Chapter 103: Mission Affairs

"Oh."

Adam echoed in realisation. He put the notepad into his system storage, walked to the door, and opened it.

"I should have expected to see you guys here." He remarked, stepping aside to grant entry to the two girls.

"Hehe. Yeah." April giggled as she scurried past Adam, entering the room with familiarity.

Riley, on the other hand, did not enter. She looked inside and then at Adam, inquisitively staring at him.

"You coming in or what?" Adam asked with a raised brow, sensing the confusion and doubt from her.

"Aren’t you supposed to be cautious of girls after what you went through?" The silver-haired girl asked incredulously.

"You want me to treat you like any other girl?" Adam shot back, a knowing smile tugging at his lips.

His response rendered the girl speechless.

"Hehehe. Riley, just come inside." April called out from the couch.

The silver-haired girl let out a resigned sigh and entered. She looked around the room as she went to the couch, noticing how spacious and well-kept the room was. She saw the empty cups of noodles on the table but thought nothing of them.

Adam followed after closing the door.

"I’m guessing you’re here because of the assassination attempt on me?" He pointed out as he went to pull his desk chair over.

"Obviously," April answered, taking a good look at Adam. "Do you know how worried we were? We had to seek out your master to know your whereabouts."

The pink-haired girl could not make sense of how Adam remained so composed. Had she been the target, she would have returned home without hesitation. "But looking at you now, you don’t seem bothered at all. You’re all casual about it. Was there even an assassination attempt?"

"The authorities would not lie about something that serious," Riley commented beside her, her arms crossed over her chest. "But all that matters now is that he survived without a scratch."

"Mm. That’s true." The pink-haired girl beamed.

"Thanks for worrying about me. But I’m fine now. As for staying composed... Well, that’s preferable to being miserable. That’s all there is to it." Adam said casually, not wanting to go into the details of how he survived. "What about you guys? You two just returned from a class, right?"

"Hmph. Unlike a certain someone, we’ll have to attend all our classes." April grumbled with a pouty face. "We can’t all have record-breaking intelligence, you know?"

Riley almost rolled her eyes at April’s antics. Shaking her head, she answered. "Incidents like yours have little to no effect on the academy’s operations. You, on the other hand..."

The silver-haired girl gave Adam a once-over. "...will find it challenging taking on missions."

Adam raised a brow.

"Yeah..." April chipped in, drawing Adam’s gaze. "The mission hall is already packed with students. From what we gathered there, all the first-year missions require at least two members to form a team."

"There’s nothing challenging about that, is there?" Adam asked, looking at the two girls.

"That’s just it," the pink-haired girl continued. "Word going around is that partnering with you on a mission could be disastrous. You know..."

"Oh."

Adam muttered, understanding their concerns. He couldn’t blame them for wanting to stay away from him. Life-threatening danger seemed to follow him everywhere he went.

No one would want to encounter a team of assassins on a small mission for the academy. Worse still was that the attempts could happen anywhere.

Adam looked at the two girls and asked, "What about you guys? Will you be staying clear of me as well?"

At his words, April looked away guiltily, while Riley lowered her gaze. An awkward silence settled over the room. Adam could only smile bitterly seeing their reaction. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"I’m sorry, Adam." April began, feeling ashamed. "But my... my parents..."

She could not continue, but Adam received the meaning loud and clear. He looked at Riley next, who met his gaze and nodded. Their parents had barred them from going out with Adam.

Riley, in particular, got an earful after that mission to Ashvale. Had those assassins had other intentions, she would have lost her life.

"Guys. You don’t have to look so gloomy." Adam leaned back in his chair and said, forcing a smile on his face. "I would have done the same thing."

Though he said this, he was actually hurt. The sting was not something he could just decide not to feel. He was being boycotted for reasons that were out of his control.

"Y-You’re not worried or disappointed?" April asked in a low voice, staring at Adam with doubt in her eyes.

She knew that Adam was lying, as Adam wasn’t the only one who could sense and read emotions. She simply did not use that ability very often.

"Why would I be?" Adam answered, raising a brow. "It’s the most logical response. Anything else would be pure madness?"

"But will you even be able to take on missions?" Riley asked, narrowing her eyes.

"It’s possible for there to be exceptions, so I can just take missions alone." Adam shrugged.

"What about your safety?" April could not understand it. Adam was too complicated. "Your life is always in danger!"

"I survived an attempt on my life less than twenty-four hours ago." That was all he said, smiling mysteriously.

The confidence and certainty in his voice could not be hidden, making April realise Adam was telling the truth.

Adam looked at Riley when he sensed her intense gaze.

"I’ll be fine." He assured the girl.

"..."

April and Riley exchanged a glance and then looked at Adam incredulously. Adam had to be truly insane to just shrug off life-threatening attempts like they meant nothing.

"Very well."

Riley muttered, accepting Adam’s words. There was no need to try talking him out of it. Adam knew the dangers and still wanted to do missions.

"When will you guys begin your missions?" Adam asked.

"I’m thinking about taking one a few days from now," April answered first, a finger on her chin, her soft eyes wandering to the ceiling. "Hmm... combat missions aren’t really my thing. I sh-"

"That reminds me," Adam cut in, looking at the pink-haired girl inquisitively. "What is your awakened affinity? I’m assuming it’s a psychic one, right?"

"Ah, yeah..." April looked away yet again.

Sensing the fear and worry from the pink-haired girl, Adam knew he had asked a question he shouldn’t have. She seemed to be ashamed of what she could do, which was strange to him.

Riley subtly shook her head, hinting that Adam not continue.

Understanding the silver-haired girl, Adam quickly said, "You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, alright? I have my secrets as well."

"It’s-it’s not that I don’t want to tell you, Adam." April said with a hesitant voice, her head lowered. "I just... just give me some time."

"Of course."

Adam agreed without hesitation, quickly changing the subject. "About the missions, I’ve already made plans with Aurelius. So you don’t have to worry too much."

"Since when did you two become friends?" Riley asked curiously.

"Just recently, actually."

Adam proceeded to share how their encounters evolved into a sparring match and the arrangement to take a mission together.

The relaxed atmosphere gradually returned as the three talked about various things afterwards. After a while, the two girls bid farewell.

"Stay safe on your first mission, okay?" April cheerfully waved at Adam as she left with Riley.

"Okay."

Adam checked the time, realising it was late in the afternoon. He could get back to designing and tweaking his idea, but that would take a lot of time.

’I’ll get a replacement for my phone first.’