"We’re here, Mrs Horton." Jin, Addison, and Angela walked into her office and took a seat on the three chairs that were in front of her desk.
"Finally. I was about to yell your names on the intercom. You know I don’t like to be kept waiting."
Addison glared at Angela, who just flipped her off.
"Are we in trouble? Because I just want you to know that Angela was the one who did it." Jin instantly threw her under the bus, and he had no regrets.
"Hey! That’s not fair! Mrs Horton, Jin, and I had sex on campus!"
Jin nearly leaped out of his seat. "What the fuck is your problem?!"
"Oh, so it’s okay to throw me under the bus, but I can’t do the same to you?"
"Angela, we’re not even in trouble! I was joking around!"
"Sure! Don’t back track now, just because our business has been laid out in front of Mrs Horton."
"He’s right," Mrs Horton butted in. "You three are not in trouble. I called you here for a different reason."
"Whatt? Really? Heh,heheh! That’s crazy! Haha, sorry, Jin." Angela hid in a ball of ice that was broken by Mrs Horton’s power.
"You two are fucking?!" Addison didn’t show it, but she was extremely jealous. She didn’t expect Jin to lie with Angela of all people.
"Been, since high school. You jealous?" Angela teased, sticking out her tongue.
"Enough! I don’t care about your sex life. I already knew about it anyway. I’ve been alive for over 100 years, and it’s pretty easy to tell when people are fucking after being observant for a long time."
"So, what did you call us here for?" Jin wanted this awkward moment to pass, so he changed the topic.
"Are you trying to change the topic, mister?" Now, Mrs Horton was teasing him.
"Please stop it."
"Okay. The reason I called you all here is because I saw how you handled the situation on Olympus. You were smart, didn’t crumble under pressure, helped people, and stayed calm. You three already have the workings of a Vanguard and Guardian. Because of this, I will be graduating you three early."
"What?" The three of them said in unison. This was not what they expected to hear when they were called to Mrs Horton’s office.
Addison and Angela were ecstatic. Their dream of becoming Vanguards was now achieved. This was the biggest accomplishment in their entire lives.
Jin, on the other hand, didn’t know how to react. He wanted to use the institute to build up his strength without being in the action too much, and use the extra time he had to look into the Sons of Adam.
But on the bright side, the Aegis Corps had a ton of resources, and he could use that to his advantage. It was a Win-Lose situation in his eyes.
"Question?" Jin asked. "Can I be assigned to look into the Sons of Adam?"
Mrs Horton’s expression darkened, and her cheerful, if you could even call it that, attitude shifted into one of seriousness. Before answering, she took a deep breath and gathered the words she wanted to say.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because I said so."
Jin frowned. "That isn’t a good enough answer for me."
"Do you know who you’re speaking to?"
"The former Director of the Aegis Corps, the former Council head of the Aegis Corps, the former General of Armies, the former Police Chief of Aurora City, and current Principal of the Aegis Corps Institute," Jin said with confidence without one shred of fear.
"And you’re questioning me?"
"I am, because your answer is not satisfactory. Now, why can’t I be assigned to look into the Sons of Adam?"
Angela and Addison thought Jin was an idiot for challenging the most powerful person in their nation like that. They were slowly backing away in case Mrs Horton lost her cool.
Instead, she smiled.
"Hmph, I like your attitude. If you were a bit older, I would try to court you."
"I’m into older women," Jin replied with a straight face.
"Really now?" This piqued her interest, but she changed the subject. "Heh, it’s because you’re too valuable."
Jin wasn’t expecting that response. He assumed his value would allow him to be assigned to look into the cult, not keep him away from them.
"What do you mean? Shouldn’t I be helping because of my value?"
Mrs Horton leaned back in her chair and stretched before responding. "Normally, that would be the case, but you are the best Guardian candidate we’ve had since...ever. You’ve hacked into Aegis and Military tech, modified your power kit to the point where you’ve injected nanites into your bloodstream, have the combat prowess of a vet, and you have amazing investigation skills."
Jin chuckled. "You’ve been keeping tabs on me?"
"Jin, your mother and father were my students. When they had you, they would not stop talking about how much of a genius you were. I was watching you when you hacked into the Aegis Corps satellite when you were 12. And I also know you were using it to find the people who killed your parents."
Angela and Addison turned to Jin to see his reaction.
"So you know?" Jin had always made sure to cover his tracks so that he couldn’t be traced back to, but sitting in front of him was a woman who could do nearly anything.
"That you killed the rosepetal gang? Oculia gave me the report."
Thankfully, she didn’t know that Jin had powers, which made him feel a lot better.
"So, since I’m too valuable, what missions will you be sending us on?" He asked.
"Heh, I’m glad you asked. Since you did so well during the second orientation exam, I decided to assign the three of you a monster-hunting mission."
"What? That’s lame as fuck!" Angela complained.
"No offense, Mrs Horton, but I think that will be a waste of our abilities." Addison felt like she was worth more than being a monster exterminator.
"Well, I would have had you three do the fun stuff, but you decided to infiltrate the fucking casino where the brotherhood did their business, and now all of you have targets on your backs. So blame—"
"Jin! Haha! Jin! It’s Jin’s fault! Pwahaha! It’s actually not my fault this time! Suck it, Jin!" Angela was going to make sure to rub this in his face for as long as she could.
"Ugh, whatever. When do we start?"