This chapter is brought to you by Soldier, Poet, King by The Oh Hellos.

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Early daybreak, Bel left the Monttevi compound and made his way to the Tower of Truth. Lord Eartha awaited him at the entrance. Standing beside him was Tobus, who looked at him with half-lidded eyes.

Bel swallowed and greeted the city lord with a slight bow.

"Good morning, Lord Eartha. Pardon my lateness."

Lord Eartha waved a hand. "No, you are just on time. Let us get you and Cat briefed for the mission."

Bel was confused by the mention of cats until he realized that was Tobus' codename.

He turned to the other boy and saw he barely batted an eye.

"Your uncle has informed me you opted for the name Peacemaker. Is that correct, Lord Belwyn?"

"A-ah." At the mention of his chosen name, Bel stuttered and felt his cheeks turn hot. "Yes. That is correct, Lord Eartha."

The man nodded, having confirmed the information he needed, and made a gesture to follow.

"Let us go. Time is of the essence."

---

Agents of Vesna were elite guards, assassins, and soldiers the city had to offer. Men and women of Vesna's Houses all strived to reach the levels of a Vesna agent.

Heir Protectors such as Tobus Arcadia and Belwyn Monttevi were expected to be a part of the ranks, though, in the history of Vesna, agents have never been younger than eighteen.

It all started with Lord Calypto sponsoring his nephew to join the ranks.

He had come to Chambers armed with a scroll the length of three men. The missions his nephew had taken since he had become a mercenary were many, and his success rate was nearly 99%.

"What about the 1%--"

"We docked a few points in the last one when he brought back children."

"..."

The man believed his nephew was ready to become an agent.

The rest of Chambers couldn't accept this, of course.

The boy had only turned thirteen. What kind of prodigy did Lord Calypto foolishly believe his nephew was?

Then they met this Tobus Arcadia once more. They had not seen him since the infamous Calypto Ball held in his honor.

No one knew what happened behind those closed doors, but Tobus Arcadia had become an agent of Vesna the very next day with the approval of Lord Eartha.

The Monttevis were, of course, furious by the decision. It was simply unfair for the Calypto's Heir Protector to join the ranks of Vesna's agents at such a young age. The boy still had spots!--the boy, did not, in fact, have spots. His skin was quite clear from the blood of his enemies.

He demanded that his own nephew be given a spot as possible.

It was unfortunate, however, that Belwyn was not a natural-born killer. His heart was good, and he was more of a soldier than a sneaky killer. He worked best in groups and thrived when given the chance to lead.

He had his talents and was proficient in the claymore. He was young and had skill, but comparing him to Tobus, who was once an executioner of The Arena, was horribly unfair.

Lord Monttevi vowed to the Chambers that his nephew would be a Vesna agent in a year's time, if not sooner. His pride and dignity relied on.

He would not let Valerius fucking Calypto, that unruly cat, the satisfaction of having a prodigious heir protector in the ranks so soon.

Thus, Belwyn was taken to Lord Monttevi's Special Boot Camp--which was really just the training ground of their compound--and trained like his life was on the line.

His spring, summer, fall, winter, and spring again, were ruined, but he believed his Uncle cried tears of pride and joy when Lord Eartha sent back the approval forms.

---

Nine wondered if he was really qualified to supervise children in this kind of scenario.

He had been unit captain many times since he became an agent, but he usually oversaw grown adults, not children.

He meant this in the kindest way, but the puppy was a boy, no matter how talented he was at using the claymore. Their bodies might be the same age, but Nine was not a real child.

This... kid had floundered for a mere second when Nine and the other two men under his command moved to kill the guards.

A second wasn't very long, but for missions, a momentary pause could end a life.

Nine clicked his tongue with slight disapproval as he snapped a man's neck.

'Let's go,' he signed.

His team started to move, and he was thankful that the Monttevi followed on instinct.

Their mission was to infiltrate a cultist group that was planning to usurp power from the imperial family and kill the leader.

A woman claiming to be a Saintess of a foreign goddess had been going around accusing the emperor of using black magic.

Long story short, the Temple got involved and started an investigation on the emperor to check whether or not he was a heretic, and the emperor was pissed by the several wasted weeks he would never get back.

Hence, the cultists needed to die.

Nine led his team up the makeshift temple the cultists had built. Intel had already scoped out the interior and passageways, and he already memorized the map.

Five floors off the ground, there should be a window.

The four Vesna agents climbed into the building with silent steps.

'Separate. Search. You know what to do.'

They all left in different directions.

The most important target of this mission was the woman claiming to be a Saintess. The order was to kill her on sight and burn the fake temple to the ground. The emperor didn't explicitly state that all cultists should die, but the fire would silence a majority of them.

Nine's main mission was to kill the target. The others were along the lines of evidence gathering and readying the explosives. He had one other man who was instructed to kill off the high-ranking members of the cult.

"Cat, can you hear me?"

The voice of his handler appeared in his head.

Nine tapped his temple lightly to ease the sting of the mana stone implant turning on.

"I do," he answered. "Is this Venus?"

"Yes," Venus replied, his voice high-pitched and like that of a young boy.

Lord Eartha had suggested his younger nephew take charge of the mission as his handler, but despite claims of Venus being a genius, he sounded much too young.

"Can you locate the target?"

"On it."

There was a pause before he heard Venus say, "Eighth floor. There's a staircase twenty feet to your right."

Nine climbed the stairs and reached the eighth floor. When he opened the door, he found himself in a solar.

"The door on your left, go through there and it will take you to a hall."

He found himself facing a short hallway with two more doors.

"Target is on the right."

"Status?"

"Unknown. Be careful."

Nine crept closer to the door.

"Wait! Hold on--Uranus, what is he doing there--!"

There was another sting at his temple as the line went dead.

He sighed inwardly.

Lord Eartha was adamant about using communication implants, and while Nine was no stranger to this type of tracking and transmission technology, he believed his handler should be more experienced.

But his trek record seemed to have spoken for themselves and Lord Eartha trusted him to guide the baby handler, rather than the other way around. Nine understood the reasoning. Despite being the youngest of Vesna's agents, he was far more experienced in the fields than most.

He opened the door and saw a scene that made him unsheath his daggers and strike.

The target's eyes widened in surprise before resentment filled them.

She held a sword in front of her, blocking Nine's attack. He placed his foot against the sword and kicked off, giving himself enough distance.

On the ground, behind the target, was Belwyn, bound and gagged, and surrounded by several more cultists.

Nine glared at the target and crossed his daggers.

She leered at him with an ugly smile. "So they've decided to send two little boys, did they? The emperor is a fool, boy, to sacrifice you and your friends."

He didn't answer. His stance remained defensive.

---

Rainra knew her days were numbered, but if she was to be a martyr for her goddess, then so be it.

Numerous men and women have been sent after her, and each of them has fallen under her and her people's blades.

But the emperor was such a cruel man. It was everything she expected of him, but this took the cake.

Two children faced her.

One, she easily defeated and restrained. The child was rummaging around places he shouldn't have. Rainra would not allow him to leave freely until he was questioned.

The second was unexpected. He had eyes that had seen fields of blood and minced flesh. There was a coldness in the boy's eyes that told tales of horror.

Rainra was familiar with men and women who had come back from battlefields with their minds dulled and void of humanity.

This boy exuded the exact same feeling as all the others.

"Are you a soldier, boy?" she asked.

Silenced answered her, and the boy tilted his head like a curious beast.

It was then that Rainra saw the flash of black leather around the boy's neck.

A collar.

Righteous fury bubbled inside her.

As if reading her mind, he pressed his hand against the golden circle decorating the front of his collar and narrowed his eyes dangerously at him.

"You're a slave to your House, boy. Whoever you serve sees you as nothing but a puppet. Look at the claim over your throat. Do you not see what you are, child?"

But that damn silence continued on.

Rainra believed she could save him, so she approached him step by step.

---

It was no wonder the target amassed so many followers. She was a sweet talker.

Nine was under no illusion that the woman was good.

She claimed she was a Saintess and believed her goddess would bring peace to the world, but reading the files on her made Nine judge her as nothing but a zealot who believed prayers would be the source of all healing.

Many of the sick small folks have died upon seeking aid from her cult. She denied them medicine and forbade healing magic and medicinal herbs to be given.

She was a self-righteous woman who's ignorance would kill.

And she offended the emperor.

Nine was to kill her and burn down her life's work. After he was done, no one would dare to mourn her and think of her as anything else but the worshipper of an evil god.

The target approached, believing herself his savior.

He read it in her tone and the way she gentled her eyes and lips.

The cultists behind her let down their guard as they watched her work her supposed magic on him.

From the corner of his eye, Nine spotted two shadows crouched on the beams of the ceiling.

Nine relaxed his stance.

The target drew close.

He moved and stabbed her shoulder.

She howled in agony and anger, and her feigned gentleness disappeared in an instant.

Her sword came down, and Nine dodged.

The cultists were shocked by the attack, taken off guard by their stupidity.

The rest of his team appeared from the ceiling and a slaughter began.

His target chased him, her sword, a large broad thing that weighed heavier than a claymore, swiped at him.

Nine used it as board several times, drawing close to slash, but immediately falling back right after. He led her through the area before she cornered him against a pillar.

He threw his dagger at her torso, and she blocked it.

He immediately dropped down and rolled away, flicking his wrist while she was distracted.

The target's head snapped back. Then she dropped her sword. She stumbled for a moment and then crumpled to the floor.

His other dagger protruded from her left eye.

"Cat, is the target dead?"

Venus came back on as Nine removed his dagger.

"Target's dead. Please ready the extraction team."

"Already done so. Has the bombs been set?"

Nine turned to the rest of his team.

He asked Venus' question and received a thumbs up.

Someone had undone Belwyn's rope and gag.

He was covered in blood, but so was everyone in the room. Their murder spree wasn't exactly as clean as they wanted it to be.

"Puppy."

Nine didn't have time to console him when he met blue, teary eyes.

"Let's go."

They quickly left the building and ran toward the extraction point.

A few minutes after they entered the forest, they heard the sound of an explosion behind them.

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[......... Vesna Rule II: An agent must never show any weakness .........]

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The author has something to say:

Can't wait to write Bel's perspective post-mission next chapter. Also, did I just go from Rumeo and Joliet to Jeme's Bund? Eh, whatever. He's now a Vesna Agent. They're special like that.