The Magician of Sound

The journey to the Western Area itself wasn't dangerous. Tasha and Ayaka met Kai but didn't make a fuss. For Tasha, she was content to see Kai was fine while Ayaka kept glancing at him, wondering what kind of monster could cause him such an injury, especially with Ria beside him.

Nonetheless, she wasn't going to ask in this battle and might not ask in the future unless he decided to tell it himself. 

Kai led the group from the front, using his status as the acting general. Unfortunately, he couldn't go fast like when he led the Reserve Unit as there were still several monsters ahead that needed to be pulverized first so as to prevent them from reaching the Middle Region. 

He even spread the army as soon as they entered the Western Region to sweep this area while marching toward Yuki and Alicia.

"!!" Yuki was talking with Alicia, who seemed to be injured in her right arm. Yuki noticed him and locked onto his eyes. "So you are the one who comes."

"Yeah. How is the situation here?"

"It's decent. We have suffered because of the Surprise attack and lost two hundred soldiers, but I have dealt with the situation. So the situation is basically a standstill right now," Alicia reported and saluted with her left hand.

Kai could see the bandage on her right hand and decided not to say anything. "I have brought eight hundred soldiers here and spread them around."

"That's great! With the reinforcement I have earlier and Alicia's Support Unit or Defender Unit, we should be able to clear this area pretty soon." Yuki exclaimed with a happy tone as if hope finally appeared in front of her. 

Kai thought for a moment and nodded. "What is our current number?"

"My unit still has five hundred soldiers, Yuki comes with two hundred, while you bring eight hundred," Alicia answered. 

"That's good. We can clear this area within three hours if Yuki and I join the fight." Kai nodded and paused for a moment. He stared at Alicia's right hand before looking right onto her eyes. "Although an injured person needs to rest, I'm afraid the situation won't allow us. That's why if you are unhappy with this mission, you can hate me all you want, but you still need to accept the job."

"Don't worry, Sir. My hand might be broken, but I can still command the soldiers." Alicia replied with a serious expression.

Kai couldn't help but smile. He continued, "If your mission is to hold the magical beasts from going to this place, how many people will you need?"

"May I know the number of magical beasts and their current situation?" 

"Originally, they had six thousand magical beasts, but it should be less as Vice General Sherwin and General Nathan have been leading the army to clean them up. Unfortunately, they only have a small number, not enough to kill them all. It will be different after we conquer this place. Commander Yuki and I will go to the Northern Area to sweep them and make our way to the Eastern Region. The safe area in the Western Region allows my teacher, Ria Ross, to help the Southern Area." Kai explained the situation. 

"I see. We are still going to clear this place… But knowing their number and such, it will surely be a horrendous experience for the soldiers and students." Alicia let out a long sigh.

"Even so, we need to have them tirelessly fought until we clean this area!" Kai said with a grim expression while clenching his palms. "The fault is on me… To think I was played by them." 

"Do you know anything about this strange situation?" Yuki asked. She also noticed the word 'them' in his mouth and continued. "Maybe, there are intelligence beasts in this area."

Kai thought for a moment. He didn't know whether SS rank and SSS rank magical beasts could be disclosed, but he could certainly answer the question with this sentence. "Worse than them." 

Yuki and Alicia exchanged looks as an idea flashed in their mind. There were only two things worse than intelligence beasts. One was the S rank magical beast. However, there were no magical beasts nearby since they would usually call all magical beasts if they felt threatened. Even if it were an S rank insect, ferocious animals like bears, tigers, and so on would still come.

That only left with the second choice. Their rank might not be enough to know about the truth, but there was always a rumor that had been lingering in their ranks. There were still existences above S rank magical beasts, and they felt it was related to this situation. 

Yuki quickly said with a troubled expression, "This is not your fault. Still, this is a problem. We need to deal with them as well." 

"No." Kai shook his head. "There is no more threat. If I could say, we are fighting with time."

"!!!" Alicia narrowed her eyes and said, "If I don't need to deal with anything, one hundred… No, one hundred fifty people will suffice for me. Not only will I block them here, but I will also make my way toward the nearest general. This way, the sweeping process will be more effective."

"Are you sure?"

"Although I'm a commander, my strength is the weakest." Alicia smiled weakly. "Your eye and mind for tactics… could be said on par with the best of strategists. Yet you are also formidable enough to personally inspire men by leading the charge. However, I'm lacking in the latter aspect and, in fact, not enough to achieve my current position. The only thing that allows me to reach this place is my brain."

"Indeed. She usually got the position as a strategist in a mission. If she says one hundred fifty are enough, then it's truly enough. Trust your commander a bit more." Yuki added with a smile. 

Kai looked at Alicia's eyes for a few seconds before he nodded with a solemn face. "I understand. I will entrust this mission to you."

"Yes, Sir. Leave it to me!" Alicia straightened her body and saluted.

"Commander Yuki, we still need to finish this battle within three hours. In other words, you and I need to clear every nook and corner to make sure none of the magical beasts are able to attack us or Commander Alicia's unit from behind. This will be tight, but will you accompany me this time?"

"Yes, Sir!" Yuki had no need for words for this man. Although his accumulated experience wasn't enough, his individual might alone have exceeded her. She wondered if the Government bestowed him a rank, would Kai restart from the very bottom or skip the rank immediately. Yet, one thing was clear for her. Ria Ross would surely stretch her hand in this matter. She smiled inwardly. 'The future will be interesting from now on.'

Reaching the end of their discussion, Alicia quickly shouted. "Get all of our messengers and spread them around to tell that we are going to kill all of these beasts within three hours. Failure is not allowed!" 

"Yes, Ma'am!" There were around twenty soldiers in the room, and almost all of them left the room in a hurry. 

Kai and Yuki then left the room together, leaving Alicia with a couple of soldiers. 

"They have gone…" Alicia looked at her own hand. Evan should be able to fix this broken arm immediately, but she didn't have time for that. "Still… A student, specifically that Ria Rosa's student, can reach this level… Is he going to have a meteoric rise like his teacher? It seems I also need to do my job well."

Kai and Yuki cleared room after room.

There was no more fight like the one he had with Ra and Eric. So, they were pretty much relaxed as long as they could keep up their speed.

In between, Yuki had decided to ask him one important question. "Say, Kai, why do you want to claim the rank? Even without becoming a general, you are still able to amass money to live leisurely with Michelle and the other girls. In fact, you don't even need Sanae and Evan Young in your group. This way, you can even gather enough money together. I have heard from Michelle that you actually want to lead a simple life, away from battle like this."

"I still have one person that I need to bring from United Asia." Kai shook his head.

"That girl, right? Sanae told me long ago. To put it simply, you can just abduct the girl here, and everything will be fine. The condition in United Asia is not very friendly, and you can even make them do it willingly with Kudo Group and Graham Family status." She paused for a moment and continued. "There must be another reason."

Kai shook his head helplessly. "I indeed can convince them that way… But…"

Yuki looked at him seriously. She wished to know not purely out of her curiosity, she needed to know it as Michelle's Teacher.

"Before I answer your question, can you tell me what your is opinion and challenges you have faced until now as Michelle's Teacher?"

"Most of them are private even for you, but I can tell some." Yuki nodded. "As you already know, I was on the verge of death when Graham Family rescued me. I had decided to become one of them and acted under the banner of Graham Family, and they somehow took an interest in my ability."

"Thus, leading you to become Michelle's Teacher?"

"Yes. They took my experience as well, and the fact that I was from the same base as you, United Asia. Michelle didn't have much information about United Asia, so I told her everything, and it might be the reason why she agreed to have me as her teacher despite having so many candidates who were better than me. Besides, I didn't have many things to teach her as she had been training with her Grandfather the whole time and became this powerful.

"I didn't know If I was happy back then, but I knew I was attached to this girl. I was even surprised that she had a love interest in United Asia, and the boy was actually one of the people who suffered from the Magical Beast Riot a decade ago. Having no attachment left to the base, I told her everything about the riot. 

"Gradually, I accepted my status as her teacher, but when we were alone, I was like her sister, nothing else. I faced many challenges and rumors that told me off, but Sir Nathan offered to teach me and asked me to climb my rank in the Army to shut them up. Hence, here I am, and I am happy now." Yuki finished her story with a smile.

Kai nodded with a smile. "I also have many pressures under my belt with Michelle's status, albeit the first cause would be in the childhood where we promised each other to be heroes in this era, like my Teacher. Of course, the thought had been changed years back, but I still had an obligation to be one… Not because of promise, but a responsibility.

"You can call it my foolish pride or whatever, but if I marry Michelle, what do you think the media will announce?"

"Michelle Graham marries an unknown man called Kai Carter." Yuki pondered and answered.

"Worse than that. They won't even state my name there. It will be like this, Michelle Graham marries an unknown man from United Asia… With my face censored. That's why I will climb my way up as quickly as possible and retire early. The media will then say, General Kai Carter marries an S rank magician Michelle Graham. It could be said that none of the girls have the status that can be compared to Michelle, and by having this status, I can protect them from any negative opinions." Kai smiled.

"Thus is why you say it's your responsibility." Yuki nodded and smiled. "I think I know why Michelle is in love with you."

Kai was slightly embarrassed to say this, but Yuki was one of Michelle's closest people, he had a feeling to convey it to her.

"I want to talk more about it, but I guess nothing that is more important from earlier questions, so everything can wait until this mission is finished." Yuki smiled from ear to ear. 

"Agreed."