interesting way. When you are under the effects of it, you don't notice it, but everything around you moves faster if there is nothing around you that moves then you have no way to know that you are under the effects of the debuff.

I used slow on the goon as he was leaving the kitchen. He had a strength type ability, so I might be able to kill him fast. I saw him coming from the kitchen into the dining room. Before he could react I thrust the spear into his throat, he couldn't do anything except for seeing how a person suddenly appeared and pierced his throat. Thanks to the slow my movement were even faster from his point of view making it impossible for him to react.

No sound came from his blood-filled mouth, he grabbed the spear and tried to take it off his throat, there was no fear in his eyes he was doing it because it was the most basic reaction. I pushed the spear one more time to prevent him from taking it out.

[Congratulation for killing an E-Rank Human Esper, 15 system points rewarded]

The goon was motionless, I was careful to no drop him too hard and left him on the floor. I close my eyes to hear around if someone noticed, but everyone was still in their positions. I used the goon's clothes to clean the spear and moved to the stairs.

Stealth proved his usefulness on this type of missions once more. I was able to move without making any noise. The second floor had a long corridor. The guard was at the end besides the door that belongs to Pollard's room.

Despite not making any sound Rose told me that the goon on the second floor started to move towards the stairs. I walked upstairs as silently as possible.

The guy had a gun, so he most likely isn't a melee type. I have to be careful that he doesn't shot even once.

According to the system, my Adrenaline Burst should be able to hang for longer now. For short periods there should be no problems as long as I rest a little after that. Last time I used it for too long when the aftereffect was the worst. Now I need to use it for just a couple of seconds, so in the worst case, I just need to handle drawback for a few minutes.

The guy appeared already under the effects of Slow, and I used Adrenaline Burst to charge at him. He raised his arm ready to fire but a fast movement with the kukri severed his hand before he could shoot, as he opened his mouth to scream in pain I changed the kukri's direction to his neck.

The scream never left his mouth. The cut was fast, it wasn't enough to cut his head off, but it was enough to cut part of the neck and throat.

[Congratulation for killing an F-Rank Human Esper, 5 system points rewarded]

I caught the gun before it fell and carefully took the hand out of it. I closed my eyes again to be sure that there was no movement around.

[Weakened state -25% on all physical stats and Esper Abilities - 30s left]

Three seconds was the time I used Adrenaline Burst, and I have to rest for half a minute, the pain wasn't even near to what happened last time. Using this for just short burst of power might be the right way of using it. After all, a 25% reduction left me in conditions to fight.

I took a deep breath and moved toward the door at the end of the corridor. I was careful to open it without waking up Pollard. I should thank to however was the one that changed from mechanical to magnetic locks all the new constructions.

Rose told me that he was sleeping in bed, I get into the room without him even moving. I could see him sleeping and peacefully breathing.

I confirmed with Dante that it was the right person, before cutting his throat with a dagger.

He opened his eyes with fear and surprise, but as he was drowning on his own blood, there was no way for him to scream for help or do anything to prevent his fate.

[Congratulation for killing a D-Rank Human Esper, 30 system points rewarded]

[Mission: Kill Brody Chambers and get rid of the body.

Optional: ?????

Optional 2: Kill Benjamin Pollard (COMPLETE).

Type: Normal.

Reward: 300 System points, 4 Skill points

Optional 1: ????

Optional 2: Choose (E-Rank Ticket/F-Rank(S) ticket (free choice/shareable)).

Time Limit: 6h 34m 51s]

Since this was an optional mission, I wouldn't get the reward until I fulfill the primary target, as I was planning on getting an ability to one of my friends it didn't matter anyway.