...Minutes later...
When Esdeath arrived on horseback, the first thing she saw was the burning forest.
The Imperial general, who had risen through the ranks on the battlefield, immediately smelled something that shouldn't be here.
A faint, burnt odor.
After freezing the entire forest with Demon's Extract, Esdeath walked in and, as expected, saw three corpses.
Three corpses... that she should be very familiar with.
Daidara, the muscle-bound giant, had had his hands severed.
Nyau's body was so charred that Esdeath couldn't even determine his cause of death.
Liver. His body was the most severely burned. If she couldn't judge by the size of the remaining bones, Esdeath wouldn't even be certain this was her most loyal subordinate.
"I see. The three of you... lost."
"The weak are culled. It can't be helped."
Looking at the three bodies, Esdeath didn't find any Teigu remaining on them.
*As expected.*
Yesterday, Liver had proposed this. He'd discovered someone trying to gather intel on Esdeath's army, so he prepared to leak information himself to investigate the enemies targeting them.
According to Liver's analysis, the people investigating them were most likely Night Raid, the assassins who had been targeting Imperial officials.
But out of confidence, Liver had chosen to use himself as bait this time, trying to lure out the big fish.
Esdeath hadn't originally planned to get involved. As far as she was concerned, Liver's team of three was more than enough to handle those small fry.
But when she discovered someone tailing her in the Imperial Capital, she suddenly felt uneasy.
Her subordinates were strong, yet this uneasiness gradually took over her heart.
After a simple interrogation, she got the information from the rebel informant, and Esdeath chose to rush to the scene as fast as possible.
It was a pity she was still too late.
It couldn't be helped. The weak are culled. It's an immutable law.
*You three... I'll remember this debt.*
The Minister told me that because of what happened in the capital, plus Zank the Beheader being killed and his Teigu taken, he had already selected some Teigu users from outside the capital.
*Whatever. Time to go back.*
*After gathering enough Teigu users, it's time to get the job done.*
*Night Raid... since you have the strength to kill these three, then I'm sure...*
*—My future won't be boring.*
..........................
...Several hours later. Night Raid Headquarters...
In the Night Raid base, Najenda listened to Lubbock's report and Mine's whispered, thread-bare description. She was silent for a dozen seconds, then lit a cigarette.
She had known for a long time that Leone had a certain flaw in her personality.
When she met a strong enemy, she always got too heated. And once she was heated, she'd easily forget the mission and her comrades' warnings.
Mine was a little better than Leone, but sometimes she'd also get heated when she was angry.
Originally, when assigning teams, Najenda had planned to have Akame, the ace assassin, and Lubbock, who could sense the surroundings with his threads, provide support. Leone, with her strong regeneration, would tie down the enemy, and Mine would snipe from the shadows.
The setup itself wasn't a problem. While Leone tied down the enemy, Lubbock could use his threads to let Akame roam, waiting for the critical moment to strike with Murasame's One-Cut Kill.
And because it was initially a 3v2, with only Leone on the front line, Mine would also be in "danger," thus boosting her Teigu's power.
The concept was good. The reality was... not.
The Three Beasts' kills were stolen... okay, that wasn't the key. If they had just come back empty-handed, the situation wouldn't be this bad.
After all, if the Three Beasts were killed by someone else, it was still a good thing for them.
The Empire lost three Teigu users, one of whom was Esdeath's second-in-command. With that man dead, Esdeath's army would lose an experienced commander, and their strength would drop.
But now, the Three Beasts were gone...
—And Leone was gone, too!
Mine had regained consciousness for a short time after returning.
According to her, the enemy was in a weakened state after a fierce battle with the Three Beasts, which is why the two of them chose to attack.
But after engaging, they discovered the opponent was absurdly strong.
Mine hadn't even been seen, but the opponent sensed her killing intent and pinpointed her location.
If she hadn't dodged quickly, she wouldn't just have a shattered shoulder; she'd be dead from a blow to the heart.
As for Leone... Mine had been unconscious, so she didn't know what happened next.
But Lubbock saw it. Leone's belt Teigu had been ripped off. This meant Leone must have exposed a huge opening in close combat.
From their words, Najenda could sense that the opponent's strength was far greater than she had imagined.
The Three Beasts were undeniably strong. And their opponent had essentially fought a gauntlet: the Three Beasts + two members of Night Raid.
The final result was three dead and two seriously injured out of the five. If Lubbock and Akame hadn't been nearby, Mine and Leone would probably be dead too.
Two Teigu users against five Teigu users... and the five were team-wiped.
Najenda felt like she didn't even have the words to scold them.
Call Leone stupid?
Setting aside the fact that saying so was useless now, if Najenda calmed down and thought about it, she could see Leone's reasoning wasn't completely incomprehensible.
The enemy was weak. They were ambushing and had the first-move advantage. If they were only thinking about retrieving the Teigu, they weren't without a chance.
Plus, Akame and Lubbock were nearby and could provide support shortly after the fight broke out. Forget winning, the probability of *losing* should have been very low.
But theory was one thing. Reality was another.
And the reality was—they had fatally misjudged the opponent's strength.
"We'll suspend missions for the time being. Everyone, stay at the base and rest."
After a moment's thought, Najenda extinguished her cigarette and spoke resignedly.
"Lubbock, you're in charge of gathering intel at the bookstore in the capital. Forget Esdeath's army for now. See if you can find anything about that man... and Leone."
"I'm going back to the Revolutionary Army HQ. I'll see if I can request new members for Night Raid."
.............................
PS: If you think Night Raid's intelligence was nerfed in this book, I suggest reviewing episodes 11 and 12 of the original *Akame ga Kill!*.
In episode 11, when Najenda sent Leone to track Esdeath and see who she was with, she specifically emphasized, [Be careful, this is a dangerous mission].
Leone's inner thought at the time was [If I get a chance, I'll take her out].