The salty sea breeze blows into the rickety boat, and the fishermen who are fiddling with the motor at the stern rub the salt that has accumulated between the folds of their skin, and use their weathered hands to free the fish from the trawl nets that have just been collected.

There are several large vats next to it, which are used to divide different kinds of seafood.

As if to celebrate the harvest, the warm sun shone on the calm sea with only a gentle breeze, and the water flowed quietly in the usual direction, without the slightest trace of deviation, and even the small whirlpools that often appeared were rare, and it had to be said that the fishermen were looking forward to the good weather.

The air breeze brings a hint of coolness, sending fresh air into the cargo hold full of fresh fish.

Large boxes of seafood are piled up, and the elderly fishermen occasionally glance with satisfaction at the gloomy cargo holds, which are the rich harvest brought by the spring currents after this voyage.

It should sell for a good price.

What he didn't notice was that in the gap between the wooden boxes, there was a small figure hidden in the overlapping shadows.

Zero wears a jet-black tight-fitting combat suit, and the tight leather-like material provides a certain amount of defense while also outlining the perfect curves of her body.

Her long white blonde hair was all tucked in a special hood, and her plain white face was completely covered by a breathable mask, and she lurked in the gap between the wooden boxes like a shadow itself, which was difficult for ordinary people to spot even if they looked closely.

She kept silently in a crouching but stretched motion, her ice-blue eyes fixed on the empty entrance to the cargo hold—if the people on the ship were close to where she was hiding, she could move nimbly and silently through the gaps in the wooden boxes she had fine-tuned.

Unless most of the wooden crates were emptied and a high-powered searchlight was brought in, ordinary people would not be able to detect her presence anyway.

“……”

The breath of innocence is perfectly hidden in the swaying of the ship and the swaying of the wooden crate.

While maintaining a minimum of vigilance, Zero checked the equipment he was carrying for any gaps.

Three energy bars and a small bottle of purified drinking water, a replica Polish passport, a stack of also replica entry and exit certificates and detention permits, a tactical knife, a Glock Type 17 9mm pistol modified by the Armament Department, 30% smaller in size, four spare magazines, and a miniature red dot sight.

The other package contained a tablet for communication and a set of everyday dresses.

Nominally, she had come to Japan to conduct the 'Standard Practical Test' for the academic year, also known as the Practical Test.

However, the usual combat tests are led by the executive professor, and are conducted in groups of five to ten people, and they are also engaged in some inconsequential work - for example, Selma, who fights soy sauce to the end in Operation Kuimen, is conducting combat tests.

Obviously, if it was really just this level of work, then there was no need for her to fly from the United States to Busan, South Korea, and then take a smuggling cargo ship bound for Japan from the smugglers in the border area through some inconvenient means, and finally infiltrate this small fishing boat from Lima to Nguki.

It's a deal.

Through negotiations with Anges, she provided the necessary information in exchange for the name and related matters of this mission to Japan.

Because Mercer was akin to defecting, Ange and the vice principal, who were slightly partial to Mercer, were now at a temporary disadvantage in the school board, so they could not send commissioners to Japan openly. Although the school board also knew that Japan seemed to be in a good mood, the information about the Black King Nidhogg had drawn everyone's eyes firmly, and it would not be a big deal if the Japanese branch did show signs of breaking away from the main department.

And Chu Zihang, who is close to the principal's faction, has successfully won the final place of the Nibelungen Project with two excellent mission resumes, and is undergoing alchemy transformation with the full preparation of the vice principal.

As a result, the only person who can really have the ability and insurance is Zero, who has always been very low-key.

As for the fact that Ange found out that she wasn't an ordinary student in the first place, it didn't surprise her particularly - after all, Ange was a dragon slayer who almost stood at the top of the half-blood, and it would really surprise her if she couldn't even detect her barely disguised disguise.

Fortunately, he didn't think much of it else, instead thinking of her as a spy sent by some dragon-slaying organization or family to investigate the situation at the Kassel Academy.

Similar things happen every year, and Ange has always turned a blind eye. Anyway, everyone has to fight dragons, and it's a good thing that the academy has all kinds of powerful students to join, and if necessary, it may be able to save other commissioners who are in danger. As for the secrets in the Kassel Academy, no one has been able to escape Norma's surveillance on campus.

In the darkness between the wooden boxes, there was a salty smell of sea fish, as if countless fishy blood had gathered together.

Zero moved his body slightly to the side with a larger gap, breathing in the fresh air, and unconsciously remembered the conversation Ange had had with her.

'I hope you will be able to search for the missing Cadet Mercer while you investigate the situation in the Japanese branch. ’

At night, the Kassel Academy is as quiet and noisy as ever.

Loud places like the Lionheart's balls, with fluttering skirts and orchestral music rippling with the liquid in the glass.

In a quiet place like the afterglow of the bell tower, the vice president nestled up on a small sofa with a few bottles of brandy, sipping and refreshing the campus forum.

The chandelier in the headmaster's room illuminated the long oak table, the smooth and rounded table reflected a soft pale light, the seven holes caused by the seven deadly sins had not yet been filled, and the wood at the edges had been mercilessly destroyed, and even at that time there was no wood chips left to reflect the sharpness of those swords.

But these seem to have been deliberately kept by Ange.

The heat wafted from the top of the bone china cup, and the fragrant scent of black tea soothed the scarnation caused by the sword marks.

Zero sat across the long table, subtly observing the place she didn't come to often.

After a long silence and a brief decisive discussion, the black tea is also past the heat of its best tasting.

She didn't say goodbye, because Ange hadn't spoken yet.

'I'm the principal, so I'm responsible for my students. ’

His tone was calm, his hands and ten fingers folded together, and his dark golden eyes exuded a strong coercion in the faint shadows.

As if urging the body and will to conform to the natural laws of aging, the chaotic flow of time kept pounding beside him, but it could never shake the strongest dragon slayer who had been standing for a hundred years.

Mixed with the astonishing murderous aura sharpened from the sea of corpses and blood, Zero once again clearly realized how terrifying the man in front of him really was.

If he's just leaving, tell him that you can come back at any time. ’

Principal Ange, an educator, said this, holding up the black tea.

If he becomes Deadpool, then tell me and I'll kill him with my own hands. ’

Hilbert Jean Ange, the dragon slayer, said this, gripping the folding knife.