General Nathan's words were similar to the concern he had voiced during their initial meeting back when Tsukuru and the others had returned from Pioletic.
General Duke let out a scoff, and glanced away.
"Even if he does end up destroying a building or two, we can always just have him make the materials for us to repair it," he muttered under his breath.
Head General Paul let out a sigh.
"It probably wouldn't be a…bad idea to see what else student Hikiko has created," he replied, causing the others to turn to him. "Perhaps he may have made something that could prove…useful to the military's endeavors."
He then turned his attention back to Sergeant Faye.
"Do you have anything else to report?" he asked.
Sergeant Faye remained quiet for a moment.
Internally, she was calculating how much to tell.
As both a soldier in the Human military, as well as an essential "spy" for the Ninth Family in the Vampire Settlement, she was walking a tight tight-rope with how much she could tell.
Additionally, Tsukuru had already told her that he didn't know if he could trust her, and considering how close he was with the Talen boy, she needed to maintain some sort of a healthy, mutual relationship with him to stop her job of keeping an eye of the base's only other resident Vampire from getting…difficult.
As such, she also had to be careful what she told the other higher-ups about Tsukuru's Abilities.
More specifically, his Summons.
"No, sir," she eventually replied. "As I said, while the group of four students consisting of Quinn Talen, Vorden Blade, Layla Munrow, and Erin Heyley fought against a select group of his Summons, student Hikiko Tsukuru simply created objects in another corner of the room."
Head-General Paul's gaze remained on Sergeant Faye for a moment, as if he was analyzing her.
Eventually, he let out a sigh.
"Very well," he replied, before his gaze turned towards General Nathan, then towards General Duke.
"What about you two?" he asked.
"Don't look at me!" General Nathan protested. "I've been doing paperwork all day!"
Paul turned back to him.
"What about that 'golf ball' you seem to be so interested in?" he asked, a slight accusatory tone in his voice.
Immediately, everyone's attention focused on the metal golf ball in General Nathan's hand.
"Oh, yeah," General Nathan replied, subconsciously glancing over at it. "This. Some kid gave it to me. Apparently, Hikiko gave it to him for…something…and told the boy that 'the military would reimburse him'."
Upon hearing his words, everyone's eyes focused on the small, metal golf ball.
"Is that what I think it is?" Head-General Paul asked.
General Duke scoffed.
"Even if it is, it's too small to be made of enough Glathrium to be useful," he replied in a dismissive voice. "What is it, half a kilo?"
General Nathan tightened his hand around the golf ball and looked at it.
"Actually, you'd be surprised," he replied. "I think it's more of that 'high-density alloy' of his. I weighed it on a digital scale, and it's 1.58 kilos."
Duke's eyes widened in shock.
Head-General Paul held out his open hand towards Nathan, and the General placed the black golf ball in it.
As the "golf ball" touched his skin, Head-General Paul's eyes narrowed as he felt its weight.
It was surprisingly heavy for an object that small.
He held it between his thumb and index finger, and brought it up to his face.
"Interesting," he muttered, as he twisted his fingers back and forth, looking at the sphere from multiple angles.
"Ah," Sergeant Faye's voice replied, cutting through the silence of the room, causing everyone's attention to turn from the black ball in Head-General Paul's hands back to her. "That reminds me. Student Hikiko left behind the table he was using in the Assembly Hall. Apparently, that's made of Glathrium, too."
The eyebrows of Head-General Paul and General Duke rose in surprise about hearing this.
Paul put on a serious expression, as he took in this information.
He then turned his gaze towards his left to face Duke.
"What about you?" he asked, a sharp, accusing tone in his voice, as if he expected the worst.
General Duke's eyes narrowed.
"I haven't done anything since you left, Head-General!" he retorted, defending himself.
Paul's eyes narrowed, looking as though he didn't believe him.
"You expect me to believe that the Second-Years didn't take advantage of the fact that the Sergeant in charge of maintaining order was occupied to pull something?" he asked.
Sergeant Dillon turned to the Head-General, his eyes above his sunglasses in a look of confusion.
"What, was Sergeant Shizuka assigned to the Assembly Hall, too?" he asked.
Paul gave Sergeant Dillon a hard look.
"You know what I mean!" he said sharply.
General Duke slammed his fist done on the table.
"As hard as it may be to believe, my life, and the lives of the Second-Years under my watch, do not revolve around antagonizing weak trash!" he retorted in frustration. "I already made the concession that the Second-Years would only visit the First-Year Building when absolutely necessary after the incident in the Assembly Hall! What more do you want from me?!"
Head-General Paul's eyes tightened.
"I want to not have to send out notices to parents that their students had died because some Second-Year who had beef with them pushed them through a Red Portal," he said sharply.
A blood vessel began pulsing on General Duke's forehead, as he had a look of deep irritation on his face.
"I already said that wasn't going to happen again!" he roared, before snapping his head towards Head-General Paul. "What do you want me to do, drag that Second-Year Student out of the dungeon and have his publicly executed in front of the whole Second-Year Building?!"
Sergeant Shizuka glanced to the side.
"Might not be a bad idea," she muttered. "It'd definitely send a message not to step out of line."
Immediately, everyone turned their attention towards Sergeant Shizuka with mixed reactions.
Head-General Paul, General Nathan, and Sergeant Dillon looked at her with abject shock, not believing that she had just said that.
General Duke looked at her with pure fury.
And Sergeant Leo looked at her with narrowed eyes.
While most would think that perhaps this was just an extremely dark joke, Sergeant Leo knew that Sergeant Shizuka was being 100% serious.
After all, she had already killed two students this year and had their remains "disappeared" without batting an eye.
"There's already been far more than enough student deaths this year, Sergeant Shizuka!" Leo replied in a sharp tone.
"He's right, Sergeant Shizuka," Head-General Paul replied in a tone of finality as he turned to her. "We're not killing off any kids!"
A wide, malicious smirk appeared on Shizuka's face.
"Then, how about I invite that boy for one of my 'livestreams'?" she suggested. "We can let the whole Second-Year Building watch what happens to those who…break the rules with me around."
Head-General Paul jumped to his feet, and slammed his fists down hard on the table, making it shake.
"ABSOLUTELY FUCKING NOT!" he roared, looking straight at Shizuka. "I've only been to Military Base 1 three times this year, and I've already heard enough horror stories about those 'live-streams' of yours to keep me up at night for a week straight! You're not subjecting the men and women under my care to the same kind of trauma that you've given to the soldiers back on Military Base 1!"
Shizuka kissed her teeth in annoyance, and rolled her eyes.
"You guys are all a bunch of pansy-asses," she muttered.
"And there is something seriously wrong with you!" General Duke shot back.
Head-General Paul sunk back into his seat, and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Does anybody else have anything to say?" he asked, a tone of weary exhaustion in his face. "If not, I think I can call this meeting 'over and done with'."
A long pause came over the meeting room, as everyone exchanged looks.
"I've already finished my report in full," Sergeant Faye replied.
"I've said all I had to say," General Nathan replied.
"Yeah, well, it's not I've exactly got anything to add, either," General Duke replied, crossing his arms and looking away. "Truth be told, it's been kind of a slow day in the Second-Year Building today."
Head-General Paul let out a sigh.
"Alright," he replied, a weary look on his face. "Then I call this emergency meeting complete. You're all dismissed."
The room was then filled with the sound of scraping chairs as everyone got up to leave.
As Sergeant Shizuka got up from her seat, Sergeant Faye was about to get up to join her.
However, she felt an arm clamp around her left shoulder.
Glancing over, she saw Sergeant Leo looking at her with a serious look.
"Sergeant Faye, I have something I wish to discuss with you," he replied in a low tone so the others wouldn't be able to hear. "Please, come visit me in the Beast Weapons Hall when you have some free time."