I Possess the SSS Skill: Future Sight-Chapter 43: Official Request

[ Three days later – Golden Sector – "Blood Orchid" Luxury Restaurant ]

A day off.

A word I never thought existed in the lexicon of magical intelligence—let alone for the elite "Alpha" squad that had nearly been wiped out just days ago.

But, by an official request from Commander Valisera, submitted directly to FBI Director Alexander Vance—who approved it immediately for reasons known only to me, Valisera, and her blackmail files—the entire squad was granted a two-day paid leave.

This gathering itself was a surreal joke.

The place: "Blood Orchid" restaurant.

The highest, most expensive, and most luxurious restaurant in the Golden Sector.

You don’t enter it unless you possess wealth equal to a small nation’s budget, or you carry a golden FBI badge.

The floors were made of enchanted glass beneath which genetically modified mermaids swam—unfortunately. The tables were carved from golden-etched ent wood, and the ceiling was a celestial dome displaying the real movement of planets.

The six of us sat around an isolated circular table on a balcony overlooking the lower city of Elysium, drowning in smoke and rain, while we breathed air perfumed with lotus essence.

The seating arrangement was as follows: Valisera at the head of the table, completely absorbed in a menu a meter long. To her right sat Eva Blackwood, wearing an elegant black dress, though her black eyes were glaring at me like they wished to turn into daggers. Beside Eva sat Sia, dressed in simple white clothes, calm as always.

To Valisera’s left... sat the one who had just returned from his long mission: "Aiden."

Next to Aiden sat Damian, his arm still in an advanced magical cast.

And me... Kyle Valtier, Rank G, the Black Joker, sitting between Damian and Eva like a rotten piece of meat thrown into a royal feast.

I wore a simple white shirt, trying to look small and harmless.

Aiden, who had just returned from the eastern wing, was still in a state of nervous shock and denial.

He had just been told that their squad—the elite of the elite—had recruited a Rank G insect.

"I don’t understand..." Aiden said for the twentieth time, nervously wiping his round glasses and shifting his gaze between me and Damian.

"I really don’t understand. Is this a hidden camera? Are they testing our psychological patience? We are Alpha Squad! We slaughter Rank A ghouls before breakfast! And this... this kid..." He pointed at me with a trembling finger.

"He’s thinner than a leaf! I swear if I sneeze, I’ll break his neck! Why is he with us?!"

Damian sighed and took a sip of expensive red wine.

"Deal with it, Aiden. High Command approved it, and Commander Valisera wants him here."

"Wants him for what?!" Aiden snapped, lowering his voice so as not to attract other customers.

"To clean our weapons? Carry our bags? What do we do with him if we face a monster? Throw him as a snack to distract it for two seconds?!"

"That’s exactly what we did in Warehouse 42," Eva said coldly, slicing a piece of meat with excessive force using her silver knife.

"He was excellent bait. Took an acid hit to the chest that made him squeal like a pig. He performed his role perfectly."

I swallowed and forced a shy, broken smile.

"I... I’m really sorry, Mr. Aiden. I know I’m not at your level. But I’ll try to learn... I promise I won’t get in your way."

Inside, I was laughing sadistically: — Yes, Aiden, mock me. Mock the man who split your leader Thorne in half and killed half the traitors while you were being crushed in the warehouse.

"Don’t apologize to him, Kyle," Valisera interrupted suddenly, without lifting her eyes from the menu.

"Aiden, if you say one more word about his rank, I’ll make you pay for this entire dinner. Do you know how much a plate of Earth Dragon steak costs here?"

Aiden’s face instantly went pale, and he shut his mouth like a locked box.

Paying the bill here meant declaring bankruptcy for three generations.

"Good," Valisera smiled, raising her hand to call the waiter.

The waiter, dressed in a snow-white suit and seemingly Rank B—yes, even the waiters here are high-ranking!—approached with an exaggerated bow.

"Welcome to Blood Orchid. What would you like to order, ladies and gentlemen?"

"I want," Valisera began, her crimson eyes gleaming with terrifying hunger,

"a Desert Python steak, very rare... so rare I want to hear it scream when I stab it with my fork. And Sea Ghoul fin soup, a dish of golden Aetra mashed potatoes, four bottles of aged Crimson Blood wine, and for dessert... bring me a chocolate volcano cake stuffed with a phoenix heart."

The waiter stopped writing and stared at her in shock.

"Ma’am... that order is enough to feed five adults."

Valisera glanced at him in a way that dropped his body temperature.

"Did I ask for your opinion on my appetite? Bring it. Now."

"Y-Yes, ma’am!" The waiter rushed away.

Eva turned to me, her black eyes dripping with hatred.

"I still can’t believe we’re sitting here, celebrating and eating, while that bastard... the Black Joker... is still alive somewhere."

She stabbed her fork into the wooden table, ignoring Sia’s shocked look.

"I can’t sleep at night, Damian! Every time I close my eyes, I feel that phantom bullet tearing through my insides again! How did he do it?! How did that trash bypass my shield?!"

I swallowed hard. Listening to them talk about me with such hatred while I sat among them was both amusing and tense.

"He uses black magic, no doubt," Damian said, trying to calm her as he cut meat with his good hand.

"We all saw how he vanished in smoke. Don’t blame yourself, Eva. Even Inspector Thorne was a terrifying monster, and we weren’t ready for him. The Joker is just a coward who strikes from behind."

"Coward?" Sia spoke for the first time, her voice calm and cold as she took a sip of water.

"The man stormed an alley full of agents, faced three helicopters, hit our best sniper, killed two elites, and escaped. If that’s cowardice... I’d like to know what bravery looks like to you."

Eva glared at her.

"Are you defending him, Sia?!"

"I’m analyzing facts," Sia replied coolly, her eyes sharp with intelligence.

"Underestimating the enemy is what got us here. We think we’re invincible because we’re Alpha Squad, but this Joker... he was playing us. He trapped us and humiliated us. We need to admit that if we want to kill him next time."

"There won’t be a next time!" Eva whispered through clenched teeth, veins bulging in her neck.

"When I find him... I’ll peel that smiling face off and feed it to the ash dogs!"

I pretended to tremble at her words, gripping my glass with shaking hands.

"I-Is that Joker really that scary, Miss Eva?" I asked softly, hesitantly, my crimson eyes widening with feigned innocence.

"I heard about him in the news... they say he’s a merciless monster."

Eva turned to me and looked at me with pure contempt, as if I were a worm.

"Don’t you dare speak his name, you weak trash. Monster? He’s not a monster. He’s a disease. A parasite living in the sewers. And people like you... weak cowards like you... are the perfect breeding ground for his kind in this city."

(Oh, Eva, if only you knew... I laughed in my mind until my imaginary eyes teared up. I’m the disease you’re talking about—and I’m sitting right next to you, almost asking you to pass the salt.)

"Enough work talk," Valisera interrupted as the trembling waiter brought the first dishes.

"We’re here to eat and celebrate not dying in Warehouse 42. Damian, how’s your arm?"

"Recovering, ma’am, thanks to intensive healing doses," Damian replied respectfully.

"It will be fully ready in two days."

"Good," Valisera said as she chewed a large piece of undercooked python meat, blood dripping from her lips in a nauseating way, ignoring all etiquette rules of this refined restaurant.

"Because after this week... we’ll need every arm, every eye, and every drop of blood you have."

Everyone froze.

Forks hung in midair.

Aiden, who had just returned from his break, looked at her suspiciously.

"A new mission? Already? I thought we eliminated the traitors."

"We cut off the snake’s tail, Aiden," Valisera said, swallowing her food.

She raised her glass of blood-red wine and looked through the liquid toward the city lights outside.

"Now... we’re going for the head."

Silence fell. Eva and Sia went still. Damian looked at me, then at Valisera.

"Where?" Damian asked quietly.

Valisera smiled her usual demonic smile and glanced at me from the corner of her eye.

"We’re going on a pleasant visit... to Saint Hilarious Hospital."

Aiden’s fork fell onto his plate with a loud clang.

"Hospital... what?!" he shouted, forgetting all restraint.

"Saint Hilarious?! Have you lost your mind?! That hospital belongs to the High Medical Guild! Saint Hilarious himself is Rank S+! If we approach with hostile intent, we’ll be erased before reaching the gate!"

Eva stiffened.

"Ma’am... this is suicide. Saint Hilarious Hospital? In the heart of the city? We can’t—"

"I’ve decided. End of discussion," Valisera cut her off firmly, striking her glass against the table.

"I have one week to prepare the stage. You will train, recover, and write your wills if you wish. Because we’re going into that hospital... and we’re going to search the hell beneath it."

Then she turned directly to me.

"And what about you, Kyle?" she asked with veiled mockery.

"Are you ready to be our lovely bait again?"

I swallowed, looking at the shocked, terrified faces of Alpha Squad.

"I... I’m at your service, ma’am," I said shyly.

"But... can I bring a friend with me?"

Valisera frowned in feigned annoyance.

"A friend? Are we going to a nightclub, you idiot?"

"He’s... he’s very strong! Rank B!" I said quickly, pretending panic.

"His name is Zack... and he has experience in tracking and analysis. Please... I feel like I’ll die if I don’t have someone protecting me!"

Aiden slapped his forehead. "Great. Now the recruit is bringing his friends to magical intelligence missions. The FBI has turned into a daycare."

Valisera stared at me for a long, deep moment filled with hidden warning.

She was studying me—studying my audacity in trying to officially insert Zack into this dirty game.

"I’ll think about it," she finally said coldly, returning her attention to the chocolate cake.

"But if he turns out to be as useless as you... I’ll throw both of you into the operating room."

I exhaled in relief. (Zack, my idiot friend... get ready. I’ve just dragged you into a cosmic war.)

Dinner continued. The table was filled with tension. Eva kept shooting me hateful glances, Aiden lamented his fate of being returned to this insane squad, Sia remained calm as death, and Damian tried to find logic in all this chaos.

And me... I sat among them.

Cutting an expensive steak, chewing calmly.

The Black Joker. The killer. The bait. The planner.

I succeeded.

I am now inside the system. Sitting with the executioners at one table, eating their food, listening to their plans.

And when the time comes... when we reach Saint Hilarious Hospital...

I will show them all the true face of the nightmare they created.