Chapter 2 –– Right Hand, Left Hand

"Meixia!?!?!?"

Haru was surprised to see Meixia at the dining table, sitting across him. The last time they met was during the graduation ceremony.

“Shh. Don’t disturb the dinner, Haru,” Meixia whispered.

Haru looked perplexed. He never thought that he would ever meet her again, especially not at the Temple.

Haru was lost in his own thought. He could not grasp the situation.

After dinner was over, Meixia came to Haru’s room and knocked on his door. Just from the way she knocked, Haru immediately knew it was her.

“Come in,” Haru answered.

Meixia came into the room and immediately went to give Haru a hug.

“I can’t believe you’re finally here!” Meixia shouted, excitedly.

Before graduation, Haru told her that he was planning to become a Sacred Guard to work at the Temple. Meixia had been waiting on his arrival ever since she joined the squad.

“I don’t understand....why are you here? Didn’t you say you wanted to join the Military Regiment?”

“Well, you know.....I changed my mind! I think being a Sacred Guard suits me more, so....”

Haru wasn’t satisfied with that answer, but he didn’t want to pry too much into it. So, he just accepted it.

They then talked about the process of them getting accepted into the team. Haru got a recommendation from his master after a year long of internship, which was what people usually do to get into the Sacred Guard Regiment. Oddly, that was not the case with Meixia. She did not spend a year working as a squire for a Sacred Knight and worked in the military instead, so it was really difficult for Haru to understand as to how she could get in.

After reminiscing the past during their time in academy, Meixia finally returned to her room.

Before she left, she asked Haru a favour.

“By the way....could you please pretend like we don’t know each other in front of the others?”

“Why?”

Haru was confused. He felt something off but he couldn’t explain how.

“Well, just in case they think there is some kind of nepotism going on, they wouldn’t think it’s from me.”

Haru was still confused, but he went along with what she wanted and didn’t ask any further questions.

“Alright. I’m gonna go to my room now. See ya tomorrow, Haru.”

“See ya, Meixia.”

The two went to sleep in their respective rooms later that night.

The next day, Saaya gathered members of the squad to the field for an announcement.

Haru who did not get any notice the day earlier, woke up a little bit later than the others. After waking up, he noticed that the corridor was oddly quieter compared to yesterday, so he went to the window to see outside. He noticed that Garuda Squad was gathered at the field unbeknownst to him, so he went there immediately to catch up with the others.

“As I was saying––”

Right when Saaya was giving a speech, Haru arrived at the field and interrupted her.

“What took you so long?” said one member of Garuda Squad.

Haru was nervous. He did not expect for his first day to make a mistake already.

“Excuse me for my tardiness.....I did not get the message to come to the field this early in the morning.”

Haru tilted his head down, feeling guilty.

“That’s alright. I didn’t––”

When Saaya was tolerating him, that one member interrupted her.

“Even without notice, you should have learnt during your internship that the Sacred Guards always wake up early.”

He stepped forward to get closer to face Haru.

“Zum, there is no need to––”

Saaya tried to stop him before anything became serious.

“You know, I’ve been wondering how someone like you can fill the vacant position.”

Zum concentrated fyx on one of his hands. He then started conjuring light and shaped them into bird-like figures.

“Let’s see what you got.”

Zum shot several light blasts in the shape of sparrows towards Haru.

Right after Zum shot his attack, Haru’s feet lit up and he moved several feet away from the attack, dodging them.

Everybody was shocked. Considering that very close distance between the two, Haru couldn’t have dodged that attack. Nobody had ever dodged Zum’s attack from that distance.

Frustrated, Zum then shot several more attacks in a sequence. Haru dodged them all, demonstrating his agility.

“I guess you’re not so bad after all....”

Zum then locked on to his target, and shot a sparrow light towards Haru.

Haru dodged the attack once again using the same technique. However, just when he thought the sparrow light was past him, it followed him, chasing after him.

“Good luck dodging that!” said another member of the squad.

Haru tried to dodge it as best as he could, but the sparrow kept following him. Haru finally realised that before Zum shot his attack, he was locking the target so his attack would follow him until it hit him.

Haru was finally cornered, as he could not escape from the attack.

“That’s enough.”

Just when Haru thought the attack was gonna hit him, one member of the squad protected him by blocking it with his photon saber, destroying the light sparrow upon contact.

“Tch. Just when it was about to get fun.”

Zum was disappointed yet he returned to his original position.

“Thank you, Arudo. Alright, everyone, let’s get back to the meeting.”

Saaya asked everyone to stand in formation to continue the morning meeting.

“Thank you for saving me.”

Haru thanked the man who saved him earlier. The man did not respond and went to his original position just as Saaya told her.

They continued their morning briefing.

At noon, they had lunch at the dining room just like yesterday. The order of the seats was also exactly the same as yesterday, with no difference.

While lunch was being served, Haru asked Meixia about the incident earlier this morning. He asked the people who were involved in the incident with him.

“The man who attacked you earlier is Zum Borschuv, a Sacred Sorcerer. He is Chief Saaya’s left hand.”

“Left hand? What about her right hand?”

“That’s the man who saved you earlier. His name is Arudo from the famous Rayoza clan. He’s really quiet and only acts during emergencies, so you should be thankful that he saved you earlier.”

Haru turned his head to the right. Meixia was right. The two of them were sitting right across one another, close to Saaya. This signified their position within the squad as the right and left hand of the chief. Haru got a gist that those three were the most powerful people on this table.

After lunch was over, everyone was dismissed and was allowed to return to their room until further notice.

However, before Haru left the room, Saaya asked her something.

“Haru, would you like to join me for a walk?”

Haru stood still, and nodded as a response.

“Let’s go.”