Kino arrived at the headquarters earlier than usual when he received an email regarding an urgent meeting. Upon arrival, he was greeted by five different teams in the meeting hall, including the Parker Team. Aran waved at him when he spotted the boy by the door. The guy pulled him down to sit with the rest.

“They’re giving a new raid mission?” Kino asked.

“Yeah, a pretty big one it seems. We got four other teams with us here and the president.” Julius answered.

“President?”

“Yup. It looks serious based on the captains’ reactions at the front. I hope it isn’t life-threatening. I’m planning to attend uni next year.”

“What university?” Kino asked, looking at the team captains at the front having a discussion with a woman in a formal suit. From what he remembered, she’s the president of the Itaport headquarters. It was the first time he saw the tall, brunette woman in person, and based on her presence today, the hunters will be assigned to work on a very serious mission.

“University of Thoma.” Kino turned to Aran when he mentioned his school.

“Wow. That’s my school.”

“For real?”

“Yeah. High school.”

“You should tour me around then.”

Kino nodded his head repeatedly. “Y-Yeah, I won’t mind. You guys should come too.” He invited the others.

“Sounds cool.”

Once the captains returned to their seats with their teams, the woman in the front together with the other high officials began the meeting. The woman introduced herself to be Eva, before proceeding to discuss what the meeting was all about.

“The Nedo Island on the eastern part of Itaport has been infested by A-Rank monsters, B-type Orcs.” An image appeared on the huge screen showing a humanoid pig-like monster standing at 6 ft. (183 cm.) tall. Its body resembles a human, but the face of a pig. Its skin is teal in color, the hint of blue emphasizing one of the natural tones of wraiths. “Orcs are swimmers and good at combat. They are skilled in using spears and bows, so watch out for tower guards,” then a wooden tower was shown next with an orc patrolling from the top. “Since the island was the farthest island we have in the city, it’s taken 3 days for the headquarters to respond with any help. The Gate opened a week ago and no hunters were patrolling the island, making it easy for these monsters to conquer it. The island’s telecommunication towers were reported to be destroyed the same night before the invasion, so we conclude that a different group of wraiths did it. Probably H-type wraiths in disguise who knew about the upcoming attack. We don’t have any more time to lose, so you are leaving at dawn immediately. We already sent some of our hunters to the island.”

Kino turned to see who wasn't present and thought about Solar. She’s probably on the way to the island or is already there.

“How long do you think we can secure the island from the wraiths, Miss President?”

“It’ll probably take longer, approximately 3 to 4 days with your numbers. Some fishermen from the nearby islands also reported a few orc sightings swimming towards their shore, so your captains have to also send some of you there. Please do your best, everyone.”

The hunters moved at dawn. Kino didn’t have time to sleep as he packed his things the whole night. He wrote a letter containing fabricated excuses to his brother and delivered a real letter regarding his 4-day absence to school. The hunters met at the port. It didn’t take him long to spot his team when he spotted a waving man wearing a floral shirt and a sun hat.

“Calix…” He looked at the guy’s attire from head to toe. Calix put down his aviators.

“I saved my best summer clothing for this moment.”

“We’re not going for a vacation, you asshole.” Aran shook his head in dismay.

Parker appeared to meet his team after he met the other captains. His members greeted him, but his eyes remained fixed on Calix. Calix scratched his head upon seeing the captain’s creasing eyebrows. “Are we going to Hawaii, Aiken?” He mentioned his surname.

“N-No, Sir.”

“Then change. We’re leaving in ten minutes. Start packing your luggage on the boat.”

“Yes, Sir.”

It took 3 hours for the hunters’ speedboats to reach the Nedo Island’s main port. From a distance, they spotted a few of the hunters waiting for their arrival. One of them is Solar. Like the others, it seems she didn’t get any rest either. Her hair was in a messy bun, and there were dark circles under her eyes.

“Any news you got?” Parker asked his subordinate.

“Half of the villagers were murdered during the week. The other half fled using their boats, and some remained hidden.” A woman carrying a baby and a little boy in dirty clothes appeared behind Solar.

Kino felt chills as soon as he saw the three. Wraiths.

“This is Anna and her children, the only villagers we’ve found as of now. They’ve been hiding in the trees for a week.”

His eyes met the child's eyes. The child looked shocked upon seeing him, making him cover his mouth with his hands. Kino’s chest pounded out of fear.

He’ll tell everyone about me!

“What’s wrong?” Solar asked the kid. The kid immediately shook his head as if he was fearing for his life.

“N-N-Nothing.”

“What did you do?” Kino’s heart almost ripped out from his ribcage when Julius appeared from his shoulder. Now they are gathering attention from the other hunters.

“W-What?”

“He was looking at you. Are you making any funny faces at him?” He smirked. Kino glanced at the kid once again. He was focused on talking to Solar now.

“Y-Yeah, I’m trying to tell him that… it’s going to be alright.” He excused.

“There’s no time to play. We should plan out our course of action immediately.” Parker announced and turned around, but not until he commanded Kino. “Since the child looked comfortable with you, go help the family to get in a separate boat.”

“Y-Yes, Sir!”

Kino was quiet the whole time as he helped the little family pack the few things they had kept on one of their speedboats. He didn’t know what to say. The fact that the three of them knew what the other was, felt like a ticking time bomb. A revelation from either of the two parties would only result in death. Unless they become allies. But Kino never thought about doing that.

The boy kept staring at him. He tugged on his mother’s dress and asked, “Mama, he’s not ordinary like us, right?”

“He isn’t. He's royalty.”

Kino looked at the mother and child in confusion. “N-No, no. You’re wrong. I-I’m not from over there.”

Anna, the mother, creased her eyebrows. “Were you born in this world?”

The familiar question brought him back to when the cashier guy from his neighborhood almost asked a similar thing. Do they think I’m royalty myself, because of Magnus’ curse?

He firmly smiled his lips. “Y-Yeah, and I h-haven’t been to Agartha all my life…”

Please don’t ask any more questions.

“Hey, Kino! Parker’s calling for you!” He heard Aran’s voice across the beach. The latter was then shut to be quiet. Kino’s enhanced instincts by possessing wraith abilities felt the approaching hunter driving Anna and her children to the city.

“Oh, I gotta go soon.” He quickly packed their things.

“Don’t worry. We won’t tell,” says Anna out of the blue, yet he immediately got what she was trying to say.

Kino looked at the woman. She looks so ordinary too. Nobody could tell she and her children are wraiths, just like the majority of humanity against the said species.

“Why?... When it's the best way to be done?”

“Because I know you’re doing this for Agartha and the people of your empire.”

Kino wanted to say no, but he decided to say something else. “You don’t see me as a traitor?”

Anna shook her head.

“Aren’t you upset that I’m killing our species to achieve that?”

Anna shook her head again. “If I were in your position, I'd do the same thing. Isn’t it better to sacrifice a few to save many?”

Kino bit his lip and nodded his head. “Yeah.” But I’m doing this for only my brother and I.

“Are there any other infiltrators in the hunters with you?” Anna asked.

“Just me… for now. P-Please don’t tell anyone about this. I don’t want to involve any of our people in this independent mission of mine. Can you trust me with this plan?” He tried to sound natural and convincing. If his mother were there, she'd flick his ears for the series of lies he continued spouting.

“You can count on us.”

Kino felt a sharp pain in his stomach when he realized he actually isn’t safe between wraiths and humans. Wraiths can blow his cover anytime, and the hunters won’t wait for a second to slice his head off. Luckily, no wraiths have done it yet. Thinking about it, inside the short time of being a hunter, this is his first raid mission where he encountered an H-type wraith.

Kino felt the hunter getting closer, and Anna looked behind him. The woman rummaged through her small pouch to look for something and grabbed his hand. It was a small black bracelet with red beads. “This is a lucky charm from my tribe in Agartha. It was my late husband’s present from me. May our god Valerius protect you.”

“Thank you. I’ll keep it.” To satisfy her and her child, he wore it in front of them and bid them farewell.

When the speedboat disappeared from his sight Kino sighed with relief. He clutched the beads tightly on his wrists as if relying upon the woman’s promise that she’ll really never tell anyone about him.