"What? The Revolutionary Army?"
After hearing Noah's explanation, Chouri immediately bristled with anger.
"They call themselves politicians, yet the nation is the very thing they're supposed to serve! If they failed to change the country through politics, how could they abandon it and join a rebellion instead? Have those people no shame?"
'A stubborn loyalist.'
Watching the furious old man, Noah quickly reached that conclusion.
Compared to Chouri, who had spent years away from the Imperial Capital, Noah understood the current situation far better.
The Empire had already passed the point where it could be healed from within.
Rebellions were breaking out across the country, and they had already grown into a serious force. At the same time, the Empire was far from united.
Although the principled officials had weakened considerably, they were still locked in a constant struggle against Minister Honest's faction.
Under those circumstances, the Empire could not purge its internal corruption while also suppressing uprisings throughout the country.
There were only two possible endings left. Either the Revolutionary Army would be completely destroyed, or Imperial rule would be overthrown.
Anyone who seriously examined the Empire in its current state could see that it had collected nearly every condition that usually appeared before a dynasty collapsed.
The officials Chouri was condemning had actually made the most practical decision available to them.
They believed the Empire's fall was already inevitable, so they had no intention of throwing away their lives along with it.
As long as they refused to serve Honest, he would eventually have them killed. Joining the Revolutionary Army while they could still protect their families was a far better choice.
Once the civil war ended, they might even return to the same high positions they once held.
Even among the so-called principled faction, there were several different kinds of people.
Some were genuine public servants who wanted to improve the country.
To achieve anything, however, they needed influence and rank, which meant they also had to use every available method to protect their positions.
Others were ambitious officials who still possessed a basic moral line.
They placed their own interests first, but if given enough benefit, they became the most convenient and effective tools to use.
The last group consisted of incorruptible idealists who stood at the top of their own moral tower.
They only did what they personally considered right, which usually meant they ended up accomplishing very little and suffering badly for it.
Chouri sounded very much like someone from that final group. His words were sharp and upright, but they left no room for compromise.
"I promised Leims that you and your daughter would survive, so I'll give you two choices."
Noah raised two fingers.
"First, I can put you in contact with the Revolutionary Army. With your reputation and your desire to save the country, I'm sure they would gladly accept and protect both of you."
"Second, I can arrange somewhere safe for you to live, but you must stay out of everything happening inside the Empire from now on. You'll have to live as ordinary civilians."
Since Noah had promised Remus that these two would survive, he intended to make the choices strict.
Otherwise, they might decide to risk their lives again the moment he turned his back.
By the time he finished, Chouri's expression had grown extremely dark.
He gritted his teeth. "Do you take this old man for a coward who values his life above everything else?"
Both choices placed safety first.
Stay out of the Empire's affairs?
Impossible!
He had returned precisely because he wanted to save the country.
How could he agree not to interfere?
"If no one is willing to stand up, how long do you think anyone will be able to live an ordinary life?"
"The Empire must change. I fled once already, and I will not betray its people a second time!"
Chouri's emotions poured out in his voice.
He was human.
Of course he feared death, and he feared even more that his daughter would be dragged into his struggle and killed.
The slight trembling in his voice proved that clearly.
Even so, someone had to stand up.
"Sir, if possible, I ask that you arrange a safe place for my daughter. As for me... I must return to the Imperial Capital."
At that moment, Chouri made his decision.
He would part ways with his daughter.
"How can you say that?" Spear protested. "I'm not running away. I trained all these years so I could protect you. How could I leave you now and hide somewhere safe by myself?"
"Spear..."
Noah watched the father and daughter become wrapped up in their own emotional exchange, and his brows slowly drew together.
He had promised Leims that neither of them would die, but they seemed determined to make that promise as difficult as possible.
Their names might as well have been flashing on a death list.
It would not be surprising if either of them died at any moment.
Noah had no desire to spend the rest of his time in this world constantly protecting them.
For an instant, he considered manipulating their souls and twisting their thoughts.
If he did that, they would obediently withdraw from politics and live uneventful lives until old age.
His fingers twitched slightly, and Taeko's face appeared in his mind.
That brought him back to his senses.
No.
He could not immediately turn to that power whenever someone refused to listen.
Human will deserved respect.
Even though he possessed the ability to reshape it, that did not mean he should use it freely.
Otherwise, by the time he realized how far he had gone, everyone in the world might already have become his puppet.
And he would have lost something important in the process.
His own humanity.
"Fine. Since you've made up your minds, I'll make sure you reach the Imperial Capital safely. But there is one condition. No matter what happens to you afterward, you must never reveal that the Leiden family or Remus had anything to do with this."
Chouri nodded solemnly. "Of course. This old man would never betray someone who helped him."
A pale blue light shone in Noah's eyes.
Under that gaze, no one could lie to him without their soul showing a reaction.
Chouri was telling the truth.
Even so, Noah quietly interfered with part of Chouri's and Spear's perception.
If either of them ever tried to reveal anything concerning "Leims" or the "Leiden family," those key words would disappear from their minds.
In other words, they would become incapable of betraying the Leiden family.
Chouri was honest and had not lied, but people were never completely unchanging.
Even at ninety years old, a person's beliefs could shift under enough pressure.
What if Chouri changed later?
What if he were forced to choose between his daughter's life and revealing who had helped him?
Would he still hold to his principles then?
Rather than test that possibility, Noah preferred to add a firm safeguard.
Now, even if Honest captured or killed the father and daughter, Leims and the Leiden family would not be implicated.
...
After quietly escorting them into the Imperial Capital, Noah marked them both as observation targets.
Black Nightmare would now be able to follow their locations, making it easy for him to keep an eye on them.
Instead of going directly to see Remus, Noah returned to the apartment first.
When he opened the door, the silent entrance immediately felt strange.
Normally, the moment Taeko realized he had returned, she would hurry over to greet him, help remove his outer clothes, and even change his shoes for him.
Noah had told her many times that none of that was necessary, but she stubbornly continued doing it.
Habits really were frightening.
He removed and hung up his own clothes, changed into his slippers, and walked into the living room.
The scene inside made his pupils contract. His expression shifted from surprise to weary annoyance.
There was an unexpected guest in the apartment.
The reason Taeko had not come to greet him was that the intruder had tied her to the sofa in an extremely uncomfortable and humiliating position.
The moment she saw Noah, tears immediately gathered in her eyes.
"Heh. Your maid is rather entertaining. I couldn't resist playing with her a little."
The voice carried the natural authority of a queen.
Esdeath sat in the armchair in her white military uniform, one leg crossed over the other.
She had clearly been waiting for him to return.
Noah scratched his head helplessly.
"Does the General really have this much free time? Spending a rare day off waiting in my apartment seems like a waste. What exactly do you need?"
There was no way Noah could have expected that Esdeath would personally visit his home immediately after he had killed two of her subordinates.
From what he knew of her, she would not react much even if she learned the truth.
She would simply conclude that they had been too weak. The weak could not adapt to the world, so they were eliminated.
That would be the end of it.
"Hmph. Even I think that greeting was a little cruel."
Esdeath rested her cheek against one hand and tried to look hurt, but the expression did not suit her at all.
At least, Noah felt nothing from seeing it.
When she realized it had no effect, she dropped the act.
"Fine. I'll be direct. Noah, vice-leader of the Science Division, I have come under Imperial order to recruit you into the new unit I am forming."
Noah stared at her.
What was she talking about all of a sudden?
An Imperial order?
A direct command from the Emperor?
What had happened?
"You must have heard of the assassin organization called Night Raid that has been causing trouble throughout the capital lately," Esdeath explained. "The Minister and His Majesty ordered me back from the border specifically to eliminate them."
Oh.
So that was it.
The Empire had clearly realized that ordinary soldiers could not compete with Night Raid when nearly all of its members were Teigu users.
Still, Noah had not expected them to recall Esdeath from the border so quickly.
Night Raid must have placed considerable pressure on Honest.
It made sense.
Most of their recent victims had been Honest's trusted subordinates.
Their deaths had interfered with his businesses, and even relatives who remained surrounded by guards had been assassinated.
The royal Teigu users were responsible for protecting the palace, so even Honest could not freely deploy them.
That left Esdeath as the most suitable person to destroy Night Raid.
"I've formed a unit called the Jaegers and summoned several Teigu users from across the Empire to the capital. While doing so, I suddenly remembered that there was already a very capable Teigu user living right here."
So she meant him.
Noah looked at the smiling Esdeath and prepared to refuse.
However, knowing this woman, she would simply respond that the Emperor had personally ordered it and reject his refusal.
'Tch.'
Honest definitely knew about this.
That fat bastard probably found Esdeath troublesome too and had chosen to remain silent, effectively selling him out.
"Mmm! Mmm-mmm!"
Taeko struggled to say something, but the cloth pulled across her mouth reduced it to muffled noises.
The way she had been tied was extreme.
If her body had not been flexible enough, her spine might have been injured.
She had been forced face-down against the sofa, with both her wrists and ankles pulled behind her and tied together.
Another strip of cloth had been used as a gag, and the position put painful pressure across her chest.
Seeing her condition, Noah moved his will.
Several small blades of wind cut through the restraints around her limbs.
Taeko sprang upright, tore the cloth from her mouth, and glared furiously at Esdeath.
"Senpai, this woman is dangerous..."
Seeing Taeko place herself protectively in front of him, a faint smile appeared on Noah's lips.
He rested a hand on her slender shoulder and said softly, "Don't worry. She isn't here to cause trouble..."
Halfway through the sentence, Noah stopped.
That was not entirely true.
She might not have come looking for a fight, but she had certainly brought trouble with her!
Esdeath stared at Noah's smile and briefly froze.
'So this man could smile that gently.'
In her memory, Noah had always acted strangely mature, even when he was young.
He seemed uninterested in almost everything around him, focusing only on obscure and difficult subjects.
With her, he had always been even more impatient.
Sometimes merely seeing her was enough to make him frown.
He behaved much the same way around cats and dogs.
Most people seemed to have unusually high tolerance for cute animals, but Noah had never shown that kind of reaction.
Esdeath was much the same, so she was hardly in a position to criticize him.
Still, she had always believed Noah was fundamentally different from ordinary people.
The expression she had just seen suggested that perhaps she had misunderstood him.
"You know how busy I am. Asking a scientist to join some hunting squad is unreasonable, don't you—"
Noah's words stopped again.
This time, it was not voluntary.
He swept his right hand through the air and caught three ice blades between his fingers.
"You can even catch that?" Esdeath's eyes lit with interest. "I wonder how strong you are now. I'd really like to fight you seriously sometime!"
Noah casually evaporated the ice blades in his hand and changed his answer.
"Fine. The Jaegers, was it? I'll join. But can you avoid disturbing me unless it's necessary?"
"You're as self-centered as ever."
"Huh? You're really saying that?"
Noah stared at her in disbelief.
This woman was accusing someone else of being self-centered?
After experiencing several worlds, Noah could confidently say that Esdeath was the second most self-centered person he had ever met.
The first place naturally belonged to a certain irresponsible god.
Even now, Noah still wanted to kill that bastard with his own hands!
"I simply remain faithful to my desires. That is something every strong person must do."
Esdeath said nothing more.
Before leaving, she gave him one final instruction.
"Come to the palace square in seven days."