Momentary silence filled the entire room as soon as Kazuichi spoke. On one hand, Arukawa Ryota still hasn’t said anything. Nevertheless, Kazuichi assumed that he meant to take revenge, judging from his words.

On the other hand, those who were in the same room weren’t on the same page, that’s why they had no idea what Kazuichi was talking about— hence the silence.

"I know that defeating the East and West Yamanashi Strongholds would greatly benefit us but right now’s not a good time," Kazuichi explained. Although he was speaking to people he barely knew, he was glad that his voice didn’t shake due to his nervousness.

"For one, there’s still a lot of things to do to further improve the stronghold. And secondly, the East and West Yamanashi Strongholds weren’t the only threat we should keep in mind."

"After all, as we speak, a goliath Omega Zombie is rampaging through the next prefecture, destroying everything in its wake. If we’re caught up in the middle of a war, and that Omega Zombie comes. We’re all done for."

Arukawa Ryota stared at Kazuichi for a couple of seconds. Honestly, before he came to the Kazuichi Stronghold, he had concluded that the stronghold leader was either hot-headed or plain old selfish.

But after hearing Kazuichi speak, he finally understood a portion of why his master greatly respected Kazuichi. A smile of concession appeared on Ryota’s face before he let out a huge exhale.

"Of course... and I’m sorry for springing this on you, Takemi-san... I... I’ll take care of it myself. I’m sure Himeno-sensei would think the same."

"Himeno-sensei?" Kazuichi asked, wondering why the name was so familiar. There was only one Himeno he knew in his life, but there was no way that was the same Himeno that Ryota knew, right?

"Yes, Hasegawa Himeno-sensei... she’s the real leader behind the South Yamanashi Stronghold. However, she died thanks to the puppet leader’s decision. We shouldn’t have gone to war... but we didn’t have any choice... I barely escaped thanks to master..."

A stray tear streamed down Ryota’s face before the dams in his eyes completely broke. Although he was crying in silence, the tears in his eyes continued to fall like rivers meandering on the pores of his cheeks. He sniffled, then he muttered a soft apology for being a crybaby.

"Hasegawa Himeno, you say? Well... I wouldn’t be surprised if she became a stronghold leader, she’d always been impressive..." Kazuichi trailed off. He didn’t want to ask the obvious question since Ryota was already sorrowfully weeping.

However, he just had to confirm it. "I-Is she... is she dead?" Kazuichi felt a lump in his throat when he asked the question.

Ryota silently nodded his head.

"..."

"..."

The atmosphere in the room drastically changed as Kazuichi hung his head up in silence. He was acquainted with Hasegawa Himeno— no, calling it acquainted was an understatement. To say the least, Kazuichi treated her as his savior.

Pure rage could be felt by Kazuichi as he slowly stood up without saying another word. It’s as if the world had crumbled twice beneath his feet, and all he wanted to do was cause chaos. His eyes slowly turned bloodshot, and Arisu caught a glimpse of it just as he was heading to the door.

Due to the intense bloodthirst and pressure that Kazuichi let out, the others couldn’t move for a couple of seconds. It was only when Kazuichi looked away that they were able to breathe again.

Even Arisu who was supposed to be Kazuichi’s equal felt like she would die if Kazuichi were to attack her right then and there.

"Where are you going, Kazuichi?" It was Tris who was able to speak first as she slowly walked towards Kazuichi. She had no idea why Kazuichi was acting that way, but she could more or less guess taht this had something to do with Hasegawa Himeno whom Ryota mentioned.

"I’m going to the Yamanashi Prefecture. Please take care of the stronghold for me." Kazuichi said in a calm tone a if he was just going out on another Monday.

However, everyone knew otherwise. He was going to exact his fury on the two strongholds. It looked as if he didn’t care if he’d be gravely injured... or if he’d die in the process.

"I’m coming with you."Arisu finally got out of Kazuichi’s trance and she caught up to him grabbing him by the shoulder. "If you’re going, then I’m going too."

"No, I need you here. And also, inform Jurou about this. We’re going to update you via the scouts so you don’t have to worry about us."

"I’m going with you, Kazuichi, and that’s final." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"As I said—"

Before Kazuichi could add to what he was going to say, Tris interrupted him.

"No, you can stay here, Arisu... I’m coming with Kazuichi. You’re more capable with overseeing the entire stronghold than me. So you stay, and I’ll go." Tris let out, even though Kazuichi clearly stated that the she should stay.

"Nope, I’m accompanying Kazuichi and that’s final." Arisu said as her legs hardened and turned a nice bright garnet color.

"Both of you stay. This is my fight. I’m going to destroy them." Kazuichi spoke as if he could take on two strongholds at once. Right now, he was blinded with rage, and he just wanted to let off some steam by causing serious damage to the two strongholds in the process.

"No... I’m coming with him. This is for my master... and there’s no way I could just sit still here knowing I could’ve done something instead of just running away. I’ve accomplished my mission of meeting Takemi-san... I think master wouldn’t stop me from avenging her death."

Slam— !

"Yeah, about that." A familiar figure entered the room, along with two other men whom they’ve never seen before.

"Jurou? And who are..." Arisu was the first one to ask.

"They’re my fellow comrades in the army. Listen, we’ve overheard your conversation. I think we may be of assistance to you, Kazuichi. Allow us to accompany you this time." Jurou offered, confidently extending his hands towards Kazuichi.