The Four Wheel Saga Book 1: THE LEGACY TRIALS

Once the aspirants had left, Keiji and Yuuki enumerated in detail the purpose of their visit. Their destination- the Bokuso glades had had an insurgency of bandits from the outlands. The preceptor duo had been given the charge to oust them. The Overlord had, after some deliberation, granted permission to include the aspirants in the proposed training exercise. It would help the young ones receive hands-on experience of the Legacy Unit’s work.

Bandits were strong and cunning adversaries. Being survivors of the stateless, dog-eat-dog outlands, they were hardened, cold-blooded and could navigate any terrain with ease. But among them, rarely anyone was familiar with kitsu manipulation, which was a tremendous disadvantage. A kitsu-trained child could make a grown bandit bite the dust without breaking a sweat.

The lamia story was intriguing for Hakaku, who tugged on his beard several times during the narration and stared into nothingness as if solving cyphers in his mind. Finally, he spoke.

Hakaku: “While lamia do prey on humans, they don’t possess the brute strength to dislodge a kitsu-infused boat. Added to that, kitsu is disorienting for their taste. You said that you touched them, Keiji? Did you perceive any raiki in their bodies?

Yorokobi: “Raiki in beasts?”

Keiji: “When I seized them from the water, I sensed they had dense, unstable kitsu cores, which reacted to my mugen, and their bodies exploded or disintegrated.”

Hakaku: “I see. Lamia are mindless creatures, lacking the perseverance to chase boats upstream for long periods- as it happened today. Perhaps someone fed them kitsu-fortified meat, which would usually cause them indigestion. Another more realistic possibility is that an outside agent controlled them.”

Yorokobi: “Is that even possible?”

Hakaku left his seat, rifled through some documents in a chest, and picked up a scroll. He returned, holding up the unfurled paper to display its contents. The scroll had a caricature of the face of a vile-looking man. A Karasuma seal with kill-on-sight decree was splashed across it.

Hakaku: “This is Akuma, a notorious bandit from the western outlands. He is infamously known as the beast whisperer. The miscreant is capable of kitsu-manipulation and has obliterated several of our military squads over the years. It is believed that he possesses a kitsu-art through which one he makes beasts submit to his will.”

Yorokobi: “Impossible!”

Hakaku: “But it has been a long time since he made his last appearance and if he is indeed in Bokuso, your mission will not be an enjoyable time.”

young ones with us against such a

“The die has been cast, Lieutenant. We cannot turn back now. It would be disheartening to my students, while disrupting their training regimen. Besides, don’t underestimate our aspirants. One of them almost

Yuuki: “Almost.”

Yorokobi: “But-”

the scroll and

in the abilities of their students, then who are we to say

you are right, Lord

We cannot have such incidents happen so close to the village. It would be detrimental to our reputation. Was there anything else,

Overlord is concerned about, and we

is

“Will you reconsider sending Uzziah to

we are banished. It would be dishonourable to join the rest of the kin aspirants in the citadel. Besides, Uzziah was raised here, trained by me, Midori, and the Wajin tribe. Our battle tactics and values are different. We

surely, citadel-trained warriors are better

we should try and break that mould. Shall we put your claim to the test, then, Lieutenant? (To Keiji) If you choose to accept the challenge, Uzziah will battle your best

Hakaku. The children will be thrilled. A contest

that is settled then. We shall have the bout tomorrow, at the break of dawn. I have

matter, yes. But it is privileged information. Lieutenant Yorokobi, will

Yorokobi: “Certainly.”

the reading room, sliding the panelled door closed. Keiji and Yuuki looked

aware, Lord Hakaku,