(I)

Some time ago in the world of Elydea, two women from Campanella's offensive squads were hired as assassins due to their incredible combat skill. What they didn't know was that they were trying to fulfill a hit on each other the whole time.

"Understood. If I wander in Galleria, she'll come to me. I am certain of this information."

Fortunata, a strong woman who used to lead an offensive squad in the old war, seemed cold on the outside but was quite caring and loving on the inside. She didn't want her squad to fall because of any shortcomings, so she'd put her feelings aside for the important stuff.

"Contact with the target established. God, obviously I have my eye on her, idiot. She's walking toward Galleria Speranza right now. If she steps in there, I'll lose contact, but at the same time I can't do anything in such a public area; I'll immediately get arrested."

Vincenza, while also strong, would get visually angry and impatient with squad mates and leaders. She wasn't a leader or anything like that, not because she couldn't be one, but because she didn't want to be one. She believed her best qualities were to be 'quick and smooth' in battle, not sitting in an office strategizing for hours while also lost in formal meetings.

"Huh... she's an old war lead."

The old war Campanella squad uniform is composed of a simple button-up shirt, a complementary bow tie, a nice black knee-length fabric skirt, and a tailored black jacket with red tones. Conveniently, both of them wore their old war uniforms to this day. Fortunata had black hair and red glasses, considerable assets, and let's not forget she was also quite tall. Vincenza's hair was blonde and was known for being pretty short.

(II)

"I went inside the stupid Galleria. I had no other choice. I'll just follow her until she leaves and happens to be alone somewhere; that's all I have to do," Vincenza smirked as she trailed behind, acting as if she was a regular visitor.

Vincenza didn't really know the motive behind Fortunata's visit; she was only given her descriptors and current location. "There's one way I am able to confirm that she's following me," Fortunata continued walking as if nothing happened.

"Well. It's stupid late, and the red alley underneath isn't even hosting something. Wait, don't tell me," Vincenza gasped and hid behind a pillar as she realized her mistake.

Fortunata went directly into the blue alley; while there was only one entrance, there were two exits. Not to mention tracking her from within the Archiver's place was impossible. The place was massive; there were also severe drawbacks, such as the monochromatic vision and other unusual human reactions to the environment.

"Kill me.... What do I do now!? Why is she here at such a stupidly late time? Ugh," Vincenza became visibly stressed as she tried to come up with a solution.

(III)

The blue alley made your vision all gray as if colors were washed out entirely; it didn't really make sense for something called the blue alley, but as a trade-off, human needs such as eating or drinking water were erased momentarily. A massive bookshelf towered over the alley; the books in it stood firm, ignoring the laws of gravity, and the posters around were flipped in directions that didn't really make sense.

"Where would she even be here? This place is bigger than I remember." Vincenza walked around the blue alley, unable to cover her tracks in such a massive place. Fortunata was nowhere to be seen despite it being under a minute from when she entered the place.

"You know what. I'll just pick a book and sit at a table and act like I'm reading; surely... that'll work."

Vincenza sat at a table close to the first exit, hoping that she'd be able to see when Fortunata would leave. "There are two exits, but normal people don't use the second exit. It's the back of the galleria; it's kind of scary back there."

Suddenly, a tall woman sat next to her; she appeared to be holding a book as well. "Oh, hello! You're reading Shattered Contract, right? What part are you on?"

Her worst fear had occurred; next to her wasn't an ordinary tall woman; it was her target all along. "Oh! You were also part of the old war?"

Vincenza gulped. "I-I. Yes. I was part of some offensive squad. Um, you're-you're. You're a leader from there, right? And I just started reading... I'm not too familiar with this series."

"That's weird because you're on the last chapter. Anyway, I used to lead one of the offensive squads. You remind me of a friend from there; she was pretty cute, but my time with her was cut off relatively quick. It made me upset. But I held my head high and never cried," Fortunata smiled; she seemed really proud of herself.

(IV)

"Uh. What happened? Well, if I can ask, obviously," Vincenza gulped while trying to ask that simple question.

Fortunata turned to her and continued to smile. "It's not a long story. During one of our most important missions, she wanted to prove her worth to me. Unfortunately, she disappeared and was quickly dismissed as dead. She always placed really low in ratings and feared that she'd be removed from my squad, even if I told her it wouldn't happen."

"She tried to do something so risky for nothing. I blamed myself for it ever since; maybe I didn't do enough to make her feel welcome; maybe she didn't like how I treated her. I'll never know now," Fortunata had tears come down; it was unlike her to be so vulnerable in front of others.

"Wait. Forte? You're Madam Forte? You always made me feel welcome; I loved how you treated me, and I always felt so happy around you. I'd get mad at people so easily, but you always saw past my issues. I just. I ran away. I didn't feel like I was doing enough for you and ran away. Since then, I haven't been able to find you again. I've always wanted to apologize, but I was scared. I didn't know what to do."

Fortunata grabbed Vincenza and started hugging her. Vincenza's eyes shot open in surprise, and they both started crying.

(V)

"I was trying to kill you, by the way," Fortunata laughed.

"Me too... wait, huh?" Vincenza looked confused.

After some time, they realized someone at their old squad had set them up. It wasn't an actual hit on each other, but a way for them to reconcile after so long. "I remember why you're so lucky now; if you were anyone else, I would've probably killed you before you even entered the alley."

Fortunata continued to smile. "Well. I'm glad. I'd say you'd be an S rank now with your skills."