Two days ago, after Sōken Ishida returned to Silbern, he went to find Haschwalth.
"Haschwalth!"
"Is there something you need?"
Facing the aggressive Sōken, Haschwalth remained calm.
"Don't play dumb!" Sōken slammed his hand on the desk in front of Haschwalth, blocking the documents he was reviewing. "Answer me! Why did you do that!"
"To avoid exposing the Wandenreich, of course," Haschwalth slowly looked up and answered calmly. "Those soldiers captured by the Shinigami would sooner or later have their mouths pried open."
"You know I was trying to save them!"
"You couldn't save everyone."
"Do you know that some Quincy were killed by your formula right in front of me? Just because I was a step too late and didn't have time to undo the formula on them!"
"My apologies."
"Fine..." Sōken took a deep breath. Haschwalth's calm face was exceptionally grating, but he had no choice but to stare into his eyes. "Then what about the new rules for the recruitment ceremony?
Isn't it just letting the soldiers kill each other?!
According to these rules, hardly any soldiers will survive the ceremony!"
The new rules had not yet been announced publicly, but the Sternritter had already been informed.
In the past, the recruitment method was simple: use an arena tournament to select promising and powerful soldiers.
But the new rules set by Haschwalth involved having 100 participants fight to the death in a large, enclosed space.
Haschwalth had built a huge hunting ground outside and had captured many Hollows from Hueco Mundo to put inside.
According to the new rules, 100 participants would enter each round. Those who could eventually walk out would pass the test.
If that were all, Sōken might have praised Haschwalth's innovative idea.
However, inside the hunting ground, participants could gain points by hunting Hollows and also by taking points from other participants.
The participant currently ranked first could leave the hunting ground voluntarily.
Moreover, the Hollows Haschwalth had captured were all Menos Grande, not easy to hunt.
Under these rules, to avoid being overwhelmed by swarms of Menos, participants would very likely choose to take points from others to leave early.
After all, as the top-ranked participants left, the number of people inside would decrease, making it increasingly difficult to cooperate and hunt the Menos.
"The Wandenreich has been closed off in the shadow space for many years. In this comfortable environment, the soldiers have become decadent," Haschwalth said calmly. "To keep up with His Majesty's pace, the soldiers need a harsh environment to temper themselves."
"There are many ways to train soldiers!" Sōken could not agree. "For example, increasing training time..."
"Without a sense of crisis, no amount of training is meaningful," Haschwalth interrupted him.
"I won't agree to this!"
This method of tempering was too cruel. At least half of the soldiers from the outer city would likely die. Sōken could absolutely not accept it.
Sōken was a man of action and planned to go directly destroy Haschwalth's hunting ground.
Once he eliminated the Menos Haschwalth had brought back, let's see how he would carry out his plan!
However, as Sōken turned, he found his body bound by reishi chains.
"My apologies, Ishida."
Even though a conflict had broken out, Haschwalth's face still showed little emotion.
"Haschwalth!" Sōken tried to break free, but he couldn't break the reishi chains right away.
"For His Majesty's long-cherished wish, I must do this. You've been tired from running back and forth lately. Please stay here and rest for a while."
Haschwalth stepped forward, took Sōken's reishi pocket and the various spiritual tools he wore, then left the room with them.
A moment later, Sōken finally broke the chains, only to find the room sealed off by a reishi shield.
This was a shield specifically designed against Quincy. The reishi inside the room had been evacuated, creating a vacuum.
There was no reishi left in the room for him to manipulate.
Moreover, his 'Gintō' had also been taken away, making it very difficult for him to break the shield from the inside.
"Damn it!" Sōken pounded the wall, but he was helpless.
...
Sora trained Meninas for a while, then had her continue practicing her basic abilities with the bracers.
He went out onto the streets again for a stroll.
It was the time when there were more people outside. He wanted to try his luck again and see if he could find suitable disciples.
This time he walked further, going to an area far from Silbern. The buildings in this district were not as well-maintained as those near the castle and looked older.
Along the way, every time he encountered a Quincy, he would open their panel to check.
After wandering for a long time, he finally found his target in a small alley.
In the alley, four young men and women were surrounding a black-haired girl.
"Let's see where you run now?"
The lead girl, with yellow hair, laughed loudly. Three tall young men followed behind her.
"If you have the guts, don't call for help," the black-haired girl stared coldly at the three unfamiliar youths.
"Hehe..." the yellow-haired girl adjusted the collar of her white military uniform. "See this? I've already enlisted. And you... are still just a wild kid!"
They had all grown up in this district but had never gotten along, and their resentment ran deep.
"Trash is still trash even if they become a soldier,"
the black-haired girl pouted.
"Quite the personality..." Sora stood on a rooftop. The youths below hadn't noticed him.
He opened the black-haired girl's panel:
[Bambietta Basterbine]
Talent: S
Reishi Manipulation: Lv 30
Affinity Level: Stranger
Sora had found another member of the future girl group.
"I'm gonna tear that filthy mouth of yours!" The yellow-haired girl was instantly enraged and called to her teammates behind her, "Beat her up!"
In her anger, she hadn't forgotten that she couldn't beat the other girl herself.
The three young men, eager to show off in front of the yellow-haired girl, all stepped forward.
"Although I really don't want to hit a girl..."
One of the yellow-haired youths threw a punch at Bambietta's face. "You can only blame yourself for provoking someone you shouldn't have!"
However, Bambietta's skill far exceeded his expectations.
She calmly sidestepped, dodging his attack, and immediately counter-attacked.
"Go down!" The youth disregarded her seemingly light attack and threw another punch.
However, when her fist hit him, he felt as if he had been hit by some heavy machinery. A powerful explosive impact instantly sent him flying.
Boom—
The youth crashed into the wall, his head lolled to the side, and he passed out.
"I told you her punches are strong! Attack her together!"
The yellow-haired girl didn't even glance at the reckless fool who had passed out and urged the remaining two teammates to attack together.
"She is a bit strong..."
The two youths looked at each other, their disdain gone.
They were both soldiers. Before, they thought they didn't need to team up against a girl who hadn't even enlisted. One person attacking while the others watched to prevent her escape would be enough.
"Is that all you've got? Come at me together!"
This was Bambietta's first time beating up soldiers. The brief exchange had restored her confidence.
"You're asking for death!"
The two youths were enraged and completely lost any intention of holding back.
Boom, boom—
Bambietta knocked them both down with two punches.
"All useless!"
The yellow-haired girl hadn't expected these soldiers, who often boasted about how strong they were, to be so weak, unable to even withstand one punch from Bambietta.
"You... you... you stay away!!!"
Seeing Bambietta slowly approach her, the yellow-haired girl started to stutter.
Boom—
She also fell unconscious.
"Heh... trash is indeed still trash even after becoming a soldier."
Bambietta looked disdainful.
"Clap, clap, clap, clap—"
Applause came from behind her.
"Who's there?!"
Bambietta felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She hadn't even noticed someone was behind her!
"Impressive, impressive. To be able to defeat soldiers without any training."
Sora said with a smile.
"Are you also this bitch's helper?"
Bambietta looked warily at the stranger who had suddenly appeared.
"No, I don't know her," Sora shook his head. "I just noticed the commotion over here and came to see."
"Then I'll be leaving," Bambietta's intuition told her this person was not someone she could afford to provoke, and she wanted to leave quickly.
"Don't be in such a hurry to leave."
Bambietta found a hand resting on her shoulder.
"Your talent is very good, but it still needs to be nurtured through growth."
"Only with a powerful professor can you go further."
The gentle voice was right next to her ear. Bambietta could even feel his breath.
But she felt like a wild animal encountering its natural enemy. Her body stiffened, unable to move her legs.
"And my strength is great."
"I happen to be lacking disciples."
"Professor!" Bambietta blurted out without thinking.
"Good," Sora nodded with satisfaction. "Once you enter my school, there is no chance to regret it. If you betray the school, I will personally clean house. But in return, I will do my best to teach you."
Bambietta's personality was rather wild, and gaining her recognition would not be easy. If he used a gentle approach, it would probably take a long time.
And he didn't know how long he could maintain his Quincy identity. Sora didn't have that much time to slowly win her over before taking her as a disciple.
Besides persuasion, displaying power was also the easiest way to gain her "recognition."
"I won't betray my professor!" Bambietta felt that those who knew how to adapt could go further. For now, it was best not to offend this mysterious powerhouse.
"Hmm... follow me then, Bambietta," Sora released her shoulder and walked out of the alley first.
"How does the Professor know my name?"
Bambietta wondered.
Becoming the disciple of this mysterious powerhouse might be dangerous, but it was also a rare opportunity.
Bambietta desperately needed this opportunity.
"I will become strong too."
She glanced at the towering Silbern in the distance and followed him.
Sora glanced at his panel.
[Successfully accepted Bambietta Basterbine as a direct disciple.]
Her affinity level hadn't changed; it was still Stranger.
But now that the master-disciple relationship was established, it was easy to improve her affinity later.
Sora considered himself a decent master, not one who exploited his disciples like cattle. Raising affinity should be quite easy.
"Professor, where are we going?"
Bambietta followed, asking nervously.
Although the relationship was confirmed, she still felt uneasy.
"You live in this district, right? Do you have any other family?"
Sora asked for her information.
"No, my parents died in the human world."
Bambietta's emotions became agitated, and she looked up again at Silbern in the distance.
Sora looked closely at her. She looked slightly younger than Meninas, perhaps thirteen or fourteen.
However, Sora had learned some news from his two new disciples these past few days.
Twenty years ago, the Wandenreich had dispatched a batch of Quincy soldiers to the human world to replenish the Quincy population there.
Since Bambietta's parents had died in the human world, it meant she had been born before those twenty years. Her actual age was older than she appeared.
"Your parents were also among the Quincy who went to the human world..." Sora said softly. "I just came from the human world myself."
"The Professor was in the human world before?" Bambietta felt a little closer to him. "Is it very scary there? I've been to the camp Lord Ishida established... not many people came back..."
Twenty years ago, Bambietta's parents had felt the human world was not a safe place and had not taken the young her with them.
"For Quincy... it is indeed not very safe. Many have died in battle."
Sora looked at her with a complex expression. For the first time, he wondered if taking her as a disciple was the right thing to do.
Her parents had died in the human world. As someone from the Shinigami side, he could be considered to have a blood feud with her.
"No..." Bambietta stopped walking. "Some of them didn't die in battle."
"What do you mean?" Sora didn't understand.
"My family was killed by Quincy," Bambietta couldn't contain her emotions. She punched the wall beside her, leaving a large hole.
"Can you tell me about it?" Sora asked softly.
"To prevent leaks... they were silenced!
Right in front of Lord Ishida... he was just a little too late... he could have saved them!"
Bambietta could no longer suppress her emotions and burst into tears.
Sora remembered the report Yoruichi had submitted, which also mentioned captives being silenced.
"The environment here isn't very good either. Come live at my place from now on... you have two senior sisters there." Sora patted her head, comforting her.
"Waaaah—" Bambietta's suppressed emotions poured out, and she cried her heart out.
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