Katsuo, the garrison commander, arrived at the gates of the fort not far from the center of the city. It lay beside the sea, and several naval ships were stationed all around. It was a large fort, secured with tall, thick, and durable walls, which had stood for centuries. If someone would even dare to attack this place, it would be the most foolish thing they could have done. Not only did they have to destroy the sturdy walls, but also face the hundreds of soldiers inside, not to mention the ships stationed around the perimeter.

The commander turned towards Captain Suda. Suda was one of the many, not someone particularly notable nor strong. Merely someone who was meant to be a scout. He was a person that Katsuo would not normally personally interact with but whose name he would only see in the reports. However, this time, he and his crew got unlucky.

As many as his soldiers may be, and he might be unable to know every single one personally, Katsuo still valued those under him. It was tragic that the scouts suffered losses. Their purpose was only meant to monitor the current sea activities and perhaps spot pirate routes. Nothing that was supposed to be dangerous. But perhaps they had riled up the pirates enough after declaring them enemies and eliminating them on sight.

“Captain Suda, are you done bringing out all your crew members that died?”

“Yes, sir. They should be at one of our stations in the city by now.”

Katsuo nodded. “Then it’s time to let their families know.”

There was a hint of hesitation in Suda’s eyes. “... Yes, sir.”

Katsuo understood his hesitation. It was never easy to deliver the bad news, even more so about the loss of a family member.

With that, Suda left and headed back into the city.

The gates into the fort opened. Katsuo, along with Minori following beside him, entered. Inside were soldiers of the city. Although, at the moment, the area was not filled with soldiers. Many of them were deployed to the ocean, while the others were sent out on patrol outside the city to exterminate monsters that got close to the city region.

The soldiers saluted as they went by. On the way to the main building, Katsuo encountered one of his personal lieutenants.

“Greetings, Lord Katsuo.” The grinning young man casually greeted with a short salute. “Did you meet those guys?”

“Jin, you’re here.”

The young man was Jin Rei, nineteen years old. He had short black hair and black eyes. On his back was a single short katana, and tied along his belt and leg were small blades. He wore dark, and fit clothes that promoted mobility and dark leather armor to serve as protection. He was among Katsuo’s most trusted aides. Unlike Minori, who trained in direct confrontation as a warrior, Jin Rei was a ninja.

Despite his young age, he had surpassed his peers as someone who was trained ever since he was a small child. He had slain countless monsters and people, which only served to enhance his abilities as time went on. He was among the best when it came to assassinations, or covert operations. When Katsuo went out to fight monsters, Jin’s role was most often striking the monster’s weakness or delivering a critical blow. Other than that, he would also keep watch of the surroundings for any surprising elements.

He was also the one Suda first reported to upon arriving and then delivered the news to Katsuo.

Katsuo nodded. “Yes, I did.”

“Hmm?” He casually placed both arms behind his head. “You should have brought me along. I was quite curious myself, you know.”

Minori frowned. “How many times do I have to keep teaching you? Use formal speech when talking to the commander! And fix your posture!”

“Ek.” Jin quickly took a step back. “Come on, Minori. I told you it’s pointless.”

“What kind of ninja doesn’t even show a bit of respect to their master?” Minori glared at him.

“Hey now, I do respect Lord Katsuo.”

“Well, you need to show it.”

“Nuh uh, I’m never doing that superficial talk.”

She placed a hand on one of her katanas. “Superficial?” In an instant, there was a flash of steel, cleaving smoothly through the air.

Jin froze as he watched a strand of his hair fall from his head, a wry smile trembled on his face.

“Ooooh! What the heck?!” He quickly stepped back with raised hands.

“That was a warning,” Minori said curtly as she sheathed back her katana.

“A warning for what?!”

“For insulting speech and language. Our words are among the first shows of respect. It is how people measure us. Your neglect of using formal language to the commander damages his image.”

“Hey now… You’re being too dramatic.”

Katsuo sighed. They were often like this, but he allowed them to quarrel. They would even outright fight. But Katsuo just let them fight depending on the setting, for it would develop their skills. But considering it was mostly direct battles, Minori would always win. But Jin just never learned his lessons.

“That’s enough,” Katsuo said to them. “I would like to collect our thoughts. Let’s go to my office.”

They reached a large building with multiple stories. Staff were inside, working on different reports and documents. Although they were not exactly flooded with paperwork. Not too few, not too many. Even as Katsuo went past them, the staff continued their work.

One female office worker approached Katsuo as he was about to climb up the stairs.

“Excuse me, commander.”

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“Hm?”

“We received a message from the city governor. He wishes to speak with you.”

“I see. We’ll continue about the matter later. For now, I have an important matter to discuss with my lieutenants.”

“I understand.”

With that, he continued on upstairs.

“I wonder what the governor wants now,” Jin said.

“Likely guard his caravan again,” Minori answered.

A moment later, they arrived at Katsuo’s office. It was a plain and standard office. Not a sign of any personal decorations or objects. Katsuo just wasn’t the kind of person to personalize a workspace. But perhaps he was not too different when it came to his home in the capital city.

He removed his sheathed katana from his waist and carefully placed it on its stand on a pedestal. Afterward, he sat down on the chair behind his desk, and his two aides stood in front of him. He clasped his hands together as he rested his elbows on the desk.

“I want to talk about the new people that arrived.”

“Oh, them.” Jin placed his hands behind his head. “Why did you go out of your way to meet them, anyway?”

“That’s right, you did not need to waste your time.” Minori nodded.

“The reason I gave is true. I wish to thank them for saving my men.”

Katsuo, in his honorable way, would always want to give thanks when warranted. And saving his men was a significant thing, even more so when the saviors were complete strangers from different lands.

“We could have suffered the loss of an entire ship’s crew. But such was averted, thank goodness. Although…” He leaned his back on the chair. “There is another reason… the report intrigued me.”

Minori tilted her head. “Intrigued you?”

“Civilians saved a naval ship. They could have ignored it but they helped…” Katsuo lowered his head with narrow eyes, thinking. “And they obliterated the pirate ship. Such a strange thing to do.”

Anyone with sense would rather avoid trouble than risk dying or sinking. Any other than that would either be foolish or just plain heroic. Indeed, heroic, but there seemed to be more to it than meets the eye. Heroic people are incredibly rare. In contrast, self gratification could also be a reason one acts on something.

“Is it?” Jin asked in a low tone.

Katsuo looked Minori in the eye, a serious expression on his face. “Did you sense it, Minori?” It was something that caused him to tense up, as if he was in the fields of beasts. “The danger in there.”

Minori placed a hand on her katana. “... Yes. That crew is dangerous.”

Jin looked at the two of them in confusion. “Woah, what could scare you?”

Minori frowned at him. “It’s not fear, but rather… my sense of danger kicked in.”

Katsuo nodded. “There are powerful beings on that ship.”

Minori had fought countless monsters in her life. She was too familiar with danger, and she had sharpened her instincts that allowed her to sense how dangerous a place could be. Being watched by monsters all the time as you venture the land, you would grow the senses necessary to survive.

Katsuo was the same. His survival instincts were warning him as he got near that ship. There were monsters among them, too powerful even for him.

“There were two men that stood on the ship,” Katsuo continued. “They may look like normal humans, but I sense the presence of monsters. Not too different from the ones we encounter outside the city.”

“Yes,” Minori nodded. “I didn’t like the way they looked at us. It’s like a beast’s ready to pounce at the slightest provocation.”

“Hey now, you’re worrying me here.” Jin lowered his hands.

Katsuo understood why he felt worried. Both Katsuo and Minori were among the best warriors. To make them this wary meant something serious was going on. And indeed, those two that remained on the ship were strange and dangerous. The first time he laid eyes on them, he almost wanted to reach out for his blade, but he kept his composure.

“Not only them,” Katsuo said. “The two men that met us, one was obviously a warrior, a strong one at that. The bronze haired man, however, I felt uneasy.”

“Yes. He looked deceitfully weak at a glance. But I can sense power from him. I felt like I wouldn’t even stand a chance fighting him.”

“He might as well be a monster, too. His eyes held no wariness or fear whatsoever. It almost felt like he was ready for anything.”

“And then there’s the girl, their leader.” Minori’s face stiffened.

“Yes, her.” Katsuo recalled that divine visage. A face that would leave an enormous mark on one’s mind, one that would find its way into your heart when you’re not on guard.

“Girl?”

“She’s the strangest of them all,” Minori said. “In a phrase, the brightest light among them. I’ve never seen someone so…”

“So beautiful, almost godly.” Katsuo clasped his hands together.

Jin’s face turned to shock the moment he heard those words from his commander. Katsuo was never one to openly compliment a woman's beauty this much. He was an attractive man, and many women had come to approach him. He had seen all kinds of beauty there was for a woman. But for him to describe a girl with godly beauty, it was too shocking.

“Surely she can’t be that beautiful…?” Jin asked with a hesitation.

Minori shook her head. “She is beautiful, utterly beautiful. It puts all women to shame.”

“... Like you…?” It was a risky statement that he prepared himself for a hit. However, it never came when Minori nodded her head.

“Yes.”

“Huh…”

“Long and white majestic hair, completely in contrast to our dark lands. Eyes as deep and red as blood. Skin so pale. Such traits I have never seen before,” Katsuo described. “But that’s not all. There is something off with that young lady.”

“That she seems completely weak?” Minori responded.

“Is that all you sensed, Minori?”

“Yes…”

Katsuo formed a small smile. “She seemed weak at first, but I sensed something else. It felt like she was both weak and not. Like there’s something more about her.”

Truth be told, it baffled him. His sense of danger was confused. He was able to measure up the others, but when it came to her, it was different. There was certainly something off with that girl.

“She is more enigmatic to me than the rest of her crew.”

“Don’t people always show their strength? How come such a girl can become their leader?” Jin asked. “Could it be that she wasn’t the leader at all and we’ve been misled?”

One must always show strength. That was how it was to maintain a good position as a leader of a group. If you were weak, then you would have no respect. At least, that was how it commonly worked in their lands.

“I doubt it,” Katsuo answered. “There’s no point hiding it. And I noticed the faith in the eyes of their other crew members. Faith in her.”

“Oh…”

And Katsuo continued. “And there is not much point in showing strength to strangers when you have already shown it to your allies. You’d already have their admiration.”

“... Has something like this happened before? A ship of powerful people arriving?”

“Nothing that we know of,” Minori answered.

“There’s no point thinking about whether this had happened before. But it is strange for those kinds of powerful people to come here all at once.”

“Then what purpose do they have here?” Jin asked.

“The girl, Estelia, wasn’t keen on sharing any specific details about that. I invited her for a banquet to probe more about it, but she rejected my invitation.”

“She’s also wary of us?”

“I suppose.”

Jin placed a hand on his chin. “Maybe we don’t have to worry much about them. They’re likely good people. I mean, they saved a ship of ours.”

“... Maybe.”

“We can’t be too sure,” Katsuo said. “Remember the report? What happened to the pirate ship?”

“The pirate ship was destroyed,” Jin answered.

“Destroyed by whom?”

Jin’s eyes widened. “By the leader of the crew that saved our men.”

“Yes. I have doubts whether they are truly a peaceful and heroic group. To obliterate a pirate ship all alone, not giving the pirates a chance to surrender. Is that not a trait of someone who wants to inflict destruction?”

In this land, there were many kinds of dangerous monsters, and people as well. And a lot of them just wanted to cause as much destruction as possible. And most of the time, these people would spare not a scrap of mercy. Some just want to see the world burn.

The two aides fell silent.

Katsuo let out a short sigh. “All in all, they’re dangerous elements. And while they’re here in the city, we must be wary of them.”

“What do you want to do?” Minori asked.

“I want them watched, observed.” Katsuo turned towards Jin. “You’re the most skilled and stealthiest man I know. I trust that you’ll carry out this task perfectly.”

Jin smiled confidently. “Got it. I’ll keep my strict eyes on them.”

Jin was the finest and most skillful ninja in his forces. Even Katsuo would struggle to detect him when he decides to tail or watch him. He believed that he would be the best fit for this kind of mission.