Chapter 219 - Rynold's Disappearance

"Hey, the general wants to see you."

Oliver sighed at the sudden opening of the door. Jack called to him just as when he was fixing his shoe. He found it troublesome that the general was looking for him again.

"What is this time?" Oliver asked as he planted his foot on the ground. He then stretched as he waited for Jack to answer.

"No idea," Jack replied as he stepped out of the doorway and into the open area, "He says that it's something urgent. I don't really know what it's about, and I couldn't care enough to ask."

"Really?" Oliver's head slightly tilted downwards as he faced Jack, expressing his doubts. "Dude, you really should at least exert some effort into this. Didn't you use to be a soldier? Isn't paying attention to things people say drilled into you guys?"

"Hey, don't pull the soldier card again. I used to be one — USED to be. It's that reason why I don't want to listen to geezers any longer than I have to because I know better now. Besides, it's not my decision to stay here for over three days now."

Shaking his head, Oliver couldn't help but agree with what Jack said.

"Fair point," Oliver scoffed as he moved to the door, "I'll see what he wants, and then let's get out of here. It's weird how Rynold hasn't contacted us yet. Even though we've made our location known, he should've had made contact by now."

Closing the door behind him, Oliver and Jack left towards the building where the general's office was. It's been three days since Oliver had first arrived here, and, in those three days, the treatment Oliver and Jack received had rapidly improved.

"I'm sure he's fine," Jack said as he waved at another soldier who had greeted them first, "He can take care of himself, better than either one of us. He's probably busy, is all. You know, like how we've been these past few days."

"Right, with all the training."

"Hell yeah, with all the training!" Jack expressed his disapproval. It wasn't the first time he had done something like that. "Honestly, I didn't think you actually meant to train them in using Mana. I thought you'd give them pointers or something. Never did I expect you'll teach them hands-on."

"We've been over this," Oliver let out a deep breath as he went over things once more, "I promised to keep my end of the bargain. Training these dolts to make sure they don't die in the New World happens to be one of them. Besides, after today, we'll get out of here and head to the city."

"Right, right," Jack doubted, "And you're sure that this place won't fall apart once we're gone?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," Oliver nodded, "They are still technically soldiers. It's not like they're a bunch of civilians who's never fought a day in their lives. They'll be fine."

"You know, you're saying that like it's not your responsibility if it falls on your shoulders," Jack noted how casual Oliver responded.

"Well, it isn't," Oliver said as he looked at the soldiers passing by, no hint of hostility directed at the two of them whatsoever. "We did what we could to help these people. Whether they'd put it to good use or not is up to them, not us."

"If you say so," Jack felt hesitant but agreed nonetheless, "Well, I did have fun beating a bunch of guys over the past few days. Those sparring matches you've got set up really made me stretch my muscles. It's pretty fun too, seeing them wince in pain like that."

"You do know that's not the reason for sparring, right?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Then, why are you acting all smug?"

"Shut up. We're here."

Oliver furrowed his brows as he turned to Jack. It was a bit of frustration and doubt combined, but it wasn't anything that would cause harm. So, with that, Oliver walked in alone to the general's office.

"You asked to see me?" Oliver spoke as he entered without knocking. Over these past few days, Oliver had somehow gotten to an amicable relationship with the general. It was something that he had neither expected nor planned for, but he welcomed it regardless.

"Yes," the general's tone was slightly sore, something Oliver had immediately noticed. "People from the city called and are asking you to report to your family's pavilion within Ark City. They are waiting for you there."

"Okay," Oliver hesitantly agreed, "Then, what's with the sad face? Your soldiers are in the best shape of their lives, and they'll be able to tackle any problem that comes. You should be happy, not the opposite. Unless that call had something more to do than my family's summons?"

"There is," the general sighed in defeat. "There has been an attack over at the city a few days ago. The people stationed there got their hands full dealing with it and could only send over the official report just now. And, well, see for yourself."

Grabbing the thick stack of paper from the desk, Oliver flipped through the earmarked pages. It didn't take him very long to reach a conclusion. He slammed the stack of paper to a close and crossed his arms in anger.

"Is that what I think it means?"

"Unfortunately, it seems so," the general answered, "Reports indicate a man stopping four colossal-sized monsters in a feat of extraordinary strength. It says there that he made a controlled flame-like spire that reached the sky."

"It's magic, obviously, and I have an idea who this guy is."

"But something about this felt odd at the end of the report. The man the military recovered was a private no different than the others. He could wield Mana, but not to the point of controlling a flame. The intelligence officers questioned him only to discover that the private was speaking of another Magic User. The one who actually defeated the other three."

"Yeah," Oliver didn't like what the report detailed, "I'm guessing a part of the guy's story didn't add up at the end, huh?"

"Indeed, it didn't," the general removed his reading glasses and placed them on the table. "The private mentioned that the other Magic User had disappeared as a light wrapped around him. He said, and I quote, 'The light shot down from the sky and took the guy with it as it disappeared soon after."

Oliver's brows furrowed once more as he came to an understanding. He knew what this meant — the only question in his head right now was why? Why would something like that happen at the most crucial and most random of times?

"It's suspicious, isn't it?" the general added. "The report also stated that the soldier they recovered was injured. It was a bit odd, given that the man had taken down three of the same creatures before the fourth. It may be possible that he had only gotten tired, but injuries from full-on exhaustion don't add up to this guy's story."

Instead of answering, though, Oliver remained silent as he thought of the implications of the report.

"You know something, don't you?"

The general caught Oliver trailing off and managed to snap him out of it. Oliver's face captured that he knew something that had frustrated him, plain as day.

"Jack! Get in here!"

Calling out to Jack, who was standing outside with no care in the world, Oliver needed Jack to be in the same room to discuss what he had just learned. It involved Rynold, after all, and it would be better if both of them knew of what happened.

"What is it? You could've just gone and called me over, you know. If it's nothing important, I swear..."

Jack immediately stopped talking as soon as he realized how serious Oliver looked. From there, Oliver took the reins of the conversation and explained everything that needed to be said.

"It's Rynold, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Oliver nodded as his expression dropped ever so slightly. "Anybody who knows the guy would've reached the same conclusion. Although I have no idea what that light meant."

"I'm pretty sure you do," Jack sighed as he put his hands in his pockets, "It's a teleportation thing; nothing else would explain that."

"Still doesn't explain why did he choose to do it right then and there, though. It doesn't make sense for someone like Rynold to teleport out of a fight that he knew he'd win."

"Whatever the case," Jack quickly gave up in trying to figure it out, "You do know that you can ask someone else about all this, right?"

"Me?" the general innocently asked.

"What? No. Obviously not," Jack flinched backward from the general's response then turned back to Oliver. "You know, the guy who's more experienced and well-informed about all kinds of magic. The guy who's older than the people in this very room combined."

Oliver scoffed and shook his head as he knew what Jack was trying to say. He, of course, didn't want to reveal anything unnecessary to a third party. So, Oliver did what anybody else would do in this situation and decidedly put it off for later.

"Right," Oliver changed the subject, "Can you lend us a car? I plan on leaving today and responding to the family summons. It's what I came here to do, after all."

"Of course," the general nodded, "I suppose you plan on leaving right away?"

"Nah, we can wait for a bit," Oliver casually shook his head, "Tell me when and where you're going to send the car. I can handle the rest."

"Alright, I'll send someone to take care of this. In the meantime, what will you be doing?"

"Hit the training grounds one last time before leaving," Oliver said as he took the first steps to the door, "I'll see to it that your men are capable of handling themselves better than before."

"Thank you, Oliver," the general suddenly spoke sincerely and expressed his gratitude.

"What are you thanking me for?" Oliver answered as he nodded in acknowledgment regardless of what he said. "I just held up my end of the bargain as you did. There isn't any need for thanks."

Oliver's aloof personality was already made known to the general as he shook his head in an amicable response. As Oliver and Jack left the room, the general poured a glass of dark alcohol and drank in silence.

"What do you have planned now?" Jack asked as he closed the door behind him.

"You know what I did the first day we came here?" Oliver answered with a question.

"Remember it? Hell, it's easily one of the top Oliver moments in my book. But, you're not seriously thinking of doing something like that again, right?"

"Why not?" Oliver casually answered, "Get everything set up. We'll start once I get there. In the meantime, I need to talk to our informant about all of this. Something is bothering me, and I'd appreciate it if I had an answer right about now."

"Gotcha," Jack nodded and left Oliver to his own devices.

"Hey," Oliver called out from within the walls of his consciousness, "You awake?"

"I am now," the devil answered with an annoyed tone to its voice, "You really don't know how to keep your voice down, don't you? You know how much I'd appreciate my sleep."

"Yeah, yeah. Cut the sleep-deprived crap and help me with-"

"Your friend disappearing?" the devil finished Oliver's sentence, "This guy's the one who had become the Mech God's Candidate, correct?"

"Yeah, what about it? You know the Mech God, right? So, I assume there shouldn't be a problem?"

"That's not necessarily the case," the devil groaned for some reason before continuing, "The beam of light that absorbed your friend is indeed a teleportation beam. But, that is to say, not all civilizations have the prowess to teleport someone away in a matter of moments."