Making a choice

After the incident, Alex alongside Oliver wanted to escort the girls back home, but Rachel's brothers came to pick her up, a few bodyguards of the Klein family came worriedly to pick up Evangeline, Alisa's manager took her back, and Sayaka said she didn't need anyone to escort her back. 

"Since we don't need to escort anybody I'm going to start my patrol do you want to join me?" 

"No, I have prior arrangements. If you want do you want to go with me to meet my father? He seems to be very interested in you." 

"Oh, Alex's father... Hmm..." 

'I'm really interested in seeing Alex's home and meeting his father, but I can't today if I remember since tomorrow was Saturday I need to go to that shop and line up for the limited edition replica of the customized MRI Desert Eagle that legendary officer Chuck N. Sagara used.' Oliver sighed inwardly and then responded to Alex with a serious expression.

"I'm sorry but as you know I need to do my regular patrols. I must never miss even a single day. I hope you understand." 

"No it's alright, of course, I understand." Alex nodded his head in approval. 'As expected of Oliver, he's very dedicated to his routine.' 

"It's great that you understand." 

The two then said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. Alex returned home while Oliver quickly went back home to bring his tent and then went to the storefront to line up. 

...

Alex who returned home first met his father who was in the study room. As per usual even though he was now retired there was still this powerful atmosphere surrounding Carlo who was sitting in his chair. Alex stood in front of his father and saluted. 

"So Alex how was your day?"

"Reporting!" 

Alex started to recount the events of the day and told his father about Ken the supposed rival of his teacher Ryu. Alex also reported about the incident in the karaoke place. Listening to Alex's story Carlo rubbed the temples of his forehead and sighed. 

"... It seems that your high school life is very eventful." 

"I don't know about things being eventful or not since I do not have anything to compare it with aside from field missions. Compared to field missions school is nothing." 

"Is that so, you still made some friends, right?" 

"Yes, I did." 

'Well, that's all that matters at this point.' Carlo closed his eyes and his lips curled upward ever so slightly.

"Since my son has finally made some friends his age, how about inviting them here to have fun." 

"I will inform them."

Alex as per usual answered without pause. Carlo looked at the posture of his son and sighed inwardly. Despite going to school and meeting kids his age, there was no change in the direction Carlo expected. 

'Well, change doesn't happen instantly.' 

"Then what about the mission I have assigned you?" 

"I'm still deliberating who the target is going to be." 

"... It is true I did not set a time for how long you can deliberate, but this is taking too long. I want you to decide who the target will be and I want your answer within twelve hours." 

"Sir yes Sir!" 

Alex responded without hesitation and his stoic expression never wavering. Carlo stared at his son for a few seconds and then waved his hand. 

"Fine, that is all. You can go now." 

"Sir yes Sir!" 

Alex saluted Carlo and left the room. Once Alex had left the room Carlo sighed deeply as he leaned on his chair. 

"We finally left the battlefield, but the wish they made is still unfulfilled. Was it truly a mistake giving him the strength he so vehemently desired back then?..." Carlo asked the empty room but of course, there was no response to be heard. 

...

Back in Alex's room, Alex was cleaning his weapons while doing some sit-ups, and at the same time, he was thinking about which of his candidates would become the target of his current mission. 

'Rachel the first girl I met going to school, if I didn't change my mind on how to pick the target she would have already been the target of my mission. I have observed her for a while now and even then I still find some of her reactions and movements confusing. What I do know is that she is one of the most liked students in the school and she commands a lot of adoration from the other students. Another thing I noticed was the way she moved was clearly indicating that she knew some form of martial arts. I cannot gauge the full extent of her current skill or strength but based solely on what I have seen she should be a little bit above average compared to some newbie mercs.' 

Alex closed his eyes and remembered his first encounter with Rachel and all the things that had happened in just a few days. 

'The next candidate is Alisa Reinhardt a famous idol/actress also known as the country's sweetheart. I watched some of her shows and determined that her acting ability was on par with some top spies. Unlike Rachel, I couldn't see any indication that she knew any kind of martial arts, but if she had some knowledge of martial arts at most it should be for some minor self-defense. On the other hand, her manager had some skill, so he should be something like a manager and bodyguard at the same time. Still, based on Alisa's free-spirited nature she should get into trouble every now and then as evidenced by how we first met.' 

The events of his first meeting with Alisa also flashed through Alex's thoughts. Unknown to Alex as he remembered the things about Alisa his lips curled upward for a microsecond before reverting back to his normal stoic expression. 

Alex did not even consider Evangeline as a target of the mission since the other party was from a powerful family and she had her own dedicated group of bodyguards. 

'So who between Rachel and Alisa should I pick as the target?... Hmm, I see I already had the answer since the beginning.'