The Letter from Vengeance
"Wh-what is this?!"
The letter was blank. Completely empty.
It was as white as a fresh sheet of drawing paper, nothing more.
"…"
An awkward breeze seemed to sweep through the four of them huddled around the letter.
"I think we're kind of screwed."
Rick was the first to break the silence.
"It was supposed to have our dispatch post AND our mentor written on it!"
"Wh-what do we do?"
Rick whipped his head around.
"Meilyn, are you sure you didn't mess something up when you broke the seal earlier?"
Meilyn practically jumped out of her skin.
"I-I didn't do anything! I literally just opened the envelope! Simon! Look, check it!"
Protesting her innocence, she thrust the letter into Simon's hands.
Hmm.
But Simon hardly possessed some brilliant solution either. He shook the letter lightly, flicked it with his finger, and searched for any hidden contents inside, but nothing came of it.
Just as everyone was staring at the blank page with hollow expressions—
Vwoooom!
"Wha—!"
Meilyn shrieked. A jet-black magic circle had suddenly spread across the center of the empty letter.
Clang! Clunk!
With the sound of metal interlocking, a black membrane unfurled from the letter and wrapped around the four of them.
Camibarez let out a startled yelp, and the other three gathered around her, warily scanning their surroundings.
— Class 1 security document confirmed. Manifesting memorial magic.
A crisp, clear voice rang out from the letter.
"Oh, of course!"
Meilyn cried out, as if something had just clicked.
"Since the contents can't be leaked to outsiders, they encoded it with security-type dark magic!"
"That makes sense!"
Rick clapped his hands.
— Verifying targets.
This time, the magic circle unfurled in front of all four of their faces.
— Meilyn Villenne, Simon Polentia, Rick Hayward, Camibarez Ursula.
— Targets confirmed.
With the voice, the magic circles vanished once more.
"That's so cool!"
Rick exclaimed in awe. By now the fear had drained away, and all four of them were glancing around with wide-eyed curiosity.
FWOOROOROOSH!
Dark crimson flames surged up in the empty air. Shards like scraps of paper tumbled out of the fire, gathering piece by piece in midair to assemble themselves into words.
Everyone's eyes went round as they stared at the letters.
"Holy crap!"
Rick sucked in a breath and shouted.
"Vengeance! VENGEANCE! Our dispatch post is insane!"
"What does Vengeance do, exactly?"
Simon asked, unable to hold back his curiosity.
"The wardens of the Neutral Zone."
Meilyn answered in his place, brushing back her sky-blue hair.
"The Neutral Zone is exactly what it says—strictly 'neutral'—so neither Kizen nor Efnel can project any influence there. That's why Vengeance works as a subsidiary organization, taking commissions from Kizen on behalf of the Dark Alliance."
"And among all those subsidiary organizations, Vengeance is one of the most famous!"
Rick's mouth was practically splitting into an enormous grin.
"It's the agency where necromancer agents operate and fight priests! Looks like we're going to fight priests too!"
"P-priests…?"
Camibarez rolled her eyes with a frightened expression.
Crackle, crackle.
Just then, more shards fell from the flames and assembled into a new line of text.
Intelligence Division — Federation-Certified Rank 3 — Seiwir Griezmann
Meilyn nodded along.
"Uh-huh. So this must be the mentor assigned to us."
Next, a scorched-looking scroll emerged from the flames, unrolling with a fwoosh! to reveal a map.
On the map, a single building in the village where they currently stood was marked in red.
"I suppose that's where they want us to go?"
"I think so too. That must be the meeting point."
FWOOROOSH!
The map burned away and vanished, and the darkness enveloping the four of them soon lifted, revealing the village scenery once more.
"Wooo! Now THAT'S Vengeance for you! Who shows off their class with a single letter?"
While Rick fussed around in excitement, Simon was busy recalling the map from moments ago and matching it against the scenery in front of him.
"Tavern, shopping street, the docks…"
Counting each spot off on his fingers, Simon gave a nod.
"Yep, that's it. This way."
"That's our Simon for you!"
The three of them followed behind Simon. In a visibly excellent mood, Rick whistled as he slung an arm around Simon's neck.
"Wahaha! A special agent dispatch—how exciting is that?!"
"Pretty exciting."
Simon chuckled and nodded.
"Oh, please. You peasant."
Meilyn said, pressing a hand to her forehead.
"You're the one I'm worried about. Don't go acting all cocky and rude in front of the mentor later. He's someone who can manipulate our grades, remember."
"Yeah, yeah. I know how to read a room that well, at least."
Meanwhile, Camibarez had glued herself to Simon's side, quietly clutching the hem of his clothes.
She was like a wary kitten. At every slammed door or stray shout from the villagers, she flinched and hunched her shoulders, sometimes hiding behind Simon entirely.
"Cami, you okay?"
"Ah, yes!"
She forced a smile. It seemed the unfamiliar environment and new surroundings had made her a bit shy.
"There it is!"
Rick shouted. It was the wooden house they'd seen on the map.
While most of the surrounding buildings were made of packed clay, this one was a distinctive wooden house, easy to spot at a glance. Judging by the signboard, it was a small village tavern.
The four of them walked over with tense expressions.
"Pardon the intrusion."
Meilyn, as group leader, went in first and stepped inside the building. She'd been worried about how they'd identify their mentor without any kind of passcode—but it turned out to be an unnecessary concern.
Because there was exactly one person sitting inside the tavern. He was wearing a bright smile that showed off his white teeth.
He wore what appeared to be the Vengeance uniform—a grey suit with a green patterned tie—and his blonde hair was longer on the left side, covering his eyebrow. He had a slender frame, a nose that tapered sharply downward, and a chiseled jawline.
Overall, he was a handsome man with thick brows and a greasy sort of smile. He spread both arms wide and spoke first.
"Wel-come! Dear Kizen students!"
His voice was high-pitched, close to a soprano. The four of them bowed in unison.
"It's a pleasure to meet you!"
"Now, now—please, take a seat. Make yourselves comfortable."
He swept back his tousled bangs with the back of his hand, closed his left eye, and smiled with gleaming white teeth. A ting—! sparkle effect seemed to flash in the air around him.
Soon the four of them took their seats across a single table. Every one of them sat with a ramrod-straight back and hands folded on their knees, posing as stiffly and politely as possible.
"Haha, there's no need to be so tense. You can relax around me."
He placed a hand over his chest and continued.
"As you saw in the letter, my name is Seiwir Griezmann. I work in Vengeance's Intelligence Division."
"Ah, yes! Allow us to introduce ourselves as well. First, I'm Meilyn Villenne, the group leader!"
Meilyn began introducing them one by one.
And the moment she introduced Simon, Seiwir's eyes visibly sparkled.
"Ah, the famed Special Admission No. 1 of Kizen."
Meilyn and Rick shot envious glances his way. As expected, the Special Admission No. 1 title opened doors wherever he went.
"Very satisfactory."
Seiwir brushed back his lopsided bangs and winked.
"After all, you're the students who'll be working alongside me for a week at Vengeance. It's only natural that Kizen would send such outstanding students."
Simon listened quietly to Seiwir's explanation, feeling a weight lift from his chest.
What a relief.
When word of the dispatched evaluation had come down, the seniors from the Mutant club had terrified him with story after story, so he'd been a little worried.
They'd had every kind of example imaginable.
A mentor with a broken personality. One who beat his students. A mad scientist who tried to turn them into undead. A piece of trash who sexually harassed the female students. And the worst of the lot—one who made his students stand around doing absolutely nothing for the entire evaluation, then handed them the lowest possible score on the final day.
Still, judging by first impressions alone, Seiwir seemed to fall within the bounds of a reasonably sane necromancer.
"Seeing such young necromancers takes me back to my own student days. In those days, plenty of professors offered to take me on as their direct disciple, you know…"
He did seem like the talkative type, though.
"Oh, that reminds me—what about the letter?"
"I have it right here."
"Hand it over. I'll keep it safe."
Simon was respectfully offering the letter with both hands when Rick cut in.
"We got such a shock when it was completely blank! But then that dramatic reveal came out of nowhere! Awesome!"
"Rick!"
Meilyn shot him a warning look, but Seiwir responded with a smile.
"It's only natural to be startled the first time."
Seiwir flipped his bangs, flashed his white teeth, and winked.
"Actually, the same thing happened to me once—"
And with that, he began pouring out stories like a waterfall.
As Simon listened, his gaze drifted to the letter Seiwir had set down on the table.
…
On the page that was supposed to be completely blank, something faint seemed to be visible—barely a ghost of an image. Simon's eyes widened as he tried to make it out, but Seiwir picked up the letter and tucked it into his coat.
"Um… Seiwir… sunbae?"
"Please address me as Agent."
"Ah, yes. Agent, sir!"
"And of course, I shall address all of you as agents as well. Agent Meilyn."
Seiwir winked as he swept his bangs back. By this point, Simon figured the gesture had gone beyond habit into the territory of an outright compulsion.
"Your status as students doesn't matter in the slightest. The moment you take on the same work I do, we are equals—comrades who trust each other with our very lives."
"See?! That is an AWESOME mindset, Agent sir!"
Rick thrust both thumbs straight up. He seemed to have fallen completely under Seiwir's charm.
"Ugh."
Meilyn kicked Rick under the table, meaning quit showing off.
"Agent, we're curious—what kind of mission will we be taking on this time?"
"An excellent question, Agent Meilyn!"
Seiwir snapped his fingers.
At once, the surroundings darkened, just as they had when the letter was first opened.
"Pardon me—security is paramount."
With those words, Seiwir beckoned them closer with quick flicks of his hand. The four of them lifted themselves off their chairs and leaned in toward him.
"Our mission is to secure one very important individual."
"An important person?! Who are they?!"
Rick asked eagerly.
"That kind of proactive attitude is highly commendable, Agent Rick. I'll be sure to reflect it in your mission conduct score."
"Thank you, sir!"
Watching this exchange, a flicker of envy crossed the model student Meilyn's face once more. Not to be outdone, she leaned in even further and put on her most serious expression.
"That person is…"
Simon perked up his ears, tension written across his face.
"That person is… is, is…"
Everything was fine—except he really wished he'd stop dragging it out.
Having savored the four students' curiosity-filled reactions one more time, Seiwir spoke in a very small, secretive voice.
"A Saintess candidate."
All four students' mouths fell open at the same time. As if this were exactly the reaction he'd been waiting for, Seiwir put on a deeply satisfied expression.
"A-a Saintess candidate?"
"Precisely, Agent Simon! Recently, Vengeance received Class 1 intelligence from one of our agents embedded in Efnel!"
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"A girl with a historic, record-shattering affinity for divinity has been born here in the Neutral Zone."
"!"
"And we've received word that Efnel has already set its priests in motion to bring that girl back with them."
He spread open his palm.
"And by a curious twist of fate, this concerns you Kizen students directly. You're all familiar with the Saintess of Purification, I trust?"
How could they not be?
The Saintess who had possessed Francesca, the Head TA of Toxicology, and tried to annihilate Kizen's entire first-year class.
Her scheme had ultimately been stopped by Simon and the other students, and she had been slain by Nephthys—but afterward, the 'Essence of Purification' had latched itself onto Anna's body, which had even sent Simon on a journey all the way to the Holy Federation.
He had been tangled up with the Saintess of Purification in more ways than one.
"Efnel is on absolute high alert right now. Quite some time has passed since the Saintess of Purification died, and yet the next one has yet to appear. A gap this long before the next Saintess descends is an extremely rare occurrence."
Everyone nodded along to Seiwir's story, their faces taut with tension.
"In fact, the person best suited to become the next Saintess of Purification was here in the Neutral Zone all along. And it seems Efnel is fairly certain this time. Certain of that very girl."
Clap! Seiwir struck his palms together.
"And we are going to secure her before Efnel does."