As I flew through the skies just barely above the surface of the endless blue sea, all I could think about was saving Shiho and how nothing else mattered currently.

My body was still recovering physically from breaking 2 seals in 2 days so I was unable to fly as efficiently as I had wanted to. Even with my years of training with the JSF, such influxes of power when a seal broke was always more than my body could ever handle. However what truly hurt was the cost of breaking those seals as the things I lost through breaking them would never return.

After about half an hour of flying across the sea, I finally arrived at my destination. The floating dome of the JSF which was also known as Cornelius. The main role of this floating dome was meant to train new soldiers hence it was infested with soldiers which meant that I would be severely outnumbered if a clash occurred. I landed on the helipad of Cornelius and before I could even take a step forward, hundreds of JSF members who were probably on patrol surrounded me with their weapons loaded and trained towards my head.

“To be honest, I expected a grand welcome back but the fact that probably every available trooper on duty came to greet me was quite extreme.” I monologued before I started walking forward towards the command building of the Cornelius.

Needless to say, all the weapons were locked onto my head and every single trooper present was prepared to pull the trigger if they had to. My goal was not these small-fries who were probably corporals at most but the leader in charge of this entire floating dome.

When I was about to approach the door separating the helipad and the main command building, I noticed from the corner of my eye that a spear was being thrown towards me. Reflexively, I swerved my head slightly such that the spear would just barely miss.

“Rather rude to attack an unarmed person outside of his field of vision, don’t you think?” I snapped sarcastically.

“On the contrary, I believe it to be my duty to use any means possible to prevent intruders from doing whatever jackshit they want.” A deep voice snapped back at me which a voice that that sounded all too familiar.

“I see you are still serving under that man, Rudolph. Haven’t you considered changing your job scope? I believe you would be more suited to be out on the frontlines as opposed to being a drill sergeant.”

My question was quickly met with a snappy reply as the older man started approaching me until he was face-to-face with me. He looked to be about double my age with a dead-serious expression on his face which was probably what made him so proficient at his job.

“Not interested. I happen to like my current job as it allows me to serve directly under the great Major Zech. Anyways, what are you doing back here? I heard that your contract with the Major ended a while ago. I can’t imagine you would willingly come back to the JSF.”

“Its complicated and your intuition is as amazing as ever. I need to talk with Zech now. Its extremely important.”

I answered Rudolph’s question with a strong determined look on my face hoping that he understands my resolve and lets me pass. With a raise of his open fist, all the JSF soldiers who were aiming their weapons at me immediately disarmed them and saluted to Rudolph which shows his influence and power over them.

“1 hour is all you get, anymore than that I am personally busting that door down and making sure you leave Cornelius with one less limb than when you arrived.”

Rudolph threatened with his arms crossed after he used his access card to open the door to the command building for me which was where the man I was looking for resided.

“Thanks, I owe you one.”

“I don’t care about favors. Just make sure you manage to enjoy your life post-JSF. I hope for your sake that this is the last time I am going to see you. Most importantly, make sure you protect yourself when you meet him.”

“Me too Rudolph. Thanks for the advice.”

I replied with a soft smile and left the drill sergeant of the Cornelius and headed inside the main command building. The interior was not as guarded as opposed to the exterior since a large majority of non-Exceed threats would not have made it past Rudolph.

I took the elevator all the way to the top floor which was where the office of the Major I was searching for was. In the elevator, a sense of dread appeared as I never would have thought that I would see that man again let alone enter his private office.

Once the elevator doors opened, only a long corridor was present which was filled to the brim with troopers who were all probably the most proficient in combat on the Cornelius. Weirdly enough, none of them approached me or even made any eye contact which I assumed was a result of Rudolph telling them that I am a guest of their boss.

At the end of the corridor was 2 large rose-colored doors that seemed way too expensive and honestly quite out of place given that they were nested inside a military stronghold. I took one last deep breath and pushed one of the doors opened.

While this was not the first time I entered this room, the sight of its interior design never once failed to make my jaw drop. Everything seemed out of place to the extent that you would think that the room belonged to a young girl as opposed to a Major of the JSF.

Soft toys lined the floors which was painted in a bright shade of pink. The wallpaper and other furniture in the room were also in a matching shade of pink which would make one think that they were in some sort of fantasy land from a children’s story book.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Yet, the most inappropriate looking thing in the room was the man who seated at the bright pink desk in a bright pink office chair. The man who was naturally clad in a JSF uniform with a crest of the JSF sewn onto the right sleeve of his uniform which translated to the rank of Major.

That man’s body was so well-built that I once questioned if his muscles had muscles of their own. His pecs and biceps were so huge that I once saw him pop a button of his uniform top just by reaching for a pencil that dropped to the ground. His face was stern and with just a look you could tell that he was the kind that tolerated absolutely no nonsense. Alongside his extremely muscular frame that put body-builders to shame, he struck fear into members of the whenever he appeared.

However, the truly terrifying aspect of this man was when he opened his mouth and started speaking.

“Oh my dear Kazuha!! Have you finally decided to return to my loving arms and accept my feelings?!”

The man who looked like he would show no mercy to even a dying old man leapt at me with both of his hands spread open as if he was about to hug me.

Fortunately for me, I have already grown used to his antics and I carefully dodged out of the way of his incoming hug which led to him landing on the hard pink floor. He started to sob uncontrollably after that and quite literally had tears flowing down his face as he asked.

“Do you really hate me that much, Kazuha?? I thought we shared a bond that transcended time and space such that you would willingly return to find me even after your contract ended. I was even thinking that your return was of such great timing as I have been feeling quite pent up lately and needed some sort of avenue to release my hormones.”

I tried my best to show a poker face to him but that last line he mentioned made every hair on my body stand at attention and I lowkey started to regret ever coming back to him. However, time is of the essence and I will not let his weird antics deter me from obtaining the information I seek.

“Master, the reason I have returned is to obtain information on the whereabouts of Wild Beast Raikou. It is of utmost importance that I locate him immediately.”

I asked while trying to keep a serious expression on my face to show the gravity of the situation. The man noticed my serious demeanor which was quite uncommon especially when I am in front of him and he composed himself immediately.

“Oh? That is quite rare coming from you. I didn’t expect you to be one who enjoys meeting up with your fellow captains. Especially since you have a certain disdain towards Raikou. Am I wrong?”

Major Zech was known to be intuitive and have an IQ of 150 but the reason he knew about how I disliked Raikou was due to the fact that we spent a large amount of time together back when I was in the JSF. While I considered him my master as he taught me everything I knew, it would be safe to say that he was similar to a father figure to me ever since the day he found me when I was just 13.

“You are absolutely right. I would not even step within a 15km radius of him if I had the luxury of doing so. However, he attacked my new school and kidnapped a girl. Not to mention that he was somehow able to control a S-class Exceed. Who knows what kind of vile acts he could be doing to that girl as we speak? Hence I am begging you to tell me his whereabouts.”

I asked sincerely while highlighting the severity of the situation.

“Haizz, you do realize what you are asking me to do right? You are no longer a member of the JSF and yet here you are asking me to sell out one of my members. You really are a troublesome little spring breeze aren’t you?”

Major Zech replied but his actions betrayed his words as he reached inside one of his desk drawers and pulled out a map.

“You know I can never say no to you right? I guess I have taught you well that one should strike an enemy’s weakest spot when attacking. Hmph!”

The man’s face changed into a smile as he passed me the map but just as he was about to release his grip on it, his smile widened which was a face I knew all too well.

“I think you are well aware that I have a soft spot for you my dear spring breeze and I have always given you what you wanted whenever you wanted it but that was when you were a part of my family. Now that you are no longer a member, don’t you think that such assistance should be repaid?”

Major Zech said in a seductive tone which hinted at his true intentions from the start. I knew exactly what he desired. It was akin to a ritual or tradition whenever I did something wrong or offended him in the past back when I was still in the military.

I started to remove my white uniform shirt which left my upper body exposed to the cool air. As if like clockwork, Major Zech quickly stood up from his seat and approached me which showed how he was about double my size in both height and girth as he towered over me with his giant muscular body.

One would expect that a man with such a body would have no sense of being gentle but it was ironic as the delicate touch of his enormous fingers slithered over my exposed chest similar to how a mother would play with her newborn child.

While this was not foreign to me, it certainly made me uneasy as I definitely did not swing that way. However, I never could bring myself to despise or think poorly of him since he was akin to a father to me. As far as I knew, the whole JSF knew of Zech’s tastes but I was the only one who he ever made moves on.

As his fingers continued moving downwards to my core muscles, I hoped that he would be finished soon as I had to find Raikou immediately. His fingers did not stop and they started to head for the buckle of my uniform pants. However, when I was expecting him to go further, he stopped.

“Put your clothes back on. You are in a rush aren’t you? Go find Raikou and rescue that girl. We shall carry on next time.”

Zech calmly said to me with a wink in his eyes which made me shudder. He then passed me the map and gave me instructions.

“I do not have his exact coordinates but all I know is that he is somewhere inside this rainforest in the middle of Africa.”

“That’s alright. It’s more than enough information for me to hunt him down. Thank you for everything Sir.”

I graciously thanked Major Zech with the formal JSF salute and proceeded to leave his office. However, he called out to me just before I left to give me a warning.

“Kazuha, be extremely careful. I have no idea what traps he has set up in that rainforest but you can be sure that he won’t just graciously open his doors to you. More importantly, I heard that he has completed his research so I urge you to hurry.”

After hearing his warning, my anger soared and I immediately used my wind abilities to take off into the skies. While I lacked knowledge on what exactly he was researching, there were rumors from when I was still a part of the JSF that he was experimenting with the corpses of the Exceeds he killed in battle.

In addition, while I had not faced him in direct combat with the both of us going all out before, his feats of great strength and immeasurable speed were commonplace. Since it was impossible for males to develop Regalia abilities, his research must be related to his otherworldly abilities I heard rumors of. Which meant that he was probably using Shiho as some sort of experiment or guinea pig.

“There was no time to lose, I have to hurry.”