Hours before Asher met Elsa to take a leave from the World Academy, Tom was waiting for Dane and Kai to arrive to discuss their first mission with both of them.
"What do you think he did to get tied up like that?" Dane spoke, coming inside the room.
"Shut up, Dane," Kai said, ignoring him.
Tom turned around, sitting on his chair.
"Does he even sleep?" Dane whispered to Kai, pointing at Tom.
Kai looked at Dane with a weird expression on his face. He couldn't believe that Dane had forgotten Tom was the very guy they were going to kill. It wouldn't be hard to think that Tom was traumatized from his previous experience at the hotel and had trouble sleeping.
Tom stretched his hands as his tired eyes looked at Dane and Kai. It was not that he had trouble sleeping, but he simply couldn't sleep as his work didn't allow him much rest.
He had to keep track of multiple things, as Asher didn't want a variable to arise and ruin his planning.
"So, what's the mission?" Dane asked as he looked at Tom.
"A simple heist," Tom replied.
"Heist?" Kai found it odd that they were being told to go do a robbery when it was the very thing that got them caught in this situation.
And what confused him even further was why someone so rich as Asher, the heir of the Greville family, would want to rob something.
"I know, I know, that you guys aren't too good at robbery, but the Boss will go with you guys," Tom said.
"He will?" Kai questioned as he ignored Tom's previous remark.
Asher was a D Rank Hunter, and despite him being so talented, Kai didn't understand why he would want to come with them.
Kai was sure he and Dane could escape most situations if multiple S Rank or higher ranks were not involved.
"Yeah, I'm not sure when, but he will return from the World Academy," Tom said.
"So, what is the thing we need to rob?" Dane asked without thinking much about it.
Unlike Kai, he didn't think much about why Asher wanted to do this. He only wanted to know where they needed to go. Likewise, unlike Kai's cautious nature, Dane was more careless but meshed well together.
And this was one of the reasons Kai always stayed with Dane, no matter what they went through. Kai knew that sometimes Dane's simple thinking was the thing that helped them get out of many crises.
Tom looked a bit troubled about how to tell them because he thought that this mission was absurd.
"Boss wants to rob an artifact that will appear at the Kalvas Gala's Auction," Tom said as he looked at both Dane and Kai's eyes, going wide with shock.
"What the hell?" Kai almost shouted, but he controlled his tone.
"Wait a minute." Dane raised his hands and took a deep breath.
"So, Boss wants to rob an artifact?" Dane asked, and Tom nodded.
"And that artifact is the one that will be sold at the Kalvas Gala?" Dane asked again, and Tom nodded again.
"Sigh, if you wanted to kill us, why make it so complicated," Dane spoke as he looked at the building, but a sudden realization hit him.
"Wait, did you say Boss is also coming on this mission?" Dane spoke as he looked at Tom.
"Yeah," Tom replied.
He didn't think that Dane and Kai's reactions were over the top because he reacted similarly when Asher told him to keep track of when a particular artifact would be transported.
"Don't worry too much about it," Tom said.
"Tell me this is a joke, right?" Dane asked, but seeing Tom's face, he realized he was not joking.
Kalvas Gala was the gathering of every family from the High Council and a few others who were influential enough to participate. It only happened once every three years and was one of the biggest events in high society.
Not only was it the place where elite families gathered, but the world's biggest auction also happened at Kalvas Gala.
"But even S Rank Hunters wouldn't be enough to steal from them. So what will two A Rank and a single D Rank Hunter do against them?" Kai asked.
In his mind, stealing the artifact that would be delivered for Kalvas Gala's Auction was impossible. At that auction, every elite family attended, and many SS Rank Artifacts were sold.
Stealing from such an event would make them the target of every single elite family. They simply couldn't understand why Asher, the Greville family's heir, would take such a risk.
"I will tell you the overall plan, but the final discussion will happen with the boss," Tom said as he opened a large map that showcased a particular path.
******
Asher had just left the World Academy and saw a car waiting for him. Nobody knew about his trip this time, and that would stay like that for at least a day.
Until the next day, apart from Elsa, nobody would know that Asher was out of World Academy.
He saw the car, and the one driving it was Kai, who was wearing a mask.
"Welcome, Boss," Kai spoke as he looked at Asher.
Asher sat in the car, and Kai drove it to the mansion that they were using. Emmy was absent here, as she was busy with other work and didn't even know about Asher's trip outside the World Academy.
He had already planned all this to cover his tracks, even if someone wanted to know about his whereabouts.
The car soon arrived at the mansion, and Kai opened the door for Asher. During the drive, Kai tried to gauge Asher's personality, but he got no answers despite the long drive. Asher showed no emotion, and a certain aura around him made Kai a bit cautious about him.
He remembered what Dane had felt from Asher, so he was not underestimating him anymore, despite Asher being only a D Rank Hunter.
They entered the mansion and entered a room where Dane and Tom were waiting for them.
Asher looked at all the items he had told them to gather beforehand for this mission.
"Is everything I asked for here?" Asher asked as his crimson-red eyes looked at Tom.
"Yes," Tom replied quickly.
Asher was looking at all the items before him when he noticed Dane fidgeting with his hands.
"You have something to say?" Asher asked as he looked at Dane.
"Y-Yes, I'm not sure if our chances of success will be great," Dane replied.
It was rare for a person like Dane to doubt his chances, but this heist was one of those things that was absolutely crazy.
There was a huge chance they could be killed, and knowing that Asher was coming with them also made them think their chances of escaping were low.
Asher looked at the three of them and knew why they would think doing all this was simply insane, but for Asher, it was nothing. He had done more crazy things that almost got him killed.
"Don't worry, there's a good chance no S Rank Hunter will be available there," Asher replied.
But this was not the only reason Dane and Kai hesitated about this mission. If they were going to do a heist like this, it was obvious that they would have to kill some people. And looking at Asher, who appeared to be a 17-year-old now, they knew he was just a young man from an elite family who probably hadn't killed a single human ever in his life.
They knew nothing about Asher, so their worries were not unfounded.
But for Asher, this was the first task they needed to do, which would make the world know about the existence of his shadow organization, ZEPHYR. It was a name that terrified many in his previous life and would not change even in this life.
"You used the Passkey I gave you, right?" Asher asked Tom, who nodded at him.
"I have access to the Temporary Vault and the path they will take to transport the Artifacts," Tom replied.
"Follow the initial plan; Tom will be our guide inside that place," Asher said as he looked at Dane and Kai.
"Meet us around the coordinates I sent you," Asher told Tom.
"Both of you will follow me," Asher ordered Dane and Kai.
They both shrugged off their worries, as they had already sealed their fates.
Tom left the mansion in one of the cars, and Asher sat with Dane and Kai. Since nobody outside World Academy knew about Asher leaving the World Academy, they were going to a dungeon owned by the Abyss Guild.
This was going to be his alibi for this trip.
