I find myself standing awkwardly within this council chamber, my towering stature dwarfing those who comfortably occupy their seats, it is a constant annoyance, as the rest of the attendees cast furtive glances my way, their expressions reflecting their discontent with my presence. Ha! They are not the only ones who find my presence distasteful; I, too, do not wish to be amongst them. However, the Emperor's command compels me to attend this meeting.
As the only "smudged man" in attendance while the others are either wounded or have vanished, I have the dubious privilege of representing my race, while I'm not familiar with the other two smudged men, I've only seen one of them once, and he was unable to attend this gathering due to injuries received during a combat in the tenth region, the other, I was told, had been engaged in battle continuously throughout my time in the camp; also, he has been gone for an alarming three months, which explains our lack of closeness, to put it mildly.
I've grown accustomed to such glances, to the point that they nearly make me laugh sarcastically, however, there is a noticeable difference between these glares and those of ordinary people, with the exception of myself, every person of this room is a conjurer capable of battling any Aloki, whether it is the six-tentacle enemy I saw yesterday or a twelve-tentacle one, as evidenced by the feats of the 1st Division Commander, the irritating woman, my commander of the 8th Division, defeated an Aloki with eight tentacles, and she boasts of having jointly vanquished a ten-tentacle one in conjunction with the leader of the 7th Division only yesterday.
I loomed behind the commander of the 8th Division, the woman with the flowing blue hair, adorned still in her military attire from the previous day, though her uniform was immaculate, having sustained no damage from the battle's endeavors, as she had joined the clash considerably late and the commander of the 7th Division had effectively subdued the Aloki, making it easy for her to reap the spoils of victory alongside him.
She avoided casting a disapproving glance in my direction, not out of moral obligation, but because her gaze was fixed on the commander of the 7th Division, who had fiercely criticized her in front of the soldiers the day before, scolding her so harshly that her eyes welled up with tears.
Moreover, she did not receive a single apology for such a spectacle, that performance of public rebuke ranked among the most captivating I ever had the pleasure to witness, and had the Emperor not summoned us to this council meeting, the show would have undeniably persisted.
Given that I was one of the cause of the reprimand - the core reason, to be exact - I am confident that she is planning retribution specifically for me when we return to base, in actuality, I can only conclude that the primary reason she was unable to deliver disciplinary action yesterday was her tremendous fear of losing control and reacting impulsively in my presence, at that point, I cast a sarcastic glance at the commander, who appeared to be unconcerned by my presence.
I surveyed the room once more, sweeping my gaze across the other attendees, the commanding officers from the fourth to the first divisions utterly rejected my existence, although their assistants occasionally stole a glance, surprisingly, even the commanders of the first three divisions had spared me a cursory glance eventually, however, given my colossal size, being a natural spectacle in any setting, their actions were somewhat understandable.
The commander of the 4th Division, distinguished by his military attire and a hat embellished with a four-pointed star that failed to conceal his fiery red hair, held a somber expression with his eyes fixed steadfastly on the entrance, awaiting the arrival of the Emperor. 'Hmph,' as usual my father to display absolutely no interest in my presence.
the limited, covert glances I managed to seize revealed his visible discontentment with my presence here, it seems he had harbored the hope of never once crossing paths with me again after throwing me to the camp, he stands as the sole individual in this room who harbors a grievance and animosity towards me that outweighs even my blue-haired commander, however, unlike hers, his animosity possesses a legitimate justification.
Within this assembly, I had initially believed that all present held a disdain for me, yet to my surprise, standing alongside the commander of the Sixth Division, there was an individual who was observing me as well, her gaze marked by curiosity rather than the hatred held by the others, I immediately recognized her identity upon a single glance.
Over the course of the year and a half that I spent in the camp, the red-haired girl had undeniably matured, it appeared she had achieved her aspirations and joined one of the divisions, moreover, her presence in this meeting indicated that she too had mastered the art of conjuration, how remarkable that this once hapless girl, who struggled to even touch me during our training sessions, has now graduated to stand among the ranks of humanity's greatest forces, Miura Martin... I mean, Miura Ember.
She retains the same beauty I beheld upon our final encounter, her resemblance to her mother is unmistakable, despite immediately recognizing her, I couldn't help but notice her shock at my current appearance, my own transformation into a giant has rendered her now barely reaching my knees, additionally, the loss of my hair, alteration in eye color, and shift in facial structure have rendered me virtually unrecognizable. Without prior knowledge of my transformation, there is no possible way for her to identify the person standing before her.
Unable to suppress a smile, I offered Miura a friendly greeting, she reciprocated with a wave, but mid-gesture, she abruptly halted, flushing with embarrassment as she remembered our surroundings, the Sixth Division Commander detected the movement and followed her gaze, his gaze landing upon me, his eyes held a deep-seated hatred, and I let out a despondent sigh, for it seemed I had earned the animosity of yet another individual in this room, bringing the total to a three.
The commander of the Sixth Division is a burly man in his sixties, having reached the age where his hair should have been greyed by now. Yet, it was evident that his locks had been dyed recently, among the commanders, he stands as the eldest and has managed to elude death for many years, rumors abound, suggesting he is a coward, adept at strategically withdrawing from perilous strife, which allegedly explains his protracted survival within this treacherous field.
As he casts his resentful stare upon me, I can't help but speculate if his animosity stems solely from me being smudged man. No, wait... No way... Did this old man dare to fixate his gaze on seventeen-year-old Miura? Could this explain her presence here, and does something indeed exist between them?
I can't entirely fault him for it; Miura is undeniably captivating, best of luck, old man. However, I suspect that the venomous glares he's been sending me stem from the belief that I'm his romantic rival, how can I convey that I merely perceive her as a delightful sight and harbor no romantic inclinations towards her? Moreover, it's not as though a Giant like me can realistically engage in those intimate human activities due to our physical disparities, you know.
The sudden opening of the large door severed my ponderings on the potential relationship between the two, bringing an abrupt end to my musings, the two tall, strikingly similar-looking men who entered the room were followed closely by a smaller individual who bore a strong resemblance to them, dressed in white attire accented with orange stripes and topped with a hat adorned with a symbol, this diminutive person was irrefutably the Emperor himself.
Each individual within the room promptly rose from their seats, expressing respect for the Emperor's arrival, having already been in a standing position, I directed my gaze towards the Emperor, who walked with hurried strides and came to a halt at the center of the council, the atmosphere in the room was thick with anticipation.
"A council meeting of the division commanders will now take place to discuss the recent developments."