Chapter 53

Mission 53 (: 53) is the fifty-third chapter of the SPY x FAMILY manga, written and illustrated by Tatsuya Endo. It was released on September 20, 2021.

Summary
As Yor and Matthew clean up after killing almost all of the assassins, the Assassin Leader speaks up, astonished that she killed them all, and calls her a heartless woman. Yor is nonchalant and proposes that the remaining assassins walk away, but the leader says it is out of the question, stating that they have been paid in advance. He adds that there is no way to walk away on the boat and that Matthew has no intention of letting them leave alive.

The leader prolongs a conversation with Matthew long enough to allow a Swordsman to attack Yor and Matthew from behind. Yor and Matthew duck the slash, and before Matthew can shoot back, he is struck in the chest by the sword sheath and knocked back to a wall, leaving him unconscious. Yor fights the Swordsman on her own, but when they clash, Yor's grip strength weakens, and her weapon flies down to the lower deck. The Swordsman goes for a swing, which Yor manages to block with her foot.

As the Swordsman tells Yor to give up, her feet start to feel heavy again. She thinks back to an earlier conversation with Matthew, who tells her that in the event that she dies or is seriously wounded, Loid will be informed that she was "forced to take an emergency transfer." Yor remarks that she is a heartless woman to disappear from Loid and Anya without saying a word.

The Swordsman slashes at Yor, slicing off some of her hair. This worries Yor, who frets about returning to her family with a different hairstyle, but she quickly refocuses on the fight. Sensing Yor's hesitance, the Swordsman tells her to withdraw if she fears death. Yor refuses, as she will not let them lay a hand on Olka or the others. The Assassin Leader tries making a business proposition for Yor, offering a share of the bounty if she steps aside, pointing out that they kill to support themselves.

Yor turns down the offer, saying she is not like them, then thinks about her reason for becoming an assassin. Struggling to find the answer, Yor asks herself why she is doing this job. Before she can think any further, the Swordsman swings at her face. Yor dodges him, but her heel steps into a small gap and stumbles, allowing the Swordsman to strike her with his sheath and knock her to a wall.

The Swordsman points his sword at Yor, who is in a daze, and her thoughts are in disarray. She then sees Yuri flashing before her eyes and remembers how he received a job offer from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and got his first paycheck. Yor acknowledges that Yuri has grown into a fine man and does not need her support anymore, and decides to end her assassin job here. However, when the Assassin Leader heads off to finish Olka and the others, Yor suddenly tears off her earring and throws it at him, stopping him in his tracks. Yor questions why she was protecting Olka and recalls the woman's desire to live a quiet life. Yor then comes to a realization and remembers why she became and stayed as an assassin: the desire to protect Yuri's carefree life.

Yor believes that the world is soiled with needless tragedies and requires thorough cleaning to prevent it. She reaffirms this belief now that she has her new family in the Forgers. Reinvigorated, Yor grips the Swordsman's blade and breaks it. She then moves to the Swordsman, who is surprised by this and slashes her chest. Yor is unfazed by this and tells herself that she does not need to be at peace or care if she has to bloody her hands. She believes that if she dies or has to leave the Forgers, Loid will understand, reminiscing the night he expressed his admiration for her dedication to her work. Yor lands a powerful strike on the Swordsman and declares that she will not give up this fight.

Trivia

 * Matthew predicts the Assassin Leader the fate of being eaten by the sharks, which happens to him and Snoops in Chapter 55.
 * In the original digital release of this chapter, on page 10, the Assassin Leader is incorrectly wearing a collared shirt and tie rather than his turtleneck. This was later corrected in the Volume 8 release.