Jiuyuan

After retiring from her previous job, Jiuyuan settled into a fairly relaxed life at Sterry.

The day-to-day tasks aren't complicated: sending and receiving packages, checking receipts, and passing around clipboards for signatures… As long as the process is clear and the staff reliable, none of the tasks pose much of a challenge. The real headaches come from commissions that can't be handled through any standard procedures: those involving intel, Anomalies, and the Anomaly Hunters who handle them. Clients with hidden agendas tapping their fingers on the counter, buyers using Anomalies as cover for covert handoffs, clients falsifying danger levels to drag Sterry into their schemes, not to mention the tangled web of factions at play… These may not seem a big deal, yet calculated troubles are far more vexing than any package delivery.

Still, Jiuyuan handles them all with ease.

One moment she's making small talk with a contact at a banquet hall, and the next she's at the scene of a target's transaction, tidying up the mess. She never breaks a sweat, and leaves only the cool scent of roses in her wake. With her intel and finesse, she has quietly woven a web across the fabric of this city. Most ripples, no matter how faint, inevitably land in it.

Though, what she excels at most is reading people.

Hathor, earnest to the point of stubbornness, is assigned to critical operations, handling high-risk Anomalies or missions where failure isn't an option.

Haniel and Illica, lively and quick on their feet, are better suited for dealing with people or coming up with a spark of brilliance when situations go sideways.

As for Manager Jenson and what he's been up to lately…

He really should find a better hiding spot for that fishing rod.

"Sterry… is about getting the right deliveries into the right hands." Kids who dream of saving the world tend to eat up lines like that.

"Great work." Simple, straightforward words like those make simple, straightforward kids feel praised and motivated.

"A smart person like you knows how to make the right choice." When dealing with complicated adults, a mix of pressure and persuasion, a low tone, and a certain rhythm can make them more… cooperative.

"You look a bit tired. Want to talk about it?" A gentle, caring tone makes certain people let their guard down more easily.

Of course, when handling things on behalf of the shop, no matter how many customers come through, the best line is always:

"Sterry Express, at your service!"

A violet-blue rose.

Its color falls somewhere between deep purple and ashen blue, and its petals curl slightly at the edges, shimmering with a cold, metallic luster in the light. It sits in a plain white porcelain vase, kept fresh in clear water, stem standing straight, clearly well-tended. Yet the petals near the base have begun to wither and gray, as if some of its life force has been quietly siphoned away, leaving it barely holding its form.

Beside the vase stand several other gifts from the past:

A dark red rose, petals brittle as paper. It was once offered by a smiling guest during a toast, though the poison in his glass nearly spilled over as their hands touched.

A gold-edged rose, petal tips singed with scorch marks. It came from a murmured ritual, its giver claiming to be a devotee, though the flames spiraled out of control the moment the prayer was spoken.

A rose faded almost to pale gray, personally presented by a client as a token of sincerity, though beneath its petals lay a web of carefully crafted lies…

Each of these flowers marks the beginning of an encounter, a testament to a confrontation. The intel, the energy, the killing intent hidden within them… she refines it all into bullets, then traces the arc of the moment they were given, and silently returns them to the ones who offered them.

It took Jiuyuan a lot of effort to retrieve Hathor after she was taken by the Bureau for losing control of her Esper Abilities. The loss of control itself wasn't the issue. What mattered was how Hathor handled the aftermath, and this was the first lesson Jiuyuan, as Hathor's mentor, needed to teach.

From that day on, Hathor doubled her training regimen on her own. Her movements grew faster and her decisions sharper as she shed off exhaustion for stability. Her expression remained calm, but her rhythm had become erratic. Jiuyuan knew this state all too well: the more one rushes to control one's powers, the easier it becomes for the powers to control them. She didn't stop Hathor's training, nor did she warn her about overdoing it. Some students tend to mistake reminders for warnings or interpret concern as mentors thinking they aren't trying hard enough. Rather than have Hathor quietly use such warnings as a new benchmark to push even harder, Jiuyuan thought it was better to let her train where she could watch. By keeping an eye on things, nothing would go wrong.

But the nature of Sterry's work meant Jiuyuan couldn't have Hathor's back forever. How could she pave the way before letting go? What she hadn't expected was that the solution would find its way to her. Haniel, who had stumbled onto the scene when Hathor lost control, unexpectedly had the ability to calm her. And as luck would have it, the girl was also interested in courier work…

Things just fell into place.

Hathor's execution and combat abilities were impeccable, but interacting with others left her at a loss. When the two little owlets first arrived, Hathor faced them like someone flipping through a book with no instructions: cautious, yet clueless about where to begin. The awkwardness in the shop didn't elude Jiuyuan. In a rare move, she gave Hathor a special commission: make an effort to understand today's youth and assimilate.

Imagining the ever-methodical Hathor carrying out this commission, Jiuyuan, who was usually so adept at controlling her emotions, couldn't suppress a smile, her first one.

What Jiuyuan had always known, but Hathor had yet to realize: that stubborn, almost clumsy honesty of hers, was exactly what she needed to connect with those two little owlets.

Changes began to occur in Hathor's daily life: popular comics started appearing on her desk, and on days off, she would go to livehouses with Haniel and Illica instead of staying alone in the training room. Occasionally, new words she'd never used before would slip into her conversations.

Though Hathor still worried about losing control, much of her tension had vanished amidst the laughter and playfulness of everyday life at Sterry. After one Esper control lesson, Jenson, who had been watching, teased, "You've been mentoring her for so long, and now she's getting more popular thanks to being 'led astray' by those two little owlets. How does that feel?"

"I thought you only cared about fishing. Seems you haven't completely lost your sense as a spy."

Hathor's tone was as flat as ever: "Would you like me to conduct another loss-of-control test right now?"

Jiuyuan glanced at Jenson, who was silently calculating the renovation costs if Hathor decided to lose control on purpose. Jiuyuan couldn't help but smile. "No need. Things are just fine the way they are."

There's no need to mold a student to fit some standard. She can find her own answer.

The year-end shopping list was, as always, Jiuyuan's responsibility. But this year, when it came to what to buy, things were a little different from before. The moment Haniel and Illica, who had just recently joined, heard about the year-end shopping, they immediately insisted on adding a celebration party that wasn't part of the original plan. And so, what was once a neat and simple list turned into an outing for all five of them.

"Jiuyuan! We need flowers, balloons, spotlights… and cake!"

"And a standee!"

"…What's a standee?"

"You know, one of those poster things with your photo on it that you put by the entrance. Hathor, wanna try it?"

"That won't be necessary… Master."

"What about presents? There should at least be presents!"

"Of course, everyone gets one."

"Hehe, Jiuyuan's the best!"

"What about Jenson? Did he get us presents?"

"Today's bill is going under his name."

"Jenson's so generous!"

"Then I'm adding a few new comics!"

"And the CD I didn't get last time!"

"…Fine, get it all."

The list was checked, revised, and added to over and over again.

As the two little owlets eagerly confirmed every checkmark with Jenson, Jiuyuan stood off to the side and let out a soft sigh.

A little noisy, a little chaotic.

But in moments like these, the accounts can wait, and the plans can be pushed back a bit.

Times like this… aren't so bad.

By that time, Jiuyuan was no longer a novice just awakening to her Esper Abilities. Yet she still stood before the final barrier of a rigid hierarchy: she had to earn a codename that was truly her own.

The trial came swiftly. It was an alley skirmish, accompanied by the kind of betrayal and sellouts that were all too common in the trade. Her squad found themselves caught in a total hunt. The value of their intel, their reputation in the circle, and the enemy's frenzied intent to silence them all drove the entire squad deep into the shadows of the alley. Supplies cut off, forces depleted, the outside world a blur, and the cover of night draped over every disadvantage. What should have been the enemy's perfect cover became the rhythm Jiuyuan knew best.

Her footsteps were near silent, yet she found every enemy with precision through the web woven of gunfire and bodies. A faint glow rippled through the dim air like water, followed by a clear, slender call. Cold and unwavering, piercing straight to the soul. Those who heard it felt their blood run cold in an instant.

Whenever that sound swept past an ear or brushed a shoulder, a flicker of rose-colored light would bloom, then condense into a slender bullet before sinking into the target's body. No explosion, no struggle. The moment it struck, it was as if all sound had been drained away, leaving only silent finality.

When the last note, like a bird's call, faded at the alley's end, the depths fell silent once more.

The surviving squad members leaned against the cold walls, watching the figure emerge from the smoke and darkness, the rhythm that had decided life and death still echoing in their ears.

"That was the only sound you could trust in the night."

Later, the codename field on the mission report was filled in with neat handwriting:

Nightingale.

She sings in the deepest dark. Her voice is the prelude to death, and the dawn for those who survive.