"Mmmph~~"
Jessica was slumped listlessly in a coffee shop on the first floor of the Blacksteel Worldwide commercial plaza.
Her dark blue, shoulder-length hair was spread smoothly across the tabletop. The cute cat ears on her head, a similar shade to her hair, drooped as if deflated, giving her a completely dejected look.
"What am I going to do, Senior Franka? I have my assessment with you tomorrow. Mmmph~~ How can I possibly be a match for you?! If I fail, I might not get promoted to a full operator again!!"
At that thought, Jessica's cute little face couldn't help but flush red. She looked like she was about to cry. Her cheeks were round and adorable, making one want to pinch them.
Across from Jessica, Franka sat leisurely on a small sofa, one leg crossed over the other. She slowly swirled the Frappuccino in her hand. Her long, shapely legs were wrapped in semi-transparent black stockings, and a high-heeled shoe dangled precariously from the tip of her gently swinging foot.
After hearing Jessica's words, Franka looked a bit troubled as well. On her exquisitely mature face, one cheek puffed out like a hamster's.
"Mmm~~ There's nothing I can do either, Jessica. Your skills have long since reached the level of a regular operator, but you always get poor results during the promotion assessments. You're just too nervous. That's something you really need to overcome."
As a 'veteran' of their organization, Blacksteel Worldwide, Franka had gone on simple missions with Jessica while she was still an intern. Franka's evaluation of her junior was that her overall skills were more than qualified. In fact, in smaller organizations, her combat proficiency alone would be enough to make her a core member. But her only weakness was...
...an excessive lack of confidence. She was timid, panicked easily, and didn't have much of her own judgment. This was the reason her promotion assessment scores were always less than ideal.
And it was happening again this time.
Her performance in the earlier rounds of the assessment was poor, leaving only the final 1v1 combat evaluation. Other interns only needed to fight a regular operator to a draw to pass, but Jessica's scores were so low that she needed to last at least five minutes against Franka to qualify.
Liskarm, who had been sitting quietly beside them, gave Franka a sharp pinch on the soft flesh of her waist before looking up to say, "You could just go easy on her."
"Do you think the assessors are blind?"
Franka sounded a little helpless. Then, her tone shifted as she grew serious.
"Besides, I won't go easy on her. We're mercenaries for Blacksteel Worldwide. During your internship, Jessica, you can follow me, and I can look out for you. But after you're promoted, you can't always be behind me. You'll have to complete missions on your own eventually. The enemy won't go easy on you. If I let you pass by holding back, I'd only be hurting you."
"Wuuu~~"
Jessica let out two sad little whimpers like a kitten and lay motionless on the table.
"Oh, right, Senior Franka, Senior Liskarm, I have something else to ask, something personal..."
"Hm?"
Jessica seemed embarrassed to bring it up. She scratched her head, her hands nervously fidgeting with the hem of her clothes.
"Lately, when I'm at home after work, I've been getting this really strange feeling."
"Strange?"
Franka and Liskarm leaned their heads in, curious.
"Yeah... like I'm being..."
The last word was too difficult to say. Jessica held it in for a long time, her face turning beet red again before she finally blurted it out.
"Like I'm being spied on＞﹏＜!!"
"???"
"???"
Ten thousand question marks flashed through Franka's and Liskarm's minds.
Jessica quickly explained, since being spied on as a Blacksteel intern would be embarrassing.
"I spent a whole day checking my room. There are no cameras. And there are no other houses within a kilometer of mine. As for burglars, the security guards in my neighborhood are all retired veterans who patrol 24/7, so a burglar is unlikely."
"?"
"?"
Franka turned to look at Liskarm.
"Aren't all neighborhood security guards old men?"
Liskarm replied, "The five guards in my complex have a combined total of twenty teeth."
"And... I..."
Jessica said in a small voice, "This feeling is strongest when I'm sleeping at night, but my bedroom is only a hundred square meters. I've checked everywhere. There can't be a problem..."
"Senior Franka, Senior Liskarm, do you think I might have run into..."
Jessica's face paled slightly with fear.
"A ghost..."
This time, however, Franka and Liskarm didn't answer right away. Their attention was completely fixed on the phrase 'a hundred square meters.' In the capital mobile city of Columbia, where every inch of land was worth a fortune, a small hundred-square-meter apartment would be enough to wipe out Franka's life savings from years of perilous work. A hundred-square-meter *bedroom*? What kind of rich person was she?
"Er... I think maybe it's because you're nervous about the promotion assessment, Jessica. Your senses are probably just a bit heightened," Liskarm analyzed, pinching her chin.
"That's possible..."
Jessica had her doubts too. But the feeling of being watched from behind was just too real. For the past few days, she had been locking her bedroom door and sleeping with a pistol under her pillow.
"How about this, Jessica? If you still have that feeling tonight, we'll go home with you tomorrow."
"Really?!"
Jessica's face lit up.
"Thank you, Senior Franka!"
Night fell.
Jessica finished her extra training for the assessment and returned to her villa. As she stood before the front door, she hesitated. The feeling of being watched from the past few days had been so real it had given her chills, making her a little afraid to go home.
*Gulp...*
She swallowed hard.
Jessica nervously pushed the door open. The house was still the same house, with the same familiar feeling, with no trace of anything out of place. She checked every room, not even sparing the corners of the ceiling. After confirming that everything was fine and that the feeling of being watched was gone, she finally let out a huge sigh of relief, thinking it must have been her nerves these past few days.
She turned and went to the bathroom to run the water, preparing to take a relaxing bath to face tomorrow's assessment in peak condition.
As the water ran, she leaned against the sink, looking in the mirror at her face, which was haggard from stress and worry.
Suddenly, a shadow shot up from behind her to the ceiling.
"Aah!!"
Jessica screamed. The hair on her body stood on end in an instant. Her cute cat ears and tail also shot straight up as if she'd been startled. In the vast villa, Jessica seemed utterly helpless. Her eyes reddened again as tears welled up.
There really is a ghost!!
She hadn't been mistaken!!
*Wuuu!! Miss Franka! Help me!!*
Jessica wailed inwardly.
She slowly raised her head toward the ceiling.
And as she did...
A handsome, ghost-like figure—with only an upper body and no lower half, completely translucent—was floating up there, meeting her gaze.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!"
"AAAAAAHHHH!!"