49

Ren returned to the 8th division but was denied entry by members stationed to watch the gate. He looked at the pair like they were idiots and swore to beat the... train them so that they would never forget his face once again.

Ren did not realize just how much his body had changed. Not only was he insanely larger, but his facial structure had also changed a bit and his hair was no longer its unique color but was now black. It would be surprising for anyone to recognize him.

Ren used Dryae to summon trees and tie up the two members while he made his way inside of the barracks and toward his officers' building. When he walked in, he saw Kyou explaining the various duties that officers must perform for their division.

Even though their division was much smaller than all of the other divisions with the fewest members and fewest officers, there were still certain things that needed to be done such as logistics, training, interaction with other divisions, and a few other minor things.

As the only person beside Ren who was an officer prior, Kyou had to be the one to take over the lieutenant duties temporarily as she explained everyone's jobs to them. Tier seemed to understand most of what she needed to do but still attended these meetings to learn as much s she could.

Kyou was just in the middle of telling them about how much extra supplies they should keep stashed per month when she noticed the large figure standing at the door. Just as she was about to ask who he was, she noticed the jade bead bracelet on his wrist.

"Ren!"

The others turned around and saw the tall man but they did not recognize him as their captain. It was only after Ren held up his right hand and showed them the bracelet did they recognize him.

"Ren!" "Lord 8th!" Each of them shouted at once. Very few could believe that the man before them was truly their captain.

Ren nodded and looked towards Kyou.

"Please head to the logistics division and tell them that my new haoris will need to be a bit larger than expected."

Kyou nodded in understanding.

"Thanks. I will be returning to my room. If there is anything I need to sign, just bring it to me there."

The rest nodded in understanding before Ren walked away. As soon as he was out of sight, all of them could not help but gossip a little.

"Is that really the captain? He looks so..."

"I know. I can't believe his body got so large. I wonder what he did to make it like that."

"It just means that our captain is that much stronger and deserves the title of 'Captain of the Strongest Division'."

While most of the members were praising Ren, there were two battle-maniacs who had one thought on their minds.

'He must have gotten some cool new abilities. I wanna fight him!'

Both Shin and Emilou did not feel intimidated at all by Ren's large stature but thought that they wanted to try him out and see what he could do now. These pair only had fighting on their minds most of the time and would have been great members of the 11th division if they were not a part of the 8th.

Ren had gone to the logistic team of their division that Kyou had recently put together and gotten a uniform in a much larger size that would fit his frame before leaving for his dorm. When Ren returned to his room, he immediately went to his bed to lay down and think about his plans.

'Kyou is learning how to be an excellent leader. She has the potential to be the captain of another division so I might as well let her train her leadership trait now before I assign her, her own squad within the division.

I also need to think about our ranks. Even if my men are stronger, I still need to make sure that our numbers are not too far behind the others. Strength cannot beat tactics unless it is overwhelming strength.

This is all for later. For now, let's wait to see what they have for me.'

Ren waited two hours before he heard a knock on his door.

"One second!"

Ren walked out of the room and saw not only Kyou and Tier who he had expected but Shin and Emilou were present. Ren could tell what both of them wanted but he did not have the time for it at the moment.

The large amount of paperwork that they had brought him had killed all of his fighting spirit. Ren knew he would be missing a large amount due to his 6-month absence before the 1-week absence, but he figured since so many people died he could just write a mass-murder excuse.

It seemed he had to fill out the cause of death for each and every one of them as well as sign them off. There was also signing of salary amounts, payment toward the logistic division, and reviewing missions that were considered B-class or higher which required the captain's permission to accept.

There was also the matter of looking over promising individuals who had just passed the shinigami exam and sending them invitations if he thought they were fitting for his division.

Ren was no longer a lieutenant of a pure combat division that ignored paperwork and had to now take his job seriously. As an officer, while he held an important role, he was not the pillar of the 10th or 11th division.

But as a captain, Ren had an example to set. So with acceptance of his fate, Ren went to his desk and began his work.

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Wow. You guys made us number 1 again!