The same day Yujin arrived at the fortress, he found himself standing inside Sergeant Mindow's office.
The room looked almost as battered as the western defenses outside. A cracked map table sat between them, covered in markers showing lost positions, disrupted routes, and the shrinking territory Sekigahara still controlled. Mindow remained seated behind it with one arm wrapped in fresh bandages, his expression grave as he studied the masked man standing across from him.
"My name is Yujin," he said. "That's all I'm permitted to give you regarding my affiliation."
Mindow's eyes narrowed slightly. "And your orders?"
"The consortium commends you for holding this fortress as long as you have. I was sent here for one reason only. Secure this position. Nothing more, nothing less." Yujin glanced down at the map. "Your job now is to figure out how to regain the ground we've already lost. Because right now, Sergeant, Sekigahara is losing this war."
Mindow's jaw tightened, but he nodded. "Reinforcements?"
"Arriving in a few days." Yujin tapped one of the blocked routes on the map. "More Apprentices had to be sent than originally planned. The Knights holding the supply lines were stronger than expected, so the first groups couldn't simply punch through."
Mindow remained quiet for a moment before looking back at him. "There is something else."
"Sending someone of your Realm into an Apprentice campaign..." Mindow's expression darkened. "I need to know whether the consortium has decided the Severian Pact no longer matters."
"No."
The answer came immediately.
"That isn't what this is." Yujin folded his arms. "My orders are to remain, for all practical purposes, a mere Martial Apprentice."
Mindow stared at him.
Yujin tilted his head slightly. "You can't tell because you're not a Martial Artist, but my technique allows me to suppress myself well enough to mask my Squire aura."
His blood-red eyes narrowed faintly behind the mask.
"Britannia's Squire can do a tiny bit of that aswell."
Mindow leaned forward. "You mean the spearman?"
"Griflet." Yujin nodded. "The man is barely a Squire. Newly ascended, from the feel of him. He can restrain his output, sure, but the moment he gets pressured, it leaks through. That's why everyone noticed something was wrong the instant he stopped holding back."
Mindow's expression remained heavy. "And if he attacks again?"
"Then I stop him."
"You're that much stronger?"
Yujin nodded casually.
"Yes."
There was no arrogance in it. He answered as though the difference between them simply wasn't worth debating.
Mindow slowly exhaled through his nose. "So Sekigahara isn't trying to escalate this."
"No. Quite the opposite." Yujin glanced toward the door. "As long as I continue posing as an Apprentice, and Britannia keeps pretending their own Squire doesn't exist, nobody has much incentive to drag the rest of the Pact into this."
He turned to leave.
Mindow looked after him. "Where are you going?"
Yujin stopped with one hand against the doorframe.
"The infirmary. Focus on your duties, Sergeant Mindow."
.
.
.
The halls were crowded with wounded Martial Apprentices, medics, runners, and exhausted defenders trying to make themselves useful despite days of constant fighting. Word had already spread about the mysterious masked Martial Artist who had stopped Britannia's monstrous spearman, and several people bowed when Yujin passed.
He ignored most of them.
Eventually, he reached the main recovery ward.
Yoshimoto Seishin lay unconscious near the center of the room, his enormous frame taking up most of the narrow bed beneath him. Fresh wrappings covered his ribs and chest, while bruising darkened much of his upper body from the blow Griflet had landed earlier.
Yujin stopped beside him for a moment.
Yoshimoto was a good man, by most accounts. Loyal, stubborn, and far more willing to put himself between danger and weaker Martial Artists than many people at his level.
The Shimazu Clan had produced plenty of powerful warriors, and Yoshimoto had more than enough raw foundation to reach the next Realm.
His problem was something else.
He lacked a truly lethal edge.
Yoshimoto could overwhelm people. Break formations. Crush defenses. His compressed air techniques carried tremendous force, but when it came time to end a battle against someone near his own level, he lacked a decisive finisher capable of forcing death onto an opponent who refused to fall.
In Yujin's opinion, that was the final wall between Yoshimoto and Squirehood.
Perhaps the man would figure it out eventually.
Yujin moved on.
He continued deeper into the infirmary until he reached the room farthest from the entrance. The door had been left slightly open, and through the gap he caught sight of bright orange hair.
Yujin stopped.
There she was.
The girl from the battlefield.
Another Furutsu, wasn't she?
Yujin had wanted to see her personally, but the moment he stepped into the room, every thought in his head stopped. His blood-red eyes widened behind the mask as he stared at the orange-haired girl sitting on the bed.
Ki.
There was no doubt.
It filled her body clearly enough that Yujin could feel it from across the room. It wasn't as powerful as his own, but that hardly mattered. The important part was that it was there at all.
His eyes didn't deceive him, after all.
But how?
His first thought was the Oni Clan. Had something leaked through their channels? That seemed impossible. Even within the clan, very few people understood what Shadow Dragon Energy truly was.
Then another possibility came to him.
The Beggar Sect.
Yujin's gaze sharpened.
Could she also be under his Master's tutelage?
Mikan finally noticed him standing there and lifted a hand. "Oh. Hey."
Her mood was completely different from earlier. She looked relaxed, almost cheerful, despite the fresh bandaging around her shoulder.
"Thanks for earlier," she said. "Seriously. You saved my life. If you ever need a favor, just ask."
Yujin stepped inside. "Yujin."
"Mikan."
For a moment, he said nothing. Mikan watched him expectantly, then slowly raised a brow.
"...What?"
Yujin hesitated before answering.
"Then I'll take the favor now."
Mikan blinked. "That fast?"
"A simple question."
His tone remained calm, but his attention had sharpened completely.
"What belongs in every city and yet belong to none of them?"
Mikan stared at him.
Yujin waited.
It was a harmless little riddle on the surface, but Beggar Sect members used variations of it as a quiet identifier. The answer was simple.
A beggar.
Mikan squinted.
"...A stray dog?"
Yujin said nothing.
"No? A drunk?"
Still nothing.
She frowned and tilted her head. "Some kind of freeloader?"
Yujin's eyes narrowed.
Wrong.
She wasn't Beggar Sect?
Which meant the Ki inside her had come from somewhere else.
A leak within the Oni Clan!
Black Dragon Energy.
Something cold entered Yujin's gaze as he took one slow step toward her. Mikan noticed the change immediately.
"...Mr. Yujin?"
It was unfortunate, but there was a high likelihood that she was one of Mangusu's spies from within the Oni Clan.
She was probably even sent here in advance to blow his cover!
Was Mangusu really three steps ahead of him again?
His hand began to rise.
THUNK!
Yujin dropped face-first onto the floor.
"...Huh?"
Mikan looked down at him as he collapsed on the floor.
Merun stood there with one arm still raised.
Mikan blinked.
"Did you just do that?"
Merun lowered his hand and smiled.
"Yup. He almost made a mistake."
Mikan looked between him and the unconscious man sprawled across the floor. "What mistake?"
"Don't worry about it. He's fine."
As if to prove him right, Yujin's fingers twitched almost immediately.
His eyes snapped open.
For less than a second, there was only confusion. Cold stone pressed against his cheek, his mask was crooked, and someone enormous was standing right beside him.
Yujin's expression changed.
He hadn't sensed him!
Not his approach. Not his presence. Nothing.
When did he get here?
Was he here the whole time?!
His body moved before his mind could go any further. Yujin's hand shot out and seized the armored man's leg.
His body followed like a striking snake. He twisted around the limb, kicked himself off the floor, and flowed upward before the armored man could seemingly react. In less than a second, Yujin had slipped behind him and locked an arm around his neck, the other hand securing his wrist as he planted himself against the man's back.
Then Yujin squeezed... but nothing happened.
His eyes narrowed as he applied more force. His forearm crushed against the man's throat while his entire body tightened around the hold, enough force concentrated through his arms to snap another Squire's neck.
But the armored man didn't even stagger.
What on earth is this density?
Yujin grunted and squeezed harder. It felt less like strangling a man and more like trying to crush a column of solid iron with his arms. The muscles beneath that armor were absurdly dense, and even through the plates covering his body Yujin could feel just how much physical power was packed underneath.
Then the armored man's eyes shifted toward him.
Black pupils.
Yujin froze.
"...!"
He released the hold instantly and shot backward, putting several meters between them before settling into a guarded stance. His blood-red eyes remained fixed on the armored giant as a cold shiver ran down his spine.
That ridiculous toughness.
The complete failure of his grappling.
There was only one person who had ever made him feel something similar.
Yujin's face tightened beneath his mask.
Could it be...?
"...N-New Demon?" he blurted. "Why are you here?!"
Mikan stared at him.
The armored man stared back.
Yujin's thoughts were already spiraling. The last time he'd encountered anything like this had been during the entire disaster surrounding Bankei's execution, when he was challenged and utterly demolished by the one who had taken the Demon's place. He hadn't seen or heard anything about that monster since.
Now, suddenly, another absurdly durable man was here in an already suspicious campaign?!
Was there some larger conspiracy happening here?!
Why would the New Demon be here in the Serevian Dungeon?!
Before Yujin could organize any of those thoughts, the armored man's unfamiliar deep voice interrupted them.
"Demon?" He tilted his head. "Isn't it rude to call someone that when you don't even know him?"
Yujin blinked.
"Huh?"
Silence followed.
His eyes moved over the man again, this time with considerably more care. The resemblance he'd built inside his own head began falling apart almost immediately. This man was larger. Much bulkier too. Even the voice was completely different.
"...Have I been mistaken?"
The armored man said nothing.
Yujin's brow furrowed.
Yet how else was he supposed to explain that power? The last time his grappling had failed that completely had been against the new Demon. He had reacted before properly thinking about it.
Was he actually developing some kind of trauma?
Curses.
Yujin finally remembered that Mikan Furutsu was still sitting a few meters away watching the entire thing. He glanced toward her and found the orange-haired girl staring at him with an expression somewhere between confusion and disbelief.
He coughed into his fist.
"...My apologies."
Realizing how badly he'd presented himself, Yujin reached behind his head and removed his mask.
If he was going to apologize after trying to attack someone without warning, hiding his face while doing it seemed particularly insincere.
Wait, wasn't he the one attacked first?
Mikan's eyes widened slightly when she finally saw him properly.
"My name is Yujin," he said, composing himself as though the previous thirty seconds had never happened. "A Martial Apprentice."
A very powerful Martial Apprentice, as far as anyone in the fortress needed to know.
He turned toward the armored man and bowed his head slightly. "I apologize. I mistook you for someone else."
Thankfully, the giant didn't seem offended.
He nodded. "I apologize as well. My hand slipped."
Yujin almost gave him a glare for his shamelessness, but he calmed himself down before asking, "May I know your name? And your Martial Art?"
The armored man remained silent for a moment.
"...Guts. I practice the Blossoming Blade."
"I see."
Yujin nodded slowly.
That explained absolutely nothing.
His eyes drifted toward Guts's enormous arms again. Blossoming Blade sounded like a weapon-oriented Martial Art. It didn't explain why the man's neck felt like it had been carved out of a mountain, why he got knocked out in one blow, and most importantly, why Yujin couldn't sense anything impressive from him.
His Ki was weak!
Yujin's eyes narrowed.
He is a Squire as well!
There was no other answer. Him being a Squire would explain the physique. Perhaps the consortium had sent another hidden operative without informing him.
"...Were you also sent by the Sekigaharan Consortium?"
A few seconds passed.
"Yes."
Yujin stared at him.
"..."
That explained everything.
Though something didn't feel quite right.
"Hey!"
Yujin's thoughts abruptly stopped as Mikan leaned forward on the bed, clearly tired of watching the two men stare suspiciously at each other.
He looked toward her. "Hm?"
"Why did you come here in the first place?"
"Ah." Yujin remembered the fake reason he'd entered the room. "Nothing serious. I was curious about your injuries. Griflet did quite a number on you."
Mikan immediately grabbed her left shoulder. "Ah, yeah. Ouch!"
Yujin's eyes dropped toward her hand.
The wound had been on the other shoulder.
Mikan froze as very slowly, she released her left shoulder and grabbed the right one instead.
"...It's feeling a lot better, though," she continued without missing a beat. "The potions here are pretty strong."
Yujin stared at her.
"Huh."
There was far too much happening in this room.
Why did Mikan Furutsu possess such strong Ki in the first place, and how had she learned to use it that well? Her shoulder should still have been badly damaged from Griflet's spear, yet she was moving like the wound barely mattered. Had Master Bankei healed her? That made no sense if she wasn't part of the Beggar Sect. Unless she was lying. Unless the riddle had been an act and she'd deliberately given him the wrong answer.
Then there was Guts.
Who was he? How did he knock me unconscious before I could even sense him move? Why was he here at all? Had the Sekigaharan Consortium really sent another hidden Squire without telling me? Was Guts assigned to protect Mikan because she was a Furutsu noble? If that was the case, then why send me here too? Couldn't they have just commanded him to stall the siege?
His thoughts tangled tighter the longer he stood there.
What is happening here?!
"Good for you, Lady Mikan." Yujin put his mask back on and turned toward the door. "I think I'll rest myself. There is... quite a lot I need to think about."
"Um.. Okay? See you..."
Yujin stepped into the hallway with his thoughts in complete disarray.
Behind him, Guts gave Mikan a small nod before following him out.
.
.
.
Yujin walked through the infirmary corridor beside Guts, still trying to sort through everything that had happened in the last few minutes. The armored man remained silent as they passed rows of wounded Martial Apprentices and overworked medics, his enormous frame forcing people to shift aside without even realizing why they were doing it.
They were nearly at the end of the hallway when Guts suddenly spoke, his voice lowered just enough that only Yujin could hear him.
"Who belongs to every city, yet has no home in any of them?"
Yujin stopped walking.
"...A beggar?"
His blood-red eyes widened behind the mask.
"...!"
A deep chuckle rumbled from inside Guts's helmet.
"Hehehe."
Guts kept walking as though he'd said nothing unusual.
"Focus on your duty, alright?" he said calmly. "Mr. Kai?"
Yujin froze.
By the time Yujin looked up again, Guts was already disappearing around the far end of the hallway, that massive armored silhouette vanishing from sight without once looking back.
Yujin remained where he was.
"..."
What the hell is going on in this fortress?!