The Mercenary club's thoughts

Once he was done escorting Rachel, who had gotten home safely, Alex headed home as well. When he got back the first thing he did was give a report to his dad regarding his day. When Alex reported about his fight with Lyner, for a brief moment Carlo felt excited. His son was actually able to hold his own against the legend of legends, a Rank SS merc! But this excitement quickly died down.

'What the hell was I thinking?! I made Alex leave the battlefield to return to a normal life, but I allowed him to fight an SS rank merc!... I guess I haven't really left the battlefield... Not yet...'

Alex seeing his dad in deep contemplation, left the room.

...

A girl was tossing and turning in her bed, this girl was Rachel Regius. She was utterly angry and ashamed, not only did she used that deadbeat's martial art, she actually had Alex smell her sweaty body! Every time she remembers what happened awhile ago, Rachel would start squeezing her pillow, as if she wanted to suffocate it.

'What the hell am I doing!? Wasn't I suppose to change Alex's personality to make him into a better boyfriend material?... Yet I allowed him to join a weird club, be surrounded by weird people, and now we even have a mysterious weird adviser! Not only that, it seems like I'm the one who has been having a change in personality! Still, I guess Alex has been more bearable now than when we first met... Fine then, I'll just change him bit by bit, no need to rush.'

...

Saya came home, once she entered inside her house, there were no lights, the whole ambiance was dark and dreary. A single blade suddenly flashed by her side, "Oh your back? So how was it? Was he powerful?" Saya looked at the person who spoke to her. It was a shadow of a man, whose face couldn't be discerned even if you look with all your might, as he was blending in being one with the darkness.

Saya smiled when she saw the man, "Yes father, he was absurdly strong. He didn't even fight seriously, and it seemed like his body wasn't at its peak at the moment. Still, even in this condition, he could crush you in a matter of seconds."

The man in the shadows felt like he was smiling, no one would be able to tell since he had perfectly blended into the darkness. "Oh?"

"Well, that is, if you fought directly out in the open... If you fought on your terms, I think it would be an even match." Saya giggled at his father.

"Heh, so even in my own home ground, I'll just be able to fight evenly... Well, that's a merc for you. They're not like those who operate in the light, like those soldiers... They're more like people who travel between the light and the darkness. Us on the other hand purely operate in the darkness." After saying what he wanted Saya's father disappeared from sight.

"You better sleep early, you still have school tomorrow." Saya's father's words echoed through the hallway.

"Goodnight father." Saya headed to her room, smiling slyly as she was thinking of new ways to tease Oliver.

...

Oliver was trying to sleep but couldn't, for some reason he was having a dream, no it was a nightmare... It was a nightmare that felt so real.

The incident of him firing a rifle was still in his mind, but since no one got hurt he quickly tried to forget it. He didn't even question where the rifle came from... Well, he did think about it for a while, but since no clear answer could be discerned from the few clues he has, Oliver didn't bother to think further about. It's not like the law forbids people from owning guns, everyone from the age of 16 years is allowed to buy one firearm. This was the world they were currently living in, a world where war is happening in every corner, so the mystery of who owned the rifle didn't last long in Oliver's mind.

Yet for some reason, he was now having a nightmare, of him being kidnapped, and people with masks killing everyone. He even remembered being shot by someone, in the nightmare. The nightmare was incoherent, he could only recall bits and pieces every time he wakes up. The worst part was every time he tries to remember the content of his nightmare, the more he forgets.

Oliver had a very uncomfortable night as he kept waking up, breathing heavily and sweating profusely.

...

Niel inside his room was actually doing push-ups, late at night. This was a first for him, since he believed that effort was for the masses, and he a perfect being could always get what he wanted without effort. Yet now Niel started to exercise with a vicious grin plastered on his face.

This was the first time, he had felt this excited. The person his senses told him he couldn't beat, even with all his talents, was beaten by Alex. Alex a boy who was a year younger than him, actually beaten the guy he couldn't even touch.

Niel's pride wasn't hurt, but a different kind of passion was now burning within him. This was but the beginning of Niel's journey to becoming a true perfect human.

...

Alex was in the middle of cleaning his sniper rifle to calm his nerves. The fight with Lyner reminded him, of the sky filled with gunpowder smoke, where the roaring winds drown out all the screams. Lyner was like the manifestation of the battlefield. Alex started to remember the days he had back on the battlefield. Those days where death was your close companion, where morality was but a word, and where dreams became a companion for the weak.

'Do I actually miss those days? Where I trained myself to feel neither sadness nor loneliness.' When Alex thought of these things, the faces of Rachel, Oliver, and the others pop up in his mind. 'Right now, I'm neither sad nor am I lonely... I no longer see the smoke of gunpowder, nor the birds made of scrap iron. Now I only see a clear blue sky, and beautiful birds of different sizes and feathers.'

Alex felt like he started to finally understand why his father wanted to return and quit being a mercenary.