On The Other Side: I Quit Being Human

"U-Uh... I swear upon my ancestor\'s blood, I didn\'t see anything," Velucan says with conviction.

I can\'t see how he looks currently, but I am sure he has that stupid serious look that everyone always puts on their face when they say they have never done something stupid.

In response to that, Valeria puts her blind mask on calmly then looks at me with a small smile. I, too, smile lightly at her and put my mask back on.

I don\'t immediately turn around to face Velucan, because I need to come up with an excuse to explain what Valeria has done to me. I honestly can\'t think of a believable excuse—I don\'t even know why she initiated that in the very first place.

"Why are you here, Velucan?" Just as I am about to turn around, I can hear Valeria\'s cold voice.

"I... Uh... I mean, Lord Ilschevar has entrusted Layland to me, so I was wondering why he wasn\'t by my side. I—I came here to take Layland with me so he could get his supply. Yes, that\'s it!"

"Shouldn\'t it not suppose to happen if you had paid more attention to the person you were taking care of?"

"... I have no excuse, Lady Valeria."

I haven\'t seen Darth Valeria for a while now—I have gotten used to her second persona, so I have always treated her the same—so seeing her act that coldly and sternly toward Velucan kind of amuses me.

I even turn my body around just to see what kind of a face Velucan is making. He controls his facial expression quite masterfully unfortunately, but it is still apparent from his dilating pupils that he is scared.

Tap. Tap.

Valeria strides toward Velucan calmly, intimidating him in each of the inches she eliminates. By the time she arrives in front of him, he turns completely rigid, anyone will think he is a preserved animal.

"See nothing, you do."

That is the only thing Valeria says to Velucan before she points her finger to his forehead and a small beam of white light comes out of its tip.

The beam strikes him right in the middle of his forehead, knocking him completely out while it is (I believe) doing something to his mind. I can hear Ilschevar sigh beside me, but he doesn\'t show any intention to intervene.

A few seconds passed, and Valeria finally retracts her finger. Velucan regains his consciousness once again, but he looks totally confused about how he is there.

"Why are you here, Velucan?"

"Uh... I honestly don\'t know..." Velucan scratches his head awkwardly. "Kuhum! I believe however," he looks at me, "I am here for the youngling."

"Great. I hope you can teach him how to properly get his provision himself." Valeria nods her head lightly, then turns to me. "You should follow him, Layland."

I nod my head then walk toward Velucan. Valeria stops me when I am right in front of Velucan (right beside her), then puts her hand on my head.

"I have given you my blessing, so you shall do your best. I have high expectations on you—don\'t disappoint me."

\'Oh, so the kiss was a blessing?\' I laugh faintly as I muse to myself. "I have had enough disappointing my mother and myself, so I won\'t disappoint you. You can expect great things from me."

"... I am not your mother. Just know that."

"Hm?"

I am slightly confused at why she needs to emphasize that she is not my mother—I know she is not—but I shrug it off in the end. I believe she just said that because she doesn\'t want to be mother-zoned by me.

\'Was that a word—mother-zoned? Well, whatever.\'

Valeria takes her hand off my head. I bow my head lightly afterwards, then follow right behind Velucan who seems very eager to show me the inside of the Barrack.

"You know, pup. I honestly just remembered about you when I saw you back then." Velucan turns to me and grins. "I didn\'t know how I could end up here, but I am glad that Lady Valeria didn\'t scold me for forgetting about you."

"I see..."

I pity the Garou slightly—not as much as I pity the life of male bees though. After all, he has a part of his memory sealed just because he saw something he shouldn\'t suppose to see.

Still, I need to thank him for being Valeria\'s Spell victim. I have been wanting to witness the way that very Spell works, and thanks to him, it has finally come true—it was as fascinating as I expected.

That Spell, after all, was the Spell Valeria had cast on me to awaken the memories of my first Reset that my mind had unconsciously concealed from me due to how traumatic it was.

"Oh, yeah. I haven\'t given you that!"

When we are about to enter the Barrack, Velucan suddenly stops in his track, prompting me to do the same. He turns to me, then hands me a necklace with a sickle-like curled wing accessory hanging on its chain.

"This is?"

"That signifies your Military Rank and your identity. You can channel your Mana into it, and let the Rune inscribed on it to display your name and your Legion." Velucan grins. "Don\'t lose it, okay?"

"What does this one wing mean?"

"Oh, that means you are in the First Wing Rank—the lowest Military Rank. We prefer call the First Wings greenhorns though."

"How many Military Ranks are there?"

"There are twelves. Starting from the First Wing to the Twelfth Wing." Velucan smirks. "I, myself, am a Tenth Wing, the highest Military Rank that a mere General like me can obtain."

"What about Val—Lady Valeria?"

At my slip, I curse myself inwardly. Velucan looks at me weirdly for that, but thankfully, he is quick to shrug things off.

I know that Valeria has given me the permission to call her casually in public, but it still doesn\'t sit quite well with me to call her casually in front of her subordinates.

After all, she has put a lot of efforts to create her Darth Valeria persona. She has done her best to portray herself as an aloof and detached individual in her subordinates\' eyes—I can\'t just ruin her image by treating her casually like that.

"Well, Lady Valeria is an Eleventh Wing. She is just a rank below Lord Ilschevar who possesses the honorary title of the Twelfth Wing, which makes her currently the highest ranking member of the military."

"What about the other Generals? Is there an Eleventh Wing among the other Generals?"

I suspect there is another Eleventh Wing among the Generals, because I am sure one of the hiding Demon King Candidates is among them. That person can\'t not be exceptional, so I am sure he has to be an Eleventh Wing.

"There is only one Eleventh Wing in this Kingdom, and that is Lady Valeria." Velucan shakes his head. "All of the Generals are in the same Rank—we wouldn\'t be one, if we weren\'t."

"Ah, I see..." The Generals are smarter than I expected. "Then, what about the Ranks of the soldiers in our troop? What is the lowest Rank?"

"Listen, Pup. You don\'t have to feel pressured." Velucan pats my shoulder comfortingly. "You join us in our quest to gain experience, so you don\'t need to worry about your shortcomings—it\'s fine."

"I just want to gauge our military power..."

"Oh? You are not going to have a self-deprecating thought?"

"..."

"Kuhum! The lowest-ranked warrior in our troop is Vibiane, who is a Sixth Wing, and the highest-ranked warrior is Eliseus, who is a Ninth Wing."

"Lady Valeria is right... Your Legions are filled with competent (yet troublesome) individuals," I remark.

Velucan smirks then slaps my back. "Kuhahaha! That is to be expected from someone like me, don\'t you think so? A great General = a great subordinate!"

I roll my eyes at Velucan\'s narcissistic comment—he, of course, can\'t see it—then we both step inside the Barrack.

Upon entering the Barrack, I am greeted by the scene that I normally see in the guild of a fantasy world setting. I have considered the interior would look like that, but I didn\'t expect it would truly look just like that.

Considering its intimidatingly crude exterior, after all, the interior should have looked like a slightly habitable abandoned dungeon. I just didn\'t expect it would look this comfortable and... Warm.

"Do you see the Demon girl standing at the counter?" Velucan turns to me. "That girl is Ariadne. Go up to her, show her your necklace, and tell her what mission you are going to take. She will give you the supply you are allowed to get."

I turn my gaze to the north, to the girl that Velucan is pointing to, then immediately walk toward her. I can still see some of the soldiers that are going to the Conquest Mission with me also getting their supply there.

Upon reaching there, I wait in line for a few minutes, until my turn to get the supply I am allowed to get comes.

"Hello, how may I help you?" Greets the silver haired Demon girl, Ariadne.

I take out my necklace, then says, "Conquest Mission."

"O-Oh... You are that new guy." Ariadne laughs awkwardly. "I am sorry to tell you, but there is no provision for a greenhorn in a Conquest Mission. Ah, don\'t be upset! I can give you a Spatial Storage though. You can fill it yourself!"

"..."

I didn\'t expect it to happen in the slightest. Alas, sad as it is, I still have to begin my first journey ... With nothing.