Beast Knights 19 - Frustration

Standard disclaimer applies. You are warned that the characters might not be in their usual selves (in other words, possible OOCness).

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Chapter 19 - Frustration

A heavy sigh resonated in the room for who knows how many times already for that day. It was the second day of the female Beast Knights in the Blood Pledge Castle. To be honest, it would have been an opportunity for them to go out and have a look at the capital since they didn't get to do so the first time the three of them arrived.

But for them, they didn't have such luxury at the moment. Especially when Mari kept on sensing ominous energy hovering a little far from the capital. Even when she knew that she didn't have to worry about it for the time being, the three ladies still couldn't keep their guards down.

Not to mention, they haven't made any acceptable progress when it comes to their research. And it was what frustrated them the most.

"This is the most frustrating research I have ever done in my life, even as a medical student planning to specialize in pediatrics."

Mari could only chuckle at Rina's complaint and shook her head after that. "Well, researching about ancient history is obviously in a different league with medicine. Especially since this particular ancient history is something that is about to destroy the Mazoku if we don't prepare enough."

"Now you're becoming pessimistic, Mari," Chie commented this time as she placed the document she was reading on one side as she was done with it.

"With this situation, who wouldn't be?" After that, Mari heaved another sigh and groaned. "Two days have already passed and yet we've made so little progress. Not to mention… those Phantasma we fought…"

With that, heavy silence surrounded the three knights that was completely different than while they were busy researching. And it was that heavy silence that Yuri and the others consisting of the three brothers, Günter, Shori and even Murata had arrived at when they entered the room.

"Mari-san? Is there something wrong?" Yuri ended up asking before he could even stop himself.

Murata could only shake his head at that. But it seemed that it was also a reasonable question as this was the first time that they've encountered this kind of silence among the three Beast Knights.

"We're just… trying to recall that last fight we had with those puppets. It seems that the process of disintegration of those menaces was something that your soldiers haven't encountered even before you all decided to seek our assistance," Mari explained as she fixed the finished documents and placed them on one side.

"And yet, why did some of them disintegrate differently from each other?" Chie soon asked the question that was left hanging from the explanation.

"Does the process of disintegration as you defeat the Phantasma mean anything, Rina-senpai?" This time, Murata chose to ask his mentor.

It was enough to catch the Water Swordfish Knight's attention who was still busy reading a particular document. "Yes, it means a lot, to be honest. That's because the disintegration process of the defeated Phantasma says a lot about its creator. Or in particular, the sages responsible for doing something to revive the Beast Knights' main enemy."

"And so for you three to encounter the different disintegration process of those puppets could only mean…"

Mari nodded with a somber expression. "We encountered four processes during that fight. So it means that there were already four sages who were possibly revived or somebody took over the positions of the previous sages."

"Obviously, that's bad news for all of us, right?" Shori was the one who asked a question this time.

"Yes," Rina replied as she placed the document on the pile of the other ones that she had already read. "And that's because it means that they were already doing a lot of things to make sure the revival of that entity would proceed smoothly and in a faster time than initially intended. They intended to do everything to get ahead of us by a few more steps."

"But that's something we have to prevent from happening if we want to protect everyone!" Yuri exclaimed that had only made the three Knights look at him with a hopeless smile.

Of course, they were all aware of that. And that was why they were trying to learn more about their enemies in any way they could.

"Does that mean you also have to do some research about the sages that you've mentioned?" Günter asked this time, which broke the silence surrounding them for a short while.

"That's one of the plans," Chie answered after nodding. "Another is to teach your soldiers on how to deal with the Phantasma in a much easier way. Of course, that's not a complete guarantee that they could defeat the stronger ones with whatever techniques and strategies that we can come up with. They have to rely on their intuition should the battle become unfavorable to them."

"Now that you've mentioned it, are there any surviving records here in Shin Makoku about the original Beast Knights? I have a feeling that we can read something from there since they were, in fact, the ones who first encountered the seven sages."

The Mazoku looked at each other for answers after Mari asked that question. That was when it hit them.

"Would Lady Yunsoo's last journal count as a research material with that criteria in mind?"

"Lady Yunsoo's journal, you say?"

Conrad nodded. "It was a hardbound book that we found while we were trying to calculate the movement of the island of Esovia before. So far, that's the only record of one of the original Beast Knights that we managed to find."

"There is another one. Or should I say, three," Murata spoke this time. His statement, of course, had surprised nearly everyone in the room.

"Did you say three?"

The Daikenja nodded. "The priestesses managed to find them and give them to me last night. Of course, I only read the first page of each of them as I know that you three should be the ones to read them first."

Without a doubt, the revelation came as a surprise. But it also brought them excitement that more research materials popped up to provide them some help. And yet, Mari couldn't help feeling that something was off from Murata's explanation.

"Murata-kun, please tell me the truth," Mari started after a few moments.

As soon as she said that, for some reason, the tension in the air thickened. But all of them braced themselves for the next words that the Wind Tiger Knight would say.

"Was there anyone other than you and the Genshi Miko in that temple who had an interest in reading anything related to the original Beast Knights 4,000 years ago?"