Conflict

There was a strange silence that had spread through Camp Cerberus. The excitement and energy that had spread throughout the camp for the last few days after the victory over the Asceptus had been washed away in a matter of minutes.

An emergency meeting was held inside Klesen's office that was attended by only the ten captains of Camp Cerberus.

"Have you found something from the surveillance?" Klesen had been focusing on recovery after he had hurt his hands by over-conducting the energy to punch holes in the battle suits of the two Rulers. As such, the management of the activities of the camp had been left to his secretary, but in the morning today, two staff sergeants were found dead inside the camp.

"No sir. We suspect that Asceptus technology was used to disrupt the surveillance system." Captain Halfet the man in charge of the two staff sergeants replied.

"Have you checked the locations of the people who were on the list of Gaia-Mil at the time?"

"Yes sir. We had excluded the cadets from the investigation for the time being as they are simply not capable of doing this, but everyone above the rank of a cadet is being monitored. We still haven't found any concrete evidence, but we will be expanding the list of suspects soon enough and will be investigating them." Captain Halfet replied.

"Include the cadets as well. We don't know if the Asceptus technology can be used to interfere with the readings of the software that measures the stats. It is common sense that their spies will have something to cover them up. And with all the attention that Camp Cerberus is receiving, this matter is very likely to blow up depending on how we approach it."

"Also, tell all the personnel that they have to stop any enquiries about the battle. We allowed the informal exchange of information so that they aren't pressurized much by their families, but now they have to stop." Klesen looked at the captains and spoke.

"Yes sir!"

The meeting went on for two hours. When all the captains had left his office, Klesen tapped his holowatch and a screen with multiple names and images popped up. Ignoring the slight burning sensation from his hand, Klesen scrolled through the list while occasionally pausing before some of the names.

After some time, he reached the last name on the list, 'Regis Kleeve'. Klesen tapped on the name and all the information about Regis appeared on his screen. A corner of the screen caught his attention.

'Oh! This cadet has quite a good rate of advancement. The senatorial family are really investing in this one.'

...…

Regis skipped to his side and tried to walk past the cadet who was standing before him, but another cadet appeared beside the previous one, blocking the path. Regis tried to side-step this one too, but a third cadet who was trailing behind the two also moved sidewards to intercept Regis while also covering the rest of the hallway.

'The f*ck do they want.'

Instead of speaking his mind, Regis stared directly into the eyes of one of the three cadets. The cadets flinched for an instance before staring back at Regis, trying to regain the momentum.

Neither of the four spoke for a few seconds and the staring competition just continued.

"Aren't you from the Kleeve Senatorial family?" One of the three broke the silence with his question.

Regis did not answer. From the tone in which the question was asked, Regis knew that he didn't have to answer, it was just obvious if one considered his last name.

"Wont you help your fellow cadets who are in need of some help? I heard that Kleeve senatorial family has quite the political influence. You should know something about the battle that was fought against the Asceptus, right?" The cadet continued after receiving no reply on his previous question.

"Yeah, that's right. He was one of the few that didn't seem interested to find out the information." The second guy added.

"We just need some information about the battle. If it is alright with you, can you share some information with us? Better yet, I heard that all members of the senatorial family have personal AI. Can you let us access yours for this one time?" The third cadet asked. Although the sentence framed was polite, the tone, expression and the request were anything but that.

"No." Regis replied.

"Oi, can't you help your fellow cadets who need it? Even if the Kleeve senatorial family is powerful, this is a camp of the Earth Human Alliance Army. They won't be able to protect you over here. Not to mention that there are many activities and trainings where the cadets get paired randomly. Being the one who has fused with his mystic element the last, are you sure that you will be able to survive the training?" One of the three cadets made a furious expression as he walked towards Regis with one of his hands clenched into a fist.

"Let's ask that question to the Lieutenant during tomorrow's training session." Regis replied, still staring into the cadet's eyes which were only a few inches away from him.

"Yeah, the lieutenant always ends his sessions asking if we have any doubts or question. This question will definitely make him happy, not to mention Captain Olewer."

Avner who was passing by joined the conversation. The three cadets immediately flinched when they heard the words 'Captain Olewer' and turned around to face Avner in a hurry.

"We are just asking for some help from a fellow cadet. You guys can't even help a fellow cadet, aren't you ashamed?" The cadet who had his fist clenched asked with an increasingly hostile tone. Avner just smirked back at the cadet.

"I will remember this." The cadet gritted his teeth as he walked past Avner.

Avner didn't lower his gaze and stared at the cadets as they walked past him.

"Thanks." Regis said while walking closer to Avner.

"I don't think that you were in need of help. Anyways, just treat me to something nice." Avner replied.

"Yeah sure." Regis replied and turned back to head towards his room.

On his way back, Regis was reminded of the conversation that he had with Avner and Alex just two days ago...

"Did you hear about the incident that happened yesterday?" Avner asked Regis and Alex.

"The one where two staff sergeants were found dead?" Alex asked with interest.

"Yeah, that one. Although we are not permitted to speak about this incident openly, I heard that Asceptus technology was used to disrupt the surveillance and the wounds on the dead bodies are also from Asceptus weapons." Avner replied.

"That makes sense. If it had been a weapon manufactured by our side, we could easily identify the wielder from the LASERCT ballistic testing of the wounds."

'But doesn't this mean that the Asceptus have spies in this camp?' Regis was partially taken aback by the lack of response of his fellow cadets on the fact that there was a spy, one much stronger than all of them in Camp Cerberus.

A staff sergeant was not only physically stronger, but they also had advanced gear, much higher stats and also mystical powers. Killing someone like that meant that the spy could deal with any of them with ease.

'I hope that we do not run into this spy.'

"By the way, what do you think could have driven the spy to reveal their presence?"

"I think that they are trying to figure out the reason behind the overwhelming victory of our side during the recent battle. There should be some reason that none of us know about. If the Major or any of the captains had advanced to higher evolutionary stages, this matter would not have blown out of proportions because that would have been the most obvious answer. But, since the spy acted, it means that it is not the case. No wonder my family is so interested in finding out the details of the battle." Alex replied with a shrug at the last part.

When he heard this yesterday, Regis was suddenly reminded of the two cadets who had been acting strangely and had gotten into trouble with the soldiers while trying to find out more information about the battle.

'But wont it be too obvious if those people were the spies? Many from the camp have seen them acting weirdly. Although people won't suspect them much due to the lack of strength, but their behaviour is still so obvious that no one will miss it during the investigation.'

Regis was correct. As soon as the cadets were included in the scope of the investigation, the five cadets who had got into trouble due to their persistence to find the information were immediately summoned to the office of Captain Olewer, who was in charge of the investigation of this case.

The captain and the officers under him did investigate them thoroughly, but at the end, they could not find any solid evidence that could conclude that these cadets were involved in the case. The conclusion they reached was that the cadets had been desperate to find the information because of the pressure from their families.