The historian put on her black mask as soon as she was finished putting on her outfit. Her attire composed of a white dress shirt with a black bowtie. She wore a black suit, a pair of black pants, and shoes.

Clair preferred not to wear something that could restrict movement similar to a dress. A ball was a special occasion, but she did not wish to look grand. She walked towards the door of the bathroom, found the knob, and twisted it. She walked out of the bathroom, Kyoinor greeting her as he was waiting for her.

He was dressed in a similar fashion, only that his tie and mask was red instead of black. "All I have to do is accompany you during an interview and my job here is done." he spoke.

"Yes, that's correct." Clair confirmed.

Kyoinor walked towards the door of their hotel room and twisted the knob, opening the door. He walked out the room, Clair following after him. The historian closed the door and continued to follow the sound of his footsteps.

Soon, they arrived outside of the hotel and walked onto the sidewalk. As soon as Kyoinor saw a taxi cab passing by, he signed the driver in request of their service.

The cab stopped by them and rolled down their window. "Good evening, where do you two want to go to?"

"Millbank Tower." Kyoinor spoke.

"Alright, that'll be £4.00." the driver said.

Clair took out their wallet, touched the corners of her banknotes, and gave the driver the appropriate amount of money. "Thank you very much." driver thanked.

Kyoinor opened the door of the cab and got inside of the car. Clair did the same and closed the door of the cab. The driver started driving towards their destination as Clair put her wallet back into her pocket.

The mercenary looked out the window and gazed at the dark sky of the evening. He expected this job to be relatively easy as it only required protection during an interview. He pulled out a pair of silk, black gloves from his pocket and wore them.

He would usually wear a pair of fingerless, leather gloves as they were practical for combat. Even with the change of gloves, it would not inhibit his prowess in combat.

The car had stopped after a relatively short amount of time. "Here we are!" the driver informed.

"Thank you." the historian said before finding the handle of the car door.

Clair pulled it and opened the door, letting herself get out of the car. Kyoinor did the same, the two closing the door in synchronization.

They walked towards Millbank Tower as Clair heard the taxi cab drive away into the streets. The pair walked towards the entrance of the tower and opened the doors.

Kyoinor walked towards the elevator and pressed the button. After a short while, the elevator opened and both of them stepped inside. The mercenary pressed the button of the their desired floor which caused the elevator to lift.

A ding could soon be heard to indicate that they had arrived at their desired floor. Clair adjusted her black mask before stepping into the floor along with Kyoinor.

Once they arrived, sounds of jovial conversation can be heard from people as they enjoyed the food in the ball. Colorful lights were seen flashing around the room as the colorful outfits of guests had complimented the brilliant floor.

Kyoinor walked with Clair in order to find the veteran in the midst of the lively event. It was quite difficult for Clair to hear Kyoinor's amongst the variety of sounds that polluted the floor. However, she stood close by him where she could still barely hear the tapping of his shoes.

They traversed through the ball, attempting to look for the veteran. "The veteran informed me that they will wear a white mask with a grey suit. I have also informed them of what my attire will look like in the ball." the historian informed Kyoinor.

With this information, Kyoinor observed the entirety of the form matching the description given to him. His eyes then found a man matching that description. He was in the middle of the floor, crowded with multiple people.

"Follow me."

Kyoinor started walking towards the man as Clair trailed behind him. As they neared close to the man- he too had also detected their presence. The man was able to identify Clair as she got closer.

The mercenary stood a short distance away from the two as he watched them greet each other. "Hello, I believe you are the historian that wanted to interview you of my experiences of the war?"

"Yes, that's right." Clair spoke. "I thank you for taking the time out of your day to do so."

"It's really no problem, it's for the sake for history." he spoke. "Anyways, let's get star-"

Almost immediately, a gunshot could be heard close nearby. Kyoinor immediately rushed to Clair's side for her safety. Clair noticed that the gunshot had made a sound in front of her. It made a clean sound as the veteran was swiftly shot through the head.

The man's body immediately collapsed onto the floor as blood spilled out of his head, forming a puddle beneath him. Screams and shouts can be heard from multiple people in the ball as some quickly rushed towards the elevator.

Clair was startled from the current event that she had witnessed in front of her. 'He's dead..'

Her hands shook from the shock of someone being murdered in front of her. Kyoinor attempted to find the person who had shot the veteran in front of Clair. There, he saw a masked man loading up his gun and aiming it towards Clair.

"Clair!" he shouted as he reached to pull her body away from the direction of the bullet.

Clair heard Kyoinor's urgent voice and quickly determined that it was a warning. She moved her body a couple inches away, the bullet barely missing her as it shot someone else.

Kyoinor proceeded to take his gun out of his belt and aimed at the shooter. The mercenary fired a shot, however the shooter was able to dodge his bullet.

The shooter started to run into the elevator along with the guests of the ball. Kyoinor quickly grabbed Clair's wrist and ran towards the elevator. "We have to get out of here now!"

Kyoinor was able to shoot the shooter cleanly through the head as they fell onto the ground. He dragged Clair with him towards the elevator. They stepped inside along with a cluster of people who were still panicking.

Someone had already pressed the button to the first floor as the doors quickly closed as a couple of gunshots were still heard from within the floor. 'There's more shooters in the ball?' Clair thought.

Soon, the elevator had arrived in the first floor as everyone else started running out. The pair had started exiting the tower along with the guests of the masquerade ball.

Kyoinor took Clair out of the building and started running on the sidewalk. Street lights and lit up windows from buildings illuminated their way as they ran through the night. The rush of cars passing by can be heard in the silent evening.

Suddenly, he can hear gunshots directed towards him. Kyoinor looked behind him and saw two masked men chasing them.

"Follow my footsteps, I'll have to hold them off!" he said as he let go of Clair's wrist.

Clair obliged to his request as she could hear him firing bullets towards the masked men. He was able to shoot one of the masked men down. The historian noticed the absence of someone's footsteps as someone was fired. "Did you kill someone?"

"Of course I did, they're shooting at us!" he shouted as he shot at the other masked man.

"Don't kill the other one!"

"Why not?"

"I don't want anyone else to die, just cripple them by shooting at their limbs and we can escape!" Clair said.

Unfortunately, Kyoinor had already pulled the trigger of his gun; killing the other masked man. With that, Clair knew her warning fell on deaf ears.

'He killed both of them..' Clair thought as remember the dreaded memories of her looking upon her bloody hands. 'Back then, it was because of me that so many people died but I didn't have a choice. Yet, it consumes me. But this man who has a choice to spare lives, simply does not feel guilt or remorse for his crimes. How.. despicable.'

"How can you take the lives of others so easily?" Clair asked.

"It's something I do almost everyday, it's my livelihood." he spoke. "It's something I'm used to and it's how I make money. I don't understand why you wanted to spare those men who attempted to harm you."

"I didn't ask or pay you to kill them, shooting them at their limbs would be an adequate job in protecting me." she said. "People should always make an attempt to spare and save other lives, not take them."

"This was a coordinated attack from what I can tell. Maybe not coordinated towards you but it was definitely planned beforehand. If I didn't shoot them, you might have died." Kyoinor said.

'Death, huh?' she thought.

"Aren't you studying about the war? Wouldn't you know that many perished from the hands of people? Wishful thinking like that is naive." the mercenary spoke.

"War is not necessarily a choice for many people. Soldiers are forced to perform their duties even if they wish not to kill. But you had a choice not to kill those men." she said as she took her wallet out of her pocket.

She handed Kyoinor the pertinent amount of money for his services. "I thank you for your protection, but I do not agree with your execution."

Kyoinor took the money from her hands and put it inside his pocket. "My job is over then."

The mercenary saw a nearby taxi cab drive by in which he signed it to stop. "There's a cab here so you can get back home. Goodbye."

Clair could hear his footsteps becoming fainter as he walked away from her. She paid the driver and went inside the car. 'I truly wish that I did not have to take the lives of those back then.'

Kyoinor continued walking on the sidewalk and took off his red mask, sure that most would not identify under the darkness of the night. He finally stopped walking as he looked at a hospital. His silver eyes almost seemed somber as he opened the doors of the hospital.