Chapter 34 - Shaheen Patel

Yin wanted to pursue the boy.

Suna grabbed his hand and pulled him back.

"It's not worth it, he might have backup waiting, the last thing we need is for you to get ambushed and become a bargaining tool for the Red King, right?"

Suna said.

"Hey wait!"

Luken shouted.

"Let him go, I've already tracked him with my snake."

"Man he could have left a couple hundred zennies, you know?"

"Honestly, how are you still this shrewd?"

Gavin looked at him.

His green eyes pierced Luken as if he was judging his whole existence.

"Hey, hey, don't look at me like that! You can't blame me for trying, man! Still, that kid was cool. Almost as cool as I was at his age, right, Gavin?"

"You wish."

Moments later, the Red King collapsed, his lips were white as snow.

"He's gone into hypovolemic shock. Don't worry, I sense a few Enforcers, they should be here anytime soon."

Gavin said.

"Which do you think it was, Gavin?"

Luken asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Was he a Fire Slayer or was he just too weak to use his own affinity?"

"A bit of both, honestly."

"Damn, I did not expect the Commander to do anything smart. Props to him, he really baited the guy."

Yin said as he observed and thought about what occurred.

"When it comes to combat, there are a lot more factors to be considered other than just raw physical strength and skill usage. The psychological aspect of it really is underrated. Commander Luken revels in that."

Yin was fascinated.

"He's a sore loser. He hates losing more than anything else, why do you think he's the strongest Slayer around in the ranks of the Slayer Corps as a whole?"

She laughed.

A couple of moments after that bizarre encounter with the masked, scythe-wielding boy, sounds of horses kicking were heard at a distance.

Luken waved his arms around, calling for them.

"Over here!"

As the horses approached, Luken's face immediately turned sour.

"Sh-Shaheen?!"

"Luken?!"

Shaheen Patel was a man in his twenties with a medium build. Together with Luken, Isabelle, and Gavin, they were sent to the Outer Gates for their very first expedition years ago.

Shaheen had a sepia colored complexion which greatly complimented his dark bushy eyebrows. He also had an imposing aura around him partly because of his thick mustache.

He wielded an ironclad mace proudly on his waist.

"What's a piece of filth like you doing here?!"

"I could say the same to you!"

"Well, it kind of makes sense for Shaheen to be here since he is an officer of the Enforcers in this part of Niflheim, you know?"

Gavin said to Luken.

"Ah, Gavin. Greetings"

The Enforcer's Commander shook the Serpent Summoner's hand and bowed his head slightly, as did Gavin.

Luken merely rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Hey Suna, who's that guy?"

"That guy, Yin, is an officer of the Enforcers. He was with Gavin and Luken when they first ventured the world outside. They almost died."

"So he has history with our superiors?"

"Well, I've only met him two times, tonight being the second time and all. But after coming out of their first expedition alive, Shaheen vowed to stay inside Niflheim and be the Enforcer that everybody looks up to."

"Stay inside? Is he that scared?"

"No, he's plenty strong. It's rare to find a Slayer with such skill as well as physical power as he does. He just decided long ago that fighting monsters and Angels outside was not his calling. That to expand Niflheim's domain and reach, someone had to change the Enforcers from inside the ranks. At least that's what Gavin told me."

"But aren't most of the Enforcers here corrupt and drunk with power? Is he the same as them?"

"No, like I said, he vows to change the Enforcer's way of doing things from inside. That basically sums up the S ranked Earth Slayer, Shaheen Patel.

Yin nodded and absorbed all the information there was.

"Oh, before I forget, you do have a healer with you, right?"

Gavin asked as he pointed to the Red King's body. He was fighting death himself.

Shaheen nodded and instructed his subordinates to heal the man.

Shortly after healing the Red King and stopping the bleeding by cauterizing the wounds with spells, the healer ran back to Shaheen and reported something that made his jaw drop.

"S-Sir! That's the Red King!"

Luken was grinning smugly at a distance.

"You see, Shaheen, we caught this troublesome murderer for you and for-"

"By the Gods, are you guys alright, Gavin?"

"We're fine, one of ours got injured, but it was not that severe."

The Commander got interrupted by Shaheen who was talking to Gavin.

Both of them paid Luken no mind.

"This might be the first time in a hundred years where the Enforcers actually managed to detain the Red King before someone else assassinated him and got the title. I owe you and the Six Blades kids, I really do."

"Think nothing of it, we just wanted to help, really. Also, you better send in a few messenger birds back to your HQ, we've got countless unconscious thugs just hanging on the roof."

Gavin said as he glanced up above.

"Justice will be served. You really have gotten stronger and even more reliable these past few years!"

Shaheen exclaimed.

"Well, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but it was a collective effort of both Gavin and I which resulted in the capture of the Re-"

"Oh! Are these the new Six Blades recruits?"

Luken got interrupted, again.

Yin and Suna walked towards them them.

"I should not have gotten injured, I'm sorry Commander, Gavin."

"I knew you only tried to save Yin, thank you for that, Suna."

Gavin responded.

"How you have grown Suna! I have only seen you a couple of months ago but you look as fierce as ever!"

"Is this guy always this loud?"

Yin whispered to Suna.

She just nodded nonchalantly.

When the S rank Enforcer locked eyes with Yin, he glared at him.

"I-I'm Yin Sohaya, sir! C Rank Slayer of the Six Blades!"

"You guys recruited someone with that rank?"

Shaheen was confused.

Yin turned pale in shame.

"I-I'll become even stronger and surpass the Commander, sir!"

"Such passion. That's good! I can truly see why you've been picked, Yin."

Shaheen patted Yin's head.

His expression was definitely that of pride and hope.

Yin had felt appreciated, although not for his rank, but for his tenacity and drive to become the strongest.