Disarmed, Literally.

Xaren lightened his body with gravity magic and leapt out of the way to dodge Ralguth's faster, stronger punch.

But just as he did, the door of the weapons building swung open inward. Ralguth's punch, which had missed Xaren, was now headed straight for whoever was coming through the door.

Xaren's eyes widened in shock as he realized the danger. Without thinking, he reached out with his left hand, instinctively trying to push Ralguth's arm away, diverting the trajectory of the punch so that an innocent bystander wouldn't be caught in this mess.

But as his hand moved, a sudden alarm blared in his head—the warning of his Danger Sense skill.

Instinctively, his right hand shot out, grabbing his left arm and yanking it back just in time.

A flash of black passed in front of him, and the next thing he heard was a loud scream of pain. Blood sprayed into the air as Ralguth's arm was severed clean off, flying through the air in a gruesome arc before landing with a sickening thud on the ground.

Ralguth himself collapsed to the floor, shrieking in agony, the stump of his arm spurting blood as he writhed in pain.

Xaren finally turned his head, the reality of what had just happened sinking in, and saw a surprised Ilya standing in the doorway, her sword still dripping with Ralguth's blood.

He glanced back at Ralguth, then at Ilya, and with a raised eyebrow, asked.

"Wasn't that a bit overkill?"

Ilya, still processing the scene, looked around in confusion before speaking.

"...I wanted to speak to you about something I noticed with our rune blades. When I opened the door, I saw someone attacking me with magic, so I reacted instinctively."

Xaren paused, thinking about her perspective. It made sense.

She had been inside the weapons room, studying the elven Runeblades they both had. During her study, she had noticed something unusual, a feature of the blades they hadn't been able to use before. She must have been heading to find Xaren to talk about it.

However, when she opened the door, she saw a punch heading straight for her—one that would have harmed her severely if it connected.

Ilya's Forte had always been speed, and after their reward for killing the giant two months ago, it had increased even further.

Reacting instantly, she drew her sword and sliced through the arm coming toward her.

It wasn't until after she'd severed it that she realized just who she had literally disarmed.

But regardless of whether Ilya had acted on instinct or not, the outcome was the same—she had drawn her sword, severed Ralguth's arm, and now he was bleeding out.

That was the real problem.

Xaren didn't want to get tangled up in any issues on his first day, but thanks to Ralguth's antics, one had arisen.

He could already see a headache coming from a mile away, and just as he thought that, the headache arrived.

"What the hell are you doing?! I told you all to get along and get to know each other! Why the hell are you fighting?!" 

Xaren winced at the voice booming across the area.

'Perfect timing, Captain.'

Their superior officer had returned, furious, clearly not expecting to find them in the middle of a fight, let alone one that had resulted in the loss of an arm.

It turned out that when he told them to "get to know each other", he meant it in the literal sense. It wasn't some hidden message to fight it out and establish dominance.

The Captain's eyes locked onto Xaren, Ilya, and the wounded Ralguth, who were closest to one another.

His gaze was intense, and his voice sharp as he demanded.

"You have one minute. Explain yourselves."

Xaren, not wasting a second, quickly stepped forward and began speaking, pointing a finger toward Ralguth.

"Sir, after you left, he came up to us and claimed he was the leader of this company. When we asked him if that was something decided by you, sir—if he had been officially appointed as leader—he refused to answer. Instead, he told us that he should be the leader because he's the strongest and because he's a noble."

Xaren took a breath and continued without hesitation. "We asked him again, but he still didn't answer. That led us to believe he wasn't appointed by you, sir, and was just claiming the title for himself. Then he started telling us we should know our place around here and that he was going to put us in it. When I told him I didn't want to fight over his leadership claim, he got angry for some reason and attacked me."

Xaren paused only for a moment before finishing. "I didn't fight back. I just dodged all his attacks.

Unfortunately, I ended up with my back against the door of this building. And just as I was about to dodge his attack, she"—he pointed to Ilya—"came out of the building. So, when his attack missed and went toward her, she reacted instinctively since she had her sword drawn.

And, well, that's how his hand got lopped off."

Xaren exhaled in relief after delivering the entire explanation in one breath, not pausing for anything. The Captain, along with the others, stood silent, blinking in disbelief, taking in the full story.

He had conveniently left out some key details, crafting the story so that the blame was shifted entirely onto Ralguth.

Naturally, Xaren omitted the part where his own remarks had provoked Ralguth.

'It's best to establish the chain of events and present things honestly so no misunderstandings arise, and he knows who is at fault.'—is what Xaren told himself.

He had also taken the initiative to speak first, effectively preventing Ralguth's supporters from saying anything in his defence.

Not that it mattered—any attempt to speak without being addressed in this situation would only invite trouble. As a result, they remained silent, their glares boring into Xaren, who made a point of ignoring them.

Even so, Xaren understood that, despite his efforts to shift the blame, the military often chose to punish entire groups rather than singling out one individual.

However, he was confident that Ralguth would face the harshest consequences, especially if the incident were formally documented. A permanent mark of failure on Ralguth's record would likely leave Xaren and Ilya walking away with little more than a scolding.

While Xaren thought this, the Captain remained silent, his expression darkening as he processed what he'd just been told.

Then, a groan of pain from Ralguth broke his thought train, and he turned his gaze toward the injured demon, still writhing on the floor in a pool of blood.

With a sigh, the Captain used basic magic to halt Ralguth's bleeding. He lifted the wounded demon with ease and turned to Ilya.

"Pick it up and follow me," he said, gesturing to Ralguth's severed arm.

As the Captain began dragging Ralguth away, he turned toward Xaren. "You too."

Xaren's shoulders slumped slightly as he followed the group, joining Ilya on their way to the clinic.

Once there, a healer quickly reattached Ralguth's severed arm. However, Xaren knew the price of this procedure wouldn't be cheap.

In the end, it turned out that Ralguth would have to forfeit his monetary pay for the next few missions, and all the souls he would have earned from battles would go toward covering the cost of the magic used to reattach his arm.

The arm was finally secured, but the Captain wasn't done with his questioning. He narrowed his eyes at Ralguth and asked in a low voice.

"You claim to be the leader? Since when did I appoint any of you as leader of anything?"

Silence followed. The tension in the room thickened as Ralguth, still groaning in phantom pain from his severed arm, had no words to offer.

The Captain was the undisputed leader of the Company, and he had yet to assign any squad or platoon leaders. He planned to observe their behaviour and designate leaders based on their performance during missions.

Ralguth's premature attempt to claim leadership was a bold mistake, especially given the nature of their organization.

In a military structure as rigid as that of the demons, a Private stepping out of line to assert a role reserved for a superior officer was nothing less than insubordination.

Ralguth was clearly looking for trouble, and now he had found it.

As the Captain prepared to hand out a fitting punishment, the door to the clinic room suddenly burst open.

A man in a Lieutenant Colonel's uniform stepped in, his gaze scanning the room. Upon spotting Xaren and Ilya, his eyes widened in surprise and then narrowed in annoyance.

"Why the hell are you not in your assigned company?"

The Lieutenant Colonel's rank was clear on his uniform, and at the sight of him, everyone instinctively stood to salute. However, the Lieutenant Colonel waved them off impatiently.

"Spare me the formalities," he said dismissively.

His eyes flicked down to the files in his hand, which contained pictures of Xaren and Ilya, then asked, "What happened with them?"

The Captain reiterated the entire story that Xaren had told him earlier. As he finished, the Lieutenant Colonel let out a long, exaggerated sigh.

"Seriously? Your first day and you're already getting involved in trouble?"

He rolled his eyes dramatically, then shrugged.

"Well, whatever. It doesn't matter anymore."

The Lieutenant Colonel's tone softened as he moved on. "Normally, you'd be punished for non-sanctioned fighting, but there's a mission coming down from above for you two, so you're getting off lightly."

Xaren and Ilya exchanged confused glances, but before they could respond, the Lieutenant Colonel turned toward the door.

"Follow me," he said, and with that, Xaren and Ilya fell in line behind him, leaving Ralguth to face his punishment alone.