THREE

"Who is responsible for all this?"

"That’s me. That’s my fault."

"You let me down, captain Aiden Lee, hurry up and get back to Seoul."

Aiden stared blankly at General Sadev who had walked away leaving him with all his pride trampled on. How could that man stop him dishonorably in front of all his men and some elite troops from other countries serving on the Iranian border. But this is his fault. The shooting he did yesterday actually triggered a bomb attack that was never anticipated by his party, so many lives were lost in vain because of yesterday's unexpected event. Plus they just destroyed a village belonging to civilians who never interfered in their affairs. His sin this time was probably much heavier than his other sins for causing many innocent people to die in vain in the attack incident last night.

"We will be in one helicopter, Capt’n Aiden."

Holyshit! cursed Aiden in his heart. Yesterday he ordered Ryuki to return to his country. And now he has been sent home dishonorably by General Sadev, what a shame.

"Get out of my way! Don't get in my way, Ryuki," said Aiden angrily.

The man was really annoying since they were placed in the same division. Unfortunately he couldn't avoid the man because to be honest Ryuki's shooting ability was also good. Even the man could be used to disguise himself in the midst of the civilian population because his face was too normal. Ryuki has a perfect face, with cute dimples that people won't think he's a sniper. In contrast to him who has a cold and unfriendly face that has been feared by many people. Plus, the scratches that ran across his temples made him look like a thug who was really scary and should be shunned immediately. But face, of course, is not an obstacle to carry out his job as a sniper, because for five years he was training in a special camp belonging to the secret army of the United States government, he has been equipped with a lot of knowledge to disguise and become a spy. Of course, apart from being a sniper, he also has to be smart in approaching his victims so that he can execute his victims smoothly.

"Goodbye bro, hopefully we can meet again another time." Charles, a German soldier patted Aiden's shoulder lightly when he saw Aiden was loading some of his things into his black backpack inside the tent.

“Hmm, I hope so too. But not in an atmosphere of war like this, once in a while I want to see you relaxing on the beach."

Charles hit Aiden's shoulder lightly while laughing ridiculously at Aiden's joke. Indeed being a mercenary or sniper like them could never dream of a vacation. Even to meet family members is very difficult. So most of the mercenaries or snipers assigned to conflict areas are single people, who have broken personalities without a soul, because they are required to lose their humanity while on duty.

"Hopefully we can meet on rare moments like that. By the way, what will happen to you when you return?”

"Who knows. Maybe become a mercenary like usual, or a hitman to kill useless rotten lives,” replied Aiden nonchalantly. His experience as a sniper for ten years has made him quite experienced in the black world of assassination that has made his name.

"I heard from General Sadev's talk, you will be drawn to become an elite member of the Korean presidential guard, what do you think?"

“Too easy and less challenging in my opinion, but worth a try. I've never taken on a job so easy like that. Maybe then I can live my life like a normal human being.”

“Well, our lives are indeed too abnormal. I can't even remember the last time I cried. And I also forget the last time I saw my son."

There was a hint of bitterness in Charles' words, and Aiden just shrugged his shoulders lightly in response because he couldn't really say much when it came to a family either.

“Then I’m leaving, good luck.” Aiden patted Charles lightly on the shoulder and quickly walked away from his dingy tent which had been his shelter for the past eight months.

Of course, aside from spending time in Hannah's humble hut, the tent was the single most comfortable place to rest his tired body and soul after killing hundreds of guilty lives, but maybe not. Don't know, Aiden never indiscriminately kills his enemy. Guilty or not, he was simply carrying out orders without ever really thinking if that person deserved to die or not.

-00-

Aiden glanced cynically at the ranks of the elite presidential guard troops that were lined up neatly in front of him. After safely arriving yesterday afternoon at the South Korean military champ, today Aiden officially serves as captain of the elite presidential guard. But on his first day on the job, he felt really uncomfortable with all of them. He felt the men were far worse than Ryuki and Ken, the two worst snipers he thought in the Iranian border champ. But he certainly couldn't avoid this task because he had a bad reputation due to the assault incident two days ago. Becoming the leader of the elite presidential guard troops will really be a distraction to restore his reputation that had fallen on the Iranian border.

"Welcome in South Korea Aiden, nice to finally work with you."

Aiden smiled sarcastically in response to the friendly greeting from the president who was currently sitting in front of him.

"So my job is to protecting you?"

"Yes, in the agreement, but not in the field."

Aiden glanced at the contract paper he had just signed. There was a sudden feeling of suspicion that flashed in his heart, but he tried his best to remain calm until the president explained the intent and purpose of placing him here. If he wasn't assigned to look after the old man, then who was he supposed to look after?

“I hired you at a high price not only to protect me, but to protect Calistha Im. You must already know who that woman is.” President Moon suddenly threw a pile of photos of a woman with various expressions in front of him. At first glance Aiden felt that he had seen the woman, but he forgot where exactly he had met the woman named Calistha Im.

“She is the daughter of Jacob Im, or Im Seulong, you know him?”

“Yes, he is one of the most influential mafias in the world. Three years ago he was rumored to be hiding a very valuable treasure in a very hidden place in Cuba. Are you one of the parties seeking the treasure, Mr President?” asked Aiden with a sly grin. Now he feels like he will like his new job because he will be dealing with one of the most famous mafia in the black world.

“No, but I'm just curious about his stolen treasure which according to rumors is something of great value. What do you think is really the most precious thing in this world?” President Moon asked, frowning in confusion.

Aiden just stared at the portraits of Calistha's face in silence while guessing the type of work after this.

"I don’t know. For me there is nothing truly valuable in this world, Mr Moon Hyesin,” replied Aiden slowly. For the single man like him, nothing is really valuable in this world, even his life is also very worthless because he never had anyone who would care about his life.

"Of course there is, even if it's just one," said president Moon flatly. The old man seemed to be thinking something difficult in his head, but Aiden was reluctant to interfere in the old man's business. Just leave everyone with his problems, and he will drown with his own problems.

“Ah, but that's not important. Your job now is to protect Im Seulong's daughter from people who are after her father’s wealth, as well as find out about the treasure’s location. However, Jacob has been harming the country with his illegal goods being sold on the black market. Although on the other hand he also provides state benefits by running a property business and other legal businesses.”

"But Mr Moon, I wonder, why is Jacob still running an illegal business when he already has a lot of legal businesses?"

“All of his legal businesses were built from the illegal business that was owned by his father. Everything is too complicated to explain, what is clear is that you have to do your job to the best of your ability. Now that you work for me,” said President Moon firmly.

Aiden smirked slightly at President Moon as he put down one of the photos of Calistha he had just seen. He then walked slowly over to President Moon, standing right in front of the man with his signature sly smirk.

“If you hire me, then the deal is you have to give me half of what you paid at the beginning. You must know that this job is very risky, so I want you to give my money right now, President Moon."

“Huh, you don't have to worry about that. I have prepared your payment there.”

President Moon pointed to the three black suitcases he had prepared on the small table beside his desk. The man then allowed Aiden to see for himself the contents of the suitcases and finalize their agreement as soon as possible.

"Ok, I will not disappoint you Mr. Moon. It is a pleasure to do business with you," said Aiden lightly with a sly smile etched on his face.

For the size of a reliable sniper like him, Aiden may be underestimating the task given by President Moon, because in reality it may not be easy. His job this time will be very different from the secret missions that he has managed to carry out so far. And Aiden should have been wary of everyone involved in him from the start, starting with President Moon.

-00-

-00-

Calistha stirred her pasta in annoyance while glancing at her father who was quietly devouring his dinner menu. It felt like she was really fed up with all the training her father had scheduled since yesterday. Even this morning he had officially undergone shooting training and self-defense training in a special room in his house that she had never known about. She felt that her father really had kept too many big secrets from her. Even until this moment her father never told her the reason behind her mother's death.

“Father, exactly how many secrets are you hiding from me?”

“It is rude to speak while eating Calistha.” Jacob warned without taking his eyes off Calistha. For some reason the man doesn't want to talk about secrets at this time because one day he will tell Calistha everything, one by one.

"I want to know father. Then what is all the training I've been through today for? Shoot? Self-defense? What's all that for? I don't need it father, I already have many guards who will protect me for twenty-four hours." said Calistha in a loud voice.

Jacob seemed to be trying to be patient from his table while still eating his soup quietly. Calistha really inherited his stubbornness which was very annoying. In fact, he used to do the same thing to his father when he was faced with various strange things that he had never known. But Calistha may be too late to know all this because by the time he was Calistha's age, he had run most of his father's business and had become proficient with weapons.

"One day you will definitely need it. Now finish your meal and meet me in the study,” said Jacob firmly before leaving the dining room.

Calistha seemed to be grumbling watching her father's leave while throwing her golden fork roughly until there was a loud clinking sound from her plate. But she really didn't care if the expensive ceramic plate would break because now she was feeling annoyed with her father. She needed something to vent or she needed to get away from her father and not go to her father's study as her father had requested a moment ago.

"I'm full, you can clean it up."

Calistha shouted softly to her maid and immediately walked away into the back garden. Before she met her father in his study, she needed to cool her head in the back garden while enjoying the beautiful view of the Seoul skyline tonight. But suddenly Calistha stopped her steps when she saw something strange around the bushes that were growing luxuriantly in the garden behind her house. She then observed the caretaker of her house and also several maids walking around the back garden. They didn't seem to sense anything strange there, so Calistha decided to forget about it and immediately walked towards the gazebo which was ten meters from where she was standing.

“Jun, please tell my father that I will go to his room when I'm ready. I want to cool my head here first.”

Pragg

"What's that?"

Calistha immediately turned alert when she heard the sound of broken glass which was quite loud from the main room. Jun and several guards who were previously in the back garden, immediately flocked to the source of the sound to ascertain what was going on. But for a moment Calistha was still rooted to the spot, until then she heard the sound of gunshots screaming from inside her house.

"What is going on?" Calistha asked frantically to one of the maids who also looked panicked.

"Ah, there's an intruder, Miss. They used weapons, and there was a lot of blood inside. You better hide immediately, it's very unsafe inside. Miss I'm sorry."

After saying what she knew, the maid immediately rushed towards the back door to escape. Everyone would have thought of saving themselves when such dire circumstances occurred. But Calistha, she just stood frozen in place while watching her father's servants one by one die horribly in her house. She then immediately came to her senses when a group of masked men began to look at her and began targeting her to be killed.

"That's Jacob's daughter, catch her!"

Calistha really felt panicked and immediately ran aimlessly to hide. The sound of explosions, screams, and shattering objects began to make Calistha's legs tremble even more until finally she was only able to hide behind the bushes while crying silently with fear.

“Father… I'm afraid. God, please save mpfhhh... help... mpfhhh...”

In the midst of the panic and confusion that was engulfing Calistha, suddenly someone silenced Calistha's mouth, and dragged Calistha with all his might from her hiding place while preparing a shiny object that looked terrible when the moonlight hit from a distance. Unfortunately, before Calistha could scream and run away from the mysterious man, she suddenly lost consciousness. She had just been given a drug injection by a man with a black dog tattoo clearly imprinted on his burly wrist.

Who are you?