The Wakizas.h.i.+'s Ability

Caddie Fullblood of Rising Fall, a rank A adventurers party, possessed a weapon called the Drakon Ball Staff. For certains reasons, Hikaru had to steal it. Drake was sealed inside the ball called a Soul Drainer, an item that sucked holy mana and converted it to regular mana. Normally, a Soul Drainer could only suck life force away, indicating that some sort of sorcery was probably incorporated into it.

When Hikaru hit the Soul Drainer with the wakizas.h.i.+, the weapon sucked the mana from it. He didn't know what kind of ability the wakizas.h.i.+ held, but it was worth trying now.

「Let's see…」he muttered as he drew the wakizas.h.i.+ from its sheath.

Stealth concealed the dense mana emitting from the weapon. Hikaru touched the dragon with the wakizas.h.i.+'s tip, and the light vanished in the blink of an eye. His Mana Detection saw the mana move towards the wakizas.h.i.+, turning the dragon stone into an ordinary stone.

「What on earth is this wakizas.h.i.+?」

Rather than being happy that he found a way to dispose of dragon stones easily, he was curious as to what kind of weapon the wakizas.h.i.+ was. It was either created by Oota Masaki, a man from j.a.pan, in Zubura, or it was derived from one of his creations. In any case, some complex sorcery was at work.

「Anyway, I should be glad disposing dragon stones is easier now.」

『Why are we on standby?』

『The citizens cheered us on too. My parents even cried.』

『Understandable. You're joining an expedition where you could die. It's more dangerous in the forest than the trip to the west.』

Grucel's troops, although training and keeping an eye out every day, had been on standby for three days. Soldiers who had nothing better to do gathered around and was talking among themselves.

『Maybe Gin got cold feet?』

『Hey, you gotta address him properly. That dude's a company commander now.』

『Well, you're calling him “that dude” too.』

『There's no way Lord Grucel is chickening out. So I think someone is frantically trying to stop him. The other two company commanders are veterans, but not Gin.』

『Ssh. It's Gin.』

Gin was walking between tents. As a member of the expeditionary force, there was no hint of desperation in the way he strolled leisurely.

『Look at him. He looks like he has no care in the world.』

『I heard a rumor that there are rebels lurking in our city.』

『For real?』

『Doesn't it make this mission odd? There's those guys from Primeval too.』

『Something's fishy.』

『Too fishy. I don't want to think that Gin is on the rebels' side…』

『Hey, how's training going?』Gin greeted casually, but deep inside, he was panicking.

I knew it! They're frustrated! Look at those faces! They're like those scary drill sergeants who found deserters!

Gin sped up his pace and barged into Grucel's tent.

『Lord Grucel.』

『What's wrong? Is there news from Dream Maker?』

『No, that's not it… Everyone seems to be frustrated by the standby order. I thought it might be a good idea to let them fight some monsters.』

『Are you serious? The whole point of standing by is to prevent them from being injured, to preserve our strength.』

『I understand, but… those who don't know the circ.u.mstances don't know the point of this. If a distress call came from Dream Maker and you give orders to head back, they'll just get more confused.』

Grucel frowned deeper than usual.『You have a point. But fighting monsters is out of the question.』

『How about explaining the situation to them?』

『No. There shouldn't be any traitors among them, but that also means telling them will only cause chaos and confusion. They are extremely loyal to our nation. They won't believe it right away if we told them someone's plotting a rebellion. All the more so when the traitors are the clan leaders themselves.』

『That's true…』

『Rather than explaining to them, we wait for an attack. Once they see that, they will take action. In other words, we have no choice but to wait.』

『Hmm… I suppose.』

He seemed to have thought this through, Gin thought as he folded his arms.

『Do you want to go scouting then?』Grucel asked.

『What?』

『Haven't you learned how to conceal your presence by going with Sir Silver Face?』

『Oh, no, no! Not in the least bit! That guy possesses some ridiculous tech. It felt like he just disappeared once he entered the woods.』

Despite his appearance, Gin was a soldier selected to be a member of an elite troop. What he noticed in his trips with Hikaru was every time they split up, the masked boy cut his presence off. It felt like he vanished all of a sudden, and that made Gin's skin crawl.

『Five days at the earliest.』Grucel said.

『Before what, Sir?』

『Before the troops can't hold their frustrations any longer. They could last ten days, though.』

『Five days is too soon… But they're trained soldiers.』

『It's just a hunch.』

『Your hunch is usually right. I'll keep an eye on them and think of something.』

Grucel's four points on Instinct made him much more perceptive than the average person.

『Please do. I'll try to come up with something as well.』the commander said.

However, his hunch didn't always. .h.i.t the mark. And it wasn't Grucel's men who were the most displeased about the current situation. It was Gin's. As such, Grucel didn't feel first-hand what the soldiers felt.

The next day, the disappearance of a few soldiers came to light.

『How could this happen? They've betrayed His Majesty's trust! And they call themselves soldiers?!』

Hearing the news, Grucel slammed his right arm on the table, splitting it in half. The two company commanders present pretended to act calm, but the man who gave the report turned pale as a sheet. After all, Grucel, a soldier renowned for his levelheadedness, was fuming with rage.

『Return to your company and tell your platoon leader not to let the others know about this.』

『Y-Yes, Sir!』the soldier said, then left in a hurry.

『With all to due respect, Lord Grucel, I think it'll be difficult to keep this under wraps. If ever this breach of discipline is discovered, it'll affect the morale of the troops.』

『I know that.』

Something feels wrong, Grucel thought.

He lost his composure when he received word of the soldiers' desertion, but he was aware that he wasn't as quick-tempered as to destroy a table. Yet before him was a table in half, a map hanging loosely on the edge, and an inkwell lying on the ground.

Gin came running to the tent and shook his head, indicating that there was no news from Dream Maker. His face was pale. He probably already heard about the desertion.

Soldiers deserting earlier than expected. My agitation. What is this indescribable uneasiness I feel?

It felt like his worry was being stirred on purpose.

『Gin! You couldn't even keep an eye on your subordinates?!』one of the commanders rebuked.

『He let his promotion to company commander get to his head!』the other added.『His men must've noticed how conceited he became!』

Gin apologized, but anger filled his eyes.

『That's enough.』Grucel said.

『Lord Grucel! You appointed Gin as commander. You share the responsibility as well!』

『Such a shameful act is unacceptable for a soldier of the proud Dream Maker army.』

Normally, they wouldn't snap at him like this. Their discontent must've piled up as well. Indeed, that was possible. But Grucel's Instinct whispered something else.

『Don't you think it's strange?』Grucel said.

『Strange? Are you trying to s.h.i.+ft the blame?!』

『Do you really think I'd do something that stupid?』Grucel said, glaring at the two commanders.

The wrath in his eyes stopped them from uttering another word.

『Sorry. I'm acting strange too.』Grucel said.『I'm trying to be calm, but I can't help but be angry. Don't you feel the same too? What should've been a little bit of anger is turning into burning rage.』

The men, Gin included, were taken aback.

『N-Now that I think about it, you're right.』

『What's going on?』

『I don't know. Even with their discontent, it's too early for soldiers who had undergone severe training to desert.』

Then all of a sudden, they heard shouts coming from outside. Grucel and the three men exchanged glances and stepped outside the tent.

『What… is going on here?』

Soldiers were exchanging blows. Others tried to intervene. Yet the moment they got hit, they too went into a frenzy and struck back.

『Gin! Go to the watchtower and get in touch with the s.h.i.+p! Don't stop until you get a response!』

『Y-Yes, Sir!』

『We'll try to bring things under control. This is clearly unusual, but don't sound the alarm. It would only agitate the soldiers even more.』

Amidst the chaos, Gin dashed towards the watchtower, while Gin and the two commanders moved to bring the situation under control.

Indeed, something was happening.