Light Novel Minion Quest

"There are things you can't get with money. Stuff that is older than history. Tomes, foliants, real artefacts."

The leader of the Prometheus Agency had many names, but the most famous of them all was thus: the Eternity Holder. He was the man whose existence predated the concept of "human civilization," and his sole drive was to bring salvation to the mankind.

Naturally, he had accumulated vast riches and immense resources, but what attracted you the most was the opportunity to get your hands on his personal collection, items that once belonged to leaders of now-forgotten kingdoms.

"Never took you for a hoarder," your partner sounded almost amused that.

"I'm more of a researcher," you explained. Not that you expected them to understand. "We still don't have an unified theory to explain the ways magical phenomena interact with our world, but there are certain… patterns that I've noticed. Would you like to hear…"

"Nah, don't bother," they cut you short. "I'm not interested in stuff like theories and whatnot. And even if I was, I'm not smart enough to understand your babble."

"Are you flaunting your ignorance?" you mocked them lightly. "Honestly, don't you think some learning can be beneficial for a magical assassin like yourself? For example, it'd be easier to take precautions against any possible opponents."

"The less you know, the better you sleep," they fired back. "And I would rather sleep like a baby."

On this note, your conversation came to an abrupt end as the target finally left their apartments. Silently, you followed him to his school, jumping from one roof to another and, while such an extreme action required some minor spells from you, your partner had no such problems.

Rather than moving like a human being, they reminded you more of a bunch of snakes coiled together. Four long appendages slightly peaked beneath the shroud, lifting your partner's body and easily tossing it from rooftop to rooftop.

"This is the power of a magic breed, huh?" you noted wryly.

The magic breeds were offshoots of humanity that developed certain supernatural traits either because of the experiments they or their ancestors committed in the past or simply because they were born in places with strong magical influences.

Each of them was unique in appearance and the inborn abilities they possessed. That said, there were far less magical breeds born to this world than there used to be. In fact, you were almost certain that was a direct correlation between the usage of magic and appearance of new magical breeds.

Finally, you were given a brief of moment of respite. Trying to catch your breath, you sat down on the rooftop of the building overlooking the boy's school. From where you sat, there was no way to see what people inside the school were doing, but your partner's eyes were far sharper than yours.
"What do you see?" you asked them.

"Nothing much. The brat is just sitting there, listening to some music. Doesn't talk to anyone, though. Guess we have one of them loner-types here."

"That's good," you said. "The less people our target interacts with, the lesser are risks of him being in danger. Then again, our task is to keep an eye on him. No one ever told us to be his bodyguards."

"Are you sure you are not a mind-reader?" you almost felt your partner smirk under their massive hood. "If it was up to me, I'd have kept him locked up on our base, though. Just to be on the safe side and all."

"I sure don't envy the poor soul guarded by you, then."

"Oh, hush you…"

Your little powwow came to a screeching halt when your partner's entire body suddenly tensed up. From the looks of it, they had noticed something that immediately captured their attention. Whether it was intentional or not, their body even started slowly radiate some magical energy.

"That's her!" they shouted. "The Crimson Blade! From the Cleaners!"

"The Cleaners?! What can they possibly need here of all places?" you asked. "W-What is the Crimson Blade doing right now?"

"Nothing. She just entered the same classroom as our target. Apparently, she's pretending to be a transfer student."

That was bad. The Cleaners was an agency that monitored people with extrasensory abilities, which naturally meant that their field agents possessed such abilities as well. While there were no conflicts of interests between the Prometheus Agency and the Cleaners in recent history, the relationships between the two organizations had always been extremely antagonistic.

"To think that the Crimson Blade would pretend to be a high school girl," you muttered, cursing your poor luck. The Crimson Blade was the codename of the Cleaners' main enforcer, Amagiri Mai, whose track record had been spotless. In short, not a single living soul had survived an encounter with her, be they demons or magicians.

"Looks like both the Agency and the Cleaners might be interested in the same person. What should we do now?"

[] Keep monitoring your target. Wait for the Crimson Blade to make the first move.

[] Go on the offensive. Contact the target right after the school ends.