Chapter 107: Blind Love |
Leonel felt a headache coming along. He had forgotten to take into consideration that the technology the Empire had access to versus the technology the rebels had access practically belonged to two wholly different worlds.
When Leonel first entered the Mayan Tomb, he had thought that his ability was D-grade because of his wrist watch. It wasn't until later that he realized his ability's potential was too great for such an evaluation. In fact, according to his father's dictionary, his ability was graded as a Quasi Bronze Grade ability, meaning it was on the verge of surpassing Earth's current limits. Simply put, his ability was already a half-step beyond the SSS-grade.
Unfortunately, the parts of his ability technology on this level could comprehend was too limited. It only sensed a small increase to his perception, but not much else. Other than acknowledging that there was a high amount of error, the machine didn't respond to Leonel's tears.
"D-grade, huh? Not the best, but not too horrible, I guess. As a sensory type, you'll be pretty good for scouting. We've been planning on expanding our perimeter units anyway."
Captain Sela casually spoke, not noticing Leonel's darkened expression.
"I was wondering how you managed to get here unscathed. It seems that your sensory ability should be good even amongst D-grade abilities, hm? A critical ranked margin of error, though? I've never seen this display before…"
Leonel sighed. There was nothing much he could do about this. He really hadn't used his sensory abilities to make it here. Well, he had, but not in the way Sela thought. He had even sought out opponents. The only reason he looked so clean was because of the self-cleaning function of his silver chain necklace.
Seeing that Leonel was just an average talent, the curiosity the other crewmen had toward him lessened. D-grade talents? They had too many of them. Still, it was a bit of a relief that he wasn't an F-grade talent.
It was widely known that F-grade talents were of little use. In addition, since Leonel's ability type wasn't physical, he was more useful than a usual D-grade talent as well. Overall, he was a decent addition, but nothing worthy enough for them to take time out of their busy schedules to inquire about.
As though trying to shoo Leonel away, Captain Sela passed off her duty of leading him to someone else.
In truth, it was already a huge show of respect for her to lead Leonel to his assessment personally. She probably saw something special in him when he faced her without fear. But it seemed now that of the two options — him being powerful versus just being ignorant — the latter was the truer statement. In that case, she had no reason to stay around him as the Captain of her own ship.
**
"You're the new recruit? Leonel Morales, is it? A sensory ability? Good, good."
The Scout Leader was quite a skinny, willowy man of average height. His body wasn't very impressive especially since he seemed to be getting on in age, but his eyes were sharp and his tongue was fast. Leonel guessed he wouldn't only be good at scouting, but would be a great undercover agent as well.
Captain Zhang spoke quickly, not allowing Leonel the chance to get in a few words for himself. Originally, he had thought that the others just thrust the new recruit to him because they all looked down on scouts. But, seeing that Leonel had a sensory ability, his mood brightened.
"Usually, those bastards in upper management just throw the useless trash to me and expect them to come out like treasures. Why those useless idiots don't understand just how good scouting can save lives is beyond me…"
Leonel was speechless. He thought that everyone was scared of Captain Sela, but this Scout Leader Zhang disparaged her without regard for even his own image.
It wasn't like Leonel was the only one here either. Even the recruits he was taunting as useless trash weren't all that far away.
As the scouting unit, they didn't have a ship of their own. Rather, they were separated between the ships. So, it could be said the Scout Leader Zhang was the only Captain-level personnel without a ship to command on his own.
Since they were currently docked, the scouting units were given a large military tent to act as their temporary base. The tent alone was at least 10 meters tall and 20 in radius. So, it was safe to say that most, if not all, of the off-duty scouts were here. But, he didn't hide his voice at all.
After ranting and praising Leonel for what seemed like hours, Captain Zhang finally passed him on to a man by the name of Malt.
"You'll be placed in Scout Leader Malt's squad. Ask him anything you want to know about. Depending on your performance, we can talk about your future prospects at a later date."
Captain Zhang gestured toward a man almost a head and a half shorter than Leonel. He seemed quite young, not even 30, but he was already balding. Despite this, he had a wide smile on his face as he happily greeted Leonel.
'… Scout Leader?' Leonel had a weird expression on his face.
Captain Zhang was called Scout Leader by Captain Sela. But now, Captain Zhang was calling someone else Scout Leader?
Malt laughed heartily and put his arm around Leonel's shoulder. It was quite a comical scene since he had to stand on the tips of his toes, but he didn't seem to mind at all.
He began to whisper in Leonel's ears as though they were already close friends.
"I'll let you in on a secret, little brother. I heard through the grapevine that Captain Sela and Captain Zhang were once quite… close. It didn't end well, apparently. So now, they're always at each other's throats and never hesitate to take subtle jabs at each other.
"Captain Zhang's biggest insecurity is that he doesn't have a ship of his own to command. But, Captain Sela always pokes like this, dropping his Captain title and calling him Scout Leader."
Though Malt continued to speak as he led Leonel toward their destination, the latter was internally shivering.
He couldn't help but remember how big and burly Captain Sela was. Then he compared that to Captain Zhang's skinny figure and his graying hair…
'What an… interesting couple…'
It seemed love really was blind.
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