Aisha smiled. "Hyo Jullian. He has been a Hyonim for four years now since the overhaul of the monarchy by Hyo Ravendell. Lots of things happened ever since Hyo Jullian has been in charge. My mother used told me about the many complaints the Order had, and that I should never work there, but her attitude towards the Order changed every since the introduction of the Elites. In the past, many things were kept a secret, but that is nowadays no longer the case. Now, we have Hyo Ravendell to guide us, Hyo Jullian to discipline the Order, the Observers to report everything, and don't forget us too." "That's right," Eran said. "As Elites, we represent the reputation of the Order to the public. We'll join many patrols in our time within the city, and soon we'll be executing our first requested mission too." "First?" Ayuki asked. "You haven't done any mission before?" "Nah," Eran replied, "not a requested one at least. We still have much to learn, since everything is new and stuff." "Really? I thought the Elites existed for a while." Eran shook his head. "Nope. Why do you think we're called squad seventeen? Each squad gets named by the total amount of squads that are created. As of now, there are around twenty squads in total, and only a few away missions have been executed." "I see." I didn't think about that. "But then... what about Yeon Althain? Didn't she go MIA on a mission? Wasn't that at least seventy years ago?" "Well, that's true. How should I explain it..." Aisha rubbed her temples. "Yeon didn't do any official mission since there was no Varyion Order at that time. She just did whatever she saw as necessary and gained the king's trust to do her own arranged explorations outside the city. Only a few brave people joined her on her explorations. You could say that they invented the away missions." "Hehh." So, that means the Order exists even less than seventy years. That explains why the Elites' progress isn't that far. The map Aisha showed me before only showed a few discovered places. "What I find most fascinating," Risha said, "is how they even managed to do any exploration outside the city. The invention of Tags is only a few years old, so that means they had no barrier to help them, and yet, they succeeded multiple times to return to the city without a lot of casualties. "Wow, I can't say how much I've relied on the Barrier Tag during our last training session. I certainly wouldn't dare to go outside without it—any idea how they accomplished that?" Aisha raised her arm. "There's no proof, but it must have been because of Yeon—she must have guided the team in a safe direction and used varies methods to distract any Dark nature. Unfortunately, she was only recognized as a Speaker after she went MIA, so that's the reason why there are hardly any records of her." Can you be a Speaker without realizing it? Isn't that very troubling? How do you recognize one? "So, what about your lost memory?" Yuu asked Ayuki before she could ask any of her questions. Eran snapped his finger. "Yeah. I wanted to know that too! What's your whole situation? There's no record of you at all—you're like a person that appeared out of nowhere." Oh dear, well, I'll have to get used to these kinds of questions too... The introduction to squad seventeen didn't last much longer after Ayuki told the squad members her whole situation. It surprised them all, but they didn't change their attitude towards her. In fact, Ayuki made sure to study their facial expressions and was convinced that they truly believed everything she said. All the members were very nice to her; they even gave her some tips about the survival training preparation. One of the places they recommended her to visit was the weapon store, so she decided to go there. It was located near the headquarters, which wasn't a far walking distance. Ayuki avoided crowding areas; she'd travel through all the alleys she could find to go where she needed to be. Once in front of the weapon store, she opened the door and saw a black-haired person wearing a different hoody today. "Hey, Ryuzo." He turned his face to her as his dull eyes became more startled. "Hey." Ayuki walked inside and closed the door. "Since when were you here?" "I just arrived," Ryuzo said in a hurry. It sounded as if he was worried about something. Is he hiding something? A glimmer of Fes covered Ayuki's iris before it vanished. "Were you perhaps—listening to the meeting we just had earlier?" "H-how did you know?" Ryuzo looked as if he was caught in a robbery act. "I didn't—it was just a hunch." "Ah...but...yeah. Sorry, I did listen to the meeting. I was a bit late, and I didn't want to interrupt the introduction." He actually came? That means he saw some benefit from the meeting. It's good that he came, but for some reason, he's feeling very conflicted now. Did the squad mention something disturbing? I should ask what's bothering him. "How can I help ya?" A man that appeared to be the shop owner came in. He had a full beard, was reasonably muscled, and had a toothpick sticking out his mouth. "..." Ryuzo remained silent. Ayuki decided to break the silence. "We came to look for some knives." It was written on the recruit's list of items to collect a knife for the survival training. "Knives I have for sure," the shop owner said. "What kind of knives ya had in mind? What do ya want to use it for?" "Uhm..." The list only mentioned names, not for what it was needed or even quantities. "For survival," Ryuzo replied calmly. "Ah, all-purpose knives eh. Wait a sec." The shop owner went to the back, rummaged around some stuff, and came back with a bunch of sharp-looking knives. "I've got fixed knives most suitable for combat." He pointed at the three thickest blades. "I've got folding knives that are easy to carry around." He did a short demonstration by closing one of those knives, putting it in his pocket, and pulling it out in an instant. "I've got knives good for hunting—these are also good for cutting wood, splitting wood, whatever ya need." He looked delighted and enthusiastic whenever he talked about his work. "Ohhhh." Ayuki felt quite excited as well as she stared mesmerized at all the knives. "Can I hold this one?" She pointed at the largest one. The knife had a black colored blade, a very smooth surface, and the handle had several silver decorations. "Ah, of course! You have a good eye young Yona. Is see a real warrior coming from ya," the shop owner said as he smirked and stroked his beard. "If you buy this one, you'll get this great leather sheath too." What's this familiar sensation I'm feeling? Déjà vu? Did I experience this before? Still, what a great looking knife! The satisfying weight when you hold it in your hand, the way the light reflects on the blade's edges—it feels thrilling. "How much for this one?" Ryuzo asked. He pointed at the most basic looking knife with a wooden handle. The backside of the blade was straight with no fancy curves or ridges implemented in the design. "That one is fifty-five Gills," the shop owner said and crossed his arms. "You can't find it anywhere cheaper." "Sounds okay." Ryuzo bought the knife and made his way towards the exit. "I'll be waiting outside." Out of concern for Ryuzo, Ayuki decided to follow him as soon as she purchased a knife; buying one wasn't an easy task for her. "Ryuzo, why you're so disheartened? I can tell because of my ability. You don't need to explain it to me, but as a teammate, I wish to know." Ryuzo covered his eyes with his hand. "It's just—I feel so stupid..." He sat down and gritted his teeth. "My whole life I've hated the Order, but now I'm not sure anymore whether that was even reasonable. I wanted to make them pay for their crimes, but if they already changed so much, what does it matter then? For all I know, they might not even be corrupted at all; I just assumed it all this time, but I never did any effort to confirm it." Ayuki exhaled deeply, thinking about her next choice of words. "So, now what? What do you want to do?" "I—I just wanted to release some steam," Ryuzo said with conviction. "My goal is still the same. Just because the Order changed, doesn't mean that I forgive them for what they did. I still wish to find out why my hometown had to suffer that much." He's still a bit vague about his past, but it's understandable. I won't ask for it until he feels more comfortable with it. "Okay then. You can still count on my support for that." "Thank you. Oh, and sorry or my sulking attitude. You've helped me multiple times while I still don't want to tell you everything." He made a small bow to Ayuki. "If it helps, I wish to help you as well—with your memory." I didn't think he could be that formal; it's a bit funny. "Ah, don't worry about that. My memories will come along just fine, I think. More importantly, I wish to find out more about my ability." "The predictive enhancement thing?" "What? No. It's different than that. I will tell you more about it later on, but first, we still have a bunch of things to buy, right?" Ayuki showed him the list that she held in her hand. Ryuzo smiled. "Yes, that's true." Ayuki scrolled through their shopping list. "So, we need to buy ourselves a knife, a flashlight, a whistle, strong wire, and some more stuff... Why so much hassle of making us buy these things?" "I think, they want us to discover that for ourselves. People do have their preferences and differences, like our knives for example. Which one did you buy by the way?" "Oh, yeah." Ayuki grinned and revealed her knife of choice out of her backpack. "I chose this one." It was the black knife she held in the beginning. "You spend so much time and still went for the first thing that caught your interest?" "Yeah! What's wrong with that?" "Did you even consider what you'll use it for?" "Not completely, but look how cool it looks." Ayuki held it with both hands and wiggled it around to show how much it sparkled against the light. "Yes, I get it. Now stop that, you look stupid." The gathering has been going for hours, but the end was almost near. Jullian was longing for that moment of salvation—the moment of being free from those bothersome Observers. He usually isn't obliged to the gatherings, but he can't refuse it if the topics are related to his recent actions. Fortunately, everything regarding the change of the Order Elites schedule was discussed with only some minor adjustments to consider. "Flynner, how is your progress regarding the intruder case?" Benston asked. Benston is mostly the one that leads the gatherings. He's better at it than the other Observers. "It's coming along, but I'll need more evidence for that." You can expect to hear a lot of complaints from Flynner's mouth, but just a short sentence is something Jullian never experienced before. Would this mean Flynner is taking his case so serious that he doesn't want to waste time on the gathering? "Could you perhaps be more specific?" Jullian asked him out of rare interest. "Well, like I previously mentioned, the best way to look innocent is to believe it yourself—to live a lie without being aware of it. Once that is achieved, you only need to discover that lie and realize the truth yourself, which in our intruder's situation could mean to recover her memory. We already know that this could be achieved with a simple E-link." "But that's just a small possibility now. Don't you think you're taking this too seriously?" Ulthor asked. "A small possibility is still a possibility. Finding out whether something is true or not is not our job—preparing for what might be dangerous should be our concern. I already have several ideas of what an outsider could attain from a city like ours, but I will only reveal them once they're more substantially confirmed. If you care about this city, I advise you all to do the same." Part of what Flynner said is indeed correct. Whether it is true or not, it is essential to consider the worst goals an intruder can have, so that we can prepare for that kind of situations. What can be achieved here in Varyion? What is the most dangerous thing an intruder can do here? The worst thing I can think of so far is—the deactivation of our walls; to break down the hope that has protected us for centuries. I don't know why one would want such a thing, but if one would aim for that, I'll personally exterminate that person no matter the cost.