Thirty minutes later, the members of team thirteen gathered around William, as ordered.
'I hope they continue like this until the end.' He whispered to himself while wearing a satisfied smile on his lips.
"Well, since everyone seems ready, let's go!"
With these words, he headed northwest with his small team.
During the first five minutes, none of the members brought up a subject.
Once far enough from the camp, about a kilometer, William stopped on a tree branch like a skilled monkey.
At his sudden actions, Mystic and the other two stopped as well.
"Now listen to me carefully, I will explain our mission."
"Our mission? Isn't it the usual?"
William darkly stares at Ciel after seeing her speak without authorization.
"Don't interrupt me, Ciel."
"...Sorry."
"Good," He accepts her apology without dwelling on it.
Then, he began his briefing.
"Before we rush into things, I need to confirm something."
As she listens, Mystic can feel William's gaze on her.
This exhorts her to pay more attention.
"According to your file, this is your first time at the front, am I wrong?" William questions Mystic.
Realizing that the question was for her, Mystic nods. "Affirmative."
"...I see. However, do you even know what we're doing here?" William continues with his questions.
Mystic frowns slightly. "Pretty much."
"Be more specific."
"We are in the Jolon Forest, an unexplored land that has not been fully mapped.
Our task is to gather information on the beasts that inhabit it to gauge this region's level of danger."
She reports what she knew while trying to be as brief as possible in her words.
William raises his eyebrows at her answer.
'She doesn't know more? That doesn't surprise me. After all, the higher-ups do their best to prevent any information leaks.'
While Ciel and Valtus gave Mystic puzzled looks, William figured out the cause of her ignorance.
He sighed slightly before speaking. "Officially, yes, that is our goal."
'Officially?' The mere existence of this word in William's sentence confirmed Mystic's suspicions.
'There's something fishy here.' She added.
However, she didn't hurry, she waited for William to continue saying everything she wanted to learn from him.
The latter did not disappoint her, by the way.
"I'll have to start from the beginning. First of all, what you just said about the reason for our presence here is not wrong.
However, our goal is not limited to that alone; I would even say that it is the easiest of the tasks that our superiors had entrusted us with."
He stops for a moment to catch his breath and organize his thoughts to better articulate his next words.
"..."
Seeing Mystic still silent and focused on him, he smiled in satisfaction.
Afterward, he crosses his arms and adopts a stern look.
"We have three main missions. The first and most important is to find our enemies."
"...High-ranking mutant beasts?" Mystic asks out of curiosity.
"No, not the mutant beasts, I'm talking about the Mystics."
"..."
Seeing Mystic imperturbable despite his revelation, William couldn't help but be impressed by her.
"Many believe that these abominations have vanished from our world, but in reality, they lurk around us, waiting for every opportunity to annihilate us. Convince
Our first objective is to find where these invaders are hiding before they decide to act. If you have a question, ask it before I explain our second essential mission."
Hearing that she was finally allowed to speak, Mystic did not need to be asked twice.
"Why are we looking for them in this forest?"
At her question, William was at first stunned.
'I didn't expect her to ask me such a question.'
"Well, according to our data, it is from this forest that our enemies had appeared the most before.
So we think that they have a hidden base in this forest, even if we have not found any trace of them until today."
"...I understand."
"Good," After making sure that Mystic had no other questions, William continued his briefing.
"Our second goal is to gather all types of information about the treasures hidden in this region.
And finally, to kill two birds with one stone, our superiors also want us to bring them the remains of the beasts that we will defeat.
I don't need to tell you how valuable mutant beasts are, even dead, am I wrong?"
"...I know that."
"Okay. Now, let's get to the heart of the matter."
It was only now that William focused on all of his team members.
"To begin with, we will explore an area that was entrusted to us by General Monica.
Our mission is solely to collect data on mutant beasts and their ranks.
However, do not forget that danger can arise at any moment and cost the life of one of us if we ever have the misfortune to relax.
So be careful and follow my instructions without questioning them, it is for the proper functioning of our task and our survival."
"Roger!" The three answered together.
After that, William distributed three runic pebbles between his three subordinates without explaining their roles.
"Our mission is to explore an area of a radius of sixty kilometers before sunset.
To cover more regions, we will thus divide the areas between us.
As you can guess, each of us will go on his own to explore an assigned area."
-!!
Ciel and Valtus' faces twisted in a very shocking way after hearing his plan.
"...Captain William, isn't this a bit dangerous? I mean, if we split up while we..."
Before Valtus could even finish voicing his concerns, William sighed heavily before retorting...
"Pathetic."
-!
William's sudden change in personality surprised not only Valtus but also his two other teammates.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me right, I just said you're pathetic." He replied once more.
"..."
Progressively, Valtus' face darkens in wrath. But as his superior and captain, Valtus wasn't crazy enough to dare attack him.
Therefore, all he could do was growl on his side without responding.
William then stares at Ciel after realizing that Valtus is no longer going to rebel.
"Do you both think the same way as him?"
"..."
Mystic remained silent as she stared at William.
Like her, Ciel was also baffled by the situation.
'I heard that not everyone who teamed up with this man survived three months. However, his reputation within the hierarchy is such that he is considered the most promising captain.'
But unlike them, Valtus was beside himself.
"Why!? Why do you insist on sacrificing all your teammates every time? What good will it do you to sacrifice us one after the other!?"
He yells at William without worrying about the consequences anymore.
"Insubordination and disrespect towards your superior. If you continue like this, I will have to report your behavior to our superiors." William used these words to remind him of the order.
However, it had the opposite effect on Valtus. His anger seemed to grow deeper as he regarded William as his sworn enemy.
Seeing the situation escalate further, Ciel nudges Valtus next to her. "That's enough, Valtus!"
"...Tsk!"
Seeing Valtus obey Ciel without much fuss, Mystic frowns at this mysterious proximity between them.
'Do these two know each other?' That was the only assumption she could have.
However, William goes on. "If you are unhappy with my instructions, you can always withdraw. We're at the front line, feelings have no place.
And it is not by howling like a savage that you will bring back the dead, keep that in mind!"
Although these words sounded confusing in Mystic's mind, they helped her understand the situation she found herself in a little better.
'At first, I thought he was afraid for his life, but I was wrong. Those three seem to know each other, and it's not for a good reason.' She said while remaining in her role as observer.
"I will never forgive you for what you did."
Valtus clenched his fists and teeth before muttering in a low voice.
His voice was quite low, only Mystic and Ciel could hear him.
"Well, if everything is good, then I'll continue."
After saying what he had to say, William continued with his briefing.
"The runestones you have will serve as both a means of communication and mapping.
You don't have to do anything with them for them to work, just keep them on you at all times so they map the places you visit.
In case you are in danger and need reinforcements, use them to alert us by imbuing them with your spiritual energy."
All these explanations were intended for Mystic who was patrolling for the first time.
For this reason, his gaze was more often on her to make sure she was listening to everything he was saying.
"Now, I will assign each one the direction they will take. We will regroup in the north when the sun reaches its zenith.
Until then, follow my instructions in completing your respective tasks."
"Yes sir!"
After this, William continued his briefing by explaining things down to the smallest details.
After ten minutes, the team finished their preparations and were ready to set off.
But before he gave the last order, he looked at all three of them with stern eyes.
"One last thing, never engage in combat with the enemy, no matter how weak they are. Your priority is to come back alive. Because the dead never speak."