Chapter 99 - Improper Disclosure

"But still, if I were any other person than the Great Commander Luken Regalia, I would have probably decayed by now." The Commander wiped the sweat off of his forehead. "That is not important, we should not dwell on hypotheticals, I am alright and nobody else is hurt, that is what should be regarded as the most important thing today. Do not sweat it, Yin."

The Commander was doing his best to make Yin calm down.

"We should take a breather. Yin, do you want to help me with dinner?"

The Serpent Summoner asked him.

"S-Sure, Gavin."

He finally mustered the courage to mutter out words.

Yin was in a state of shock.

Just like how it was in his fight against Kai Xin, he almost killed another human being again.

"What have you done this time, Yin?"

The Creator's voice asked him as he walked towards Gavin.

He did his best to ignore the voice, though.

Suna, Zach, and Oliver talked with the Commander, they had asked about what the mission was about and why it was important.

They had started to bombard him with questions.

Meanwhile, Yin had not said a word to Gavin in the entirety of the time they were preparing dinner.

"Are you well, Yin?" Gavin asked with a concerned tone.

"I-I honestly do not know, sir." Yin tried to force a smile, but it was an obvious one. That smile was the type of expression a conflicted person would do. "I almost did the same thing to Kai Xin a week ago, you know?"

"…"

Gavin did not know what to say to the C Rank Slayer at this point. He figured it would have been better to keep Yin talking, perhaps he might be able to vent a little.

"What exactly happened back then?"

Yin cleared his throat.

"I am not sure if I should tell you this, maybe the others have and I just forgot, but did you know the reason why the Dragon was here?"

Yin turned the question around to Gavin.

"How did you know his moniker? He always hated that name…"

Gavin said.

"O-Oh, h-he told me, that's right, it came straight from his mouth."

"I see."

"Basically, he was tasked with finding out how strong the Six Blades rookies were. That was what he said to us."

"Ignis probably put him up to that. As hectic and chaotic as Kai Xin is, he respects authority." Gavin clicked his tongue. "Tch. He should have joined the Six Blades."

Yin knew what happened and why he did not end up joining the Six Blades, but he figured it was not the proper time and place to bring such a sensitive matter up.

"When he rushed towards us and we began fighting, I activated my decay aura by mistake and started to wither down his sword from metal to rust until it had finally turned into dust."

Yin said with a sad expression.

"I feel horrible about it every single time that I am able to remember that moment. This has only happened to sir Luken and Kai, but what if I had done this on accident at a lower ranked Slayer who did not know any better? Would I be branded a murderer? I do not know."

Gavin sighed.

"I could not possibly begin to fathom just how heavy it is for you to have those powers as a kid your age. I wish me and Luken could help you carry the burden of that, we really do. A temporary solution would be for you to always use the suppressing gloves that Luken gave to you when you first got here. Only ever take it out when you are in combat or any other similar occasion. Got it?"

Yin nodded.

"Can you tell me just how you got these powers, Yin? Maybe we could find some sort of cure or alternate way to control it for you."

Gavin wanted to know just how Yin was able to contract this power, not for his own selfish reasons, but to help his rookie.

The Serpent Summoner's concerns were real.

"I-I am sorry, Gavin. I am afraid I really cannot disclose how I got it, I hope you'll respect that."

Gavin pulled out a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, I do."

He said as he placed his hand on Yin's shoulder.

During dinner, because of how awkward the whole situation was, Luken kept breaking the ice.

None of them were really interested in whatever nonsense he had to say, though.

That was when he finally gave in.

"Okay! I will tell you what we were doing outside the Gates, then!"

He claimed.

"Luken!"

Gavin corrected him immediately.

"As long as you three keep your mouth shut, there is no concern of you guys telling on me, right? I would say you four but Oliver seems to be best friends with me, isn't that right, Oliver?"

The baby panda sneered at the Commander and just continued eating his carrots.

This was a pleasant surprise as Olivero only ever ate bamboo shoots.

Gavin sighed.

"There is no stopping you whenever you are this hyperactive, very well, just not the classified parts of it, okay? Just tell them the parts that you deem exciting for them or whatever."

Suna and Zach were delighted.

Yin was still having his head down, he was both ashamed and guilty to have endangered someone like Luken's life. Someone who could have helped humanity win against this war much better than he would have.

"The nerve of you to almost kill the Slayer Corps Commander, how riveting…"

The Creator whispered words like that to him from time to time ever since earlier.

It was not helping Yin's mental state of mind become any better.

"Now then! Where was I?"

Luken exclaimed.

"You were saying something really interesting about what your mission was about or something…"

Zach said with a deadpan expression.

"Oh right. Then I shall change that! I will tell you some about some new breed of monsters, though." Luken chugged his beer down. "Pay attention, okay, kids?"

"You definitely should get to the good part already."

Suna was impatiently tapping her foot.

"Surely, you've heard of Angels, right? Every single Slayer sat on this table right now has fought one. Well, everyone except for one."

Luken's cerulean orbs stared at Zachary Lancaster's very soul.

"Would you stop that?"

The Fire Slayer said to the Commander as he felt creeped out by it.

"Anyway, there is a new kind of Angel breed outside."

Yin, Suna, and Zachary leaned an inch closer.

None of them were attempting to disrupt Luken's train of thought, who knows when it would get derailed like so many times before?

"These Angels, my dear rookies, do not have wings. They are also generally less strong than a normal Angel. But the difference is that they can patrol areas in large amounts and numbers."

Suna raised her hand.

"Yes, Suna?"

"Question sir! What of their fighting style? Do they still use the same one that the Angel's employ on the battlefield?"

"Hmm. Well there is generally less flying around and air maneuvering because they do not have wings, but think of it this way, they are not exponentially weaker than a normal Angel, just a little bit only. So, a lower ranked Slayer like a D or C Rank will definitely have to fight for their lives once they come face to face with a swarm of them."

The Commander said.

His tone was serious, he was definitely telling the truth.

"I am just going to be honest with you guys, I know we should not disclose this type of stuff to rookies or any other Slayer below the rank of S. But, we lost someone during the operation."

Gavin's words were even more of a kick to the stomach.

The rookies' eyes were widened.

The three of them were definitely surprised.

"How did you lose someone? Aren't you all S Rank Slayers and above?"

Zach asked.

"Yeah, I ask that question myself every single time I get, Zach."

Gavin answered.

"I am telling you this because you should never underestimate any kind of monster outside, specially you, Zach. I know how you fight, you generally hold back unless you deem your adversary as necessary to give your all towards."

Zach did not even protest, he knew the Serpent Summoner's assessment of his fighting style was correct.

"Never ever do that once you are outside, exterminate your foe without giving it the chance to escape or regroup. That is what Slayers do, we exterminate any other non-human lifeforms outside of Niflheim. If we do not, then they will end up doing that to us. It is not a pretty world out there, we either kill or be killed."

Their dinner ended and as they were cleaning up the table and the plates, Luken went outside.

He lit a cigarette and huffed the smoke in and out.

The Commander had noticed that Yin was also outside.

"Hey! What's up?"

"I am sorry, sir."

"I know you are. It is not like you did it on purpose Yin, it is okay."

The Commander smiled at his rookie.