Chapter 153: The Pointless Sacrifice, And The Inclusion To The Stronghold Wars

I must... I must get out of here.

The only thing on the man’s mind was to get out of there as soon as possible. He disregarded everyone else, only thinking of the very mission he assigned to himself. Right now, he knew that that was the only thing he could do, that’s why he set himself up to go through with the escape although it ate away at his guilt.

If any, it would’ve been much better if he had died. However, he didn’t want his master’s sacrifice to be in vain. She disregarded everyone else, and now, everyone else was killed along with her pointless sacrifice.

Filled with determination, the man continued his escape, with the only thought of getting to the Kazuichi Stronghold to ask for help. For one, he had no idea why she directed him to that place. He had heard a lot of good things about it, but he couldn’t be so sure.

Of course, he had every right to be skeptical since every stronghold has its flaws. For this particular one, it may very well be a sketchy stronghold since the majority of the people he conversed with only had good things to say about it.

And usually, if that was the case, he might very well believe the opposite.

Even then, he had decided to listen to the final words of his master. This was her only request after taking him in. And now that she’s gone, she was determined to follow her dying will to the letter.

— — —

Memories of his master came flooding back into his mind while he was unconscious. It was like a fleeting dream that would never come true, as he was well aware that his master had passed. In the moment of her passing, she wore a velvety smile, almost divine, and that was the last image that was etched in his mind.

Gasp~!

"What... why... where am I?" The man darted from his bed and looked around, flailing his arms as if swatting mosquitoes. Kazuichi, who was sitting by his bedside, was almost slapped by a backhand but fortunately, he was able to dodge thanks to his quick reaction time.

"You’re safe." Kazuichi clasped his hands together as he stared at the man who just come to the stronghold. He had no idea why he passed out at the front, nor what his purpose was for coming here. All he knew was that seeing a Hybrid linger right outside the stronghold was never good news.

"Am I... I need to get to Kazuichi Stronghold. Is this... Kazuichi Stronghold?" The man asked after letting out an exhale.

Briefly, Kazuichi side-glanced toward Kamagawa Arisu just to confirm that the man wasn’t faking anything. Of course, he could’ve faked being attacked midway and was just using that as an excuse to get inside. For all he knows, the man might very well be a spy sent by another stronghold to keep tabs on them.

With a resolute nod, Arisu confirmed that the man was genuine... or at least for now. It was thanks to her enhanced sense of smell that she could see through the lies and hoaxes of the other party.

"I’m Takemi Kazuichi, stronghold leader of the Kazuichi Stronghold. Do you mind telling us what happened?"

— — —

Meanwhile,

"I’m sorry, I’m not following. What’s going on? Is there something I should know?" Himuro questioned before turning to his wife and daughter. "Oh, and don’t worry about him, he was in our group back in training." He let out.

"Actually, I need your help. It’s the reason I sent the transmission." Judging from Kojiro’s lower tone of voice, everyone could tell that he was about to say something serious.

"I need help bringing down the East and West Yamanashi Prefecture Stronghold." Kojiro let out one breath. It’s as if a bomb was dropped on the group when they heard what Kojiro had in mind.

"What?! Are you crazy?" Satoru hissed, nudging Jurou using his elbow in an attempt to make him agree with his sentiment.

However, Jurou didn’t react at all. Instead, Jurou just silently contemplated on Kojiro’s words. "Hmmm... and judging by everything you’ve done up until now... are you sure we can do this? You don’t have to tell me the plan. Just tell me that we can push through with this."

Tight-lipped, Jurou nodded his head before he stood up. "Yeah, I wouldn’t have given you the transmission if I wasn’t certain about this. Knowing the two of you, there was no way you’d agree unless I’ve got a foolproof plan."

A faint smile appeared on Jurou’s face as he approvingly extended his hand for a handshake. "Then I’m in on this. Of course that doesn’t mean I can’t back down after hearing the entirety of the plan, all right?" Jurou said in a monotonous tone.

"Wha—? Why?" Captain Satoru couldn’t comprehend how spontaneous Himuro and Jurou were. Instead of wracking their brains together before they made their move, the two of them were already raring to go.

Heaving out a sigh that’s both filled with concession and relief, Captain Satoru shrugged his shoulders before letting out a single ’all right’. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Just like what Jurou said. It’s not like we fully agreed to this. Let’s hear out the plan first, and then we’ll see if it’s amenable or not."

Jurou excitedly saluted before wearing a smile on his face. Now that he was in the clear, he began explaining the plan to the two of them.

— — —

Back at Kazuichi Stronghold,

After getting the gist of what transpired, Kazuichi could more or less guess what the man was about to ask of him. And they were finally able to get his name. Arukawa Ryota

Apparently, he was the right-hand man of the stronghold leader of the South Yamanashi Stronghold. He was there when she was killed, and he almost died at the hands of the East and West Yamanashi Stronghold. Luckily, he managed to escape before he was killed, and he was able to fulfill his master’s dying wish— to go to Kazuichi Stronghold and inform them about the situation in Yamanashi Prefecture.

"If you’re going to ask for our help... then... I’m afraid we can’t do it." Kazuichi let out before the man could say anything.