Friends? / Something's Wrong Here

Come to think of it, weren't we talking about my amnesia? Why was I thinking so much? My inner monologue was getting a little too intense.

Koizumi silently sighed to himself, looking at Sayo and Ieyasu before glancing at Aerya.

"Sorry for causing you trouble. I really have lost all memory of yesterday. At least, I don't remember any of the things Miss Aerya said I mentioned. My last memory is of living out in the wilderness with my friends."

Koizumi would never mention that the Imperial Guard had smashed up his shop. Only an idiot would bring that up!

If he told them that he had provoked the Imperial Guard, there were two possible outcomes.

One was that Miss Aerya would immediately report him to the Imperial Guard. Then he would have to fight them again, and he might even draw that general from before. That would be a complete disaster!

The second was that Aerya would be kind-hearted enough to believe the Imperial Guard had wronged him, then take him to turn himself in. And turning himself in came with several possible outcomes as well.

The most likely outcome, anyway, was that he would be arrested by that guy named Ouka, then used to lure Reimu and Hata no Kokoro out. So no matter what, he could not reveal what had happened between him and the Imperial Guard.

But then again, weren't there wanted posters for him, Reimu, and Hata no Kokoro in the capital?

The question arose in Koizumi's mind. They had caused enough of a disturbance to alarm important figures in the Empire. It was strange that there were no wanted posters.

But if there were wanted posters, why hadn't Aerya arrested him? Had it simply been too soon for her to know? In any case, Koizumi felt it was necessary to take a look around the capital.

Aerya was very concerned about Koizumi's amnesia, but since he had said there was no need to call a doctor, she could not make the decision on her own. She could only keep it to herself.

But if Koizumi's condition got worse, she would have to call a doctor!

Koizumi took the initiative to suggest going out for a walk. Perhaps wandering around the capital would help him remember something.

Aerya nodded. Ieyasu and Sayo were going to enlist anyway, so she could accompany them there.

Aerya's family was nobility, after all, and had quite extensive connections. It would be no problem at all to make an exception and get Ieyasu and Sayo into the army.

Besides, Aerya had used that very reason to bring them back before. Since she had said it, she had to keep her promise.

Koizumi followed Aerya, Ieyasu, and Sayo to the enlistment office.

At first, Koizumi had been somewhat nervous. After all, he had caused a huge scene in the capital before. Honestly, if someone recognized him, things would get bad. If the Imperial Guard showed up, that would be even worse.

What worried Koizumi even more was the possibility that Seryu might be leading the squad. That would put his friend in an awkward position again.

And he had no idea how Seryu was doing. That Ouka was obviously no good person. When they had dealt with Koizumi, Reimu, and Hata no Kokoro before, Seryu had hesitated slightly when faced with Ouka's orders. If Ouka punished her because of that, Koizumi would feel awful. But Seryu had said Ouka was her master, so probably not.

Then again, Seryu's twisted sense of justice was probably related to Ouka as well.

Hopefully, the next time he met Seryu, she would still be normal.

If she had already fallen completely into that twisted sense of justice and could not pull herself free, Koizumi truly would not know what to do.

After all, she had been his friend in the past.

Getting back on track, Koizumi seemed to have worried too much. No one recognized him along the way.

And to Koizumi's surprise, there were no wanted posters of him on the streets. Instead, there were wanted posters for a girl named Akame. Come to think of it, had this poster been here before?

A wanted poster for someone from Night Raid?

No!

For one thing, Night Raid was not written on it. And according to Seryu, the wanted posters for those Night Raid people were put up in some alleyways, supposedly so they would not interfere with the residents' businesses.

After all, if a wanted poster for an assassin organization was pasted on the wall behind a vendor's stall, it just felt somewhat unlucky.

But then again, why did the atmosphere among the people on the streets feel so strange?

Friends?

Akame had been moving toward the capital the entire time, without eating breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Akame was a foodie, an unquestionable foodie, just like her younger sister Kurome.

Kurome liked sweets. Of course, if there was other delicious food, Kurome would not hold back either. But among all foods, sweets were Kurome's favorite, while Akame preferred meat.

That was right. She was an unquestionable carnivore, and a foodie with an extraordinary craving for meat.

Yet this foodie had ignored her body's needs and raced madly toward the capital.

Well, that alone was enough to show her determination. As expected, someone without strong willpower could not become an assassin.

And Akame was absolutely an elite among assassins. It could even be said that using her as an assassin was somewhat of a waste.

Suddenly, warning bells rang in Akame's heart. The next moment, a flash of cold light came flying at her with the sound of tearing air.

With a fierce step forward from her rear foot, Akame forcibly stopped herself and drew the Shingu at her waist—Kiriichimonji... Until she knew whether her opponent was someone she knew, she should not use the Imperial Arm Murasame.

Then, a familiar face entered Akame's sight, and complicated emotions immediately surged through her heart.

She knew this person too. Both her current self and her past self knew her.

"Myako... The Empire hired the Oberg Assassination Guild to deal with me?"

Akame could not help clenching her teeth. She glanced at Murasame at her waist, shook her head, and continued to face her opponent.

"Akame... Though we were friends in the past, you betrayed the Empire! You must die!"

Myako's gaze sharpened. She did not waver just because the person before her was her friend. The sword in her hand spun in a flourish before slashing toward Akame without hesitation.

That was right, Myako had been her friend... No, more precisely, she had been Cornelia's friend, so she was her friend as well.

The Akame of the past had been a member of the Imperial Assassination Squad. The Empire, which had long unified the world, often hired the Oberg Assassination Guild to cooperate with the Imperial Assassination Squad in order to purge internal corruption. That was how Cornelia and Myako had met.

Later, Myako had been introduced by Cornelia to Akame, Tsukushi, Pony, and the others. Their relationship had been close.

Of course, Myako and Cornelia had been the closest, which had made the Akame of the past slightly envious.

But everyone had their closest friend. Akame's closest friend in the past had undoubtedly been Tsukushi.

What a pity. Akame and Tsukushi had now completely fallen out. That so-called closeness was already a thing of the past.

Facing the sword light coming at her, Akame appeared completely at ease. Myako's talent was no weaker than hers, but Akame was undoubtedly using cheats right now. How could she possibly lose?

Between an assassin who had trained for an entire lifetime and an assassin in her teens, given equal talent, the former was undoubtedly stronger. Naturally, Akame would not lose to Myako. But since Myako was her friend, there was no need to fight to the death. She only needed to find the right chance to slip away, and that was not difficult for Akame.

She had killed Guy and Grimm before because she had no choice. If possible, Akame did not want to kill her friends either.

Though she was enveloped in sword light and appeared as if she could be chopped into pieces at any moment, Akame remained perfectly composed. It could even be said that Myako's sword did not so much as touch the corner of Akame's clothes.

Facing Akame, Myako's heart trembled for no reason.

How was this possible? Though this was their first exchange, she had trained under her master since childhood. How could there be such a huge gap between her and Akame? She had heard Cornelia say before that Akame was one of the strongest members of the squad, but she had never imagined Akame was this strong!

"You're not my opponent, Myako. Leave now. I don't want to hurt you!"

Akame continued trying to persuade her, and the Kiriichimonji in her hand did not touch Myako even once.

Each time, Akame merely knocked aside Myako's attacks without hurting her. Akame had gone incredibly easy on her!

"You can leave, but you must surrender and come with me to the capital!"

"..." Akame remained silent. Asking her to surrender? Forget it!

Myako knew she could not persuade Akame, so she could only defeat her. But...

She had misjudged Akame's strength... Myako gave a bitter smile to herself and could only place her hopes on the companions who were about to catch up.

But just then—

A longsword suddenly knocked Myako's weapon aside, and a figure in a black cloak abruptly entered the battlefield.

Seeing the face beneath that black cloak, Akame immediately revealed an expression of shock and joy.

"Tatsumi!"

At the entrance of the enlistment office, Koizumi stood silently waiting. This was where people came to enlist in the army. Koizumi had no intention of going inside, since it was Ieyasu and Sayo who were joining the army, not him.

As for Aerya, she needed to go in. After all, her family was recommending Ieyasu and Sayo for the army.

Standing quietly at the entrance, Koizumi found himself quite bored. Other than being blown by the cold wind, there was only more cold wind.

But then again, why had no one noticed him after he entered the capital?

Could the capital's security really be this lax...? No way. This Empire could not be this pathetic.

He had caused a huge scene in the capital before, yet the security had been lax enough to let him enter the capital again...

Forget it. Koizumi did not know what to say anymore.

Suddenly, Koizumi seemed to see something, and his gaze shifted toward a crowded area not far from the enlistment office.

For some reason, people were packed together there, as if they were watching a show.

And for some reason, Koizumi could feel angry emotions coming from that direction.

...It should be Hata no Kokoro's power. Since he could use the young lady's power, he should be able to use Hata no Kokoro's power too. It was because of the contract. Hata no Kokoro was a tsukumogami who controlled emotions and could manipulate the feelings of those around her. Koizumi could not do it to her extent, but he could sense the emotions of nearby people.

Slowly, Koizumi walked over to investigate. He saw a group of people surrounding a black-haired, black-eyed girl and throwing stones at her. Though the girl held a weapon in her hands, she had no intention of resisting. Her pitiful appearance made one's heart ache.

The girl before him felt familiar somehow. Combined with the wanted poster on the wall for a girl named Akame, and the resemblance between this girl and the girl on the poster, Koizumi instinctively called out a name.

"Kurome!"

There's Something Wrong Here

"Kurome!"

Though he still did not know her, Koizumi could instinctively call out that name.

It seemed he had truly lost some memories. If he had merely suspected it at first, now he was unquestionably certain. Otherwise, he could not have called the name of someone he did not know so naturally.

But then again, he had already lost his past memories, and now he had lost another portion of them. How tragic. Could his life only be spent constantly losing his memories?

Thinking of this, bitterness welled up in Koizumi's heart. Anyone would feel that way after going through something like this.

Fortunately, Koizumi was open-minded. If it had been an ordinary person, they probably would have already done something foolish out of despair.

That could be considered proof of Koizumi's strong will. Then again, someone capable of resisting a vampire's will would not have a weak will of his own. He would not easily seek death or anything like that.

"Koizumi!"

At that moment, Kurome's eyes also spotted Koizumi, and intense joy immediately filled them.

She had thought they might never see each other again, but she had not expected to meet him here.

And every time they met, it was when she was being hurt. Could it be...

"Mm..." Though she was still in danger, a deep blush appeared on Kurome's face.

Though he did not know what was going on, Koizumi was certain that this girl had misunderstood something.

But now was not the time for that. Since this Kurome knew him, that meant they must have known each other before. And judging from her expression, their relationship was probably quite good. Even if she were a stranger, though, Koizumi would not stand by and watch a little girl get bullied by a crowd. He roughly understood why they were doing it.

Glancing at the wanted poster on the wall, Koizumi felt puzzled.

What was going on? It felt like the people of the capital had suddenly become extremely fanatical about the Empire.

She was only related to the wanted criminal on the poster. They might not even be related at all; they merely looked alike. Yet these people were bullying her like this, and no one was stopping them. Where the hell had the Imperial Guard gone?

But then again, he was also someone opposing the Empire, yet no one had recognized him...

"Run! Koizumi, don't mind me!" As if remembering something, Kurome's expression suddenly changed.

But before Koizumi could react, one resident of the capital after another surrounded him.

"..." Koizumi's expression darkened. A faint blood-red glow flickered around his hands. If they dared to attack, he would fight back. Koizumi was no longer someone who would let others bully him as they pleased.

"Is this guy trying to protect the family of a traitor?"

"What a damned bastard..."

"Yeah, anyone who opposes the great Empire deserves to die..."

"There's no need for the Imperial Guard to act. Let's kill them ourselves..."

Just hearing those words made Koizumi mutter inwardly. These people were far too fanatical about the Empire...

Why had he not noticed this problem back when he had been doing business in the Empire? If the Empire's people were all like this, where would the Revolutionary Army come from? Where would Night Raid come from?

"Have these people gone insane?" Koizumi felt utterly speechless. There was simply no reasoning with fanatics.

The surrounding civilians each picked up clubs or hoes. In short, they grabbed anything that could be used to hit someone.

Hey, hey, hey! This was discrimination! Why were they only throwing stones at Kurome, but bringing weapons against him? He knew to be gentle with girls, but this was not how it worked! Koizumi was already starting to panic inwardly!

Kurome's pupils suddenly shrank, and she hurriedly rushed over to stand in front of Koizumi. Though her body was still trembling, Kurome stood firmly before him, making the civilians who wanted to swing their weapons hesitate.

"Hey, hey, hey! Kurome, isn't this discrimination..." Koizumi could not help complaining into Kurome's ear.