THE LAST KEEPER

Chapter 56: Chapter 56: THE VERDICT

The time counting innovation hummed on the wall lowly. Only the sound of rustling paper and scribbling pen could be heard. Sagiri was standing in the middle of the room, staring at the man seated in front of him as he went through the mountain of paperwork before him as if he did not exist. He dared not speak, however. He had kept him waiting, and now it was his turn.

”Sagiri, my aged student.” Senraki finally jumped out of his chair, a creepy grin on his face. ”What am I to do with you?” Before he could answer, however, the door opened, and Captain Salka, Captain Fuwuka, and Discipline Division commander Torena walked in.

”Boy, you’d better tell the truth this time, I was almost getting somewhere with a prisoner.” Salka was the first to speak, sitting on one of the chairs in front of Senraki’s office. He had a dull coloured cloth in his hand. Sagiri’s nose immediately smelled the blood even now more clearly than he did before.

”Blood,” he sniffed the air before he turned to face the captain.

”Don’t worry, recruit, it is not mine,” Captain Salka said, throwing the cloth in a dirt pot across the corner, where it disappeared perfectly into the pot.

”Salsal, you didn’t tell me the boy has a keen nose.” Senraki’s eyes twinkled, turning to Captain Salka with an accusatory tone.

”Well, I can’t call it a keen sense of smell exactly, the boy gets sick when he smells blood.” Captain Salka said, throwing one leg in front of the other. Lotaga had told Sagiri that under the central pentagon, there was a prison for criminals who had tried to break into Galka War Academy. Now smelling the blood coming from the captain, he could not begin to imagine what had happened.

”Let’s begin.” Captain Fuwuka said in an impatient tone, he and Torena did not have time for chitchat. The four men sat in different angles on different chairs in the room, but all their eyes were set on

”Senraki sat at the edge of his desk, his earlier jolly mood disappearing. It seemed the man really hated bullying.

”Who was it? or who were they?” Senraki asked.

”I did not see them, but I know who they were.” Sagiri started, and all the men in the room shifted uncomfortably.

”If you did not see them, how could you know who it was?” Fuwuka asked in a tight tone, almost as if he could not believe a word Sagiri was saying, and it was a waste of his time.

”Yes, how could you know it was them?” Torena echoed Fuwuka’s words. The two seemed to be cut from the same cloth with just slightly different fronts.

”I just know, I don’t need my sight to tell people apart,” Sagiri snapped, slightly irritable. Ever since he had met the other him, and with his sixteenth birthday approaching in a few days, he was more on edge than usual. He had always been calm, and nothing bothered him, but he was not feeling like himself lately.

”That is true,” I can vouch for the boy, and so can Lotaga. ”When we were escorting him north, the boy could tell the exact number of enemies who were approaching us in the dark. I guess the cadets who attacked him did not know he could tell them apart without his sight, and that is why they attacked him in the dark ramp,” Salka continued.

”So you are telling me the boy is as good as a hound?” Torena snickered, still not believing him at all.

”Apart from some hunting plans of the west who have a keen sense of smell, I did not know easterners had such tribes,” Fuwuka said, watching Sagiri warily.

”The boy is not from the east,” Senraki finally said. He had been oddly silent the whole time.

”What is your clan and tribe recruit?” Fuwuka asked.

I was adopted by my parents. I do not have a clan or a tribe.” Sagiri Said, and there was a sharp intake from the three out of the four men in the room.

”Well, files are confidential, especially when they are that unique.’ Senraki defended himself when the three looked at him with accusatory looks, especially Salka.

”Don’t look at me like that, Salsal. You did not tell me the boy saved your entire team, either.” Senraki defended himself, scooting slightly away from Captain Salka, who had his chair closest to him.

”Where did you learn the art of the hunt hound?” Fuwuka asked again.

”I learned it myself. It was not hard. I hunted by myself all the time,” Sagiri answered honestly. He had realized he could tell creatures apart by the sound of their heartbeat a long time ago. He was only able to know it was the Tamelku twins who attacked him because of the smell of hate that hung around them.”

”Still, at your young age, you should not have been able to master it to such lengths.” Fuwuka refused to believe what he was hearing. He seemed like a man who had to see to believe.

”The boy is a genius, fuwuka, or do you think he could qualify for aged students slots because he is normal?” Salka said, totally unbothered. He had seen the boy in action, and after what Lotaga had told him, he knew the boy was a genius in studies and sensory perception. ”He even outsmarted the tamelku in the shadow and pillar arena during a sensory exercise. he did not need his eyes then.” Salka said. Sagiri knew that his abilities could be known one day, but this was much sooner than expected. He had wanted his secret to stay safe with just Salka and his genius with senraki, but it seemed he needed all the support he could get to prove he was not lying.

”Still, he is just a boy,” Torena disagreed, too.

”Let’s ask the boy how he knows who assaulted him,” Senraki said again.

”Well, answer the question, recruit.” Fuwuka insisted.

”I have trained with them before in the obstacle arena under Captain Salka and Senior Instructor Lotaga. He can tell you that himself,” Sagiri said, turning to look at the door. No one in the room seemed surprised that Lotaga had been eavesdropping. However, they were surprised that Sagiri could tell Lotaga was outside the door. Lotaga always kept his presence concealed, but Sagiri could perceive curiosity coming from the door that he was only familiar with Lotaga. he was like a child when it came to curiosity.

”I see,” Fuwuka said after a long moment of silence.

”Come in.” Captain Salka said, but only the sound of feet scrambling could be heard as Lotaga ran away. It seemed it was a regular occurrence, and no one minded until Sagiri mentioned his presence. His acts were ignorable to them, but acting without dignity and being found out by a recruit was a blow to the ranks. ”He is going on pet tending duty,” Salka seethed under his breath before turning to Sagiri.

”So it was the tamelku twins? I doubt only one of them could do this much damage,” Captain Salka said.

”It seems they held a grudge after you put me in a game of hunting with one of them. They already disliked me after the sensory exam. it seems they did not take kindly to being taunted.” Sagiri continued, still standing in a respectful stance, but with both hands behind his back.

”I guessed as much,” Salka said, not even surprised.

”So why were you protecting them?” Senraki asked, his aura going dark.

”I wasn’t. I did not want to get more hate from the cadets if the Tamelku twins got in trouble. I have no intention of forgiving them,” he said the last part with more venom than anyone had expected, and Senraki lifted a blow, the dark aura growing even bigger, but with a wink of excitement. He had let his feelings leak through before he kept them in check again.

”I don’t want them punished,” Sagiri continued, and Torena was the first to answer.

”You have no say in that. I am the discipline commander, and I will decide that,” he said in a curt tone, and Sagiri was sure the man was willing to follow it to the end.

’I don’t want them just punished, I want them to die,’ was what Sagiri had wanted to say before Torena cut him off.

”I agree with Torena, the cadets have to be punished according to the rules of the Galka War Academy.” Fuwuka chimed in.

”No,” Sagiri said again, and all four men were uniformly dismissed.

”I don’t want them to be expelled or merely punished. I want to compete with them in an exam and beat them. I want to beat them in sensory perception. If they merely get punished or expelled, I will then be avoided by others and never find a rival to conquer.” Sagiri snapped the urge to punish, taking over him, filling the air around him with chills. His words were no measure for what he really wanted to do to them.

”That is not your place, recruit,” Torena started, not agreeing with Sagiri’s words that lacked both discipline and decorum.

”I was the one who they almost killed, I think it is my place,” he said, his voice deadly as if he was not himself anymore. any punishment by the school to them was nowhere near what he had planned for them. They had hurt him without cause, and they had awakened something inside him which demanded justice.

”I forgot to tell you that we don’t easily expel recruits. After all the resources invested in them and expulsion would be the least possible situation. This is a war school, and punishment for bad conduct does not end here,” Salka continued. if this is put in their conduct books, they will not join a college, and they will never join a college. ”The punishment for almost killing a comrade, however, is punishable by death or losing a limb or a finger on each hand to show their character wherever they went in the future and wherever they will serve,” Salka continued, and Sagiri gasped. If he had known the punishment was that beautiful, he could have let them suffer sooner.

”Oh,” is all he could manage. If he had known how severely Galka war school punished bullying, then he would not have had to suffer.

”Then I want them to lose a finger right after the friendlies. I do not want to ruin the morale of the others,” Sagiri said coolly.

”You may be young, but you are colder than Senraki here,” Captain Salka said, looking at Senraki, who hid a scheming smile right in time so as not to get caught.

”It is still not your place to decide their punishment, recruit, and if you speak out of turn again, I will not let you sleep for a week,” Torena said at the end of his patience with how Sagiri was talking to him.

”Well, them. They will be punished after the friendly. I will personally see to their punishment.” Senraki’s chilling voice filled the room again. The dark aura that surrounded him ever since he came into the healing room was much bigger, almost swallowing the whole room. Sagiri could help but wonder why the man who was always jovial and childish had such a dark side to him.

no one in the room spoke again after Senraki gave his final verdict. It was as if no one dared to defy him in that mood except Captain Salka, who was yawning.

”Well then, I’d better get back to my work.” Salka jumped to his feet. He was the first to leave the room, and Sagiri saluted him. Torena and Fuwuka followed, and he saluted them too. There was prolonged silence after they were left in the room, Senraki. When he finally spoke, Sagiri actually experienced another feeling he had never experienced before. Senraki did not hide his feelings this time.

”If they attack you again before the end of the friendly competitions, I will be the only law.” His voice was cold, and his feelings were cold. He did not have any. ”recruit dismissed,” he said, still sitting in the same spot.

”Yes, Marshal?!” Sagiri saluted him before walking out of the office. What he had perceived from Senraki was similar to his recent urge to punish. only that his was much colder and darker.