Chapter 70 - One of the Biggest Disappointments

By the time Zahi and Raphael arrived in Captain Wright's office which was now Zahi's office, they silently stood there for a moment before Zahi spoke. "I've never felt so disappointed when I heard you defended a traitor."

Zahi looked at Raphael and threw his fist onto his face. "WHAT HAS GOTTEN INTO YOU!?"

"....I. I had to do it... I had to... Claire, she's—" Raphael's explanation was suddenly cut off.

"DON'T MENTION THAT HER NAME!! I'M DISGUSTED FROM THE FACT THAT SHE USED TO BE MY FUCKING PUPIL!!" Zahi was clearly furious having two of his former students to turn out like this.

Not only that it made him mad, but the weight of being their former trainor had made him feel a sense of guilt and responsibility for his student's actions. He was completely ashamed for how much of a failure they turned out to be, and that it was him that brought disgrace to the special infantry troop's name because of they were his students.

"I-I apologize... for my behavior." Raphael said with his head down. He felt bad for upsetting Zahi this way, though he still won't change his mind on siding with Claire.

Even if it caused terrible problems and chaos, Raphael won't hesitate to do it all again for Claire. All that mattered to him was her safety and happiness, she was his only hope and salvation in this world. The others doesn't matter as much as she did, so all he really did felt was a little guilt and shame.

"You—" Zahi badly wanted to give Raphael a beating as his fist was trembling from anger and stress, but he held himself back because there was something important they had to do. "In a few days, we'll be heading to the Central District. We're assigned to guard and escort that damned woman to her trial and receive her punishment."

"Punishment!?" Raphael is surprised to hear this, Wright did promise him that he'll keep Claire alive by changing the punishment to a life sentence in prison. But he soon realized that Wright's dead, no one will be there to back her up.

Zahi raised a brow. "Of course, criminals must receive their punishment. Even if she's your lover, nobody's an exception to punishment if they commit a trecherous act."

"...n-no..." He instantly strikened by dread.

Noticing Raphael's face going pale, Zahi harshly taps on his forehead to get his attention. "Hey! If you're gonna act all worried about that woman and be depressed, how about you think of all the lives she killed and wasted meaninglessly."

"B-But I—"

"No buts, Novick. And if you ever try to do anything funny when we meet with her, I won't hesitate to kill you off with this—" Zahi threatened, referring to the bracelet he's wearing that's connected to Raphael's restrictive collar. "—you got that?"

"...Understood, sir." He can't fight back even if he wanted to.

"Authorities forbid that you help with trainings and missions, so atleast make yourself useful by cleaning this damn office. After that, you'll have to unpack my stuff and fix the place." Zahi ordered.

When Raphael started to clean up the place, Zahi got himself busy with the paper works at a corner of his new office. Being a captain of this special troop takes more responsibilities to handle, so Zahi wasn't really pleased on replacing Wright at all.

While reading a document, his mind dozes off into a memory from long ago. Back at the time when he was known as the most strongest fighter in the special troop.

"Pfft, people calling you the 'Black Reaper' now. You must be proud." Wright laughed, he used to be the 2nd strongest fighter back then.

"Quit saying that!! If I find whoever gave me that lame nickname, I swear I'm gonna give them hell!" Zahi ranted.

And another one of his peers chuckled. "Aw shucks, you hate it that much? I thought it suited you." Said Noura Ali, the 3rd strongest fighter in their generation.

"SO IT WAS YOU!?"

At the time, they were an unseperable trio and often hang out together when they have the time. Many people admired their friendship whenever they're seen together. Their image also tends to inspire others to become great fighters like them, so they were very popular and well-known as a trio.

"Ahaha!" Both Wright and Noura laughed, they were in it together to spread Zahi's new profound nickname.

"Alright, that's it! You asked for this!!" Zahi pinched on Noura's left cheeked, not letting it go for any moment.

"Ouch!—Awwwww! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!! Zahiiii!!" Noura cried. Zahi's pinch must've really hurt her. And he released her cheek when he couldn't endure inhaling her odor anymore.

"Tch, you reek of that smell again!" Zahi stepped away and covered his nose.

"Hey!! That's not nice thing to say to a lady!" Noura said while she massaged her left cheek. "And I smell like this because I help with the department handling artillery, you know? I used to work at a factory manufacturing weapons, so I know a thing or two."

"You still stink though."

"Ahaha!! How about giving her a stinky nickname too?" Wright suggested.

And Noura didn't like that idea. "HEY!"

"Good idea!! This will be pay back for giving me the nickname 'Black Reaper'. From now on you'll be—"

"Nooooo!! I don't want a nickname from you!" Noura howled.

Zahi can remember how chaotic they were as a trio back then, but he had fun sharing funny memorable moments and laughter. He can still vividly remember the smile on their faces when they were having fun that time.

However, those smiles were all gone now. Noura died years ago, and now Wright. It hurts to lose companions and keep moving on without them, but this was the kind of thing that's bound to happen for everyone. There are no exceptions.

He sighs and got up after finishing his paperwork duties. And while Raphael was still unpacking his things, he decides to proceed with his next agenda. "I won't be going too far, so you just stay and wait here for me."

"Yes, sir."

Zahi then makes his way to the facility where he'll get implanted with a shifter weapon. The people waiting for him were already prepared to execute the implantation procedure. So as Zahi takes his seat before the them, he became a bit uneasy seeing their excited expressions.

"We've been saving this, all this time, just in case you come back to the special troop." Said one of the implanters holding the bottle preserving Zahi's old shifter weapon.

He gave them a nasty look. "Gross, do you people preserve stuff like this all the time?"

"We don't! We only did this because it was the former rank number 1's shifter weapon, you know?"

"Tch, you glorify the old days too much."

"Geez. It's just our way of expressing admiration for you!"

"Whatever! Just go and implant that thing already." Then as Zahi said, they re-implanted his old shifter weapon back into his body. When they were done with the procedure, Zahi can feel the shifter weapon on his right arm again. The sensation just as he remembers.

He smirks while looking at the shifter weapon. "Hmm, I guess E.D.L.'s 'Black Reaper' returns."