Danmachi : Strongest Supporter

"How did you get killed so easily?" Bill roared through gritted teeth at Gozuki's corpse.

The Assassination Unit's selection group and enhancement group were led by Gozuki and him respectively, with a clear division of labor.

The selection group was responsible for carrying out missions against important targets.

The enhancement group was responsible for carrying out ordinary missions with greater volume.

The credit obtained by the two sides was naturally different, but it was an undeniable fact that the enhancement group was weaker than the selection group.

That was also what Bill was unwilling to accept.

He had always planned to use his own technology to give the enhanced people of the enhancement group abilities surpassing "geniuses."

Science could defeat "human talent itself."

That was what he believed, and he had acted for the sake of proving it.

Although there were times when they competed for credit, their ultimate goal had always been the Empire.

After working together for so many years, they had already developed an extraordinary tacit understanding.

"And now, you bastard, you actually just died like this! Unforgivable! Why? Why did you die without leaving anything behind? With your ability, how could you possibly be killed before you could do anything? Spit out the killer's information for me!"

Based on Bill's understanding of this partner, even if Gozuki truly died, he should have been able to leave behind information about the killer.

Whether it was heavy rain or anything else, such things would not have mattered to him at all.

Unless he did not want to...

Hm?

A flash of inspiration suddenly crossed Bill's mind.

He did it on purpose?

He deliberately protected the killer who killed him?

Although it sounded ridiculous, that was more convincing than Gozuki being killed before he could do anything.

But why?

Bill looked at Gozuki's peaceful face, and shock slowly appeared in his expression.

"Gozuki... you bastard. Did spending so much time with those little brats affect you? Did the role of father make you unable to make normal judgments anymore?"

'This fucking bastard.'

'So that was it.'

"Fufufufu, I understand. I understand now! The killer is Akame!"

Bill reached that conclusion directly.

Everyone around him, who had been waiting for his injury assessment, was stunned.

He had actually found the killer just like that?

Wasn't that far too absurd?

"Um, sir, are you saying the killer is Akame, the murderer who recently appeared in the Imperial Capital?"

"It can only be her. And I already know who might have information. Send two people to question every household on the streets beside the crime scene and bring back their statements."

"Yes!"

...

Knock, knock.

The apartment door was knocked on.

Noah did not move, because Taeko had already run to the door like an industrious little bee and opened it.

"Hello, we are from the Imperial Guar—Guar... ah."

A young man's voice sounded from the doorway.

The visitors were one man and one woman, both guards wearing Imperial Guard uniforms.

However, when the man saw that the person who opened the door was such a beautiful girl, he was immediately stunned by her beauty to the point that he could barely speak properly.

Fair skin with a faint blush, long black hair like a waterfall tied into a high ponytail, and long eyelashes.

And that shapely figure!

A beauty like this was extremely rare, even in the Imperial Capital.

Compared to this beautiful girl, even noble daughters would pale in comparison.

This house was quite nice too.

Could she be some young lady?

Compared to the man whose soul had practically been stolen, the female guard beside him still remembered the mission.

She pushed her dazed colleague aside.

"Sorry for the rudeness. I am Seryu Ubiquitous of the Imperial Guard."

Taeko looked at the two people before her.

There was no expression on her face as she simply asked the female guard who had introduced herself, Seryu, "What business do you have?"

"Well, it's like this. A murder occurred nearby. An Imperial official was killed on the street."

After saying that, Seryu stared at Taeko's face, observing whether she would show any reaction.

For example, nervousness or fear.

But she saw no change on Taeko's face.

"And? Please state your purpose clearly."

"You're not surprised," Seryu said to Taeko with a smile.

Taeko replied flatly, "Am I supposed to be interested in every irrelevant matter?"

"Ah, no, that isn't what I meant. It's just that the killer's whereabouts are unknown, so we have no choice but to ask around. This is also routine procedure."

"I see."

"Please allow me to ask a few questions." Seryu took out a notebook.

The notebook was somewhat messy and looked as though it was used often.

It symbolized that its owner was a hard worker.

The male guard beside her seemed to want to take over this job and volunteered, "Seryu, let me speak with this lady."

"Eh? You want to help me? No need. Although I'm a newcomer, this kind of work isn't much of a burden for me."

The male guard opened his mouth, but for a moment, he was speechless.

In his heart, he shouted, 'Who cares about helping you? I want to get close to this beautiful girl! You're getting in the way!'

As one of the rare flowers among the Imperial Guard, Seryu was a special existence among countless weeds and was usually very well-liked.

Unfortunately, compared to this cool and elegant black-haired young lady, she was several levels lower.

Although the misunderstood male soldier felt helpless, he did not want to appear too openly impatient, so he could only quiet down.

"May I ask whether you heard any strange sounds on the street last night?"

"No."

"Then what were you doing last night?"

"At home."

"Can you be more specific?"

"Cooking. Making tea."

"I see. Were there any other people at home?"

"..."

Taeko fell silent.

She did not want these two to disturb the senior inside.

If she said that he was in the house, then he would also have to deal with these two boring guards.

Seeing her hesitation, Seryu simply said, "Could you please have the others come out and cooperate with our investigation as well? As long as there are statements, it will basically prove your innocence. That way, it won't affect your lives."

Taeko frowned slightly.

A faint murderous aura flashed and vanished in an instant.

At that moment, Noah walked out naturally.

He patted Taeko on the shoulder, and Taeko immediately stepped aside from the doorway.

Seeing Noah appear, Seryu immediately took the initiative to introduce herself.

"Hello, I am—"

"Imperial Guard, Seryu Ubiquitous, correct? I know. Your voice is very loud... I already heard you."

'N-no way.'

'This beautiful girl already had a man?'

'And one could tell at a glance that he was rich!'

'Hmph.'

'What young lady? So she was just a bitch after all!'

The male soldier nearly ground his teeth to pieces, staring at Noah's hand resting on Taeko's shoulder with his eyes almost splitting!

Noah interrupted Seryu and explained, "The two of us were inside the house all night last night and did not go out. We don't know anything about what happened outside."

"All night..." As a pure young girl, Seryu had many thoughts flash through her mind after hearing such an explanation, and they immediately showed on her face.

She shook her head, driving away those suggestive images.

"I see. So the two of you are husband and wife."

Husband and wife.

Husband and wife...

Husband and wife!

Taeko's cool expression lasted less than two seconds after Seryu's unintentional words.

Then steam seemed to burst from the top of her head.

Her face filled with redness, and she did not know whether to explain or pretend it was true.

In the end, she could only cover her face with both hands and run back into the house.

When the male guard saw this, the jealousy in his heart almost went out of control.

He suppressed the thoughts in his heart, forced a smile that did not reach his eyes, and secretly glared at Noah.

Seryu, after recording the conversation, also left.

"Thank you for your cooperation. I hope you have a pleasant weekend."

The girl called her colleague, who had for some reason been distracted all day, and went to the next resident's house.

Noah watched the girl's back, a faint light flashing in his eyes.

"A soul full of justice, but even more extreme than that."

There was something unique about her.

As for the guards of the Imperial Capital, with their superiors "setting an example," all of them had been corrupted. This was reflected in the color of their souls.

That male soldier was exactly like that.

Jealousy, greed, lust.

Three of the seven deadly sins defined in Catholic doctrine.

Malice was practically overflowing from him.

They had only met for less than three minutes, and their conversation had lasted no more than three sentences, yet he could generate such enormous malice.

One could imagine that he had definitely formed some unsavory thoughts.

What was terrifying was that this phenomenon had become close to normal in the Imperial Capital.

These people might only be the lowest-ranking guards, but because of the Empire's severe corruption and indulgence, they could do whatever they wanted to civilians.

Even wealthy merchants with some assets would be bullied by low-ranking soldiers if they had no protective umbrella.

Now that the Revolutionary Army had risen across the Empire, the number of spies inside the Imperial Capital had reached an unimaginable level.

As long as the guards caught someone who offended them, they could slap the label of Revolutionary Army spy onto them.

Most people would never make it to the moment where they could clear their name.

Better to kill a thousand by mistake than let one go.

Even mere suspicion was enough to arrest and imprison someone directly.

What followed would be severe torture. If one was lucky, scattering all their wealth might allow them to survive, after which they could flee the Imperial Capital and scrape by in the countryside.

If one was unlucky, a few rounds of torture would kill them.

They might even implicate their family, destroying the entire household.

...

Evening.

Just as Noah expected, a group of five guards suddenly came knocking.

Taeko stood at the door and spoke with them.

After only a few sentences, she voluntarily followed them away.

Noah merely glanced at the closed door and did not pay much attention to the lives of those five fools.

Taeko followed the guards into a deserted deep alley.

At this moment, the male guard who had come during the day wore an obscene smile as he fawned over a very burly man.

"Boss, see? Isn't she just like I said? This woman is a rare beauty."

The one called Boss was a squad leader of a small Imperial Guard team.

Squad leader was not an official position. It simply meant he was the strongest person in this small team and the one with the most say.

He patted his subordinate's head like one would pat a dog.

His old face smiled until his eyes narrowed into slits. "Good work. Also, using this woman's husband to threaten her was a pretty good plan."

The squad leader directly loosened his belt and walked toward Taeko.

"Woman, if you don't want your husband to be branded as a Revolutionary Army spy, then serve me properly. Oh, and my boys too."

Five men approached Taeko with obscene smiles.

The girl, however, merely sighed in disgust.

She stared at the five pieces of meat before her.

At some point, both of her hands were holding a kitchen knife as she muttered, "Honestly..."

The five men did not hear what she whispered.

The squad leader deliberately leaned his face closer while reaching his filthy hand toward the girl's chest, so excited that his breathing grew rough.

"Huh? What did you say?"

His mind was now filled entirely with fantasies of that soft sensation.

Slash!

A cold flash passed.

The squad leader's burly body remained leaning forward, but his head slowly slid from his neck.

With a wet slap, it fell to the ground.

Blood splashed onto the feet of the others.

The four men behind him froze at the sight.

Then they felt a chill rush along their spines and straight to the backs of their heads.

"This bitch actually dares to fight back! Let's—ugh?"

The guard who made a sound suddenly lost his voice.

He clutched his throat and reached out, trying to grab the woman in front of him, only to find that the target had already vanished.

At the very end, as he collapsed, he saw the three people behind him chopped into more than a dozen uneven pieces in an instant.

He also saw that woman's mouth moving.

What she said seemed to be...

"Honestly, what an eyesore."

Taeko flicked the kitchen knives in her hands, and the blood on them splattered onto the alley walls.

She looked in disgust at the knives that had cut those filthy pieces of meat.

While annoyed, she said, "I really lost my temper. For small fry like this, I could have killed them barehanded or with two tree branches, but I wasted precious kitchen knives on them... now i can't use them anymore."