Then she slowly walked to Sayo's side, one mechanical hand gripping the hilt of her sword as she stood motionless.
"Thank you, Master."
Sayo had originally planned to go with Yorii Tsugikuni.
But she had not expected Yorii Tsugikuni to have something to do. She was a little disappointed, but when she saw Adai standing firmly at her side, guarding her—
She quickly became happy again.
After reporting that the Revolutionary Army was connected to the Foreign Tribes—
The matter that had originally been handed over to the Security Force quickly returned to the assassination unit.
The ever-busy Security Force also returned to its usual normal state.
The next day.
Following his previous agreement with Seryu, Yorii Tsugikuni arrived at the orphanage he had visited before.
The orphans here were all children left behind by members of the Security Force who had died in the line of duty.
At first, Seryu's father had looked after this place, but after he passed away, it had been entrusted to Seryu.
"Brother Yorii is here!"
"Brother Yorii, why didn't Sister Seryu come?"
When they saw Yorii Tsugikuni appear at the orphanage entrance, the children who had been playing inside all ran over to him.
They circled around him.
"Seryu is a little busy."
Yorii Tsugikuni looked at the young, slightly dirty faces and did not show any disgust.
He thought of the expression Seryu usually wore when facing these children.
Then he forced out a smile.
"Is Brother Yorii feeling unwell somewhere?"
Seeing Yorii Tsugikuni's somewhat strange expression, a little girl widened her eyes curiously as she looked at him.
"I'm fine."
Hearing the little girl's words, Yorii Tsugikuni was somewhat taken aback.
But he quickly understood. In the end, he simply could not learn Seryu's exaggerated expressions.
Yorii Tsugikuni liked children. Their innocence made him feel at ease.
After handing out food to the children, Yorii Tsugikuni sat beside the playground where they usually played.
He quietly basked in the sun and watched the children play happily. On his cold face, it was as though ice had melted into water, rippling as a smile appeared.
"Meow!"
A black-and-white kitten leaped down from the tree behind Yorii Tsugikuni.
Then it crouched on a log beside him.
"You're here."
Yorii Tsugikuni did not turn around. He greeted her lightly.
His eyes remained on the children in the playground.
"I was just wandering around and came here to sit for a while."
Chelsea knew that she could not hide her transformation from Yorii Tsugikuni.
After learning that Yorii Tsugikuni was so powerful that he was nearly impossible to defeat, she no longer had any desire to disguise herself before him.
"About the Revolutionary Army cooperating with the Foreign Tribes."
"I only just found out."
Chelsea's voice was very quiet. The playing children did not notice at all that beside the playground—
A cat transformed from a human was talking with Yorii Tsugikuni.
"Maybe it's a secret of your organization."
Yorii Tsugikuni extended his hand, and the ball flying from afar landed in it.
With a gentle toss, the ball in his hand returned to the cluster of children.
"Thank you, Brother Yorii!"
"I'll tell Akame and the others about this."
Chelsea licked her paw. In the eyes of the children looking over from afar, she did not seem out of place at all.
Although Chelsea hated the Empire, she also disliked the Foreign Tribes.
The conflict between the Empire and the Foreign Tribes had continued for thousands of years.
The hatred between them had long been carved into the bones of every Imperial citizen.
After learning of this matter, Chelsea's feelings were somewhat complicated.
"Thank you for the books you sent."
Yorii Tsugikuni did not comment much on the matter.
Everyone had the right to make their own choices.
He had merely discovered the cooperation between the Foreign Tribes and the Revolutionary Army by chance.
As an outsider, Yorii Tsugikuni could actually view the matter more objectively.
He did not have emotions as complicated as Chelsea's.
"Meow!"
Chelsea left.
Even though she liked sitting in the playground and basking in the sun with Yorii Tsugikuni, carefree like this—
For an ordinary person like her, using an Imperial Arm for too long was more than her body could bear.
During the rare time to relax, Yorii Tsugikuni let his mind go blank.
Rarely did he stop thinking about anything at all. He simply basked in the sun and watched the children play soccer.
Evening came.
A few small crimson clouds drifted across the horizon.
"Children, I'm here to see you!"
Seryu and Koro entered from outside the orphanage.
Before she even arrived, her voice had already spread through the entire orphanage.
Hearing Seryu's voice, all the children swarmed toward her.
Yorii Tsugikuni personally saw several children run so hard that their old shoes came off, only for them to turn back midway to retrieve them.
It was clear that these children truly liked Seryu.
"Thank you for today."
"I'll treat you to ramen tonight."
After spending a while with the children—
Seryu and Yorii Tsugikuni slowly headed back.
Attack Incident, Esdeath's Challenge
At the ramen shop they often visited, Seryu ordered two bowls of ramen.
For Yorii Tsugikuni's bowl, she specifically told the owner to make vegetarian noodles.
"See you."
"Mm."
After they finished eating, the two parted ways at an intersection.
Since it was not far from his residence—
Yorii Tsugikuni soon arrived at the entrance of the alley where his estate stood.
"Master."
Tatsumi and Ieyasu had already been waiting in the alley.
Anger was written across both their faces.
"Sayo was almost hurt today."
"A swordsman attacked her, but Adai stopped him in the end."
Ieyasu tightly gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist.
Yorii Tsugikuni could clearly sense the anger in his voice.
"How is Sayo?"
After hearing Ieyasu's words, Yorii Tsugikuni's previously gentle expression turned cold.
His brows furrowed slightly.
"I'm fine, Master."
"That guy has already been sent to prison."
Sayo came out of the house with Adai. Aside from a slight scrape on her forehead, she had no other injuries.
"It's good that you're all right."
Yorii Tsugikuni carefully examined Sayo.
Only after seeing that Sayo was unharmed did some of his concern fade.
However, he decided to thoroughly investigate why that man had attacked Sayo.
Who could it be?
Yorii Tsugikuni frowned.
Speaking of which, their Security Force had arrested quite a lot of people recently.
If they were talking about people with grudges against them, there were actually quite a few.
Therefore, Yorii Tsugikuni could not determine who it was.
"Captain, something terrible has happened."
"Everyone in the prison has disappeared."
Just as Yorii Tsugikuni was pondering the matter, a Security Force member hurried in from outside.
His face was deathly pale, and he looked panicked.
"Disappeared?"
Yorii Tsugikuni looked doubtfully at the Security Force member who had come to report.
Without hesitating further, he led Sayo and the others, following the reporting Security Force member straight to the prison under the Security Force's jurisdiction to inspect the situation.
Before long, they arrived at the prison.
Unlike before, when it had been full of captured criminals, not a single person could be seen in the prison now.
"There isn't any damage. Even the locks are completely intact."
"The way these people vanished is far too strange."
Ieyasu inspected the prison's locks one by one.
Before you continue