My sister's coming? And she'll be here tomorrow?
Hearing this news with no warning, Kurome couldn't stay wrapped up in her own world any longer. "My sister? Why?"
The moment she spoke, she realized she'd asked a foolish question.
Her sister was part of the Imperial Princess's retinue now.
Though Kurome didn't want to think about when Akame had become her subordinate, the fact was she was. And with a city just captured, summoning her subordinates wasn't hard to understand.
Thinking that, Kurome reined in her surprise a little.
"Good. It seems you haven't turned into a mindless yes-woman yet."
Eblana elegantly placed a cut piece of steak into her mouth, then turned her gaze to Kurome, whose expression was complicated.
"The medicine for the toxins in your system will be delivered to your room after breakfast. You may also collect it directly from the Doctor's office."
"...I'll have it delivered to my room."
Kurome had seen plenty of odd people, but someone as strange as Mobius was rare.
Though she was a doctor, not a Teigu user or combatant, she gave off a sense of danger second only to Esdeath and Eblana herself.
"Mobius asked me to remind you—do not deliberately postpone your physical examination again, or she will come fetch you personally."
"...I understand."
Eblana, of course, didn't have the energy to manage everything alone, hence the borrowed help.
But that wasn't important. Here, Mobius was just the Doctor in charge of developing the antidote, nothing more.
Kurome, truth be told, wasn't entirely pleased. Much of her strength came from the drugs she'd been taking.
Those toxins, while ravaging her body and shortening her lifespan, were also an essential part of what made her powerful.
But now, under someone else's roof, she couldn't exactly protest.
After all, she didn't even have her Teigu with her.
The air between the two remained somewhat strained, but the situation wasn't much better on the other side either.
In a carriage that was not ornate but spacious, Akame held Murasame in her arms, never imagining things would turn out this way.
Two or three days ago, she had been summoned by their Boss and received an utterly unexpected order from a letter in the Boss's hand.
It detailed the specifics of the recent battle, with special note given to a captive named Kurome.
In the letter, Eblana expressed recognition of Akame's abilities and issued a command she absolutely had to fulfill.
'I still need her combat strength. She has room and potential to grow further. Before things become truly irreparable, you must make her willing to serve me of her own accord.'
That was the gist of it, as Akame understood. And this command left her with complicated feelings.
To bring Akame up to speed, Eblana had naturally recounted the modified version of the truth in full.
In Eblana's telling, Akame's actions remained unchanged and even aligned with the current situation, but for Kurome, the interpretation was completely different.
One version was of betrayal; the other was of going undercover in an enemy camp, then seeking revenge against the current Empire after realizing the one they had fought so hard to protect had been corrupted to its death.
Even Akame hadn't expected her actions could be spun that way.
Deceiving Kurome like this didn't sit right with her conscience. Yet Akame knew perfectly well that Eblana was no paragon of mercy and kindness.
The reason Night Raid pledged loyalty to Najenda rather than the Revolutionary Army itself was precisely because leaders like Najenda—who prioritized their subordinates' opinions and strove for solutions that worked for everyone—were far too rare.
If she could just treat this deception as a mission… Akame could accept it. She'd done plenty of such missions in the assassination corps.
Only this time, the target of the deception was Kurome…
Thinking this, however, only made her feelings more tangled.
"What's wrong, Akame? It's rare to see you so distracted."
In the carriage, Tatsumi had been chatting with Bulat about training, but out of the corner of his eye he noticed Akame's unusual state.
His words finally quieted the previously lively atmosphere in the carriage.
If even Tatsumi noticed something was off with Akame, how could her daily companions have missed it? They just hadn't known how to bring it up.
"...Sorry for worrying everyone."
Akame realized her condition hadn't escaped her comrades' notice. But… her feelings were genuinely complicated right now, and she wasn't sure if she could share this with them just yet. After all…
The black-haired girl's crimson eyes shifted toward the orange-haired girl wearing headphones, sitting in the farthest corner opposite her.
"Ah~ Sorry, am I interrupting your private talk?"
Though the words were apologetic, the smile on Chelsea's face didn't change, making her sincerity hard to gauge.
If in the original circumstances everyone could have treated her as a relatively normal comrade, now they all regarded her with varying degrees of wariness and dislike.
After all, in the original story, Chelsea's addition was a normal personnel reinforcement.
But now, she was blatantly telegraphing a surveillance role, making it hard for Night Raid not to view her with extra scrutiny.
Chelsea knew this well, so she didn't bother trying to integrate with the group right away.
She'd seen too many people, and she was familiar with idealists like Night Raid—trying too hard would only make them push her away further.
Better to honestly remain an outsider for now, look for chances to gain goodwill. Even if no chance arose, it was fine. Her real goal was to curry favor with Eblana anyway.
"Hmph."
The orange-haired girl's reply earned a cold snort from Mine, who was usually straightforward, putting her dislike right out in the open.
"Mine-chan?"
Chelsea wore a look of pure innocence and confusion, as if she didn't understand Mine's attitude. But that very expression gave it a hint of provocation.
Yet those with sharp eyes could detect her underlying unease and discomfort—clearly using a provocative front to mask her true feelings.
This was precisely why Akame felt conflicted. If the other party were obviously just a spy, they could disregard her and be done with it. But she seemed like a poor pawn thrust into the middle of things.
The others felt much the same.
What they didn't know was that even that seemingly genuine hidden unease was part of Chelsea's act.
Only Mine was truly merciless toward her, even though Mine probably hadn't seen through it either.
Chelsea couldn't help but think of her Teigu, 'Pumpkin.'
It was a cannon-type Teigu whose power increased based on the user's predicament—the more dangerous the situation, the greater its might.
To wield it well required not only excellent marksmanship but also extraordinary perceptiveness.
Mine hadn't detected anything off about her, yet could that very perceptiveness be driving such resistance?
Chelsea just found her difficult to handle.
Amidst many differing but equally complicated thoughts, the next day arrived.
Watching the approaching gates of the Count's estate as the carriage drew nearer, everyone's focus sharpened to its peak.
They were about to meet their new superior.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.