General Fujimoto’s Dining room.
After the General finished sipping the wine from his glass, he looked at Hikaru, who raised his glass but didn’t drink from it.
Sensing Hikaru's hesitation, General Fujimoto pressed with a subtle threat: “Don't make me insist, young one. The wine is not to be refused!”
Hearing General Fujimoto's angry tone, Hikaru felt intimidated and quickly thought of a way to resolve his current predicament.
Hikaru decided to fabricate a lie: “General, in light of your benevolence, I feel unworthy to partake in such exquisite wine. Before I indulge, permit me to alleviate this guilt by sharing the secret behind my unique condition, a truth I regret not having told you sooner due to uncertainty.”
Hikaru continued with the first part of the fabricated explanation: “I believe the reason the medics mistook me for being dead was because the arrow used to shoot me was laced with a poison that can stop breathing and heartbeat in small doses. After I was shot, fate had a twist waiting for me, as someone moved by mercy administered a healing potion with their mouth while I lay unconscious. That’s why, when I woke up, I tasted something bitter in my mouth.”
Hikaru possessed knowledge about this particular poison, thanks to information he had acquired on Earth regarding the pufferfish’s toxin called tetrodotoxin. He speculated that a similar creature with a comparable toxin might exist in Erudite. Despite never having consumed any healing potions, he pretended to have done so, all the while banking on the expectation of its bitter taste, much like any other medicine.
Hikaru continued with the second part of his fabricated explanation: “The size of my soul is likely attributed to the fact that my father is a human lord variant, whereas my mother is a regular human. So, throughout my whole life, I researched ways to upgrade my body to match my soul.” Hikaru knew both his late parents were regular humans without any special traits, but he was betting that the General wouldn’t investigate this matter.
The notion that having one human lord parent could result in a regular human with a human lord soul is unheard of. However, verifying such information, especially in Erudite, is challenging, which made Hikaru’s answer seem plausible.
Hikaru continued with a deduction that led to a plea: “In my daily meditation, I noticed this hideout was covered in thick miasma. After investigating the sources, I discovered that they are from the body bags dumped by your subordinates. These bags contain the dismembered corpses of the enemy soldiers with wounds that were inflicted before their death. While war might explain the existence of these corpses, but the disturbing lack of body parts strongly suggests a darker narrative. General killing enemy’s soldiers might earn you the title of a hero, but engaging in forbidden experiments on living orbies could mark you as a villain in the eyes of many! General, it appears that your current research team, while competent, may not be adept at concealing their tracks. I propose you consider adding me to your team General, because while I may lack experience, I can more than compensate it with my knowledge.” Hikaru concluded his plead with a respectful bow at a perfect ninety-degree angle.
General Fujimoto replied with a charismatic smile, while snatching the wine glass in Hikaru’s hand: "Indeed, you don't deserve this wine! Join me tomorrow morning after breakfast on the second level. Don’t be late!”
Hikaru grinned with genuine enthusiasm and replied: "Absolutely, General."
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General Fujimoto’s POV.
Today, General Fujimoto contacted the Colonel Kemal via the Telelink Messenger he had provided before the start of the war, which was different from the one used by the colonel to communicate with Storm Command Center. He ordered the colonel to line up the corpses of fallen military personnel in an open field near the south gate, while prohibiting anyone uninvolved from roaming in this area. Accompanied by his subordinates, General Fujimoto traveled to the Red Dagger Aran outpost’s south gate in a convoy employing several carriages. In front of the south gate, General Fujimoto's convoy was welcomed by Colonel Kemal himself.
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Colonel Kemal approached General Fujimoto's carriage, the only one with a unique design among the convoy, and performed a military salute, a gesture followed by all his subordinates. General Fujimoto descended from his carriage, signaling the soldiers to cease saluting with a raised hand followed by a downward motion.
Colonel Kemal then greeted General Fujimoto with a deferential tone: “Good evening, General. You look as dazzling as ever.”
General Fujimoto acknowledged the greeting and suggested: "Good afternoon. Let's continue our conversation in your military tent."
Inside the tent, they sat across from each other, exchanging pleasantries that eventually led to the conversation toward the purpose behind the General's visit to the outpost.
General Fujimoto turned serious and inquired: “Colonel, how many do we have available this batch?”
Colonel Kemal responded: "We currently have 15 live prisoners and 117 fresh corpses. From these prisoners, we've harvested 33 L1 Soulstones and 4 Lv2 Soulstones. Additionally, 10 L1 Soulstones and 4 Lv2 Soulstones are still in the process of being harvested, and they will be completed in two days."
In the Orb Universe, orbs can be switched by the Skill Anima holder themselves or by a Spiritual Guru. A Spiritual Guru is an orby that possesses a talent called Soul Mediator, which allows them to learn Soul Mediator mystic skill. Orbies can switch orbs that contain up to three-star complexity Skill Anima, while Spiritual Gurus can switch orbs of any complexity as long as they are intelligent enough and possess the necessary materials.
In light of Colonel Kemal's response, it's reasonable to assume that he likely utilized Spiritual Gurus to extract Skill Anima from the prisoners, as they wouldn't willingly surrender their own Skill Anima.
General Fujimoto smiled as he handed over four platinum coins, stating: “As promised, I will pay 3 gold coins for each living prisoner, 5 gold coins for each L1 Soulstone, and 15 gold coins for each L2 Soulstone. The total comes to 380 gold coins; you can keep the change.”
The fact that both General Fujimoto and Colonel Kemal conducted this kind of transaction without the Army’s permission was illegal, so that’s why they needed to do these transactions discreetly and the General paid for all the goods below the market price.
Colonel Kemal expressed his gratitude with a nod and a sincere smile: "You're as generous as always, General. Rest assured, with the ongoing war, you won’t lack any supply anytime soon, General.”
General Fujimoto smiled and replied: "Now, lead me to the corpses first. If we take too long, their blood will clot. Let’s hurry."
Colonel Kemal guided General Fujimoto to a field of fallen soldiers and left him there to do his things. There the general activated his innate ability called Spiritual Eye. This innate ability allowed him to peer into the spiritual dimension, enabling him to perceive soulmist and all the souls in the vicinity, regardless of any physical obstacles. The General used this ability to perceive corpses that still had an intact soul, which usually means their blood hadn't clotted yet.
Halfway collecting the blood samples from these corpses, the General was surprised seeing Hikaru suddenly awaken. The first thought that crossed the General's mind was that Hikaru was there to assassinate him. This misconception arose after the General gazed at Hikaru with his spiritual eye activated, leading him to mistakenly believe that Hikaru was a Human Lord due to the size of his soul.
After seeing Hikaru, General Fujimoto probed him with several questions. However, upon hearing his answers, General Fujimoto's thought was: 'Is he using some kind of innate ability to fake his death? Who in the army was stupid enough to employ a human lord only as a military trainee?'
The General decided to dismiss Hikaru first and prioritize collecting the rest of the blood, fearing it would clot if delayed any longer. While collecting the blood, he pondered his encounter with Hikaru: 'Hikaru didn’t bring any equipment or accessories, making him unlikely to be an assassin. This also means his awakening was unlikely due to an item.'
After General Fujimoto finished collecting the remaining blood samples and placed them in a special box equipped with an activated preservation array, he ordered his subordinates to bring it back to the carriage. General Fujimoto then rested in a luxurious tent prepared by the colonel until the next morning. The next morning, General Fujimoto and Colonel Kemal enjoyed breakfast together as the General recounted the intriguing tale of his encounter with a trainee named Hikaru. Captivated by the narrative, Colonel Kemal swiftly summoned Lieutenant Guerra the leader of squad 324 to delve deeper into Hikaru's mysterious circumstances. The trio then engaged in conversation with Hikaru, during which General Fujimoto extended a job offer that Hikaru enthusiastically accepted. The following morning, once all the goods were securely loaded onto General Fujimoto's carriages, General Fujimoto rendezvoused with Hikaru for their departure to a secret hideout near the outpost.
During the first three weeks of Hikaru's stay, General Fujimoto closely examined his body condition, finding no anomalies. Yet, this didn't shed light on Hikaru's revival or his mismatched soul condition. Determined to unravel the truth, General Fujimoto decided to first interrogate him. If the result remained unsatisfactory, the General decided to take a more drastic measure – direct dissection.
The following day, while General Fujimoto and Hikaru had lunch together, the General politely asked if he concealed any information about his body condition. Dissatisfied with Hikaru's response, the General resolved to proceed with the decision to dissect him.
General Fujimoto first poured Hikaru a glass of wine laced with netroxine and proposed a toast. As the General finished his own wine, he noticed Hikaru hadn't taken a sip. In his mind, General Fujimoto pondered: 'This Hikaru is sharp—has he discovered the anesthetic drug in the wine? Do I need to knock him unconscious before injecting netroxine? No, let’s pressure him a bit more.'
General Fujimoto pressured Hikaru with a subtle hint of threat to drink the laced wine. However, Hikaru skillfully came up with an excuse, and a remarkably articulate explanation about his body condition. He then earnestly asked the general to consider him for a role as a researcher. After Hikaru concluded, the General mused inwardly: ‘Is this Hikaru really a 14-year-old kid? His mind is sharp! His articulation and knowledge is impressive! Well, let's give the kid a shot. After all, he's too weak to oppose me, and I could dissect him whenever I want!’
End of General Fujimoto’s POV.