The atmosphere outside was still as frigid, as when he entered the building a while ago. The artic breeze flowed through the city like a tyrannical ocean tide, causing June hair to get messier as he stood outside the diner that he was at a few moments ago.
There was a lot of things to think of regarding the assassination contract that he just signed up for. This job isn't like his usual assassination missions that he had taken before, the main difference is instead of assassinating a single person, it was an entire clan. Or just most of it, according to what Simley later told him.
'Ah it's cold.'
After a while of standing still outside, June sighed as he turned around walked along the wet and damped pavement of NQSC. The sounds of the water being splashed onto his black trousers could be heard, but he didn't pay any mind to it, there was just simply too many things going on in his mind.
Currently, June was walking with a blank expression on his face. If anyone pay any attention to him at this moment, they would've assumed that he's just walking around aimlessly. Of course they didn't, most people at this time of the day, are rushing to get to their jobs, not much time to think about a random stranger they passed on the street.
Though after a while of walking down the pavement, June halted and turned his head around to face the other side of the road. On the other side, stood an abandoned playground with rusty metal slides and other equipment's. It seemed that no one had checked on them in a long time. June could see that, from the old sandbox, a few plants have started to grow within it.
June stood there, staring at the old playground for a while as people moved past him. It might not show on his face due to how he always kept a composed and serene demeanour, but from deep down, a sense of dejection could be found.
'Ah, its bring back memories.'
In the past, this playground was where his grandfather took him to play at, when he was a small child. So, by staring at it, caused some old memories to rise up within the awakened mind. Those were... happier times, he could clearly remember how the old man used to tell him stories of when the spell first descended down upon humanity, and the heroic deeds of the first generation.
June wasn't exactly sure on why he had been staring at the abandoned playground for this long. Was it because of today being his grandfather 3 years death anniversary that caused him to feel this sentimental over the past?
'Ah, whatever, it's best to go now.'
June then takes a deep breath and continues to walk along the pavement, yet again. He began to ponder himself about his current mission objective, specifically the two individual that he was supposed to take care of. That is, if the other operatives won't get to them before he did.
It would be quite a hassle to deal with another mercenary again.
June wasn't surprised when he heard from the old contractor, that the infamous 'Hangman' has decided to accept the contract. After all, Hangman was a black-market enforcer and operative who typically operates around the storm sea.
This, 'Hangman' was quite similar to June himself. Both of them appeared at relatively the same time in the black-market and eventually built up an infamous reputation for themselves. Stories around 'The Corsair' and 'Hangman' are quite well known for those who are involved with the market.
'This is going to be troublesome.'
June let out a small sigh. He then thought about the two Pandavar masters that Smiley mentioned, Master Forger and Master Tulga. To his frustration, not much is known about these two masters other than their affiliation with the lesser legacy clan. He'd thought about contacting some of his old friends from when he was a government grunt, or any other connection he had, to obtain more information. But then quickly disregard this idea, after all, what help could they give him when even the Informants of the Black-market couldn't find anything useful?
These two unhinged ascendeds dossiers were utterly useless or lacking in any relevant information. Their aspects and flaws are a complete unknown as well.
'So, it seemed that I have to do this from scratch.'
June shakes his head as he pondered on how he should approach this particular assignment. There were several options that ran through his head, such as spying on the Pandavar or infiltrations. Two choices that he was familiar with, after all contracts that involved spying and infiltrations aren't that particularly rare within the marketplace. June himself had done quite a few of them before in the past as well.
'I'll think about it later.'
June thought to himself as he still has other plans for today, after all it was still the morning. After a while, June suddenly stopped walking on the pavement. He had finally arrived at his desired destination.
In front of him, stood a small liquor store made from synthetic wood. It was a two-story building, around roughly 200 square meters with a neon sign that stood outside, which read 'Winston Liquor'.
Although small, this shop is quite popular among former or active government grunts. In fact, even though it's still morning, he could see some government personnel within the store already.
Taking a sigh, June walked over to the door and opened it. Within the establishment he smelled the scent of alcohol mixed with the sweet and fermented scent of wine. It was a familiar scent as he had visited this store on numerous occasions before, when he was a government grunt himself.
Then he was greeted by an enthusiastic voice from within the store. The voice came from a petite woman with brunette hair and circular glasses. Her skin was that of a darker complexion than his own, and she was wearing a blue shirt with a green apron.
"June, long time no see! What can I get for you today?"
June gave out a small smile upon seeing an old friend as he walked over to the counter where she was at.
"It's good to see you too, Sandra."
He then went silent for a moment.
"Can I have 2 bottles of Vodka Martini?"