The Stupid Cannon Fodder is Stunning Today

Chapter 6: Calypto

This chapter is brought to you by Curses by The Crane Wives. 

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The boy was small for his age. 

He was shorter in person and had an impressive mask of disinterest as he was brought in front of Valerius. 

His men stood around the room and eyed him curiously. 

There was a distinct tang of dried blood on the boy. 

Valerius noticed a red sheen on his black hair, and he paused.  

The boy's uniform was the same black shirt and black pants as that of the other executioner. They did well to hide the fact that he was still filthy with the blood of criminals. 

"What is your name?" Valerius asked, stepping closer to the boy. 

"Toby." 

After Thibault's childhood pet name, Valerius thought. 

"Toby is a rather undignified name. You will be named Tobus." 

To Valerius' satisfaction, the boy nodded without objections. 

"Very good. We will be leaving--"

He was interrupted when the boy turned to the other executioners waiting near the door and asked without prompt, "Are you selling me?" 

The room fell into an awkward silence. 

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According to the fairytales of this world, wasn't Tobus a warrior with a cat's head?

Did Lord Calypto have a sense of humor? Nine wondered as he stared into bright vermillion eyes. 

He didn't object to the new name. 

Was there any difference between being Toby and being Tobus?

He was still, in essence, Nine. A body snatcher from a distant future outside of a book written by a girl. 

So he nodded his head the way soldiers often did in the face of being ordered by their superiors. 

The Calyptos were a mercenary family with power. They were not far off from being trained soldiers. Nine could figure this out at a glance. 

"Very good. We will be leaving--"

"Are you selling me?" Nine asked Noa, who had been waiting near the door. 

The man waved a hand around, like a frantic denial mixed with a question mark because it really did look like they were selling him off. 

Nine blinked. 

"Boy, we are not your buyers," Lord Calypto stated, looking affronted by the insinuation. 

Nine blinked again. 

"I am your uncle. Your father was my brother-in-law." 

He hadn't expected the man to admit family relations this early on. 

Toby Calypto in the story barely got the approval of his relatives. 

Even Lord Calypto hesitated to acknowledge him as his nephew, and the only indication of him being a part of House Calypto was the fact that he was buried in the Calypto Mausoleum at the behest of his aunt when he died. 

So for Lord Calypto to recognize him as family... what exactly was he trying to do?

Nine might have spaced out whilst thinking about this for a little too long because Lord  Calypto started to move.