Meanwhile, Takeru had casually washed off in the river, using his telekinesis to evaporate the moisture from his body, and then returned to his bedroom.
As his basic attributes continued to increase, Takeru's overall resistances kept strengthening. Things like heat and cold were areas where his resistance was exceptionally high. So, a little rain was nothing, and even winter swimming in snow wouldn't pose the slightest problem.
Back in his bedroom, Takeru pondered the day's events. Although he had arrived in time and the two hadn't faced a life-threatening danger, Sheele might have still been in trouble if he had been even slightly later.
All of this was because the Shadow Person's intelligence wasn't very high. Takeru's instruction was to act only when a life-threatening danger appeared. And after acting, it would only instinctively attack Koro, who was attacking Sheele. As long as Koro wasn't destroyed, the Shadow Person wouldn't take the next step.
Thinking of this, Takeru reminded himself that next time he gave instructions, they needed to be clearer and more specific.
Change it to act when danger appears? That didn't seem great either, as often the others could resolve dangers themselves. Takeru also didn't want the Shadow Person to appear too frequently in front of outsiders.
Perhaps it could be changed to when someone is about to suffer a serious or fatal injury.
Just as Takeru was thinking, the door to his room opened. It was Leone.
"Leone, is something the matter?" Looking at Leone, Takeru asked curiously.
"Eh, Takeru, you're not resting yet?" Seeing Takeru sitting on the bed, Leone was also taken aback.
Hearing Leone's words, Takeru felt a bit helpless, 'So, you came over thinking I was already asleep...'
"I was thinking about some things." But Takeru didn't call her out on it, just said softly.
"Is that so? You're not hurt, are you? You just helped so many people, rested for a bit, and then rushed off to Mine and Sheele's side!" Leone said with concern.
"Don't worry, I know my own limits and won't push myself recklessly." Hearing her words, Takeru replied with a smile.
"That's good. By the way, Takeru, how did you know Mine and Sheele were in danger, and even know their location?" Hearing Takeru's reply, Leone directly ran over to Takeru's side, sat down next to him, and continued asking.
"It's another ability of mine." Hearing her question, Takeru answered directly.
"I see." Hearing that Takeru didn't seem inclined to elaborate, the understanding Leone stopped pressing. Regardless, it was Takeru who saved Mine and Sheele today, and that was enough.
As Leone stopped asking, the room fell quiet. Takeru glanced at Leone, who didn't seem to be planning to leave, then simply lay down, closed his eyes, and began to meditate.
Seeing Takeru like this, Leone also showed a smile, lay down as well, hugged Takeru, and drifted off to sleep.
From the very first night Takeru arrived, Leone had discovered that sleeping while hugging Takeru felt incredibly solid and secure, a kind of indescribable sense of safety.
As an assassin, she didn't know whether to be happy or worried about this. She was very attached to this feeling, but if it continued long-term, a problem might arise: her perception of danger could diminish, which was a very dangerous thing.
That's why she only came to Takeru's room occasionally… she was afraid of having her sense of crisis worn away...
Soon, time passed until the next day. When sunlight shone into the room, Takeru woke up right on time.
Looking at Leone, who had most of her body pressed onto him, Takeru was somewhat accustomed to it. He casually pinched her cheek, and soon she woke up too.
"Hmm, is it morning already? Good morning, Takeru!" Noticing the sky was already somewhat bright, Leone said lightly.
"Good morning. You can let go of me now." Hearing her words, Takeru said with implied meaning.
"Hehe, it's just that sleeping while hugging you is too comfortable!" Hearing Takeru's words, Leone showed no panic at all, speaking with a cutesy, cheerful smile.
Takeru rolled his eyes. But after she got up, Takeru quickly sat up as well. After she left, he swiftly changed his clothes and left the room.
After some morning exercise, when the time was about right, Akame appeared before Takeru on schedule, pulling him along to help everyone make breakfast.
"Hmm, Akame, isn't the amount of ingredients today a bit too much?" Looking at the large quantity of food, especially the meat, that Akame had brought out in the kitchen.
"Mm. Sheele and Mine are both injured, so we need to give them a good supplement today." Hearing Takeru's words, Akame stated matter-of-factly.
Hearing her words, Takeru smiled but didn't point out the truth. While it was said to be for supplementing Sheele and Mine, their appetites were only so big. Even for nutritional supplements, they couldn't eat that much. So, in the end, most of it would be devoured by Akame's bottomless stomach.
Afterwards, a sumptuous breakfast was prepared, and everyone quickly gathered.
Takeru noticed Mine's gaze towards him had changed somewhat, and she would sneak glances at him occasionally. When Takeru made eye contact, she would guiltily turn her head away.
Then, everyone quickly finished breakfast. After that, Najenda asked about Sheele and Mine's physical conditions. Both stated they were fine, and only then did everyone feel relieved.
Afterwards, Najenda quickly inquired about Sheele and Mine's mission and how they had encountered danger.
Hearing Najenda's words, the two didn't hide anything and quickly recounted the course of events.
After hearing it, Najenda stared blankly at the sleeping Hekatonkheires over there, never imagining this guy had almost taken out her comrades.
But for now, she planned to keep it first and send it to the Revolutionary Army's headquarters next time… it should prove quite useful.
...
As time passed, three days quickly went by again. During these three days, nothing major happened on Night Raid's side, but the outside world saw many incidents.
And now, Najenda had gathered the Night Raid's members for a meeting.
"Everyone's here, right? I have some bad news! Esdeath has successfully suppressed the north and returned to the capital. Leone, you go to the capital to investigate Esdeath's movements." Najenda said, also assigning a task to Leone.
"Understood. I'm very interested to see what kind of person she is!" Hearing Najenda's words, Leone said with full enthusiasm.
"She is a dangerous individual with a fondness for slaughter. Proceed with caution." Hearing Leone's words, Najenda said seriously.
"Got it, got it." Hearing Najenda's words, Leone waved her hand dismissively, while thinking to herself that if the opportunity arose, killing her wouldn't be a problem either.
Seeing the smile on her face, Takeru frowned. Although Leone wasn't weak, compared to Esdeath, she was absolutely no match. If they fought, Leone likely wouldn't even have a chance to escape.
Thinking of this, Takeru decided to give her a proper warning later.
"And, coinciding with Esdeath's return, a series of incidents involving the assassination of officials has occurred within the capital. The victims include four officials and a total of 61 of their guards. The problem is this flyer bearing [Night Raid] was left at the murder scenes." Najenda, not noticing Leone's heightened fighting spirit, continued directly with the situation.
"They're trying to frame us!" Seeing the flyer, Bulat frowned and said.
"The crime declaration looks deliberately done. People shouldn't believe it, right?" Lubbock also asked curiously.
"At first, people thought so. But now it's been determined that we did it." Hearing Lubbock's words, Najenda sighed.
"Why?" Hearing this, Mine was also stunned.
"All the victims were accompanied by first-class guards. Ordinary rebels would only face a counterattack." Najenda stated directly.
"In other words, the attacker specifically chose targets that appeared stronger to assault. The only ones capable of such a thing are..."
"People with strength comparable to ours." Naturally, everyone wasn't foolish and quickly understood why people would conclude it was Night Raid's work.
"Correct. It should be Teigu users. Judging them to be Esdeath's subordinates shouldn't be wrong." Najenda continued.