Gozuki, who had been hiding inside the castle with his people, heard the sudden rumbling from outside and quietly poked his head out to check the enemy's movements.
"What now... what happened this time?"
Gozuki was somewhat tense.
After all, they had just come up empty a moment ago, only to be surrounded by an army of several thousand right after that, trapping them inside the castle.
No matter how one looked at the situation, it felt like a trap.
Although he did not know why the enemy had not made their next move after surrounding them, there was no doubt that their current situation was extremely dangerous.
With less than two hundred people on their side, it was impossible for them to have any chance of victory against a siege by several thousand regular soldiers.
However, the moment Gozuki poked his head out, he saw a strange scene.
To his surprise, the army outside was actually leaving.
He was deeply puzzled and began connecting the situation with what had just happened.
"Could it be related to that sound just now?"
A huge roar and some kind of piercing scream had come from the other side of the forest earlier.
Although he did not know what had happened, considering that the enemy began withdrawing not long after that, something must have occurred.
This tense and sudden turn of events made Gozuki's heart pound.
Even as an assassin, when survival was possible, he had no desire to face death.
Even if he had prepared himself in advance and did not fear death that much, it was still the same.
Gozuki did not know that the army had not acted because its commander, Najenda, had not been present and had ordered the soldiers to wait for her return.
As for why they were withdrawing now, it was because Najenda had returned.
Najenda did not immediately announce the terrible news that all four officers beside her had died.
Because she was afraid.
Every one of her subordinates had great prestige and was loved and respected by the soldiers.
If she failed to suppress the anger of the soldiers and their emotions spiraled out of control, causing them to rush off to seek revenge against Noah, they would likely suffer even more devastating losses.
This force under her command was extremely important to the Revolutionary Army.
Although not every Teigu was suited for battle, once a Teigu user appeared on the battlefield, they were regarded by default as an individual capable of fighting a hundred enemies alone.
Including herself, a total of five Teigu users had joined forces, only to be defeated so easily.
Losing four Teigu users was heartbreaking, but the people of Oarburgh had helped them recover the Teigu and were "willing" to sell them back.
'Damn vampires!'
And to think she had actually intended to invite these people to become her comrades earlier.
Najenda realized that they had saved her only for their own benefit.
The assassination society Oarburgh truly deserved its reputation as a force with more than a thousand years of history.
They did not speak of emotions at all.
In any case, as long as the Teigu remained, the Revolutionary Army could quickly find new users and use that power to accelerate its expansion.
Unfortunately, the shield-type Teigu had completely disappeared and become history.
These Teigu and troops had to be carefully preserved until they reached the Revolutionary Army's main base.
Otherwise, while operating among various mountain strongholds and local regions, forget expanding—they might instead be carved up by those violent criminal forces.
If anyone wanted revenge, then no one wanted it more than she did.
But she had to be worthy of her subordinates' sacrifices.
"Noah..."
At that moment, Najenda raised Noah's threat level to their great cause straight to the same level as Esdeath.
Inside the carriage, Merraid's expression was somewhat gloomy.
She looked at the sisters Akame and Kurome, who were huddled together in the corner, then at Gilberda, who was being cared for by Cassandra.
Thanks to medicine obtained from the army, the blond maid finally received relatively effective treatment.
Only someone with her naturally superior constitution could have endured this far.
Otherwise, she would never have been able to hold on.
Even so, the wounds on her body would inevitably leave scars.
As for the missing parts, it would take at least several years, perhaps even several decades, for them to be fully restored.
Looking at Gilberda like this, Merraid could not help considering the idea of searching for a Teigu with healing abilities.
The injuries Najenda had suffered at the time had absolutely been fatal.
Yet that man named Hans had fully healed her, without leaving even a single scar. It had been almost like bringing someone back from the dead.
Unfortunately, that Teigu had already been destroyed because of that monster.
Otherwise, it could surely have been used to treat Gilberda as well.
With that battle situation back then, even if Merraid, Cassandra, and Akame had all joined the battle together, they still would not have been able to turn things around.
This made Merraid once again reevaluate Noah's strength.
After several battles, she had now completely understood that he was not an existence that could be killed simply by forming a plan.
That's right.
All this time, she had been making assassination plans while treating him as a human.
But in reality, no human could face five Teigu users alone and still remain so calm.
That man was a monster through and through.
Oarburgh would never swallow humiliation silently.
Even if they could not kill that man for now, all of Oarburgh would treat this as a disgrace from now on and search for a chance to wash it away.
...
Before long, Noah leisurely returned to the camp.
The moment Gozuki saw him, he dragged Noah into a dark corner where no one else could see or hear them.
He could not wait to ask about what he had entrusted to him earlier.
"What happened to Akame?"
Noah looked at his murderous expression, spread both hands, and shrugged.
"She's still alive. She should have passed the checkpoint by now."
"You didn't kill her?" Gozuki frowned.
He did not think Noah, if he used his true ability, would be unable to deal with the current Akame.
Noah smiled and said, "Don't ask the impossible. I finally managed to catch up to them, only for Najenda to suddenly appear with several Teigu-user subordinates. I could only stop there, couldn't I?"
"You mean the Empire's former general, Najenda?" Gozuki's eyes widened slightly, as though he had understood something.
So that army really had been led by General Najenda, who had just betrayed the Empire.
But that created a new doubt.
If General Najenda had been leading those troops, why had she let them, the elites of the Imperial Assassination Unit, go?
After all, the Imperial Assassination Unit was a greater threat to them than even the frontal battlefield.
The Revolutionary Army's greatest weakness was that it relied heavily on capable people who had defected from the Empire.
Those ministers had betrayed the Empire, so naturally, they had already been placed on the Imperial Assassination Unit's kill list.
Once those ministers were lost, the Revolutionary Army would fall back into scattered disunity.
If they could deal a heavy blow to, or even annihilate, the Imperial Assassination Unit, would that former general really give up such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?
From Gozuki's perspective, the only conclusion was that it should have been impossible.
Yet she had retreated.
Was it because this place was too close to the Imperial Capital, and she feared their whereabouts would leak and lead to pursuit?
No. If that were the case, they should never have appeared in the first place.
Exposing themselves in order to rescue Oarburgh's assassins was not worth it no matter how one thought about it.
"The mission failed."
When Gozuki announced this to everyone, Guy, Poney, and the others whose emotions showed easily all revealed anger and unwillingness.
Guy clenched his fist and slammed it into the ground.
"Damn it!"
"Not only did we fail to kill the mission target, but Kurome and Akame were captured by the enemy. What the hell is this?!"
Seeing how agitated he was, Gozuki's tone became somewhat harsher.
"Calm down, Guy. Akame and Kurome were captured by Oarburgh, and Oarburgh's group is now moving together with the Empire's former general, Najenda. No matter how anxious we are, now is absolutely not the time to act."
"I... I know..."
Guy looked dejected.
Recently, he had suffered defeat after defeat, and his confidence had taken a massive blow.
This time, his companions had been captured, yet he could do nothing.
It made him feel deeply guilty while also further damaging his confidence.
Tsukushi asked worriedly, "Father, Akame and Kurome will be all right, won't they? Will Oarburgh hurt them?"
If that were the case, it would actually be easier.
Gozuki thought that there should be no need to worry about Kurome.
The problem, as expected, was Akame.
Because of her little sister, Akame had been opinionated from a young age and had always maintained her own thoughts.
Her talent as an assassin was unmatched, and her compatibility with Falna was the highest, even surpassing Nahashu, the most outstanding among the seven.
There was no need to say much about her skills.
The problem was that, for an assassin, Akame had far too many emotions.
If the women of Oarburgh instilled something into her, Akame might very well transform from a useful piece into a sharp blade threatening the Empire.
Had it been a mistake to place Kurome in the selection group?
Originally, he had still been able to bind Akame using false information about Kurome, but now...
The frustrated Gozuki stared at the flickering bonfire in front of him without blinking, so lost in thought that he did not hear what the children around him were saying.
At that moment, an assassin from the Assassination Unit walked in.
He reported, "We found one of our codes. It was left by Kurome of the elite unit."
'A code.'
'Hm?'
Gozuki abruptly raised his face.
He ordered the man to decode it.
Afterward, he learned that Kurome and Akame were currently following Oarburgh's leader and seemed to be heading toward the Revolutionary Army's main force.
The code was very short, barely able to convey those meanings.
But the corners of Gozuki's mouth rose unconsciously.
'Good.'
'As expected of someone trained by that old man Bill.'
Kurome's loyalty to the Empire had already become a duty carved deep into her soul.
Unlike Akame, Kurome was far weaker.
The brainwashing she had received in the Enhancement Division had completely transformed her into a puppet of the Empire.
The code only mentioned that the two of them were together, but Gozuki could easily analyze the rift that had formed between the sisters.
Akame's doubts toward the Empire had been met by Kurome's suspicion.
The brainwashing done on Kurome was extremely complete.
Even if her own twin sister questioned the Empire, Kurome would immediately choose to correct her.
The Empire was right.
One must not betray the Empire.
Loyalty to the Empire was absolute.
Those thoughts were like something Bill had carved into her very bones with a file.
No matter whether she was dismembered or tortured until she wished she were dead, that bone-deep brainwashing would not disappear.
She would keep watching Akame.
Because she had to make her dearest sister return to the "right path."
To Kurome, happiness meant carrying out the Empire's orders together with her sister.
Even if it was dangerous, as long as she could be with her sister, that was enough for Kurome.
The love between these sisters was so pure.
The younger sister was willing to be swallowed by darkness, wanting only to remain with her older sister for as long as she lived, never separating.
The older sister did not want her younger sister to sink into the mire, and even if she had to sacrifice herself, she wanted to pull her out of that suffering.
Their beliefs and their definitions of happiness were completely different.
This was an unbridgeable gulf between the two closest people.
...
After returning to the Imperial Capital, Noah had the Assassination Unit bring Hekatonkheires's body, which had been split in two, back to the Science Division.
A biological-type Teigu would not die as long as its core was not destroyed.
Although being cut in half looked extremely terrifying, Hekatonkheires was not actually dead. It could not even be considered damaged.
However, this was a rare opportunity.
Noah also wanted to try how far the alchemy he had studied until now had progressed.
He had someone notify the Minister to prepare a large amount of precious materials, then began modifying the biological-type Teigu.
Teigu were weapons.
In essence, they were no different from weapons such as swords and blades.
Swords could be repaired and improved, so naturally, Teigu could as well.
It was only that no one had ever been able to do it until now.
But Noah was different.
He had studied ancient alchemy and researched secret arts for seven or eight years, so he did not lack theoretical knowledge.
On top of that, the subject of this modification happened to be a biological-type Teigu.
If it were another type of Teigu, such as Murasame, and the blade broke during modification, then the weapon would lose its original meaning as a Teigu.
Only a biological-type Teigu with self-repairing ability allowed him to freely put his ideas into practice without fear.
This was related to his first major plan after ascending to Lv.3.
Creating a golem.
As a support unit, being focused down by enemies was completely normal.
Although trusting and relying on companions was not a bad thing, wouldn't it be even better if there were a "unit" that could provide fire support, defensive protection, even battlefield medical treatment, and secure logistics for him and his teammates?
Now that he had the support of the Minister, the Empire's most powerful official, he did not need to worry about expenses.
But if he wanted to create such a golem in Orario, the cost would undoubtedly be astronomical.
One billion... no, if it was a golem with growth potential, perhaps even ten billion would not be enough.
Since he currently had an absurdly wealthy patron, how could he miss this chance to fleece him... no, to accumulate practical experience?
The goddess Hestia had commissioned Hephaestus to forge a weapon that could grow together with its child, engraving divine script upon it to bless the weapon.
It was named the Hestia Knife.
It was a living weapon, and at the same time, it possessed ability values just like its owner. It could almost be regarded as a Familia member rather than an ordinary weapon.
The golem Noah wanted to create was the same.
By using the manufacturing technology behind biological-type Teigu and granting Falna to it, he would make it possess growth potential no inferior to an adventurer's.
Even his own goddess would surely be amazed by such a technique.