Alfazeck, Neos and Emilio were headed for the military dormitories. The building that hosted the generals office was roughly three hundred meters from the dormitories. None of the three spoke to each other and the silence made Emilio uneasy. The rain continued to fall. There was suddenly a man who stood out among the rest for he had no uniform on. Superiors and supervisors strangely paid no heed to him as some soldiers cautiously passed him. On seeing his dark red hair, Emilio almost jumped thinking it was the man he had met earlier. He immediately shook off the thought for he concluded that the man was too tall to be him. What astonished him was that the man's chi rivalled that of the general's. The man wore a buggy trouser and a black training t-shirt. The t-shirt was tied to the trouser with a white cloth round the man's waist. The man also wore normal white sandals. As they passed him, Emilio noticed a strange tattoo on the man's neck. It consisted of two constricting circles with a snow flake at the centre and it was blue in colour. The man looked at Emilio with cold eyes and then smiled. This sent shivers up Emilio's body. Alfazeck and Neos saluted him hen kept walking. Emilio imitated them in a state of confusion and the man chuckled in a way that only alarmed Emilio. When they were a few metres past him Emilio asked;
"Who was that?"
"He is the master of ice, general Night, general of the Chinese military department of Ishgar." Neos answered him.
"Master? You mean a teacher?"
"Well he's more of a senior lieutenant than a teacher."
"Oh, so he is basically just below the general of Ishgar then."
"Yeah he is but there is something special about him. Unlike the others, he is a technique master. There are five techniques in total."
" Then that should mean that there are five masters in total in the base, why were there so many offices that claimed to host 'masters'? Or are there more than one master for each technique?"
"Well there can only be one master for a certain technique in each of the countries of the world."
"Then why are there so many masters in this base alone whereas there should only be five in the whole country?"
"What Neos is trying to say," said Alfazeck fed up with Emilio's questions, "There are masters and technique masters. There can only be five technique masters in the country while there can be as many masters as possible. Technique masters are said to have special powers and so are a rank higher than the normal master. For the sake of improving other soldiers' strength, masters are charged with the duty of teaching them. The man we just passed right now is one of these technique masters."
"So how many technique masters are there in Ishgar?"
"Thhappnere are three known masters who apparently are all in this military base now due to a briefing on the war with Florennum that is to happen tomorrow. The master of ice; General Night, The mistress or wind; General Erza and the master of fire; Vice general Ingrid. Oh, and you wouldn't want to talk about Ingrid's height. For now, lets hold those questions for after we've finished settling down."
"Okay," Emilio said though was still unsatisfied. The rain intensity increased so they quickened their pace.
The dormitory was one big seven story building with a beautiful garden that overlooked it. It had one common entrance but was divided into two parts on the inside with the left side being the female side and the right side being the male side. The backyard was also divided into two. Movement of opposite genders to any side of the building wasn't restricted for most soldiers were adults. Neos and Alfazeck led Emilio to his room on the third floor room number 27. Neos revealed that it was just opposite his so Emilio should feel free to contact him. Alfazeck stood at the door as Neos and Emilio entered. She then excused herself while Emilio and Neos unpacked Emilio's clothes. Neos was astonished by the little amount of belongings Emilio had but Emilio explained that he didn't need much. He felt a bit embarrassed as he said so. A while latter, Alfazeck knocked the door and entered with a bucket with her.
"I have brought you some body lotions, a bucket and other necessities," she said. "Please don't get the wrong idea, it's only that I have more than I need this time," she added as she turned red.
"Thanks," Emilio said smiling.
After finishing unpacking, the trio went to the dinning hall. They took their places in the queue and served supper. They served rice and a piece of fish. The dinning hall was lively with soldiers scattered all around storytelling and laughing while they ate. As Emilio, Alfazeck and Neos walked around the dinning hall while looking for a place to sit, they came across a group of soldiers surrounding a table. Unlike the others, they were silent. It didn't take long for Emilio to realise that they were watching a chess match between two soldiers. Emilio was the only one in plain clothes in the whole dinning hall since it would take time for his uniform to be prepared, or so he thought. The soldier who was playing white took his white-tilled bishop to E4. Weirdly, the other player looked awfully familiar so Emilio got close in order to see him well. The soldier took a black knight and placed it out of danger by placing it in front of a white pawn. The other soldier placed his rook beside the previously moved bishop. At first glance one would easily say that black was badly loosing. Emilio got closer and the black player looked up. Unlike the others, he did not have his uniform on and instead wore a black vest and a buggy trouser together with a black clothe tied round his waist. He had dark red hair and on his left shoulder just above the arm was a red tattoo containing two constricting circles and a fire symbol at the center. The man and Emilio stared at each other as they tried to recall where they had seen each other. They did. It was the man from red-light district.
"You!" said the man in surprise.
"You!" said Emilio equally surprised.
"What are you doing here?" asked the man. His voice had gotten colder and deeper and his face regained its expressionless nature.
"Right back at you," Emilio replied.
"You know the vice general!?" Alfazeck asked in surprise.
"Apparently, we've met before," Emilio replied.
A soldier signalled Ingrid that it was his turn to play. Ingrid blindly took the black queen from one corner of the chess board to the other diagonally before he proclaimed, "Checkmate!" The other soldiers around exclaimed in disbelief as the white player sank his head into his arms.
"No one has ever beat master Ingrid even once!" a soldier pointed out while laughing. They asked him for another round but he declined. He instead walked towards a table that was opposite Emilio. It was now raining heavily.
"Master, where did you two meet?" Neos asked."
"In a red-light district earlier today not more than four hours ago."
"You two were in a red-light district!?" Alfazeck asked.
"I found him there with his girlfriend," Emilio said.
"Who? Winry?" Ingrid laughed slightly "Winry is not my girlfriend. She's just a friend. I was there with her on a mission to investigate child pornography filming around the area. On the other hand, sonny here was there as a customer. I think he was going to be the main character of one of the films there were it not for me. He should thank me."
"I was not a customer and I have nothing to thank you for. It is just that I had lost my way and assumed it was a shortcut to the base," Emilio explained himself already tired of the topic.
"You lost your way into a brothel?" Ingrid said raising an eyebrow. " Damn, you have a perverted sense of direction."
"I ain't as perverted as you intend me to look like." Emilio retorted. He really did not want a repeat of what happened earlier.
"Talk about coincidence," Ingrid said then stood up. "Emilio was it?" he started walking towards the main entrance and stopped halfway,"Follow me, lets have a little talk." He exited. Emilio placed his untouched food on a near table and followed him. Neos and Alfazeck lowered their heads in sympathy as the other soldiers that were previously with Ingrid started another match.