The Shadow Corps was a division of the military that only contained the best of the best. There were about 250 of them that acted as a single unit. Each one of them could kill 10 regular soldiers without a problem. They were a secretive branch that specialized in assassinations and quiet destruction. The members were disguised as everyday people, including the inn keeper.

Because he was diligent with his work, he was allowed to own an inn, and even have a family. However, he was never allowed to reveal that he was powerful, or apart of the corps, otherwise he would be killed by the other members. Although the guard who assaulted his daughter was never found again, and the noble who killed his wife was found guilty of treason and executed.

Whenever there was a job, he would disappear from the inn for a few days. He’d leave a friend to take care of his daughter while he was away on business. If he were to die on one of the missions, Linn would be treated as a part of the royal family. The king would go as far as to claim her as his illegitimate child. He wouldn’t hurt her either, even if the entire corps was annihilated.

The innkeeper was one of few the king would do this for. His strength and achievements within the corps were nothing short of astounding. He was among the strongest in the corps, and usually leads the missions whenever they’re sent out, which usually isn’t often. The king simply respects him.

The Shadow Corps was shrouded in mystery to the rest of the world. Only a select few truly knew of who they were. There were two types of responses when a person heard “Shadow Corps”. They either had no idea what it was, or they shuddered in fear. The former was far more common than the latter.

They were known as a brotherhood to all those involved. They shared all their experiences together. They know each other as brothers and are willing to die together. Most of the guests at the inn are members of the shadow corps.

Even if their methods were brutal, it was about efficiency. They weren’t sadists who enjoyed the pain of those they slew. Most of these men in the corps weren’t mindless soldiers. They were everyday people who had another side to them. Although they knew the country was corrupt, it was too late for them to turn back. When they join the corps, they’re branded with a seal that prevents them from acting against the country. If they were to try, they would die in an extremely painful manner.

The real reason the kingdom was a powerhouse when it came to war, wasn’t because of it’s troops. It was because high priority targets who kept the opposing country’s army organized, were killed by the Shadow Corps. If they were to be wiped out during a mission, it would take several years for the corps to be restored, and the kingdom would have to be more docile.

The corps had a perfect record when it came to their marks, up until the Red Equinox. They were mobilized to kill a 13 year old boy known as Noctis Lucifer. He was contracted to a beast that could potentially bring about the end of the kingdom. The only proof that was needed for that was the fact that he killed 50 or more knights as well as a few nobles instantly, and escaped a few moments later. After they were assigned the task, he disappeared from the world, and has yet to be seen again.

7 years to the day after the Red Equinox, they received a new mark. After the king’s guard was found dead when they were sent to kill the princess, the king sent scouts out across the country. It was found that she was still alive and residing with someone within a small town. The king then ordered the Shadow Corps to kill her out of fear of a coup d’état. He didn’t think that his guard would fail to kill her, and when the scout reported that she was staying with someone, he became paranoid.

Normally, one or two people weren’t enough for the corps to be mobilized. They were usually sent out to kill multiple high priority targets at once. This time, however, it was to suppress the possibility of a rebellion. The king became scared that she would return to dethrone him.

Hence the entirety of the Shadow Corps was mobilized to kill their country’s princess and whoever she was with. The innkeeper was reluctant to do so at first, after all, she had saved his daughter a lot of pain. Even so, he had no choice but to do so. He would kill her in an instant to prevent her from suffering at all.

They traveled to the little town within a few hours. The corps had little trouble with transportation and could all travel at a breakneck speed to complete their task in the shortest time possible. They wouldn’t kill the residents of the town, because although they were assassins, they had no wish to do so. If they didn’t need to kill, they wouldn’t. Little did they know that they were discovered long before they even arrived at the town.

They went to the residence where the princess was seen, and found that it was empty. There were traces of people living there, and recently. The corps spread out and traveled to the nearby forest where they were likely taking refuge. They were focused on their mark, and didn’t notice two armored silhouettes with wings, simply floating in the air.

Today was Noctis’ and Lux’s birthday. They didn’t really do anything to celebrate. They both turned 20 but treated it like any other day. Training, talking, eating, training and then going to sleep.

Tonight, Noctis felt that something was off before he went to sleep. He could feel that there was something dangerous going on. His daemon blood began to itch due to him picking up a hint of killing intent. Sure enough, when he went to survey the area because of his own paranoia, he found people who gave off the slightest bit of killing intent running towards his home. He rushed back and took Lux out of the house before she went to bed. Then they departed from the house and watched as 250 men searched around their property.

They couldn’t be sure of their strength, and they were vastly outnumbered. They had no choice but to flee. There was nothing binding them to the house, except for memories. Their possessions were limited since all they really needed was the clothes on their back. The kingdom knew where they were after just a short year.

Lux, who was the smarter one of the duo, suggested that they flee to the country of Phoenix. Phoenix was a country that bordered the kingdom and was renowned for their adventurer system. The more powerful the adventurer the more famous they could become. Because of this, they didn’t require a large country owned military, and only relied on them for law enforcement. Most wars could be fought with adventurers. They would be offered rewards to fight and then in turn, their performance in battle was usually better than someone who was dying for no reason on foreign soil.

She suggested it so that they could improve their battle strength and make allies at the same time. They were short on people who they could trust, and both of them knew that just the two of them would not be enough to bring the end of an era that's lasted for over a thousand years.

They immediately vanished into the night sky. The Shadow Corps continued to search, only to find nothing. No trace of them ever leaving could be found. If they even left the slightest hint behind, they could have tracked them down. However, no matter how much they looked, they couldn’t figure out where they vanished to. Hence, Lux became the second mark ever missed.

By daybreak the two made it to the border. They crossed without a hitch because they simply flew over. However they were lacking funds, they left most of it at the house and only had a few silvers left because they had it on them. Eventually they came across a small city. When they entered they were in a state of culture shock. People filled the streets. There were stalls selling goods left and right. The people looked happy and clean.

Compared to the capital, where the people hid where the could, trying to escape the eyes of anyone who had authority. This was much different, people were everywhere and talked to amongst themselves at a high volume. The adventurers could be picked out from easily by Noctis and Lux, who’ve never seen them before. They were clad in armor without helmets and carried weapons around with them. They were seen socializing with the populace and with each other.

At this point, Noctis and Lux were in their everyday clothes. Noctis was wearing his black jacket that covered his left arm, and kept his right arm sleeveless, along with a pair of black pants. While Lux wore her white blouse, with a white and blue skirt that reached just above her knees.

After asking a few people, they made their way to the adventurer’s guild, so they could register. When they arrived, nobody noticed. There were new people coming into the guild all the time. They were no exception. The atmosphere around the place was suffocating to the duo. They weren’t used to so many people being in the same place and shouting the way that they were. They went to see the receptionist, who was an old man who had his eyes closed.

There, they learned about the system that was in place. Whoever first signed up would be at an F rank. After completing a certain amount of tasks at that level, they could be promoted to an E and repeat the process up until A rank. After an adventure reaches A rank, they would have to complete a single task of S rank to be promoted to that level.

“So where are you two from? You’re clearly not from around here.” The old man noticed that the way they were acting was strange, and because they didn’t know such common knowledge, he concluded that they were foreigners.

“I’d rather not say.” Before Lux could find something to say, Noctis answered without hesitation.

“Heh, well, that’s okay. I won’t pry any further then. The cost for your registration is one silver each. I just need your names so I can make a badge for you both.” He chuckled while explaining the process to them.

“Lu-” before she could finish, Noctis, the less intelligent of the two, gave her a light tap to the forehead, stopping her from finishing her answer.

She was about to raise an objection before realizing that she shouldn’t say her real name for safety reasons. After thinking about it for a few seconds she came up with something. “Dawn.”

“What about you, young man?”

“Dusk.”