Chapter 87: The message from Uri

Chapter Text

「So, I heard someone from the mercenary group is waiting to meet me?」Kibadios entered the guest room as he dried off his damp hair with a small towel placed over his head.

「That's supposed to be me?」The redhead, who was sitting with his chest leaning against the chair's backrest, pointed finger at himself.

「... Fukki, right?」

「Close. It's Uri, your vice captain and direct subordinate.」The man introduced himself.

「Subordinate?」 Kibadios chuckled before sitting down on the chair opposite his guest. 「Don't you mean spy instead? You're being sent here by Ashura to keep tabs on my activities, aren't you?」

「No comment.」Uri smirked. 「... well, kidding asides, I'm here to relay the big boss' message for you.」

「and why is he not here to tell Kibadios sama himself?」asked Ryan.

「Like I have told your friend over there, the big boss is still busy examining and setting up logistics to support the Orcan mining operation. He won't be able to come and meet with you in person for a while.」

「Is that so?」nodded Kibadios.「so what message that he wanted you to tell me?」

「That since you're now officially a member of the Hyakki Yagyo, being a captain no less, you're needed for a mission at the Plain of Monas Kye.」

The Plain of Monas Kye ? Kibadios recalled the geography 101 lesson that Ryan gave him a few months back when he first tamed the hero. Isn't that where my hometown is located? The hybrid turned to the hero for a quick telepathic confirmation, to which the hero simply nodded.

「We figured that since that's where you're heading, this mission is a perfect fit for you.」

「How did he know that's where I'm heading to?」The hybrid curiously asked

「So that's indeed your destination? Gilga dono's guess was right, how about that.」

「Gilga?」

「Yup.」Uri nodded. 「Gilga dono just paid the big boss a friendly visit not too long ago. I don't know the details of the conversation they had, but I bet you were one of the topics. With her extensive spy networks and the fact that most incubus settled and lived in the Plain of Monas Kye, Gilga dono figured that was where you're heading.」

「How insolence!」Ryuu, who has been annoyed for a while since Uri let them know about the mission, finally spoke up.「Master is not someone that can be ordered around by the likes of you.」

「Grrrr…」Despite being a rabbit beastman, Yuusei, crouching next to Kibadios in his shota form, growled in agreement like a feline beastman.

「Calm down, guys.」The hybrid slightly ruffled the half beastman's head. 「We do owe Ashura a favor for helping to end the conflict quickly. So, what's the mission?」

「To eliminate the Lord Magistrate of Yongxi Province, Wei Shimin」answered the vice captain.

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Where…? ... Dark… Died? The infant demihuman's thoughts were completely incoherent as he found himself in an unfamiliar location. Before he could do anything, he felt a large hand violently grabbed around his tiny, slender neck and lifted him up. 「Look at this new born demi! I think we have found our candidate.」

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「ARGHHHHH!!!!」The young demihuman screamed in vain as the surrounding researchers coldly dissected and then saw off his left arm, before trying to reattach it with a hideously mutated arm.

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「UHHMMMMMM.」The gagged young demihuman, already suffering in agony due to his rotting left arm, struggled to break free of the iron chain before the woman slowly reached out to his right eyeball.

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「It seems like subject 312 is also a failure.」The head researcher, who wore a blood soaked lab coat with a distinct oriental design, quickly jotted down some notes as he walked by the half dead demihuman child. 「We were unable to create a chimera out of him.」

「Yeah, I had high hopes for him. He exhibited an extreme potential as a newborn since he was able to naturally control his Nen output within hours of being born.」The woman next to the head researcher noted.

「Maybe we should have waited until he grew a bit older before trying those experiments on him.」

「Well, we can't turn back time, can we? I'll make sure to try experimenting on older subjects in the next batch.」The woman shrugged.「But I bet it'll be hard to find someone with as much potential as him again.」

「So it's a failure?」The large man, dressed in silver armor and a phoenix mask that covered the upper half of his face, suddenly appeared behind the two researchers.

「Commander Hou Yi!」The surprised pair hastily cowered away from the man.「I didn't know you'd be here for an inspection?」

「Wei Shimin sama is a bit impatient with the progress you're making so he sent me here.」Hou Yi replied, looking agitated.「It seems you're still unable to create chimera species?」

「We're close Hou Yi sama.」

「Yes!! Really close. Subject 312 here was able to survive for almost a week with all the implanted parts. He's dying so it's not really a success but we just need more testing subjects before we can perfect…」

「Then you'll have more!」interrupted Hou Yi. The commander snapped his finger, signaling his men to drag in a dozen more demihumans in chains.

「Thank you, Hou Yi sama!」The head researcher bowed. 「We will not disappoint you.」

「It's not my wrath that you should be afraid of… It's Wei Shimin sama's」reminded the commander.「... So he's a failure right? You're done with him?」The man leered down at the half dead demihuman with eyes as cold as ice.

「Yes. We have gotten all of the useful data out of him.」

「Then you should just kill him…」The commander swiftly reached for the hilt of his blade, unsheathed it and slid off the suffering demihuman's throat in one uninterrupted motion.「... throw him away, and make room for the other test subjects.」

「Of course, Hou Yi sama. Thank you for your assistance but you don't have to dirty your hands like that. It's beneath you.」

「...」

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「...」Kibadios remained silent for minutes. The sudden mention of the name unexpectedly brought forth the memories from his second reincarnation. His body grew cold as he recollected the suffering he endured as a lab specimen, unable to do anything, not even reforming connections with his eternal familiar spirits, for his captor kept drugging him since the moment of his birth.

「Kibadios sama?」Maia slightly touched her master's shoulder, bringing him back to the present.「Are you okay?」

「Did you say Wei Shimin?」asked Kibadios as he uncharacteristically ignored Maia's question.

「Yeah, Wei Shimin. Do you know him?」Uri tilted his head to the side in a curious manner.

「... Not personally.」Kibadios' eyes glowed.「... Why are we after him?」The hybrid pried for more details.

「Because it's one of the requests that we received from a demihuman's town located within the Plain of Monas Kye. Currently, the Yin empire has been trying to attack and conquer the hundreds of settlements in Monas Kye, a stateless territory that is inhabited by most demihumans. The one leading such effort is the man named Wei Shimin… and he's damn good at it too.」

「He is?」

「I've heard of him.」Ryan chimed in.「Like I've told you before, Master. The Yin empire is actively waging a campaign in Monas Kye territory. Technically, they have been aiming for the land decades ago, right after the Yin Kingdom was able to annex all 6 other states to form the Yin Empire. But much like many kingdoms and nation states before them, they were unable to tame the fiercely independent demihuman settlements that called the Plain their homeland. Their fortune suddenly changed, though, the moment Wei Shimin was appointed Lord Commander of the Southern Subjugation Army of the Yin Empire. With him at the helm of the army, the Yin Empire was able to methodically expand its territory into Monas Kye. Towns after towns fell to the Empire. In just three years, he was able to conquer half of the Plain, a feat that not even the Uronas Theocracy and its western allies could achieve despite them launching many crusades against the demihuman land over the past 100 years. 」

「... That is because just like his younger half brother, Wei Shimin is simply a monstrous beast… an avatar of a war god.」Ren begrudgingly declared just as he interrupted the conversation, walking in the room with Yue following right behind.

「Done washing up? 」Kibadios turned to Ren.「You speak as though you know him personally, my cute little mate?」

「Who… Who's your cute little mate?!!! Stop saying nonsense you perverted hybrid!」Ren blushed red as seeing Kibadios' smug look triggered the memories of his concupiscent state from the last night.

「Please Kibadios sama, don't tease my nii sama like that.」Yue smiled and respectively bowed at the hybrid. Her calm and collected manner stood in great contrast against her brother's crude and abrasive personality.

「Okay, I'll stop.」Kibadios smiled back at the girl, his eyes quickly studying the former princess' expression before switching his focus back to her brother.「Anyways, did you really know that man personally?」

「... Yes.」frowned Ren.「He's the one who burned down our capital city 32 years ago.」

「32 years ago?」Maia was surprised.「Eto… Ren…cha..san? How old are you? You don't look like someone who's older than 30 years old… or even 15 years old.」

「What are you talking about?」Ren annoyingly asked. 「We belong to the royal family of the Yue Kingdom. We're pure blood High Elves whose lifespans typically last for more than 400 years. Despite how we look, we're already 82 years old. How uneducated are you to not know even such basic knowledge about elvenkinds?」

「Oh… I didn't know that… Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude.」

Hmm… I just banged two 82 years olds… I mean, that's like teenagers for elves but still, 82 years old… Oh well, who am I to talk? The combined age from my first and second life easily topped 300 years old so I guess fucking 82 years old are completely normal… But still, I'm sure there's some sort of an Ishuzoku Reviewers conundrum here…Wait a minute, now that I think about it, Ryuu chan is like thousands of years old, isn't he? Kibadios looked at Ryuu for a moment, though since the dragonoid had no idea what his master was thinking, he simply wagged his tails as he noticed his master's gaze was fixated on him. Hmmmmm, so I'm in Stunk's camp instead of Zel's… Naturally!

「Anyways!」Kibadios shook off his weird train of thoughts and brought his attention back to the current conversation「Since you have fought me just yesterday and have seen this supposed terrifying Wei Shimin personally, who do you say would win in a fight?」

「Wei Shimin.」answered Ren without hesitation. 「,,, You both have a very conservative style of fighting, conserving your energy and fully studying your opponent before making any attack, but I just simply cannot imagine anyone can take down that monster in a fair fight.」

「Is that so…」nodded Kibadios.「So tell me, Uri, given how powerful and important this Wei Shimin individual is, why did Ashura accept such a request? Did the other party offer him a lot of money for it or what? Even so, I don't see the case for a mercenary group to go out of their way to eliminate an important Yin Empire official.」

「Ah, you see, this is because the requester is an acquaintance of the Big Boss… Actually, he was the former 12th captain.」Uri scratched his cheek.

「Ho?」