Gintoki tapped his fingers on the armrest of his throne, the constant impact of his index against the cushioned seat resonated throughout the room, causing others to occasionally wince. Every time the finger, one bedazzled with three different rings holding three separate gemstones, made contact, it made an unnaturally loud sound that echoed around his vicinity.

　　Even without the echo though, one could quite easily tell that Gintoki Hashira, the current king and 76th ruler of Jintoka Kingdom, was beyond upset. His light brown eyes were bloodshot and his face was wiped of all emotion, a clear sign that he was just mere moments away from completely losing it. One could feel the pure rage emanating off of him as his magic seeped through the innards of the vast throne room, the temperature rising a full ten degrees. His gaze was akin to lasers as he stared at the five people kneeling before him, none of them daring to so much as look him in the eye.

　　After a few moments, he finally spoke, a deep voice filled with a suppressed anger shattering the silence.

　　"So, basically your telling me that the five of you, a knightly group of mostly noble birth, are so incompetent that you couldnt even catch a mere child?" His words were snipped and cruel, holding no respect or politeness in its depths, just a sharp killing intent. "I recall telling you to not return unless you brought me the boy, a task that should've been the easiest assignment throughout your entire duration as Elemental Knights. Yet here you are, kneeling on the ground and groveling like foolish mutts. If I didn't owe your parents a great deal, the five of you would be facing death by torture. Just looking at you disgusts me!!"

　　The longer he spoke, the louder he became, until he was eventually standing up and roaring. His voice alone shook the room and an aura appeared around him, a red haze similar to mist spreading out from his body. The ground beneath his feet began to shake and smoke rose from the fabric that happened to be in his vicinity.

　　The five people before him didn't dare to move, each one being crushed under the sheer weight of the magic that came off the man in waves. Even if they could stand or speak, none would dare to do so, lest they doom themselves to death by any torture the king could dream up. Making so much as the slightest sound would no doubt send the king, one of the strongest and most powerful beings in the kingdom, into a frenzy that would end with all of them burned alive. It was best to just shut up and do nothing, to wait it out and hope for the best.

　　With the rise in fury came the abrupt spike in temperature, causing everyone present, even the numerous knights standing off to the side, to sweat profusely. The air became stifling hot, consuming the oxygen and making it harder for everyone to breathe as the king continued yelling, his stream of words unceasing.

　　"LET ME MAKE MYSELF CLEAR," King Gintoki yelled as he took a step away from his throne. "YOU WILL NOT RETURN UNTIL YOU HAVE FOUND AND CAPTURED THIS CHILD WHO DARES OPPOSE THE NOBILITY AND ROYALTY!!! CAN YOUR SMALL BRAINS COMPREHEND THAT!!? IF YOU GET WHAT IM SAYING THEN GET THE HELL OUT OF MY SIGHT BEFORE I LOSE WHAT LITTLE PATIENCE I POSSESS!!"

　　Without even being told twice, the five of them stood up and quickly exited , leaving through a large oak door located at the front of the room.

　　After they left, the King began to calm down, the aura around him slowly dissipating and heat quickly dropping back to room temperature. All the fires that had started around him were put out as Gintoki took slow and steady breaths in a futile effort to regain his former composure.

　　The red haired man rubbed his left temple as he closed his eyes, a severe headache that occasionally popped up whenever he got too upset appearing once again.

　　To be honest though, he felt he had every reason to be angry with the foolish nobles who had stood before him. The king had simply asked them to perform the easy task of locating a single child, one who possessed snow white hair and bright blue eyes, a trait that was particularly uncommon in the Slums and should be easy to locate if they split up and searched. It was a reasonable request and he had even given them a decent time limit, a grand total of seven days, in which to complete the task.

　　The child, a youngling of about six years, had been the cause of several problems, of which Gintoki couldn't overlook or turn a blind eye to.

　　The kid in question was well known throughout the Common realm, the area of the kingdoms capitol in which the commoners lived, as the Little Rabbit. He was given the nickname because of how fast and agile he was, zipping through the Slums and Common Realm at a speed few could hope to match at such a young age. The infamy of said child had been well established among the Kingdom and the commoners adored him greatly, adoring him to the point of slipping the boy food and water. There were many a times when the knights would catch a commoner handing over meat or bread to the rabbit-like adolescent.

　　Strictly speaking, handing over food or any items to a Slum dweller was prohibited and could be punishable of up to a year in the Kingdoms jail. However, the Little Rabbit seemed to be a widely known exception as people even went out of their way to slip him food, clothing, and even items. Many Knights would go so far as to look the other way when this happened, turning a blind eye to the situation and going about their business. The only reason the king even knew about the ongoing problem was the nobles and various Knights loyal to him reporting and keeping him informed.

　　Needless to say, the concept of giving ANYTHING to a filthy kid belonging to the Taka Realm, better known as the Slums, was unacceptable. The rule had been established well before his rule as king and had been upheld for decade after decade, for about as long as the Slums had been around. For such a predicament to unfold during his time as King was akin to a slap in the face that he couldnt just sit by and ignore.

　　He needed to stifle and execute this child before it got out of hand, using him as an example for those Slum dwellers who thought they were special in any way. If left unchecked, the kid could transform into a much larger problem when he got older and began to question his own allotment in life, defying the very foundation of which the Kingdom was built upon.

　　Only the worthy had any right to stand at the peak. The weakling and filth of society had no right to climb the ranks.

　　The child and the perpetrators who fed him were to be punished as soon as possible, along with the kids family and friends. None would be allowed to upset the balance, regardless of how insignificant the threat was.

　　Gintoki reaffirmed this in his mind as he opened his eyes, the redness having faded from around his brown pupils. Being relatively calmer then before, he was able to once again think rationally as he took slow and steady breaths.

　　The Little Rabbit aside, he had other incidents to deal with. The child could be dealt with later, but for the time being, he had much bigger troubles.

　　Sitting up in his seat, Gintoki turned his attention to one of the knights standing off to the side, a rather buff man in his mid to late twenties clad in bright red armor with a picture of a bird on the left breastplate. The kings brown eyes narrowed as he watched the armored man for a full ten seconds before the knight eventually caught on, finally standing at attention with the standard salute of the Elemental Knights, sticking out his left hand parallel to his chest and clasping his wrist with his right hand. Though the knight had been late in his stance and hadn't been paying much attention, Gintoki decided to let it slide as he had better things to do then constantly bring up miniscule topics and make them into a big issue.

　　"You there, whats your name?" the king asked as he leaned back in his chair. "State your rank as well."

　　"Sir, My name is Crypt Knox of the Fire Knights, Squad Leader of Team #206." The man stated everything as quickly and efficiently as he could, doing whatever necessary to keep the Kings anger appeased.

　　Gintoki touched his short, ginger colored beard, absently stroking it as a look of intrigue appeared on his face. "Your under Lieutenant Kierans command right, a part of the squads currently positioned in the town of Ponuo? Didnt a sizeable rift appear there not to long ago? What brings you here?"

　　"Thats...actually what I wanted to inform you of Sire," Crypt stated as he moved away from the line of unarmored Knights to the side to stand at the center of the room. "Your highness, the Spawns located in Ponuo town have begun to fall back even though they had gained the upper hand. They have withdrawn from the territory completely and resealed the rift."

　　The room, which had already been pretty quiet, seemed to come to a total standstill, so void of sound that a mere dropped pin would seem like thunder in that one moment. Everyone present was holding their breath to see how the king would respond to such news, news that could easily shatter the preconceived notions that many had establish for decades.

　　Spawns would only retreat if it became clear they could no longer win. Retreat was never an option unless forced to do so.

　　"Do you have the footage?" Gintoki asked softly, his voice lowered quite a bit. "Show me the [Spy Orbs]'s data."

　　--------

　　[Spy Orb]

　　Item Class- B+

　　Category- Surveillance & Detection

　　Details- A high-tech magic device used to capture the events happening around it. Invented by the dwarves, the Spy Orb is sent up into the air, cloaked, and set to record a video lasting up to an entire day.