Yuuji, while healing Kenma, who was injured and completely drained of mana, talked to Selena Laurent:
-"Laurent-san, our goal is to understand the reason behind the heavy taxes imposed on the villages and, if possible, solve this issue. If you can, please help us."
Selena Laurent, with a thoughtful expression, replied:
-"Honestly, I am not pleased with the situation we have left the villagers in either. However, collaborating with you would mean defying the Grandmaster's orders, and doing so would make me a criminal."
Kenma continued to Yuuji's words:
-"Whether you help us or not, we will continue, and eventually, we will be declared as criminals anyway. If you're worried about losing your job, you can travel with us!"
-"No, but this would... tarnish my knightly honor."
Yuuji:
-"Doesn't the oppression of the villagers tarnish your knightly honor? I believe a knight should stand by justice and fight for it, no matter the outcome."
After thinking for a while, Laurent answered:
-"I guess... you are right. I should join you and help to end this oppression."
At that moment, footsteps were heard. The three stood up and pulled themselves together. At the end of the corridor, a young girl knight appeared with a lantern. With the light of the lantern, the two travelers saw Laurent's face for the first time: she was a beatiful girl with long, white-gray mixed hair wearing a light armor. The young girl with the lantern had a short, light-green hair, she was wearing glasses and had knight uniform on her. She talked, looking at Selena Laurent:
-"Oh, Selena-senpai, I thought I heard a noise here, but it's you! Who... are these... guests?"
Selena, struggling to speak:
-"Lyria! Co-come, let me introduce you. These people are... my... assistants."
Both Yuuji and Kenma thought to themselves, 'seriously?'...
Lyria Elwood (17), Commander Laurent's assistant, with a sad expression:
-"Selena-senpai, am I... am I not enough?"
Selena, regretful for upsetting her assistant, tried smooth things over, but as she is terrible at lying, she struggled to speak:
-"No, it's not like that, Lyria! These people... these people and I... I mean we, um... forming a secret operation, yes! I was just about to come to find you, you are also part of this operation, Lyria!"
Lyria's sadness turned into happiness:
-"Really? Does this mean Selena-senpai has finally accepted me and included me in her missions?"
-"Y-yes, exactly! Welcome to our team! Guys, this is Lyria Elwood, my personal assistant and mage. Lyria, these are... Ke-Kenma... and..."
Yuuji immediately intervenes:
-"My name is Kageyama Yuuji, and my friend here is Kamisato Kenma. Nice to meet you."
Lyria:
-"Nice to meet you too! My name is Lyria Elwood. I've never seen you before; are you from a secret unit or something?"
-"Y-yes, umm..."
Kenma, with his usual calmness, intervened Yuuji and explained the situation in a way Lyria could understand:
-"Yes, we are from the internal inspection unit, a secret unit of the knights. The truth is, the recent orders from the Grandmaster are against our sense of justice. That's why we asked for Commander Laurent's support to solve this issue. We plan to investigate this matter together and search for clues in the Granmaster's room when he is not around."
Lyria, thoughtfully:
-"Hmmm, the recent policies imposed on the villages are indeed nonsensical. I wanted to talk about this to Selena-senpai but feared being punished for disobeying orders. But, if even Selena-senpai is doing this... I'm in."
Selena:
-"Good. The Grandmaster must have returned home now that his shift is over, which means we can go investigate his office. Follow me."
The four of them started walking together. With Laurent and Elwood accompanying them, Kenma and Yuuji aroused no suspicion. They went upstairs and arrived at a room. Selena:
-"Here it is. Let's go in and see if there's anything suspicious."
They entered and began searching the room. Kenma and Laurent were checking the files on the shelves, while Lyria and Yuuji were inspecting the items on the desk. Yuuji noticed a strange mage rod under the desk and bent down to pick it up. At that moment, the door opened. Yuuji quickly hid under the desk, pulling Lyria with him. Left exposed, Kenma and Laurent found themselves face-to-face with the Grandmaster.
The Grandmaster, suspiciously:
-"Wh-what's going on here?"
Laurent immediately grabbed Kenma as if arresting him and played along:
-"Grandmaster-sama, I was looking for you! I caught this suspect spying on the headquarters from the garden wall. I wanted to show him to you because he looked very suspicious!"
Kenma continued the play:
-"I-I'm telling you, I was just curious! You knights are so strict!"
Meanwhile, Yuuji whispered to Lyria:
-"Do you sense anything strange about him too?"
-"No, he is the Grandmaster, I recognized him by his mana flow as soon as he entered. I don't sense anything suspicious."
-"No, what I mean is, your Grandmaster is a human, right?"
"Y-yes? What kind of question is that?"
-"Then the person in front of us is not your Grandmaster. He's disguising his mana very well, but... that thing is not human, I can see that."
Before Lyria could ask 'What do you mean by not human?', the Grandmaster moved towards the desk:
-"Whatever, Commander. You deal with him, don't bother my room for small issues like this. I just came here to take something I forgot and..."
He didn't finish his sentence because he sensed the mana of Yuuji and Lyria hiding under the desk. 'I let my guard down!' he thought, forming a fireball with his hand and launching it at the desk.
(Technique explanation, Fireball: is one of the most basic yet most effective techniques of the fire element. As its name suggests, the user creates a ball of fire, throws it at the target, and the fireball explodes. Its size and the impact of the explosion vary depends on the user's mana ability and the mana used.)
Yuuji, realizing this, created a barrier. Thanks to the barrier, neither Yuuji nor Lyria was harmed by the fireball, but the impact of the explosion shattered the walls and floor, causing the two magicians to fall with the debris. Kenma and Selena drew their swords, while the Grandmaster jumped to catch the falling rod, using a wind technique called Invisible Platform to land in the headquarters' yard.
(Technique explanation, Invisible Platform: Allows the user to create invisible platforms using the wind element for a short duration. With these platforms user can walk in the air or land safely from high places.)
Laurent also created an invisible platform and landed to headquarters' yard with Kenma.
Laurent, who was shocked by what happened:
-"Grandmaster-sama, what are you doing? Calm down please!"
Yuuji, shouting from within the debris while healing Lyria, who was injured by falling:
-"Laurent-san, Kenma! That person is not the Grandmaster! That thing is a... skaldar!!"
Both of them turned to the Grandmaster. The Grandmaster was gradually transforming into his true form:
-"So you finally realized... Well, it doesn't matter anymore. We have already completed most of our plan. (About 30 knights gathered behind him, all transforming into skaldars. The Grandmaster was larger than the other skaldars.) Very soon, we will rule the entire world. And you won't live to see it. My soldiers, ATTACK!"
All the skaldars raised their swords and began attacking. Yuuji, to Lyria:
-"Lyria-chan, stay inside this barrier. This mission has become more difficult than we thought. We will handle it."
-"But I must use healing techniques on Selena-senpai during the battle. That's my task as a mage!"
-"Don't worry, I'll take on that duty for now. I'm a mage too, remember?"
Smiling and winking, Yuuji drew his katana, which was given by Kenma, and dashed out of the barrier. Left alone inside, Lyria thought to herself:
-"Indeed, he created a barrier reflexively without uttering a single word and saved us from the fireball. Moreover, the barrier didn't lose its strength despite the explosion or the fall. I suppose I can trust him with magic, but... A magician who uses a sword is rare..."
The three warriors fought bravely against 30 skaldars. Yuuji was simultaneously fighting and healing Kenma and Selena. He wasn't as good as Kenma and Selena at fighting, but still, he knew how to fight, as his father taught him. Selena used wind techniques like Gust Step, Wind Blade, and Wind Cutter, while the other two didn't use any elemental attack techniques.
(Technique explanation, Gust Step: Allows the user to manipulate the wind around them to move quickly, enabling sudden maneuvers and accelerations over short distances.
Wind Cutter: allows the user to create sharp wind waves by swinging their weapon, cutting through and injuring their targets.)
The big skaldar (supposedly Grandmaster), was healing the wounded skaldars, while watching them fighting from behind. Seeing this, Yuuji thought to himself while watching the flow of grandmaster's mana with his vision. The mana was travelling through the field and only healing his allies:
-"He isn't directly healing them but applying the technique to the field. So whoever needs healing gets it directly, and this keeps them in the ideal form. This... is interesting."
Then he looked at Kenma, who wasn't using any element techniques. He thought to himself, "Kenma said that he can't control his mana, and he is probably not using it to not drain quickly."
Yuuji was right on his guess. Kenma, while fighting the enemies, was thinking to himself:
-"I can take out at most 3 targets with Lightning Cutter before my mana completely depletes. If only I could control my mana better..."
Yuuji's voice was heard:
-"Kenma! Don't worry about your mana! I'll keep replenishing it as soon as it runs out!"
Kenma hesitated for a moment, barely parrying an attack from a skaldar, gathered himself, and replied:
-"Don't be ridiculous! It's impossible to do it that fast!"
Yuuji was confident:
-"Just trust me!"
Yuuji moved behind Laurent, who began protecting him. He joined his thumbs and index fingers, looking through the frame they created:
-"Nourishing Healing Technique."
At the same time, Kenma initiated his element technique:
-"Electric Element, Lightning Cutter."
Just like the grandmaster did, Yuuji distributed his mana in a field which was shaping around Kenma. As Yuuji replenished his mana, Kenma's katanas in both hand swiftly sliced through the 30 skaldar in the blink of an eye and the yard was glittered with his purple glowing technique, as the field of Yuuji's nourishing healing technique kept following his movements. He directed his final attack with all his might at the big skaldar, also known as it's supposed to be the grandmaster. The sound of weapons clashing echoed from the garden illuminated by the surrounding lamps:
-"Don't underestimate me, kid!"
The skaldar swiftly stops Kenma's lightning-fast katanas with his mage rod. Then skaldar makes a sign with one hand and seals Kenma's mana, simultaneously separating the garden with a wall-like barrier. Yuuji and Selena, who are running towards that direction, get stuck behind the barrier and could not pass. Realizing he can no longer use mana and techniques, Kenma attempts to retreat but is caught off guard by the attacking skaldar, who manages to bring him down after a few strikes.
-"It's over," the skaldar declares triumphantly.
He raises his rod, accumulates mana at its tip, shapes the mana into a physical form, and the rod takes the form of a spear. Just as he is about to stab Kenma with the spear, Yuuji jumps in with his sword and starts fighting him. Yuuji deciphered the barrier's complex mantra and managed to pass through it. Skaldar was surprised at this, he talked to Yuuji while they were fighting:
-" You are an impressive magician. You copied my field healing technique and adapted into your's, and also you solved that barrier within seconds. Even an advanced human mage could take minutes to solve such a barrier. What are you?"
Yuuji replies with a smile:
-"I am the mage who will bring your end. My name is Kageyama Yuuji!"
As Yuuji's sword clashes mid-air with the skaldar's spear, the skaldar used different element techniques like earth, water, and fire to defend against Yuuji's attacks and occasionally counterattack. Yuuji, on the other hand, only uses healing technique. The shocked expression on the skaldar's face turns into a sinister grin:
-"Is the mage who will bring my end only capable of healing tecnhiques and a few flashy barrier techniques? Don't make me laugh! Kageyama, you could never defeat me!"
Skaldar deflected Yuuji's katana and it dispossessed out of Yuuji's hand. Skaldar swiftly plunged his spear into Yuuji's abdomen, causing him to stagger back. Despite this, Yuuji refused to give up. He grabbed the spear and said through the pain:
-"I know, but he can!"
At that moment, Kenma came jumping up from behind Yuuji with a single katana and slashed skaldar's chest with a mid-air attack. The skaldar collapsed to the ground. As Kenma lands he prepared himself for a second attack and raised his katana, but he suddenly stopped; as his eyes widened in a traumatized manner: The winged skaldar that killed his family was next to the other skaldar. In the blink of an eye, the winged one teleported in front of Kenma and punched him in the tum, and then teleported to Yuuji's side, who was collapsed to the ground. The skaldar removed the spear from Yuuji's abdomen, and then teleported back to his ally's side. Touched his injured ally, spreaded his wings and they both disappeared instantly.
Kenma who was collapsed to the ground by the effect of that punch, was in shock of seeing again the winged skaldar that killed his family. Meanwhile, the barrier created by skaldar disappeared, Selena and Lyria arrived at the scene. Seeing that Yuuji was almost healed his fatal wound with his advanced healing technique, Lyria went to Kenma for first aid:
-"Kenma-san, are you okay? Do you have any injuries?"
Kenma, with sad and angry eyes, replied slowly:
-"I'm not injured, it's just that the creature sealed my mana."
-"I'll start breaking the seal, please let me know if you feel any pain."
Selena and Yuuji also approached Kenma. Selena asked with concern:
-"Kenma, are you alright? Why did you hesitate at that moment?"
Kenma replied slowly again:
-"That winged creature... It was one of the two skaldars who killed my family in front of my eyes 3 years ago. When I saw that creature suddenly... I didn't know what to do. I'm sorry..."
A few drops of tears flowed from his eyes. Seeing him like this for the first time, Yuuji got emotional too. He was the only one there who could understand Kenma's situation. He was similar to Kenma after all. Both have lost their families tragically. Selena Laurent, seeing his rival and teammate in such state, tried to comfort him:
-"No, Kenma, you don't need to apologize."
Selena was in mixed emotions too. Their grandmaster was a skaldar for the whole time? Or was he seizured? This was a big problem for Aurellio's security. After thinking for a while, she continued to speaking:
-" 'Very soon, we will rule the entire world,' huh? That's very strange. It's clear that skaldars are dangerous creatures, but we didn't know they had such ambitions. I wonder what happened to the Grandmaster though, I should've realise earlier that he was acting strange. But who could guess that a skaldar has replaced him? Or was he a skaldar for the whole time? If the situation is this serious, we need to take immediate action. Kenma, Yuuji, do you have a place to stay?"
Yuuji nodded his head in agreement. Laurent continued:
-"Good, then Lyria will accompany you there. Rest well tonight. I will handle the complexity here and make a report about the incident. Tomorrow morning, come back here, we should have a meeting with the other commanders to discuss ideas."
Yuuji, surprised, asks:
-"But, we're just... trave- (He remembers Lyria is present)... um, I mean, we're knights from the secret unit. Do we have the right to attend the commanders' meeting?"
Selena responds with a smile:
-"Haha, don't worry. I'll take care of that."
As Yuuji looks on in confusion, Selena called Lyria over and gave her some instructions. Afterwards, the three of them left the headquarters together, while Selena stayed behind to talk to the knights who have just arrived.