The Reincarnated Hitman

Chapter 2: Prologue [2]: Retirement

"Well, that takes care of that," Zero muttered as he stepped outside the mansion with both hands in his pockets.

He noted how cold the night air was, which was exactly how he preferred it. He wasn’t too worried about the cops discovering the mess he had left behind, after all, the cleaners should arrive in a few minutes

Reaching the Mansion’s gate, Zero noticed a black car with tinted windows parked there.

With a smile, he walked up to the car, opened the back door, and got in before looking at the rear view mirror and saying, "What an honor, my dear Radiance came to pick me up herself."

Reflected in the mirror was a lady with brown hair and similar colored eyes, an exact look-alike of his favorite comic heroine, Radiance, in her civilian form.

"I told you to stop calling me that," the lady in the driver’s seat said, "my name’s Charlotte, you idiot."

Charlotte was his assistant of sorts, she was responsible for the lights going out inside the mansion.

An invaluable underling, whom he refused to call by her real name.

"Oh?" He muttered, the smile still on his face as he leaned forward, "Here I was, thinking that I’ll take my dear Radiance with me after retiring tonight."

Charlotte immediately started the car, forcing him back, but he didn’t miss the blush on her cheeks, which she quickly hid.

"Speaking of which," she spoke up as they reached the main highway, "are you sure you want to retire when you’re barely past twenty-two? Besides, what would someone like you even do after retirement?"

"My retirement plan?" Zero muttered as he leaned back on his seat, "probably finding a nice quiet place somewhere that doesn’t have an extradition treaty, and doing absolutely nothing for an extended period."

Charlotte was quiet for a while before chuckling, "That sounds profoundly unlike you."

"I’m branching out," he answered with a smile.

The two went silent as the car continued moving on the highway. It seemed Charlotte was deliberately driving slower than usual.

After a long while, she spoke up again,

"Don’t go back tonight."

"Are you inviting me back to your —" Zero started with a grin but she immediately cut him off.

"Just this once, be serious," Her tone and expression showed that she was angry, but not at him, "You know what happens to a hitman that retires, the company won’t just let you go." freewebnσvel.cøm

Zero let out a sigh as his smile faded, "I know."

"Then why are you going?" She asked as her grip tightened on the steering wheel.

"Because if I don’t," he paused and looked at the road ahead, "they’ll come after the orphanage."

Charlotte was silent after that, knowing that he was right.

Seeing that the mood in the car had suddenly turned heavy, Zero let out a chuckle and said, "Besides, I’ll be fine...maybe we’ll just have a civil conversation and go our separate ways."

***

It was definitely not a civil conversation.

Inside the lobby of a high-rise building, the aftermath of what could only be described as a bloodbath could be seen.

Bullets and blood riddled the floor, but that wasn’t even the worst of it.

In the center of said lobby was a pile of corpses, men and women, all in formal suits, and at the very top of this corpse pile sat a single man.

Zero.

His white hair was now blood red, his left arm was riddled with bullets and so was his chest and a few other places.

The fact that he was currently alive was a miracle, but it was clear that he couldn’t survive for much longer.

"Char’s definitely going to kill me," he muttered with a small smile, and for the first time, he called his assistant by her name.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t here to hear it.

"I could really use a smoke right now."

Ring! Ring!

His search for a cigarette in the pockets of the corpses beneath him was interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing.

A bit surprised that the gadget had also survived bullets, he withdrew it from his pocket and looked at the caller ID¹.

Boss

A grin appeared on Zero’s face as he answered the call and placed the phone to his ear, "Zero speaking."

"..."

"C’mon, don’t go silent on your favorite hitman," he said with a smile as the other end remained silent, "especially after you planned such a lively retirement party for me."

"..."

The person on the other end remained silent. Was he angry? Very much so, but then again, he more or less expected this outcome.

After all, even he doubted whether or not the kid was truly human.

"Are you going to send more?" Zero interrupted his thoughts, his tone turning completely serious.

"There’s no more to send," the boss said in a tone of surrender, "those were three hundred of the world’s greatest hitmen."

"A pity," Zero said with a chuckle, "all this would have been avoided if you just let me retire in peace."

"Perhaps," the boss replied, "but had I let you go, you would have been a loose end I couldn’t afford."

"I see," Zero nodded, looking above him with a sigh before adding, "and I’m guessing that you have a plan B to deal with me?"

The boss was silent for a while before saying, "Goodbye, Zero."

"Yeah," he responded, "see you in hell."

And then,

BOOM!

Zero, the greatest hitman the world had ever known, was dead.... And all it took was three hundred other hitmen, an exploding building, and the dissolution of the HA, Hitmen Association.

But he was gone, completely.

***

Or at least that’s what was supposed to happen.

"Get up big brother, I’m going to be late for school!"

That was the first thing Zero heard as his consciousness resurfaced, and slowly, his eyes opened to an old ceiling above him.

The first thing he felt was confusion as he asked,

"I’m not....dead?"