PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

Sofia on the other hand was uncomfortable at the lack of respect from her colleague so she intervened trying to clarify the matter.

′′ Desmond Astryd, you seem like a man familiar with the regulations we have so you should know more than anyone that there is no way you can be awarded a position in the esper division even with a request for honor; after all, you are not a. ′′

′′ Am I not an Esper? ′′

Before the mature beauty could finish her words, she watched in disbelief as Desmond’s right arm was completely covered in a metallic gray sheen, and with a single swipe of the hand, he destroy the desk in front of him.

And Captain Evergrid was not the only one surprised, both the young captain and the old veteran were caught off guard, both reacted by taking defensive stances while watching Desmond warily, but Desmond just kept looking at them silently.

′′ How the hell did you do that? ... in your file there is not a single mention of you being an esper. ′′ The first to react was the old veteran demonstrating the mettle of an older person.

′′ It is a reinforcement ability, sir, they are not particularly difficult to hide, as you well know that is part of the reason why gangs are mainly made up of users of this class of abilities; furthermore, to this day hiding an esper ability is not considered a crime. ′′

Despite the logic in Desmond’s words, there was still considerable suspicion on the part of the other three people in the room regarding Desmond’s motives, it was obvious to them that to hide such a strong reinforcing ability Desmond would have to have a goal or a reason important enough and not knowing that reason or motive made them suspicious.

.....

′′ You mentioned that for now, it is not a crime... it seems that you are quite observant. ′′ Once again it was the old veteran who captured a key piece in Desmond’s words.

′′ That’s right, I suppose that in a couple of months when the war worsens the restrictions on non-military members will become stricter; Keeping at least a strict record of espers in an area seems like a reasonable option, sir. ′′

Even without breaking his strict and solid appearance, Desmond clarified, even until now Desmond still maintained the image of a boy raised to be a soldier; it was part of the impression he wanted to give to avoid raising more suspicion than he should have.

It was bad enough that issues related to him arose hiding his ability and that he waited so long to collect the military merits of his father; so Desmond now had to give a reasonable enough explanation for all this and still give the impression that he was comfortable in the uniform.

′′ You are right such a thing could happen in the future, but how do you know about the current state of the war? ′′ A female voice echoed in the room once more making it clear that they were still a little suspicious of Desmond and his intentions.

′′ People like to drink and people who drink like to talk... I happen to know some military bars, that’s all. ′′

It must be said that Desmond had done a good job so far in telling the truth without saying anything that might incriminate him or further increase suspicions about him, but that did not mean that he was no longer free from questioning; there were simply too many unknowns about himself.

′′ I see... although it is not illegal it still leaves a lot to the imagination Mr. Astryd, could you explain to us why he hid having an esper ability and why he waited until now to enlist with a request of honor. ′′

With a helpless shrug, Desmond replied with almost calculated naturalness:

“It is not a what but a who... Claire Lynwood, her parents died along with mine and I have taken care of her since then, she was only eleven when everything went to hell; and I had to take care of her.

Sir, with all due respect, this is not a kind world, if I had enlisted earlier I would have to leave her alone and both you and I know that she would have been raped or murdered in less than a year ... a girl like her does not survive alone in this world. ”

As sincere or false as Desmond’s words may have been, they still managed to great discomfort the three individuals in charge of the interview, especially Captain Sofia who had a dark expression on her face at this time.

“So why now?” Surprisingly it was Captain Evergrid who asked.

“Claire Lynwood awakened a powerful Telekinetic ability and was recently recruited by the local regiment of the town of Green Seed, I thought I would have a better chance of taking care of her if I also enlisted, that is why as part of my application I wanted to choose my place of assigned being this Green seed. ” Desmond responded once more with a combination of truths and omissions; Although it seemed to the viewer that Desmond was being really honest after all his words made sense.

The three people in charge of the interview quickly met and argued for a minute before returning to their seats with their answers.

′′ Desmond Astryd, your request has been conceived, because you already meet most of the requirements for the position and plans to take the full lieutenant exam, it could be said that you are not being granted great favor; in terms of numbers you could say that you had only used 30% of yours father’s merits... would you like to make additional requests? ′′

Without any surprise Desmond’s application was conceived, it wasn’t that weird considering Desmond’s background and the fact that he was willing to pass the full lieutenant exams; plus Desmond’s little display of power made it clear that he had enough strength to get close to a lieutenant rank.

And as if he’d expected to be asked that question, Desmond pulled a small list out of his pocket.

“I would like to apply for these training exams, normally you would have to take an associate training course provided by the military, but I was trained from a young age by my father and I would like to save myself the trouble.”

Already used to Desmond’s calm demeanor, the old veteran took the list and read it aloud, hearing his words the two captains in the room looked at Desmond strangely.

“Three different firearms training including sniper training, two hand-to-hand combat training with one of them being special forces training, and ... a training in interrogation methods?”

The fact that Desmond requested exams for six different military pieces of training was surprising enough especially considering sniper training and special forces combat, but none was expected that Desmond would even request an evaluation for interrogation methods, after all those methods aren′t exactly ... friendly.

“What can I say? My father wanted me to be a soldier ”

Desmond’s answer came naturally from his lips and it’s not that it was a lie, his father wanted Desmond to follow in his footsteps and there was a time when Desmond dreamed of being a hero like his father ... but those days were in the past and Desmond had learned interrogation methods from his father’s old documents, but for reasons unrelated to the military.

Ignoring the details concealed by Desmond, the three supervisors were led to recall what they read in Desmond’s father’s file, Eiden Astryd was not only a war hero who was on multiple battlefields but was also the leader of a special military research unit; Eiden Astryd was probably one of the best investigators and interrogators the military had at the time so what Desmond said made a lot of sense as strange as it was.

“Ok, also it says here that you want to take the exam as an instructor ... Aren’t you too young to be an instructor?”

Hearing Captain Elion’s question, who now sounded less mocking, Desmond did his best to avoid shrugging out of habit and replied:

“Sir, with all due respect, I may be young but once I complete the first lieutenant exam along with the exams mentioned on that list, I will be more than qualified to be a military instructor.”

“You are within your right to request such evaluations if you think you have the ability, any other requests before we finish with this meeting?” The old veteran seemed to be in a bit of a rush so he urged Desmond to state the rest of his requests.