The combat classes had ended roughly ten minutes ago, and the sun was starting to set.
A rush of students were now heading back to their dorm rooms, and that also included Peter and Vorden.
As the two of them entered the room, Vorden's eyes widened, as he noticed something.
"What the? Is that Quinn's clothes?" Peter asked, as he lifted them off of the floor. "They're covered in blood. Did he get hurt during training?"
Vorden's whole body was shaking, as he saw the blood.
'What happened to him?' Vorden though. 'Did the second-years target HIM, too, or did something happen in training?'
Within the dark space within his mind, Vorden, Raten and Sil were in a heated argument.
"I told you we should have kept an eye on him!" Raten yelled.
"We should have killed those second-years when we had the chance!" Sil growled in a dark tone.
"Stop it!" Vorden yelled, sitting in the seat, him holding his head, as if he had a headache.
Unfortunately for him, due to him being the consciousness in control of the body, he had accidentally said it out loud.
Peter turned to him.
"Huh? Vorden, are you okay?" He asked.
But without saying anything else, Vorden opened the door to look for Quinn.
But as he did, Layla stood in front of the door, her hand raised, as if she was about to knock.
"Uh, is Quinn here?" She asked.
There was a tense silence as Vorden and Layla stared at each other.
Meanwhile, back in the Beast Weapons Hall, Tsukuru's face hardened, as he took in Sergeant Leo's question.
He remained silent for a moment, before he finally spoke.
"Sergeant Leo…" He replied in a dark tone. "Are you sure you want me to answer that question?" He asked. "That's a pretty big skeleton in the Military's closet. And once you know the truth, you can never look back."
Leo's eyes narrowed, as he hardened his resolve.
"I am." He replied.
There was a long silence, before Tsukuru let out a long sigh.
Tsukuru brought his hand up to his forehead, as if he had a headache.
"This is the most classified of classified information." Tsukuru replied. "If anybody finds out I told you, I'll find myself locked in the dungeon underneath this very base, for 'divulging military secrets'."
Leo's face hardened.
"If anybody finds out, I'll take full responsibility." Leo replied.
There was another long pause.
"Fine." Tsukuru replied, his face now bearing a dark expression. "Jack Truedream is…a collector or sorts." He replied, making Leo raise an eyebrow in confusion. "But rather than collecting things like cards or stamps, he collects Abilities. Every once in a while, he travels to one of the numerous military bases to…'restock his stockpile' as it were."
Leo's eyes widened in realization at the insinuation.
"You mean, they…" Leo started, before Tsukuru spoke again.
"They find promising students with strong Abilities and high Ability Levels." Tsukuru continued. "People with little or no backing. People who wouldn't cause problems if the student were to suddenly lose their Ability."
Tsukuru's words made Leo think back to Duke's words to Sergeant Dillon when watching Erin's performance in the Placement Test.
Words that had seemed strange at the time, but now made perfect sense.
"Look into that girl's background. See if anyone would make a fuss if she were to suddenly…lose her Ability."
Leo felt a pit in his stomach.
"How…How do they-" Leo started, before Tsukuru cut him off.
"...get away with it?" Tsukuru replied, predicting Leo's question.
Tsukuru had a smile on his face, but it wasn't a happy one.
It was a bitter, jaded look.
"Quite easily, actually. They simply use the military's favorite excuse whenever they want to get rid of something."
Tsukuru replied, narrowing his eyes.
"They accuse the students of 'being members of Pure', and use that as justification to lock them away in the base's dungeon."
The more Leo heard, the more he felt sick.
"Of course, they limit the number of students." Tsukuru went on, catching Leo's attention. "I mean, if a half or even a whole homeroomclass were to suddenly go missing, it'd raise questions, so they do it in small groups. Ten or less, if I had to guess."
Tsukuru then looked to the side, and thought for a moment.
"In fact, if my math is correct, Truedream's visit here should be coming up relatively soon." He replied, causing Leo's eyes to widen. "So don't be surprised if Jack Truedream suddenly decides to make a visit here in the next few months."
Leo tightened his grip on his sword, his body shaking in rage.
"They're just going to…hand them over to him?" Leo asked.
Tsukuru looked at him, a look of pity on his face.
"Jack Truedream is far too valuable to the Military." Tsukuru replied. "He's the oil that keeps this whole system running smoothly. Sacrificing a small handful of students to keep him content is…a SMALL price to pay as far as the military is concerned."
The more Leo heard, the angrier he got.
Maybe Shizuka was right, and he SHOULDN'T have asked.
"In fact…" Tsukuru's words broke Leo from his musings. "Seeing the way she…shows off…I wouldn't be surprised if Erin wasn't at the top of the list of Truedream's next…batch."
Back in Quinn's dorm room, Vorden and Layla stared at each other.
'It's her…' Vorden thought to himself, thinking back to his and Tsukuru's little trip to see his sister, Sergeant Shizuka. 'The stalker…'
However, in the dark room within Vorden's mind, he was violently pushed out of the chair by Raten.
"MOVE IT!" Raten yelled, sitting down in the chair, and taking over the body. "I'll deal with this…stalker bitch!"
The very next second "Vorden" grabbed Layla by the hand, and dragged her in the room, slamming the door behind her.
He pushed Layla against the wall, his forearm against her neck.
"Tell me what happened to Quinn!" Raten yelled, getting in Layla's face. "NOW!"
Struggling up against the wall, Layla was finding it difficult to breathe.
Raten was applying an incredible amount of force with his forearm against her neck, and his face was only a few inches away from hers.
'Is this…Is this why Tsukuru told me it'd be dangerous for me to come here?' Layla asked, thinking back to their previous conversation.
Her previous words rang in her head, them now sounding idiotic, given the current situation.
"I'll be fine."
Layla grit her teeth in frustration, and she now suddenly wished that she had waited for Tsukuru to get done with his talk with Leo, so they could have gone together.
As he was their roommate, Tsukuru would have probably been able to deescalate this situation before it had even started.
"What the hell…is wrong with you?!" Layla choked out.
"Hey Vorden, I think you're hurting her!" Peter said quietly.
Raten suddenly started pressing against her throat even harder.
Layla was struggling with all her might to get air, and if she didn't do anything soon, she might pass out.
"The little one didn't like you, and the other one told me not to get involved, but in the end, I'm always the one who has to deal with things!" Raten snarled.
Layla's face started to turn a bright red, the veins on her neck popping, threatening to explode, as she struggled to breath.
"Hey!" Peter yelled, as he ran up to grab Raten's arm. "Seriously, Vorden! You're going too far!" Peter shouted.
"Shut up!" Raten yelled, turning to look at Peter. "My name's not Vorden!"
It was at that moment that Raten's watch began to beep.
Growling, he looked down at it.
When he did, his eyes widened.
The caller ID showed that it was a call from Tsukuru.
Raten clicked his teeth, and answered the call.
"WHAT?!" He yelled.