"Your Highness, the War Room has requested your presence." The message caught the young prince's ears, the intended recipient, and he heaved a disappointed sigh. Why must she insist on continuing this worthless formality?

"Thank you, Kaemon. I'll be there in a moment. You don't need to escort me," he replied. Normally, the prince's personal guard, Sentry Kaemon, would put up a fight with him going anywhere alone; especially a military meeting where the Sentry's intellect would be invaluable. But being with the prince 24/7 meant that Kaemon understood the teenager more than anyone else. He also understood why exactly there was no n eed for him to be present. The institutions that once maintained the integrity of the First Principality had been undermined. The War Room was just another obsolete practice she kept around to maintain appearances.

The prince resigned himself to yet another hour wasted with the princess and her yes-men in the War Room and slowly stood from his chair. One of these days, he'd just not bother to show up and see if someone noticed. Slowly, the young monarch made his way across the castle, from his quarters to the designated meeting spot, oftentimes stopping to sightsee. As if he hadn't walked these halls for the past 16 years of his existence.

The sadist in the prince wanted to delay the pointless War Room shenanigan even further with a later arrival, but the obedience instilled in him by his parents won over and he managed to make the meeting right on time. The princess and her entourage were already seated inside the large room. A long, thin table spanned a considerable length of the room, and on both sides of it sat the people required to be present for the War Room. At the head of the table, flickering light from the fires that lit the space made the (wo)man of the hour look more menacing than she already was. A seat at the foot of the table lay vacant, an afterthought, for the prince to take a seat.

As he moved to do so, the princess rose, another custom long since made meaningless, and bowed. Technically, under Principal Imperial Law, neither the Prince nor Princess could be made Emperor nor Empress until they married. The practice of the law had long been discarded by his sister's de facto ascension to the throne. Still, the law was the law, and since both the prince and princess were titularly the same, they greeted each other as equals in official capacities.

"Crown Prince Akemi Imai," the princess said coldly.

"Crown Princess Aerith Imai," Akemi responded, in a similar fashion.

Aerith reseated herself and began the proceedings by proclaiming, "I, Crown Princess Imai, with the power vested in me by the institutions of the First Principality, and in my honor-bound duty as Commissioner of the Authority, hereby declare these War Room proceedings in session!"

What a bunch of horseshit.

"Man, I look like hell," Kazuto whispered to himself. He was using a shard of broken glass as a mirror, and while he was not normally one to be vain, the dark circles under his eyes and the soulless pupils that stared back at him concerned Kazuto slightly.

He didn't know what it was that was taking such a heavy toll on his body-the strenuous work at the quarry, the stress of the RFF, the lack of sleep, maybe even a combination of all three-but he knew it wouldn't be letting up any time soon.

The setting sun cast an array of light to his back as he dropped the mirror and continued his walk east to Location Epsilon for what was described to Kazuto by spraytag as "an emergency meeting." (Spraytagging was a communication method used sparingly by the RFF due to risk of being found out. It involved painting nondescript symbols in designated and inconspicuous places.)

What was so urgent it couldn't wait for his weekly scheduled meeting?

Kazuto hoped it was good news. It was foolish-emergency meetings rarely were positive-but no one could blame a man for hoping, right?

He ascended the stairs to the rooftop of 33 East Epoto Street anxiously. And he was surprised to find that there was an envelope addressed to "Kirito" waiting there for him already. That's ridiculously dangerous. Kirito rushed to grab it before anyone else had the unlikely opportunity to see it.

"I know Epsilon's relatively secure, but damn, that was risky as hell," he whispered, frustrated, before starting his run back home.

No one was waiting for him at the Kirigaya residence when Kazuto got back. Thankfully. While Suguha and Midori's jobs could be problematic, it also had a few benefits. Granted, working for the local Authority Chief as housemaids was diametrically opposed to the very message Kirito risked his life for, but the long hours also meant that he was alone to do as he pleased more often than not.

This instance was another time when that particular disadvantage/advantage came in handy. With a lighted candle by his side, ready to destroy any incriminating evidence at a moment's notice, Kirito began to read what was written for him.

Kirito,

Apologies for the sudden conveyance. I'm sure you won't be disappointed as to why, though. Through some digging, one of our intelligence operatives was able to discover with a vulnerability within the Authority.

There's a greenie, a foot soldier, who was one among the deployed troops with the 121 Knights. One of our men traced him back to the owner of the quarry and his associates, within six degrees of separation. You read that right. This is a huge opportunity for us.

We can take down the men behind the biggest Principal commercial operation in Reksinya. We need you to extract intelligence from him.

I understand this isn't something we normally ask you to do. You're generally a behind the scenes guy, Kirito, I get that. But you're also my best man. I don't know who you are, or what you look like, but I do know this: you can get it done. Use any methods necessary.

Below is all you need to know.

Objectives:

Find out who the rest of the men who run the mine are. We currently only know about one, Shouzou Yuuki.

Find out where they live.

If you can, dig for any more vulnerabilities we can exploit.

What we know:

The rookie's name is Kouichirou Yuuki.

The man we know about is his father.

His barracks are located at the Army Camp, Bunk 348.

He was conscripted as part of some type of criminal justice.

He is barred from recreational activity because he is serving time for a crime.

He will be alone in his barracks for three hours with no one around during Off-Base Time for his unit this coming Saturday.

You are greenlit for elimination, if necessary. Even if not.

Best,

Heathcliff