Blayn found a nearby flying Danger Beast mount and took Sheele and Mine with him to the Night Raid base.
At first, nothing seed unusual—until Kuro, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, sat down on Blayn’s lap.
Mine’s eyes widened in shock.
"What are you two doing?"
Kuro, still calmly munching on a cookie, looked completely unfazed. "What's wrong?"
"N-Nothing..."
Seeing Kuro act as if nothing was out of the ordinary, Mine imdiately deflated.
Then, just like before, Seryu sat behind Blayn, pressing close to him.
"You all seem to get along pretty well," Sheele remarked in her usual absentminded way.
"Yeah..." Mine pursed her lips slightly, looking sowhat displeased.
...
Before long, Blayn and the others arrived at the Night Raid base on the flying Danger Beast.
Sheele briefly explained what had happened to the rest of Night Raid.
"I can’t believe it. That just so happens to be the sa target as our latest mission," Najenda said, surprised.
Unlike Night Raid, Blayn hadn’t taken on an assassination contract or received any reward. He had simply acted on his own to eliminate Bull and the drug-smuggling rchants.
Of course, it wasn’t a completely selfless act—this operation had effectively spread the na of Akatsuki.
"Nee-san!"
Even though they had just seen each other not long ago, Kuro was just as excited to reunite with Aka.
The two sisters imdiately embraced.
For Seryu, this was her first ti eting the mbers of Night Raid, but she showed no hesitation. Instead, she introduced herself with ease.
"I'm Seryu from the Akatsuki Organization. It's a pleasure to et you all."
"Hello, Seryu. You're more than welco to visit Night Raid," Najenda said warmly.
So far, the Akatsuki mbers she had encountered—including Blayn—had all treated Night Raid amicably, and their goals currently aligned.
"Seryu, do you rember ?"
Chelsea greeted her with a playful grin.
Seryu looked at her in confusion. "Have we t before? I don’t rember..."
As far as she could recall, she had no mory of the girl standing in front of her.
"Just a second~"
Chelsea activated her Teigu, "Gaea Foundation," instantly transforming into a familiar small black cat.
She let out a soft "ow," as if to say, "Do you recognize now?"
"Shady!"
Seryu's eyes lit up in realization.
She had worried about Shady for two whole days after the little cat had suddenly disappeared.
Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that Shady had actually been this girl all along!
Chelsea leaped onto Seryu’s shoulder and affectionately licked her face with her rough cat tongue.
"Haha, that tickles!"
A mont later, Chelsea reverted to her human form.
Watching Seryu and Chelsea hit it off so quickly, Blayn felt reassured.
It seed likely that Seryu would get along just fine with the rest of Night Raid.
After all, she wasn’t inherently bad—just easily influenced.
As long as she didn’t stubbornly insist that Night Raid was "evil," there shouldn’t be any major issues.
"Another cute girl joins the party. Is this your pet?"
Lubbock asked as he looked at Koro, the small creature standing at Seryu’s feet.
Just as he was about to crouch down and play with it, Mine quickly warned him, "I’d think twice if I were you. That’s not just so ordinary pet—it’s a Biological Teigu. ss with it, and it might just eat you."
"Eh?!"
Lubbock imdiately recoiled in alarm.
This little thing was a Biological Teigu?
"Don’t worry, Koro isn’t a threat to good people," Seryu said with a cheerful smile.
"Good people... I wouldn’t go that far," Lubbock said awkwardly.
"To be honest, none of us here can really call ourselves good people," Leone added with a carefree laugh.
No one in Night Raid considered themselves righteous.
"That must be the legendary 'Magical Beast Transformation: Hekatonkheires,' right?"
Najenda speculated.
As a forr Imperial general, she knew this Teigu was still in the Empire’s hands. Though she had never seen it in person, she was familiar with its description and could recognize it from that alone.
"That’s right! But since Koro is so friendly toward you, I know you're all on the side of justice!"
Seryu declared with confidence.
Blayn flicked her forehead lightly. "Haven’t I told you before? Stop bringing up justice and evil all the ti."
"Ugh... I understand, Master."
Seryu pouted but obediently nodded.
"By the way, Blayn, I assu you’ve already heard about Esdeath’s return?"
Najenda suddenly brought up the topic, her tone serious.
This was the biggest concern weighing on her mind today.
Esdeath had conquered the Northern Tribes far faster than anyone expected. In less than two weeks—including travel ti—she had utterly crushed them. The battles themselves likely took no more than three days.
Her overwhelming speed had caught the Revolutionary Army completely off guard. They had planned to make major moves while Esdeath was away from the capital, but now, those plans had completely fallen apart.
No doubt about it—Esdeath truly was the Empire’s strongest.
"I know," Blayn replied calmly.
"Rumor has it that Pri Minister Honest summoned Esdeath back on short notice. Most likely, they’re preparing to move against us," Najenda said gravely. "You’ve said before that you could take on Esdeath alone. It’s not that I doubt you, but just to be safe, I’d rather we face her together and proceed cautiously. No one knows the full extent of her power..."
Back when she led her forces in defecting from the Empire, Esdeath’s interception had left a deep mark on Najenda—perhaps even a lingering trauma.
The atmosphere was tense, and even Mine, who usually took any chance to bicker with Blayn, remained silent. The smartest course of action was undeniably to unite against Esdeath.
"I understand. Cooperation isn’t an issue," Blayn replied smoothly.
However, there were so matters he still preferred to handle himself.
For instance, he had always felt that he owed Esdeath a favor. Thinking back, she had looked after him multiple tis since he arrived in the Imperial Capital.
Without her, things wouldn’t have gone nearly as smoothly for him.
So once Esdeath returned, Blayn intended to settle that debt—on his own.
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