Danmachi : Strongest Supporter

Even Noah found this entrance completely unexpected.

He had not expected the mysterious mastermind behind all this to have such poor self-control.

Then again... if the other party was that general himself, his fiery temper did seem to fit the image.

The two looked at each other.

Noah was still holding the wine bottle, while the masked man waited for his response.

The air grew somewhat quiet.

"..."

"Say something already!" The man endured it for seven or eight full seconds before finally exploding again.

He stormed forward furiously.

Closer and closer.

He stretched out his hand, aiming near Noah's collar.

Noah simply watched him, his expression showing no trace of nervousness.

Suddenly, the masked man's movement stopped.

He maintained the posture of reaching out and stepping forward, while the gaze beneath his mask became shocked and confused.

Why... why couldn't he move?

'Damn it.'

The moment he tried to struggle by force, waves of stabbing pain came from inside his body, making it feel as if he had been nailed to a wooden stake.

'Was this this guy's doing?'

The masked man looked at Noah and saw amusement in his eyes.

His heart shook, but he still gritted his teeth and said, "What kind of sorcery is this? You actually made me unable to move!"

Noah ignored the masked man, who was stuck in a difficult posture like a statue, and sat back down on the sofa.

Ignoring the other party's question, he asked directly, "So, General Hemi, why did you bring me here in this manner? I don't understand, please enlighten me."

"You!"

Hemi was extremely shocked.

He had not expected his identity to be exposed so early!

"How is that possible? How do you know my identity? Could it be the Minister..."

The first thing Hemi thought of was that everything he had done had already been discovered by Minister Honest, and that the Minister had even been monitoring him all along.

Because of that, he became extremely flustered.

"It has nothing to do with the Minister. I only learned your identity just now as well, which is why I'm asking why you brought me here," Noah said honestly.

In front of Truthseeker, merely wearing a mask was useless.

At the very least, one had to cover the entire body without leaving a single gap.

After hearing this, Hemi misunderstood. "Have you seen me before?"

He believed that his voice or figure had exposed him.

But Noah did not want to keep wasting time on this meaningless topic.

Even if he told Hemi that he had a Skill called Seeker, Hemi definitely would not believe him.

He did not want to prove anything. Skipping the topic was the best choice.

"None of that matters. I don't feel like satisfying your curiosity, so let's get straight to business."

Noah put on an act and snapped his fingers.

After the crisp sound rang out, Hemi's body tilted.

He managed to stabilize his balance in time and avoided falling.

This strange phenomenon made him feel even more that Noah had mastered some kind of sorcery.

He looked deeply at Noah, then said helplessly, "You really don't panic even in danger. This is my territory, you know. It seems the information I had about you was completely meaningless."

Noah shrugged, his reaction practically saying, "What does that have to do with me?"

Hemi's expression turned serious, and he sat down on the sofa across from Noah.

He had completely underestimated the other party, causing the initiative to almost entirely fall into the enemy's hands.

From a military perspective, his first clash with Noah had ended in a crushing defeat.

"I already learned from Pegina that you are unusual, and I investigated everything about you."

"From the records, for some unknown reason, the current head of the Leiden family took an interest in you and made you the adopted son of the Leiden family. Afterward, you entered the Science Division through that connection and quickly displayed extraordinary talent."

"Later, you came into contact with the Empire's Assassination Unit and developed quite a bit of equipment to support them. Because of that, you became a deputy officer."

"Honestly, from my perspective, none of that was particularly remarkable. Yet somehow, a minor figure like you received special treatment from that Minister Honest."

Hemi took a deep breath at this point.

Only then did his eyes shine as he exclaimed, "I had never considered even the slightest possibility of this."

"You can actually create Teigu!"

As he spoke, Hemi spread his arms.

"Teigu! A tremendous power capable of deciding the survival or destruction of the Empire! And you can actually create them. No wonder the Minister values you so highly!"

He stood up with a sudden movement.

Then his tone changed sharply.

"But you are using that talent in the wrong way!"

"The Empire has already rotted. The people are living in misery, and now, flames of rebellion have already risen across the Empire. Among them are even my former comrades..."

"Noah! This power of yours should not belong to the Empire!"

"Point your sword at the Empire with me!"

"I can promise you anything you desire!"

Hemi's impassioned speech left Noah somewhat irritated.

His experiments had been extremely loud, and he had not silenced the people in the mansion or anything like that, so it was not strange that someone learned about them.

But he had not expected someone besides the Minister to act even faster.

Hemi.

Like Esdeath and the former Najenda, he was also an Imperial general.

However, what he had just said did not sound like the words of a loyal servant of the Empire.

Pointing his sword at the Empire.

In other words, rebellion and treason.

"How did you manipulate the butler?" Noah asked curiously.

When he Appraised the butler's status, he had discovered that the butler was in a charmed state.

The specific method, however, was still unclear.

He had originally thought it was a Teigu, but at the very least, General Hemi himself was not a Teigu user.

"Sorry, that's classified." Hemi refused to answer.

"I see. Then I'll ask another way."

"Heh, no matter how you ask, I—"

"Was the method used to charm Butler Pegina from a Teigu, or from a secret art?"

Bang!

Hemi's expression changed drastically.

He looked at Noah in disbelief, both arms slamming hard onto the table with a loud crash.

"..."

How did he know about the charm?

Was there a traitor?

No, impossible!

Only three people knew about that matter. There was no way they would expose themselves.

Wait.

Could this guy possess some method of seeing through people's hearts?

Hemi became extremely tense.

For a moment, even the thought of killing Noah to silence him flashed through his mind.

But he could not give up on Teigu either.

"Does Honest know about this too?" Hemi asked in a grim voice.

If that Minister knew about the charm, then he would definitely notice many of Hemi's past actions.

In that case, before Hemi's plan could even be implemented, the Minister would silence him.

Even at the foot of the royal palace, even here in the upper district of the Imperial Capital, it would not be difficult for the Minister to kill him.

On the other hand, although Hemi held considerable military force, those soldiers could not enter the Imperial Capital.

If only he died, it would be regrettable, but not terrifying.

However, with Minister Honest's personality and methods, no one in Hemi's clan, not even a dog or cat, could hope to die peacefully.

They would have to go through torture, perhaps even be driven mad, before being allowed relief.

He was afraid.

Noah looked at the man before him and knew he was afraid.

If he was this afraid, why had he chosen to do this?

In Noah's view, whether it was the current Empire or the rebel forces rising everywhere, they were much the same.

The Empire's decline was not something one or two corrupt officials could create on their own. Where there was oppression, there would be resistance.

In a feudal monarchy like this, the stronger the country became, the more it would breed "darkness."

To put it plainly, that darkness was the privileged class.

If the Empire had an "absolutely invincible and eternal Emperor," then it would be equivalent to having an unshakable pillar.

Naturally, that Emperor alone could stabilize all unrest within the Empire. Unfortunately, this was not that kind of world.

When those who exercised privilege acted without restraint, the ones harmed were the common people.

When they were exempted from punishment because of privilege, imitators would increase.

Eventually, most of the privileged class would take such things as a matter of course, and the people would no longer be treated as humans, but as toys for their amusement.

If even the Emperor himself regarded this as normal, then where would the possibility of change remain?

The people's resistance and riots were merely acts of self-preservation.

They would awaken, yet not completely.

Because they would always be the blind side.

Noah roughly divided the so-called "higher-ups" of the Revolutionary Army into four types.

The first were simple fools filled with hot blood.

The second were ambitious schemers skilled at calculation, represented by people from civilian backgrounds such as bandits, gang leaders, and wealthy local merchants.

The third were former Imperial ministers or generals.

The fourth were countless cannon fodder.

Noah believed he could not evaluate the first type.

They were pure.

They acted first and only considered the reasons after obtaining results.

They were hot-blooded, and when the current situation was poor, they ignored every other problem and focused first on breaking the status quo.

This type was also the easiest to kick out and purge.

The second type were opportunists.

Realizing that chaotic times had arrived, their ambitions swelled, and they sought benefits for themselves, usually by any means necessary.

As for the third type, they were basically people who could no longer survive within the Empire and had no road left except joining the rebellion.

As long as the rebellion succeeded, they could regain their former status and everything they had lost, perhaps even rising higher.

They were the group that truly controlled the situation within the rebellion.

The last type were ordinary people who would gain nothing.

Even if the rebellion succeeded and overthrew the Empire, they would still remain common people.

They were the largest group, suffered the most casualties, yet obtained nothing.

Once the war was over, they would be sent back to farm, and their lives would not change much from before.

In the end, the Empire would still be the Empire, only its rulers would be replaced by a group made up of bandits, thugs, merchants, and former Imperial higher-ups.

Expecting such a motley crowd to create a better world left Noah deeply pessimistic.

When these already wicked people obtained power, darkness would breed once more, just like people who suddenly became rich imitating the truly wealthy by doing the same things they did, even if those things were utterly absurd.

Even the people who usually threw their weight around still yearned deeply for the luxurious lifestyle of nobles.

How could they possibly remain honest once they had power?

To Noah, whose thinking was modern, everything happening in this world was like looking into a mirror, reflecting the thousands of years of history from his homeland's past.

"It has already developed to this point, yet you still haven't used charm on me. It seems that isn't your ability, but someone else's." Noah said this to Hemi, whose expression had become ugly.

As a result, Hemi suddenly erupted.

He intended to strike immediately with thunderous force and take down this "accident."

Through observing his muscles and state of mind, Noah had long predicted that he would be unable to resist attacking.

So Noah's playful mood rose.

He raised one finger toward Hemi and softly said a single word.

"Stop."

The moment Noah spoke, Hemi's body had only just leaned forward by less than fifteen degrees before he was horrified to discover that strange binding sensation had appeared again, fixing him firmly in place.

"Damn it, this sorcery again!"

Hemi's martial skill had no way of being displayed, leaving him furious.

It was rumored throughout the Empire that this general was impulsive and short-tempered, but once he calmed down, he was a first-rate commander.

Unfortunately, just like his martial skill, that ability had no room to be displayed here.

Of course, although Hemi could be considered an outstanding man among men, he was still mortal.

If the water and air pressure inside his body were controlled, he could not even exert force, let alone move.

If Noah wished it, right now he could—

"You're far too confident, General Hemi."

Noah reached out with his right hand and grabbed the other man's head, while a faint blue glow appeared in his eyes.

As a general, Hemi had still chosen to attack despite having no chance of victory.

It seemed that the secret regarding "charm" was more important to him than his life.

There was no hope of asking with ordinary methods.

Noah could only look clearly for himself.

After locking on, Noah opened General Hemi's Soul Corridor and entered it.

Every memory Hemi possessed, whether he remembered it or had filtered it away, was displayed here like rolls of film.

So his dissatisfaction with the Empire had accumulated for a long time, and he also shared the same thoughts as another Imperial general, General Nagakide.

Their plan was to find an opportunity to lead their armies out, then defect from the Empire with their troops.

Before that, they had been searching for a chance, preferably to kill Minister Honest before leaving the Imperial Capital.

But there had never been an opportunity.

There were people beside Minister Honest whom they controlled through the power of charm, but it was very difficult for those people to get close to the Minister.

Noah browsed General Hemi's memories inside the corridor and finally found the true identity of the person who possessed the charm ability.