THE LAST KEEPER

Chapter 119: 119. TRUST

”Did you really have to render him unconscious?” a muffled voice said.

”Well, he was frozen, and we needed to move quickly,” Another voice answered.

”Now, how long are we going to wait till he wakes up so we can walk through the gates? We can’t walk through a War Headquarters gate with an unconscious boy. How are we going to explain this?” Another voice said.

”I can hit him to wake him again,” the second voice said.

”No, you won’t,” another voice defended.

”Quite bickering, we have been travelling for almost a week, what is one more hour of waiting?” A more mature voice said, and the bickering stopped, but for only a moment.

”You should be thanking me. What is the use of these things if they were not enough to keep out the noise?” The second voice argued again, as if he was holding up something and showing it to the group.

”Quit flinging the seals around,” another voice joined. The group went silent for a while, and Sagiri was grateful. It felt like he had been stuck underwater, and his mouth was filled with sand. His head throbbed violently, and he groaned.

”Did you hear him groan? I think he is awake,” another voice said, and a moment later, a pair of hands wrapped around his shoulders and lifted him to a sitting position. The movement caused the pain at the back of his head to shoot forward into his eyes, forcing them open moments later. Even with his eyes open, he was still disoriented, and he did not know where he was. For several following moments, he did not know where he was or who he was until his memory finally recalled what had transpired.

Someone had taken it upon himself to render him unconscious. He should have been angry, but instead he was thankful. until he learned how to filter out noises and emotions once again, with his new growth, being unconscious through it all was the best option.

”Are you okay? Can you walk?” Nvaru’s voice reached his ears. It sounded so high-pitched he wanted to flinch, but he fought the urge.

”I’m fine,” sagiri answered after a long pause before trying to stand, but he almost fell. N’varu helped him up and supported almost his entire body weight.

”Here are your useless things,” Kaka grumbled, handing back the oru-seals.

”Thank you,” Sagiri said, receiving his seals.

”Don’t thank me, next time get a prescription that works,” Kaka sneered.

”Thank you for putting me to sleep,” Sagiri said, and Kaka froze. His eyes widened slightly, but he shook it off and wore his best irritable expression. It was, after all, the first time he was being thanked for his ruthlessness.

”Well, if you freeze again, I’ll kill you,” Kaka said after a moment and turned away.

”The boy thanked you. Why are you so mad?” Lotaga yawned, jumping to his feet from his place on the ground where he had been sprawled. ”One more thing before we get inside the headquarters, sagiri, I need that weapon of yours,” Lotaga added, stretching out his hand, but Sagiri stepped back immediately.

”I am not giving you Nokai,” Sagiri said, sobering up.

”Hey, calm down. I am only holding it until we make it past the gates. Or would you prefer it if they take it away?” Lotaga asked.

”I will not give it to them,” Sagiri said in a flat tone, and he meant it. He was not going to let anyone take Nokai from him again. Over his dead body.

”I will give it back after the check-in. You do trust me to keep it safe, don’t you?” Lotaga asked, his hand still stretched out. Sagiri thought it through for a second if he trusted Lotaga. The man had almost died for him, and he had not actively tried to harm him even once. Besides, Lotaga could have easily taken the weapon while he was passed out, but he didn’t. It could be worse if the wardens of the headquarters took it. It was better if Lotaga had it.

”I do,” sagiri answered after a moment and retrieved Nokai and handed it to Lotaga. He felt naked after handing it over, but he pushed himself to give it away.

”Let’s move,” Lotaga said soon after, and he now looked a bit more serious than he had the whole journey. Guess everyone was feeling the tense environment as they approached the gates of the headquarters.

High walls surrounded the place, and it looked even more uptight than the Galka war headquarters. The gates were twenty feet high, and at the moment, they were wide open. Archers stood a few feet apart on top of the wall, and on the ground, wardens who wielded spears taller than them patrolled the gate. They were at least the same rank as Lotaga and just as beefed up.

The team was stopped at the gate, and Lotaga flashed the silver token yet again. Even so, they had to check their combat bags before they were allowed in. The whole thing took around thirty minutes, and Lotaga had to fill out an entry document. The wardens were searching for any foreign thing, and Sagiri did not know where Lotaga hid Nokai, but it was not found on him when they searched him.

The place was a whole district in itself. It was still a bit of a distance to walk to the general’s office. He had to welcome them personally to the place. The office was in the big octagon at the far centre of the place that was at least a hundred and twenty feet tall and the size of the entire inner nonagon of Galka War Academy.

”General Felunko is more strict than Salka, so be careful not to piss him off, or he will feed you to his pets. He and Salka seem to share a hobby. Be on your best behavior,” Lotaga said, and everyone groaned. He was the one with the worst behavior of any of them and in no place to give them any teddy talk.

”You should tell yourself that,” Kaka said, unable to just hold his tongue.

”You are the one with the worst behavior, always. Your combat suit is not even zipped to the top.” Maita snickered.

”That reminds me, General Felunko is a half-blood from both the Asakana and Chimera clans. So he is like these two mixed together,” Lotaga said, looking between Kaka and Maita, and everyone could be seen creating a physical picture of the product of the worst possible mixture. An asakana and a chimera mixed is the worst mixture possible. If he was as irritable and ruthless as Kaka and as impatient as Maita, then he was indeed someone to walk on eggshells around.

”It is the chimera who taints his blood,” Kaka said.

”It is you, Asakana, who taints him.” Maita shot back.

The two glared at each other, and Lotaga looked at the rest of the group in a ’I told you so’ look.