Not long ago, General Esdeath led an army to crush the southwestern foreign tribes. In just a few days, she returned with a resounding victory—a feat no previous general had ever accomplished.
Of course, this excluded General Budo, who rarely left the Imperial Capital, as his primary duty was guarding the pace.
With this test triumph, Esdeath’s reputation soared once again.
As she walked through the streets, she was constantly surrounded by admirers.
Before long, she arrived at the Imperial Capital Security Force Headquarters.
"Is that General Esdeath? Why is she suddenly here?"
"Could it be because of what happened to Captain Ogre? But that doesn’t make sense—Captain Byn is under General Esdeath’s command now."
"Shh—don’t bring up Captain Ogre. If Captain Byn hears you, we’ll be in trouble."
"..."
Esdeath’s presence immediately drew the attention of the surrounding guards.
She casually stopped one of them and asked, "Do you know where Byn is?"
The soldier, awed by her presence, quickly responded, "Captain Byn should be at the training ground! I’ll notify him right away!"
"No need. I’ll go find him myself," Esdeath said indifferently.
…
Meanwhile, Byn was in the middle of his usual training session with Seryu.
During a break, he flipped through a book he had found in the study—a pictorial guide on Teigu.
Books detailing Teigu were rare, and this was the only one he had come across that contained illustrations.
Though it only documented a dozen or so Teigu, even that much knowledge was incredibly valuable.
The first Teigu listed was National Defense Machine God: Shikoutazer.
[The first and strongest Teigu, known as the “Supreme Teigu.” Only an emperor of royal blood can wield it. It is said to possess god-like power, but few have ever seen it. Its exclusive secret ability remains unknown.]
Byn frowned. The Emperor’s personal Teigu was supposedly the strongest, yet there was almost no information on its actual capabilities.
He continued browsing through various Teigu—bdes, swords, rings, gloves, armor—even Hekatonkheires, which Koro had bonded with.
Two Teigu in particur caught his attention: One Cut Killer: Murasame and Dimensional Formation: Shambha.
Murasame, also known as the Demon Bde, inflicted a deadly curse with even the slightest cut. Once poisoned, there was no antidote—the victim would die almost instantly.
Without prior knowledge, facing a Teigu user wielding Murasame would be a death sentence.
Shambha, on the other hand, was a spatial Teigu that allowed its user to teleport targets to pre-marked locations. If someone were sent directly into a volcano or another lethal environment...
Byn found it interesting, but it didn’t compare to his Double Kamui, which far outcssed Shambha in terms of spatial manipution. The only downside was that Double Kamui consumed far more energy.
Unfortunately, there was no mention of Esdeath’s Teigu in the book. He didn’t see any blood-type Teigu listed, which confirmed that her weapon wasn’t included.
After reading through the dozen or so Teigu, Byn reaffirmed just how dangerous they could be.
Fighting a Teigu user required caution—recklessness could lead to instant death.
"Master, are all those Teigu?"
Seryu, exhausted from training, leaned against Byn’s shoulder, catching her breath.
Koro y motionless on Byn’s p, looking more like a stuffed animal than a living creature.
Just then, the training hall doors burst open with a loud bang.
Byn looked up—only to see Esdeath standing in the entrance, having kicked the doors open.
"You? What are you doing here?" Byn asked, slightly surprised.
He hadn’t seen Esdeath in a while, and now she had suddenly appeared.
Esdeath didn’t answer. Instead, her icy blue eyes flickered as they locked onto the orange-haired girl leaning against Byn’s shoulder.
The temperature in the room seemed to drop.
Realizing Esdeath had entered, Seryu immediately stood up and saluted. "General Esdeath!"
Koro rolled off Byn’s p and hit the ground with a thud.
Esdeath ignored Seryu entirely and walked straight up to Byn. "Didn’t I already tell you? I don’t want to see this happening again."
Byn blinked, momentarily confused.
Then, it hit him.
"...Wait, you were serious about that?"
If Esdeath hadn’t brought it up, he would have completely forgotten.
Seryu, utterly lost, looked back and forth between Byn and Esdeath in confusion.
"Of course, I was serious," Esdeath stated without hesitation.
"...Alright, but we were just taking a break. This isn’t the same as st time," Byn expined.
"That’s right! Master and I were training so intensely that I almost colpsed from exhaustion," Seryu added with a grin.
Byn’s mouth twitched. "Please don’t phrase it like that—it’s way too easy to misinterpret."
Esdeath, however, remained unaffected. Her mind went straight to the logical assumption that Byn and Seryu had simply been sparring.
"By the way, why are you so against me interacting with other women?" Byn finally asked.
"...Yeah, why?" Esdeath muttered, her expression momentarily lost in thought.
She genuinely didn’t know.
She had no experience with romance, nor did she understand her own emotions.
"You don’t know either? Okay..." Byn sighed.
He had briefly considered the possibility that Esdeath had feelings for him, which would expin her behavior.
But he quickly dismissed the idea.
Esdeath was a complete battle maniac. Someone like her wouldn’t be interested in romance.
And now, his assumption was proven correct.
Good thing he hadn’t gotten ahead of himself—otherwise, it would’ve been really awkward.
Byn decided not to dwell on it. Maybe Esdeath was just an overbearing queen with a strong sense of control.
"So, do you know why?" Esdeath suddenly asked him.
"How the hell would I know? Even you don’t know," Byn said, exasperated.
"..."
Esdeath fell silent.
As she thought about it, she realized something strange—she wasn’t acting like her usual self.
Something had changed.
Her emotions shouldn’t be affected by trivial matters like this.
So why was she feeling this way?
Esdeath couldn’t figure it out.
But the more confused she became, the more she wanted an answer.
And the only possible answer had to be connected to Byn—because it was his presence that had made her feel this way in the first pce.
PinkSnake