Yamir - An Unfortunate Reunion

February 28, 1976 (Present Day)

The City of Cheshire

(Yamir's POV)

After two other maids opened the front door to the manor, we were gestured by them to enter inside.

There, we were greeted by an assorted number of butlers and maids who stood in two long parallel lines, each bowing in refined fashion.

"Welcome home, Master."

Surprisingly, that comment didn't come from just one person, but rather all of them, each speaking in perfect unison no less.

For a moment, I thought they were referring to only Vert since he was the only person of rank here. But after looking and listening to them closely, I noticed they were also talking directly to us as well.

Which I found to be a little confusing since clearly me and Via are outsiders, not to mention, we aren't descendants of any royal bloodline.

If anything, we're nothing but "guests of honor".

I think I'm reading too much into it….For all I could know, it might just be part of their job.

As for the manor, I suppose the interior of the mansion looked a little more grander than outside, but in my personal opinion, it still wasn't anything to write home about.

Though that could just be me not seeing the value of superficial material. To be honest, for as long as I can remember, the concept of luxury and wealth was always a little too abstract for me to appreciate.

Take vintage art for example.

While I know there are people who see value in it, (some more so than others), personally, I viewed it as something completely pointless and unnecessary.

Then again, I guess I could blame that viewpoint from the way how I was "born and raised".

As an assassin, there was a certain woman who trained me to always see the world in two different "colors"; What is useful and what is not.

Once upon a time, as I was "growing up", that same woman taught me a very important lesson, one that was key to my success as a "weapon".

"If it helps get the job done, exploit it till it no longer holds any more value. But if you hold on to useless things, then it becomes a liability. A weakness that can be used against you. And weaknesses are meant to be cut off."

That same logic she taught me long ago explains why my life is in so much danger right now.

That's right. Looking at it from that perspective, that means the less things I care about, the less ways there are for people to hurt me.

I know "tools" aren't allowed to have dreams or aspirations, but my ultimate goal right now is simply finding a viable way to stay alive.

So as long as I focus on completing the task at hand and cut off what is unnecessary, the longer I will live. And I won't stop at nothing to make it so, regardless of what low I have to stoop to.

That's simply what my "mother" taught me to do.

As I steeled my resolve yet again, the three of us continued walking deeper inside.

But before long, a particular man rounded the corner ahead and greeted us in the main hallway.

"Yo." He said, waving at us with a bunny hand sign.

"Naoto!~" As Via exclaimed in joy, she leapt into his arms and embraced him with a tight hug.

The sudden force was almost enough to knock off the new glasses he was wearing. After readjusting them, Naoto hugged her back and kissed her.

Unlike the "Riad" from before, this "Naoto" had blonde hair and light blue eyes. The glasses that he wore also complimented his formal look, somewhat giving him the impression of a professor.

"Did you girls have fun outside?" He asked.

"Oh yeah!~ We did some shopping, had some food, did some fooling around and relaxed at the park~..."

Speaking of the park, I wonder if she's going to tell him what happened there.

Though I doubt so since there's no real reason to, considering how it was already resolved. And I didn't have much of a reason to speak up about it either.

"And what about you, Yamir?" Naoto asked, suddenly turning his attention towards me.

"It was an okay outing, I guess. I got the basic gist of the city layout, but it looks like I'll need more time to get used to navigating it."

For some reason, Naoto chuckled.

"Hah hah. It's nice to know you're making progress in your surveillance work, but I was more so asking about if you were able to unwind a bit."

"Unwind?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.

"I know what I said to you the other day was a little unnerving and what have you, so I wanted to give you a chance to break away from me and relax for a little while. Atleast while I take care of some business of course." He responded.

Ah. So that was why he insisted on going our separate ways earlier today. He wanted to, in a sense, "apologize" for his threats by giving me some personal space so I can reevaluate my situation.

I have to admit, that's pretty kind.

However….

"How ridiculous."

"What?"

"You literally threatened to kill me if I failed again. Did you seriously think that you could fix that stress with some time outside? The very idea of it almost makes me want to laugh." I boldly replied.

"Yamir!!" Via said, shouting loudly at me.

"Don't look at me like that, you penis for brains."

"Why you!!"

But just when Via was about to put her hands on me, suddenly a certain someone clapped their hands together, catching our attention in the process.

"I think that's enough out of two."

Who the hell…

At first, neither me nor Via didn't even sense the presence of the person who was suddenly speaking.

For a second, I thought that was Naoto trying to reel us back under control, but that didn't seem like the case when I realized the voice came from a female.

Suddenly, when I looked to my right, my eyes immediately caught the gaze of that woman.

And the very moment I did, I couldn't believe what I was looking at.I was almost convinced that my eyes were playing cruel tricks on me.

But the moment I truly realized who this person really was, and what they were capable of, my heart sank like a ship.

"L–....Lo…."

Struggling to get out the word that was lodged in my throat, the woman glanced back to me, looking back with a gaze that I could never forget.

"It really has been a long while, hasn't it?" As she said that, she winked at me with a small yet devilish smile on her face.

Merely hearing her voice again made my heart errode out of an emotion I never thought I would ever feel again.

Fear.