Chapter 67: The secret spy
2004 Words
A tough cookie like myself always begins his day with a nice cup of coffee. For us who dwelled in the shadows, making our living as spies, there was nothing better than taking up a cup of strong coffee to prevent our heads from feeling sleepy.
Pumping ourselves full of coffee and drugs was the way of the world-weary. I mixed a drop of the medicine into my coffee and drank it down. This is my daily routine.
I’d never been sure of what was in those drugs. I took them from a mail-order catalog. But they were super expensive, so I was convinced they were beneficial to my health.
I took the cup and sipped it.
“Bleh! So bitter…”
This strong flavor was actually what banished sleepiness. Probably. That wasn’t written anywhere in the books, though. Coffee was bitter and gross and seriously tasted like mud, which triggered my gag reflex and made drowsiness my second priority.
It didn’t taste anything like how they describe it in the spy novels. They wrote that black coffee was delicious or something, but it had to be sarcasm or some sort of dark comedy.
Get my joke? Because my coffee is dark. (Bad joke.)
“Ewwwwwwwww…”
So after picking in the bathroom, as usual, I headed for the office looking cool.
My workplace was a spy organization built by the revolutionary group in disguise as a coffee shop.
It looked hip and intelligent upfront, but in the back, we took care of the bloody business.
“Yuri, you're here. Let's get down to business. I got a job for you.”
The person who spoke to me was a grumpy old man. The boss of the spy organization.
This man was the one who picked me up when I was abandoned as a child and raised me. I have no memory of this since it happened a long time ago.
I’ve forgotten all about the past because I was so jaded by the world/
“Hump… I suppose that is something worthy of my time?”
I asked.
“It's a job only you can do… Look at this… And when did you become big enough to talk to me like that?”
Boss scowled.
The boss frowned and tossed a file onto my desk.
Keeping my trembling fingers in check, I opened the file. The contents were very simple. However, it was a directive that was simple and therefore complicated.
Directive for the assassination of the evil mage.
Under the title were written the basic characteristics of the target and the date set for assassination.
The target was a traveling adventurer who had arrived in this city several days ago. This adventurer had a cute outward appearance, but her character is evil beyond description. She was fined by friends who deceived people with no hesitation, thought only of accumulating wealth, and made free use of any fraudulent methods to swindle people… Commoner or Royalty.
Damage reports had been coming in night and day from the city she visited. It is an exaggeration to say that if we're unable to bring her down here, she could destroy a small country.
An evil individual, to be sure, but the inconvenient part was that the target was an S-class adventurer. The highest rank that only rare geniuses attain. Therefore, she is extremely powerful. Sixteen years had passed since I was born in this country, but I had yet to lay my eyes on a real one.
That’s how rare they were.
But that particular adventurer was pure evil, and this time, she was the target I was supposed to bring down.
“Seriously?”
“I would not put out this as a joke.”
“But… I’m just an ordinary adventurer.”
I forgot to tell you, but I was the lowest class of adventurer. I’m a D-class adventurer.
“But this job is one that I can only entrust to you. As you know, our organization is entirely men, except for you. And most of them can’t even use magic. To be honest, if it comes down to a magical showdown, the person in our organization with the highest survival is you.”
“In other words, this is a job I can only do?”
I understand!
“I’ve told you that.”
My boss let out a sigh of exasperation.
Feeling somewhat nervous, I looked over the description of the target one more time.
♦♦♦♦♦
Her hair was the color of dirty blonde. It was tied with a red ribbon. Gently dancing in the summer breeze blowing across the coffee shop terrace.
Her eyes were emerald green. They were tranquil like wide glass fields, looking at the breakfast that had been placed before her, consisting of boiled egg, toast, and black coffee.
She was a traveler wearing no armor. She must be very confident in her strength. Her looks were in her early teens. Something about her was unrefined. As she worked diligently to peel the shell from the hard-boiled egg, she looked like an adorable daughter helping her mother in the kitchen.
Finally, the target finished peeling her egg and gulped her coffee down in one mouthful.
She loved it… black or with milk, or with sugar, as long as it was coffee.
Tips: Even better to drink the first few sips black, then add a dash of milk and sugar to experience all the different flavors.
“Coffee is the best.”
She thought, letting out a sigh as she set the cup down.
Oddly enough, she was picky about her boiled eggs.
She thought it was best when the yolk crumbled into bits as soon as she pulled her mouth away after taking a bite. That way, it was easy to sprinkle with salt.
“What a beautiful morning.”
This adventurer was seated in a high-viewed cafe. Taking a break from traveling.
“...”
♦♦♦♦♦
I could take in the scenery of this city from the terrace seat and the coffee shop. The city was lined with white-painted walls and uniform buildings. The ground was paved with brick, spreading out to form a fan-shaped pattern. The people trotting over it were shopping, engaging in friendly conversation, or walking around with people watching like me.
It seemed like a nice, safe, clean city, though the scenery wasn’t anything special.
The everyday lives of people were spread out before me. And so I was blending into the scene by taking a rest at a coffee shop.
“Excuse me, miss… If you don’t mind, could you give me an autograph?”
I was drinking coffee, lost in thoughts about what I should do after breakfast when the waitress brought me a piece of colored paper and a pen. Along with another cup of black coffee.
“The coffee is on the house.”
She said.
“My autograph? Why?”
I’m quite confused about what's happening. I’m not famous or anything, you know? I’m just your average adventurer.
The waitress looked very excited.
“This is my first time seeing an S-class adventurer! I’ve always wanted to become one. So I was moved when I saw you today.”
I wonder how she would know that I’m an S-class adventurer. Oh, maybe I have that intimidating presence with me. That explains everything.
Her two light brown pigtails bobbed, tied at the back of her head. She peered at me with blue eyes, edging closer and closer.
“So if you don’t mind, I want to decorate the coffee shop with it.”
“I guess, I don’t mind.”
I took the pen and smoothly wrote my name on the paper. It was a sloppy signature like I would do at the front desk of an inn.
“Here you go.”
I handed it back to him, and the waitress held it like it was something very precious.
“Thank you! Please drink that coffee, okay? It's made with love!”
I’m still in my first cup. What the heck is that all about? I couldn’t say it, but that waitress is strangely suspicious. Also, what did she mean by saying this was made with love? It looks like an ordinary black coffee.
“Hey, little miss… You’re so cute. YOu alone? Wanna have a coffee with me?”
As I picked up the cup that the waitress had just given me, a sketchy man sat down across from me.
“...”
A witch isn’t opposed to being treated flippantly.
Rather, she knows that if she places a curse on the man propositioning her to make him spew blood from every orifice in his body, then the world will become a little bit more peaceful.
“I’m sorry, I’m a bit busy right now.”
With a sigh, I took the slowly prepared coffee to my lips.
There are all kinds of ways to enjoy a cup of java. For example, as I told you earlier, you can enjoy it by taking the first few sips black before adding milk and sugar. Or you can enjoy it from beginning to end.
Anyway, it would be an exaggeration to say that a single cup holds infinite possibilities.
When considering your cup of coffee, which holds an endless expansion of enjoyment, the first thing you ought to do is inhale and feel the aroma flood the inside of your chest. I think there’s nothing better.
“I know a place that has better coffee. How about it? Let’s go together.”
The man said.
“...”
The sharp stream from the coffee bent with his cologne and his shallow words and actions, transforming into something truly repulsive. My heart dropped. The aroma of high-quality coffee had undergone a complete change into something that seemed more like muddy water.
I felt like throwing up.
“The coffee shop I know is better… Really! I might not look the part, but you know, I’m quite the coffee connoisseur!”
“...Huh?”
I was ignoring the man and enjoying the coffee aroma for a bit when I realized something strange. Mixed in with the coffee and the stretch of garbage wafting off of the pile of human trash was a slight medicinal odor. It was hard to notice beneath the smell, yet there was an acrid smell that had no business in a coffee shop.
It was just the slightest hint of ascent.
To test out this suspicion, I took some distance from the man.
“Hey! Wait! Are you ignoring me? That means!”
I keep sniffing around to identify the smell.
Then, I realized that this was poison.
Poison with the secret potential to make me nauseous from the pit of my stomach if I drink it. What’s worse, it was an awful type that would only show its true power when mixed with coffee.
If I were to drink this, I would puke all over myself in front of the whole town. What was all that about making this with pure love? Does that mean projectile vomiting?
When I looked around me, I couldn’t see the waitress anymore. Not inside the cafe, not in the crowd, not anywhere I sight.
“...”
Could it be that I’m being targeted by someone?
With a bad hunch, I decided to leave the coffee shop right then.
“Hey! Wait! What about our date?”
“Sorry, gotta run… I’m busy. I’ve got plans.”
I lied, collecting my things.
“I’ll give you this coffee. I’ve already had some of them, though I’m not a fan.”
I pushed the poisoned coffee toward the man and made my escape. Even I thought my sloppy lie about being sensitive to coffee was rather transparent, but the shallow man bought it wholesale. He even has a lewd look on his face.
“You already sipped this cup? Lucky me!”
“Yeah, go ahead.”
I made another lie.
- Writer
