Chapter 7: The Smell of Change

Hado and Sayomi walked into the streets of the empire, a smile on Hado's face as the girl looked around fearfully, knowing she was deep within enemy territory.

"What do you think?" Hado asked her, "Is it really worth taking over? It seems pretty peaceful." He said nonchalantly, as if he were asking her what she wanted for breakfast.

Sayomi looked at him incredulously. "What do you mean take over?" She asked quietly, looking at the boy as he grinned wildly, holding out his hands.

"I want it all, the entire world, I want to hold it..." He said, an almost sad look on his face.

Sayomi shook her head quickly, trying to shake off the strange feeling she had.

"I have led you to the empire... Please allow me to leave, you can go rejoin your army and tell them all you want, just allow me to leave firs-"

*Slap*

Sayomi blinked, the sting on her cheek shocking her as Hado looked at her with a cruel look. "I don't remember promising your freedom... I need someone's help during this whole ordeal, at least until I learn everything I need to... And Konya, you'll be that person..."

Sayomi looked at him through teary eyes, his words cutting deep as she realized something. Or rather, she confirmed what she had already suspected.

She was no more than a slave now, she would never be set free unless she left herself, and from what she'd seen, there was no way to escape her captor.

"Then what am I to do?" Sayomi whispered softly, her voice quivering slightly.

"For starters? Stop looking so obviously foreign, we need new clothes, I can't exactly watch and learn if I look like one of their soldiers..."

That's when a brilliant idea flooded into Hado's mind.

That was it, he could pretend to be a soldier and gain information, "Or perhaps... That's perfect." He smiled widely as he thought about how easy it would be.

"You're going to be my spy, I'm sure you can find out some good things for me... Oh yes! Konya, you'll be my public side while I'm in the background, just a simple soldier working hard to support a family from some random town..."

"You're insane, you aren't an imperial soldier?" The girl asked in shock, looking at Hado's attire in horror.

"Not on paper, but I'm sure I'll be fine. In case you haven't noticed... I can handle my own."

He began to walk toward an inn off to the side of them, smiling evilly as he heard her whisper behind him, "Oh god, please let this end well..."

There was one problem with Hado's brilliant little plan, something that had held him back even in his original life.

Money. Money always seemed to be the issue.

He needed money, he didn't have enough to buy a room at the inn. He didn't have enough money to buy food or even clothes that actually fit him.

"Hmm... Konya, how should I make money?" He asked the girl as she stood next to him on the street, her head bowed as she cursed herself repeatedly for getting into this situation.

"Hey? I'm talking to you," Hado said, knocking on the top of the girl's head. "I expect an answer when I ask my servants something," Hado finished, yanking her head up and looking into her teary eyes.

"I know how we can make money..." He said, smiling at her as she shook.

"Please no," She said, knowing what he was insinuating.

"I don't know, it could make a lot of money, prostitutes are always needed, right? I knew this one prostitute off Allen who always offered to take me in, it's a good enough job right?"

Sayomi couldn't help but cry. It was all so much, nearly dying, seeing your entire squad be massacred in front of you. She wanted to be free again, but she knew there was no chance of that ever happening, not while this sinister man in front of her was breathing.

"No answer? That's fine," Hado said, letting go of Sayomi and looking around, seeing if anyone was being nosy.

"I can't trust you not to run off…" He muttered before his eyes locked on someone walking by.

A guard.

"Hey!" He yelled, yanking Sayomi along as he ran up to the older guard, who watched the scene in confusion.

"Hey, this bitch is trying to defy me, do me a favor and detain her while I go make a report," Hado said, deepening his voice slightly as the guard looked between him and the girl, glancing her over.

"Hmm, I see, who's your commanding officer?" The guard asked, grabbing Sayomi from Hado as the boy looked at him in confusion.

"Your commanding officer? The one you answer to? I need a name so I can release her with him"

Hado looked at the man, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the many different seams in the guard's uniform.

"You... Aren't a guard are you?" Hado said, smiling widely as he touched the man's arm lightly, sending a few Jeweled Wasps onto it.

Hearing this made the guard's heart stop cold, "H-How did you know that sir?" He stuttered nervously, thinking back on what happened. He hadn't said anything wrong, so how could Hado have known?

"You seem awfully unconfident and unsure of yourself... What kind of fool would say they weren't a guard just because someone accused you of not being one?" Hado asked mockingly, watching the guard's face turn redder and redder as sweat dripped from his forehead.

"I mean, I pretended to be a guard better than you did..." Hado said before sending a well-placed punched to the man's chin, knocking him out instantly and sending him to the floor.

"Look at that Konya, I just found a free way into the empire's guard..." Hado said, looking at the girl and feeling quite pleased with himself.

Sayomi looked at him confusedly, "Wait, how did you know he wasn't a guard?" She asked, looking between the unconscious man and Hado.

Hado smirked, kneeling at the man and reaching his hand out, three of the insects popping out and crawling out onto his hand.

"I just had a feeling..." He said mysteriously as he grabbed the man and tossed him onto his shoulder. The jeweled wasps were becoming quite handy, they could infiltrate the minds of their victims, a very useful skill to Hado.

'Wonder what the limits are, I should test that soon...'

With that Hado, followed closely by Sayomi, went off to find the nearest guard checkpoint, everything was starting to fall in line...

...

(South of the empire)

Several horses rode across the lands as the large walls of the empire came into view.

"Ahh, Liuetenant Najenda, do you smell that?" A young teen asked, her eyes glinting as she smiled widely at the empire."

"What is it General?" A gray-haired woman asked, looking at the empire with a neutral expression.

"The smell of... Change."

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A/N: Hey everyone, thank you for reading, and hope you are enjoying it so far, have a nice day/night.

P.S

Someone asked me to explain Hado's powers, so I will explain what we know so far.

Hado has a high affinity with all insects. As the title suggests, they see him as a king, or even so far as a godly figure. So when he gives commands they follow them to perfection, as it's like their king gave an order.

The insects offer several upgrades to Hado, some are spoilers that I won't reveal, but we have already seen a few. Since Hado's upgrade from the original world he was in, his body has changed tremendously. He has superhuman strength, speed, agility, and battle IQ. It is all programmed into his very soul. Hado can also heal from death as was shown with the soldier stabbing him. This is actually due to the insects, They protect him and he protects them, without the insects he is vulnerable to death, but with them... He's essentially immortal. Of course, there are ways around this, but those don't matter at the moment. Hado can use the insects abilities for different things, like he was able to heal Sayomi because the jeweled wasps have the ability to hack brains, though this is a much grander scale than in real life, it is upgraded for the purpose of the fic and more abilities/explanations will be given later throughout the fic.