"Hmm? What? Kill Kharn? But why?"

"It was revealed that Baron Kharn planned to desert our country. Our empire couldn't tolerate it, and thus, they asked you to dispose of him silently. It was worth 150 points."

I was taken aback by the organization. Kharn hadn't done anything wrong in the eyes of the law. Yet they wanted to kill him just because they couldn't accept a level 7 mage leaving? They really made us do their dirty work, didn't they?

"Are you telling me to kill my friend's father?" I growled at R25B.

"There was another commission. It was a 'protect Baron Kharn' mission for a week. You could take that if you wanted. This one's worth 250 points and is divided among whoever takes the commission and defends Baron Kharn during that time."

"Huh?"

"Yup. The infamous contradicting commission is here. It was the first time I saw it in my short life working here. Please remember that it will be fine if you don't take the commission. I am just an operator. My job is simply to inform you. I also have mixed feelings about contradicting commissions since we might have to kill our fellow coworkers. But this commission was about your friend, right? I just want to tell you. Good night, R666. No regret between us, alright?"

"Thank you for telling me. Bye-bye." I closed the line as I slept in my pajamas. Killing Safira's father, huh? He said it as if it was my choice, but he knew if I ignored this, I would regret it. Safira might be kidnapped by other reapers for their selfish gain. If I chose a defense mission, then Safira would go abroad, and we would never meet again. Must I choose the assassination mission? Should I kill my friend's father? If I did, Safira would go to the orphanage. She would face the same fate as Alicia. I would make my friend an orphan.

I didn't take the lesson that day too well. All I did was gaze upon the board while staring at Safira. Surprisingly, she still attended classes. During our lunch, she was the first one to confide in me about the movement.

"Lady Eli, I am sorry, but I didn't think we would meet ever again. The reapers were pressing on us, and my father couldn't take it anymore. He had expended most of his assets for knights, and if this keeps going, he will go bankrupt," Safira said. I could only stare at her in awe, just like that Pikachu meme.

"Safira… don't leave. What about your studies?" I tried to plead with her. "At least you can stay with us until the situation calms down. I will protect you. I promised."

"Yes. Count Shadowsteps will protect you, Lady Safira. Lady Eli will protect you. We can't protect you if you are so far away." Alicia nodded. "Don't run. Let's fight those reapers together."

I wanted to argue with Alicia. We didn't do anything. It was all Baron Kharn's machinations. He lied, but I couldn't say anything. This was awful. He made it look like the reapers were the bad guys, even though he was also a crook.

"My father has decided to flee the country. We will head to the Eastern Theocracy. My father said our ally in the theocracy will protect us from the reapers."

"Safira, must we part?" I asked once more. "Do you want us to part?"

"But, my father said…." She nodded down while wearing a sad frown. Ahh, I forgot that we are still kids. Even when we were given power, we could not defy our fathers. She knew deep down in her heart that her father was wrong. Yet she could not defy him. I should have known. I now knew what to do. Baron Kharn was not guilty by the empire's law. It was his right to decide Safira's fiancé. It was also his right to move out of the country. But, for my friend, I had to kill him.

"R25B, let's kill him," I replied. However, unlike other times, I was not excited for the kill. My voice was heavy and reluctant.

---

This empire is useless. My family has been loyal for over 200 years, yet what do we get in return? Ridicule and contempt. Before this empire gained its independence, my family was loyal. Yet, we stayed baron. Others surpassed us and held us in contempt as eternal barons. So humiliating. Those new nobles only worked a minuscule amount, and they got to be a count. Some even got to be a duke! How unfair.

Facing such unfairness, I chose to leave this empire. If I moved into the theocracy, as Safira's father, a level 7 mage, we would get a treatment similar to a family of a duke. Money and honor will come automatically to me. Moreover, I could become a real duke if I moved into one of theocracy's vassals. Sure, they were all small kingdoms, but It's better to be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond. It might just be for a moment, only during Safira's lifetime, but it was still better than here. That Count Dester, I only owed him a thousand gold. Yet now, the interest alone was a hundred gold per month. I won't marry Safira to him. Let him and his debt rot. He won't be able to sue me in a different kingdom.

Those useless knights too. I have paid 100 gold a month for their protection, and all they did was circling me for two months. The empire must have planned to ditch me. That's why they sent that letter to threaten me and let me rent these expensive knights without them doing anything.

Let's use the money to hire reapers instead. As they say, fight poison with poison. If I hired knights, they definitely wouldn't let me leave the country. So, I have to fire them all, then hire reapers for my escape. If I hired reapers, they wouldn't kill me. Making the threat letter ineffective. If they kill me, their customer, their reputation will be thrown into the dirt. I won't spend a single dime on the empire any more. Let's hire those reapers to leave this country. With Safira, the Kharn family will prosper.

"Boss. Are you ready?" Five reapers came forth to me. They will be the ones to guide me out.

"Yes. Let's go to the academy. I have to pick up my Safira," I answered. Bishop Ledger said he would welcome me as the father of a level 7 mage. So, I don't really have to pick up Safira during her busy schedule in school. But we will migrate. I might as well bring out all of my assets and tell Safira to catch me at theocracy later. She is a mage. She could even ask her count's daughter friend to guard her. Everything is going to be okay.

As we went nearer to the academy, three figures blocked my advance. One of them was so small and clad in eerie darkness, while the other two merely wore masks. My reapers were combat-ready. Several of them whispered to each other.

"Shit. That small one is a famous reaper. Killer Rabbit. Be careful. Damn, if I knew that one was on the other side, I would not take this commission."

"Dogs of the empire. Think we could handle them?" one of them asked the other.

"What do you mean dogs of the empire? You guys were in the same organization, right? Why are they blocking our way?"

"It means their primary customer is the empire."

"Shit. I knew it. The empire was after my downfall! Get them! I paid a lot for your service!"

"Calm down. We will protect your life, alright. But killing them was not in the contract. Let's try to talk this one out. So, dogs of the empire. Will you leave? I have jobs to do." The petite guy threw a knife at me, which was deflected with a swing of a sword from my reapers. My heart skipped a beat to his first bloodlust.

"Be careful. These guys were seriously trying to kill him," the reapers assembled themselves, trying to protect me. I feel relieved knowing they wanted to protect me. It was worth it paying these guys. All drew their blades. Even though we were in the dead of night and were still in noble quarters. They had the audacity to fight and dirty this pristine noble quarters; what a barbaric lowborn. The fact that nobody came to me was a testament that the empire was colluding with these rats. Even though he was the smallest, he appeared to be the leader of the other two as he was the one who led the assault on me.

Everyone immediately charged toward them. The petite guy was able to overwhelm two out of my five reapers with black shadowy tentacles holding knives. A noble mage was joining them? As expected, dark mages were evil. To think a mage could stoop so low. However, that mage was powerful; a single swipe from him, and they were down.

"Watch out! He used paralyzing poison!" one of my reapers shouted. Why was I always surrounded by incompetents? I hired from the same organizations! Why did they give me these guys?

"Retreat!" Another of my reapers shouted as he threw a smoke ball at the petite guy. As smoke engulfed us, he grabbed me and led me out of the battle zone.

"Are you guys okay?" the leader asked as he was giving bottles of potion to the paralyzed member of his team.

"Yeah, we are fine. The other guy didn't use any poison." We recollected ourselves in some streets quite a distance away.

"If they used poison, why didn't you guys also use it? Such incompetents. Now, what do we do? Shit! What do we do now?" I almost shouted while accusing them of their incompetence.

"Well, boss, should we use it?"

"Nah. Paralyzing poison would be useless against him. He was using magic to control those knives."

"Should we use lethal poison then?"

"No. He would definitely have the antidote. The guild sold them in the same set. That 100P set. Moreover, he didn't seem to intend to kill us. Hey, R445."

"Yeah. He was menacing, but he didn't want to kill us yet. He didn't deliver the killing blow to R448 when he was down. But our job is to protect Kharn, and he seemed to intend to kill him as though he had a grudge against him. What should we do?"

"Can we escape from him?"

"Seemed easy enough. They just circled the academy." Another reaper peeked through the wall behind us. But we were almost two hundred meters away. With several intersections between us. How did he see them?

"I didn't see anything…"

"It was his skill. He could see through things. So, they didn't move?"

"Yeah, they simply patrolled around the academy."

"Damnit. They knew I was going to get Safira!" I replied.

"What now? Wait? Who is Safira? That wasn't in our contracts…."

"She is my daughter!" The reapers looked at each other dumbfounded. The leader then brought out a phone as i screamed at the reapers. "i insist to get her out from the academy!"

"Hello, R17B. Operator. The client said we must also save his daughter."

"That wasn't in the contract…" another reaper whispered, and the other reapers also nodded.

"What do you mean? Let me get the handler! he agreed that he would include Safira!" I said. I knew I had omitted some details to these money-hungry rats. But wasn't it a given that when I asked them to protect me, they must also include my family? They agreed to protect Safira too!

"Greetings, Baron Kharn. We agreed that our protection extended to your mage daughter only if you have her with you. I have said that you would have to get her out from the academy yourself." The handler was finally on the phone as the leader switched the phone to loudspeaker mode, I could hear his annoying voice as he tried to dodge the contract we agreed upon.

"You didn't say that! You merely said you will protect me along with Safira!"

"Indeed we are. But you can't really ask us to assault the academy, right? If Safira didn't want to come, we couldn't exactly protect her unless you stay close together in the same room with her for the week we agreed upon."

"Of course not. I asked you to get rid of the reapers from blocking my way. Safira will come when she meets me. She is a good, obedient child!"

"Now, I am sorry but I can't do that. While it is rare, a conflicting quest could still happen. You mentioned before that we sent a threatening letter to you, right? Would you like to put a counteroffer to cancel your assassination commission? I must say though. You are unlucky as your opponent is now a bit problematic; he has been known to ignore such counteroffers. But you can still try. I would not charge you if he ignored us again."

"Huh? He ignores commission? That guy is crazy. Boss, let's bail! We could not win if we confront him head-on." one of the reapers spoke up.

"Boss, they are coming this way!" the reaper told us in a panic. "It is still some way off, but they widened their patrol. They will be here in half an hour or less."

"Damn it! Fine! Let's leave. I will send Safira a letter later to come after me! Damn it." I cursed as I left the noble quarters in haste

-------

"R666, should we chase them?" R663 and R661 asked me.

"He will come to pick Safira up. He will come here later…" I answered, "Besides, our goal is not to kill him but to save Safira."

"Um… the commission was to kill him though." R25B interjected. I know, but that was not my mission. It was theirs.

"Is it okay to ignore the guild's order?" R661 asked worriedly, "What about our penalty?"

"Hmm? R25B said since we are new, we don't need to worry about the penalty. We are fine!"

"No, I am not! I am not included, alright! I will still get chewed out by my manager for letting this slide! Think about me!" R25B shouted from my earpiece. "Well, even if you fail, as long as Safira doesn't leave the country, it will be fine."

"But what can we do? Our opponent seemed experienced. They used a smoke bomb just now, right? And I don't want to kill them either. And now, they are gone. I don't know where they went."

"Well, you are right about that."

"Let's patrol the area. As long as we circle the academy, we will find them." I replied.

Little did I know I was mistaken. Deciphering the thoughts of foolish individuals proved to be more challenging than understanding the minds of the intelligent. It wasn't until two days later that I discovered Baron Kharn had departed the country without Safira.

I worked for two days for nothing!