Two days later, an enormous and luxurious passenger ship was docked beside the Grand Canal outside the Imperial Capital.
It was known as the Dragon Ship.
The Grand Canal stretched for two thousand five hundred kilometers and had required more than a million laborers to complete.
Through brutal exploitation, the Empire had finished the massive project in only seven years. In return, resentment among the people had grown even stronger.
The Dragon Ship itself had been specially built to make the Emperor's inspection tours more convenient and had only recently been completed.
That was why a celebratory banquet was being held aboard it.
The project had been one of the rare ventures supported by both the principled ministers and Honest's faction, simply because it benefited the country while also satisfying the private interests of certain officials.
As a result, many important guests had been invited to the banquet.
Since few invitations allowed large groups to attend together, the Jaegers had split into pairs and small teams.
The arrangement also satisfied one of Esdeath's personal wishes. She intended to spend the evening aboard the Dragon Ship with Tatsumi as her partner.
Wave attended with Nyau, who had been dressed as a woman.
Nyau's personality aside, his naturally delicate appearance made him look surprisingly convincing in women's clothing.
In a way, that only made the situation more dangerous for Wave, who now had to keep reminding himself that the person beside him was a man.
Noah was paired with Seryu.
Although Seryu was not technically a Teigu user, she had undergone extensive human modification.
After Dr. Stylish finished rebuilding her, very little of her original body remained.
Her main weakness was the size of the weapons system designed to support her modified body.
The system was called the Judgment of the Ten Kings, and Dr. Stylish had personally guaranteed that its power was in no way inferior to a Teigu.
While explaining this, he had even looked proudly in Noah's direction.
Fully deploying the system required bringing a weapons pack measuring 2.4 meters tall, 2.1 meters wide, and 2.2 meters thick onto the battlefield.
The enormous pack had already been placed in the Dragon Ship's cargo hold.
According to Dr. Stylish, its engine could be activated at any moment, allowing it to travel directly to Seryu.
After boarding, Noah and Seryu quietly joined Wave and Nyau.
The four of them entered a private booth with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the water.
Their side was ready.
...
Elsewhere, Esdeath and Tatsumi had already attracted the attention of nearly everyone at the banquet.
Esdeath wore a dark blue evening dress, with her long ice-blue hair pinned up to expose her smooth back.
As she walked, glimpses of her long pale legs appeared beneath the moving skirt.
Tatsumi felt enormous pressure beside her.
It was not merely embarrassment. As an assassin, being watched by so many people was the last thing he wanted.
"Is something wrong, Tatsumi? Are you feeling unwell?" Esdeath noticed even the smallest change in his behavior.
"Perhaps you should go and let Noah examine you."
"Yes! That sounds like a good idea."
The moment Tatsumi heard an excuse to leave, he accepted without hesitation.
Seeing how pleased he looked, Esdeath's expression softened.
The way she watched him resembled someone looking at an adorable puppy.
After learning where Noah and the others were, Tatsumi hurried toward their booth.
'Escaping on my own would be almost impossible. But if I can convince Mr. Noah to help me, then maybe...'
The moment he was safely out of Esdeath's sight, Tatsumi loosened the tie that had been choking him and undid several buttons on his shirt before releasing a long breath.
He suddenly pulled open the booth door without warning.
"Whoa! You scared me!" Wave exclaimed before relaxing. "Oh, it's just you, Tatsumi."
All four people in the room were strong enough to sense someone approaching, but their reactions were very different.
Wave's previous work had little in common with covert missions like this, so he was still not used to the tension.
"Lady Esdeath actually let you out of her sight?"
"Ah... about that."
Tatsumi briefly explained the excuse he had used.
Everyone who heard it found the situation difficult to believe.
A woman in love really could become blind enough to accept such an obvious lie without question.
Was this truly the same intelligent and calculating Esdeath who commanded them?
Nyau swallowed.
He felt as though the entire world had changed while he was unconscious!
The extremely sadistic Lady Esdeath had somehow become a foolish woman in love.
Of course, she was still just as frighteningly strong as before.
"In that case, I should hurry over and take your place," Seryu said with a smile as she stood, showing no sign of dissatisfaction.
"Sorry about that." Tatsumi scratched his head and sat down.
He glanced at Wave and Nyau, desperately trying to think of a way to speak with Noah alone.
Noticing the awkward silence, Noah simply spoke first.
"Now that Tatsumi is here, we should begin."
'Begin?'
Tatsumi immediately grew tense.
What's going on?
Noah knew that Esdeath's false information was meant to lure Night Raid onto the ship. Why did he sound so willing to begin the operation?
This was bad.
Nyau's ability was extremely dangerous, and the others would not be prepared for it.
His companions were in danger.
"I'll start, then."
Nyau opened a long cloth bag and took out three flutes.
Tatsumi clenched his fists nervously, while Noah studied them with interest.
'So this was the Teigu known as Scream.'
'Dream Music: Scream.'
It could freely manipulate the emotions of anyone who heard its music. It could raise the morale of allies or break the minds of enemies.
It was capable of influencing dozens of different emotions, and depending on how it was used, it could leave people unable to resist or even kill them outright.
'I have to stop him.'
But if Tatsumi attacked now, his identity would be exposed.
Everyone in the room would become his enemy!
He struggled desperately over what to do.
Then Nyau began playing.
The melody was not particularly loud, yet it carried through the booth with remarkable clarity. Even the walls did nothing to weaken it.
There was only one problem.
It sounded absolutely awful!
Tatsumi stared in disbelief.
Was this some kind of joke?
How could anyone play that badly?
Even Wave, who knew nothing about music, could tell that Nyau had missed the correct notes by an absurd distance.
Noah sat with his eyes closed, looking almost asleep. His posture was so relaxed that he seemed to be enjoying himself.
Tatsumi covered his ears in pain, his face twisting from the horrible sound. When he noticed that Noah appeared completely unaffected, he became confused.
How could anyone sleep through this?
Then he remembered Noah's ability to control sound.
'So he really does have several different abilities?'
Flight, healing, and sound manipulation. T
hose were already three, not counting anything else Tatsumi had heard about.
But could Scream still work while the music was this badly out of tune?
A moment later, Tatsumi understood.
He looked at Noah and noticed the faintest upward curve at the corner of his mouth.
'Amazing. He interfered with the Teigu's ability so easily, and no one even noticed.'