On the day Byn led Kurome and the others out of The Empire's Assassination Unit, Saikyuu immediately sensed something was wrong—his men should have returned by now.

  He quickly sent people to investigate, only to find the entire base of the Assassination Unit completely deserted.

  Not a single person remained, not even corpses.

  Even the Teigus and Shingus were gone.

  Saikyuu refused to believe his men had simply vanished into thin air.

  After digging into the city gate records, he confirmed that Byn had indeed left with the members of the Assassination Unit and never returned. He had even taken the b personnel with him.

  It was almost certain—his subordinates had been killed, and the Teigus had been seized.

  “Damn it!”

  Fury overtook Saikyuu as he crushed the teacup in his hand.

  His subordinates dared not utter a word, fearful of being dragged into his wrath.

  Only after a long pause did Saikyuu finally regain his composure.

  “No one is to spread a word of this without my permission. Otherwise...”

  His voice carried a menacing threat as he swept his gaze over everyone present.

  If this got out, he would be nothing more than a ughingstock in the imperial court.

  He had founded the Empire’s Assassination Unit himself, yet now, it had been completely wiped out.

  Until he took down that brat Byn and restored his reputation, no one could know about this disgrace.

  Right now, the most pressing matter was finding out Byn’s whereabouts.

  ...

  The appointed day arrived.

  Byn prepared to return to that familiar mountain forest.

  He hadn’t told Seryu, Kurome, or the others where he was headed—no need to make them worry.

  Using Kamui Space, he teleported himself once again to the agreed-upon location.

  The entire Night Raid was already waiting for him.

  From a distance, Byn could make out several familiar figures.

  Among them, he recognized Akame, Mine, and Sheele. The rest were unfamiliar to him.

  However, the tall, muscur young man with the distinct crew cut was easy to identify—he was likely the previous wielder of that armored Teigu.

  “He’s here.”

  Leone spotted Byn and called out.

  Seeing him arrive, Sheele’s face brightened with a hint of joy.

  “So he really showed up. At least he didn’t stand us up,” Lubbock remarked, crossing his arms behind his head.

  “If he dared to stand Sheele up, I wouldn’t have let him off so easily,” Mine huffed.

  Byn came to a stop in front of them, slightly surprised.

  “You all came here just for me?”

  He had expected to meet only Sheele, Mine, and maybe the leader of Night Raid. He hadn’t anticipated the entire group to show up.

  “Yes, so you should be grateful. Not everyone gets this kind of treatment.”

  Mine crossed her arms, her tone far from polite.

  “Of course. Given your status and abilities, it's only natural that we treat you this way.”

  Najenda, on the other hand, had a much friendlier demeanor as she spoke to Byn.

  “My name is Najenda. I'm the leader of Night Raid, and Akame is the acting captain. We also have six other members.”

  She gave Byn a brief introduction.

  “Najenda...?”

  Byn's attention was immediately drawn to her name.

  Wasn't that the name of the former Imperial general? Esdeath had mentioned her before.

  Looking at the woman in front of him—an eyepatch covering her right eye and a mechanical arm repcing her right hand—he was almost certain. This had to be the one Esdeath had crippled.

  “You were a general of the Empire?” Byn asked.

  “That’s right, but I’m with the Revolutionary Army now,” Najenda nodded. “From what I know, you came to the capital with Esdeath. I used to be her colleague.”

  “I’ve heard her mention you before,” Byn replied casually.

  “Oh? She actually talked to you about that? What exactly did she say?”

  Najenda’s curiosity was piqued. In her experience, Esdeath wasn’t the type to engage in idle conversation.

  “She just mentioned that the Empire had a general around her age and brought up your name. But that was a while ago—before you had…” Byn trailed off.

  “I see… So even that woman can say something nice,” Najenda said with a hint of nostalgia.

  “By the way, besides you and the acting captain, didn’t you say there were six others? I only see five.”

  Byn suddenly noticed the discrepancy.

  “There’s also Chelsea, but she’s not with us right now. You’ll see her soon, though. Let’s talk as we walk.”

  Najenda led the way as the group headed toward a wooden house—likely one of Night Raid’s temporary hideouts.

  Outside the cabin was a rge stone table, big enough for several people.

  “Let’s sit here and have a proper talk.”

  Najenda gestured for Byn to take a seat.

  Just then, a small bck cat emerged from the cabin and slowly walked toward Byn.

  His pupils twitched slightly.

  Wasn’t this the same little guy he had named “Shady” st time?

  He had long suspected that it was someone from the Revolutionary Army, so seeing it again wasn’t all that surprising.

  It seemed this cat was the st member Najenda mentioned—hence its presence here.

  “Huh? Why is there a cat here?”

  Mine looked surprised.

  “So cute,” Sheele murmured in admiration.

  Clearly, neither of them was familiar with Chelsea’s Teigu ability. They hadn’t realized that this bck cat was likely Chelsea in disguise.

  “There shouldn’t be any stray cats around here,” Lubbock remarked, puzzled. “With Danger Beasts everywhere, how did this little guy even survive?”

  “Probably been hiding in the cabin all this time. Now that I think about it, we haven’t been here in a while,” But specuted.

  …

  Akame remained silent, staring bnkly at the small bck cat. At some point, a bit of drool had gathered at the corner of her mouth—almost as if she were tempted to eat it.

  Najenda, however, was the first to suspect that the cat was actually Chelsea. She knew Chelsea’s ability well, but she had no idea what she was trying to do.

  Then, all of a sudden, the bck cat pounced toward Byn.

  Chelsea’s sudden action only confused Najenda further.

  What was she up to?

  As it soared through the air, the cat suddenly transformed into a beautiful young woman—Chelsea.

  “Meow~”

  She maintained her cat-like posture mid-air, heading straight for Byn.

  At this rate, she was going to nd right on top of him.

  PinkSnake