Gideon was returning from his most recent mission at a rural village whose main stables had been completely taken over by a small band of yoma who had decided to join forces which wasn't surprising seeing how so many of their disgusting kin were being slaughtered by the most powerful of Claymore. Unfortunately for them that did not help them even in the slightest, if anything it only made his job of exterminating them all the easier by having them nice and grouped together. They attempted to use the terrain to their advantage, hiding themselves until Gideon entered the perfect location for an ambush but really it was quite a dull affair. He killed them all within minutes and received a modest bag of coins for his time, usually small villages like this one struggle to gather such large sums of money but it seemed they really needed it on this occasion. The yoma had racked up quite the kill count before the Claymore had arrived, he sincerely offered his condolences for those who lost loved ones much to their surprise but to Gideon it was nothing new… he paid his respects whenever possible.

Roughly half way back to their headquarters, in a clearing of trees in a forest he was met by his handler who casually leaned against a large tree that utterly dwarfed him. His name is Leon and Gideon has disliked the man from the day they met all those years ago. There was something conniving about him, like he was always plotting against others and his attitude left much to be desired.

Leon glanced over at Gideon with a smile on his face, the same smile he uses whenever he orders Gideon to do something he knows he will dislike. “Oh Gideon… I know you’re going to hate me for this detour but Ansgar was rather persistent, he’s gathering the strongest Claymore’s so they can watch our newest female in action. You’ve heard right?” There was an unusual pause as he waited for a response, it was strange because Leon enjoyed talking so clearly he wanted GIdeon to confirm what he had just been told.

Gideon didn’t say anything at first, he was actually contemplating ignoring his handler and continuing on his way though it wasn’t exactly a wise move at this point. “Yes I’ve heard though I would rather not waste my time observing her-” Before he could finish his sentence he was interrupted by a sharp wave of Leon’s hand as he pushed himself from the tree to walk over to his Claymore.

“I know you’ll be there, you’re smart Gideon and not showing up would anger a Claymore more powerful than you. Do you really want that?” Leon pushed a folded parchment into his hand and walked off into the darkness, completely silent.

A fight with Ansgar was definitely not what he wanted, it would surely result in his demise and if he was to die he wanted it to be for a cause he believed in. “Ugh....” Gideon opened the parchment to reveal a map, without further delay he began to follow the directions. It wasn’t as far as he had thought but it was still a nuisance he would have to tolerate for the time being.

[@Dusksong]