Red backed up and looked at him, a confused expression sprawled over his face.
"Slow down Yasuke, I'm still not quite catching on. Why are you so against Day? What exactly happened while I wasn't there?"
Yasuke clasped his hands together and bit his lip hard.
Red sighed and crossed his arms, "Look, I don't want to stress you before you've even gotten out of prison officially. When you feel up to it, we'll talk about it. For now, let's go back to headquarters, I want you to rest up."
Yasuke nodded and struggled to stand up. Red grabbed his arm and put it around his shoulder. He listened closely to Yasuke's labored breathing as he pulled out a scroll filled with multiple layers of runes written in cascading circles.
Red placed the scroll on the ground and chanted to himself. The runes began to lift up from the scroll and float in the air, glowing softly. As the individual runes spun and bounced, Red and Yasuke stepped into it. After a few seconds, they became enveloped in a pillar of blinding light, causing both of them to shield their eyes.
Once the light dimmed and they opened their eyes again, they were back in the headquarters, on the first floor right next to the front door.
Yasuke stumbled over to a wooden bench that had been singed by electricity and laid down, putting his arm over his forehead. Red and Yasuke both jumped at the sound of feet stomping upstairs and quickly making their way downstairs.
Moody peeked his head down and stared down at Yasuke, who sat up and looked right back at him.
The both of them looked at Red, who let out a faint laugh.
"I didn't know you were back already Moody, or else I would've introduced the two of you immediately," Red began, "Moody, this is Yasuke. As far as the hierarchy of our squad goes, he'll be second only to me so think of him as your superior. He's a swordsman from the east and he has an innate ability to control smoke."
"Nice to meet you," Yasuke whispered meekly.
Red continued, "And Yasuke, this is Moody. A young warrior I recruited when I was in La Des. I can vouch for his expertise in hand-to-hand combat, he might be one of the best in this country. He's mute, so he'll be doing all of his conversating with a quill and scroll."
Red turned to Moody, who now sat down on the steps, "Speaking of that Moody, did you find the spell tome I was telling you about?"
Moody pulled out a fresh scroll and a quill with ink already on the tip and wrote, "They didn't have it. Didn't have many tomes at all."
Red leaned on a nearby wall and scratched his chin, "Figures, this stupid city doesn't even have any Philosopher's Stones, so why would they have something rare like that? Well don't worry, when I have another audience with the king, I'll see if there's a more exclusive place we can look for the things we need."
Red sighed aloud, "We can't even revel in our first victory since I came back, there's so much more to do."
Red looked over at Yasuke. He was already fast asleep with his mouth hanging open.
Red looked over at Moody and motioned to him, "I'm going to get the process started to make you an official knight. You already told me about your amnesia so I'm not gonna pry for details on your past. I really just need to know, what is your full name?"
Moody, now standing in front of Red, diverted his eyes and looked around the room.
Red moved into Moody's line of sight, smiling, "There's something you're not telling me, huh? Regained some of your memories maybe?"
Moody rolled his eyes and pulled out his quill. He scribbled on the wall, "Messiah Moody."
Red smile spread wider across his face, and he gripped Moody's shoulders hard.
"That's a beautiful name! I guess we have a few answers now regarding your identity. Tell me Messiah, did you just regain some of your memories or were you keeping that a secret the whole time."
Red gripped Moody's shoulder harder, "And now that just raises more questions. I know for a fact you're one of the sons of the Moody family, so why would your father be writing letters to the guild like some peasant instead of sending a task force out to find you. Are you being completely honest with me?"
Moody shrugged him off and stomped over to the front door. Red grabbed his wrist before he could step out fully.
Moody looked at him with eyes wide, before turning his wrist slightly and yanking it away, nearly falling as he did so. At the same moment, he stepped back in and put his fist close to Red's face.
He slowly retracted it before heading back out of the door.
Red called out, "I can't wait to see where our relationship takes us Messiah!"
Moody slammed the door on his way out, causing Yasuke to jump up abruptly. Yasuke sighed and put a hand on his head, still laying down.
"Why are you bullying the kid like that?" Yasuke asked nonchalantly, "If you think he's a threat to us, wouldn't it be better to just kick him out?"
Red paused for a second and stared at him, "A legacy like mine doesn't need a successor, but whether I like it or not, that's what he's going to be. Someone following behind me should be able to overcome any adversity and pull out stronger."
Yasuke put his forearm on his forehead and made a strange noise before asking, "Today was the town forum right? Were you able to go?"
Red shook his head and slid down the wall, "Yeah I definitely went. It was shocking, King Esa flew off the handle. Essentially, he's recruiting a militia from the neighboring countries and bringing them all here, and then he wants to invade Brittanius."
Yasuke sat up in his seat, scratching his head hard. The room was silent for a long while, before Yasuke blurted out, "Damn! I knew he would try to go this method eventually but not this soon!"
Red got up off the floor and walked into the kitchen behind him. Looking into a large chest with dry ice pouring out of it, Red called out, "I think Moody went food shopping when he went out before. Did you want anything to eat, it's mostly fruits and vegetables…"
"Any avocados?" Yasuke asked.
Red immediately tossed one at Yasuke and closed the chest. He walked over to a chair opposite Yasuke and sat down.
Red looked at him as he ate, "I need you to regain your strength as quickly as possible. Later on, I'll run and grab a potion that will speed that process up."
Yasuke nodded, "Right, we should be trying to start training for that war as soon as possible."
"Not only that," Red interjected, "But while I was there, Olo and his lackeys were antagonizing me. After we fight Britannius' army, or maybe even during the fight, Olo has some forces gathered to take us down. He said as much himself."
Yasuke tossed the core on the floor, "I think it's also safe to assume whoever's been leaking our info to Socotra will be joining us in the war, so we may have to battle them before, during or after as well."
Red leaned forward in his seat, "Wait hold on, are you talking about that informant that they mentioned? Someone is really leaking Oldum's info out?"
Yasuke spoke through a mouthful of avocado, "Yeah there is, the king's been saying so for months, and I think I know who it is."
He stopped eating for a moment and his expression became deadly serious, "I have reason to believe that it's our dear comrade Lyle Nahobino, also known as the Ruiner.
Red rubbed his chin, "Interesting. So what's making you think it's Ruiner? I can't see him doing that, he's loyal to Olo like a dog."
Yasuke shook his head, "Not quite, that's just what it looks like on the surface. I spent a lot of time with them the last couple of months before they imprisoned me, and you should see the way Lyle looks at Olo when Olo can't see him."
Yasuke let out a small chuckle, "There's some of sort of one-sided hatred there, you have to look to see it."
Yasuke got up to toss out the peel of the avocado, "From what I was able to gather its just simple jealousy. They both were knighted at the same time but Olo has gone so much farther. His title may say Commander Grand Officer, but in reality he is only second to the king. Almost every politician except for the princess is subordinate to him."
Yasuke threw the avocado peel in a small bucket and opened up the ice chest, "Meanwhile, Mr. Ruiner is stuck at Grand Officer, where he'll probably stay forever. Unless…" Yasuke drew out the 's' in his last word.
Red put his hands together, "Unless Olo resigns or is incapacitated. He's probably first in line to be the next Commander Grand Officer."
Yasuke pointed at him with a smile, "Bingo!"
Red crossed his arms, "So how does Olo have so much political influence in the first place? I mean, he's just a strong soldier right? Me and the legendary knights were strong soldiers ourselves but those of us that didn't already have major political power didn't gain it, even after we officially became nobles."
Yasuke looked over at Red, a shamed expression covering his face, before looking back into the ice chest.
"I know you fought with Olo back when we first ramped up the search for you, but I don't think you understand the magnitude of his strength."
Yasuke grabbed a few bananas out and walked back over to his seat, "Working under him for all of those years before you even came around, I saw his rise in power. Did you know that he was the head of Alchemic and Mechanical Research before and during the war?"
Red squinted his eyes and shook his head, "No…no, I didn't know that."
He thought to himself, "I guess that's why I don't remember him from my days in Britannius."
Yasuke continued, "Yup, he's a university-educated scholar apparently. On top of being born as a noble. Talk about having all the perks."
"So how did he go from a cushy job like head alchemist to something so much more…unscrupulous?" Red questioned.
"Simple really," Yasuke spoke between mouthfuls of food, "He gained the head position before he even turned twenty-five. War breaks out a little while later and he proves himself with these new and improved airships," Yasuke held one of the unpeeled bananas up and moved it through the air, "along with a few other weapons and items."
"I know where this is going." Red thought.
"Some guy comes around and rips all of his airships out of the sky like it's nothing," Yasuke moved the banana toward the ground, "Over two dozen of them gone in a few minutes. In an attempt to mitigate the loss, they dissolved the whole alchemic and mechanical research division and sell off any remaining weapons and items they had stored."
Red said nothing, only following along with Yasuke's words.
Yasuke placed a banana peel on the ground, "The military then consolidated all of its disparate branches - whether they were successful or not, to make it one entity. Since Olo already had a head position previously, he was made an Officer Third Class immediately. And because of his individual strength, he was a Grand Officer before the end of that year."
Red nodded, "So how does all of that factor into his incredible political power?"
Yasuke placed the remaining bananas down on the table between the two of them and crossed his arms.
"I was just getting to that," Yasuke laid back down and stared up at the ceiling, "So again, after the war all of the military branches and divisions all became one. Lyle was already here when that happened, he was one of the five Grand Officers before the war even started. The previous Commander Grand Officer was killed during the war, and the position was left vacant for months."
"I wonder if I'm the one who killed him." Red thought to himself.
Yasuke continued, "Lyle filled in for the position in everything but name, but when he thought he was going to be officially promoted, they chose Olo instead."
Yasuke looked over at Red, "And the reason they chose Olo ties into your question. Olo is adaptable. He has a prowess for arcana like nobody else. They say he might even be one of the Anima…"
Red jumped up, knocking his chair over, "Did you just say Anima? What do you know about the Anima?"
Yasuke squinted his eyes in confusion, "What do you mean what do I know about it? That old legend is everywhere. Every time someone slightly strong pops up they theorize about them being one of the Anima."
Red sat back down and thought to himself, "So information about the Anima is common knowledge, although it seems to be pretty surface level."
Yasuke sat up in his seat and clasped his hands together, "Now Red, I want you to be completely frank with me. What are you, or maybe I should ask what is happening to you?"
Red opened his mouth to question him, but Yasuke cut him off with a slightly frustrated tone, "Red, don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about! Did you forget I saw your transformation when I tried to bring you in those months ago? I heard you mumbling to yourself about being the strongest, I saw the pillar of light and I saw you leeching all of the arcana in the area."
Red thought about feigning ignorance, but shook his head, only saying, "I am one of the Anima, and I was granted the opportunity to unlock incredible power."