A Mission That Cannot Fail
Two years had passed.
Ariel and I had come of age, and as apprentices we had taken on the Black Tiger Corps' simple missions.
Even the simple ones were far more dangerous and difficult than any adventurer's commission.
And yet, the two of us had completed ninety-nine of them without a single flaw, earning a solid reputation within the corps.
More than anything, running those missions had taught us just how many more of the Empire's vermin were crawling around out there.
And today.
If we succeeded at this final mission, it would be our hundredth.
"Kraaagh…!"
A mercenary in gaudy equipment knelt, coughing up blood.
I flicked the blood from my blade and scanned our surroundings.
Every mercenary had been dealt with. Not one had escaped.
At some point, Ariel had already sheathed her sword and crouched before the barred wagon, working at its lock.
"It's okay now."
Even with the door open, the prisoners inside couldn't bring themselves to step out. They'd been in the slave trader's hands for so long that they couldn't even believe they were free to move.
Ariel smiled brightly and held out her hand to the youngest child first.
"You're all free now."
Only after the child carefully took her hand and stepped out did the others begin to emerge from the wagon, one by one.
I watched them go, then moved toward the back of the wagon.
The man who led bandits in raids on villages, abducting women and children to sell into slavery — a slave trader of the vilest kind.
It was time to pass judgment on a creature worse than garbage.
He was dragging himself across the ground, clutching his shattered leg. When my feet planted themselves in his path, he froze.
"W-wait!"
The slave trader hastily lifted his head.
"Do you even know who you're dealing with?"
Without answering, I seized him by the collar and hauled him upright.
"Who?"
"Every noble in the south does business with us! Touch me, and they will never let it go!"
He frantically rattled off the names of several nobles. With each name that left his lips, a flicker more of confidence crept back into his voice.
He clearly believed the nobles standing behind him would save his life.
"Let me go now, and we can pretend none of this ever happened!"
I studied him in silence.
The face of a man who believed he could commit every atrocity and pay no price for it.
The Empire protected trash like this — no, it *bred* them.
"Don't worry."
At my answer, a smile of relief spread across the slave trader's face.
"Y-yes… a wise choice."
I tightened my grip on his collar.
"Because I'm going to kill all of them anyway."
"What…?"
Those were the last words he ever heard before his head went flying.
And with that, our hundredth mission was over.
.
.
.
While we waited for Bran after wrapping up the mission, Ariel and I sat side by side on a wooden crate outside the warehouse.
"Your breathing was decent today, I'll admit. Of course, that's entirely thanks to my teaching."
She looked at me for a moment, then narrowed her eyes.
"Ugh, you're hopeless. Hold still for a second."
"Huh?"
She pulled a handkerchief from her breast pocket and slowly wiped my face.
"You've got blood on you."
So that's where it had landed — when I killed the slave trader, apparently.
Over the past two years, we had spent most of our time together.
Mornings we crossed swords; afternoons we studied tactics. On missions, we watched each other's backs, and whenever one of us was hurt, the first thing we checked was the other's condition.
She was the person I could be most at ease with in the entire Black Tiger Corps, and a comrade I trusted more than anyone.
"Thanks."
"Oh, shut up. I just didn't want to look at it…!"
Her curt, prickly tone was exactly the same as ever, of course.
But up close, I noticed dark red stains matted in Ariel's blonde hair as well. I reached out and flicked away the droplets clinging to her strands.
"You've got some too."
"Huh? Where?"
"Here."
As I untangled and smoothed her hair a few times, Ariel bowed her head without the slightest resistance.
That was when a low cough sounded behind us.
"Ahem."
I turned to find Bran standing at the warehouse entrance, thick arms folded across his chest, an unmistakably knowing grin plastered on his face.
"Missions all wrapped up, I take it…"
His gaze bounced between my hand and Ariel's face.
"Or should I wait until you two are done with your little lovebird moment?"
Ariel smacked my hand away in a panic.
"Th-that is NOT a lovebird moment! I was just wiping off blood!"
Bran turned to me this time.
"What say you, Aren?"
"...Is there any other way to take it?"
Bran looked at Ariel with the pitying eyes of a man watching a doomed thing.
"Ahh, our young lady's road ahead is a rough one, I fear."
"What's THAT supposed to mean! Quit fooling around and let's go back! I'm starving here!"
Bran let out a booming laugh, then added,
"Ah, right — the Captain says to tell you. As of today, your probationary status is over."
Ariel's eyes went wide.
For the past two years, becoming an official operative was all she ever talked about.
"It's really true?"
"You finished your hundredth mission without a hitch, so even the Captain's out of excuses to delay it."
Bran turned and started walking.
"Let's head back to headquarters. Everyone's waiting."
When we returned to headquarters, the Black Tiger Corps members had all gathered in one place.
Even the usual rowdies, the ones who never stopped chattering, stood silent today.
And at their center stood Cassian.
On the table before him lay two brooches of black metal, side by side with two tiger-faced masks.
"Ariel. Aren. Step forward."
Cassian called us up, and we walked together to stand before him.
Looking around, I saw the comrades we'd shared meals and training with for the past two years.
When I first arrived here, I had refused to grow attached to anyone.
But now, this place had become my second home.
Cassian picked up one of the black brooches.
"Arcadia calls us traitors. No one will record the number of people we've saved, and when we die, not a single line of our names will remain in history."
Cassian's gaze passed over me and Ariel in turn.
"Worse — the Empire will remember us as villains who conspired with the demons. Knowing this, will you still stand with us?"
Even Ariel, who was always whining at her father, wore a grave expression.
"Yes."
A faint smile touched Cassian's lips. He fastened the black tiger brooch at Ariel's chest, then looked at me.
"Aren. Will you join us as well?"
I didn't hesitate either.
Partly to find Seria. But I also could not stand by and watch the Empire's vermin breathe another day.
"Yes."
Cassian pinned the brooch to my chest and handed me a black tiger mask.
"From this day forward, I hereby appoint Aren and Ariel as official operatives of the Black Tiger Corps."
Cassian raised his own mask to his face.
Bran followed suit.
*Clack—! Clack—!*
One by one, the members ringing the hall donned their black tiger masks.
The familiar faces vanished one after another.
What remained were only black tigers, each bearing their own wounds, their own lives.
"Though all the world turn its back on you, do not bend your will. The tiger, by nature, walks alone."
After the ceremony, Cassian called me aside.
"Aren, come with me for a moment."
Ariel stopped mid-step and looked back.
"Another secret talk, just the two of you…?"
She pulled a face of pure displeasure but obediently turned and went off toward the other operatives instead.
Cassian led me to his office, and for a long while, he said nothing.
A silence unlike him.
"Captain, is something the matter?"
"Two years ago, do you remember what I promised you?"
I could never have forgotten it.
"I remember."
Cassian drew a sealed document from his desk drawer.
"We found her."
My heart slammed against my ribs.
Cassian looked me dead in the eyes.
"I'm sorry it took so long."
In that instant, every sound around me vanished.
It felt as though I'd forgotten how to breathe. Nothing echoed in my ears but my own heartbeat.
It was a name I had longed to hear a thousand times over.
Every time I returned from a mission, I asked if there was any news. Even the faintest rumor of a silver-haired girl was enough to send me chasing its trail for days on end.
"Is she alive?"
The voice I barely forced out shook terribly.
"Yes."
At that single word, my legs nearly gave out beneath me.
Seria was truly alive.
I bowed my head, and laughter spilled out of me before I knew it. I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand — but a single tear had already fallen onto the desk.
"Thank goodness…"
It was all I could say.
"So where is Seria now?"
"The Empire."
"What…?"
"More than that… two years ago, she was appointed the new Saintess."
I couldn't believe it. The imperial papers had clearly said the Saintess was a noble.
"The newspapers said she was born to a ducal house."
"A fabricated identity."
Cassian explained in a heavy voice.
"The Holy Order erased the Saintess's name, her hometown, her family — everything. Then they invented a noble daughter who had never existed in this world."
"Why…?"
"Because if word spread that a commoner had been chosen by the Goddess, the authority of bloodline the Empire preaches would come crumbling down."
I wanted to run to Seria's side that very moment.
But my feet wouldn't move.
Cassian stared at me intently.
"Unexpected. I thought you'd insist on leaving for the Empire at once."
"I want to. Even now."
"Then why don't you?"
To save Seria, I would have to face the Holy Order's forces.
Not to mention the Empire's soldiers as well.
That was why I couldn't go.
"Because if I go now, I can't save her."
"You've changed a great deal."
"Because I've let her go once already."
I would not make the same mistake twice.
Not until I was certain I could protect the people who mattered to me.
I would grow stronger. I would build my power.
"A good answer. Then I have a separate mission for you."
"Yes, Captain."
"Detach the Saintess of Arcadia from the Empire."
This was a mission I had no intention of ever failing.