"This is my Imperial Arm."
"It doesn't have a name yet."
Looking at the warmly decorated residence the three had arranged, Yorii Tsugikuni smiled faintly.
"It looks so dazed and silly. Let's just call it Adai."
Ieyasu picked up the little mechanical figure from the ground and carefully examined some of the parts on its body.
"Adai, Adai."
Hearing Ieyasu's words, the mechanical figure in his hands made a mechanical sound.
This nearly frightened Ieyasu into throwing the little mechanical figure away.
"Then Adai it is."
Unable to think of a better name for the moment, Yorii Tsugikuni followed Ieyasu's suggestion.
He named the mechanical figure Adai.
Since he had already eaten earlier,
Yorii Tsugikuni returned to his room quite early.
He casually picked up a book and began reading.
This had become Yorii Tsugikuni's new hobby after arriving in this unfamiliar place.
He wanted to find clues about his hometown in these books.
Click, click, click, click...
Adai sat on the floor beside Yorii Tsugikuni, its square head slowly turning as its emerald eyes emitted a faint green glow.
Before long, Adai, who had been sitting on the floor, walked toward the bookshelf.
Its arm suddenly extended, taking a book from the shelf.
Sitting down beside Yorii Tsugikuni, Adai began reading as well.
Even the frequency with which it turned pages matched Yorii Tsugikuni's.
Yorii Tsugikuni did not pay much attention to his Imperial Arm's behavior.
He was intently focused on the book in his hands.
"What is this?"
As he turned the pages, Yorii Tsugikuni discovered a sheet of paper covered in writing hidden within the book's inner lining.
"Mr. Yorii Tsugikuni, we of Night Raid... the reason we killed Oka last time..."
As Yorii Tsugikuni continued reading, he came to understand the general contents of the letter.
It was a letter from Night Raid.
In the letter, Night Raid spoke of two matters.
One was why they had killed Oka last time, while the other was their attitude toward Yorii Tsugikuni.
'Colluding with oil merchant Meyla, conspiring to murder...'
Although Yorii Tsugikuni had already sensed from certain outward signs that Oka might not have been as impartial and incorruptible as he appeared,
he was still somewhat shocked after reading the letter delivered by Night Raid about Oka's deeds.
It could be said that Oka had deceived many people.
Sayo was one of them.
However, Yorii Tsugikuni did not completely believe what Night Raid had said. After all, there were many things he still needed to verify.
Now that he was the captain of the Imperial Guard, investigating such matters would not be difficult.
The next day.
Imperial Guard training grounds.
More than four hundred active Imperial Guard members had all been gathered on the training grounds without exception.
"Starting today, everyone must participate in morning training."
Facing the hundreds of Imperial Guard members before her, Sayo's voice carried across the entire grounds.
This was a decision she had made after discussing it with Yorii Tsugikuni.
The previous Security Force had simply been far too lax.
No one present dared to voice any objection to this decision.
After all, more than fifty Security Force members had already been dismissed when they arrived that morning.
Although working for the Security Force was extremely dangerous, compared to other jobs in the Imperial Capital,
it was still considered fairly good.
"We'll begin too."
After arranging the training for the ordinary Security Force members, morning training began for Sayo, Tatsumi, and the others as well.
Compared to those ordinary members, the intensity of their training was undoubtedly much greater.
Compared to when they had first begun, all of them had improved considerably.
Just as Yorii Tsugikuni had expected at the start, Sayo was the first to master Water Breathing.
Tatsumi came second, Ieyasu third, and Sayo, who had joined later, had made some progress as well.
Crack!
To synchronize Breathing Techniques with the release of their strength,
Yorii Tsugikuni chose a simple training method for everyone: swinging a sword.
However, swinging a sword here was not as simple as merely swinging the sword in one's hand.
It meant focusing one's essence, energy, and spirit into a single point, then using the Breathing Techniques to strike with full force.
Though it looked simple, it was actually extremely difficult.
As usual, Yorii Tsugikuni first demonstrated it for everyone.
Holding a wooden sword, he gave his right hand a slight shake. The upright log before him was suddenly split apart.
Yorii Tsugikuni moved so quickly that, in everyone's eyes, it seemed as though he had not moved at all.
"What a fast sword."
"It truly lives up to its reputation."
A voice of admiration came from nearby. Yorii Tsugikuni turned his head, and upon seeing the newcomer, he froze for a moment.
It was a young girl, but she looked almost exactly like the girl from Night Raid named Akame.
However, Yorii Tsugikuni quickly found the differences between the girl before him and Akame. Aside from their clothes and weapons, the colors of their eyes were also different.
"Why are you here, Kurome?"
Sayo stopped swinging her sword. Although she had not worked with Kurome much,
both served the Empire, and the Imperial Guard had not had little contact with the assassination unit.
Many times, their Security Force had to cooperate with the assassination unit in gathering intelligence.
"I came to deliver some documents."
"You must be Captain Yorii Tsugikuni. You're much more handsome than the rumors said."
Kurome looked Yorii Tsugikuni over. He held a wooden sword and appeared somewhat cold and withdrawn. She gave him a playful smile.
As a member of the Empire's assassination unit, she had naturally learned at once that Yorii Tsugikuni had repelled Night Raid.
Normally, a core member like her would not have needed to personally handle the delivery of documents. But out of curiosity, she wanted to see what the person who had even made her sister suffer a setback was like.
"You look very much like someone I've met..."
Yorii Tsugikuni accepted the documents Kurome handed over, a few suspicions forming in his mind.
"Akame is my older sister."
Kurome did not avoid the subject and directly told Yorii Tsugikuni about her relationship with Akame.
Because she and her sister held different beliefs, one now served the Empire while the other served the Revolutionary Army.
They stood on completely opposing sides.
"I hope we'll have a chance to work together."
"I'll be leaving now."
Kurome did not linger. After delivering the documents, she quickly departed.
You should thank this guy.
Walking down the street, Kurome recalled her sister's sorry state before Yorii Tsugikuni. Finding it amusing, a smile curled across her lips.
Is this about the Revolutionary Army?
As captain of the Security Force, the biggest difference from when Yorii Tsugikuni had been an ordinary member
was that he could access far more information.
Opening what Kurome had brought, Yorii Tsugikuni quickly finished reading the contents of the documents.
It described how members of the Revolutionary Army were recruiting people in the slums.
However, this was not the main point.
The documents sent by the assassination unit wanted the Security Force to reduce patrols around the slums.
This would make it easier for the Empire's assassination unit to capture more Revolutionary Army members in the upcoming operation.
Of course, the documents did not say much. There were not even the slightest details, making it clear that the assassination unit was keeping this operation highly confidential.
"Keep practicing."
Handing the documents to Sayo beside him, Yorii Tsugikuni continued instructing everyone.
Though the documents revealed little, the fact that the Revolutionary Army could recruit members in a place like the Imperial Capital
was enough to show that the Empire was indeed in a precarious state.
Its ability to imitate is truly impressive.
Watching Adai, the little mechanical figure standing behind Tatsumi, swing the wooden sword in its mechanical hand,
Yorii Tsugikuni nodded slightly.
Though it was its first time swinging a sword, the little machine could basically reproduce half of his earlier movements.
It was even much better than Ieyasu.
Although he did not know how strong the little mechanical figure would be in battle, Yorii Tsugikuni had a feeling that it would likely be much stronger than Ieyasu.
In truth, what Yorii Tsugikuni valued most about this Imperial Arm was that it was a paired Imperial Arm.
It could split off a portion of itself to be used for tracking.
However, Yorii Tsugikuni would need to slowly explore exactly how to use this tracking ability.
As for battle... he trusted his own strength more.
He did not like relying on external objects.
Before you continue