Martial Contest

Lilith was in no hurry. The ones who should have been anxious were the Rebel Army.

As long as Esdeath and Budo, the Empire's two strongest generals in the open, were still alive,

the Imperial Capital would be impregnable. Besides, the Imperial Capital still concealed the Supreme Throne Teigu. The minister had never considered the possibility of losing.

But compared to that, what worried the minister more was how much money he would lose.

Could he still squeeze it back out of those lowlifes?

Whenever he thought about it, the minister felt that he had suffered a loss—a considerable one at that!

The more the minister lost, the angrier he became. The angrier he became, the more he ate, and recently, his figure had grown a little rounder.

Esdeath guessed that Night Raid would soon make a move. To probe Night Raid's reaction, she held a martial contest.

The champion's prize was a Teigu.

That Teigu was Myriad Evils: Destruction, seized from the Night Raid member Seryu had killed.

It was an exceptionally sharp pair of scissors, taller than Lilith even when standing upright.

Esdeath had mocked her over that more than once. Lilith appeared unconcerned, but she had long since written it down in her little notebook.

True to its name, those sharp scissors could cut through anything they could produce, aside from Teigu.

If they had not feared damaging the Teigu, they would have used Teigu to test it as well.

When word spread that the contest had been established by General Esdeath, countless people from across the Imperial Capital rushed over.

All to enter Esdeath's service.

After all, Esdeath's care for her subordinates was known throughout the entire Empire.

Joining Esdeath's ranks was one of the few good paths left in the Empire today.

Especially for those who believed they had some skill.

Liva presided over the contest, while the referee was the young girl Seryu.

There was no helping it. No one else was suitable.

Since she had expectations, Esdeath attended in person.

Yet the result disappointed her. None of these people made her eyes light up.

"Ah-ha~" Esdeath yawned. "I should have listened to Lilith and stayed home."

"Lady Esdeath, if you are tired, leave the rest to me. Please go and rest first."

The moment Liva saw Esdeath yawn, he immediately bowed.

"No need. It has only just begun. Perhaps the next one will be talented?"

And the result was that Esdeath was disappointed yet again.

Because Lilith and the Three Beasts had seen Tatsumi's face, and his portrait was now plastered all over the Imperial Capital, he naturally could not participate in this contest. Esdeath would not find her love through this opportunity either.

While Esdeath watched the contest in boredom, Lilith wandered through the Imperial Capital.

She did not have many chances to visit the Imperial Capital. Even when she did come, there was not much worth seeing outside because of this era.

Rather than waste time on that, she might as well stay home and properly develop ways to use her Teigu.

Esdeath had invited Lilith to watch the contest with her that morning, but Lilith found it boring and declined.

Still, Lilith felt that if she stayed home for too long, she might start smelling musty, so she came outside to get some sun.

This time, Lilith was not wearing her military uniform. She wore the white dress she had been wearing when she crossed over. Over it, she had also put on a loose white cloak.

With the hood pulled up, Lilith was not as conspicuous.

But even so, Lilith walking alone down the street still drew some people's attention.

Though they could not see her appearance beneath the cloak, their professional instincts told them that this person was definitely a woman—and a beautiful young woman at that!

What profession, you asked?

To put it plainly, they were human traffickers.

As for why they had set their sights on Lilith, it was because she walked the streets alone and mysteriously, looking as though she were inviting them to capture her.

Lilith naturally noticed those ill-intentioned gazes.

That naked malice instantly ruined Lilith's good mood.

"Although I do not like meaningless killing... since you have shown hostility toward me, that means you are ready to accept death, does it not?"

Since they had already shown her hostility, Lilith naturally would not let them off!

Lilith considered herself rather generous, but not generous enough to spare people who showed her malice.

Beneath her hood, Lilith curled her lips into a dangerous smile.

Unfortunately, no one saw that beautiful sight.

So, Lilith followed their wishes, wandering about aimlessly before walking into a dark alley as though she had gotten lost.

Lilith stopped because two burly men approached from ahead.

Two more burly men blocked the way behind Lilith.

Although the Imperial Capital was the most prosperous place in the entire country,

and although other places had been affected by war, the Imperial Capital remained as it had always been.

However, the Imperial Capital also had something it would never lack, just like any other city—the slums!

Just as the name implied, it was where the poor lived. Nearly everyone there worried about their next meal.

Besides the poor, the slums were also the filthiest place in the entire Imperial Capital.

Gangs, assassins, and organizations supported by the wealthy districts all gathered in this tiny slum.

The people before Lilith were human traffickers raised by one of the slum's gangs.

They often picked targets on the streets and abducted them. As for where those people were taken, that was not something they could know.

"Little girl, how did you end up here? Are you lost? Come, follow uncle. Uncle will take you home. Hehehe."

As he spoke, the man began to chuckle obscenely.

"...I am curious. How did you know I was a woman?"

The moment Lilith spoke, the alley fell silent.

They had not expected Lilith's voice to be so pleasant. It made their bones go soft.

"Hehehe, we did not know before. Now we do."

The men closed in on Lilith. They no longer intended to play around. Lilith's voice had made them curious about her appearance.

And they admitted that certain parts of them had stirred.

All because of Lilith's single sentence.

Lilith frowned. Even without a mind-reading ability, she could tell from their laughter what disgusting thoughts they harbored.

Lilith raised her head, and the two men standing before her finally saw her face.

Then, they froze.

Lilith turned around, and the other two men who saw her face froze as well.

Then, they died.