— — — — — —
"It's true… If His Majesty really pulls off this reform, it'd be a huge blessing for us commoners. Even the Revolutionary Army couldn't and wouldn't manage to abolish the nobility or redistribute land fairly!"
Leone's eyes flickered with a complicated expression as she looked at Renzo, her tone filled with conflicted emotion.
Her impression of the little Emperor was beginning to waver.
To be fair, she'd never really t him before, and most of her assumptions were just that—assumptions based on rumors and gut feelings.
"Yeah, she's right."
The others nodded in agreent, one after another.
Najenda saw the shift happening in everyone's minds and turned to face Renzo. "I'm willing to represent Night Raid and join the Empire. In fact, I can even bring over a few loyal and capable people from the Revolutionary Army to support His Majesty's cause."
"But—I do have one condition."
Renzo made a casual 'go ahead' gesture. "Let's hear it."
"I want Your Majesty to spare the lives of the lower-ranked soldiers in the Revolutionary Army—as long as they haven't committed any serious cris."
Najenda t his gaze head-on, her tone serious and firm.
"...That's it?"
"That's all I ask."
"Deal."
Renzo nodded without hesitation. He looked at Najenda with appreciation. "Not only will I honor your request—if they surrender and haven't done anything wrong, I'll treat them like regular citizens of the Empire. I'll even give them land to start over."
Truth be told, he'd never intended to execute those people in the first place.
Most of them were just desperate commoners with nowhere else to turn.
The only ones he couldn't forgive were the Revolutionary Army's upper brass—those ambitious schers who stirred up chaos for their own gain.
It was just like in his previous world—Earth—where the people at the top were the ones fighting each other and starting wars for their own gain, while the ones who suffered were always the common folk.
The funny part? The sa elites who started everything would shake hands in the end and agree on peace. To them, it was like so kind of ga. And all they had to say to their people was that they were the ones who won the war.
Well, maybe it wasn't exactly like that… but in one form or another, there was so truth to it.
Najenda's expression brightened with relief. She imdiately rose to one knee before Renzo.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. Najenda pledges her loyalty!"
Seeing this, the rest of Night Raid exchanged glances. One by one, they dropped to a knee and swore their allegiance.
"Good. You can all get up now," Renzo said, waving his hand. A gentle burst of aura helped them to their feet—leaving them slightly stunned.
"Now that you've pledged yourselves to , get your things together. We're heading back to the Capital."
"How does Your Majesty plan to assign us roles?" Najenda asked. She didn't mind relocating—honestly, she expected it.
"You'll be joining the Empire's Emberlight forces," Renzo said bluntly.
"The unit under Esdeath?" Lubbock's face twitched, a visible shiver running down his spine. He looked more than a little uneasy.
Clearly, he was terrified of Esdeath.
"That's right."
Renzo nodded. "But don't worry—she's actually quite good to her own people."
"Also—" He turned back to Najenda. "Esdeath ntioned you're skilled in administration. I want you helping out in the Ministry of Affairs."
"We've just started implenting reforms, but already the workload is insane. I desperately need capable people to help manage everything."
Even though he'd already pushed most of the paperwork onto his brainwashed officials, there was still way too much to handle alone.
"I'm in," Najenda said without hesitation.
This was a great opportunity.
She'd wanted to be involved in the reform process anyway—being part of it directly gave her more peace of mind. And it ant she could actually help shape the future of the Empire instead of just watching from the sidelines.
"Oh, right—"
Najenda spoke up again. "I won't be going back to the Capital with you right away. I need to return to the Revolutionary Army camp first—there are a few people I want to bring over."
Her targets included people like Chelsea—those who truly shared her ideals.
Najenda was confident she could convince them to switch sides. She didn't feel right leaving them behind, and she didn't want them getting caught up in the fallout if the Revolutionary Army was crushed.
Better to bring them over now than let them be branded traitors later.
Why was she so sure the revolution would fail?
That should've been obvious by now.
She'd seen Renzo's power.
She'd witnessed a portion of his strength—and even that small glimpse was enough to easily overpower the entirety of Night Raid.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have sat down to negotiate so obediently.
Not to ntion, Renzo had already begun tightening his grip on the Capital. With both Esdeath and General Budo on his side—along with nearly a million elite troops...
And considering how much support his reforms were getting from the people...
Najenda honestly didn't see a scenario where he could lose.
And she wouldn't let him lose.
"Alright." Renzo nodded. "Then I'm heading back first. You all make your way to the Capital as soon as you're ready."
And just like that—poof—he vanished.
"…He's really not using a Teigu?" Lubbock muttered, still stunned.
"No," Najenda shook her head. "There's no trace of Teigu energy on him at all. And honestly, no known Teigu could do half of what he just did."
"Alright, enough chatter," she said, turning to the others. "Bulat, Aka, I'm leaving things here in your hands for now. Pack up and get ready to report to the Capital as soon as you can. Oh—and be careful. Esdeath might not go off the rails around her own people, but she's still incredibly dangerous."
Her feelings about Esdeath were… complicated.
There was no denying the woman was insanely powerful—soone worthy of real respect on the battlefield.
But she was also an undeniable lunatic. Her worldview was extre and twisted in a way that made Najenda genuinely uneasy.
All she could do now was hope the young emperor could keep Esdeath under control.
"No problem! I'll keep everyone safe," said Bulat, giving her a thumbs-up. "But Boss, you be careful too. The Revolutionary Army's probably in even more chaos now. Don't go confronting anyone head-on—sneak in, keep things quiet. You know most of them can't be trusted."
Bulat's tone had grown noticeably bitter. After seeing the livestream footage earlier, his opinion of the Revolutionary Army's higher-ups had tanked.
Honestly? Most of them were no better than the corrupt minister they claid to oppose.
"Be careful!" Aka, Mine, and the others called out, visibly worried.
Najenda just laughed. "Relax, you guys! Don't you trust my skills? I'm not stupid enough to get myself killed. Besides—I want to see these reforms through with my own eyes. I won't go down that easily. I'm off!"
With that, she turned and strode away.
"Boss! Want to co with you?" Lubbock called after her, hurrying to catch up.
"No need! More people will just slow down. You stay with Bulat and the others—and keep an eye on Sheele and Mine for !"
Najenda didn't even hesitate to turn him down.
"…Fine," Lubbock said reluctantly. "Just stay safe!"
He stood there watching her leave, not even looking back. After a long mont, he sighed and headed back to his room to start packing.
...
Half a day later—
At the Empire's Royal Villa No. 2, Aka and the others arrived to officially report in.
"Welco to the team!" Esdeath greeted them with a cheerful, almost too-sweet smile. "Funny thing—the Pri Minister actually sent a letter a while back about you lot."
"If His Majesty hadn't shown up out of nowhere and kicked off this reform movent, I probably would've been sent to hunt you down by now."
She chuckled. "You're really lucky, you know that?"
Aka: "…"
Bulat: "…"
Mine: "Ugh… So we were on the hit list. Those damned minister…"
Seeing their slightly stiff expressions, Esdeath smirked, clearly enjoying herself for a mont before waving it off. "Anyway, that's all in the past. We're on the sa side now. I'm not your enemy—in fact, I'll be protecting you."
"If any of you get killed, I'll make sure to avenge you personally."
She clapped her hands once. "Now then—Wave, Kuro. Take our new friends and get them settled in. Once that's done, we've still got missions to finish. We lost a lot of ti today."
If Renzo hadn't suddenly inford her that he was sending backup, she'd still be deep in cleaning up corrupt nobles around the Capital.
Wave and Kuro nodded and quickly split up the group—boys and girls going off in different directions to get settled.
On the way, Bulat casually threw an arm around Wave's shoulder and grinned. "Hey, little bro—so how many guys are on the Emberlight task force anyway? Are they all Teigu users? And I gotta say—you're kind of a stunner."
"Uhh…"
Wave imdiately froze up, his whole body going stiff.
He'd never had a guy get this friendly with him before… and sothing about Bulat was definitely setting off his radar.
Sothing weird was going on here…
It can't be that.... Right?
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