Killing was, from beginning to end, the art of laying plans.
That was the guiding principle of the ninjutsu Miss Rachel had learned, but she did not seem to have grasped its essence.
Unfortunately, Miss Rachel's talent for killing was simply too great. Even when she followed her whims every time, she still managed to accomplish her objective.
It was a perfect illustration of the saying that talented people often had no need to follow established wisdom.
Of course, some basic rules still had to be followed.
Rachel watched the footage transmitted by the miniature drone in front of her. The pink bubble she was blowing slowly grew, then burst with a pop.
Miss Rachel's expression did not change.
On the screen, Jonas was talking to a black-haired girl who appeared to be his bodyguard. After a brief exchange, the girl suddenly blushed, and her expression turned peculiar.
The girl's name surfaced in Rachel's mind: Esnie Nora, known as the [Black Valkyrie], the most formidable individual combatant at Jonas's side.
Jonas lifted a lock of the girl's hair and said something with a faint smile.
Then the girl who struck terror into countless gang members lowered her head, looking embarrassed and annoyed.
Watching this, Rachel seemed to catch a whiff of the sickly sweetness of romance, and she frowned.
She picked up the notebook beside her and wrote, "Jonas Wetting and Esnie Nora may be romantically involved. This can be exploited."
Jonas and Esnie's relationship offered an excellent opening. With that relationship to work with, she had no fewer than ten ways to lure Esnie away from his side.
Watching their intimate gestures in the drone footage, Rachel grew increasingly certain of her judgment and began expanding her assassination plan around it.
That certainty, however, evaporated that afternoon.
That afternoon,