Contract of Submission with the Enemy - Chapter 14
A fork. Aster had casually mentioned she should take a fork. Was he giving her a hint?
She regretted not keeping it hidden in her clothes rather than giving it to the trainees. Or at least keeping it when returning the tray in Aster’s office. The thought of him planning this far ahead gave her chills. But now was not the time to dwell on regrets.
Rité frantically tried to untie the ropes but soon fell into despair. She had learned and practiced cutting ropes with her shoelaces while in the vigilante group. But now, even that was taken into account, as she was barefoot.
“Damn you, Aster…! If I get out of here, I’ll tear you to pieces! You hear me? Huh? Do you?”
She screamed at the surveillance camera. Watching her from behind reinforced glass, arms crossed, Aster’s lips curled into a slight smile.
The water rapidly rose to her waist. Rité realized there was only one option left: to use her ability.
Closing her eyes tightly, she tried to locate the pain in her body. The icy water had numbed her senses, making it hard to find the pain. She knew she had to hurry before her fingers froze. She eventually found a bruise from her fight in the mess hall. It wasn’t bleeding, but she needed to refine the pain sharply, just like Aster had shown her in the courtroom.
While standing still, focusing with her eyes closed, the water reached her neck. At that moment, a sharp, transparent needle formed in her hand.
Rité quickly opened her eyes and rubbed the needle against the rope. The water had risen so high she had to periodically push off the floor to keep breathing.
Finally, her arms were free. She quickly dove underwater, curling up to use the needle on her ankles. Her face contorted, and she squeezed her eyes shut, her turquoise hair floating around like seaweed.
Just as she was about to lose consciousness, she felt the rope around her ankles snap.
Rité surfaced, gasping for air. Her breath came in harsh pants. The water had almost reached the ceiling. She knew she had less than a minute before the concrete box was completely submerged.
She took a deep breath, trembling, and then, as the ceiling was covered by water, she took a final, desperate gulp of air and dove underwater. There had to be an exit somewhere.
She squinted, relying on the blue light from the needle to see, and frantically searched for a door. Finally, she found a small hatch at the bottom.
Swimming over like a mermaid, she reached the hatch. It was a square opening, but she wasn’t sure if it was a door. She tried pushing it with her hands, pounding it with her fists, and kicking it with her feet, but it wouldn’t budge.
Panic set in.
Her heart pounded erratically, constricting her throat. Bubbles escaped her mouth as she struggled in the water. The pain was unbearable. She was at her limit.
Just before losing consciousness, Rité noticed a small keyhole on the door through her blurry vision. Summoning all her remaining strength, she thrust the needle into the hole and jiggled it desperately.
“Please…! Please…!”
Then, she heard a clicking sound from inside as the lock disengaged. Rité immediately body-slammed the door, and as it opened, she was swept out with the cascading water.
“Cough…! Huff…! Cough, cough…!”
Completely exhausted, Rité collapsed on the floor, her body heaving as she gasped for air. The sound of air escaping her lungs hissed out weakly.
As the door she had come through closed, cutting off the water flow, she heard three slow claps from nearby. Raising her trembling head, she saw a man standing before her.
It was Aster, looking pleased.
“Well done. Quite impressive.”
“You… you did this on purpose…”
She had planned to punch him in the face if she ever saw him again, but she had no strength left. Instead of getting angry, she could only lie there, struggling on the wet floor. Aster spoke as he looked at her.
“That’s why you should never let your guard down. Especially if you’re a captive here.”
His words seemed to remind her of her position. Glaring at him with bloodshot eyes, Rité spat out,
“I… I trusted you…”
Aster responded calmly.
“Thank you. I also believed you would pass the test.”
As Rité trembled, Aster smiled slyly.
“Welcome to the Shadow Unit, Rité.”
At his words, numerous people emerged from the shadows, all wearing black hoods or masks.
“The Shadow Unit…?”
“Yes. This is the unit you’ll be joining. It’s the same unit I was once a part of, my direct unit.”
Rité looked at them in disbelief. Aster explained calmly.
“This test was the quickest and most effective way to train your survival skills as an assassin. An assassin must complete their mission by any means necessary and escape the scene, or else face death.”
“Wasn’t it also the most effective way to introduce me to everyone here?”
“I can’t deny that.”
Aster admitted readily. She felt as if she was being thrown before an audience again, just like in the courtroom before. Glaring at him, Rité said,
“You tried to kill me.”
Aster replied unemotionally,
“As I said before, I had no intention of killing you. If you had passed out after drinking all that water, I would have immediately rescued you.”
“So, now you want me to thank you? After drugging me and dumping me here?”
As Rité raged, Aster’s face turned cold.
“Stop blaming others for your mistakes.”
“…”
Rité’s expression inadvertently revealed her hurt. Aster remained stern.
“I taught you how to survive. These are things you can’t learn without experiencing them yourself. Now you know how to live as an assassin. Isn’t that valuable?”
With her hair limp and face contorted, Rité responded,
“Of course, I learned very well. I learned never to trust you. Thanks for reinforcing who my real target is.”
Aster smirked silently and extended a hand toward someone. A masked man approached and handed him a large towel. Aster unfolded it and draped it over Rité’s shoulders. Only then did she realize how much she had been trembling. Her whole body felt numb from the cold.
Aster stared at her pale lips for a moment, then abruptly hugged her and used his ability. Rité’s eyes widened in shock at the sudden embrace. She tried to break free, but the warmth enveloping her body made her stop. The tension in her muscles and organs melted away. Rité found herself leaning against his broad shoulders, feeling strangely safe.
His gentle pats on her back felt like comforting a child waking from a nightmare. Soon, all her pain vanished.
She had only ever used her ability to heal others; she had never been healed herself. Being healed felt incredibly… warm.
Maybe it was because he was her partner, but just having him close made her feel secure. She had felt the same in the dining hall before, thinking it was a mere illusion. Now she knew it wasn’t.
It made her angry, relying on him despite feeling like he was trying to tame her. Yet, she couldn’t reject it.
As soon as she regained her strength, Rité pushed him away.
“Are you trying to be the poison and the antidote?”
“That’s my style, get used to it.”
“Don’t make me laugh.”
The subordinates behind Aster looked at her with surprise at her rude and defiant attitude. Aster, however, seemed unbothered. He stood up and addressed them,
“She’s a troublesome lady, but don’t shun her. Before arriving here, she already had a brawl with the trainees in the dining hall. Shun her, and you might find a fork in your throat in the middle of the night. She must have learned how to hide a fork by now.”
His joke made them chuckle. Rité flinched and turned red, realizing he had anticipated everything.
An assassin must always scout and carry potential weapons for situations when they can’t use their abilities.
Though she was furious at his meticulous planning, she was angrier at herself for feeling relieved to be alive.