Tale 33
Assassins

"Have you heard??"

"Someone attempted to assassinate Phantom Emperor! Isnt it the two newbies of our guild??"

"They failed.. But I heard that Phantom Emperor is searching for them!"

"I cant believe they survived that!"

Naging mainit na topic sa ibat-ibang sulok ng Aralon ang balita tungkol sa assassins na nakatakas matapos tangkain na patayin si Phantom Emperor! Lalo't higit sa mga assassination guild na alam kung gaano kahirap ang job offer na ito.. Alam ng lahat na wala pa kahit isang nakakabalik ng buhay matapos tanggapin ang trabaho. Agad nilang pinaimbistigahan ang pagkatao ng dalawang assassin.

"I told you not to worry." Saad ni Nova habang ngumunguya

Kasalukuyan silang nasa Open Diner, ang cafeteria ng guild.

"Hindi ako makapaniwala.. Wala sa itsura nila na makakasurvive sila.." Desmond

Nakahinga din ng maluwag si Nixon matapos matanggap ang balita.

"They will be back soon." Nova

"For sure mahihirapan silang makabalik sa guild. Hinahanap sila ng mga tauhan ni Phantom Emperor." Desmond

"Trust me, there wont be any problem." Saad ni Nova.. Alam nya na may kakaibang kakayahan si Amara.. Hindi ito isang pangkaraniwang tao.

"Ahm... I thought there's no female assassins??" nagtatakang tanong ni Nixon at pasimpleng itinuro ang isang babae

"Oh? That? That's Natalia.. She's really badass.. She's good looking too... Well, not just good looking.. She's hot—the kind that could make you stop walking in the street and get hit by a car." Desmond

Napailing na lang si Nova sa sinabi ng babaerong si Desmond..

"The only female assassin we have is Natalia. She was sent to a very secretive mission. Kakabalik nya lang." Nova

"She's rude though." Desmond

"Don't forget she's a Class S. She can naturally look down on us." Nova

"She have this evil aura.. She always looks bored. She never cared about Job Offers. She's probably more corcern about what to eat for dinner later more than anything!" Desmond

"Do you hate her?" curious na tanong ni Nixon

"It's not hate.. It's love.. Unfortunately, she turned him down, big time." Si Nova ang sumagot para kay Desmond

"I just thought she's really pretty! And hot! It's not like that okay?" Desmond

Hindi sya pinansin ni Nova.. Naging abala ito sa pagkain.

"It's all in the past! Before I met you! Bakit ka nagagalit?? Huhu.." pangungulit ni Desmond kay Nova

Hindi sya pinansin ni Nova.

"THEY'RE BACK!!" sigaw ng isa pagpasok nya sa pinto ng Open Diner

Naagaw nito ang atensyon ng lahat..

"Who??"

"Who's back??"

"Natalia returned last night.. Isnt it a bit late to announce that?"

"Wait.. No! It's probably them!"

"Eh?? Who??"

"Mar!! And Aurio!!"

Tama sila ng hinala.

Dalawang pigura ang makikitang naglalakad papasok.

They walk like badass assassins.. They have this steady dispassionate calmness. Sooo professional!~

Habang namamangha sila sa napaka-cool na entrance ng dalawa, biglang natalisod si Aurio sa sarili nyang paa.

"..........." reaksyon ng lahat

"Pfffftt.." Desmond

Patay malisyang tumayo si Aurio at ipinagpatuloy ang paglalakad.

The two of them gained a respectable reputation by surviving the wrath of Phantom Emperor, only to be ruined by Aurio's clumsiness.

"When I saw you fall—" Amara

"You thought, 'Wow, what a loser'.." putol ni Natalia kay Amara

"Exactly." Sang-ayon ni Amara dito

"Stop rubbing salt to my already wounded heart!" reklamo ni Aurio

Amara simply laugh at him.. She then look at Natalia..

"And you must be?" Amara

"Natalia."

"I'm Mar... Let's be friends." Nakangiting saad ni Amara..

"Not interested." Natalia

"Pity. I like your rotten soul." Amara

Nginitian sya ni Natalia.. "Odd.. I like your wickedness too."

Nakangiti silang nag-handshake.

Nagpalipat-lipat ang mga mata ni Aurio mula kay Amara patungo kay Natalia at pabalik muli kay Amara.. He have a bad feeling about this.. It feels like a devil meeting another devil.. And they're smiling at each other too... Is the world going to end soon??

"Friends!!" tawag ni Desmond sa kanila

"Welcome back." Saad ni Nova pagkaupo nila sa mesa

"Why did you dragged me here?" Natalia

"So we can chat.." Amara

"Hi.." Bati ni Desmond kay Natalia

Hindi sya pinansin nito.

"Congrats, the two of you were promoted to Class B despite failing the mission." Saad ni Nova

"Are you being sarcastic??" Aurio

"No." Nova

"........" Aurio

"A lot of rumors says that you two are very strong!" Nixon

"You should be careful from now on. Some people might try to harm you." Nova

"Yes, not everyone is convince by your strength." Desmond

"If they want to die early, let them come to me." Casual na tugon ni Amara

"Why are you so confident? Eveyone wants to kill us!" kinakabahang saad ni Aurio

"You're such a scaredy cat." Komento ni Amara

"I heard you have the strenght of ten men." Natalia

"Close, but no." Amara

"I head that you can move so fast!" Nixon

"Depends." Amara

"How fast??" Natalia

Napaisip si Amara... She can pause time, so that's faster than light..?

"Not sure. Speed of light??" Amara

"Sonic Knife is the fastest assassin! According to rumors, he can travel at the speed of sound!" Desmond

"I heard about that too.. He can usually kill his victims within 10 seconds upon contact." Nova

"But isnt light faster than sound??" curious na tanong ni Nixon

"Of course! There is nothing faster than light!" Desmond

"That's not always true." Nakangiting sabat ni Amara

"What?! Is there really something even faster than light?" hindi makapaniwalang tanong ni Aurio

"Of course.." Amara.. She can pause time.

"No way! Light travels faster than anything!" Desmond

"Wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it will always find that darkness is already there, waiting for it.." Sabat ni Natalia

Ngumiti si Amara.. "Your mind is so dark. I like it.."

"Thanks for the compliment." Natalia

"That's obviously not a compliment!" kontra ni Aurio

"Really?" hindi interesadong tugon ni Natalia

Muling napuno ng diskusyon nina Aurio at Desmond ang kanilang mesa.. It's mostly rubbish so the author decided to skip that part.

Hindi sila pinansin ni Natalia. She looks bored as usual. Nakatulala lang sya sa harap ng pagkain. Tila ba ipinapanalangin nya na sana maging isa na lang syang bato sa sunod nyang buhay.

"Natalia, will you be accepting new jobs??" curious na tanong ni Nova para ibahin ang usapan.

"It's too troublesome. So, no." tugon nito

"Ang tagal mo na dito sa guild pero bihira ka lang tumanggap ng trabaho." Desmond

"Most jobs are too boring." Natalia

"Is that your reason for turning down the class S mission three months ago? You're the only qualified candidate for the job.. You think it was boring?" Desmond

"No.. I'm just not in the mood that time." Natalia

"You can be the perfect assassin.. You're just too lazy." Komento ni Amara

"Im not lazy.. Trees converts carbon dioxide into oxygen. Im trying to piss off nature. Im busy converting oxygen into carbon dioxide all day, it's tiring." Natalia

Natawa si Amara.. "I thought Im the laziest person on the entire planet."

"Breathing is a tough job." Natalia

"Are you stupid? Breathing keeps us alive! You're unbelievable!" Desmond

"That's exactly why it's such a pain. It's tiring, but if I stop, I'll die." Natalia

Nagkatinginan sina Aurio at Desmond.. They easily understood each other, 'This girl is nuts!'

The gang continue to merrily chat.

Not knowing that someday, the new friend they acquired, will break their hearts.

~~~~~~~~~