Chapter 20

After a full half hour in which the emperor had encouraged the Jaegers in their future mission, while the prime minister supervised every word he said, the group was finally able to take its leave. And while Seryu left to join Stylish in his laboratory, Wendy preferred to walk around the palace before finally going to the kitchen. No sooner had she entered to the kitchen than she saw Bols and Wave cooking the fish and seafood he had brought back. And from the smell that was spreading through the room, the result was going to be a delicious dish.

"Do you make your own food?"

"Hmm?" said Bols, turning his face towards her. "Yes! After all, I love to cook!"

Seeing him then, Wendy couldn't repress a smile, seeing the apron with the bear cub's head on it. Unable to hold back any longer, she left in a big laugh that surprised the man:

"Anything wrong?"

"No, nothing!" Wendy assured, trying to calm down. "It's just that your looks don't match your character at all!"

"My character?"

"I don't want to be mean, Bols, but I must confess that your mask scared me when I first saw you and the fact that you kept silent made me uncomfortable!" confessed Wendy. "Nevertheless, seeing you do and hearing you talk, I think you look a lot like me!"

"Oh yes?" the man wondered. "Nevertheless, I...!"

Turning suddenly to Wave, who was about to add a new ingredient to their preparation, he cried out:

"Wave, the spinach must be put in last! It's still too early to put it in the dish!"

"You sound like a mother talking to her son!" Wave and Wendy thought.

Finally, Wave smiled and said:

"Like Wendy, I'm amazed! Ultimately, you should never trust someone's appearance! You seem to be a very nice person!"

"No!" replied Bols, putting down his knife. "I'm not a nice person, far from it!"

"Huh?"

"To tell the truth, I must have committed enough crimes that the gates of heaven would be closed to me forever, even if I became the greatest of saints!"

"What is he talking about?" Wendy wondered.

Arriving in the dining room, helping Wave and Bols carry different dishes, Wendy ends up putting everything on the table. Already sitting on a chair, Kurome was simply playing with Koro, waving a feather in front of his face. Nevertheless, of the two, she seemed to be the only one having fun, while Koro seemed more frustrated by not being able to catch the feather with his tiny paws.

"By the way, Esdeath-sama, what do you do in your spare time?" Seryu wanted to know, sitting not far from the general.

"I keep busy by hunting and torturing the criminals I capture!" Esdeath learned, in a most serious tone.

"She's scary!" remarked Wendy, sitting near Seryu.

"But right now, I'm devoting all my time to finding true love!"

"True love?" the girls in the hall were surprised.

"The great General Esdeath, known for her strength and cruelty without equal, is looking for love?" repeated Run, smiling somewhat. "This, for a surprise, is a surprise!"

"That isn't surprising!" replied Stylish. "Who has never wanted to discover his other half, which must represent us to our true worth? But I doubt if I can find anyone as handsome as I am!"

"Do you have any idea how to find the person you like?" Wanted to know Wave.

"Um... I have my own idea!" said Esdeath.

"Aren't you a little too comfortable?" Tatsumi wanted to know, seeing Natsu and Leone slumped on a couch in front of him.

"This is the secret base of my shop!" Lubbock said, as he stood behind Tatsumi. "It's one of the few places in the capital where we can talk without fear of having someone on our backs!"

Then taking a stack of papers from a table, he looked at them one by one and said:

"Mine and Spear each have a poster showing their faces! For Natsu and Gadjeel, as long as they're not with their cats and change their clothes, it should still pass!"

"Phew, I'm really glad I didn't get spotted on the boat, then!" confessed Tatsumi. "I don't want to have to stay hidden for the rest of my life!"

"Yes, especially as this isn't the time to be spotted at all!" said Leone, looking serious again. "The Jaegers are out!"

"The Jaegers?" Natsu repeated.

"Don't you know?" Lubbock wondered, taking an envelope out from under his clothes. "It's a new police squad led by Esdeath! And the worst part...!"

Opening the letter, he presented its contents to the others, saying:

"According to her latest report, Wendy is now one of them!"

"What?" surprised all the others.

"And it seems that she is the only person who doesn't have teigu! So, we now have several enemies, with teigus, including Esdeath and the girl who attacked Sheele and Mine! Basically, it's not a team of little jokes !"

"And the other lightning guy?" Wanted to know Natsu. "Is he part of the team?"

"Budo? You'll never see him collaborating with Esdeath! They get along like dog and cat! Moreover, he spends most of his time protecting the emperor day and night, which makes the latter completely untouchable!"

"Tsss!" said Natsu. "Anyway, I would infiltrate, one day or another in this castle! Then, I would beat this guy and Esdeath!"

"Carelessness makes you stupid!" laughed Leone.

"Eh, what?"

"Oh, by the way!" cried Lubbock, pointing to a poster. "There's a tournament that's organized for amateurs! And there's a reward at stake!"

"Fight ? " Tatsumi asked, taking the poster.

"What? A tournament! So great!" Natsu rejoiced. "It's going to give me some exercise!"

"Natsu! Esdeath is supervising the tournament! And it's by fighting in front of her that you'll have the best chance to make you spot ! I was speaking for Tatsumi, not you!"

"What? But it's not fair!"

"That's what happens when you don't obey the boss's orders!" laughed Leone.

Then Natsu got up and left, saying:

"If it's like that, I'm going to walk around a bit to see if I can't find something to eat!"

"In that case, be discreet!"

"Yes, don't worry!"

Smelling the air, Natsu ends up stopping in front of a restaurant specializing in grilling.

"Ok, I'm going to stop here!" he decided, as he entered.

Heading towards the counter, Natsu sat down on a stool and exclaimed:

"Boss, I'd like five steaks, well grilled, to start with!"

"To begin with...?" a cook wondered behind the counter, while displaying a small smile. "Do you really think you're going to be hungry again after that, kid?"

"No worries!"

"Okay, then five steaks! Five!"

Eating a piece of meat, Natsu exclaimed:

"Delicious! That's a real little pleasure in life!"

"Glad to hear it, kid!" said the cook, starting to give him another steak. "Tell me, are you from around here? I've never had you around here before!"

"I live outside the capital!"

"Outside?"

"Yep! I live in the country and everything, and I can train as much as I want there!"

"Oh, you're some kind of hermit!"

Seeing Natsu gulp down his third steak without a problem, the man questioned him:

"How long has it been since you've eaten?"

"Hm?" Natsu wondered, before thinking. "Well, knowing that it's past noon, it's been four hours since I had breakfast! Why?"

"For nothing!" assured the cook, with a drop of sweat in the back of his head.

And while he was busy cooking another steak, someone settled down near Natsu. Looking up, the cook attributed a long smile to the newcomer, while asking:

"What would you like to do today?"

Smelling the air, Kurome suddenly began to salivate as she pointed to the half-eaten steak Natsu had on his plate.

"I want that! I want ten steaks like that!"

"But of course!" assured the man. "Just wait a few minutes!"

"I have a real treat!" Natsu said, preparing to eat half of her steak in one bite. "Me too, I want some more!"

Still, as he ate it, Natsu noticed a strange feeling. Turning his face, he saw Kurome staring at him. However, the saliva flowing from the corner of her mouth, it was his food that caught her attention.

Wanting to confirm this, Natsu raised his stake in the air and Kurome followed him with her eyes. Natsu then fidgeted with his food, Kurome did the same with her face, not losing her target for a moment with her eyes. She looked like a dog begging.

Finally, with a sigh, Natsu put his steak back on her plate, before pushing it in front of Kurome.

"What...?" she wondered.

"I can wait until my next steak comes!" Natsu assured her.

Immediately, plunged her head towards the plate, Kurome gobbled up the steak in an instant and swallowed it in the next second.

"Thank you!" she said, then, while passing a handkerchief over her lips.

"You eat even faster than me!" Natsu cried.

Then, looking at her more attentively, he said:

"Hey, you look just like Akame!"

Hearing her sister's name, Kurome glanced at him in amazement before putting her hand on the handle of her sword:

"Do you know her?"

"Huh? Uh... no, no, no, no, no!" Natsu assured, seeing her draw her sword. "It's just that I saw so many posters of her in town that I felt like you were her!"

Staring at him, Kurome seemed skeptical of his answer. However, she finally put away her sword, before putting herself back in her place. Doing the same, Natsu questioned her:

"Is he a member of your family?"

"My sister!"

"Oh? Then I guess you must love her a lot!"

"Yes!" Kurome assured him. "So much so that I'm going to kill her to be with me, forever!"

"Ah, okay!" Natsu said, with a smile. "Uh... wait a second! WHAT? What are you talking about?"

"Akame and I were sold to people in the empire, who raised us as assassins! Nevertheless, Onee-san ended up leaving one day and joining the revolutionary army! She left me all alone, in the hands of those guys!"

Clenching her teeth, she cried out:

"Onee-san and I will never be separated again! Once we meet again, I will make sure that we will stay together forever!"

"By killing her? I think you've lost it, girl!"

"I'll resurrect her, using my teigu and...!"

"That's not what being a family is all about!" Natsu roars suddenly.

" Hum ? " Kurome wondered, looking at him.

"Even if you want to resurrect her afterwards, which sister are you to want to kill your own sister?" wanted to know Natsu. "In a family, we have to help each other, not the other way around!"

"Shut up!" Kurome ordered him. "You don't know anything about me or the evil Onee-san brought me by abandoning me! She was the only person who protected me; who really loved me; who was always there when I was afraid! But one day, she left... and left me alone! Alone in the face of the horrors of the world I was living in!"

Seeing her gnashing her teeth, Natsu let her go on, while she affirmed:

"But I can't hate her! I want to be with Onee-san and I don't want her to leave without me ever again! I just...!"

She fell silent when she felt Natsu hit her above her head with the edge of his hand. It wasn't strong. Just enough to make her look at him.

"It's not by behaving like that that your sister will want to be with you! What you're saying, it just sounds like some kind of sister fight! And you must solve this problem with words or with fists ! But never to killing each other ! Never forget that, the family is sacred to each other!"

"Sacred?" Kurome wondered. "But she...!"

"In my family, one of our own betrayed us at some point!" said Natsu. "His name was Laxus and he wanted to become the leader by the force! To do so, he didn't hesitate to oppose the one we all considered our father! And, because of that, he was banished! For everyone, in spite of his betrayal, this was accepted with sadness instead of joy! Then Laxus finally came back to help us when we were in danger! He himself then understood that he should always defend his family and not let them down!"

Turning to Kurome, he said with a big smile:

"Next time you see your sister, try to make her understand how you feel without her! And maybe you can be reunited again!"

"Impossible!" Kurome replied. "Even if I wanted to, I couldn't stop my sister from being killed!"

"And why is that?"

"Because she's part of the Night Raid and I'm a Jaeger!"

"Here are your steaks!" suddenly announced the cook, with two plates in his hands.

Nevertheless, barely listening to him, Natsu was staring at Kurome, remembering what Lubbock had taught her.

"It's the special police Wendy's got herself into!"

"What should I do then?" Kurome wanted to know.

Natsu was silent and finally resumed his meal, and swallowed a steak. Then, finally, he sighed:

"I admit it's a difficult choice! Your new group ... do you consider it as another family?"

"It's too early for me to consider it so!"

"Then ask yourself this! Who is the most important thing to you? Your sister or the Jaegers?"

"Do you realize you seem to be trying to corrupt me and force me to betray the Empire?"

"You do what you want!" assured Natsu, finishing his plate. "Your business with your sister doesn't concern me! I just advised you in my own way! Thank you, for the meal!"

Digging through his pants to find a small purse, Natsu suddenly became horrified when he noticed that it wasn't in his place anymore.

"What...? Where's my money? Don't tell me that Leone has gone through my pockets again without me noticing!"

"What's wrong, kid?" The cook asked him. "Do you even have enough money to pay for it?"

"Uh, actually, I...!"

Suddenly putting an empty plate in front of her, Kurome searched her pockets for several gold coins. Putting them on the counter, she said:

"Here's to the meal... and to his meal!"

"Eh?" Natsu wondered.

"It's for the steak you gave me!" Kurome said simply, as she left. "And for your advice! Nevertheless...!"

Stopping in front of the restaurant opening, she said:

"Onee-san made me suffer too much, for me to explain it to her in simple words!"

Then she left.

"An emergency meeting?" Wendy wondered, as she was standing in one of the corridors of the palace.

"Indeed!" approved Run. "Esdeath-sama wants to see everyone in the dining room as soon as possible! I'll go tell Bols! On your side, can you go and see Seryu and Stylish, please?"

"Of course!" Wendy assured him. "Seryu told me that she was just about to get a new modification of her arms! I wonder how it'll turn out!"

"A modification?" Run wondered. "From Stylish, we can expect anything! Well, we'll see when the time comes!"

Seeing him leave, Wendy did the same and immediately went to Stylish's laboratory. Putting her hand on the handle, she suddenly heard the doctor's voice ask:

"What do you think of the 'judgment of the ten kings' that I have just incorporated into her body?"

"That's great!" Seryu assured. "Thank you for everything you've done for me, Dr. Stylish!"

"The fact that you were able to endure the experiments shows that you are a soldier full of talent! So, you are worthy to use all your full powers!"

"For that, no worries! I will show no mercy in the face of Night Raid! With my weapons of justice, nothing can stop me!"

"Weapons?" Wendy wondered. "What is she talking about?"

Moaning suddenly in pain, Seryu put one hand to her forehead and sat down on a seat.

"Anything wrong?" Stylish asked her.

"No, nothing! Just the head still spinning a little!"

"My operation must have tired you out!" Stylish explained. "But now, with this bomb in your head, you'll be able to eradicate all evil from this planet!"

Suddenly opening the door on the fly, Wendy cried out:

"A bomb? What are you talking about?"

"Wendy?" Seryu wondered.

"What do you want?" Stylish asked her.

"What's this story about the bomb you planted in her head?" Wendy wanted to know, as she walked towards him. "Tell me it was a joke on your part!"

"Huh? Of course not! Thanks to my skills, and that bomb, I was able to make Seryu completely perfect! And now her justice can...!"

Suddenly hitting him in the face, Wendy's foot saw him fall against a wall, at the other end of his laboratory.

"You scum!" roared Wendy, out of her. "How could you do something so dangerous?"

"Wendy?" Seryu wondered. "But why did you do that? The doctor wasn't doing anything wrong!"

"Huh?" Wendy said, turning towards her. "He put a bomb in your head! What more do you need to make you understand that he's a madman? Imagine that this operation had killed you! Or that the bomb exploded without your knowledge! It represents a constant risk to your life! Seryu, how could you accept that?"

"I did it for justice!" Seryu taught her, suddenly displaying her psychopathic smile. "With that, Night Raid will be annihilated with no problem! They'll never be able to win! And that way I'll be able to avenge my master Ogre!"

A slap sounded in the room. Looking at the scene, Koro should have attacked immediately when he saw a person hitting his mistress. However, he seemed confused when he noticed that the person who had just slapped her was none other than Wendy. For the child, it was time to stop pretending to appreciate the girl's behavior.

Aghast, too, Seryu put her hand to her sore cheek, while Wendy stared angrily at her:

"Doesn't your life mean anything to you? Seryu, you're completely crazy!"

"Crazy? How am I crazy to want to eradicate evil?!"

"You don't eradicate evil!" Wendy suddenly said. "You've become evil! All because of that bastard Ogre and that guy with glasses who claims to be a doctor!"

Then grabbing her by the top of her dress, Seryu lifted her up to her height, with a raging face:

"How dare you insult them? I forbid you to speak ill of my master and mentor!"

"Seryu...!" Wendy whispered, staring into her eyes. "Your justice is but an illusion! You know what I think! I feel that all you want, deep down inside, is just to kill as many people as possible! You disgust me!"

That's all it took for Seryu's fist to hit her and send her flying away. Yet, managing to stabilize herself, Wendy landed on her feet, facing Seryu, who displayed a face deformed by rage.

"What did you dare to say? I defend all the innocents in this city and my dream is that every one of them can live in peace! I am...! I am...! I am a member of the justice system!"

Staring at her without saying anything, Wendy ended up wiping the blood from her mouth, before finally leaving the room.

"You're so blind that talking to you won't change anything! But I guess this means the end of our friendship!"

Passing by Stylish, who was getting up with difficulty, she barely looked at him, and said:

"If you ever have another such experience, I will kill you!"

The doctor was astonished to see an ounce of hatred in Wendy's eyes.

"Ah also, Esdeath-sama wants everyone to gather in the dining room! So, hurry up!"