117 An old face

Research stronghold #9

There weren't a lot of military barracks in the research stronghold. Of course, they wouldn't have one allocated to the 17th squadron.

But as Aiden asked and showed the proof of his ID, they soon gave the direction of the common soldier barracks.

He remembered that this was the stronghold Charak was posted at, but after the things had happened, he felt that meeting Robin was more important for now.

"You! The one without a military uniform, stop right now." Aiden wasn't sure that the person was searching for him but when he looked back, he found three people were heading towards him.

'Can it be that they've already found it?' Aiden frowned. He was sure that he couldn't hide it for a long time, but it was just too quick.

And there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't stay there to stop others from going to that place, nor could he escape from the stronghold. After all, the military still controlled the only mode of transportation of the planet.

"What are you doing?" A sudden shout from the person behind him interrupted Aiden's train of thought.

Even though none of them had stars on their shoulders, they still had a higher rank than him. "Soldier, where are your manners? You are in front of Lieutenant Colonel, how can…"

But the man in front of him raised his hand to stop him, "Who are you, soldier?"

Aiden's military knowledge was nowhere near flawless, nor was he too keen to show enthusiasm. Still, he straightened his back and gave a salute. However, he wasn't sure about his designation.

"Aiden Law. Recruit. 17th squadron." Aiden went with the safest introduction.

"What are you?" The guy glared at Aiden with a deep frown on his forehead. Aiden, on the other hand, was not sure about what the officer was inquiring about. 'Is he asking for my designation?'

"Recruit? What is your rank?" The guy behind him didn't help either. "How can you not state your rank?"

'How am I supposed to know? They didn't even give a private's insignia.' Aiden sighed in his heart, not knowing how to respond. 'Should I just apologize or tell them the truth?'

It was then the last man of the group spoke, "Oh! He is the one who survived in the wilderness for a month." Looking at the man's face covered by the helmet, Aiden could understand that it was the system that had notified him.

"A quite tough lad, huh?" The man with extra strict attention to manners said, "but you can't just ignore the discipline."

Yet the man with the highest authority continued to glare at him. Aiden was having a hard time understanding what the Lieutenant Colonel was asking from him.

"Lieutenant Colonel, he had also returned from Earth, just like you." The man wearing the helmet continued to relay the information, "to be exact, he was the part of the last mission."

"Oh! I am impressed." While the other continued to compliment them for past services, Aiden's face darkened.

'I thought they were hiding the details about me. It wasn't something the Captain should have had access to, however...'

"Did you go to Eporue?" The Lieutenant Colonel asked.

"No, South Acirema. Might it have been the Lieutenant Colonel had gone to Eporue?" Aiden asked as politely as possible, but the muscles on the Lieutenant Colonel's face didn't relax at all, rather the hostility on his face became more prominent.

"You shouldn't have killed him. It won't be long before they come for you." The voice wasn't high, yet the silence that followed made the heavy voice extremely loud.

'What?' Even if he was calm outside, a shiver went down his spine. 'Who is he talking about? Those mages?'

'That would be too soon. Not even an hour has passed.' Aiden shook his head, 'and he had said 'him'. Could it be that he is talking about 'Alex'?'

Aided was unable to grasp the meaning behind his words. He stared at the back of the man who had walked past him, only to sigh in his heart. 'I think I need to contact Charak or Luke soon. It's better to avoid those needless conflicts as much as possible.'

The other two also gave Aiden a puzzled look before they ran behind the Lieutenant Colonel, "Lieutenant Colonel Rainer, this way. We should hurry, General Leroy, is waiting for us."

'Lieutenant Colonel Rainer, huh? I need to ask Luke to check whether there is a relation between Alex and him.' He wasn't that far away from the barracks, and he soon got there.

"Hey, Aiden. Quick, come here." Robin called for him even before Aiden could step inside. "Someone in the barracks is waiting for you."

'Again?' Aiden frowned as he glanced at the barrack, "who is he? Someone from the special mage squad?"

Robin nodded, "He's not a lieutenant, but a captain. One of the Captains of a special mage squad. What are you trying to do?"

"What can I do?" Aiden sighed, "Let's meet him. It is not like I can run away." As Robin nodded, Aiden added, "Come with me. If they take me with them, contact the researcher named Charak. He is in this research stronghold. Tell him about what will happen here."

Aiden provided him with Charak's contact information as he moved to the room. While he was preparing for another set of violent confrontation, the face that appeared before him shocked him a lot.

"Mr. Aiden Law. I am pleased to meet you." The bald man introduced himself politely, "I am Luke. Captain of the Special mage unit."

"You are not Luke." Aiden frowned as he said, "Or you are Luke but…" It took a moment to realize everything. He sighed as he did, and nodded to Luke, "I am Aiden. Nice to meet you, Captain Luke."

Luke was still expressionless as he accepted Aiden's hand. "Sit down, please."

"It is a pleasure to meet you." Aiden smiled as he sat down, "So how is your master doing?"

Aiden ignored the irritation that had sprouted on Luke's face, and continued, "After all, it is my first meeting a human who carries a totem, and I don't have the right term to address someone who could give a totem to others. Totem-bestower?"

Luke, who had no way of knowing Mraz's presence inside Aiden's mind, was too shocked to react. It wasn't just him. Even Robin could not help but take another look at Luke.

"It is as my Lord has said." Luke gave a smile, "I should be careful of you."

Aiden smiled but didn't pursue the matter. He smiled and asked, "Seeing you came looking for me, that means there's something you need from me. Is it possible that Charak has his first success?"

A hint of surprise flashed across his face, but Luke was swift to conceal it. "How can it be? How can we ignore our patron?"

"I appeared here more than a month ago. Directly recruited to a squadron with no basic seasoning training. Lost in the wilderness for a month. They even tried to abduct me as soon as I returned to the stronghold…"

Luke's face looked anything but happy, yet Aiden continued with a smile on his face, "It was not like I was expecting anything from you guys, but I'm sure this isn't the way to show your care for your patron."

Glancing at Luke's face, Aiden couldn't understand whether Luke was angry at him or the other, but he didn't care.

"Well, it wasn't a big problem. But there's something I want you to help me do."

*************

"So you mean you brought an inmate here for interrogation?" The young man tied his bright scarlet hair in a ponytail. His face was giving a warm feeling. He asked again, "But why?"

The individual he asked, however, could not feel any warmth. His back was damp with sweat. "Captain Amberdrop, that is…"

"Can't you answer a simple question?" Captain Amberdrop touched the thick block of ice that had blocked the corridor. "Lieutenant Rodd, why did you bring a prisoner here? Don't you have enough facilities in the army headquarter?"

"That…" Lieutenant Rodd hesitated for a moment, then said, "That was the order from the council. We were…"

Captain Amberdrop didn't listen until the end, turned around, and was about to leave. Lieutenant Rodd cried, "But he killed seven mages…"

"Didn't you bring him here to execute him in silence?" Lieutenant Rodd wanted to respond, but looking at the grin on Captain's Amberdrop's face, a chill went down his spine. "He didn't kill anyone. You can consider it self-defense."

"But the council… ahhh..." Lieutenant Rodd couldn't complete his sentence as an intense fire burned a part of his scalp.

But the attacker, Captain Amberdrop, smiled at him, "Don't forget you are talking to an Amberdrop. Words of those old fogies don't apply to me. You should tell them I will not clean up their mess."

He didn't wait for his response, nor Lieutenant Rodd could respond at the moment. As Captain Amberdrop walked out of the place, a man who is half-head taller than him followed him.

"Hey, Gerrard, look at this." The man handed a tablet to Captain Amberdrop. It was showing a boy who was sitting on a chair. Nothing was out of the ordinary until one of the two, present in the room, touched his shoulder.

He collapsed on the floor the moment he did, never to move again. Soon after, things became chaotic. The other individual quickly attacked the boy with a fire spell, but the boy was unharmed. As things began to get interesting, the screen turned dark.

"Interesting," Gerrard mumbled. As the man behind him inquired, he added, "Tell me, Kevin, how did the man die? Or how did the boy stop the fireball?"

"Some kind of spell, maybe," Kevin stated the obvious.

"Didn't you see the mana suppressing handcuffs on his hand?" As Gerrard pointed out, Kevin checked again. After he inspected thoroughly, he said, "No wonder, grandpa told me to check him."

"Huh! General Savage has asked you to look for him?" It pleasantly surprised Gerrard. "Who is he?"

"Aiden Law."

"Why does the name sound familiar?"

"That is the guy from the team of the last Earth mission."

Gerrard smiled, "That is good. Let's go."

"Where?"

"Let's meet my sister." Gerrard grinned, "After all, I hadn't seen her for a long time."

"Your sister?" Kevin nodded, "But wouldn't it be easier to catch him? He might still be in the stronghold."

"No way. If we look for him, he may think of us as an enemy. Let's gather some information first." Gerrard's grin became brighter, "And there is nothing much we can do here. They will clear the last two outposts by tomorrow."

"Then what about the meeting? You've got a meeting with the generals and the directors."

"Nah!" Gerrard shook his head, "This is far more interesting."