District 42-Chapter 232: Sgail’s leader
The soldier was flabbergasted once he saw that man stretching his arm in his direction and offering a handshake.
It was so sudden that his mind was striving to process what was happening. After all, it wasn’t every day when the big boss of a whole organization would even care enough about your existence to offer a handshake for you.
"S-sure. It’s nice to meet you as well." He squeezed firmly Thor’s hand. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺
The grip of the leader was strong. Not firm, but strong, and Casper needed to tighten his grip to match him.
’Leonel did the same with me once we first greeted each other. Is it some kind of peculiarity of their culture or something? Maybe it’s a thing that just the Sgails do.’ He was dumbfounded but didn’t give up on that handshake that looked more like a competition than a greeting.
The other Sgails were casting mischievous stares at those two hands together shaking up and down slowly. Some of them even giggled.
’What’s up with them? What’s going on exac--’ Casper needed to stop to think and then hold his breath, using all the strength he had in his tendons and muscles to keep his hand firm.
Even though it seemed impossible, Thor tightened even more his grip, narrowing his eyes slightly. The White warrior could hear that he giggled as well and it made him even more pissed off.
He tried to add more strength, but the more he tried, the more strong the grip of Thor became.
It came to a point where he couldn’t hold on anymore and just loosened the grip. For an instant, he felt like his hand was going to break, but Thor pulled his hand and all that pressure was gone.
’This guy... Just, what the heck is he? How he can have such strength?’ Casper was trying to identify if he had an exoskeleton under his sleeve, but nothing was there.
He was getting troubled because of all that mystery and the atmosphere inside the room wasn’t the better. However, it all vanished once Thor gave an energetic laugh, full of youth, and just tapped him slightly on his shoulder.
"Don’t worry about it, young man. There are hundreds and hundreds of people who met me once before and they never won this contend. Anyway, it’s really good to finally see the grand White warrior in front of me! I was looking forward to seeing you since you could break Halden with your own hands!"
"A-Actually, it wasn’t with my own hands, literally, you know?" He tried to argue, but the man just pretended not to hear him.
"Well, I think my team will be very angry if I let them wait any further on this reunion. As you can see, we have the top 5 Sgails of this headquarters gathered in person right now! That’s a feat that just someone like me can conquer, right men?"
They agreed with him doing a strong affirmation while stomping their foot in the ground. The usual cry of the military on that world.
’So, these are the top 5! They don’t have a cool name as it would be expected for the strongest troop of this quarter, but everyone here hears stories about them. They generally take part in other troops separately from each other, but when something needs to be solved immediately, they will be the ones called for it. Their success rate is 99,98%, that 0,02% being left just because of a single mission.’
Casper narrowed his eyes, looking towards each one of them critically. At first glance, just one of them seemed to be strong, but he had no idea about the others.
’The others seem to be strong and all, but THAT guy...’ He looked in the direction of a single man, who was standing in the middle of the other 4.
He had, strangely, a bow and quiver on his back. Both didn’t seem to be as high-tech as others weapons he saw before. In his waist was a short sword sheathed. His uniform was just like the Sgail’s, but with some modifications here and there, which seemed to give to him more stability and protection.
Just as always, he couldn’t see his face. His expression was completely covered and only his eyes were showing. However, Casper just needed to look at his gleeful eyes to know that he had a wide smile on his face.
’Why? Why is he smiling like this? Is he okay?’
He thought that his glance at that man was being as discreet as it could be, but then he got surprised when the man turned slowly to him and stared at him. His eyes didn’t lose that shine of joy behind, though, which seemed to make it even more creepy.
Just as Casper was going to stare back at him, Thor seemed to note what was happening and just covered slightly that Sgail with his body.
"Well, Casper, we called you here for a reason that is far more than just tell you about your next mission. We see that you have great potential and that you can do things by yourself without too much trouble, even when not using technologies with you. We know as well about your will to take Rat so, while talking to Leonel, I concluded that you may serve as a new integrant for this troop, at least in this mission."
Casper needed to hold himself to smile. Just as he said to Vick, they were keeping an eye on him.
’It was obvious. I am not a warrior from District 42, so I can’t have the same performance as them, but I am still someone who acted in the army good part of my life! If not for some of my actions back on the fifth floor of the mansion on the Seasonal Meeting, Leonel probably wouldn’t be able to save the hosts, after all.’
Casper smiled lightly, trying to just keep a dignified posture, but letting a bit of his happiness appear as well.
’That’s great! Now, I will be completely enrolled with the main troop searching for that man! Things will be more interesting from now on.’
The soldier gave a step forward, stomping his foot on the ground and putting his hand on his chest, giving a warcry.
He felt somewhat strange while doing that gesture, but he was sure he would get used as time passed. Also, it was necessary since now he was a Sgail.
Thor didn’t need any more words to know that his proposal was agreed upon. He nodded with his head, pointing to Casper move beside the other Sgails.
"I will not make your acquaintance with Leonel, since you already know him. The others are more important." He mocked Leonel.
That was the first time he didn’t hear a sharp answer coming from the guy, who just giggled in embarrassment and lowered his head.
"Ok, then, this one is called Eskil. It’s a pretty tough guy, I should say. He will help when tracking the enemies and having control of the Battlefield. It’s the kind of person who is always attentive to the surroundings."
The man he pointed at had reddish-brown hair, with eyes a bit reddish as well. He was a very outstanding person from the standard blond and blue eyes of the district’s folk. He somewhat remembered Rurik.
"This other beauty here is Eva, the more lethal woman of the Sgail’s Headquarters. She prefers to be in the rearguard with her sniper. It’s a very precise and accurate shooter. However, she is as good in close range as in long-range. She is a bit distant sometimes like she got a mental problem or something."
She had short hair just like Katarina, the leader of Casper’s research group from the Main Lab, however, her hair was black, and her eyes were dark like coffee. Her skin was tan, which was also quite outstanding there.
"This other female is Susie, also quite dangerous. Don’t mess with her. She is good to serve as a scout, and battle with knives is what she likes the most. She has these serious eyes now, but she is more playful than it seems."
He finally got beside the man that Casper most wanted to know. Since he felt that pressure in the air and that frightening aura, he couldn’t think of anything else.
He was sure that he felt something like that before. He just couldn’t remember why. But it was a feeling pretty similar to the one that man gave to him: just like his instincts got alert, signaling that something dangerous was about to happen, showing that this person was dangerous and strong.
Thor got beside that man, pointing to him, seeming to be filled with pride.
"This one is like a thousand of soldiers in one. He is an entire army, in other words. Ivar is his name, one of the seven Aesirs of the Royal Family, and the strongest Sgail of my organization!"
