The woman walked in front with the three cadets following her like ducklings.

“What I am going to tell you is some information about SMF that is known to most people. I can’t give you further knowledge as you haven’t yet become an official member.”

The three of them nodded their heads at her words. What she said was logical.

“I am sure you have passed many tests to be able to come here today. We sincerely wish to see you all work here in near future.”

“Thanks.”

Dale continued talking without looking back.

“Special Military Forces is divided into different divisions and units as I mentioned before. The department you are going to work in depends on your performance and abilities. You must have chosen a few departments on your application forms, but it is not guaranteed that you will be able to work there or not. You can also change your department later, of course, you have to pass the required tests to switch departments.”

‘You guys really like tests, huh?’

Kairen sighed inwardly. This place appeared to be just too strict, how was he going to work in such an atmosphere?

“You are there! I was looking for you Dale. Where did you-“

A man exited the elevator and started talking as soon as he saw the guide, but he stopped his words when he saw the three people behind her.

“Oh? Are these guys the new recruits?”

He smiled and his eyes sparkled as he looked at them.

“They may be or may not.”

The man walked closer and looked at their faces one by one. He looked at Serria then Reyan. His eyes stopped on Reyan for a moment before moving to Kairen.

“Oh? I know this guy! Isn’t he the one who did something crazy at the Philomns attack a few weeks ago?”

“….”

The woman answered him.

“That’s right, it’s him.”

The man came closer and patted Kairen’s shoulder a few times.

‘Oww, that hurt!’

“I wanted to see you once, good to hear you are gonna work here. Let’s spar when you are free, ok?”

‘No man, I don’t want to spar or anything like that.’

Kairen gulped and smiled awkwardly at the man. The man giggled at his reaction and moved his hand.

“Ok then. Come to my office when you are done, Dale.”

“Ok.”

The man placed his hands on his pockets and went away.

“….”

“….”

“….”

“Ahem.”

Dale coughed and turned away.

“As much as I know, the three of you have requested to be recruited in Special Units, so I will show you that department.”

After that, they just silently walked till they reached an elevator. The woman pressed the button and the elevator moved.

“Shouldn’t we go to one of those smaller buildings? You said they were the main buildings for different units and divisions?”

“That’s true, but we can’t let mere cadets visit those places. In SMF, security has priority over anything else. You don’t need to worry, where you are going to see can be considered the second important place to SMF’s Special Units.”

“….thanks.”

The three of them exchanged glances.

‘Boy, aren’t they too strict?’

‘What are we gonna do?’

‘I am getting anxious!’

Ding

All of them turned to the door with the sound of the elevator. The door opened and they could see a hallway. They once again followed the guide and went in.

Once they passed the hallway the place widened and a big hall came into the view. Desks were placed here and there and people were going around. A few doors were also visible with nametags on them. This place seemed like a bigger version of the police department that Kairen had visited.

Upon seeing them, everyone turned their heads towards them. All of them observed the three cadets from head to toe before turning their heads to their desks again. The hall was deadly silent. Somehow, the atmosphere seemed to be tense.

“…”

“…”

“…”

They continued to follow their guide, who sighed after seeing the atmosphere and silently signaled them to follow her. How long were they going to just walk around? Isn’t it enough already?

‘Don’t we have to do a mission or something? Did we come here for a school tour?’

Dale finally opened her mouth after a long silence.

“Today you came here to get to know more about our working and system, so you will be assigned a small task to fulfill, that way you can-“

BANG

Her words got interrupted by a loud sound of a door bursting open. Someone came into the hall and yelled in a hurried voice.

“They are in a serious situation. The teleportation device is activated! They have requested backup, hurry up and assign a team!”

“What?”

“How is the situation?”

Everyone suddenly got up and the hall became noisy as everyone’s voices got mixed up. People were rushing here and there and doing things in a hurry. The hall became a mess in no time.

“What happened?”

Standing in the middle of the mess, Kairen and his two friends were confusingly looking around. Dale also seemed to be surprised for a moment, but she regained her calm soon and singled to the cadets.

“Follow me.”

She hurriedly opened one of the doors and went in.

“Team-leader!”

A man wearing a simple black shirt and pants was inside the room. It seemed like he was about to leave as he was standing in the middle of the room. He furrowed his brows while looking at Dale with a sharp gaze.

“What?”

“Unit 6 seems to be in need of help.”

“I know that.”

The man looked at the cadets once before turning his gaze to Dale again.

“It will take time to gather forces now, if they have used the teleportation circle it means that they are in a dire situation.”

“What do you want to tell?”

Dale pointed at the cadets behind her at his answer.

“These are the cadets that came here for their experience-gaining program. Please, send them before anything happens to Unit 6.”

“….”

‘What the hell! Sister? Are you insane?’

Kairen was suddenly filled with anxiety. He felt regret for nagging about not doing a mission here.

The team leader frowned even more at her words.

“Do you understand how absurd your words are? You want me to send three mere cadets on such a mission?”

“I will go with them as well. They are all top students. We have to hold on until the man forces arrive, right? It won’t be that hard.”

“I am not even Unit 6’s leader, why do you ask this from me?”

“Sir, please.”

Their composed and calm guide suddenly seemed anxious. She bit her lips while looking at the team leader with shaky eyes.

“I can’t do such a risky thing.”

The man turned his gaze and left the room after saying that. However, Dale didn’t seem to give up. She tagged behind him and tried to persuade him, leaving the three cadets alone.

“Hey, what is going on?”

Kairen used this opportunity to ask his question. Reyan was the one who answered him as always.

“It seems like a dispatched team has met a dangerous situation. Using the teleportation circle means that they want to come back here, even at the cost of their enemy tagging along. They can’t teleport here without this side’s approval, so what they are doing is mostly sending their location to us and requesting immediate help.”

“Wha…Why?”

“They must have found a really important secret, a hidden base, or anything else that is essential for SMF.”

“….”

Serria suddenly grabbed Reyan and Kairen’s arms.

“Hey, let’s do what that woman said. Let’s go to their help.”

“Are you crazy? Why would we go there?”

Kairen opposed her strongly. He didn’t want to do such a dangerous thing. Reyan didn’t seem to like the idea that much either as he frowned and glared strongly at Serria.

“Why not? We will work here soon, what is the problem with going to a small rescue mission as our last mission as cadets?”

“No way! There is no way I am doing this!”

They could still see the team leader and their guide talking to each other with serious faces.

“Who will take responsibility if anything happens to those three cadets?”

“I will! I will take responsibility!”

“They are not ready for something like that!”

“I will make sure nothing happens to them.”

The man sighed and asked a question from another employee.

“How many agents were dispatched at that team? Give me their names and information.”

The employee hurriedly picked up a few papers and gave them to the man. She explained to the team leader while he was reading the papers.

“Here sir. 7 people were sent 17 days ago. They continuously sent us reports but we stopped receiving reports from them since this morning.”

‘Wait, 17 days ago?’

Isn’t that exactly when Kain said he was going on a mission?

Kairen was suddenly filled with an ominous feeling. He moved and approached the team leader and Dale and peeked at the paper at his hands. He could see 7 names written on it. Among the names, he spotted a familiar one.

5- Kain Hampton