“I figured as much when you called us in saying we needed to hear the client’s story together, but you know Upsilon and I don’t exactly match when it comes to working style.”

“On the contrary, those differences will become each other’s strengths.”

“For a first attempt at working together, this mission sounds awfully dangerous.”

“Hmm, for once, Ro, you are underestimating my judgment.”

“Uh… no way, boss. Haha.”

Ro laughed playfully and averted his gaze. Robert then turned toward the silent Upsilon in the driver’s seat and asked,

“Upsilon, what do you think?”

“Yes?”

“Do you dislike my decision to pair you with Ro?”

“No. If that’s the boss’s decision, I’ll follow it as is.”

At Upsilon’s loyal answer, Robert smiled faintly. He had asked his opinion on being paired with Ro, but perhaps because of his former profession, Upsilon had always been slightly intimidated by Robert while remaining overly loyal to Amabile.

Thanks to that, Upsilon had grown over the past five years into a sort of joker card of an agent, someone useful in any mission, but Robert often wondered whether that faithful nature was truly a good thing. If this mission ended safely, he would probably have to force Upsilon to take an extended vacation. If he refused, then a ban from entering Amabile headquarters again would obviously be added on as well.

“Hey, Upsilon. What am I supposed to be if you say it like that?”

“I won’t do anything to get in your way, so don’t worry about it.”

“No, I mean, what am I supposed to be if you say it like that?”

Ro protested with an absurd expression, but Upsilon kept his eyes fixed on the road. Later, when the three returned to Robert’s office on the top floor of Amabile headquarters, it was already deep into the night.

“Thank you both for your hard work today. I’ll call you again soon for the mission related to this request. For today, you may both go.”

“Understood.”

Upsilon gave him a short goodbye first, then glanced toward Ro, who did not seem inclined to move, and left the office. Only after the sound of Upsilon’s footsteps had fully disappeared beyond the closed door did Ro look back at Robert.

“Something to say, Ro?”

“Are you really going to put Upsilon in as my partner agent?”

“Of course. I understand that you’re displeased because Upsilon has intercepted several of your missions, but…”

“Robert.”

As Robert answered while casually pushing aside the papers scattered on his desk, he stopped moving and looked up at the sound of his name coming from Ro’s mouth. The somewhat light, teasing face he had worn in the car on the way back was gone, and his lowered gray eyes were fixed on Robert.

Since Amabile was founded, there had probably only ever been three agents who could call Robert by his name instead of as “boss.” Two of those three were no longer with Amabile now, leaving only Ro.

Even so, Ro, who usually called him boss, only ever addressed Robert by name in one situation. When he shed the carefully crafted mask of someone skilled in honey traps, someone who always seemed personable and optimistic about everything.

“You know how Upsilon feels about me. For a dangerous mission like this, pairing me with an agent who has personal feelings for me is not a good idea.”

“I didn’t make this decision without knowing that. Setting aside his feelings, the fact remains that Upsilon is one of the fastest-growing agents in Amabile right now.”

“I’m not doubting Upsilon’s ability. I’m saying that his feelings for me will definitely interfere with the mission.”

With an uncomfortable expression, Ro made it clear that Upsilon was not suitable for the mission. Robert also knew that the reason Upsilon had accepted the scout offer five years ago was because he had been drawn to Ro, who had saved him. He clearly remembered Upsilon, who even after joining Amabile and having almost no contact with Ro for years, still occasionally asked about him.

At first, Robert had thought Upsilon merely admired Ro, a senior agent, or saw him as some kind of role model. But it did not take long before he realized that Ro was deliberately keeping his distance from Upsilon.

Even Robert had not noticed until Ro himself stated that Upsilon’s feelings for him were closer to love than admiration, just how skilled Upsilon was at hiding emotion. But to Robert, that was all it was, nothing more and nothing less.

“Why are you so certain? There haven’t been any big problems over the past five years, have there? Honestly, if you hadn’t told me, I wonder whether I would have even noticed that Upsilon had those feelings for you.”

“Being free of feelings and hiding them as if they don’t exist are completely different things. There is no guarantee that because there haven’t been any problems over the past five years, there won’t be any in the future. The way the boss is reacting is making me start to doubt myself too. Am I the one being weird?”

Ro frowned slightly, sounding frustrated. Robert could not have failed to understand what he meant by all this. Robert paused as if in thought, then continued.

“You seem negative about Upsilon, but I’m basing this assignment entirely on his ability and the performance he has built up so far. I’m not trying to make things difficult for you.”

At Robert’s words, which showed no sign of yielding to his opinion, Ro swallowed a sigh.

“…I never thought that.”

“Ro. Upsilon is a rare hexagonal all-rounder of an agent. Unlike other agents, he doesn’t have anything you could call a specialty, but on the other hand, that means he is good at everything. Objectively and personally, I don’t think there’s anyone more suited to this mission than Upsilon.”

With Robert making it clear he had no intention of excluding Upsilon from the agents carrying out the Duke of Ashford’s request, Ro decided to stop trying to persuade him.

“That’s quite a dissatisfied expression. Then let me make a condition.”

“A condition?”

“If Upsilon himself asks to be removed from this mission, then I’ll consider it. But naturally, deliberately interfering with each other’s work or causing problems is absolutely unacceptable. You do understand that this request is not something to treat lightly enough for that kind of luxury, don’t you?”

“…Yes, I know that much without being told.”

Thinking Robert’s condition was, at least, a reasonable compromise, Ro reluctantly nodded. It was rare for Ro to seriously object like this to an assigned mission and partner agent, so in a way Robert had already taken a step back.

“Then let’s consider this matter settled for now.”

Hearing Robert say that he would call him again soon for a briefing with Upsilon, Ro finally left the office. And before Ro could fully walk out of his office, Robert stopped him again.

“By the way, Ro.”

“Yes?”

“If possible, avoid calling me by my name. I don’t know about others, but when you call me that, even I start to feel tense.”

As Ro considered whether he was serious or joking, he gave a bitter smile and said, “Boss, isn’t it about time you started feeling tense?”

“Hmm?”

“People and companies both usually need to keep their heads on straight more when they’re doing well, don’t they?”

“Ah, I completely agree with that.”

“Wow, so you’re admitting Amabile is doing well right now?”

Robert answered with a faint smile instead of words, and Ro tossed out a light joke as usual, saying he should get some of the credit for the success too. Then he left the office, saying he would wait for the call.

✿ • ✿ • ✿

“Wipsilooon!”

As soon as the door to the pheromone training room opened, Theta, who had been waiting in the training lounge, ran toward Upsilon as he came out.

“Upsilon, how was it? Was it really hard? Huh? Say something, quickly!”

With a tearful face, she grabbed Upsilon’s arm and shook it back and forth, urging him to answer, until he frowned and held his head.

“Don’t shake me, Theta. I feel like I’m going to turn inside out.”

“Gasp. It, it was that bad for you too? Really that bad?!”

Theta cried out in shock and quickly let go of Upsilon’s arm, trembling. In the meantime, an announcement sounded over the lounge speakers.

“This is Theta, second pheromone training will now begin. Please enter Training Room 2.”

“Eek!”

“Go on in.”

“Waaah. I really don’t want to do pheromone training.”

The day after meeting Reginald, the man from the Ashford side, Upsilon, whose regular pheromone training had been scheduled, ran into Theta, who was hesitating in front of the headquarters pheromone training room. Thinking that on the day he completed the black mission a few days earlier she had finished her pheromone training and gone on vacation, Upsilon had no idea why she was lingering in front of the room, but that question was quickly answered by Theta, who spotted him.

She had indeed received pheromone training then, but she had failed to exceed the test standard in the final stage of the regular training, so she had to do it again today. It was essentially a retest. If she failed to pass the threshold in the second test as well, Theta would have to undergo intensive pheromone retraining for about a month.

“This is Theta, please enter Training Room 2 at once.”

“Sniffle… Upsilon, I asked Ro and Delta earlier to please prepare a venti iced cafe latte with an extra shot, half hazelnut and half vanilla syrup, oat milk only, light ice, and chocolate drizzle over animal-based espresso whipped cream. They’ll have it ready properly, right? Last time Delta got everything wrong! This time Ro’s there too, so if they mess up such a simple thing again, I’m really not going to let either of them off…”