Rise Of Royal Phantoms And Qixi Festival

Episode 40

We stumbled back into the Espionage Hall, shadows of our former energetic selves. Gone were the boasts and laughter that filled the air before our first missions. Now, groans and complaints echoed through the vast hall, punctuated by the occasional thud as someone collapsed onto the floor.

"𝑺𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒂 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆? 𝑫𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏?" one agent whined, their voice laced with frustration. "𝑨𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒓𝒚! 𝑻𝒐𝒚 𝒌𝒏𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔? 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕!"

Another sprawled on the cold stone, muttering about a suicidal client. "𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒚-𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒖𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒄," he grumbled. "𝑯𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒄𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒇 𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒆𝒔."

Their tales of woe filled the hall, a cacophony of frustration and exhaustion. As my team entered, a wave of smug comments washed over us.

"𝑳𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎," someone scoffed, "𝒃𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒂 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉! 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒌."

We ignored them, collapsing against the wall, heads hung low. Just another team of rookies, battered and bewildered by our baptism into the world of espionage.
A curious voice cut through the din. "𝑺𝒐, 𝒉𝒐𝒘'𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒈𝒐, 𝒈𝒖𝒚𝒔?"

Swallowing a groan, I mumbled, "𝑾𝒆...𝒘𝒆'𝒅 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕."

Nervous glances were exchanged, the shared sentiment hanging heavy in the air.
"𝑾𝒉𝒐𝒂, 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚'𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔," someone else remarked.

The next hour was a blur of weary commiseration. One by one, we recounted our experiences, each tale more shocking than the last. By the time Steward Kael entered the hall, the scene resembled a battlefield hospital for the espionage-impaired.

"𝑮𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔," he chuckled, surveying our weary forms. "𝑭𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕-𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅?"
"𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕, 𝒆𝒙𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒍𝒚," mumbled Tomohiro, voicing the general sentiment. "𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕...𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈."

He scanned the room, his gaze lingering on the parchment clutched in each team's hand. Each bore the distinct mark of a completed mission - the team's emblem proudly displayed.

"𝑨𝒉, 𝑰 𝒔𝒆𝒆!" he boomed, a flicker of pride in his eyes. "𝑺𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒉𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏! 𝑬𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌, 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆."

We unfurled the parchments, a small spark of accomplishment igniting amidst the fatigue. Each successful mission, no matter how outrageous, was a victory.

Steward Kael gestured toward the empty table. "𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔. 𝑻𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔."

Relief rippled through our group. We rose, our movements stiff and protesting, and shuffled towards the table, depositing our emblems of success.
With a final groan, I turned to leave, a heavy tiredness pulling at my limbs. Just as we reached the doorway, Kaito spoke up.

"𝑹𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆. 𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒖𝒑 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘."
A collective sigh escaped our lips. Mission complete, but a new challenge awaited.

"𝑳𝒆𝒕'𝒔 𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒕," I suggested. "𝑻𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘, 𝒘𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆."

Renji stretched, his voice thick with exhaustion. "𝑺𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆. 𝑩𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒔, 𝑰'𝒎 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒕."
Izumi let out a yawn that could rival a dragon's roar. "𝑨𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒅. 𝑺𝒆𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘."

With those final words, we dispersed, each limping back to our respective quarters. The day's events hung heavy, but somewhere beneath the fatigue, a flicker of camaraderie sparked. We were battered, bewildered, and most definitely exhausted. But we were also successful spies, and tomorrow, we would face the challenge of a team name. And maybe, just maybe, a decent night's sleep.

𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑎 𝑣𝑜𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑒(ुŏ̥̥ŏ̥̥)