"Everyone, fall in!"
—Snap!
Dozens of Quincies dressed in Sternritter uniforms snapped into perfect rows and files.
In the central plaza of Silbern, thousands of coffins were arranged in neat order.
Haschwalth stood before them, holding a flag emblazoned with the Quincy Cross.
"To the heroic spirits of our fallen comrades ahead... Salute."
The moment he spoke, the Quincies placed their hands over their hearts in unison.
A solemn atmosphere enveloped the plaza.
"...Recover."
Haschwalth slowly drew his sword and began his address.
"One year ago, we returned our proud brothers to the earth. Their souls may have been shattered, but their physical remains still reside here in Silbern."
One year ago, during the Quincy invasion of the Soul Society.
In the process, the Quincies had left their physical bodies in the World of the Living while their souls ventured into the Soul Society.
Though very few returned alive after the war ended, the bodies of the deceased remained in the World of the Living.
The one responsible for moving them—and for shifting the entirety of Silbern and the Lichtreich into the shadow of the Soul Society—was none other than Jugram Haschwalth.
"We do not grieve. We simply remember. The war with the Soul Reapers, and our defeat."
Raising his sword, Haschwalth made a majestic declaration.
"The Kaiser Gesang. In the melody left by His Majesty, our aspirations are contained. The sealed King of the Quincy shall regain his heartbeat after 900 years, his intellect after 90 years, his power after 9 years, and the world after 9 days. We have 1,000 years of time remaining."
Standing behind him, Robert quietly took off his glasses and wiped the lenses.
The cold air of Silbern was enough to fog them up with just a single breath.
"In 1,000 years, we will turn this defeat into victory. Together with the Emperor, we will create a world for Quincies where death does not exist. That is the Millennium Blood War."
The Quincies gazed at Haschwalth with eyes full of resolve.
There was no one who rebelled, refused, or showed fear.
Those who would have done so had already been allowed to return to the World of the Living months ago to live in peace.
Naturally, there were Quincies who did not wish to endure another war—especially one that would take 1,000 years.
But those who remained had made their choice.
They chose the 1,000-year wait.
Soon, the Quincies covered the coffins containing the bodies of the fallen.
Their remains would be enshrined eternally in Silbern.
As Haschwalth's speech drew to a close...
'...Damn it.'
Ichigo, who had been listening to the speech beside the Grandmaster, swallowed a deep sigh.
.
.
.
A year had passed since the war broke out.
Many things had happened in that time.
[I'm sorry, but we do not wish to fight those monsters ever again. We will stake our pride on keeping this place a secret, so please send us back to the World of the Living.]
After the Kaiser Gesang left by Yhwach became known, some Quincy nobles returned to the World of the Living, declaring they would not participate in the war.
[A Gemischt Quincy with the power of a Soul Reaper as the Vice-Grandmaster? Drag him down!!]
Complaints had erupted that Ichigo, who had gained Soul Reaper powers, should step down from his position as Vice-Grandmaster of the Sternritter.
While it was true that the Quincies' hatred for Soul Reapers was sky-high, the fact that Ichigo was a Gemischt Quincy was a humiliation to other Echt Quincies of lower rank.
They likely thought that now, with Yhwach gone, was their chance to oust him.
However, Ichigo's response was simple and clear.
"Anyone with a problem, come at me all at once. I'll take you on—staking my pride as a Quincy."
A direct confrontation.
Since Ichigo had staked his Quincy pride, anyone challenging him would have to do the same.
There would be no greater humiliation than losing that fight.
Furthermore, the opponent was the very same Ichigo who had survived against two Captains and incapacitated another.
Even those who hadn't seen Ichigo because they were busy running for their lives had witnessed the Seireitei being half-destroyed by his Letzt Stil. Consequently, no one dared to challenge him to a duel.
And so, Ichigo still held the position of Vice-Grandmaster of the Sternritter.
But Ichigo had many worries lately.
"...Zangetsu. When on earth are you coming?"
Ichigo, who had just woken up after slamming his head against the floor of his private quarters to knock himself out, muttered to himself.
His forehead was swollen and red.
.
.
.
It had been a whole year.
While the mountains hadn't moved and the heavens hadn't split, a year was undoubtedly a long time.
How could he not have appeared even once during that long period?
"He was the one who said he needed me..."
To meet Zangetsu, Ichigo had tried going to bed early for several months, staying awake for days for several months, and even attempting to enter his inner world by knocking himself unconscious for several months.
Despite this, instead of Zangetsu, uncomfortable memories resurfaced as time went on: dreams of the day his grandfather died when he was a child, dreams of being attacked by Furofushi Saito, and dreams of clashing swords with Yachiru Unohana.
'...Well, the last one isn't exactly uncomfortable.'
If anything, it was the best of the bunch.
That was the only time he had ever felt joy in 'combat' itself.
Whenever he thought of her, his hands would itch for some reason, and he felt an impulse to swing Zangetsu.
"...What am I thinking... Let's just go out."
The more he thought about her, the more he felt like his very nature was changing.
Horrified, Ichigo headed to the washstand with his messy hair.
As the cold water hit his face, his mind cleared.
After finishing his morning wash and shower, he arrived at the deep, dark heart of Silbern.
It was the office of the Emperor's Proxy, Haschwalth.
As Ichigo slowly opened the door to the audience chamber and entered, he saw Haschwalth and another man.
Haschwalth was silently writing something on a document, while the other man was moving his hands at an unbelievable speed next to a towering stack of papers.
The man had a face that looked somewhat intellectual yet blunt, but also subtly kind.
"Jugo, you called?"
"You're here, Ichigo. I called you because there is something I want to show you."
Confirming Ichigo's arrival, Haschwalth stood up and picked up a piece of paper the man had been working on, handing it to Ichigo.
In the drawing, Ichigo was pointing past the frame with a grim expression, and at the bottom, a bold slogan was printed: 'THE STERNRITTER WANT YOU.'
"........."
"How is it? It's a recruitment poster."
"...How is it? What do you mean, how is it?! What is this! Setting aside this tacky slogan, why am I the model?!"
As Ichigo shouted in disbelief, fluttering the paper, Haschwalth hummed for a moment and narrowed his eyes.
"It would be irreverent to use His Majesty's visage, and as the Proxy, I am also unsuitable. You, the Vice-Grandmaster, are perfect."
"Does my dignity as the Vice-Grandmaster of the Sternritter not matter?"
"Because you are the Vice-Grandmaster."
As Haschwalth spoke with a nod, Ichigo pressed his hand to his forehead and let out a sigh.
"Sigh... Fine. Do whatever you want. By the way, who made this? It's incredibly detailed."
As he flipped the paper over to inspect it, Haschwalth gestured toward the man beside him with his chin.
"That man. I heard he has trained his Hirenkyaku to the limit, allowing him to move not just his feet, but his hands at a speed as if they were riding the Hirenkyaku."
"...Is that even possible?"
Ichigo looked at the man in disbelief.
'I'm not even perfect with my feet.'
Feeling Ichigo's gaze, the man slightly adjusted his glasses and glanced at him.
"....Are you Vice-Grandmaster Ichigo? It is a pleasure to meet you."
"...Yeah."
'...I'm his superior, can I speak casually?'
Forgetting that he already spoke casually to Hubert, Ichigo awkwardly accepted the greeting. The man immediately lowered his head again, focusing on his work.
It was as if Ichigo's presence had nothing to do with him.
"...Then all of those are..."
"Posters. There should be roughly 391 of them."
When Ichigo asked, pointing to the stack of documents next to the man as if he had realized something, Haschwalth nodded.
While Ichigo, horrified, placed the poster in his hand back on top of the stack, Haschwalth watched the man whose hands were still moving busily and spoke.
"I heard you've been busy training lately. That you were learning about Soul Reaper techniques from Accutrone."
"...Yeah. Since Mr. Robert is the one with the most knowledge about that here."
'I originally wanted to ask Zangetsu, though.'
Ichigo clicked his tongue and muttered inwardly.
As expected of Robert, the oldest member among the currently active Quincies, his knowledge of Soul Reapers was extensive.
Thanks to him, Ichigo learned that the technique he had almost used against Haschwalth was called 'Shikai,' a special ability used by releasing one's Zanpakuto.
He also learned that there was a powerful technique beyond Shikai called 'Bankai'... a technique as potent as the Quincy's Letzt Stil.
Over the past year, Ichigo had trained to master his Shikai, Getsuga Tensho, as if it were a part of his own body.
However, he still hadn't found a single clue regarding Bankai.
Information on Bankai was top-secret data that even Robert did not possess.
That was why he was so desperate to talk to Zangetsu... but the way to reach him remained a mystery.
Just as Ichigo answered with a lukewarm expression, Haschwalth spoke up.
"Your Hirenkyaku must still be immature."
"...Yeah. That's true, it's not perfect yet."
Ichigo was not fully proficient in techniques involving the manipulation of Reishi.
In particular, his mastery of Hirenkyaku—the movement technique that uses platforms made of fine Reishi—was lacking.
"As I just said... this man is a master of Hirenkyaku. He will make your Hirenkyaku perfect."
"....What?"
As Haschwalth finished speaking, the man's hands, which had been moving until a moment ago, came to a dead stop. He slowly stood up and pushed up his glasses.
"I shall teach you Hirenkyaku. Even if my student is a Soul Reaper... I am confident I can teach him perfectly."
"....Hoh."
It was a indirect reference to Ichigo being a hybrid of Soul Reaper and Quincy.
It was also a statement full of confidence.
"...Your name?"
Ichigo smiled and reached out his hand for a handshake.
If the man was going to make his Hirenkyaku perfect, there was no reason to refuse.
"I am Soken Ishida of the Ishida family."
"....Soken. I look forward to working with you."
Soken accepted the handshake and gripped his hand.
Across time, the bloodlines of two close friends had met.
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