Chapter 26 Interlude
"So… is that all of your request?" Carefully phrasing her sentence, Najenda feels as if she is completely defeated by this unpredictable man.
A small nod precisely shows Hei's confirmation.
Even though there are dangerous factors in trusting the Black Reaper, the outcome can still be considered a huge success for the revolutionary army.
"Then, I guess we can proceed to introduction." Stretching her mechanical arm, Najenda points to the complaining pinkette.
"This is Mine, she is our long-range sniper. That green one is Lubbock, our trap expert. The other four main offensive members are Bulat, Leone, Sheele, and Akame. I believe you have encountered them before coming here."
"Of course, they are all Teigu users." Briefly introducing the young assassins to Hei, something directly interrupts her chain of thought, "are you a Teigu user as well?"
Wait, does Hei even know what a Teigu is?
"No."
Apparently, he does. Again, one shall never question the effectiveness of Hei's information gathering skills.
"Wait, what?! You are not a Teigu user?" Lubbock's jaw drops for the tenth time today.
"So, you were not fighting Akame with a Teigu from the very beginning?" Bulat takes over Lubbock's shocking expression, but the manly warrior's emotion soon changes from surprise to excitement – the desire for battle.
"That… was certainly impressive…" Leone is not that much different from Bulat and Lubbock, as her eyes widened at the moment when she realized of what this man is capable.
"Humph, that was just luck! I bet Akame can take him down in just a few more rounds." Mine crosses her arms at the reaction of her companions, but the small glimpse of hesitation in her voice has sold her out.
"…" Akame stays quiet as she was from the beginning of the meeting, but her crimson eyes have been locked onto the masked man since the moment she saw him. Something about this man is enlarging her curiosity. She still has questions, but those can wait.
"That is… fair." Najenda observes the masked man. He does not seem to be lying, which only increases her evaluation of his overall skills. Factoring this new piece of information into her analysis, Najenda is beginning to recognize how fortunate she is to have this man as an ally, "if you would like to have a Teigu, there are always some within the higher orders of the revolutionary army, I can arrange…"
"No need."
Okay, that settles it.
"Well, that would be all. May our cooperation be smooth and successful." Mentally deciding that she cannot handle the negotiation with Hei anymore, Najenda concludes the meeting hastily – talking to Hei is just so tiring.
"Ugh… Why do we have to have this guy on our tails? I feel that he is planning something extremely malicious toward us…" The Pinkette is clearly not content with the decision of her Boss.
"Mine, this is the order from the high officials." Sighing heavily, Najenda gently stands up from her seat as the younger girl pulls a dirty face on the Black Reaper.
"I guess this is it, then. Totally looking forward to working with you." Some unknown courage suddenly grasps the busty blonde as she tightly hugs Hei from the back of his seat, showing off her assets like the first time they met.
"…" Casually pushing Leone's arms away from him, Hei mechanically straightens his black jacket.
It is pretty clear that the little lion has not realized who this man is.
"Why so serious? Let us go and show some boiling blood of true men on the battlefield!" The exciting voice of Bulat finally takes over the gloomy atmosphere.
…
"Oh, congratulations on joining us." Out of nowhere, the purple-haired girl responds to the ongoing situation at last.
Sheele, it is a fact that you are a bit slow, but that decision was made about five minutes ago…
…
Rising up from his seat, Hei slowly walks toward the entrance of the room. Each step he takes is calculated to be extremely precise, and each breath he makes is mechanically controlled to the nearest biological second.
"One more thing."
The emotionless sound appears again.
"I will take care of the boy."
"Oh, him." Leone is the first one to realize to which boy Hei is referring, but a small extent of worry instantly takes over, "you are not going to kill him, are you? Come on, I owe him one, just keep him alive, even though I don't think he can become an assassin like the rest of us…"
"I will take care of that."
"Wait, take care of what?"
"His incompetence."
"That means you will keep him alive, right?"
"…"
"Don't just ignore me!"
"I did not."
"Then answer me!"
"I did."
"No, you did not!"
"Such ineptitude of masses."
"UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
…
Hei is fitting in just fine.