I looked at myself in the mirror as I attempted to tie my tie. I'll admit this was my first time actually wearing one, so I was a bit on the losing side here.

After failing for the 100th time and shooting scowls of failure at myself via my reflection. Aviorah noticed my dilemma and shook her head in disappointment. Finally, after getting it all out of her system , she approached me and assisted me with tying it.

"Thank-."

My sentence was cut off midway due to her tightening the tie. It had so much force behind it that I almost assumed she was attempting to strangle me, but was she? I'll chalk it up to a maybe. I could never really understand the actions of women.

At last, I was fully dressed in the standard uniform, which is a white dress shirt, gunmetal grey tie, black soft pants, and black dress shoes. I am not sure how they expect us to be mobile in this kind of footwear, but none the less, I must say that I look rather dapper.

I looked over to Aviorah, who basically wore the same thing but the pants were switched out for a black skirt, which was slightly above knee length. She still maintained some of her personal style by wearing black fishnet tights with it.

We were able to still wear a personalized version of the uniform, as long as it didn't stray too far from the original.

A few moments later, Midori brought us our own beige trench coats, which were a complete symbol of Umbella.

Both Aviorah and I threw them on, and now I can say we're officially looking like investigators.

Midori faked wiping a tear from under her left eye and said, "They grow up so fast."

I squinted my eyes at her and replied, "Do you not have a mode where you're not nonchalant or playful?"

Midori gave me a deadpan expression, "Yes, that's the mode where I like to kill."

I instantly put my hands in the air and said, "Well, being playful and nonchalant is very trendy nowadays."

Aviorah sighed and said, "That female investigator noted that our personalities wouldn't mesh well, but I think she has the power of foresight and was actually speaking about you two." "You guys are like siblings who can't fully get along."

Midori waved her hand in the air and said, "I think I'll identify myself as his mother, seeing that he keeps getting punished every time he attempts to face me. Maybe that's just his kink."

I sighed, "I am not even going to dignify that with a response."

Aviorah snickered a bit when she heard that. For the sake of my pride and patience, this entire dynamic between us will just always be a 2v1 battle.

Midori put her hands in her skirt pockets and said, "Let's set some ground rules before I send you off. As investigators, you have the authority to apprehend humans who are either conspiring with the Witches or aspiring to be one. You are required to detain these individuals without killing them. Unless you're given the green light, don't assume you can automatically do that. After all, Umbella is a beacon of hope for humanity in regards to this Witch problem, so if we go around killing them, then who are we really protecting?"

Aviorah curiously asked, "What about if a human attempts to kill us? Do we have the green light then? "

Midori shook her head, which gave her the answer she was looking for.

I complained, "That doesn't sound quite logical. So the person can potentially attempt to kill us but we have to subdue the threat and gently pat them on the back for trying?

Midori shrugged and replied, "Them's the rules. If you have an issue, then I suggest you pull out an Ouija board or hold a séance so you can voice your complaints to the people who made them, because those folks are long dead and I don't think anyone will bother to change it."

Sigh. Midori is a bit too cheeky.

I exhaled loudly and said, "Fine, I get it."

Midori smiled and said, "Perfect. So now for your assignment. You are tasked with investigating a small rural village which has reports of a Witch residing in it. Reports say that people are going missing in and around the village. If you confirm there is one there, you are to engage and dispose of the Witch at once. Remember, failure is not an option because with every failure, it may cost more than a few lives."

Aviorah pulled her skirt down a little and asked, "What tier do you assume the Witch to be?"

"Hmm, due to the reports, I would say between tier 5 and 6, anything stronger than that and we would have dispatched an associate or regular class investigator instead of you juniors. We do want to slay the thing and not feed it."

I replied in a sarcastic tone, "Gee, thanks for not considering us an appetizer."

"Now that everything is settled and you have been given your assignment, you will be required to give status updates while investigating, before engaging in combat, and after the combat has ended. You will do some in the form of messenger parchment. It works by holding a piece of parchment between your fingers and imbuing it with an aura while thinking about the person you want to send it to first, then the message. After you finish recording the message, release the paper, and the message will automatically be received by the person. So let's try it."

She gave me a sheet of black parchment paper and I followed her instructions. First I held the thin sheet of paper in between my right index and middle finger, then imbued it with my aura. I thought of the person, then the message I wanted to convey, and released it.

The sheet of paper instantly burst into flames and disappeared. Suddenly, the message I sent with my mind appeared in the form of floating words in front of Midori.

"Ok, great, you have gotten the hang of it quickly. We use this method as it would be quicker than pulling out a cell phone, it makes little to no noise and it can not be traced."

After saying that, she gave me 5 sheets of paper and also gave the same amount to Aviorah.

She then turned to us and said, "Remember, the first assignment is always the hardest, so please try not to die."

Aviorah replied, "So you do care about us."

Midori instantly replied, "If you die on your first assignment under my mentorship, then that will look bad on me, so yeahhh."

Well, she could have had me fooled there. Anyway, off to our first assignment!