After a night’s rest in the Fourth Division, there came a rhythmic knock at the door of Silas’s room the next morning.
Silas got up to open the door, and outside it stood a petite young woman whose posture was as straight as a pine tree.
She was dressed in a close-fitting black combat outfit, her face covered over with black cloth so that only the upper half of it showed.
Her short black hair was neat and tidy, and her face was beautiful and yet exceptionally cold.
Those frigid eyes of hers were watching Silas calmly.
Silas recognized the outfit.
It was the standard dress of the Punishment Force, the First Division of the Second Division’s Onmitsukidō.
“Shin’ō Academy fifth-year, Vane?”
“That’s me.”
Silas nodded.
“By order of the Captain of the Second Division and Commander-in-Chief of the Onmitsukidō, Lady Shihōin Yoruichi, you are summoned to the Second Division barracks immediately.”
“Concerning the irregular Menos Grande attack during your Human World internship, and the attack on division members by the former Fifth Division Sixth Seat, Hasegawa Shinjirō, you are to undergo a formal inquiry and verification of the circumstances. Follow me.”
Silas noticed that when she mentioned Lady Yoruichi, a subtle, almost devout look of reverence flickered through her eyes.
“Thank you for the trouble.”
Silas answered, closed the door, and followed half a step behind her.
The girl looked at the two Fifth Division Shinigami standing by the door.
“This man is now in the Second Division’s custody. Captain Hirako is currently inside the Second Division barracks as well. You may return to your unit.”
At that the two of them rubbed their aching necks, able to relax at last.
Walking down the quiet street, Silas looked at the girl and asked out of curiosity.
“I didn’t expect the Punishment Force to summon a student in person. Is Captain Shihōin taking this matter very seriously?”
The girl walking ahead paused for an almost imperceptible instant.
She didn’t look back, but her voice drifted over her shoulder.
“This involves a seated officer deserting and attacking academy students. It is a serious matter, and it involves Hollows. Naturally the Onmitsukidō has a duty to clarify every detail.”
She answered in a thoroughly businesslike manner.
“I see.” Silas smiled slightly.
“Thank you for your hard work. May I ask how I should address you?”
This time the girl did glance at him sideways.
A trace of thought crossed her cold eyes before they returned to their usual calm. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
“Do not ask irrelevant questions. Put that energy into picking up your pace instead, and do not keep Lady Yoruichi waiting.”
At that Silas stopped talking and followed the girl quickly through the streets of the Seireitei, until they reached the Second Division barracks, known for speed and stealth.
The internal structure of the barracks seemed more complex, and to run deeper, than it appeared from the outside.
Led by Cyra Fon, they passed through several quiet corridors and finally arrived at a fairly spacious meeting room, luxuriously appointed and exceptionally bright.
There were already people in it.
The first person Silas saw was a tall, thin man with long golden hair, wearing a captain’s haori.
It was the Fifth Division Captain, Hirako Shinji, whom Silas had met once in the Human World.
At the moment, his usual cynical smile had faded considerably.
His gaze was somewhat deep as he looked at the empty floor in front of him, talking to the man beside him.
“This is a matter for our Fifth Division. Why are you sticking your nose into it?”
The man beside him wore a straw hat and a floral kimono, and carried a somewhat decadent, unrestrained air.
Silas recognized him as the Eighth Division Captain, Kyōraku Shunsui.
“A seated officer deserting is no small thing. As the intelligence unit, it’s only normal for the Eighth Division to come and get a picture of the situation.”
“Tch.”
Hirako Shinji clicked his tongue and looked away.
Kyōraku Shunsui pressed his straw hat down with one hand, while the other seemed inclined out of habit to reach for the sake flask at his waist, though he hesitated and thought better of it.
Then he glanced slightly to the side, sizing up the newly arrived Silas with a curious gaze.
“Well now, here he is.”
Kyōraku Shunsui spoke first, his tone easy, trying to take the edge off an overly serious atmosphere.
“You must be Silas, is that right? I am the Eighth Division Captain, Kyōraku Shunsui, and this is Captain Hirako.”
“The matter is a little complicated, which is why we asked you to come. Don’t be nervous, we only want to understand what happened.”
Hirako Shinji turned his gaze to Silas, his expression rather complicated.
“Hasegawa… was my subordinate. That he did a thing like this is my responsibility. I’m sorry for dragging you into it.”
“Can you go through the sequence of events in detail? Especially what happened when he attacked you, what he said and what he did. The more detail the better.”
His tone was serious, with an urgency to get at the truth in it, but Kyōraku Shunsui cut in again.
“No need to rush him, Captain Hirako. Captain Shihōin hasn’t arrived yet.”
Just then a window on one side of the room slid silently open, and a black figure as lithe as a leopard flipped through it and landed without a sound.
The newcomer had healthy light brown skin and dazzling purple hair tied back in a ponytail, her golden eyes carrying a cat’s cunning and curiosity. Follow the newest chapters on novelping.com.
She wore a close-fitting shihakushō that allowed for easy movement, with her captain’s haori draped casually open over it.
“Yo. Looks like I’m not late.”
The Captain of the Second Division and Commander-in-Chief of the Onmitsukidō, Shihōin Yoruichi, made her entrance with a hearty grin.
Her gaze went straight to Silas, sizing him up with a great deal of interest.
Yoruichi didn’t go to the head seat to sit.
She walked over to the girl who had brought Silas in and threw an arm around her shoulders.
“That’s my little Cyra Fon, getting him here that fast. Good work, good work~”
“La… Lady Yoruichi…”
Cyra Fon’s face flushed slightly.
She felt Lady Yoruichi was being far too casual and paying no mind to protocol, and she was powerless to stop her.
“Alright, that’s enough of that. Now then, Silas, go ahead and answer Captain Hirako’s questions.”
Yoruichi’s expression turned serious as she looked at this fifth-year sitting at the center of the whirlpool.
“Though what I’m more curious about is why Hasegawa would set that Menos Grande on you at all, and what his personal reason was for making a move against you.”
“If you have any thoughts on that, you can give us those as well.”
Having said her piece, Yoruichi leaned back against the wooden table at the head of the room and snapped her fingers at Cyra Fon.
“Cyra Fon. Take notes.”
“Yes, Lady Yoruichi.”
Cyra Fon then skillfully produced pen and paper out of her pocket, ready to record at any moment.
Silas felt the various scrutinizing and probing gazes around him, the open ones and the covert ones alike, and he remained unruffled.
He faced Hirako Shinji and Shihōin Yoruichi and gave a slight nod.
The true investigation, or rather his first formal contact with these high-level figures of the Seireitei, had only just begun.
Looking at the captains in front of him, Silas couldn’t help wondering what would happen if he exposed Aizen right now.
Unfortunately, without substantive evidence, his word alone would never be enough to convince these captains.
And if he tipped off the enemy by speaking out of turn…
With Aizen’s cautious nature, he would never let a man who meant him harm walk away.
Even now, Silas wasn’t certain whether the conversation in this room would eventually reach Aizen’s ears.
So he needed to weigh every word, and recount what he had run into from a completely objective standpoint.
“Then, Captains, I shall begin my report from the start of the konsō internship.”