Conversation / The Imperial Capital's True Evil (Part 1) ...

"Heh heh... Mr. Koizumi, you should be more worried about yourself. I'm the captain of the Imperial Guard now. You're a wanted criminal, aren't you? Why did you suddenly appear in front of the Imperial Guard's captain?"

If the person before her had been a complete stranger, Seryu would have acted without hesitation.

But Seryu knew very well that Koizumi was not an evil person. He was also her friend.

Compared to the Empire's wanted notice, Seryu trusted the judgment of her own heart and eyes more.

Besides, she had already gone against her heart once because of her master's orders, and the result had been regret. General Bude had also said that her master was an evil person and punished him accordingly. In other words, Koizumi had actually been framed by her master.

Although she had told General Bude that Koizumi might have been framed, General Bude said that Koizumi had caused trouble in the Imperial Capital and even attacked him, a general. That alone was enough reason to arrest him.

In short, there was only one word—arrest!

Seryu always felt that General Bude was unusually insistent on capturing Koizumi and the other two. No matter what, he would not allow any objections, which left Seryu deeply puzzled.

Still, that was General Bude's way of doing things. She had her own way.

Seryu had already regretted something once. No matter what, she could not do the same thing again.

Dialogue

To be honest, Koizumi had imagined what it would be like if he met Seryu again.

He had imagined them fighting the moment they met, or cutting all ties with each other. But he truly had not expected her to tease him like this. After all, Koizumi believed that he had wronged Seryu somewhat this time.

Although Seryu had led a team to his shop and caused all this, her intentions had been good. And if she had not made such a fuss, Koizumi might still have been running his business, unaware that there were two Servants in Night Raid. He might even have accidentally been recruited by the Empire, making him enemies with Hundred Personas and Serenity now.

That possibility was not impossible, after all. Hundred Personas and Serenity were both with Night Raid.

And since the Empire was Night Raid's enemy, Koizumi would have become Night Raid's enemy as well. That would have been a real headache for him.

So, at least turning out like this was not necessarily a bad thing. Strictly speaking, Koizumi ought to thank Seryu.

And because of Seryu's commotion, he had fought Ouka and gained his own power.

If he had not fought Ouka, Koizumi had no idea when he would have gained power.

After hearing Seryu's words, Koizumi merely smiled faintly, a flicker of surprise passing through his eyes.

It seemed Seryu had not started treating him like an enemy because of that so-called wanted notice.

He was already grateful that she could maintain this attitude. Koizumi could not accept the thought of fighting his former friend to the death. If they truly fought, he would only be too restrained.

Reimu and Hata no Kokoro would probably find it difficult to kill Seryu as well. At most, they would knock her unconscious and never see her again.

"It looks like you don't intend to arrest me. Otherwise... Koro would have made a move already, right?"

As he spoke, Koizumi cast a wary glance at Koro, who looked like a pet dog.

In reality, Koro was an Imperial Arm like Susanoo. Koizumi did not want to fight an Imperial Arm that could continually regenerate. It was simply too troublesome. Of course, a large-scale barrage attack could probably take care of it.

Reimu had exchanged a few blows with Koro before. She could originally have killed Koro in one go with a barrage attack.

But because Koro was Seryu's Imperial Arm, and there were civilians and houses all around them, Reimu's barrage attacks had been restricted. No matter what, she could not leave the Imperial Capital covered in craters...

Seryu glanced at Koro beside her, then smiled faintly and slowly walked over to Koizumi.

Her eyes were filled with firm determination, as though something had changed. Koizumi did not know what it was, but he could be certain that the determination in her eyes had something to do with him. As for what exactly it was, he truly had no idea.

"It's simple. I don't know why General Bude insists on capturing you, Mr. Koizumi, but Seryu's justice detector tells me that you, Miss Reimu, and Miss Hata no Kokoro are not evil people. General Bude probably wants to capture you for some other reason. After all, without solid evidence, it cannot be proven that you are evil!" Seryu wore a confident smile. In her view, the reason Koizumi, Reimu, and Hata no Kokoro had caused trouble in the Imperial Capital was because of her evil master, not because the three of them were evil.

And Miss Reimu had attacked General Bude only to escape from the Imperial Capital. If they had not escaped at the time, Mr. Koizumi and the others would have been thrown into prison because of Captain Ouka's framing. General Bude would then have had no reason to interfere in the Imperial Guard's affairs, and Captain Ouka's evil would never have been exposed. The three of them would have been the ones in trouble.

Well, Seryu was something of a logical genius too, but Koizumi found it strange after hearing that.

Why was General Bude so concerned about the three of them? That really was strange.

Then he recalled what Reimu had said earlier. Budou carried a faint aura of a Servant, yet Budou was clearly human. A human giving off the faint aura of a Servant was indeed bizarre.

Could it be understood this way? This Imperial Capital really did contain something twisted, and Budou wanted to protect that distortion from being repaired. That was why he opposed Koizumi and the other two. Once he recognized Reimu as a Servant, he had no intention of letting her go, so he wanted to capture Reimu along with Koizumi and Hata no Kokoro?

Huh!? That reason actually sounded damn convincing!

At least, Koizumi thought it was plausible. It could explain why General Bude cared so much about him.

Of course, it was also possible that Budou simply had nothing better to do and considered Koizumi a threat to the Empire, which was why he wanted to do this. But that possibility seemed rather low. After all, anyone who learned of such a powerful combatant would want to recruit him.

It was also possible that General Bude was simply stupid and rigid, believing imperial authority could not be violated, so he wanted to kill Koizumi and the others to uphold the Emperor's prestige. Thinking of Budou's personality as Najenda had described it, that reason seemed to make sense too.

Well, without meeting General Budou, Koizumi could not judge the matter yet. For now, he should deal with what mattered.

"A justice detector? When did you get something like that installed in you?"

Koizumi could not help looking at Seryu with amusement, an indescribable gleam flickering in his eyes.

"By the way, there are quite a few Imperial Guard members patrolling outside. It looks like they're here because of me. How are you? You're all right, aren't you? You won't collapse from exhaustion, will you? If you can't hold on, you need to say so. Don't wear yourself out over justice!"

Koizumi's concern made the corners of Seryu's lips rise slightly, warmth spreading through her heart.

But in the next moment, she remembered Koizumi's current situation—he was inside the Imperial Guard headquarters. Was he not being far too brazen!? What if someone caught him? Even she would not be able to protect him!

"Mr. Koizumi, leave the Imperial Capital quickly. You can see it yourself, the streets are full of Imperial Guard members. If you keep staying in the Imperial Capital, you'll be caught sooner or later. Leave while you can! I know you can fly! If you fly into the sky, they won't be able to catch you!"

Koizumi could see Seryu's anxiety, but who said flying into the sky meant there was no danger? What if Budou fired a lightning cannon into the sky? Who could withstand that...?

Koizumi smiled faintly, grabbed Seryu's right hand, and slowly spoke.

"You can leave, but before that, come somewhere with me."

The Imperial Capital's True Evil (Part One)

Koizumi had to admit that the bastards under Budou's command were truly alert. As he moved through the streets, he nearly got noticed several times... As expected, stealth and infiltration were not his strengths.

Assassination and stealth were Assassin's specialties, but unfortunately, Koizumi had put all his skill points into spear mastery.

There was nothing he could do about it. The first power he had awakened had been that of Lancer Remilia. If it had been some Assassin, his skill points would probably all have gone into assassination and stealth, and he would not be in such an awkward situation now.

Forget it. Regretting his misplaced skill points was useless now. He could only wait until he summoned an Assassin Servant someday and inherited that Assassin's abilities. But come to think of it, his contract with Serenity did not seem to grant him Serenity's power. At first, he had only thought that it had not awakened yet, but then he remembered that this power was not sealed—it was hidden within his body. So a passive skill like Poison Body should have been on him already.

But Akame, Chelsea, Seryu, and the others who had touched him had not been affected by Poison Body.

So Koizumi concluded that this power feedback probably was not a result of the contract between Servant and Master. Rather, it was something fixed to certain Servants.

Perhaps only contracts between him and Servants from Gensokyo could feed a portion of their power back to him.

If that was really the case, then it was a bit of a headache. It was not as if every Servant he summoned would be a Heroic Spirit from Gensokyo.

People said that aside from compatibility, what connected Heroic Spirits and Masters was fate. By now, Koizumi had formed such connections with Serenity, Hundred Personas, and the people of this Singularity. If he someday summoned Heroic Spirit versions of Akame or Chelsea, he would not find it strange at all. What was strange was why he had summoned Reimu and the others.

Koizumi truly did not know when he had formed a connection with Gensokyo.

Forget it. Perhaps after he recovered his memories, he would know why... Perhaps it had something to do with who he had been before losing his memories.

Though Reimu and the other people from Gensokyo seemed to be meeting him for the first time.

Back to the matter at hand, Koizumi was currently leading Seryu through the streets while remaining vigilant of their surroundings.

Chelsea, transformed into a kitten, stood on Koizumi's shoulder in complete silence. She did not dare make a sound.

If she accidentally drew the Imperial Guard over with a single meow, it would be no small matter.

So Chelsea was extremely careful. As a professional assassin, she also knew very well what she was supposed to do.

Seryu, on the other hand, was deeply surprised by Koizumi. She did not understand why his stealth techniques were so skilled.

Could Mr. Koizumi really be an undercover agent the Peaceful Path Sect had planted in the Imperial Capital? A faint unease rose in Seryu's heart.

Although Seryu tried to act according to her feelings to avoid regret, that did not mean she had no doubts about Koizumi. For example, Reimu's abilities, and why masks floated around Hata no Kokoro.

All of this filled Seryu with curiosity about Koizumi and the others, though she did not think too deeply about it.

She believed that, as her friend, Koizumi would tell her someday. It was just that their current situation...

She did not know whether she should ask. The abilities Koizumi had displayed were simply too suspicious.

Her brows furrowed slightly as Seryu glanced at Koizumi, but she said nothing.

Since she had already followed Koizumi out here, she might as well first see where he intended to take her.

Although she suspected something was off about Koizumi, Seryu knew one thing: Koizumi would not hurt her.

When they arrived in front of Reias's residence, Koizumi let out a slight sigh of relief. It seemed he had overestimated those people in the military.

Seryu, however, froze slightly. Why had Koizumi chosen to come to a place like this? This seemed to be the home of the noble Reias.

Could this noble have taken Mr. Koizumi in? That was possible. She had heard that the noble Reias was a model of elegance among the aristocracy and often took in outsiders from beyond the Imperial Capital, especially women. Apparently, he did so in pursuit of romance.

That was perfectly normal. Everyone loved beauty, and the noble Reias was such an elegant aristocrat.

It was only natural for an outstanding man to have many women. This world was polygamous to begin with.

It seemed Mr. Koizumi intended to bring her here so she could familiarize herself with the place. She had probably been overthinking things...

The reason he had chosen to sneak around was also to avoid the Imperial Guard members. That was normal.

"Mr. Koizumi, are you staying at the noble Reias's home? Mr. Reias truly is a good person."

A smile appeared on Seryu's lips. If Mr. Koizumi was staying at the noble Reias's home, then she could rest easy.

At least, as far as Seryu knew, the noble Reias was a very decent person.

However, the noble Reias she knew was merely the image Reias wanted to present to everyone.

"No, but I want to show you something..." As he spoke, Koizumi's tone became somewhat grim.

It could not be helped. Koizumi had developed a new understanding of the nobles of the Imperial Capital. They were utterly disgusting.

"What is it?" Seryu's eyes were full of confusion.

Although she found it strange that Koizumi said he did not live at Reias's home, she cared more about what he had just said.

You do not live here, so why bring me here? Is there something worth seeing?

"You'll know once you go inside. Come with me, Seryu... Tonight, you'll see the true darkness of this Empire, and its true evil..."

A sharp glint shone in Koizumi's eyes, as though he wanted to convey something through them.

Seryu tilted her head slightly, as though she did not understand what Koizumi meant.

The true darkness? The true evil? Could Mr. Koizumi be talking about the Empire's nobles?

But these imperial nobles clearly had good reputations. Why would Mr. Koizumi say that?

Subconsciously, Seryu turned her gaze toward the Reias household before her.

It was a large villa, and against the backdrop of the night, the entire scene seemed rather gloomy.

For some reason, Seryu felt something strange in her heart, as though what she saw tonight would reshape her entire worldview... After getting that feeling, she did not even know whether she should follow Koizumi inside.

Seryu let out a soft breath and shook off the shadow in her heart. This was not the time to think about such things.

Since Mr. Koizumi said he would show her the Imperial Capital's true evil, then she would take a look!

What exactly was the true evil Mr. Koizumi spoke of?

The Imperial Capital's True Evil (Part Two)

Chelsea transformed into a little fly and flew inside. She was looking for a secluded corner where she could clear out the guards. This was the task Koizumi had given her. Originally, Koizumi had planned to sneak inside with Seryu, but since they could deal with these people, he might as well leave it to Chelsea and enter openly with Seryu.

Honestly, compared with sneaking in, it was better to enter openly.

Compared to stealth, Koizumi still preferred charging straight in. It saved a lot of trouble.

"As expected, I'm not suited to being an assassin... If I had to be assigned a class, Lancer would suit me better."

Koizumi muttered under his breath as he hid off to the side. Seryu crouched beside him.

The two of them hid in a clump of grass, silently watching the noble Reias's residence ahead.

Seryu was still wondering why Koizumi was not taking her inside. They had clearly reached the front gate, yet he refused to enter.

But what made Seryu even more curious was that the little kitten on Koizumi's shoulder seemed able to read minds and had actually left on its own.

What was wrong with that kitten? Why had it suddenly slipped inside, and why had there been no movement from it at all?

Seryu frowned slightly. After glancing at Koizumi, she silently fixed her gaze on the inside of the Reias residence.

But because the night was too dark, there had been no unusual change inside the Reias residence so far. No, it was more accurate to say that Seryu had not seen anything unusual so far. Honestly, she could not see what was happening inside from here, and she could not even make out the guards. It was truly difficult to observe anything like this.

It was not a matter of poor eyesight. It was simply the darkness of the night interfering with her vision.

The wind brushed over the two hidden in the grass. Koizumi was unaffected, but Seryu's body trembled slightly.

There was nothing she could do about it. It was already so late, and Seryu was not dressed very warmly, so she inevitably felt a little cold.

Koizumi was a man, and also a vampire. He could basically ignore the effects of the surrounding temperature.

Unless he was facing the sun, a little cold wind was not enough to make his body tremble.