Danzo remains silent for a few seconds. From their postures, Kira seems unbothered by the situation, while Felix has a serious expression.

  “Answer the question, Danzo,” Felix says.

  Maintaining caution, Danzo asks in return, “And what if I am?”

  Kira scoffs while Felix maintains eye contact.

  Is this how my plans fail?

  Danzo can feel his blood collecting at the wound from earlier. Although he prefers to keep encounters to once a day, he may have to make an exception.

  “Pretty ambitious. I see why Vito trusted you with me,” Felix responds.

  “You're not going to stop me, doctor?” Danzo asks.

  Felix takes out a lollipop and puts it in his mouth. “I don't currently see a need to.”

  Danzo turns to Kira and asks, “And you?”

  Kira yawns and stretches, answering, “Honestly, as long as I'm not the only terrifying one here, I'm fine with it.”

  “Terrifying?” Danzo asks.

  “Eh, don't worry about it. If you can shake things up, then we'll start seeing good things happen for once.” Kira slowly walks to the control room. “As long as you don't disappoint me, I'll play along. Don’t worry about clean-up, I’ll handle it. Later.”

  Danzo watches Kira walk away, unable to fully trust him. Felix pats him on the back, interrupting Danzo's train of thought. “Come. We have much to prepare for.”

  “What do you mean?” Danzo asks, but Felix doesn't respond.

  After passing through the control room and logging their visit, they make their way back toward the R&S division.

  Unlike last time, they take the scenic route, walking across the grassland between the bases.

  After several minutes of walking, the doctor stops in an empty field, far from the divisions.

  “Good. No one should hear us here,” Felix says, checking the surroundings.

  “What did you want to speak about?” Danzo asks.

  “I can't say I haven't thought about rebooting the Slayer Division, but I never have the time. There is something you should know.” Felix looks at his watch before continuing. “Talks about shutting down the Slayer Division were concluded about three years ago.”

  “Three years ago?” Danzo repeats, his eyebrows furrowing. “Why are they still running then?”

  “The commander on that side has been adamant about the division continuing and has some influential connections back home,” Felix says, scratching the back of his head. “If they forcefully remove him, it could tank the army's finances and image. As long as they stay out of the division's way, they can continue to operate.”

  Danzo reflects on the previous night. Suddenly, Commander Sterling's actions make sense.

  Danzo looks up at Felix. “Is he the one maintaining the status quo in the Slayer Division?”

  “I'm sorry?”

  “Someone mentioned that there is someone–or something–that doesn’t want the Slayers to come back. Whenever someone comes to change things, they either leave or move divisions.”

  Felix crosses his arms and looks toward The Roost as he thinks. “Someone who doesn’t want it to come back? It would be a waste of time guessing who; my best advice would be to stay under the radar there.”

  It is already too late for that.

  “But that’s not going to happen with someone like you,” Felix says.

  “Right,” Danzo agrees.

  “It’s going to be best if I don’t know too much about your plans, but from my side, I’ll try to help where I can. For your R&S service hours, I’ll fill in the forms so you can sign in and do what you want to.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  “Why are you helping me with this?” Danzo asks, his suspicions growing.

  “It’s simple. Just doing work to tick a box is useless to me. If you can pull this off, maybe we can make a bigger difference.”

  “I understand.”

  “Good,” Felix concludes as he claps his hands. “If you are going to do something, give me a heads up, but for now, you can head back to the Slayers.”

  “I will. Until then,” Danzo says before turning and making his way back to the Roost.

  As Danzo walks back, he glances at his wrists–no signs of infection or bleeding. He feels himself slowly losing his patience. He takes a deep breath and exhales, the fresh air filling his lungs and steadying him.

  He recalls the fight with the hunter; his technique needs refinement—too much wasted motion and blood. Next time, he can use half the amount and eliminate the Apexers. The blood in his veins flows in excitement, but he is already at his limit for the day.

  Upon reaching The Roost, Danzo finds the Slayers gathered for an event. At the center, the recruits stand on pedestals–except for one empty spot bearing Danzo’s name.

  “There he is!” Brutus announces excitedly.

  “What is happening?” Danzo asks.

  Commander Sterling wraps an arm around Danzo’s shoulder and walks him to his podium, saying, “Why, it’s our monthly team bonding exercise.”

  “Team bonding?” Danzo repeats as he climbs on the pedestal.

  “Yes,” he laughs. “This month, we are nominating the recruit captain!”

  As he stands atop the podium, the other Slayers cheer and laugh. Commander Sterling raises his hands and announces, “Alright, everyone! Settle down, settle down. I believe you all know why we are here.”

  The crowd cheers and laughs in response. “That is right. Today, our fresh, starry-eyed recruits are going to vouch for why they should be the captain of the recruits this year. Alongside managing and reporting on their fellow recruits’ morale and performance, they will receive benefits such as first pick of luxuries, control over their portion of the annual budget, and a higher chance of becoming Sergeant–or even second-in-command!”

  Second-in-command?

  “Each of our recruits will vouch for themselves, and thereafter, we will vote!” Sterling finishes, the crowd cheering and wooing. “Alright, then. Our first candidate is, drum roll, please.” All the soldiers begin making drum noises by slapping their hands on their legs. “Our first candidate is: Bertrand Silby!”

  The crowd cheers in excitement as Bertrand stands tall with a bright smile. “Hello, you sick bastards!” Bertrand says, grinning. The crowd laughs in response. “I stand here…”

  Danzo’s focus drifts away from Bertrand’s speech. He remembers when Maria was preparing for her Kingfall award for the highest results in the country.

  They were sitting by dinner table in the late afternoon. Danzo was busy reviewing military procedures while she was whining about the speech.

  “Ugh! This. Is. So. Boring!” she groaned as she slumped over the table.

  “You could have just declined the opportunity,” Danzo answered as he read the discipline section.

  “Eh? And give it to Gusto?! No way. Besides, my mom would kill me if I turned it down.”

  “That’s a little extreme. Elizabeth would never kill anyone.”

  “I didn’t mean literally.” She lifted her head and placed her pen on the paper. The only thing she wrote was ‘I am honored to receive this reward.’

  She continued for another fifteen minutes before Danzo had enough. “Pass me the paper.”

  “Hmm? Okay,“ She slid the paper and pen toward him, and he began writing. “You don’t have to write the entire speech for me, you know?” She nervously chuckled after a while.

  “Then why aren’t you stopping me?”

  “Hehe…busted.”

  After a few more minutes, he slid the paper back with the pen and returned to studying. Maria remained quiet as she read the speech.

  “Whoa, this isn’t bad, Dany!” she said as she placed the paper down. “But it's a little too direct.”

  “It gets all your points across, there’s nothing wrong with it.”

  “True, but I would sound arrogant if I spoke like this. No offense.” She took another piece of paper and began rewriting the speech. “You need to write more with your heart. Think about how the other person would feel.”

  “How the other person would feel?” Danzo put his paper down and imagined himself speaking to his class. He felt nothing. “I can’t think of anything.”

  “See, that’s the problem,” Maria sighed as she continued to write. “People don’t want to follow a cold leader.”

  “I see,” Danzo replied.

  After thinking for a few moments, he returned to his paper. Maria stopped writing and placed her right hand on his left. He looked up, and her face was slightly flushed. “But don’t let it bother you. That’s just the type of person you are, and there’s nothing wrong with it.”

  Danzo nodded before she returned to writing her speech. For the rest of the evening, he focused on the procedures before him.

  “Danzo?” Commander Sterling asks.

  “Yes?” Danzo asks. He quickly looks around and notices everyone is waiting for him. It seems everyone has given their speech except for him. “Right.”

  From their expressions, they aren’t happy with him, nor are they paying attention to him. They already made up their minds.

  “As you already may or may not know, I am Danzo Yamamoto. I, alongside Gusto, am from the Naga, Vermil. You may either vote for me or not. I am not making promises, nor am I vouching for myself. That is all.”