On the day Blayn led Kuro and the others out of The Empire's Assassination Unit, Saikyuu imdiately sensed sothing was wrong—his n should have returned by now.
He quickly sent people to investigate, only to find the entire base of the Assassination Unit completely deserted.
Not a single person remained, not even corpses.
Even the Teigus and Shingus were gone.
Saikyuu refused to believe his n had simply vanished into thin air.
After digging into the city gate records, he confird that Blayn had indeed left with the mbers of the Assassination Unit and never returned. He had even taken the lab personnel with him.
It was almost certain—his subordinates had been killed, and the Teigus had been seized.
“Damn it!”
Fury overtook Saikyuu as he crushed the teacup in his hand.
His subordinates dared not utter a word, fearful of being dragged into his wrath.
Only after a long pause did Saikyuu finally regain his composure.
“No one is to spread a word of this without my permission. Otherwise...”
His voice carried a nacing threat as he swept his gaze over everyone present.
If this got out, he would be nothing more than a laughingstock in the imperial court.
He had founded the Empire’s Assassination Unit himself, yet now, it had been completely wiped out.
Until he took down that brat Blayn and restored his reputation, no one could know about this disgrace.
Right now, the most pressing matter was finding out Blayn’s whereabouts.
...
The appointed day arrived.
Blayn prepared to return to that familiar mountain forest.
He hadn’t told Seryu, Kuro, or the others where he was headed—no need to make them worry.
Using Kamui Space, he teleported himself once again to the agreed-upon location.
The entire Night Raid was already waiting for him.
From a distance, Blayn could make out several familiar figures.
Among them, he recognized Aka, Mine, and Sheele. The rest were unfamiliar to him.
However, the tall, muscular young man with the distinct crew cut was easy to identify—he was likely the previous wielder of that armored Teigu.
“He’s here.”
Leone spotted Blayn and called out.
Seeing him arrive, Sheele’s face brightened with a hint of joy.
“So he really showed up. At least he didn’t stand us up,” Lubbock remarked, crossing his arms behind his head.
“If he dared to stand Sheele up, I wouldn’t have let him off so easily,” Mine huffed.
Blayn ca to a stop in front of them, slightly surprised.
“You all ca here just for ?”
He had expected to et only Sheele, Mine, and maybe the leader of Night Raid. He hadn’t anticipated the entire group to show up.
“Yes, so you should be grateful. Not everyone gets this kind of treatnt.”
Mine crossed her arms, her tone far from polite.
“Of course. Given your status and abilities, it's only natural that we treat you this way.”
Najenda, on the other hand, had a much friendlier deanor as she spoke to Blayn.
“My na is Najenda. I'm the leader of Night Raid, and Aka is the acting captain. We also have six other mbers.”
She gave Blayn a brief introduction.
“Najenda...?”
Blayn's attention was imdiately drawn to her na.
Wasn't that the na of the forr Imperial general? Esdeath had ntioned her before.
Looking at the woman in front of him—an eyepatch covering her right eye and a chanical arm replacing her right hand—he was almost certain. This had to be the one Esdeath had crippled.
“You were a general of the Empire?” Blayn asked.
“That’s right, but I’m with the Revolutionary Army now,” Najenda nodded. “From what I know, you ca to the capital with Esdeath. I used to be her colleague.”
“I’ve heard her ntion you before,” Blayn replied casually.
“Oh? She actually talked to you about that? What exactly did she say?”
Najenda’s curiosity was piqued. In her experience, Esdeath wasn’t the type to engage in idle conversation.
“She just ntioned that the Empire had a general around her age and brought up your na. But that was a while ago—before you had…” Blayn trailed off.
“I see… So even that woman can say sothing nice,” Najenda said with a hint of nostalgia.
“By the way, besides you and the acting captain, didn’t you say there were six others? I only see five.”
Blayn suddenly noticed the discrepancy.
“There’s also Chelsea, but she’s not with us right now. You’ll see her soon, though. Let’s talk as we walk.”
Najenda led the way as the group headed toward a wooden house—likely one of Night Raid’s temporary hideouts.
Outside the cabin was a large stone table, big enough for several people.
“Let’s sit here and have a proper talk.”
Najenda gestured for Blayn to take a seat.
Just then, a small black cat erged from the cabin and slowly walked toward Blayn.
His pupils twitched slightly.
Wasn’t this the sa little guy he had nad “Shady” last ti?
He had long suspected that it was soone from the Revolutionary Army, so seeing it again wasn’t all that surprising.
It seed this cat was the last mber Najenda ntioned—hence its presence here.
“Huh? Why is there a cat here?”
Mine looked surprised.
“So cute,” Sheele murmured in admiration.
Clearly, neither of them was familiar with Chelsea’s Teigu ability. They hadn’t realized that this black cat was likely Chelsea in disguise.
“There shouldn’t be any stray cats around here,” Lubbock remarked, puzzled. “With Danger Beasts everywhere, how did this little guy even survive?”
“Probably been hiding in the cabin all this ti. Now that I think about it, we haven’t been here in a while,” Bulat speculated.
…
Aka remained silent, staring blankly at the small black cat. At so point, a bit of drool had gathered at the corner of her mouth—almost as if she were tempted to eat it.
Najenda, however, was the first to suspect that the cat was actually Chelsea. She knew Chelsea’s ability well, but she had no idea what she was trying to do.
Then, all of a sudden, the black cat pounced toward Blayn.
Chelsea’s sudden action only confused Najenda further.
What was she up to?
As it soared through the air, the cat suddenly transford into a beautiful young woman—Chelsea.
“ow~”
She maintained her cat-like posture mid-air, heading straight for Blayn.
At this rate, she was going to land right on top of him.
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