"A trade?"
Najenda mulled over the unfamiliar word, narrowing her eye as she quickly glanced at Akame for clarification and confirmation.
Akame gave a small, steady nod.
"Yes, I made a strict trade agreement with Haruto. That is the sole reason he is here to help us rescue Mine."
The rest of the Night Raid members blinked in surprise. They had initially assumed that Haruto was an old friend, a secret contact, or a wandering ally of Akame's past.
The realization that their reinforcement was based purely on a cold, transactional arrangement caught them off guard.
Najenda was fiercely curious about the exact terms of the trade, but pressing for details in front of such a powerful and unpredictable stranger felt unwise.
After a brief moment of quiet calculation, she adjusted her posture and spoke up.
"Could you perhaps share a bit about the nature of your abilities or the specific Teigu you possess? Knowing your capabilities will allow us to devise a coordinated strategy."
Najenda naturally wanted to understand what kind of combat power or specialized weaponry these outsiders had brought to the table that gave them such unshakeable confidence.
"A strategy?" Haruto chuckled, casually waving a hand dismissively. "That won't be necessary at all. Let's just walk straight into the Imperial Capital through the front gates."
"No strategy whatsoever? Are you out of your mind?!"
Even Leone, who typically hated overcomplicated plans and lengthy briefings, found that suggestion entirely too reckless to swallow.
Lubbock's face darkened, his green hair shadowing his eyes. "Without a coordinated plan against General Budo's garrison, are you trying to get us all slaughtered?"
Before the tension could escalate further, Akame stepped forward, her voice deadpan and absolute. "Trust him."
The clearing fell into an uneasy, dead silence, everyone unsure of how to process such blind confidence.
Najenda deliberated for a long, grueling second before looking directly at her most trusted assassin. "Akame, are you genuinely certain we can rely on them?"
Akame nodded firmly, her red eyes unblinking. "Yes. Because it is a binding trade."
Haruto raised an eyebrow, finding it almost endearing how deeply Akame trusted the inviolable nature of his system's trades.
Whether the rest of Night Raid chose to trust him or not was ultimately irrelevant anyway. He could easily march into the capital and rescue Mine entirely by himself if he felt like it.
Fulfilling the terms of the trade for Akame's sake was simply his primary objective.
After a heavy pause, Najenda exhaled a long sigh of resignation and made her executive decision.
"Very well. Akame, I trust your judgment. Night Raid, gear up—we're moving out toward the Imperial Capital immediately."
With their leader having spoken, the others had no choice but to fall in line, though heavy doubt and skeptical glances lingered in the air as they set off into the night.
On the way toward the heart of the capital, the group traveled discreetly by a heavily curtained carriage.
The conversation inside was sparse, mostly consisting of Najenda trying skillfully to probe for information about Haruto and his mysterious companions.
Unfortunately for the seasoned leader, Mai, Saeko, and Ayame were bound by strict chat group rules; they couldn't divulge any information regarding the system, nor could they discuss the modern realities of their original worlds.
Whenever pressed by Najenda's inquiries, they simply deferred entirely to Haruto, letting him steer or dismiss the conversation as he pleased.
However, as the carriage rumbled onward, the dialogue shifted as the Night Raid members began sharing the grim realities of their homeland.
Tales of systemic corruption, arbitrary murders, rampant human trafficking, and even depraved, cannibalistic nobles filled the confined space of the carriage.
These unfiltered horrors were dark enough to make even someone as emotionally hardened and battle-ready as Saeko Busujima frown in genuine disgust.
Ayame Yomogawa sighed deeply, her expression heavy with sorrow as she looked out the small carriage window.
"An empire like this, which utterly disregards the lives and dignity of its own people, is already rotting from the inside. It is fundamentally destined for ruin."
Hearing those sharp, resolute words, the Night Raid members exchanged approving, respectful glances.
If the situation hadn't been so dire and time-sensitive, Leone and Najenda might have seriously considered trying to recruit the noble girl right then and there.
Meanwhile, Mai instinctively nestled closer into Haruto's arms, burying her face slightly against his shoulder as a shudder ran through her frame.
She was visibly disturbed and uncomfortable with the grotesque stories of cruelty.
As a girl who had lived an ordinary modern life—despite her recent supernatural encounters with pubrescence syndrome—she had never imagined human beings capable of such depraved atrocities.
Sensing her distress, Haruto gently wrapped his arms tighter around her, resting his chin on her head to offer a steady, comforting anchor against the darkness of the world outside.
"We're here," Lubbock called softly from the driver's seat of the carriage, gently pulling the reins to bring the vehicle to a quiet halt.
Rising up against the dark horizon in the distance, the formidable silhouette of the Imperial Capital loomed behind towering, reinforced walls.
Even in the dead of night, the sprawling city was heavily fortified and meticulously guarded, with extra patrols of soldiers stationed everywhere in preparation for tomorrow morning's high-profile public execution of the captured Night Raid member, Mine.
"So, are we just going to charge straight in through the front gates?" Leone asked, cracking her knuckles with an eager, combative grin.
"That's far too dangerous," Sheele immediately countered, adjusting her glasses with a gentle frown. "A stealthy infiltration approach would be much safer and more efficient."
"If it's stealth we need, let me sneak in first to scout and gather intelligence," Bulat offered, stepping forward.
His legendary Teigu, Incursio, possessed the unique ability to render its user completely invisible for short periods of time, making him the absolute ideal candidate for reconnaissance.
Incursio was a heavy armor-type Teigu forged from the remains of a terrifying, dragon-like Tyrant beast, renowned both for its impenetrable physical defense and its absolute camouflage capability.
Though Bulat's proposal sounded like a sound strategy, it was far from foolproof given the capital's high-level security.
"Stealth is indeed essential."
Najenda agreed, crossing her arms as she exhaled a puff of smoke.
"Don't forget, there are plenty of Imperial Teigu users stationed inside the city walls. One wrong move and we'll walk straight into a trap."
*****
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