I found myself seated in front of Dan-Oh's desk; he was already getting ready to send me onto another contract. His mood seemed to have changed since I first came here... I noticed a slight curve to his lips. But I just stared ahead, thinking back at what happened in the small community in the backstreets when I wiped out that Syndicate.
After I killed the leader there were still a few stragglers around, I dispatched them pretty quickly. Some of the local residents came out to see what was happening from the safety of their windows or porches. When I killed the last hooligan, I met up with the leader of this small community. The small old lady was the one who ordered the contract in the first place. I had collected the Ahn from her and then headed back.
It's not often that you see someone that old...
I suffered a few injuries to my dissatisfaction, but they wouldn't degrade my mission performance, the dual baton bastard hit my side, this coat is mainly for resisting swords, but it did dampen his impact a bit, so my bruise isn't too bad, my right calf got hit good... but a few painkillers will make it feel like nothing.
"Rxbot?" Dan-Oh looked at me with his eyebrow raised and I snapped out of my recollection.
"Oh, I was just reflecting on the mission, so what's this next contract about?"
I was scratching my chin and then I heard the door open behind me, it was the fixer with dual sickles I saw on the first floor when I first came here, the one with the mean glare. Even now he was giving me a mean look through his long hair, it seemed inky but had a subtle bluish-gray color near his bangs. His eyelashes were long and he had a lean build. His uniform was the same as the others downstairs, but he had an amber cord on his shoulder.
A cut above the rest?
Dan-Oh sighed seeing his fixer's behavior and started speaking.
"This is Kangyul, a Grade 5 Fixer. He acquired his fixer license when the cherry blossoms bloomed."
This old man can speak casually but chooses not to.
"You'll find yourself at this location, the contractor is waiting for you."
I stood up and looked down at the kid. "Let's finish this contract before it gets dark."
I started walking to the room's exit and the kid followed after me, but right when we left the office, he started getting lively.
"Iron Nest's dropout... the one kicked out by the Matron herself."
I was walking a few feet ahead of him but turned my head towards him slightly.
"I don't think you should've taken this contract; cockiness is what gets people killed."
His glares were even more intense than in the office!
"You should save all of that energy flapping your lips for when we start the actual contract."
The address given to us was to the northern part of this Nest, we're currently located in the western part of it. The train ride there was quiet, I was idly standing at the window looking at the fields of crops that were starting to grow again, the last harvest was a month ago.
The stone brick walls of Dan-Oh's area hadn't faded away though; there were a mix of stone walls with curved blue tiles with roads... I could see high-rise buildings pop up in the distance as well, a mix between old and modern architecture. Some with their lower stories having a Hanok style that transitioned into a more modern office look. We stepped off the train and headed to the 3rd tallest building in the area. It was the address we were told to head to, Kangyul and I showed our Fixer IDs to the receptionist and were led to our commissioner.
The receptionist hurried away as we opened the door.
What a mess...
There were papers scattered everywhere and some potted plants had their home spilled out onto the ground. In the middle of the mess was a woman with her dark silky hair tied into a ponytail. She was holding a cup of coffee looking at the window that was broken in, glass shards scattered all around the floor. Kangyul stepped up.
"We are the fixers sent here from... Stillharvest Office." He didn't seem to like addressing me in the same group as Stillharvest but it doesn't matter. The woman turned around, her ID card saying "Mira", seems like she was the branch manager of S Corp Harvest Logistics Branch. She looked through us with her dark calculating eyes and then started speaking.
"Your job is to find this Fixer named Farkas, he has stolen a very important document. You must recover it and dispose of him; we can't risk any leaks coming out."
She showed us several pictures taken of him.
"These were taken a few hours ago, we tightened up security in the northern entryway to the Nest which is where he was headed to."
North of the Nest, the Kurokumo clan has been active up there.
I also took a look at the photos, the man was wearing a cloak with a fur collar, his spiky hair went down to his waist and was messy. His arms seemed to be fully prosthetic same with his jaw and he seemed huge.
Before we left, she gave us some communicators so we could keep in contact with her and we started heading north, this whole time Kangyul and I didn't really interact outside of him giving me mean gazes.
"You seem really distrustful of me." we walked down the sidewalk, it seemed pretty empty here, though. I haven't seen a single pedestrian; I could see traces of people running away and suddenly heard him speak.
"I'll make the decisions."
Huh?
"I don't think you're competent enough to lead this mission, you came back injured from an easy contract..." He pointed at the damaged area of my pants that got hit by a club. "... I refuse to acknowledge you as a superior."
"You were kicked out of the most popular office in this Nest! Everyone here knows of you..." I heard something fall on the ground my gaze shooting at the pebble rolling towards the garbage bin. "...as a coward who runs away during a contract!"
"...What... are you talking about!?" I snapped my attention onto him. "Who ran away from what!" I placed my left hand over Enenra's grip towering over him.
"So, you're going to attack me now? For calling you out!!" He grabbed the sickles at his sides and was getting ready to attack me, but then I heard what I was waiting for. I heard the roof tile of a nearby wall crack. I pulled Enenra off the baldric and swung it in the direction of the noise.
SCREEECH!
I felt a heavy blow push me back a few feet as I held my stance down onto the sidewalk, small craters forming from the weight of the man upon me, his claws raked across Enenra's scabbard. His messy hair moved in the air as his red eyes stared intently into my shades. He leapt away using Enenra as his support, I stumbled back as he entered a hunched stance.
"Aww.... I wanted to take the strong one out first, oh well. You two will just be my entertainment." He held his claws to his sides; he wore a black sleeveless shirt under that coat of his.
I mimicked a drawing stance and coiled up my leg muscles. "You should've covered up your tracks better if you wanted to sneak up on me!" I glanced at the pockets of his coat, before charging at him, swinging Enenra at him. Its chains rattled as sparks flew off of his prosthetic forearm.
"It's always fu-" He got cut off as Kangyul sliced at his fleshy elbow, he managed to dodge it a small cut leaking blood, but the bastard was laughing. "Two on one!!! Hahaha!!! I just love fighting other FIXERS!!" I held out Enenra in front of me.
"Kan-" The little bastard is rushing towards him! I chased after Kangyul and put myself between him and Farkas, I wasn't able to put my guard up in time as we were both flown back a few meters.
This force...! A prosthetic arm... and augmented legs! This dude is way out of a grade 5's league... yet this kid is bull rushing him!
I rolled and deflected a claw thrust that was aimed at my face, he spun his body rapidly forcing me to continue deflecting his attacks sparks flying off of Enenra, I found a gap and slashed at his side. Kangyul got up and Farkas leapt back to make some distance.
My injured hand was throbbing because of his heavy hits, and I have a suicidal grade 5 on my hands... I sighed inwardly and gripped Enenra even tighter holding it out in front of me.