A thick-planked old wooden door eased open with a deep groan, revealing the warmer, more personal interior of the headmistress's office.

This room was the only one in the building that seemed to have money in it.

Not good money, exactly. There were no fine rugs or tasteful paintings, no comfortable chairs. Instead, the room was rich in paperwork. In contrast to the rest of the building's blandness, here, the sheer density of administration gave the room an almost luxurious weight. It suggested resources, dedication, and fearlessness. The headmistress herself seemed to belong to the furniture. Everything about the office was practical, severe, and slightly overbuilt, as though someone had decided that the proper defense against chaos was to bury it under paperwork.

She stood behind her desk as the two mercenaries stepped into the middle to give their report. She didn’t look up from her records and newspapers until Koncel addressed her with a greeting.

Koncel: “Good evening. Hopefully we’re on time.”

Liberi, smaller, more ghostlike in the gloom, stood beside his partner with a more or less vacant stare.

The revolutionary groups. In the wake of an unprecedented civil war, and following the collapse of numerous government structures and the desertion of authority figures—leaving behind only unprotected borders and an outraged and rebellious populace— those groups—having won the previous conflicts and seized territories and arsenals—represented the sole force maintaining order in a system that, idealistically speaking, should have been destined to regenerate itself and start operating on entirely new and wholesome foundations, thanks to decent and capable people at the helm.

Alas, despite all the efforts in the world, this proved not to be the case everywhere. In the struggle for survival, the corruptibility of some prevailed over reason. In the name of ambition, needless sacrifices continued. And sometimes, from abysses that no one ever hoped to explore, other forces—other unknown, veiled “willings”—managed to surge to the surface to take control of minds and actions, cruelly exploiting the weaknesses of a civilization that, ultimately, was never enough prepared.

Liberi, as far as his hatred and detachment spanned, and despite what he might have said before, thinks about many of these matters sometimes. The Bullseye office was definitely engaging in a hazardous tactic from working with Koncel, an ex special operator of the global powerhouse country known as Neherval, and Liberi himself, a misunderstood life form artificially brought to existence by the underground, untouchable scientific organism known as the Alchemists' Society, who's already posed a threat in many different places of the world.

Headmistress: "Koncel. Liberi. You have the thanks of your clients from the Headwaters Kingdom, and a salute from our office for having accomplished your mission."

Headmistress: "Do allow me, however, to address the situation regarding this 'Robert', and his unknown whereabouts."

Koncel nodded: "Dear Headmistress. What we know about Robert Graleman is that he was the nephew of the mafia lieutenant of the same name. He served as a messenger and was held in high regard by his clan, but his position was reportedly undermined after he attempted to disrupt the human trafficking operations between his organization and the Alchemists. They therefore added him to the shipment—"

She interrupted his speech with a simple, perplexed raise of her eyebrow, picking up her glasses slightly higher on her nose: "...? Pardon me? This information doesn't correlate at all with what the Headwaters Kingdom had sent us. The name here isn't even Graleman."

Liberi, suddenly intrigued, exchanged one look of confusion with his colleague.

Koncel: "...What do you mean? It's only the key points of the description we were provided with by the office."

Headmistress: "That's... Impossible— wait, I'm checking if there could've been a mistake. The clients have never expressed the need to recover a member of that clan." She's started flicking through and browsing what she had, "Could you please hand me your own document?"

Liberi walks forward and hands her the notes and journals he's been carrying. It does not take long for her to finish comparing, "This... doesn't make any sense... The original dossier is about the individual known as Robert Sweiss, student of the duke of Hoffitch in the Headwaters Kingdom and a suitor for his daughter's hand. He was supposed to have gone on a journey to hone his skills, but instead became a target of the Graleman clan's mobsters."

Koncel: "But that's... "

Liberi: "How did they track him down as he went traveling?"

Headmistress: "Our agents have already reported cases in which instances of the Alchemists' Society have been operating undercover in various transportation sectors. They had to call in their mobster 'soldiers' as soon as they spotted the man."

Koncel: "...How should we begin to explain such inconsistencies?"

The lady was almost exasperated, it wasn't in the office's habits to handle information so carelessly, which made it even more bothering. Liberi gave her an eye that was jaded, but in a second, he spoke with a tone all the more good-natured and cheerful, albeit kind of unsettling— "I know that, in principle, we’re supposed to be treated as mere mercenaries. But Koncel and I joined this office for very specific reasons. It’s not just because you chose to make an exception to your security standards. Furthermore, given our backgrounds and the enemy you’re facing, I don’t think it’s actually in your best interest, in the long run, to hide the truth about what’s going on from us."

The headmistress gazed up with a serious face: "What are you talking about?"

Liberi spoke calmly: "I'm trying to figure out what I don't know. For example, why does the Headwaters Kingdom desire the capture of those individuals? Of the five we rescued, only Cinderella originates from there. And even though we know these people are considered special—at least by the Kingdom's definition—Koncel and I don't have any more information than that."

His head tilts to one side with indifference, "I'd like to tell you... You might have a confidentiality clause to reconsider here, since our rivals apparently have a step ahead of us... "

Headmistress: "A step ahead...? Did you learn something during your mission? Would you just cut to the chase?"

He ever so slightly smirked: "First. You tell me, did you make sure this info anomaly doesn't apply to every other subject as well between our documents?"

Her eyes fluttered at this remark. Her head comes back down to the files, and she reads once again as fast as she was able to, frowning with frustration.

Then, "No... This anomaly is exclusive to one entry... The identity of all other subjects corresponds just fine..."

The humanoid's smirk grew a bit wider. As he took back the documents from the desk, he added, "In that case, we'll continue this conversation another time. Koncel and I need to go see the database administrator—the person who passed us this 'list'. "

Headmistress: "What? Wait, you're not authorized to interact with the database or its staff!"

Liberi: "That was before. Right? I indeed learned from that gang's boss own words that the Alchemists somehow managed to find out about me and Koncel, and our affiliation to your office."

Headmistress: "..."

She went pale... Liberi took on a straightforward, severe expression this time, "Your agency went and made the bad call of picking up a mission beyond your capacity. Believe me, you don't want to keep this fight up blindfolded. So do us this favor, before we have another thing coming."

•

•

•

Koncel, reflective, decided to follow Liberi's lead on this one. The latter hadn't really told him about this detail before either, that thanks to whatever means, the current occupation and affiliation of both of them had been leaked after all this time...

A soft glitter of prudence went across his eyes as they advanced down the hallways, towards the database room, and he asked without further delay, "Is this supposed to mean those Alchemists could plan on targeting you one day or another?"

Liberi slowed in his track, "Me? And what about you, my dear Koncel Carchmünd?"

Koncel: "...What do you even imagine such a faction would have against me?"

Liberi: "You tell me. I did mention each other's respective reasons for working with Bullseye. I started specifically for the objective of disrupting and sabotaging the clandestine resource smuggling network, the one the Alchemists' Society has maintained and spread out across the globe, helping them sustain and supply their subterranean civilization. I found out about Bullseye because their many clients suffered from intrusions and illicit diversions within their own sectors..."

Koncel: "Earlier today you said you would never have to confront the Alchemists."

Liberi: "Exactly. 'Cause I'm literally someone who definitely can't afford getting in direct contact with them. I forcefully escaped their facilities, 6 years ago."

Koncel: "..."

Liberi: "Now that I might've ended up in their radar again, I need every single piece of intel I need. But, again, you tell me about what this implies for you."

"After all, I don't know your reasons."

Despite the guards' warnings, the two of them managed, after descending lower into the building, to make their way into the center of the cavernous room crowded with whirring terminals and server racks. No time was wasted, and they presented the files in their possession, calmly insisting for a verification. The administrator's attempts at refusal were fruitless, and he was pressed to tend to the computers and try to tell them more about these inconsistencies.

Liberi, whispering to Koncel behind the man's back, "Man, computers always gave me a headache."

Koncel: "Hmph. The irony for someone born in a lab."

Liberi: "The whole thing was actually a bit more rituals and incantations y'know..."

Admin: "A-ah...! Y-you guys are actually right...!"

He points to the screens... "I've opened your mission's register, and there's indeed wild contradictions between your version of the dossier and that of the database...! Robert Olaf Prinzi, a former college professor turned itinerant health worker since the revolution! This has nothing to do with what has been given to you!"

Koncel frowned, "So that makes three different profiles, three different persons we're not even sure they exist."

Liberi: "...Now, I can give you my theory."

Koncel: "Hm?"

The man with all ten of his fingers hovering shakily above the keyboards watched them as they moved back to a corner of the room to converse privately once again...

Koncel crossed his arms, Liberi asked him with a low voice, "You know what the Essoculi are, don't you?"

He glared down at him for a couple of seconds before answering, "...Yeah. Some sort of... Demigods. Beings either human or artificial that are supposed to hold unrivaled reality altering abilities."

Liberi: "Right. Reality benders."

Koncel: "You seem to have come up with an explanation then?"

Liberi: "Listen, the Alchemists have used to kidnap the people they deemed as 'gifted' across the world, bring them to their underground facilities, and make them into Essoculi. I don't know what the Headwaters Kingdom's intentions are towards those same people, but as we speak, the Alchemists already possess the powers of some if not many Essoculi, and they would not be against the use of them to eliminate their opponents."

Liberi: "But there's an issue with that, reality bending is faulty and unstable when casted too far into a distance."

The taller mercenary blinked in realization, bringing the palm of his hand in front of his mouth, "Wait. Um... I think I know what you're getting at." Liberi held an intense gaze while Koncel turned briefly, looking back at the agglomerated computer screens around the room. He muttered, "...Are you seriously trying to tell me these errors in the dossier could be the consequence of those instabilities?"

Liberi: "I believe this has more likelyhood to be the case than just a banal typo or coincidence."

Koncel: "Tsk. Are you sure you're not getting a little too nervous?"

Liberi: "I can see it in your eyes too."

Koncel's lips parted as if to counter, but in the end, no sound came out. He clenched his jaw and raised his head to the ceiling, sorting through the information in his mind. Both he and Liberi would begin to feel more preoccupied, more alarmed at the eventuality that, with so little warning, that enemy could have broken through their vigilance. In fact, although the feeling of uneasiness was shared, the exact reasons and implications for the both of them were different. They could sense each others' disquiet, but that was when Liberi gave his colleague a little tap in the arm, saying as he started turning to the exit, "I'm gonna go check on our bunch of rescued weirdos—"

Koncel: "Wait. Why exactly?"

Liberi: "Juuust making sure, that's all. The Alchemists might or might not have done something, so I'm just gonna..."

Koncel: "You think they tried to conceal someone? One of theirs. Right?"

Liberi: "..."

Koncel: "I know you hate anything that'll make you do 'thinking', but help me get this cleared up for one sec. These info anomalies, it's 'cause they altered reality and the identity of some 'Robert', having us all consider him part of the rescue mission, while he could just very well be an intruder sent by their ranks, so they could get to you and me easier."

There were... A whole lot of troublesome gaps in such a spontaneous theory, but Liberi didn't stay put any longer, he dashed out of the doorway, leaving Koncel still hesitating and doubtful. The admin guy casting a few disturbed glances back at them trying not to bother, ended up stuttering meekly, "U-um... Should I do... Anything else—"

Koncel snapped sharply, suddenly clenching his fist, turning on his heel toward the worker and pointing his finger at him. “I want you to show me the profiles belonging to me and Liberi immediately. Get moving.”

epilogue

(↓)