Hearing Chelsea’s voice in her ear, especially the word "naughty," made Mine snap her eyes open.
Realizing what Chelsea was implying, her face imdiately turned scarlet.
“You… you!...”
Mine was so flustered she couldn’t even form a proper sentence.
“? What about ?” Chelsea grinned mischievously.
But she knew when to hold back. She didn’t say it out loud, nor did she expose Mine’s real thoughts in front of the others—especially Blayn.
She had long since considered Mine a companion, so she would never go that far. It was just that, with her naturally teasing personality, she couldn’t resist ssing with soone as easily flustered as Mine.
Since Chelsea had whispered so quietly, no one else had heard their exchange.
Blayn assud she was just teasing Mine as usual. Since there were more pressing matters at hand, he didn’t think much of it.
...
“Sister!”
Kuro had been lost in thought, still troubled by the situation with Esdeath, when she suddenly noticed Aka standing before her.
Aka was equally surprised. In just the blink of an eye, Blayn had transported them here.
She wasn’t sure exactly how far they were from the Night Raid base, but judging by the unfamiliar surroundings, it was definitely not anywhere nearby.
Hearing Kuro’s voice, she quickly refocused.
She walked toward her sister. “Kuro, we’ve co to help you.”
At the sa ti, she caught sight of her forr comrades from the Empire’s Assassination Unit.
After all, the mbers of Akatsuki were the very sa people she had once fought alongside.
“Aka… I never thought we’d et again without being on opposing sides.”
“It feels like it’s been ages. And Aka’s gotten even prettier.”
“It actually hasn’t been that long, but she has changed a lot.”
“This is really sothing… Aka is standing before us again, and we don’t have to fight her this ti...”
...
Kelly and the others were overco with emotion.
Aka stepped closer to Kuro, then looked at her forr comrades. “Everyone… it’s been a long ti.”
“It really has, Aka. We’ve missed you and always hoped you’d return soday.”
“But seeing that you’re doing well with Night Raid puts our minds at ease.”
“You said you’re here to help us, right? We actually get to fight alongside you again? It’s like a dream.”
Kelly and the others spoke with smiles, the atmosphere light and amicable, as if past conflicts had never existed.
...
Blayn then explained the battle plan to Aka, Chelsea, and Mine, going over the sa details he had already shared with the others.
His strategy remained largely unchanged—he would act alone or, at most, partner with one or two others.
“In that case, I’ll team up with Blayn,” Chelsea said imdiately, claiming the spot before anyone else could.
Kuro opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, Aka turned to her and said, “Kuro, we’ll be in charge of secretly protecting the officials.”
“Sister, I...”
Kuro hesitated. On one side was her sister, and on the other was Commander Blayn.
After a mont of thought, she made her decision.
The whole situation with Esdeath had already left her anxious, and now another girl was volunteering to partner with the Commander? There was no way she could just sit back and do nothing!
Having made up her mind, Kuro turned to Aka. “I’d love to go on a mission with you again, but there’s sothing I have to do. I’m sorry, Sister.”
“What?!...”
Aka looked utterly devastated, as if the sky had just fallen.
Mine had never seen her react so strongly before. Kuro’s refusal must have shaken her more than she expected.
anwhile, Mine was still fixated on what had just happened. She had embarrassed herself for no reason, and the sheer humiliation was unbearable.
And worst of all—Chelsea, of all people, had noticed.
Forget working with Blayn—she could barely even speak to him now without wanting to crawl into a hole.
"What a surprise—Kuro actually refused her favorite sister."
"Well, this concerns Commander Blayn, and it looks like a new 'enemy' has appeared. That beautiful girl ca with Aka from Night Raid, right?"
"Haha, poor Aka must be a little hurt, but there’s nothing she can do about it. I’m guessing what happened with Esdeath has already shaken Kuro quite a bit."
...
The rest of the Akatsuki Organization murmured among themselves.
At that mont, Kuro walked up to Blayn. "Commander, I want to be your partner too."
"Alright."
Blayn had initially planned to act alone, but in an instant, he had a three-person team.
Still, with Night Raid joining them, they weren’t short on manpower anymore, so he didn’t dwell on it.
Just then, Mine turned to Seryu beside her. "Seryu, let’s do our best too."
"Yeah!" Seryu nodded enthusiastically, her fighting spirit burning bright.
"As I expected, you’re all good people," Seryu said with a smile.
Since Mine and the others had co to support them, Seryu once again labeled them as "good people."
"Well… I guess that’s not a bad thing..." Mine mumbled, feeling a little embarrassed by the praise.
"Then let’s give it our all! For our fallen comrades—we must change the Empire’s dark reality!"
Kelly’s words lifted the team’s morale even further. Just as the atmosphere was heating up, Chelsea suddenly spoke.
"I know it’s tragic that your forr comrades died, but honestly? As assassins, they were failures. You should accept that harsh reality."
The mont she said this, Kelly and the others fell silent.
Her words were blunt—almost cruel—but since she was soone Commander Blayn had brought from Night Raid, they didn’t know how to voice their dissatisfaction.
"What did you just say?"
Kuro was the only one who imdiately questioned Chelsea, her voice sharp.
Blayn, however, was taken aback. It was rare to see such a serious expression on Chelsea’s face. Looking closely, he could even detect a faint trace of sorrow in her eyes.
Not wanting tensions to escalate, he quickly stepped in. "Alright, that’s enough. We’re about to start the mission—this isn’t the ti for argunts."
"Get ready. We move out soon."
After addressing Kuro and the others, Blayn turned to Chelsea. "You—co with for a mont."
Chelsea followed him to a quiet corner.
"You probably think I’m a pretty awful person by now," she said with a sigh, speaking first.
She hadn’t wanted to co across as annoying in front of Blayn, but she just couldn’t hold back…
Oh well, whatever. It wasn’t like she could change who she was.
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