...

Looking at Shin, Nathan couldn't help but shake his head a little while smiling bitterly. 'Truly worthy as someone who was trained as an 'Agent'. This kid has always been too sharp in regard to these matters.'

Then Nathan swept his gazed at the others, trying to see the expression on their faces. And when he saw the determined look that they were making, all Nathan could do was to release a helpless sigh before saying. "Alright. Since you guys have that kind of look, then let me be honest with all of you."

"Our original plan is to recruit some of the senior students of the Top Military School and Magic Ace University to do this task. After all, this task is going to be quite dangerous for the other younger generation."

"But after we confirm that we are going to deal with a direct subordinate organization of the Shadow Alliance, we immediately rejected the idea because there may be some spies that we overlooked."

"So, we decided to go with the second-best option that we currently have. And that is to recruit you guys, who are at least capable of dealing with similar missions."

Then he paused for a moment to look at their faces once again before continuing. "Of course, there is a huge risk on this mission and that is why we ask the permission of your masters and guardians first before proceeding."

Reaching this point, the corner of Nathan's mouth suddenly twitched uncontrollably as he remembered something. Then he continued with that stiff expression on his face. "And after some careful negations, we managed to convince them to let us recruit you."

"Of course, along with all the conditions we have is ensuring your safety. As for how, you guys don't have to worry about that since I assure you he got some capable individuals as your backups. For now, let's talk about the task that you are going to do."

Then he paused for a moment before clearing all of the data displayed on the virtual screen before showing a bunch of profiles of different young people. And when everything was fully displayed, he continued.

"At first, we want you to just sneak in and mark some important targets that we can take note of while the main force will do the rest. But since your faces are telling me that you guys want to do the other assignment instead, then let's make some little adjustments on our plans."

He took a brief pause to sweep his gazed on everyone before asking. "But before that, let me warn you first. Once we make these adjustments, you guys are required to 'deal' with some people with similar ages as you."

Hearing that, Arthur immediately clicked his tongue and sneered. "Tch! Just that? A piece of cake."

But when those words left mouth, Shin immediately slapped him with reality. "Idi*t! Uncle is talking about killing those guys when he said 'deal with them'. Have you ever killed someone before?"

The cheeky expression that Arthur was wearing suddenly turned stiff that moment he heard that. He already beat some guys close to death before, but he never really killed someone yet.

Along with him, it was actually the same with the other four; especially with the Potter siblings who probably spent most of their time at training on their home.

Angela might be a disciple of the most mysterious Martial-Artist around the world, but she never had killed anyone in her entire life. Lorraine was the same, even if she was wielding a killing pair of guns, that didn't mean she already killed anyone. All she did was disable her targets and that was it.

Given that, the atmosphere inside the room suddenly turned heavy at this point of time. Only Shin and Leonard were the ones who had a calm expression on their faces.

"So, are you guys sure about this?" said Nathan, asking for confirmation.

Seeing that Arthur was still hesitating, Shin suddenly smirked to lighten up his mood a little. "Heh! You can just beat them half-dead like you always do. But if they still persist, then you can rely on me to take care of the rest."

Hearing that he was being ridiculed in front of his goddess, Arthur couldn't help but take a peek at Jillian's reaction. But when he saw that she was also having a hard time deciding, he suddenly became determined. 'If ever a maiden is being doubtful on their choices, then men have the responsibility to take the lead and give them the courage that they needed!'

Given that, Arthur looked at Shin with a skeptical look on his face while saying. "Heh! Don't act high and mighty in front of me, Mr. know-it-all. If there is someone who needs to hide on someone else's back, then it should be you."

Then he paused for a moment to cross his arms in front of his chest and added. "Talk to me again if you can already beat me 1 on 1."

The corner of Shin's mouth suddenly twitched the moment he heard that. 'This cheeky b*st*rd.'

With that simple exchange of words, the heavy atmosphere surrounding the room earlier suddenly disappeared as if these brothers effortlessly lifted it. And together with that, the expression that the others were wearing immediately became relaxed in response with the two.

When Nathan saw that, his lips suddenly curved upwards before saying. "Looks like you guys finally decided, huh? Though, I still need you guys to brace yourselves for this mission."

After that, he pointed at the profiles displayed by the virtual screen while saying. "Now, I need you to look at these guys for they are the ones that you need to take note of during this mission."

"I am not going to brief you about them since I now need you to participate in the mission exercise later. I'll leave you to thoroughly study their profiles. Just make sure that you are going to do your homework on them or else you are going to pay for it when you encounter these guys on the mission."

Then he waved his hand to send the information displayed on the virtual screen to everyone's advance watches. And when he was sure that they already received all the data, he resumed talking. "We have two suspicions about this so-called party. The first one is what I have discussed earlier while the second case is somewhat related to what Shin is saying."

"If ever the other side really did the 'recruitment' in advance, then this 'party' can only be two things. One, it is to gather numbers since they already know that they are already exposed, or it is an 'event' where they are going to capture all of the other attendees who do not belong to their group."

Then he turned his head at Shin while adding. "That way, they are not going to suffer any losses despite most of their plans being foiled by us."

After that, he swept his gaze on the others while saying. "Regardless, if either of these two cases is right, then Leonard is absolutely right since you guys are really delivering yourselves on a tiger's mouth."

"And since we are going to make some adjustments, we are going to scrap the original plan. We are going to let you join the assault team instead and directly raid the whole party."

Nathan waited for his words to sink inside their heads before giving them a specialized advance watches that he prepared. "For this entire operation, I need you to disregard your current advance watches and use these ones for now."

"These watches have some special functions which are only available for the military purposes. At the same time, these things also have a specialized channel where we can communicate without being tracked or detected by the opposing side."

"All of the things that you need to know are written on the manuals so I don't have to discuss it. And as for Lorraine, Jillian and Molton – if you guys have some questions how to use them properly, you can ask the other four since they are already familiar with using them."

When everyone got their respective advance watches, Arthur suddenly noticed that the advance watches on Shin, Leonard, Jillian and Angela hands had a slightly different design compared to others. "Hey! Why are your advance watches have a cooler design than us? That is unfair!"

Hearing that, Nathan immediately answered. "It is because they are the ones who are going to sneak in the party."

"Huh~?" blurted Arthur while looking at Nathan with a confused expression on his face.

Seeing that look, Nathan suddenly smirked and said. "As I said, we are only going to make some adjustments with our plan and not entirely change it."

The moment Arthur heard that, he immediately voiced out a complaint while pointing to himself. "What? If that is the case, isn't it better if I become one of the spies instead? I am perfect for that role!"

Shin, Leonard, Jillian and Lorraine simultaneously slapped their heads the moment they heard those words. It was as if they were saying. – "Perfect my *ss! If it is you, then you will surely attract a lot of attention since you are a showoff!" –

Nathan was thinking the same. Though, he made his 'excuse' a little more acceptable to reason out Arthur. "We need to act low-key on this operation so we can't involve you with a sneaking group. After all, your identity as the young master of the Springfield Family is quite known for the other people in our circle – as well as the others."

"One the other hand, Angela and Leonard are still pretty unknown in the circle so they are a safe bet. Meanwhile, Shin and Jillian are quite skilled at disguising themselves with their Mentalism Techniques, so they are also fit for the role."

After that, Nathan ignored Arthur and looked at those four while instructing them. "As I said, you guys will join the sneaking group on this operation, so I hope that you are going to perform well."

"The identities that you are going to use to attend the party are already inside your respective advance watches so make sure to memorize them later to avoid some mischiefs on the operation."

"At the same time, you also need to be paired with each other at the party so – … Angela, you will be paired with Leonard while Jillian is going to be Shin's partner. I want you guys to become comfortable with each other so that we can avoid any suspicion tomorrow night."

"Meanwhile, the others are tasked to join the teams on standby and wait for the signal to attack."

The moment those words left Nathan's mouth, a pair of complaining voices immediately sounded.

"What!?"

"Wait!?"

Hearing that, Nathan quickly threw a fierce glare at Arthur and Lorraine which sent a sudden chill on their backs. "What? Any objections?"

Seeing that Nathan was starting to get annoyed, Arthur and Lorraine immediately sat back on their seats while replying simultaneously. "No, Sir!"

Though, both of them were actually cursing Shin and Angela inside.

While the two were still fuming, Shin suddenly asked a crucial question. "Who will be the captain of this operation, Sir?"

Hearing that, the whole suddenly turned quiet as the others simultaneously looked at Nathan, waiting for his answer.

Seeing that anticipation on their faces, Nathan couldn't help but feel teasing them a little with some 'suspense'. "What? Captain Bernard still hasn't told you who he chose to lead this operation? If that is that is the case, then you guys better go now and join the mission exercises where you can meet your captain."

Hearing those words and seeing that expression that Nathan was making, Shin and Arthur suddenly struck dumb as they could already get some hints.

At this point, Leonard was already shaking his head as he could already guess what they were thinking. It was similar for Lorraine, who was already giving the pair a pitying looked on her face. And this sight made the other three, looked at them with confusion as they were clueless at the current situation.

After that, Nathan immediately added. "Alright, you are all dismissed but make sure to do your homework later."

Then he left the room, leaving the group behind. And when the door finally closed behind him, Shin and Arthur suddenly turned their heads at each other while simultaneously saying.

"Not again."

"No way!"

...