Chapter 15: Puli's Discovery About Charlotte.

After a week...

Ben was training in the training room in his Heat Blast form, aiming his Fire Blast at the dummies which were constantly moving here and there between obstacles. Ben needed to hit the dummies which were in red while he should avoid the green ones.

Ben had been training his control over his alien transformation and practicing long-range attacks using dummies, thinking about the battle he fought on his mission at the orphanage.

'I must become proficient in long-range attacks. I was lucky in the previous battle to escape serious injury.' Ben sighed inwardly after finishing his training.

"Ben, the captain is looking for you," Peggy entered the training room, looking at Ben in his Heat Blast form.

"SURE, PEGGY. WHERE IS SHE?" Ben looked at Peggy and nodded his head.

"Oh... she was in her cabin. You can go there to meet her," Peggy informed Ben where to meet Charlotte.

Ben nodded his head, transformed back to his human form, and exited the training room.

Peggy, who was about to follow Ben, stopped and looked at the training area where the long-ranged attacks were practiced. The red dummies, which were the targets, started to repair themselves automatically.

Her eyes widened when she noticed the scorecard. Ben was able to attack the correct dummy 150 times, and only 15 times he hit the wrong target.

'As expected of Ben. He has a monstrous talent for controlling his magic.' Peggy looked at the score in awe.

Charlotte's cabin...

KNOCK... KNOCK...

Ben came to the door of the captain's cabin and knocked it a few times.

"COME IN."

There was an indifferent voice that came from inside the cabin and asked Ben to enter the room.

Ben opened the door and entered the room. When he entered, he noticed Selena, Mary, and Annie also standing in the room.

"Oh, Ben how is your training?" Charlotte asked Ben with a smile on her face.

She knew Ben was training for the past week to overcome the shortcomings he felt in his battle with the bandits.

"Well... I have completed my training captain. Peggy informed me you are looking for me," Ben said with a happy face.

"You guys are called here because of your previous mission. It seems the bandits are not the normal ones, they were related to some evil cult that practices blood sacrifices,"

Charlotte explained to them with patience.

"Due to your contribution this time, Wizard King awarded 1 star to our squad,"

Charlotte said with a smile, pointing to the board where Sol took the star from Charlotte's hand and placed it on it.

"Currently we have 30 stars. Including this star, we have 31 stars." Sol, with a wide smile, said while placing the star.

Hearing they got 1 star, Annie and Selena became very happy and clapped their hands in excitement.

Seeing them happy, Mary looked at them puzzled. Seeing her puzzled look, Ben explained to her about the star.

Realizing the importance of getting a star, Mary also became happy.

"How do you know about it?" Mary questioned Ben. She knew Ben was from a commoner background, so asked him out of curiosity.

"Oh, that. It was told to me by our captain when I first met her two years before," Ben said while scratching his head and thinking about the incident.

Hearing Ben, all the women present in the cabin including Sol looked at Charlotte with an unbelievable look. Especially Selena and Puli who were standing near Charlotte.

Feeling the eyes of everyone in the room, Charlotte's face turned red in embarrassment, and steam came from above her head.

"To... today will be yo...ur day off. And tomorrow you will be coming to the capital to meet with the Wizard King." Charlotte said lightly enough to be heard by Ben and others.

"Now you can leave." Charlotte gave her permission to others to leave the cabin.

'Should I invite him to go out for lunch?' Charlotte started to daydream about how she and Ben were walking through the street holding hands.

"Sis," Sol called Charlotte after the others left the room but she got no reply from her.

"What...?"

"Sis." Hearing no reply from Sol, she once again called Charlotte.

"Wh..." Charlotte came back to her senses and looked at Sol who called her.

Puli noticed her captain's unusual behavior with a bewildered look on her face, unlike Sol who did not understand. Puli understood what was happening.

Puli looked at the door where Ben left the cabin with an amused smile.

"Sister why didn't you tell me you knew Ben?" Sol asked Charlotte with a pout on her face.

Hearing Sol's question, Charlotte took a document and left the cabin in a hurry, not answering her, while there was a slight red visible in the corner of her ears.

Looking at Sol who looked confused, Puli sighed inwardly and walked towards Sol.

"Sol is as naive as ever. Uh... it seems like something interesting is going to happen." Puli with a naughty smirk placed her hand on Sol's shoulders.

"What's interesting is happening?" Sol asked Puli with a confused look.

Sigh...

"Can't you see our captain is totally into him?" Puli said to Sol with a proud look on her face.

"What!!! Impossible." Sol shouted, not believing Puli's statement.

"Nothing is impossible. I have seen many who have behaved exactly like our captain when they are around their lover." Puli stood her ground firmly.

"No, I cannot believe it." Sol shook her head in disapproval.

'Well, sis was interested in him in the magic knight exam. But I should be purely interested in his power, right?'

She started to think about how Charlotte backed Ben in the magic knight exam.

"Well, how about we find out?" Puli asked Sol while pointing at her with a smirk.

"____"

Seeing Puli's provocation, Sol gritted her teeth and nodded her head, confident in her captain's cold heart towards men.

"Let's see." Puli with an excited face left the cabin, leaving behind Sol who was still thinking.

Wizard King Palace...

In the underground interrogation room, Marx and the Wizard King stood before the four prisoners chained before them.

While Captain of Green Mantis Jack was interrogating the four prisoners and trying to get information from them.

When one of them tried to say something, he started to vomit blood and died on the spot.

Seeing this, Jack sighed, looking at the dead body before him, and turned to the Wizard King standing behind him.

"Your accumulation is correct; they are not simple. A seal is placed on them to prevent them from disclosing any information," Jack said to the Wizard King.

"Even Marx can't read their memory. There is a complex seal placed on their head. If we break the seal forcefully, they will die due to brain damage,"

Julius looked at the dead body before him and said with a serious expression.

"It seems like we need to take this guy seriously. I think they are planning something very big; that's why the countermeasures are this strict, my lord," Marx explains his guess to Julius.

"Send a mission to the Crimson Lion and Azure Deer. Tell them to make a long investigation on this guy around suspicious villages," Julius nodded and tasked a joint mission for investigation.

"Yes, my lord." Marx saluted and exited the interrogation room.

The Wizard King had a serious expression after Marx left the interrogation room, suddenly changed his demeanor.

"This is my chance." Wizard King quickly left the room, instantly disappearing and fooling his assistant.

Jack remained the only one in the room and started to continue his interrogation with the remaining three.

Blue Rose base...

Ben was sleeping soundly in his room, hugging a pillow and snuggling with it, while Nero was also sleeping soundly on the nest Ben prepared for her.

KNOCK... KNOCK...

Suddenly, the door was knocked on by someone, but there was no sign of Ben waking up. Nero, who woke up from her sleep, flew towards Ben and pecked on his cheeks to wake him up.

"What's up, Nero?" Ben asked with a sleepy tone.

KNOCK... KNOCK...

"Coming."

Once again, the door was knocked on by someone which caught the attention of Ben. Ben went towards the door and opened it.

"Captain." Ben was surprised to see Charlotte was the one who knocked on the door.

"Ben... how is the room, are you comfortable?" Charlotte started to spout nonsense while thinking about how to invite him to have lunch together outside.

"Yes, Captain. In our orphanage, I always shared a room with many kids, but now it seems very quiet,"

Ben said with a smile, remembering how Asta used to snore and Nero peck at his head for disturbing her sleep.

"Oh... then." Charlotte stopped what she was about to say mid-watch, fearing how Ben would react, completely forgetting she was his captain.

Some distance from Ben's room, two figures are peeking from the slightly opened door and listening to the conversation between Ben and Charlotte. It was none other than Sol and Puli who noticed Charlotte was walking towards the dormitory and followed her.

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(Author's POV)

Thanks for reading the chapter! please give a review and power stone!!!