Chapter 5: The First Mission

Three years have passed since Meta had become Kurabe's student. While he still has a long way to go before he reaches his full potential, Kurabe had deemed him ready to take on solo missions. Meta has joined her on the field before, but if he was to improve as a soldier, he needed to prove his own worth. To further discuss this, the warrior called her student to her personal office.

"Excuse me, sensei, what did you want to speak to me about?" He asked after entering the room and standing in front of her desk.

"You're going to go on your solo first mission, Meta." Kurabe replied simply.

Meta's eyes widened slightly.

"What is my mission, sensei? I assume nothing too challenging." The youth asked calmly. Over the past three years, Meta had calmed down a bit, mostly thanks to his training. That said, the prospect of finally doing a mission by himself was exciting.

"It's nothing too difficult, of course. I had spent quite a while debating on that with Mercury, but I think I have a good one for you. You will be escorting a certain noble." Meta narrowed his eyes upon hearing that. "I understand. Who will I be escorting and where to?"

Quickly, his mentor pulled out some notes from her desk. "You will be escorting a nobleman named I. C. on the planet Artik."

The youth frowned. "...why do we need to escort him?"

Kurabe sighed, slightly expecting that response. "Simply put, he pays well. The Organization still requires money, so we accept jobs like these. Even if they aren't the most pleasant of missions."

Her student stared.

"So, this is how you get paid..." He then sighed. "Well, I guess I should get this over with..."

"Hold on a moment, Meta. You need one more thing before you head out." She then took out a key. "Your uniform."

Meta nodded.

"Follow me. We'll go into more detail about the mission on the way to the storage room."

The duo then walked out of the room.

On the way to the storage room, Kurabe went into detail about the mission.

"Artik, as the name suggests, is a planet with incredibly cold temperatures. Every time I've went to Artik, there was a massive blizzard that covered the entire planet. Chances are, you will have to deal with that as well, Meta. However, that won't be the only obstacle you'll need to contend with, as Artik is home to various bandit groups who use the planets poor conditions to their advantage and attack unsuspecting victims."

Meta nodded in understanding but had a question of his own. "If Artik is such a dangerous planet, why does our client wish to go there?"

The mentor nodded at her student's question. "That's a reasonable question. The fact of the matter is that Artik is home to mining operation owned by our client. There are rare materials that can only be found on Artik. Since he owns the operation, he's required to oversee it at times."

"And that's where I'm escorting him to?"

"That's right. All you have to do is make sure arrived safely. Once he's made it, your mission will be complete."

"And this will all be easier said than done, I assume."

"The mission itself is easy, Meta. I can't say the same for anything that isn't escorting or fighting." She gave a slight sigh.

"I see... what are we going to the storage room for anyway?"

"To get you a uniform, Meta, as I already told you."

"Why do I need a uniform? Can't I just wear armor?" The student asked, looking directly at his mentor's own armor.

"Meta, believe me, I agree with you. However, it's Organization protocol for all soldier class members to wear the uniform during missions."

He then looked slightly confused. "I've never seen you wear one. Is that because you're high ranking?"

"I'm of the second highest rank. Right below the old man. I haven't been a soldier class for a long time, Meta."

He silently nodded in understanding. "Ok. I guess it'll be fine as long as I can fight in it."

Kurabe giggled at that reply. "Meta, it's a uniform designed to be fought in. Do you really think we'd give our soldiers uniforms that weren't functional?"

He stared silently. "...Mercury's uniform doesn't look too good to fight in."

"Mercury is her uniform, Meta."

"Oh..." The youth then looked embarrassed. Whether it was because he forgot such an obvious fact or something else, Kurabe wasn't sure. Well, it wasn't important enough to pry about.

"We should almost be at the storage room."

"...what color is the uniform?"

Admittedly, the warrior did not expect that kind of response from her student, who usually didn't really care for such a thing.

"The uniform is made up of a few colors. For starters, the hat you'll receive is silver. The rest of the uniform is a dark magenta and brown."

"There's a hat?"

"Yes, but generally you will only have to wear it for formal events." Kurabe then placed a hand on Meta's head. "That said, I recommend wearing it on this mission. It'll help protect you from the harsh conditions, if only for a little bit."

The youth nodded. "Sensei, when I come back, can you make something warm for me?"

"I already planned on it, Meta." She said, giving a warm smile.

"Thank you." He smiled back.

"Now then, here we are." The warrior then said while unlocking the storage room door. She then opened it and motioned for her student to follow her inside.

Upon entering the storage room, Meta could tell that it was neat, but there were several boxes in it. If he was told to look for a specific item, there was no doubt that he would either not be able to find it or struggle to find it.

"Now... where is it...?" She murmured aloud as she began to look through the storage room. "Ah, here it is."

Kurabe grabbed a box and opened it. She pulled out the uniform and threw it at Meta, who just looked confused.

"...what? Do you need help putting it on?"

Her student gained an embarrassed expression as his face turned bright red. "S-sensei, I'm old enough to dress myself!"

"Then what are you so confused about?"

"Nothing! I just wasn't expecting it to look like this." Meta admitted as he looked down at the floor.

However, it was only for a short moment, as he quickly looked back up.

"That, and normally a person should be given privacy when changing clothes." He said glaring at Kurabe.

His mentor easily put that together.

"Oh, right, right. I'll be waiting outside. Let me know when you're done." She replied nonchalantly as she walked out the door.

Meta sighed after she left. "I said I could dress myself but, how does this work exactly?"

He continued to stare at the uniform, trying to figure out how to put it on. There was a suit that went on the outside of his body, but there was also some sort of strap that went on the outside.

"If it's this thin, would it really be a good idea to wear in cold weather?" He thought.

"It's warmer than it looks, Meta, trust me." Meta heard Kurabe say, surprising him.

"Q-quit reading my mind, sensei!"

He then heard a slight giggle.

"Aren't you only supposed to be able to read my emotions?!"

"Remember, I mastered the ESP Ability."

The youth groaned and tried to clear his thoughts, lest Kurabe got more material to use for embarrassing him.

Admittedly, it took a couple minutes for Meta to put on the uniform. What didn't help was the fact that he heard his mentor stifling a few laughs in response to his frustration. Eventually, though, he got it on correctly. Surprisingly enough, it actually was quite warm.

"Maybe there's something special about the fabric..." Meta thought as he looked in the mirror.

Not only that, but it also felt a lot more armored than he originally thought. Honestly, he was amazed by it. The youth walked out of the room and looked at Kurabe.

"Awww, look at you." She pinched his cheeks. "You look so adorable!"

Meta groaned in response. It greatly annoyed him when she acted like this.

"I'm not adorable. I'm a soldier." He protested while still being pinched.

"An adorable soldier!"

"Enough, please!" He almost shouted as he quickly took her hands away from his cheeks. "Now, when do I start my mission, sensei? In fact, where am I meeting the client?"

For a brief moment, his mentor pouted, but then she turned serious once more. "I'll get to that in a bit, why don't we show Mercury how you look?"

Meta's face turned red in embarrassment. "S-sensei do we really have to?"

She then gave a smile. "No, no, I guess she'll see it later. Forgive me, I'm just so excited since this is actually a custom uniform I ordered for you. It's a bit darker than the normal uniform for my unit."

That made the youth pause. Even after three years of living on the GranEssex, he still wasn't fully use to selfless acts of kindness from others.

"...thank you, sensei. I really like it." He uttered with a shy expression.

"Oh, I'm so glad you do. I was really worried that you wouldn't and had to ask around about it. I kept getting the same answers of "keep it to dark colors, that will look better on him" and "I'm sure he'll like it". I'm very happy I listened to-"

As if realizing that she was going completely off-topic, she cut herself off and then cleared her throat.

"Anyway, back to your mission. You will be sent off to Artik in approximately two hours, so be sure to prepare yourself for then. As for where you're meeting the client..."

Kurabe walked over to one of the windows.

"See that ship, Meta? That's where the client is. That ship will land on the planet at the same time and location as us."

Her student looked out the window to see a ship much smaller when compared to the GranEssex. "Then I'll be escorting him from wherever we land?"

"That's correct." She then took out a map and handed it to him. "Here's a map of where exactly you need to go. Also, I inscribed a magic rune to it. If the map flies out of your hand because of the wind, just flick your wrist and it'll magically reappear."

"Thank you, sensei, this will be a lot of help." He put the map in a small bag on his side next to his sword.

"I'll leave any other items you take up to you, Meta. Pack accordingly and good luck." She said with a smile.

"Alright. I'll go pack now. Thank you again." He said before returning to his room.

As Meta packed in his room, he naturally began to think about this mission. He was both nervous and excited about his first mission. He was looking forward to the chance to test the skills he's learned but at the same time, he was scared of letting his mentor down. No, he had to do his best to stay calm. He was more likely to make a mistake if he was like this. Hopefully they would land soon so he could just get this done and over with.

"Now, what should I pack?" He thought to himself.

For starters, he took out an electric lamp. Thanks to his small knowledge of lightning magic, he basically had a lantern that could never run out of power.

"Hmm... maybe a few hand warmers and some rations? I don't know how long we'll be travelling." He mumbled to himself. "Oh, I know."

He opened a drawer to reveal a flare gun given him for emergency use.

"Hopefully I won't need this, but I'll take it just in case." He then looked around the room for other equipment.

After making sure he had everything he needed, Meta decided to spend the rest of his time meditating. Admittedly, he often had a hard time doing it, but it seemed like the best thing to do right now. As he meditated, he was able to properly sort his thoughts and pinpointed certain things he was worried about. Ironically, fighting off bandits and monsters didn't worry him at all. Spending an unspecified amount of time protecting a complete stranger, however, did worry him. Not only that, but he'd be doing it alone. In his mind, that was honestly the biggest danger. He let out a humorless chuckle. It was ironic. He used to live and survive on his own. Something like this shouldn't be an issue.

"Calm down, you fool. Sensei believes in you, don't screw this up..." He harshly told himself.

That's right. He shouldn't allow himself to become weak! That said, he wasn't worried about himself. He's survived through harsh conditions before. No, what he was worried about was protecting someone else, something he's never done before.

"I'll just have to eliminate any threat as fast as possible. Just remember your training." He thought to himself.

Speaking of which, how much longer until they reach the planet's surface? No, he shouldn't think about trying to rush this. Just continue to meditate and focus.

Meta kept meditating for next two hours where his concentration was broken by the sound of knocking on his door.

"Meta, it's time." He heard Kurabe say.

"I'll be out in a minute." He replied.

"Make it quick. We pride ourselves on punctuality." While she was saying that, he had already walked out his door and was waiting in front of her.

"...I just had to grab my bag."

Kurabe looked at him and smiled. "You were already prepared, weren't you? I understand you're nervous, Meta. Take it from me, few things are as nerve wracking as a first mission. Now follow me."

The youth quietly nodded, slightly embarrassed at his mentor figuring that out quickly.

Kurabe and Meta walked outside. Just as he was told, Artik was freezing cold, and he could barely see in front of him due to the snowy winds. Though he did see an odd object hovering off the ground not too far ahead.

"That's called a Star Chariot. It's a transportation vehicle used mostly by the rich to travel. Our client is in it." Kurabe explained.

"I see. Is that where he'll be staying for the whole journey?" He asked.

"That's right. So thankfully you shouldn't have to speak with him much."

The child then nodded. "Then... I guess I'll see you in a couple hours, sensei."

"Well, yes, but not yet. We'll speak to him together, then you'll see me in a couple hours."

"Ok then." He replied, secretly happy that he'd be talking to the client with her.

As they approached the vehicle, Meta saw a large walrus man with a silly hat and mustache step out.

"It's about time you showed up, you lousy gnats!" He said in the most holier than thou tone the youth had ever heard.

It was only a few seconds and already he did not like him.

"We were already here quite some time ago. It was your fault for not notifying us." Kurabe uttered, her red eye glare through her visor for a brief moment.

The arrogant man frowned. "It's not my responsibility to do that. Anyway..."

He stared at Meta. "You expect me to believe a mere child can protect me!?"

"Do you really want to underestimate a student of Kurabe the Unkillable?" She replied coldly.

However, Meta got the feeling that such a thing would mean nothing to this person. As expected, Mr. I. C. just scoffed.

"As if I should care about that! In the end I suppose it doesn't matter. You, boy! Get walking already!" He yelled before getting back into his vehicle.

"Understood." Meta then quickly turned to his mentor. "I'll see you later, sensei."

"Good luck, Meta. Oh, and try not to kill the client, ok?" She said in attempt to be funny.

"No promises."

However, the tone her student responded in was dead serious.

Kurabe just laughed.

"That's exactly what I said on my first escort mission." She said in a nostalgic tone.

Suddenly, her tone shifted back to seriousness. "Do your best, Meta, and come back as soon as you complete the mission, understood?"

"Understood." He quickly responded before heading off.

At this point, he just wanted this to be done and over with. Not only that, but there was no doubt that the client would start complaining if they talked too long.

An hour passed, and Meta had seen no action ever since they began traveling. Instead, he was left to his thoughts and honestly, he was progressively getting more fed up with his client. For one, his client didn't even need that chariot. Meta had researched various races and species during his training. The specific race that I.C. belonged to was immune to the cold. He was just too lazy to walk himself! Of course, he couldn't say a thing about it, or the client would become angry. Speaking of which, the client himself was the worst part about this mission, even more than anything else. Occasionally he would roll down the window of his vehicle just to bark out unnecessary commands and insults. Such arrogance for man too afraid to do his own dirty work. Honestly, it was even worse than the blizzard itself. The fact that he just had to take the abuse without saying a thing. Yes, while his mentor could be bossy or would push him to his own limits, he at least knew that was because she cared about him. This person was only doing it because he was rich, and he could. Oh, so badly did he want to somehow sabotage that vehicle, so he died in an "accident". However, he knew he couldn't. It was probably just a thought he had due to frustration and his fingers becoming numb. Quickly, he slipped some more hand warmers underneath his gloves. He really hoped something would happen to break up the boredom and annoyance he was feeling.

Thankfully, he was about to get his wish as he quickly blocked a thrown spear with his sword. Meta closed his eyes and sensed the presence of twenty enemies. A small smile appeared on his face.

"Finally..." He uttered.

Fully drawing his sword, Meta dashed at the nearest bandit and took him out in single move. Turning around, he saw a number of bombs being thrown at the vehicle. Acting quickly, the youth teleported in front of the bombs and kicked them away before they could explode.

"Let's see... there's ten standing in a circle surrounding us. I almost feel... what is this feeling...?"

Raising his sword to the sky, Meta shot a bolt of lightning upwards. Then with a downward slashing motion, the bolt came down and split off into ten directions, hitting and instantly knocking out his targets.

"Falling Lightning Strike." He said coldly.

This was the very first original move he created during his training.

"Get that, bastard!" The youth suddenly heard someone say.

He saw every remaining bandit charge at him. Meta smirked and dashed at them. Then he jumped forward and started to spin incredibly fast, holding his sword out. Soon, he begun to resemble a drill. This was another original technique of his, the Mach Drill. The attack connected and every bandit was sent flying.

"Threat defeated." He uttered with a perfect landing.

"It's about time! You mind getting rid of them a bit faster? Nova, you are so slow!"

Meta didn't even need to look around to see who it was.

"Get back inside. Why you thought it was a good idea to come out is beyond me." He replied coldly, but this only served to make the noble even more angry.

"What makes you think that you can order me around? Maybe if you didn't fight at the speed of a crippled snail, I wouldn't have to come out!"

Suddenly, Meta's sword was at his throat.

"You can act superior all you want but the fact of the matter is that you would be dead without me. Now get inside. Also, if you must know I eliminated them in under a minute. I sincerely doubt you can even move faster than a slow stroll."

I. C. had a horrified look on his face. "I will report this to both your superior and that horrible mentor of yours, you miserable little whelp!"

He then ran into his carriage like his life depended on it. Meta scoffed as he sheathed his blade. He knew that if his mentor agreed with his actions, his superiors probably would as well. Taking a bite of one of his rations, Meta kept moving forward.

A few more hours passed, and Meta had to use yet another set of hand warmers. He also had to put two of them in his boots, as his feet were also starting to become cold. Thankfully, according to his map, the destination wasn't too far away. Using his lantern, Meta could make out some kind of building in the near distance. Soon his mission would be complete, and he could go back home. Hopefully, he could also resupply on rations as well. His thermos was almost empty and he didn't know if he packed enough rations to make it back to the ship. There was one main problem with that... would his client even let him? He highly doubted it, but it was worth a try.

After half an hour, he finally made it to the building. Hopefully he could restock on supplies. When he tried to enter, however, he was stopped.

"Where do you think you're going!?"

He just ignored the voice and continued, stepping around the person blocking his path.

"Hey! Your job was to escort me here! Now that you've done it, and rather poorly I might add, I no longer require your services. Meaning you are now on private property. Leave now or suffer the consequences!"

As much as he wanted to question what "consequences" could someone too lazy to even walk on his own would administer, he knew that his mentor would more than likely suffer from it. He was also just plain tired of this. All he wanted to do right now was return to the GranEssex, where he knew his efforts would be appreciated. Meta started to walk back home, though when he got close to his former client's vehicle, he stealthily overloaded the engine with his lightning magic.

"Let's see how he likes walking..." He thought to himself.

After walking a decent distance, he heard an explosion, likely the engine, and incomprehensible shouting. Not his problem. In fact, during the trip, he noticed it was having engine problems anyway. There was no proof that he had anything to do with it. He gave a slight smirk at that thought. Now all he had to do was return back to the ship. The only problem was... the blizzard around him had picked up.

"Let's see what the map says..."

As he pulled it out, it instantly flew out of his hands. Remembering what his mentor told him, he quickly flicked his wrist and the map magically returned to his hands.

"Thank you, sensei." He said to himself.

It looked like he had to just continue on this current path. The good thing was that since he was no longer escorting a slow-moving vehicle he could go as fast as he wanted. He then began to pick up speed as he ran through the blizzard. Hopefully, he could reach the ship before the blizzard turned into a whiteout.

Two hours passed and Meta had made good progress. However, a serious issue arose. He had run out of rations. To make matters worse, he was running out of warmers as well.

"Ugh... I could've easily used the lantern for heat, but I don't have anything to keep my energy up. Hopefully the GranEssex is nearby..."

He couldn't even tell if the blizzard picked up or not. He just had to push himself to move further. Maybe if he got close enough to the ship, his mentor would be able to read his mind and would meet up with him. Suddenly, he felt the ground shake.

"An earthquake!? No, it's too weak to be an earthquake. Then what could be causing it?"

Suddenly his instincts were telling him to get moving. Acting quickly, he dodged what looked to be a giant icicle. Meta looked at the source of the attack. It was some kind of giant monster comprised of ice and snow. He drew his sword and slashed at it, only for his attack to have no effect. All of his attacks just went through it, like how a finger easily passes through water. Meta attempted to use some lightning magic, but he was out of mana meaning he could only rely on his physical abilities. The youth dodged another icicle, unfortunately this was a trap. The monster attacked with an ice claw which hit Meta's left foot, tearing up his footwear and freezing his foot solid. Meta was terrified. He was essentially a sitting duck and was quickly running out of time.

"Come on, damn it, think of something! It has to have some weakness, if only I had something that generated heat..." He thought to himself.

Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he pulled out the flare gun he brought. The monster was slowly drawing near, it was now or never. Meta shot a flare at the monster blinding it, and more importantly, causing a part of it to melt revealing the monster's core. With a mighty yell, he threw his sword at the core with all his strength, shattering it upon impact. The monster's body fell apart instantly, leaving a partially frozen Meta victorious. However, he didn't celebrate. He didn't even need to look at his foot to know that his boot was damaged and his foot was frozen. However, he had to continue forward towards the GranEssex. It was his only chance of getting help right now. Struggling to get up, Meta dragged himself over to his sword. He couldn't afford to be without an weapon. St the very least he could use it as a make shift walking stick.

"I should of brought that staff Grandpa gave me..." Meta grumbled to himself.

No, now wasn't the time for complaining. If he could get close enough to the GranEssex, hopefully his mentor's ESP could pick up on his thoughts. He just felt so cold... and so tired right now. No, he couldn't sleep. He would die if he fell asleep. He just had to continue walking and try to ignore the cold. That was easier said than done, of course, being battered by winds and his foot being frozen. Hopefully it wouldn't have to be amputated. Why was he thinking of that now? Perhaps to take his mind off this cold weather? Quickly, he used his last set of warmers in a desperate attempt to keep the heat in within himself. Most noticeably, he noticed that his shivering was beginning to slow down. His mind became muddled with various thoughts. Was this it? Was he going to die out here in this cold, unforgiving wilderness? He pushed himself on and on. Then, after a few more minutes of walking, he could see a familiar shape. However, that was all he could see before his vision went black.

Honestly, Meta didn't expect to wake up once more. It was cold. Much too cold. He just wanted to escape from it. Then, he slowly began to open his eyes. His vision was blurry, so he didn't exactly recognize where he was. The only thing he did know was that he was... strangely warm. Where was he? He tried to move, but he seemed to be restricted by something.

"Stay still, Meta. Just relax and focus on getting warm." He heard a familiar voice say. He quietly looked to his left and his eyes adjusted enough to see a shade of purple.

"...sensei?" He uttered weakly.

"That's right, Meta, now conserve your energy. We'll talk more later." She said in a soothing voice as she stroked his head.

"Sensei...!" He managed to choke out, but was quickly shushed.

"Now, now. Just focus on recovering."

She then took a small cup from the nightstand and let him drink from it. The liquid inside was warm and he could already feel his body warming up further. Now that his vision was beginning to focus, he noticed that he was wrapped in several blankets and had a hot water bottle on his chest. Not only that, but whatever he was laying on was extremely soft, much more than his own bed. He managed to get a better look of the room he was staying in. Upon seeing the photos, the desk, the large bookcase against the wall, and the small kitchen area where he noticed his uniform drying, he finally realized where he was exactly.

"Why am I in your room...?"

"Worry about that later. Just focus on recovering." Was the blunt reply.

The two sat together in silence for the next hour.

When Meta was feeling better, he decided to speak. "Sensei. I'm sorry..."

Kurabe looked confused. "What for, Meta?"

"I escorted the client, but he wouldn't let me resupply and I was attacked on my way back to the ship. I ran out of supplies, and I lost consciousness from the cold... I... I'm a failure..." He felt his eyes begin to water as he continued to talk.

"Now, Meta, answer me this. Did you complete the mission?"

"Yes, but-!"

"But nothing. What happened to you is no fault of your own. You did the best you could, correct? You completed the mission... actually, you completed two missions."

Upon seeing Meta's confused face, she elaborated.

"While you were out, we received another mission: Eliminate a certain A-rank ice monster that's been terrorizing these parts... the same exact one you beat. You defeated a monster that's killed every other soldier sent at it, that's something to be proud of. Besides, you kept your promise, right? You came back home in one piece; I couldn't be prouder of you."

The youth only stared in silence. "Sensei... I..."

As he felt the tears begin to roll down his face, he was unsure how exactly he was feeling right now. He had several emotions murkily swimming around him right now and couldn't figure out why.

"Thank... you..."

Kurabe placed a hand on Meta's head and began to quietly stroke it. "No, Meta, thank you for coming back. It's all thanks to your incredible will."

"I... I just didn't want to die and leave you and Mercury yet."

"And that is what gave you the will to survive. Honestly, I was a complete wreck while you were gone. I was so worried about you. And especially when I found you outside the ship. I'm sure you can ask the Bukisets and Mercury, but I was hysterical while I tried to warm you up and perform CPR."

The youth only looked down in shame. "I'm sorry..."

His mentor gave a sigh.

"Enough of that, Meta. None of this was your fault. If anyone is to blame, it would be that fool." Kurabe said, her tone becoming venomous near the end.

"...sensei?" He asked in slight concern at that dangerous voice.

His mentor smiled at him warmly, but he could also tell that there was a storm of anger brewing inside her. "You see, Meta, that man broke our contract."

She pulled out a short stack of papers, with the first page clearly saying "Commission Contract" on the top of it.

"Section 4, rule 3. A client must allow the hired member of the Organization to resupply themselves if the need arises. Since he forbid you from doing that, he must suffer the consequences."

"What are you going to do then?"

Unlike that rotten noble, his mentor's threats actually held meaning. The warrior gave a dark and sinister grin.

"I'm going to destroy him. Metaphorically anyway. You see, he's done this before, four separate times to be exact. This will be his fifth penalty, meaning he's at our mercy. Or more specifically, my mercy. Just stay here and sleep Meta, you've more than earned it."

The youth nodded quietly.

"Um... sensei...?" He asked in a slightly shy tone.

"What is it?"

"Can we not do another mission on a cold planet? At least not for a couple of years?"

Kurabe nodded. "Of course, Meta." She then got a mischievous smile. "Now you and Mercury have something in common."

"S-SENSEI!" He quickly turned himself away from her, as if trying to hide his blushing face.

She laughed. "And now you're warmer. I'll be back soon, Meta, this won't take long."

She then left the room quickly as her student pouted silently.

Unlike with Meta, it didn't take Kurabe too long to reach the building where I. C. was staying. Part of this was because the GranEssex had flown there in the time it took Meta to recover. The other reason was that Kurabe's mastery of the Ice Ability allowed her to walk through the blizzard without a problem. Without wasting time, she kicked the front door down, startling I.C.

"You again? I thought I told you and that brat to get offa my property, and now you're doing property damage? You better be paying for that!"

Immediately, he stopped when he noticed her stomping towards him.

"The only one paying here is you. You are quite aware that you broke the terms of our contract for the final time, aren't you? Not to mention that I received an interesting report from a co-worker. Mind telling me for how long you've been involved in the black market?"

The man seemed stunned for a moment, but then he began to stutter back.

"H-how have you heard such baseless rumors! I've never even heard of the black market all my life! Now run along before I tell the other nobles that pay you about this and you completely go bankrupt!"

He quickly dabbed his face, as if attempting to hide the fact that he was sweating bullets.

Kurabe then kicked him into the wall. "You have no power over us, you pathetic excuse for a lifeform. For starters, you must be punished for breaking our terms. You must pay us back ten times the amount you originally paid us for."

"With how slowly that brat was going? No way, lady!" He managed to spit out. He was then punched in the gut.

"How fast he went is irrelevant and you know it. Though it's not like you have to cooperate with us. We're seizing every property you own anyway for every illegal activity you have performed. Try and deny it all you like, we have proof."

"You bitch!" He pulled out a block of ice and hit her over the head with it.

"Do you really think that people will listen to your lies with this so-called proof!? And all of this over one stupid brat!? You're extremely desperate!" He tried to break another one over her head.

"The only one desperate is you, and if you've been paying attention, it isn't just about him. You broke the terms of agreement for the final time. If you did what you did with any other soldier you would still be punished."

Kurabe the froze most of his body to his utter shock.

"As for the people, well, you have a television, don't you? Turn it on, see what's on the news."

"...what are you talking about?"

"Turn on the television, now."

The two servants immediately jumped the moment Kurabe looked at them.

"R-right away!"

They quickly scurried off and brought back a TV, immediately turning it on as instructed. On the screen, Reedy adjusted his glasses.

"My name is Reedy and I'm the head of the intelligence division of our organization. We've had reason to suspect him of criminal activity, especially since he was prone to break the rules of our contracts quite quickly. Of course, that alone isn't quite enough to convict him of the truly heinous crimes. That's when I decided to investigate his actions myself. What I found was truly horrifying..."

Reedy clicked on a device that started playing a video of I.C and a few of his associates discussing said assassination attempt.

"So, Mr. Untouchable, how do you feel now?" Kurabe asked.

It was then that she immediately noticed that I. C. appeared to be both physically and metaphorically frozen in fear.

"Let this be an important lesson for you all... " She said to the terrified servants. "Don't cross the Organization. Especially not Kurabe the Unkillable."

Both of the servants quickly nodded.

Then she turned back to the noble. "Now I.C, you have two options: Come with me willingly and stand trial or have me personally oversee your execution. You choice."

The ice continued to creep up the noble's body. However, that wasn't what frightened him the most. It was the red eye that glared at him from underneath her visor. However, it was much, much different than how she did before. It was blank and swirling, like a blood-colored void. It was a red abyss that stared back at him, making it harder and harder for him to breath until he finally fainted.

"Coward." She spat out.

Soon, his whole body was completely frozen. Even his ice resilient body couldn't stop Kurabe's icy grip.

"Reedy, could you do pick him up for me? I'm afraid I'll lose my patience if I look at him for too long." She uttered, speaking to him with a headset.

"Normally I would tell you to do it yourself, but considering the state Meta is in, consider it done." He replied with a slight sigh.

"Thank you."

She then began to return to the GranEssex. There was no way that ice was going to melt anytime soon. Well, at least not until he would need to stand trial.

"What about us? What's going to happen to us?" Asked the servants.

"You will likely be taken in as accomplices."

"But we're innocent!"

"If that's true, then you'll be set free after we do a thorough investigation." She looked back at them coldly. "Now if you have nothing else to say, you can just sit there and wait for him to show up. Unless you want to end up like your boss."

Upon seeing them shake their heads, Kurabe left to see how her student was doing.

After returning to the GranEssex, she returned to her room without saying another word to anyone. Meta could only stare in worry as she slammed the door to her room and walked over towards her desk with an unreadable expression.

"Sensei, are you ok? Did everything go alright?" Her student asked as he started to unravel himself from the blankets surrounding him.

"I'm fine, Meta. Just... extremely angry right now."

Meta looked like was about to say something.

"Don't apologize. I told you already, you have nothing to be sorry about. We would have had to deal with him eventually anyway."

He then immediately became silent. It was as if he was unsure what to say now. Honestly, he didn't really know what to say when his mentor was angry at something else. In the rare case that she was angry at him, he could've easily apologized. But what if he did nothing wrong?

"Sensei, are all escort missions like this? I mean specifically with the clients. Are they all like him?"

"Not all of them, thankfully. While some are still annoying, they aren't all entirely like him." She replied simply as she stood at her desk, her face looking away from him.

It was then that a thought crossed his mind.

"Sensei, please don't blame yourself for what happened. Ok?"

Almost immediately, his mentor responded. "Oh, I'm not blaming myself, Meta."

"I can read your emotions, remember? You regret giving me this mission, I can tell. Because of that, you're angry at yourself."

His mentor became completely silent, as if not knowing how to respond to that.

"I don't blame you for putting me on this mission, sensei. If anything, I'm grateful. I've learned a lot about my own limits and that I have a lot of room to grow." Meta hopped down from the bed and walked up to Kurabe. "Sensei, you told me that I didn't fail. You didn't fail either."

"...Meta." She uttered quietly.

She then smiled as she patted his head. "Look at you acting all grown up. How are you feeling? Can you feel your foot at all?"

He took a moment to move his foot. "I'm feeling a lot better right now. Especially my foot. I can move it right now."

"Good. Now, your uniform should be dry by now. Change into it and follow me, we're going to have a light workout. It'll be good for the both of us."

"Ok then!" He nodded as he quickly dressed himself and followed her out of the room.

And this would be the beginning of the second arc of GranEssex Chronicles.

You may be wondering where Mercury is during this chapter...she's hiding from the cold.

As usual, let me know what you think!