Chapter 424 - PRETENDING TO BE FINE (1/2)

Akira did not plan on wasting time after leaving Mountain Ridge. She wanted to begin her search for Kaito as soon as possible to prevent the trail he left from running cold. However, when she got to the Immortal Sword Valley, she was exhausted and mentally drained.

She decided to take a short nap in her suite to clear her mind before doing anything.​​

Unfortunately, she underestimated her level of tiredness. When she woke up again, it was already morning. She felt disoriented at first because of the familiar yet unfamiliar environment. And then, the events of the previous day hit her.

She ġrȯȧnėd as she stood up from the bed and headed to the bathroom for a shower. The cold morning reminded her of the days when she lived in the valley as a trainee and an agent when she was not out for missions. The only difference was that she did not have to go through morning drills or follow a timetable.

When she completed her shower and dressed in a black combat-style uniform, she headed to the cafeteria for breakfast. It was still early, so the rowdy trainees were still not back from the training field. The hall was quiet except for early risers like herself.

Most of them waved and greeted her enthusiastically after not seeing her for a while.

In truth, she wanted to have a quick meal before finding the Chief and Raiden so that they could begin looking into the trail left by Kaito. She did not trust herself to handle the task herself without some external help. Her emotional involvement would probably cloud her judgement.

Just as she thought she was done with the meaningless greetings, she saw her former team members from the old days.

When she was an active agent, she preferred carrying out solo missions. She found it efficient and convenient. She would only have a liaison or handler for contact with the valley. However, it was unavoidable that she would join a team at some point.

The team to which she was ȧssigned by the Chief consisted of older agents. It was unavoidable because she finished her training earlier than everyone else in her cohort. For this reason, she had a bit of a hard time adapting to working with other people at first.

But after a few life and death missions, she formed an alright relationship with the team members.

Still, it could not be considered too good. There were too many hidden tensions related to the relationships in the team. Also, Akira was too young to be considered one of them. Additionally, it was hard to maintain the bond after she was promoted far beyond any of their positions.

The complicated past made interacting with them a little difficult. In truth, Akira would have preferred to ignore them and eat her food, but she was still a member of the Immortal Sword Brigade. She had to be a team player, as the Chief always told her.

”Little Akira, I see you are still an early riser like always.” Rin waved to her as soon as she saw her.

Akira smiled a little stiffly as she walked over to the table.

She did not dislike Rin per se. The woman was a little rough, but she did not have a bad heart. Still, Akira's first impression of the woman was not good. Rin constantly complained about her when she first joined the team behind her back.

It was not until they went for a few missions together, and Akira saved her life that she stopped badmouthing her. Even though their relationship improved, Akira could not be tight with her. She did not like backbiters.

”Yeah, I have some work to do.” She responded before turning to the other people. ”Good morning.”

The entire team was made up of seven members. Apart from Rin and herself, there was one other girl known as Miki. The other four members were Hiro, Gofu, Ryou and Fuji. The only person missing at the table was Fuji.

”Good morning.” The group responded.

”Are you taking a break in the valley?” Akira asked politely.