After establishing a "friendly" relationship with the Prime Minister, Noah's life basically returned to its original quiet course.
He shut himself inside the laboratory of the Science Division, and ordinarily, no one dared disturb him.
...
"Woof!"
Outside the door, two girls were currently locked in a struggle with the giant dog.
"Honestly, I already said we have business here, didn't I? Hurry up and move aside, you stupid dog!"
The girls wanted the watchdog blocking Noah's door to leave.
Because it had spread its arms like a person and blocked their path, making it impossible for them to simply ignore it.
Even worse, it could actually understand human speech.
When it heard "move aside," it shook its head left and right to refuse.
"Damn it, is this thing really a dog? This is the first time I've ever seen such a weird dog…"
The moment Noah pushed open the door, he heard the girl's life-doubting words.
"Heh."
He chuckled softly.
"Gin, and Remus too. What's wrong? Did something happen?"
The girls outside were members of the enhancement unit he was responsible for managing.
Ever since their conditions had stabilized, they only needed to "take their medicine" on time and their bodies would not experience any major issues.
Because Noah was fairly busy now and often absent, their daily training had been handed over to Bill.
"W-Well, tomorrow we're setting out on our first official mission," Remus said, looking somewhat nervous.
Although she had always been executing death-row prisoners, she still could not imagine what actual combat would be like, so it was only natural that she felt afraid.
Seeing her pathetic state, Gin raised her hand and slapped Remus hard on the back.
Smack!
"Get a hold of yourself, you idiot!"
'Oof.'
'That sounded painful.'
The corners of Noah's eyes twitched twice. Looking at the forceful Gin, he felt both amused and helpless.
Whether it was the Elite Seven or the members of the enhancement unit, Noah considered them all "kind" in their own way.
They did not enjoy killing.
Rather, they regarded "killing the target" as a mission and a duty.
They did not carry personal malice toward their targets, nor did they act out of their own desires.
They simply obeyed "orders."
At the same time, all of them firmly believed that what they were doing would make the Empire better, thereby reducing the number of lonely children who suffered the same tragic fates they had.
"Hmph. Even if you are a hands-off superior, you're still technically our commanding officer. In any case, we came to report to you."
Gin spoke in an extremely haughty manner, her eyes constantly glancing elsewhere, refusing to meet Noah's gaze.
'I see.'
'So they're officially beginning their missions too.'
Noah looked at the two of them, his gaze shifting slightly.
Gin should be fifteen this year.
Remus was even younger, only fourteen.
Although he was not that much older than the two of them right now, he still felt as though he had watched them grow up.
From the very beginning, Noah had known that the so-called enhancement unit was inhumane. However, he had no way to stop it.
First of all, this was a project jointly established by the Empire's assassination unit and the Science Division.
The investment was enormous.
Not only had it consumed massive financial resources, it had also required a tremendous amount of time.
Nearly eight years had passed since the project began.
With the Forest Dragon Jewel, Noah could even heal bodies poisoned and damaged by drugs, but he could not change their fate.
A project on this scale would never stop just because of a single word from him.
And these girls did not need that kind of sympathy either. Even if he said he could help them leave the assassination unit, what then?
Why would he do that?
Out of pity?
Why had he not done so sooner?
At this point, for them, carrying out missions as part of the assassination unit was the meaning of their existence.
Imagine if he removed them from the assassination unit solely out of pity. Then what would all the effort they had put in over the years amount to?
Most of the time, goodwill was something that could only move oneself and others watching from the outside. It could not necessarily move the "person being helped."
Noah could dispel the magic and return to his main body, but for these children, even if they were briefly freed, they would still have to live in this world for many years afterward.
The Empire would never simply leave them alone.
Half-hearted resolve could not save anyone. Interfering in someone else's life on a whim—unfortunately, Noah was no longer at an age where hot-blooded impulses could drive him into doing something like that.
He understood that about himself very clearly, which was why he had never wanted to become some great figure like a hero.
Or perhaps it should be said that heroes were not people who did heroic things because they wanted to become heroes. Rather, they became heroes unknowingly in the process of doing those things.
Saving others in order to become a hero and becoming a hero because one wanted to save others were completely different things.
The assassination unit was, without question, a high-risk profession. In this era, the main enemies faced by the Empire's assassination unit were professionals among professionals.
They could even encounter top-class killers. Casualties were unavoidable.
Noah's silence seemed to be understood by the two girls.
Gin clicked her tongue in slight displeasure, while Remus spoke as though trying to encourage herself.
"It's fine! Thanks to you, I can now kill someone cleanly with a single slash too!"
"That's because you're cheating with air blades, you idiot! Sure, you can bring them into real combat, but your fundamentals are still awful. Don't get too carried away!"
"Ugh, you noticed?"
"Hah? Did you think no one noticed?" Gin looked at the foolish Remus with concern.
Once, Gin had also thought this child was unsuited to this place, because Remus was simply too slow-witted. Her head was empty, and she was so stupid it almost made people envious.
But after seeing Remus stab a person more than forty times in a row without her expression changing, Gin understood.
No one who came here had arrived by accident.
Only people with something fundamentally miswired in their heads would end up here.
Noah reached out and gently rubbed Remus on the head.
Then he looked toward Gin.
Although he hesitated for an instant, he still extended his hand and placed his palm on her head as well.
Although Gin's face showed displeasure, a faint blush still rose on her cheeks.
She snorted coldly and closed her eyes, but in the end, she did not resist.
...
That night, Noah received a confidential letter from Gozuki.
He opened it and found that Gozuki had sent over the records of the elite squad's first missions.
Because the information was encrypted, deciphering it through proper comparison would probably take an entire night, so Noah directly cheated with Truthseeker and obtained the true contents through appraisal.
"This mission…"
That bastard Gozuki really was a demon.
At the beginning of the letter, it stated that all seven members had completed their missions.
After that came the information on the targets, as well as the personnel who had carried out each mission.
Finally came the process.
Those killed were all wanted criminals or anti-Empire personnel.
For example, Guy's target was a teenage girl.
She had been tricked out of her money in the Imperial Capital, then framed and imprisoned before being sentenced to death.
Gozuki had someone deceive her, telling her she could be released on the condition that she avoided capture for twenty-four hours.
If she succeeded, they would send her back to her hometown to live an ordinary life.
The girl agreed and hid inside a cave.
But the one assigned to carry out the mission was Guy.
Gozuki forged the girl's crimes for Guy, portraying her as a spy for the rebel army.
In the end, Guy found her and killed her.
Her hiding place was not bad, and she had even deliberately set traps at the cave entrance.
However, for Guy, who possessed the Shingu Thousand-Layer Robe, he could freely move through earth and walls, easily bypassing every obstacle.
And so, without the girl noticing anything, Guy broke her neck.
Gozuki had predicted every possible line of "defense" the targets might give and informed the seven in advance.
That way, no matter what their targets said, they would be unable to dispel the children's killing intent.
As the leader of the seven and also the son Gozuki was most satisfied with, Nahashu faced several vicious wanted criminals alone, yet still defeated them all with ease.
Reading through each entry, Noah had no choice but to admit that Gozuki had trained these children extremely well.
The only problem was Akame.
Akame's mission target was Martha, the proprietress of the restaurant in Longxi Village.
In other words, Noah's "relative."
As a glutton, Akame's most frequent destination had been the restaurant kitchen, so naturally, she had developed good relationships with the people there.
This was especially true of the gentle Martha.
Not only did Martha often secretly make extra food for Akame, she would also give Akame clothes she had once liked wearing.
To Akame, Martha was like a kind older sister from next door.
The relationship between the two was even more precious than ordinary friendship. They were practically as close as sisters.
One could imagine how shaken Akame must have been after learning this.
And that was precisely the part of Akame that Gozuki had always been most dissatisfied with.
Among the girls, Tsukushi and Pony held blind trust and admiration toward him, while his eldest daughter, Cornelia, was the one who reassured him the most.
Only Akame was different.
Because Akame's greatest conviction was to reunite with her younger sister, Kurome.
Her way of thinking was relatively independent. In order to erase her unnecessary emotions, Gozuki decided to sacrifice "Martha."
He lied to Akame, telling her that Martha was a rebel spy who had been secretly passing the Empire's intelligence to the rebels, then ordered Akame to assassinate her.
As for Martha, Gozuki had also given her an order.
If Akame failed to complete the mission, then he would deal with Akame afterward.
A tool that did not obey could not be kept.
After learning this, Martha accepted her fate.
She deliberately exposed her identity as a "spy" to Akame in order to provoke her.
Afterward, she was slain by Akame, who brought her head back to "Father."
That was the whole process of the mission.
To the Empire, Martha's death was also an investment.
From the beginning, every villager in Longxi Village had their own role and mission to play.
Martha was no different.
Her fate had never been in her own hands, but in the hands of the Empire.
If the Empire wanted them to live, they lived.
If the Empire wanted them to die for the Empire, they could only offer themselves up.
Other than that, they had no choice.
Since everyone had completed their missions and passed the assessment, that meant the elite squad had now begun to be deployed into formal operations.
Under Gozuki's leadership, the strength of this team was truly considerable.
Nahashu possessed the Shingu Water Dragon Sword. Both his martial strength and intellect were among the best of the seven.
The Water Dragon Sword had the special ability to enhance its user's combat ability for three minutes.
Guy possessed the Shingu Thousand-Layer Robe. His martial strength was outstanding, and his physical power was exceptional.
With the ability of Thousand-Layer Robe, he could move freely through earth and walls.
Green had a first-rate mind and was calm and composed.
He possessed the Shingu Sidewinder, a whip-type Shingu that could be freely controlled according to the user's will.
Then there was the girls' group.
Cornelia, a blonde beauty with an excellent figure, possessed the Shingu Crusher King, a gauntlet-type Shingu that allowed its user to unleash monstrous strength.
It was somewhat like a lower-grade version of Karasuba.
Pony possessed the Shingu Yo's Pants, a cloth-type Shingu that granted acceleration and strengthened leg power.
It took the form of tight shorts, allowing her to display powerful martial arts in close-quarters combat.
Tsukushi possessed the Shingu Prometheus, a gun-type Shingu capable of altering the trajectory of bullets.
It was well suited for surprise attacks and assassinations.
Akame possessed the Shingu Kiriichimonji, a katana-type Imperial Arms.
Wounds caused by this blade could not stop bleeding or heal naturally.
Combined with Akame's powerful burst speed and refined swordsmanship, it was a complete nightmare for her enemies.
And on top of all that, there was Gozuki, a Teigu user on the level of the Four Rakshasa Demons.
Gozuki, originally from the Koken Temple, was formerly one of the Four Rakshasa Demons.
He had trained his bodily control to the extreme and possessed the Teigu Murasame, the cursed blade that could kill with a single strike as long as it inflicted even the slightest scratch.
An assassination unit made up of one Teigu user, with every other member armed with Shingu, was an incredibly terrifying threat to any enemy.
Bill had definitely read this report too.
No wonder he was so impatient to deploy the enhancement unit.
He was probably thinking of competing with Gozuki.
This was also to prove the ability of the enhancement unit he had created.
That obsession could probably be traced back to the relationship between the two of them.
'Speaking of which, he specially sent this information over because he wants me to confirm whether The Grace Elixir is functioning properly, doesn't he? That Gozuki really wants this little advantage.'
But soon enough, Gozuki would probably be shocked.
The Grace Elixir could stimulate latent ability.
Although it was not as powerful as a true god's Falna, it could still allow the body to grow stronger at a speed beyond common sense.
Every battle would become a baptism.
It would not take many.
After just a few battles, those children's strength would undergo a transformation.
As soon as Noah left the Science Division, his eyes narrowed slightly.
Two eye-catching beauties stood there.
One had ice-blue long hair, while the other had silver long hair. It seemed they were waiting for someone.
When they saw Noah come out, Najenda and Esdeath waved to him at the same time.
Clearly, the person they were waiting for was him.
Noah was slightly surprised.
As he naturally walked over to them, he also felt the gazes of the men around them instantly become extremely piercing.
"Hm? Killing intent?"
Esdeath reacted the moment she sensed it.
Seeing that, Noah, who understood her fairly well by now, hurriedly grabbed her wrist.
"Wait. What are you planning to do?"
After being stopped by him, Esdeath looked puzzled by his words.
She asked in return, "Didn't you notice the killing intent?"
Noah helplessly explained, "They're just jealous."
"Jealous?"
A trace of confusion appeared on Esdeath's face.
"It can't be helped. It's all because of my damned, nowhere-to-place charm." Najenda, on the other hand, sighed in an extremely self-intoxicated manner.
After hearing the two explanations, Esdeath froze for a moment, then readily accepted that interpretation.
"So, in other words, it is a behavior where they display their strength in order to compete for mating rights, correct?"
Esdeath swept her gaze over the surrounding men, then revealed a disdainful expression.
"In that case, they're overestimating themselves far too much. Among all the men present, aside from you, I wouldn't put any of them in my eyes."
Noah could only sigh at the thought process and words of this battle maniac.
But in Najenda's ears, those words took on an entirely different meaning.
"Eh? Are the two of you actually in that kind of relationship?"
Najenda stared at the two of them in shock.