Chapter 233: Undercurrents Part 3

"You all just arrived, right? Then I will have you sleep for five hours before you begin your s.h.i.+ft. You will be on the battlefield for fifteen hours. This map here will show the position you will take over. When you arrive, if there are still people alive, send them back to rest." A tall lizard man with leather armor on, handed over a map to Kana. "If you find anyone half dead, do them a favor and give them a warrior"s death. Unless they can return on their own, we can not take time to heal them. Go rest. You do not have much time."

Kana and the girls bowed and left the command tent. Pel walked up to Kana and put her arm around her shoulder. "It seems we have our team leader here."

"Why am I suddenly the leader?" Kana asked, pursing her lips. She did not plan to be some kind of leader.

"Because you"re more beautiful, stronger, and because you seem like you will not leave your friends behind." Pel answered, then put on a cheeky smile as she continued: "Plus... If you get defeated, that means the rest of us should run away."

"You! Are you saying you would leave me behind just to save your own hide?" Kana yelled and pushed Pel away and punched her shoulder.

"Haha! You said it, right? We need to strive to survive! I am just doing what you told me to do." Pel began running circles around the other girls as Kana chased after her. The two become quick friends not only between the two of them but with the other girls as well. Soon a burst of laughter in a dark, gloomy, blood soaked environment filled the air as the girls made their way back to their tents.

When they reached the tents Captain Fos was standing there waiting for them. "I will wake you all in five hours. I know it"s your first day and you did not get enough time to adjust but this is necessary so we do not lose any ground. Rest well."

Captain Fos did not wait for anyone to reply to her words as she walked off. Kana and the rest said good night to each other before climbing into their tents. The four tents were set up in a circle in close proximity to each other. Making it easy to reach anyone in case something happened.

Kana entered her tent and laid down using her hands as a pillow. "Kana..." Aoi"s soft voice came from her side.

"What"s wrong?" Kana reached over and petted her head. She could see something was bothering Aoi.

"Those girls will end up dying won"t they?" Aoi asked.

"I am not sure… I only have one goal. While I do find the three girls friendly. We only just met and I do not belong to this place. I will be leaving once I gain enough points which I plan to do in a few days" time. Aoi tomorrow I want you to secretly kill a few enemies. I want to see if you killing them also gains me some points. If it does, you and Naru can finally come out and we can use one hundred percent of our strength." Kana took a peek at the soundly sleep Naru and used some of her hair to cover him. These two had been with them for so long they were not just her elementals but her friends and family as well.

"But if we go all out I am afraid… No, you are right. I had just found those girls to be kind to you and felt bad for them is all." Aoi whispered. She knew if they were to fight at full force that Kana"s new friends may end up killed in the process.

"We will see what happens. We will just try to keep all attacks away from where we are and out in the deepest parts of the enemy forces. If things still get out of hand then there is nothing we can do. Sleep we have to get up early." Kana said as she poked Aoi. She giggled and snuggled up into Kana"s neck using her hair as a blanket and drifted off to sleep. Kana laid there for a bit firming her resolve. It may seem heartless of her to not care if these girls she had just met get caught up in her attacks but she had no choice. She could no longer waste any more time.

"Tilia what are you doing?" Claine asked as he looked at his adopted daughter with a bit of confusion.

Standing in front of him with a human locked in chains and a pile of books was Tilia. "Father, I had found evidence that there was a new child trafficking organization formed and had the army raid their base. But this man here said he had even more news about a bigger ploy and asked for amnesty if he tells us the news. Since I am young and do not know whether what he will say is true or not I figured I would bring him here. The books to the side are the books kept from the child tracking organization. I figured out people may be able to weed out the masterminds behind it all and close them down for good."

Seeing his young daughter running out into the city to solve crimes made Claine happy but the girl in front of him was still so young yet always took it upon herself to do all of this. He let out a sigh wis.h.i.+ng his daughter would act like a kid for once. "I see. I will give the files to the investigation department to go over. As for this man." Claine narrowed his eyes at the man kneeling on the floor, his head lowered. "What is it you wished to tell me. Based on what you say I may or may not agree to your request."

The man raised his head and stared at Claine. His eyes showed a hint of fear as well as disgust. "I may not be a good man but I am a man who only wishes to keep his life. I was recently recruited by a man who was forming an army. He did not tell me where but he did tell me the reason. It was to build a force that could take control of the continent. When I did not agree he did not tell me more. He also hid his face so I could not see who he was. I only know he was a man and human..."