“Don’t move! What do you think you’re doing?”
The Shinigami saw Silas take a few steps and gripped his hilt on instinct.
Silas raised his hands to show he meant nothing by it.
He was simply collecting his spoils.
During that fierce exchange, a great many fragments had dropped off Hasegawa.
Silas gathered up most of them and stopped there, under the nervous eye of the Shinigami instructor.
[Obtained Spiritual Power Fragment x22, Spiritual Power Level EXP +220]
[Obtained Zanjutsu Insight x6, Zanjutsu EXP +60]
[Obtained Shunpo Insight x4, Shunpo EXP +40]
[Obtained Kidō Insight x1, Kidō EXP +10]
Reading the system text, Silas understood the situation clearly.
Beyond having higher Spiritual Pressure than him, Hasegawa hadn’t been much stronger in any other area.
After that practical test, Silas had a clear grasp of where his own strength stood.
Leaving aside a Zanpakutō’s Shikai, his overall strength was already no worse than a regular high-ranking officer’s.
That might be very strong for a Shin’ō Academy student, but in the vastness of the Seireitei it didn’t yet count for much.
“By the way, sir, my classmates left ahead of me. Is it safe now? Did you see a small girl named Ise Nanao?”
“Hmm? I didn’t notice. But don’t worry, the students have already gathered at the assembly point. We’re only missing one, a fifth-year named Vane… what’s your name?”
“My name is Silas.”
“Oh.”
Silas and the Shinigami guarding him stood there, looking at each other.
Before long, a commotion came from a distance.
A moment later, several well-drilled Shinigami arrived on the scene.
The one leading them had long golden hair, and he swept the area with a cold gaze.
“Where is Hasegawa?”
The Shinigami beside Silas snapped to attention and reported with some excitement.
“Reporting, Captain Hirako! Sixth Seat Hasegawa left in the one o’clock direction. Several of the guiding Shinigami with us have already gone after him.”
“Fine. You lot take this student back. Leave a few men to patrol the area.”
Having arranged for a handful of Shinigami to stay and handle the scene, Hirako Shinji’s figure vanished from the spot.
Under escort, Silas finally returned to the Soul Society through the senkaimon.
When they came out the other side, the place was very empty.
Aside from a few stationed Shinigami, there were only Ise Nanao, Harada Heita, and the third-years they had been guiding.
The moment Silas appeared, the first thing Nanao noticed was the damage to the Shin’ō Academy uniform he was wearing.
“You’re hurt! What happened?”
Looking at Nanao, worried and rather worked up, Silas smiled and waved it off.
“They’re only surface wounds. If I’d come back any later they’d have healed on their own.”
At that point a Shinigami from the Fifth Division nearby reached out to separate the two of them.
“A serious incident occurred during this konsō internship, though fortunately there were no casualties.”
“As witnesses on the scene, you’ll need to cooperate with our investigation.”
“This student is injured. It isn’t serious, but we still need to take him to the Fourth Division for an examination.”
“The rest of you, head to the Fifth Division first.”
Nanao pressed her lips together at that.
“Can I go with him to the Fourth Division first…”
“It’s alright, Nanao. Do as this Shinigami says for now. Let’s not make trouble for anyone.”
Before the Shinigami could speak, Silas cut in to talk her round.
The Shinigami in charge heard him and cast an appreciative look his way.
A kid who knows how to read a room.
“Let’s go.”
At his signal, Silas was separated from the others and led off toward the Fourth Division by two members of the Fifth Division.
This incident involved a high-ranking officer of the Fifth Division defecting, which was unquestionably a scandal for them.
Which was why the Fifth Division’s Captain had mobilized personally and moved this fast.
Until the facts were clear, Silas, as the only eyewitness, would obviously be kept under close watch until the matter was settled.
Silas turned it over in his mind along the way.
He wondered what Aizen was doing right about now.
If all of this had been arranged by him, why spend a seated officer of that rank?
Could it be…
a piece meant to be thrown away?
“By the way, I saw Captain Hirako back there, but not Lieutenant Aizen. Did he come today as well?”
At the question, the two Shinigami beside him traded a glance.
“Why do you ask?”
“Just curious.”
One of them thought about it.
It wasn’t worth hiding.
“Lieutenant Aizen received another rescue assignment in the Human World and set out some time ago.”
Silas nodded at that.
There was no need to think it through any further.
As meticulous as ever.
A little later, they arrived at the Fourth Division.
After some simple treatment there, Silas was put in a private room inside the division.
Outside the door, the two Fifth Division Shinigami never once left their posts.
A day passed quietly.
The sudden Menos Grande attack during the konsō internship in the Human World, along with the defection of Sixth Seat Hasegawa, was like a stone dropped into a still lake, sending ripples through the whole of the Gotei 13.
Neither event spread inside the Shin’ō Academy, though.
Very few people knew of them.
The Fifth Division issued a gag order to Ise Nanao, Harada Heita, and the others who knew the inside of the matter.
Until an official announcement was made, none of it was to be spread around.
So the Shin’ō Academy students who had come hurrying back from the konsō internship had no idea what had actually happened.
Only the business of a Menos Grande attacking students was known, and then within a small, closed circle.
None of which had anything to do with Silas.
He was at present lying comfortably on a bed in the Fourth Division, with Ise Nanao beside him peeling an apple with a small knife.
After more than half a day of questioning, Nanao and the others had been free to return to the Shin’ō Academy.
Nanao had come straight to the Fourth Division and found the room Silas was in.
The two guards at the door saw that it was Ise Nanao and talked it over between themselves.
After warning Silas to disclose nothing about Hasegawa, they let her visit.
Their attention stayed fixed on the room all the same.
Nanao looked at how relaxed Silas seemed, and the unease in her gradually settled.
“Aren’t you uninjured? Why do you still want me to peel an apple for you?”
“The ones you peel are sweeter.”
Faced with how incredibly serious he looked saying it, Nanao was lost for words, and peeled one for him anyway.
“Consider it… a reward.”
Once it was peeled, she held it gently to his mouth.
“Ah~”
“Nom.”
Silas took a bite, and because he opened his mouth too wide his lips brushed Nanao’s finger by accident.
Nanao felt as though her fingertip had been struck by lightning.
She snatched it back, her face flushing red on the spot.
A moment later she wiped the finger off on him.
“Disgusting…”
Silas: ?