"Listen up, you upstairs! You're surrounded. Come down and surrender immediately, or we'll burn this place to the ground!"
Just as Haruki was quietly calculating how to teach the Revolutionary Army and the foreign tribes a painful lesson, a commotion of footsteps erupted from downstairs. Judging by the sound, there were probably around a hundred people.
It was the joint garrison of Revolutionary Army troops and foreign tribes stationed in this small town. After receiving a report that several of their soldiers had been slain in the inn, the commander of this hundred-man force didn't hesitate—he immediately rallied his men to capture Haruki's group.
However, when he saw the mangled corpses of those soldiers—cut clean in half by a furious Kurome, with some trampled beyond recognition by panicked diners fleeing the scene—even the commander felt a chill. Still, unwilling to show weakness in front of his men, he ordered the entire inn surrounded, hoping sheer numbers would force a surrender.
Click...
Hearing the noise from downstairs, those who had been resting instantly leapt out of bed, grabbing their weapons in a flash. After having some of Haruki's food and getting a bit of rest, Akame and the others had clearly regained their energy.
"Haruki, what should we do?" Gozuki asked.
Everyone in the room turned to look at Haruki, waiting for his decision. Among them, he wasn't just the highest-ranking—his strength was also unmatched. And after the shocking scene of him reviving Cornelia with Tenseiga, the others had come to view Haruki as their pillar of support.
"Relax. Don't get so worked up—they're probably not here for you," Haruki said calmly. "On our way up, a few idiots tried to pick a fight with Kurome and got cut down on the spot. This must be the local garrison coming to investigate. Don't worry, I was planning to deal with them anyway—they just saved me the trouble by showing up first."
Hearing that the soldiers downstairs weren't targeting them directly, Gozuki and the others visibly relaxed. The tension from days of living on edge had left its mark, and this bit of reassurance was a relief.
As elite assassins, Gozuki's group could easily gauge that there were no more than a hundred troops below—nowhere near enough to pose a threat to them.
As Haruki and the others descended the stairs, they could see the soldiers at the inn's entrance tense up. The carnage left behind on the first floor had clearly shaken not only the commander but also left a lasting impression on his troops.
"Whoa... so many beautiful girls!"
No one knew who blurted it out, but the remark instantly earned enthusiastic murmurs of agreement from the rest of the soldiers.
The beauty of the girls surrounding Haruki made the soldiers momentarily forget their fear and caution. One by one, they stared in a daze at the women beside him—some even drooling.
The squad leader leading the group couldn't take his eyes off them. His gaze flickered with greed and lechery as he muttered under his breath,
"Damn... this trip really paid off."
Most of the Revolutionary Army's recruits were commoners who had been crushed under the boots of local nobles, barely surviving day to day. Women like the ones around Haruki—gorgeous and radiating a noble air—were something they had never even dreamed of. Back then, even facing a low-ranking noblewoman required them to lower their heads, and catching a glimpse from afar felt like a blessing. As for the southwestern tribesmen, they were even worse. To the people of the Empire, they were little more than savages. Compared to the women of their own tribes, even a plain imperial commoner looked beautiful—let alone the striking women now standing beside Haruki.
Their behavior made Haruki frown deeply. If it were just the usual admiration or envy like he saw in the Imperial Capital, he wouldn't have minded. He might even have felt proud to see others praising the women around him.
But the desire in these men's eyes went far beyond admiration—it was raw, blatant lust. And that ignited a killing intent in Haruki's heart. His women were not for anyone else to covet.
"Is there something you want?"
Haruki's voice was cold as he looked straight at the coalition squad leader. At the sight of that expression, all the women who had come with him from the capital—except Meiki and Meina—immediately sensed what was coming. The last time Haruki had shown that face was when he executed the former Security Minister and his entire household.
The squad leader wasn't hard to identify. These men had all once been poor, but now that he'd managed to claw his way up to a minor officer's position in the coalition, he'd begun flaunting it. His clothing stood out from the rest—not exactly fine silk, but certainly much nicer than the rough hemp uniforms worn by the other soldiers.
...
(40 Chapters Ahead)
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