"And so it is done."

"According to the letter, the deed took place yesterday."

"When are we going to pick her up?"

"... We are not. You should already know that."

The full moon appears from behind a cloud. Inside a room of one of many inns in the capital of Coeburg, there are 3 black haired man. One man is leaning on the wall next to the window, other is sitting on a chair close to the right corner on the opposite side of the windows and the third one is laying on top of the bed on the right wall, looking at the ceiling

"What?"

The man on the bed grabs his pillow and throws it at the man on the chair. He manages to block it with his left hand.

"That's why you fuck things up so many times. For crying out loud, would you pay attention to the plans for once!?"

"Why did they have to send him..."

"S-shut up! You need me!"

"We may have needed you, but you were not only useless but also almost risked everything."

"I was nervous! He was right there in front of us!"

The man leaning on the wall looks dumbfounded at him.

"... So nervous that you were about to attack a prince in the middle of the coliseum? Look at this guy..."

"You are really one of a kind... In a very, very bad way..."

"But our mission was to kill him! So that's why--!"

The man on the bed quickly raises his torso and looks at him. He is not amused.

"Look here moron. You might not be used to this kind of job, but that is no excuse for the level of stupidity you are showing."

"..."

The man standing continues.

"Our mission was to frame either the girl or the Servant, and kill the prince in the process. Just killing him was not our objective."

"Ok ok, I get it..."

"Dumb fuck..." - The men on the bed mutters and lays down again.

"But what about her?"

"*sigh* She is going to stay undercover for a while to not risk suspicion. Makes sense?"

"Yes..."

The man that was standing puts his right hand in the pocket of his jacket, then he takes out a cigar. He puts it in his mouth and a second later, the other end is burning.

The man on the bed facepalms.

"... You too?" - He says with a very tired and frustrated voice.

"Look around, we are in the middle of black hairs streets. There's no mage around to notice a little mana."

"We are this close," - two of his fingers almost touch each other - "this fucking close, to go home after four years and you want to RISK EVERYTHING FOR A CIGAR!?!?!?"

"Relax man, you worry too much."

"Oh my god... I can't believe-- You know what? Fine, if anything goes wrong I'll just leave you behind."

"Sheesh, thanks comrade. That's really encouraging." - he says before puffing smoke.

"Whatever."

The man in the corner rubs his own hair with the right hand.

"I just can't wait to remove the dye of my hair..."

"I think black suits you. It's just as useless as you are." - The man on the bed says.

"Screw you."

Each one goes back to their own thoughts. They can hear the people downstairs drinking and talking, it's almost like they are celebrating something. They are still unaware of the prince's death.

The smoking man finally breaks the silence in the room.

"Any idea about why they decided to order him killed now? After all these years watching him?"

"To blame those two."

"I'm talking about the bigger picture. Why blame them? What are the higher ups planning?"

"How the heck should I know? Besides, it's not our job to think about it."

"... Maybe they want to get rid of the Servant? Coeburg would be forced to execute them, I think." - The other man replies.

"Maybe, but that would be too reckless. I mean, shouldn't we try to bring them to our side?"

*shrugs*

"And how is having them on the run a good thing? It's obvious they wouldn't turn themselves in."

"Oh, shut up would you? They either want Coeburg to lose two powerful assets or recruit them for our side somehow. End of the story. You know what happens when we ask too many questions." - He says with an annoyed voice.

"Alright fine, I'll drop it."

"Good. Anyway, our work here is done. We are finally going home."

The man smoking opens the window and throws the cigar out.

"Indeed we are."

***********************

In another part of the town, there's a dark alleyway with two dark figures.

"We received word that the prince was murdered. Our targets ran away into the Berillian forest, North of this city."

"Hm."

The figure giving the news is an old and short man, in his 70's. He's a green mage. His white but greenish hair can be seen through his hood.

In front of him there's a female light blue mage. She is young, 20 years old at least. With her hood off her head, the green mage can see her short hair, short like a boy. She is looking at him with a serious expression, waiting for his incoming instructions. Her blue eyes only focus is that man face.

"Eliminate the red mage girl and avoid conflict with the Servant."

"Hm."

"Do this well, and Black Poison will free you. Understood?"

"Yes."

"Good. Remember, we don't care how you do it as long you get the job done."

"It will be done."

The girl puts the hood back on her head and heads out of the alley.

Minutes later, the old man also gets out of the alleyway.

"I have to find out who killed the prince... How annoying. They might become a problem in the future." - He mutters to himself.

***********************

The night before, after the assassination

"Don't stop talking. Tell me anything, what you like, what your favorite food is, anything! Count to one thousand if you have to!"

I'm feeling really tired. Al put me down right beside a tree. We're in the middle of the forest.

"I like sweet things... Like candies..."

My leg hurts so much. The soil is cold. The wind gives me chills. It's so dark.

"Yeah yeah good, I also like candies. What else do you like?"

Al is painted red all over, especially from his belly to his feet. It's the blood from the battle with Corin, the blood from Vanadis... And my blood.

He's ripping off his shirt and using the less dirty parts to cover the wound. He told me it was just a small wound, but I am not dumb, it's deeper than that.

"I also like... I also like..."

"Yes!?"

"..."

I just... I can't... I'm too tired... I'm sorry...

"Hey hey! Stay with me, what do you like!? Don't fall asleep!"

"..."

I can't open my eyes. They're so heavy... I'm giving my all but I just can't...

"Nora!? Nora!?!? Shit!! She is too cold! Goddamnit!!! I need---...."

.............

I'm dreaming. I see a dark place. No... I don't see anything. It's all black.

Then, two shadows appear along with a dark room. One is cornered against a wall, sitting on the ground, it is obviously afraid of the other shadow looking down on him.

"Sorry! Please forgive me! I didn't mean to! If I had known---!"

The voice is weird, it's almost imperceptible but I can understand it. It is filled with fear and terror.

"By the time I am done with you..."

That's... Al voice but, it's filled with rage and hate. Almost like it is being spoken by a monster, a nightmare.

"NO PLEASE NO! GET AWAY!"

"... You're going to wish I killed you."

The Al shadow grabs the other by the neck with the left hand.

"AAAAAAAAHHH NO NOOO NOOOOOOOO NOOOOOOO! AAAAAH HEEELP HEEEEEEEEEELP----------------!"

************