Steel Eyed Faker Chapter 5 (Patreon)

Beta read by Paragon of Awesomeness

Before y'all ask, I'm also updating an Archer's Promise in a few minutes. Yes, it's a double update and I plan to do two updates for Fake Familiar Reborn this month as well.

I'm getting the hang of using Voice to Text and it's really helping me speed up the process. My typing speed ain't that great and it's even slower with a laptop that even a primary kid can probably type faster. T-T

Anyways enough of that.

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Throughout the early stages of her life, Seryu Ubiquitous grew up in an average household as part of a loving family. Her father had been serving faithfully in the Imperial military police as a lieutenant with a bright career ahead of him, and her mother kept the house and family functioning as a humble housewife — a normal but happy life that she’d felt blessed to have.

Yet everything changed when one day, her father didn’t return. From the reports she’d read detailing the events of his passing, he’d been killed by members of the accursed Revolutionary Army while aiding one of the small villages just past the Capital’s walls… Having been sent out with a number of his men to protect the villagers from a series of Danger Beast attacks ravaging settlements in the area. But… it had actually been part of a Revolutionary plot to sow chaos and weaken the Capital’s protection, and her father had died because of it. They hadn’t even been able to recover his body. The words within the page she read that day with her shaking hands detailing how he had been ambushed and murdered in cold blood alongside all his most trusted men. This revelation had been so world-shattering that it broke her mother. With no one to support them and unable to find a job herself, her mother chose instead to go and be with her father again, and took her own life.

Just like that, her peaceful, happy life with her family had been completely taken over by tragedy. Tragedy that left deep scars in the very core of the brunette’s heart and soul. All because of the Revolutionary Army…

Left with nothing aside from an empty home that now elicited only painful memories and rapidly dwindling stores of money to feed herself with, Seryu had seriously been contemplating following in her mother's footsteps until she was found by Captain Ogre. It was as if fate itself had decided to give her a second chance, shining a light through the darkness around her with his arrival. That day, she had been trudging along the dirt roads just outside the walls of the Capital, fully prepared to end up as food for a passing Danger Beast, covered in rags and having reached her limit. The girl happened to spot the massive man helping a couple of merchants escape a group of ‘bandits’, people who were reportedly working for the Revolutionary Army and ambushing certain trade lines that merchants used as a route to the Capital.

The same Revolutionary Army that killed her father, and subsequently took everything from her. She had watched in awe as Captain Ogre slaughtered those heinous villains, killing them with his greatsword, and with such little effort. Blood and guts flew everywhere he went, and she found herself entranced by his strength and bravery as he fought off those evildoers in the name of justice. This wondrous sight, coupled with the faces of the innocent who so joyously gazed at this mighty figure with reverence and gratitude as he defended them, captivated Seryu. It was a scene that remained a core memory within the young girl's mind ever since, and formed the foundation of who she aspired to be.

This was the justice her father strived for. And it was a vision that she swore to fulfill in his place. In her father’s name, she would eliminate all traces of evil and give the people reasons to smile.

“Hey brat, what the hell are you looking at? Look at you, barely clinging to life. Humph, keep looking like that and you'll wind up dead by tomorrow at the latest. If you’re gonna keep on being so miserable and pathetic, do me a favor and make sure you die outside the city, I don’t want to waste my time cleaning up the corpse that you will leave behind. Got more important things to do then having my men cleaning shit off the street..” He spoke harshly at first, frightening the girl who didn't know how to respond.

“Hmm… Then again, judging by how you reacted to me crushing the skulls of this sorry lot, perhaps you do want to do something worthwhile with yourself? Wait…” He crouched down and grabbed Seryu by the chin as he examined her face. “Girl… you look a lot like Lieutenant Ubiquitous. There a reason for that?”

Upon telling him she was the man’s daughter, he grinned. “Hahahaha! Yes, I see it now! Gotta say, you may be skinny as a twig, but I can see a fire burning in those eyes, girl. If you want to avenge your dear ol’ dad and kill the ones responsible, join the army! Or if you sign on with the military police, I’ll see to it that you’ll be placed under my command. Hell! I'll go a step further and take you on as my student if you're even a tenth as good as your old man was.”

Maybe it was something as flippant as a joke or a phrase he mentioned in the spur of the moment that drove the decision she made — something that held no real meaning or intent — but she didn't care.

From that moment, the brunette knew what to do with her life. A revelation that dawned on Seryu in her darkest moment, creating a purpose for the girl that she previously lacked… So, she joined the military police to protect the Capital. Just like her father.

As soon as she received her uniform, she had hit the ground running, exceeding every possible expectation. Seryu had worked herself to exhaustion every single day without complaint, and invested everything she had into her new role. It didn't take long before Ogre noticed her exceptional diligence and promptly decided that she was worthy to take in as his personal apprentice.

For the most part, the Captain turned out to be very different from what the rumors suggested. He was strict and demanded the best from his troops, but he wasn't some bloodthirsty monster swinging his sword around at every possible chance. Such rumors had been whispered from every corner of the barracks from day one, but from her own experience she had found them to be baseless. Rather, when she gazed at the Captain she saw a gentle giant with a strong sense of justice, one who upheld the very essence of protecting the weak and innocent and smiting any villain who would try. The only reason he was called ‘Ogre the Demon’ was because he was so thorough in stomping out evil everywhere he turned his gaze that the wretched villains who were still hiding out there had tried to turn public opinion against him by planting rumors, but her Captain turned that little plot around on them and took the moniker as a mark of honor.

He quickly became a father figure who helped Seryu in her time of need, teaching the cadet basically everything from swordsmanship to martial arts to ranged combat. She wanted to spread his ideals to the rest of the Empire, inspiring the people to purge all of evil and injustice plaguing the continent. Each day she saw how even people living right in the heart of the Empire — a place that by all rights should be thriving from top to bottom — starved and died on the streets. It was all because of the chaos brought forth by the Revolutionary Army, who wanted nothing more than power, and didn;t care what they had to do in order to take it. Those villains were willing to sacrifice the lives of countless innocents just so they could attain absolute control.

She hated them. Seryu absolutely despised them with all of her heart. Her greatest hope was to one day personally drive a sword through the heart of the leader figures — especially those of Night Raid who as of last night were responsible for the death of her dear Captain along with many of Ogre’s colleagues. She would purge the Capital of these people who sought to cause unrest with their incessant killing. Wretched criminals who disguised themselves as allies of justice when in fact they were servants of the Devil.

But she knew she couldn’t just go off and do this on her own. Seryu was all too aware of the limitations that plagued her body, and that as much as she threw herself into her training, she couldn’t hope to take on a group of evil assassins that had been practicing their vile ways for decades, and were evidently skilled enough that not even the captain had been a match for them. She wasn’t like Captain Ogre, who could easily swing a blade twice her size with little trouble, and that even he had fallen to their evil showed Seryu the level she needed to reach. Thankfully, before he died her captain had given the girl another gift and promised her power to fight off evil.

Him and his friend Dr. Stylish made sure that she would be able to attain her dream and create a world of justice filled with peace. A world where no one would cry, where no one would get hurt or die because of senseless acts of evil. She was going to be the ultimate weapon of justice.

Furthermore, there was another viable method for her to combat evil. She would take it upon herself to train the newest recruits to become soldiers worthy of the title of Defenders of Justice. Fresh cadets who reminded Seryu of herself, those who wanted to fight evil forces with their own hands. She did her best to inspire every single one of them, but few were ever truly receptive to her dreams of delivering justice, but they did their duty all the same in keeping the citizens safe. And eventually, she even found a person whose aspirations fully resonated with her heart.

“Tatsumi,” she recalled.

An odd boy, chock full of confidence and even arrogance, he’d claimed to be the best swordsman in his village and thus could beat any of the trainees in the barracks. To give him some credit, he did in fact beat everyone and with relative ease. His skills with the blade, though a bit rusty and excessively showy, was nicely executed with years of experience. It became clear to Seryu that he had used this to combat both bandits and Danger Beasts in the past, but it was her duty as his superior to teach him humility and not be consumed by the arrogance of youth… So she proceeded to narrowly beat him at his own game, surprisingly. He actually had the skills to back up his words, the last moment of their duel she had to use her enhancements to secretly gain the advantage.

But even then she felt as if the boy went easy on her, his face at the end blushing for some unknown reason as he kept stuttering. He must have felt bad for accidentally cutting her uniform.

But instead of throwing a tantrum or even calling her names like she expected from the boy, he instead smiled looking at her with wonder and excitement that rendered her a bit flustered at first. She hadn’t been sure how to react, yet he kept showering her with compliments and asking her to train him. He told her how he wanted to be the best soldier he could be, and that his goal was to earn lots of money and send it back to his home village to help it prosper.

While his dream hadn’t quite been what Seryu had been hoping for, she’d been glad to learn that Tatsumi had joined the military for more selfless reasons than most cadets. And his eyes held the flame of passion that she saw in herself whenever looking at the mirror, and she’d been confident that she would be able to stoke that fire into a blaze of justice in no time at all.

Yet once again, life proved that it could be quite finicky in the worst of ways.

Not even two days had gone by before she was told that not only was Tatsumi a spy for the Revolutionary Army, but he was also a slaver. Captain Ogre had personally pieced together his crimes, while she had been too enamored with his lies to see the evil lurking beneath, Seryu had felt betrayed and heartbroken that the image of the innocent, eager young recruit had been nothing more than a front, and in truth he was just another bloodthirsty monster who thrived in chaos — just like the villains that killed her father, and apparently he had the audacity to claim he was innocent for hours after being arrested.

But that was far from the worst of what was to come, as she learned upon waking up the very next morning. During the night prior to what was meant to be Tatsumi’s execution, he had managed to escape from his cell. And while there was no evidence directly linking the two, she highly doubted that the assassination of Captain Ogre along with a merchant he’d been meeting with and numerous guards present at the time was a coincidence. It was one tragedy after another with that traitor, for what he’d done, simply attending his execution wouldn’t be enough. She would hunt him down and kill him herself before feeding whatever remained to Koro.

“…”

Precious memories passed through her eyes as she gazed at the burning pyre where Ogre’s body was being cremated. She was attending along with a couple of soldiers holding the usual ceremony for his passing, her sunken eyes devoid of any emotion.

“A true shame,” said a tall and slim, young man with black hair and a small, white streak or patch of hair on the left side and blue eyes, and a thin stubble. He wore glasses, a yellow suit with a blue shirt, a tie and white lab coat. “Captain Ogre did not deserve such a fate. The world needs more people like him to keep the Capital from collapsing while the Generals are busy working in other areas in the Empire to keep the savages in check. Now with no one left to take his place, I'm afraid this place will turn even more dangerous than usual. Hah, what a shame indeed.”

Seryu clenched her hands, Tatsumi… this was all because of him! Those damned Revolutionaries and their Night Raid assassins! Why… why did they do this? What did they gain from ruining the lives of innocents!?

Evil monsters, all of them!

“Doctor… about the procedure you spoke about before… I'm willing to do it.” She recalled the Procedure that Ogre told her about, how the Doctor had the means to further modify her body.

“Hm? Are you certain? I should warn you that there is a high chance that you could die in the process Of course, with my superb skills, I would personally not be worried about anything like that happening under my care; letting a treasured friend such as yourself die because of my own efforts to further perfect your body with my elegant science would be most unstylish~!” He joked, but Seryu was in no mood to laugh. She just steeled herself about her decision.

“I know. I need to become stronger if I’m to become a true ally of justice and protect the Capital, like Captain Ogre used to do.” And to eliminate those evildoers who killed Captain Ogre and her father.

Dr. Stylish, meanwhile, couldn't help but grin. He may have lost a good ally, but he had gained a loyal toy and willing test subject all in one.

And she even had a biological Teigu for him to tinker with!

Quiet the stylish boon for him to gain.

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“Another body?”

After her mentor's passing, the assignment of another Captain to take his position would take at least a day or two, and with all the cleanup they had to do at the scene of the murders coupled with the ongoing investigation, Seryu had needed to step up to responsibilities that would normally be expected from someone who was at least an officer. Despite only being a sergeant, her status as Ogre's apprentice was known by everyone in the barracks, thus they all came to report to her for the time being while many of the officers tried to figure out the chain of command and who among them would be promoted.

“Yes, Sergeant. A team just discovered him in one of the rundown alleyways a distance away from Gamal's manor. One of our men stumbled upon the body by pure accident and called it in. As you can see, there are plenty of signs of a fierce battle that must have taken place here, even the surrounding roadway and buildings have gashes. We've finished identifying the deceased as Zank the Beheader, the mass murderer who it was believed had managed to sneak into the Capital a short time ago, though the details on how or why are unclear.” Her fellow MP gestured to their surroundings where Seryu indeed saw plenty of evidence of an intense fight.

“His right forearm and left thigh were cut well into the bone, and then there’s the slice that went into his shoulder and down through much of his torso, all very clean cuts with a blade that must have been incredibly sharp and durable. Seems the killer decided to be extra thorough and finish things off with what looks like a stab to the neck.”

The body before her had long since turned ice cold with no signs of life, still fresh enough that it hadn't fully started to decompose. Though that didn't stop various insects and rats from eating a large chunk of the flesh that had previously been gushing blood. The sight was gruesome enough that she would have vomited in the past, but now felt completely numb. That whatever weapon had killed this criminal had also been able to cleanly slice through bone was the main reason they had any insight into how he’d died.

“Zank… wasn't he supposed to have a Teigu on him?” She questioned, recalling the details of his file. This agent of chaos and evil was someone she’d initially wanted to apprehend and personally deliver justice to, but it seemed like someone else beat her to it.

“Indeed, Spectator, from what's mentioned in the reports. Unfortunately, the enemy forces who killed Captain Ogre must have also targeted Zank and taken it away.”

Again, those Night Raid assassins turned another of the sacred gifts from the First Emperor against his people! They must have rushed to the Capital after they learned that Tatsumi was captured in order to not have him rat them out, and also took the chance to cause further chaos by taking out a pillar of the Capital’s military police. “Right, leave these reports on my desk, I'll handle them myself until I’m able to pass them on to the new Captain once they’re in office.”

Truth be told, she wasn't feeling comfortable, and was having trouble mustering up the will to work. She wished to have at least a few moments of peace to digest the recent death of her only remaining parental figure. As part of the Imperial Police though, she knew all too well that just a moment of rest was all the forces of evil needed to plant their seeds of destruction anywhere in the Capital.

Still… Couldn’t she be allowed a few hours to herself to grieve? Or at least leave things to her comrades?

How she wished it could be so. But evil never sleeps, and thus justice could not afford to either.

“Woof!”

Her mood brightened momentarily as the little black and white creature that resembled a dog, started to rub its head against her leg. The little animal comforted the girl with its small beady eyes staring back at her. She picked him up and hugged the little thing, “At least I still have you, Koro.” She whispered to her companion and partner.

“Woof!”

“Yeah, we'll find those evil people who killed Captain Ogre, and bring them to justice.” With Koro equally dedicated to serving justice and getting rid of all evil in the Capital, Seryu swore to eradicate the entirety of Night Raid one day. Lost in her own thoughts, she didn't notice the dog starting to wiggle free from her grasp. Koro turned its head towards the other side of the street, those dark beads shining before its nose started to sniff something out.

The small animal barked once again, this time more loudly as an attempt to gain its owner's attention. But the girl still was in the middle of dealing with her emotions and continued to hug and treat it no different to a comfort pillow.

“Grrrrr!”

So with some effort and squeezing through the iron hug, Koro managed to slip out from Seryu’s arms and jumped to the ground as she was brought back to reality from the sudden action.

“Koro?” She called out to her pet, but to no avail as the biological Teigu immediately ran off into the distance, disappearing within the crowd of people on the other side of the street as its owner hastily tried to catch up to it. “W-Wait where are you going? Come back here, don't leave me behind! Bad dog!”

The brunette did not waste any time and tried to follow it through the dense crowd, pushing past one person after the other, muttering constant apologies each time someone looked at her with annoyance. Unable to wear anything but a helpless face as their complexion turned pale from seeing her attire before rushing away. “Hah… those Revolutionaries have even ruined the reputation of the Imperial Police Force. We are their sworn protectors, after all.”

No wonder Captain Ogre no longer dealt with the civilians and left her to handle such matters. But she was determined to change their view of them one day!

“Moh… where the heck did he go!?” She wondered why her partner started behaving so oddly. Seryu made sure to feed Koro several death row prisoners this morning at the dungeon, so its appetite should have been fully satisfied!

The chase continued on for another ten minutes, with Seryu managing to keep up thanks to crowds being quick to get out her way and catching glimpses of Koro as her little partner ran through half the district. As the chase continued, an increasingly frustrated Sergeant stopped trying to use words to get through him. Worry started to settle in her mind as she continued to give chase. Dr. Stylish never mentioned anything about a Teigu like Koro losing control and trying to run off somewhere without its master’s permission., So she was certain that such a thing couldn't be the case, but as Koro continued to not heed her commands, doubts started to creep in.

Or maybe… Koro must have catched or caught a set of the murderer? No, that couldn't be it. If that were the case then its behavior would have been very much different, and her partner knew how to inform her about such a development, which certainly didn't consist of running away.

Nor was Koro growling nor showing any sign of hostility. In fact if she was seeing things correctly, her dog instead looked quite… joyous? “Don't tell me Koro smelled the presence of another female dog like him!?”

Did such a thing even exist? What was she supposed to do in this situation? “Ah, that must be it!” Of course, in the end, Koro was still a living and breathing dog who had needs. How naive of her to believe it wouldn't behave like a dog despite being an artificially created weapon. Just because Dr. Stylish said it couldn’t happen, didn't mean that he was completely right. The older-looking man just lacked the experience when it came to raising a pet and that meant that she knew more about this than him. Maybe she could get him a pet dog for his next birthday present? The man should have more company aside from her. Though, from her interactions with him, he’d most likely dissect the poor animal instead of playing with them.

Might have to save that as a last resort.

Regardless, Seryu did not stop her pursuit, nor did she give up anytime soon as the minutes continued to tick by and the girl found herself running across the every giant maze known as the Capital and through never ending suffocating crowds for nearly an half an hour, she finally saw him start to slow down and circle around a building in the distance where there weren't as many people as before, and she got a clear view of her dog.

“Finally! Just what has gotten into you, Koro? I don’t see any other dogs here… Did I give you something bad to eat?” She asked him yet the animal did not seem to register her words, wagging its small tail as it stood in front of a tavern.

Now Seryu had to wonder… Did her partner want to have a drink? Though her question got instantly answered as two people stepped outside. It was mid-to-late afternoon, and this part of the district wasn't as crowded as the area where she came from just a few minutes ago. The first was a golden blonde and beautiful woman in rather scanty clothes that made her blush a bit at the daring outfit that revealed a lot more skin that barely hid her curvaceous form and bountiful assets. A scarf around her neck, followed by a tall young man that was most certainly not from the Capital. His eyes were the color of steel while his hair was white with red streaks, strangely enough. Features like those typically meant he was someone of northern descent, yet his tanned skin pointed to his ancestry being more to the Empire’s western territories. Was he of mixed heritage between the two, perhaps?

Koro instantly moved the second that the male became visible, jumping from the ground and eagerly rushing toward the young man without hesitation. A sight that shocked her for a brief moment, as for a second Seryu believed that her partner was about to attack him. Yet in the following seconds, her partner did not show any sign of such behavior. Neither fangs or even a growl came from its mouth. Instead it released a cute as the stranger turned his attention towards the small animal just in time to catch it in his hands as it jumped towards him, whereupon it immediately began to lick and snuggle into his hands. Confusion spread across his face and eyes as he looked at it and back at the girl next to him.

The latter changed her expression from shock to amusement as she visibly tried to hold in her laughter, but to no avail. “Hahahahahaha! Would you look at that Archer, you made yourself a little friend.”

{Break}

(A few minutes earlier)

"So there I was, surrounded by enemy troops on all sides as they closed in, forcing me and Bulat into a corner. I was running low on stamina, and he was about to reach his limit in that armor of his. Yessir, it really was a precarious situation we’d found ourselves in, and we hadn’t even had the chance to properly sleep or take a real break with back-to-back missions for an entire week, which let me tell you wore us down a lot. But then I decided, fuck it! Even if I was on death’s door, no way in hell was I gonna let a bunch of no-name losers be the end of this King of Beasts no matter how many of them there were! So I prepared to unleash my ultimate attack, which totally exists and I absolutely didn't just make up on the spot for the sake of a cooler story. But then, right as I’m about to save the day and show everyone my awesomeness, out of nowhere Akame and the boss showed up and decimated all of the foes around us. The boss went a step further and unleashed dozens of shots within a couple of seconds all around us with Pumpkin, killing damn-near every single released tamed Danger Beast and Imperial soldier within the area while Akame took out the guys that were in cover. And so with all my thunder stolen right out from under me, I finally let the exhaustion win out. And when I woke up, before I even knew it the first thing out of my mouth was me moaning and whining about how unfair and stupidly powerful the boss’ Teigu is! I mean sure, that was dumb of me since the boss was right there next to my bed and had just pulled my butt out of the fire, but seriously, it's like the ultimate long ranged weapon!”

Leone continued to ramble on while she and Archer relaxed in a private booth where they didn’t have to worry about their conversations being overheard by any of the patrons. A good number of empty mugs stacked up in a sloppy pyramid on her side of the table as she was working on her ninth pint of mead of the afternoon. Cheeks flushed crimson red, her eyes hazily stared at the man in front of her as he continued to be a cold, stuck-up prick, having not so much as touched his own mug, still full to the brim with good mead that was going to waste.

"Come on!" Leone said with pained frustration, nearly toppling the mugs when she slammed her hand on the table "You have no idea how long me and Bulat were working for this assignment. All the nights I spent with barely any sleep while patrolling the area, gathering information, making sure we wouldn't get ambushed or found out, and learning the behaviors of our targets. If I had known she could have done that from the start, I wouldn't have gone through all the trouble for no reason. Like seriously, can you even imagine how broken that Teigu is? Especially in our line of work?”

“I believe I do have an idea.” Emiya commented with a dry voice, having listened to another one of Leone's many stories about her past missions, ranging from assassination, collecting lost Teigus, scouting, and information gathering. Despite his initial expectations, it turned out that the woman had experienced a lot of grim scenarios — more so than he imagined. Many of her stories involved brutal details about targets torturing civilians similar to the Karlenns, followed by gruesome details of her traversing through war zones, surrounded by rotting corpses, hiding within the piles just to kill one target.

Though she made it clear that it only happened once but that it was something that she would like to avoid from doing at all possible again, as even spending an entire day in the bath afterwards was not enough to get rid of the scent of rotting flesh and blood, and she’d done her best to avoid transforming with her Teigu for over a week afterward, as the smell was worse in her Teigu form.

"While this is very interesting and all," Emiya interrupted, not wanting the buxom blonde woman to go on another rant while drowning in booze, "but I do believe the others are waiting for us. We shouldn't make them wait any longer than necessary, and our new guest might get a bit too antsy the longer we stay here." While he was curious to hear more of such stories involving Leone, Bulat, Mine, Akame, and even Najenda, they were short on time, and he had to make sure that no one would catch up to them within the Empire’s forces.

Last time he found himself being tailed. He’d only had to deal with mere foot soldiers with little combat experience. Taking on numerous enemies more akin to Ogre in skill, or even multiple general-class opponents, many of whom wielded destructive Teigus, was not a risk he was willing to take. Especially when he wasn't a Servant with boosted physical attributes and contracted to a Master with plenty of Magical Energy.

Already, the assassination of Captain Ogre, and Gamal had created a lot of tension, and the rumors of someone skilled enough to also kill Zank the Beheader wasn’t exactly helping either. At the crack of dawn, hundreds of soldiers were crawling over the entire district, searching for the smallest of clues that could lead them to the killers, going from house to house in pursuit of anything that could lead them to the culprits. He could understand their reaction, given that this was something involving one of their commanders, and that the explosion at the Kalrenn mansion had also happened very recently, spooking a lot of the residents. It all had the secondary effect of making the military police look weak and incompetent at their job. Fortunately, Leone did not have a wanted poster with her face, unlike Najenda and most of the group, letting her continue to walk around the city without too many issues. And barely anyone knew his current face; even those who had knew him in the past would be hard-pressed to recognize him due to his recent physical changes.

The only person who would recognize him aside from his sister wasn't in the Capital, and neither were the Two Beasts. He doubted that even Honest would recognize him, since they only met face to face only once in the past. ‘If I knew what kind of monster he really was, I would have killed him right then and there.’

Didn't matter, not like he possessed the ability to see into the future, and back then the fat old bastard hadn’t held the office of Prime Minister yet.

"What's the rush, Emiya?" Leone downed another mug of mead, before letting out a satisfied belch and placing it on top of her pyramid of mugs. "We just got here, and no one is going to be searching for us specifically. I know how these people operate, I've been dealing with them for years at this point. Even if, by some miracle, they find out who we are and that we’re here, the owner of this tavern has a secret exit we can use to escape. So, let's not worry about such things and have some fun together! You know..." she trailed off with a teasing tone as she leaned in,

"Get to have some quality time with a sexy young woman like me. Plus, it is my responsibility as your senior to make sure you're really worthy to be part of the Night Raid. Make sure your… stamina is up to the task.”

“...”

It took a second for the drunken girl to catch up with what she said, and she quickly shook her head. “What am I saying? You already are a member, the boss said so herself. And with how you can cook, Akame won't let you go after having a taste of your food. She'd probably drag you back and lock you in the kitchen if you tried to leave, and I wouldn’t even blame her."

Upon hearing those words, Emiya shook his head in disbelief and humor. That crazy girl's appetite reminded him of a certain foolish king from his younger self's alternate timeline. That petite woman had an appetite that would make many stare in shock and he wouldn’t blame them. He knew very little about Akame, other than her prior association with the Empire, where she used to be a child assassin working under Honest's administration. He hadn't bothered asking Najenda for any more than necessary, knowing that if she believed Akame was trustworthy, then he had nothing to worry about at the moment. The same applied to the other members that had decided to join her sister, many of whom were former soldiers of the Imperial Army or have been affected by the terrible machinations of the Empire nobles. Though he wasn't certain about Leone's past, it wouldn't be a stretch to assume she had a similar history or, in some way, had been wronged by the Empire and now sought revenge.

The way she acted and her general style of fighting frankly made it seem highly unlikely for her to have ever been a member of the military.

"Anyway, while I did enjoy our little talk here, why exactly did you invite me to join you out here for this conversation?" Emiya squinted his eyes, suspicious of her behavior but willing to hear her out.

"Would you believe that my only intentions here are to get to know you better?" Leone replied. "After all, you're this big mysterious figure that suddenly popped out of nowhere. The boss never talked about you before at all, and when you do show up I get multiple testimonies followed by myself personally witnessing that you’re a certified badass, so it got me curious, you know? So now that it’s just the two of us, tell me, handsome, why did you leave your dear big sister to fend off against the Empire all by herself? Ah, just to specify, I am not blaming you or anything. I'm genuinely curious.”

Emiya hummed, considering how to answer that question, as he didn't exactly have anything to hide in that context. "The explanation isn't as complex or tragic as you might be expecting. I, like Najenda, had the Empire hunting me down for treason after I chose to defect with her. We were attacked while on the road by another general, and if we had both stayed together, then we would have faced twice as much of a challenge in trying to hide from the enemy. But since I went my separate way, we were able to split their efforts and not have them unite to find us."

In his case, he just needed to separate a singular person out of everyone. That woman alone frankly represented a far bigger threat than every general and soldier within the Empire's forces combined.

Leone nodded, sensing there was more to the story than he was letting on. Was there a piece of information he was possibly hiding? It only fueled her curiosity about his past.

"And what about that Teigu you used? Last I checked, L’Arc Qui Ne Faut is already in the possession of another member of our group, though she’s a bit of a huge arrogant ass. While it is a very useful Teigu, it has never shown to be as awesome and powerful as yours. I think Pumpkin might be the closest to being that destructive. Hell, no matter how many books about Teigus I go through, I can't find anything that looks even close to that weapon you use. Think you can show me more of it?"

Oh, ‘the bow which never fails’ as it was called in their language. An interesting Teigu, one of the few weapons he genuinely tried to get his hands on in the past. Not out of desire to use it for himself but rather just to witness how useful it actually was. Though he held no belief that it would ever replace his own bow, as his was specifically made to suit his style and fire far heavier projectiles at distances beyond the one capable with L'Arc Qui Ne Faut. And he doubted that bow would ever be capable of firing Broken Phantasms.

But still, the ability to always hit a target by just saying their name regardless of where the arrows were shot, was undeniably useful. He would know, having a few similar Noble Phantasms in his own arsenal that he uses from time to time.

Emiya decided to throw a bone at the chatty blonde, "The reason why you can't find my bow in any books regarding Teigus is very simple: it is not a Teigu in the first place. No supernatural abilities, energy cells, or any monster components remotely similar to anything you have in mind. It's made from a metal alloy harder and lighter than regular steel. I might be willing to demonstrate its capability to you, but it’ll have to be at a later time — certainly not right here in the Capital of all places"

That threw the woman in a loop, and accidentally knocked over the stacked mugs, “Wait, you can't be serious. Then what the heck was that thing that blew up the manor! Come on handsome, you have to give me something here… I'll even let you share a bath with me!”

Emiya sighed, she was definitely far too drunk to be having this conversation. “I'll say it again, I have no Teigu on me. What you saw was something else that I would prefer to keep secret for now. If you’re so desperate to know more though, my sister may be willing to share a little with you, but that’s up to her.” While they were both ‘part of the team,’ they had only just met, and under no circumstances was he comfortable revealing the existence of Noble Phantasm, let alone Magecraft to these people. Even Najenda only knew half of the story, having made it clear that she didn't care that much about the details as long as he could protect himself.

"Fine, keep your secrets. Guess I’ll have to try to catch the boss while she’s in a good mood. Maybe I should buy her some premium smokes?” Leone grabbed her head, feeling drowsy while contemplating a plan on buttering up Najenda. “Let's go back to the fortress… The boss will kill me if I hang out with you for too long. The last thing I want to deal with is an overprotective big sister worrying about her precious little brother hanging out with a beautiful woman past his curfew."

He rolled his eyes at her words. "Oh please, the last thing Najenda should be doing — other than worrying about her own circumstances — is worry about me of all people, given what I’ve been doing for the last three years. Frankly I’d be more worried about certain members of the team, who seem to be overhyping themselves, to say nothing of that boy we just rescued. If he does something stupid in the future, he’d better not be looking to me to save his sorry ass again. I won’t waste my time on suicidal idiots."

“Damn handsome. You're a pretty cold guy, aren’t ya?”

“Only to those that deserve it. Now let’s go. I’m getting tired of this place.”

As they finished their drinks, they walked out of the tavern, unnoticed by passing soldiers who didn't recognize their faces. Emiya suddenly stopped as a white figure darted towards him at great speed. "What the…?" He barely had time to react but managed to catch the small figure, which turned out to be a bizarre, little dog-like creature.

“A dog?”

“Woof!”

The small critter barked with its small tongue licking his cheeks, the scene only serving to confuse the Counter Guardian as he questioned where this mutt came from, while doing his best to keep the little guy away from him. Leone by his side started laughing as the creature tried to lick at his face again while squirming in Archer’s hold.

"Hahahahahaha! Would you look at that, Archer. You made yourself a little friend! And it’s a real cutie too!” she said as he held the dog as far away from his face as he could. Just as he was dropping the little thing, he heard the voice of someone in the distance. A young brunette girl approached them, covered in sweat and panting heavily as if she had been sprinting for a while. She tried to speak, but she could barely breath from all the running, and the added weight of her armor didn’t help her much. Pulling on the collar of her shirt to help cool herself off while she slightly leaned on the wall of the building.

“...dogs generally don't like me.”

A certain Lancer came to mind.

"Excuse… me, sir… I am… very sorry… for Koro’s behavior… He… he usually doesn't behave like this, I swear." she said between pants while taking the dog from him and trying to get it back under control. The little thing started to whine, trying to go over to him again, but was unable to, much to Emiya’s relief. "You shouldn't be troubling people for no reason, Koro. They will think you are a bad dog, and people are already on edge with the recent incidents."

"You are from the military police," noted Emiya as he gazed at the badge on her breastplate. "A sergeant, if I’m not mistaken."

The brunette's eyes shone brightly at his words, "Correct! My name is Seryu Ubiquitous, sergeant of the division directly under Captain Ogr—," she stopped mid-sentence, remembering a detail that made her smile dim down. Yet she tried to put it back by force. "I am a sergeant entrusted to protect this district and its citizens from any criminals. I'll be working here for the foreseeable future. If you have any complaints or problems, please do not be afraid to contact me," she said with pride while thumping her chest.

Emiya just nodded politely while Leone became oddly silent behind him, her attention focused elsewhere as he continued to speak with the Brunette. “I see, I will make sure to remember that name.”

"Wait, you're not from the Capital, are you?” she asked, a question to which Archer just nodded his head. No need to tell this girl that he’d lived in the Capital for much of his current childhood.

“Then you must be from the northern region… or from one of the tribes near the western region? A-Anyway, since this must be a new environment for you, please do not be afraid to seek me out in case you need help with anything as long as you’re in the Capital. Though the streets may be a bit unsettling with the recent attacks from rebels and bandits, I give you my personal guarantee that no harm shall befall you or any other civilians with me here. Ah, and I also know some good places all around the capital, so if you’re having trouble navigating I can show you certain places if you want. They'll even give you a special discount if I ask." This was a good idea in Seryu's mind, the only way to get over her mentor's death for the day and get some peace of mind was to resume her duty as a sergeant and help the local population with their issues however she could.

Also a great way to apologize to the man for Koro's antics, something she still wanted to try and figure out. But for Koro to have taken so well to this young man, he had to be a true and genuine ally of justice as well! Perhaps if they crossed paths again, she’d see if he also wanted to help protect the people of the Empire from evil and serve justice?

"You don't need to worry about me; I’m good at finding my own way around this place, and even made some friends to show me around and have even made some local friends as you can see right here, and they know the area well enough to warn me where to go and where not to go. So while I don’t believe I’m personally in need of your service, I do thank you for the kind offer, Sergeant, and for your dedication to protecting this city and its people." Emiya said calmly while the girl’s smile grew bigger at each word that passed his lips.

“T-Thank you!” She bowed, not used to civilians treating her so favorably without stuttering nervously or acting highly cautious around her or her comrades. It honestly felt refreshing to see genuine gratitude, and helped remind her why she took this job in the first place, and what she worked toward. “Times may be hard for many right now, but I'll try my best to maintain justice and save everyone who needs help!”

For a brief moment, Seryu saw the man freeze up, but just as quickly he was back to his normal, relaxed self. Huh… she must have imagined it.

“Is that so…? Hah, who am I to stop you. Good luck on that path, you'll need it.” The man walked away, waving his hand at the cheerful brunette whose spirits seemed to have risen from this conversation. Though as the duo left the capital and reached the forest, their demeanor changed as a much more somber atmosphere surrounded them.

“Do you think she actually recognized us? I got worried there for a second.” Leone asked Emiya under her breath.

"Unlikely. I don’t know why that creature came at us like that, but she seemed more confused if anything else, was wondering why it was acting like that. Though, she’s not the one that I’m worried about, compared to that thing with her," Emiya replied, looking down at his hands where he held the dog. “I nearly attacked it.” Even though he had extensively researched Teigu in the past, this was the first time he encountered a purely biological one. A living Teigu that took the form of a simple dog. The moment he caught it, Emiya by habit ended up using Structural Analysis as he also felt something off about said creature. “Hekatonkheires… I remember now.”

Last he recalled, that thing didn't have a wielder yet, so she must have gotten it very recently.

Still, that… that was a close one. He was concerned that perhaps the dog had reacted to his scent if Seryu checked Zank's body. Or perhaps she hadn't done so and he got lucky? “No… it knew.” He had no proof to back up that claim, but the way the creature looked at him back then made Emiya recall similar sensations he felt during instances involving other Teigus that he’d briefly held, such as Spectator after he took it from Zank’s corpse.

“Is something the matter?” Leone asked, looking back at him to see him staring at nothing. He’d been lost in his thoughts for the past few minutes.

He shook his head to clear it. “Nothing, let's go.”

In the middle of the road, she moved to grab a hold of Archer’s arm and buried it between her bountiful chest, giving the taller man a teasing grin, “By the way, when should we have our next date? I had a lot of fun today, and wouldn’t mind hanging out more.”

She wouldn't stop with this, would she?

So, just for this occasion he decided to play along.

“How about… when Night Raid no longer has a need to exist.”

“Bleh, what's with that vague answer bullshit? But fine, I'll hold you to that promise. So you’d better remember it after I crack Honest's head open with my bare fists.” She smashed her fists together with a predatory smirk, traces of bloodlust seeping through her expression at the thought of killing Honest.

He chuckled, starting to like the blonde's enthusiasm “Good to know I’ll have some things to look forward to when this is over.” In truth though, it was far more likely that either he or Najenda would end up killing that man given their range advantage.

Though in his mind, there was also a possibility: that Esdeath would beat them all to it. The moment that fat slob pushed too far with her, there would be nothing to stop her from freezing the entire Imperial Palace with Honest right at the heart of her rampage.

After all, she wasn't loyal at all to the Empire, only to herself.

“Wait… I just realized this right now. That girl literally asked you out!” Leone gasped, giving Archer a shocked look, “That whole spiel she gave about showing you around the Capital, it’s almost the exact same thing I offered you right after you killed Zank…” The blonde exclaimed with an exaggerated pouting face, as he was the one that wronged her. “And you were acting all nice and polite with her, even though you already had a beautiful girl right next to you for the entire day drinking with.”

“Huh?” Even Emiya was caught off guard by her words and took a moment to recall their interaction before he let out a huff of amusement. “As hard as it may be for you to comprehend, that girl was most likely just trying to be helpful in her own way. She didn't even realize how her words could have been interpreted and just threw whatever came to mind without much of a thought. As for me, I was more focused on keeping an eye on that dog of hers, and wasn’t too concerned on trying to read between the lines looking for hidden intentions that do not exist. Trust me when I say that fools who ramble on about justice and whatnot are painfully forthright with their intentions.”
.

.

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-Revolutionary Army Medical Outpost-

(A few hours later)

While being left in his cell after his conversation with the red clad man, Tatsumi remembered a pair of women showing up, who promptly broke open his cell and hogtied him with a blindfold placed over his eyes, and the next thing he knew he was being whisked away to parts unknown. He’d tried to resist, but was met with a swift jab to his neck that rendered him unconscious. As soon as he woke up, a rather rude man with green hair who looked to be around his age brought him a meal and told him to eat up before following him to this place.

Initially, Tatsumi had wanted to attack him, getting the idea that he must have been captured by the Night Raid, and they were going to torture him for information about the Empire. But the guy with the goggles just rolled his eyes and muttered the following phrase. "Don't overestimate yourself, you little shit. From what I got from the boss, my brother-in-law took some pity on you and decided to help you out as an act of kindness. The only reason you are here is because someone asked you to be here. Also… don't you dare get too comfortable with the girls! I already got enough compe—" Tatsumi had more or less tuned out the rest of the conversation — if it could even be called that — from then onward, as the green haired individual started to ramble without showing signs of stopping.

Having no idea what this person was referring to, Tatsumi was dragged inside a tent outside of wherever he’d been brought to, where he was met with a most horrifying sight.

He couldn't believe his eyes as he stood in front of two people connected to various contraptions keeping them alive. Two mangled bodies covered in scars and wounds so deep and deadly that they still hadn't fully healed while other parts hadn't been fully disinfected yet, even after more than a day in emergency care. A strangled cry left his mouth, and his hands began shaking. The boy slowly approached the beds and rested one hand on the boy to the right. “Ieyasu…” Then he used his other hand to caress the cheek of the girl on the left. “Sayo?”

His voice trembled as he tried to wrap his head around the scene before him. A horrible reality that a part of him still refused to believe. He wanted to deny it and treat everything that had happened so far as nothing but a terrible nightmare.

Tatsumi tried his best to close his eyes and pinch himself awake, but to no avail. Tears began streaming down his face as he found that there was no denying the horrible fate that had befallen his friends. They had both been mangled to the point that them still being alive was frankly of little consolation. Staggering backward and nearly falling to the ground, the boy slowly whispered, "What... What happened to you guys?"

“The answer should be obvious enough for you to figure out on your own. Unless you want me to spell it out for you.”

Immediately, the boy turned to glare at the figure standing behind him, the orange rays of the setting sun obscuring the speaker’s face as he showcased an aura completely opposite to the boy’s.

Calm and composed, Archer walked in followed closely by his sister.

Najenda was the first one to speak.

“Ieyasu and Sayo, two random travelers that arrived at the Capital around a week ago according to the reports. They made a quick stop at a tavern before encountering the Kalrenn heiress, and the latter offered them food and a place to rest by inviting them into her family’s home as guests. But as you can clearly see, she didn't exactly have the purest of intentions from the start — quite the opposite in fact. She and every single one of her family members were merely wanting to acquire their newest playthings. The mother was a seasoned expert when it came to dealing with diseases and viral infections… having inflicted multiple kinds of diseases, harmful bacteria, and illnesses from all over the Empire to her victims, the latest of whom being that female friend of yours.” The woman spoke calmly, taking a break to light a cigarette.

“…” Emiya stared at her while she brought the lighter up to ignite the stick, but a second before the flame made contact, his hand blurred and the cigarette vanished from her mouth.

“…” Najenda blinked at the unexpected absence of a tobacco stick on her lips, before realizing what had happened and promptly glared at her brother before sighing in annoyance. “I hate you.”

Tatsumi blinked. Just what was going on between these two?

Najenda meanwhile turned back to the boy. “Anyways, how she still breathes to this day is a miracle in itself. The boy, meanwhile, suffered a myriad of physical abuse. His bones, muscles throughout his body have been broken and torn apart. Signs of necrosis were visible all across his limbs to the point that we had to amputate two of them — It was the only way to save him. If Archer had arrived even an hour or two later, then I doubt either of them would still be alive right now."

The more Tatsumi listened to her words, the angrier he kept getting. The fury within his heart grew stronger and stronger with each syllable that came out of her mouth that gave him an idea of what manner of torment his friends had been subjected to. That raging anger was not directed at her, but rather at himself, especially when recalling the last few days of his life.

While he was wandering around town with a joyful smile on his face, getting recruited, making friends, and trying his best to become a captain, his friends were being tortured for no reason, crying out for help while he wasn't there to save them. Just imagining the sheer agony that had to come from some of the wounds on their bodies made him want to puke. Self-anger, disgust, and guilt took over, alongside no small amount of regret.

“Revenge... I swear on my name that I will get revenge for you two, and kill the people responsible for your suffering." He swore through gritted teeth as he looked back at where his friends rested, walking towards the exit of the tent with his sword in hand. "I will kill all of those monsters myself, whatever it takes." Yet before he could even reach the entrance, Emiya stepped in and blocked his path.

The white-haired man looked back at him with clear eyes. "Where do you think you're going?" A question that made Tatsumi even more frustrated than before.

"What do you mean where I am going!? I'm going back to the Capital and to search for the fucking monsters who dared to do such a thing to my friends! I swear I'll get revenge for—" He stopped right there as a fist struck his stomach and pushed all of the air out of his body.

"Keurgh!" Tatsumy gasped in pain as another fist introduced itself to his face and knocked him backwards with an audible bang. His body fell to the ground, as he gazed at his attacker and found Emiya giving him a disappointed glare. Najenda meanwhile, had seemingly lost interest in him and went over to get an update from the nurses regarding his friends’ health.

"And how exactly were you planning to exact your revenge? I hope for your sake that you weren’t planning to just walk through the Capital's gate and sniff out everyone who was involved in this by some magic you’ve apparently been keeping secret. And sorry to ruin your little revenge fantasy, but I already killed the Kalrenns myself when I rescued those two. So you going on a killing spree over to the Capital, aside from being a stupid mistake, would just end up being a waste of time.”

“You can't expect me to stay here and do nothing after seeing them like this! And why do you even care!?" Once again, his following words got cut off by the bowman looming over him with his height while feeling the air around him grow heavy. The former Counter Guardian's voice sounded rather aggressive as it made Tatsumi flinch and shut his mouth.

“Of course, I don't care. Nor do I care what your opinion is on this, and I honestly expect nothing from you. Your friends’ lives are hanging by a thread, so if anyone’s going to care it should be you. But the last thing they would want is to have a third one join them in the afterlife soon after no one is left to take care of them — not to mention this little outpost here doesn't have the resources to house a third person in this kind of condition. Do you think the suffering they endured at the hands of those monsters’ grasps was for nothing? Your friends Sayo and Iyeasu, suffered countless tortures and still never once mentioned your name. And now you want to spit on their faces by ruining everything they worked towards?"

“Shut the hell up!” Tatsumi tried to swing at him, but the burning pain from his sudden exertion made him fall back to his knees with the urge to vomit creeping up on him.

The white-haired man shrugged, “Anyways, I am not one to judge, nor am I in any position to make decisions for someone else's stupidity. If you still want to go over there, play hero by killing the cruel and corrupt and get whatever miniscule remains of your little revenge, then be my guest. We already had trouble dealing with those two on the brink of death over here, so with you gone, we'll have no other reason to keep them alive, and we'll just bury them somewhere in the forest when they eventually die."

“Don't you dare say that about them. My friends are still alive, they’ll live through this!"

Emiya looked at him deep within his eyes. "They are barely clinging to life, and we don't even know whether they'll wake up or not. If they did wake up, the news of your death will not help with their recovery and may pose a whole new problem instead. So put that little revenge scheme of yours out of your mind, and focus on what's really important right now. But if you still insist on trying to deal with such matters yourself, then I won't stop you. Just know that you are a bigger danger to yourself and them than anyone else at that point."

Having had enough, the boy ran out of the tent and left the two to continue taking care of the patients in need. Emiya and Najenda remained behind. “You didn't have to mess with the boy like that. He's not like us, so he’s entitled to have the occasional moment of weakness, especially when something like this happens." Najenda said, to which Emiya replied without missing a beat.

"I know, but it's the best way for the hard truth to reach his brain before he rushes off and does something stupid. That’s frankly more than I should be doing, since I already fulfilled my promise involved in all this. They are united as friends, even if not under ideal circumstances. Whatever happens after this is no longer my concern. Whether or not he lives or dies will be his decision alone from here on out."

{Break}

Stationed right at the front gates of the Capital’s entrance, two young guards yawned as they wasted their time away with the same mind numbing work once again.

Guarding the gates was very uneventful as they couldn't move nor talk that much with each other in case they were bored. The two men clad in worn armor, found themselves in a moment of respite. Boredom hung thick in the air as the day unfolded without much excitement. "Slow day, eh? No sign of marauding bandits or those bothersome stinky peasants coming to the Capital to try and sucker some quick cash."

The second guard nodded. "Aye, if only it were that easy. I feel lucky enough to just have enough money to buy bread for me and my family. Can't even save up enough to buy a new mug with how the asshole boss has been leeching off our wages… Hah, anyways, it's been quiet for weeks. I almost miss the days when we had to chase off a stray pig or shoo away overly curious peasants."

“Those were the days. At least then we had something to do besides standing here like statues. I swear I'll be growing moss instead of a mustache soon."

"Maybe we should spice things up a bit. Tell the cook to throw some rotten cabbages over the wall, give us a bit of target practice."

The first guard raised an eyebrow, "Or we could challenge each other to a game of throwing rocks at that old tree stump over there. Winner gets to boast until the next caravan arrives."

"Now you're talking! I bet I can hit the stump three times before you even land one." His friend said with a grin on his face.

"You've got yourself a bet, lad. But let's wait until after sundown. Don't want Sir Grumpy in the tower catching wind of our little competition."

As the banter continued, the guards found solace in the simplicity of their conversation, a brief escape from the monotony of guarding the large bricked walls. The sun dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows across the courtyard, still another three hours to go before they had their break.

Unfortunately, neither of the men had the time to complain as they spotted a shadow in the distance. “Wait… isn't that banner…” The first guard's eyes widened as he gazed at the familiar sight of long strands of blue hair dancing to the wind. A beautiful, yet terrifyingly serious face approached the gates, accompanied by thousands of soldiers, which immediately sent everyone into a cold red alert. But he didn't waste time and immediately ran inside to send a messenger to the prime minister with a single phrase that would haunt anyone delivering it…

"Ge-General Esdeath has returned from her campaign!"

Nothing else could cause this amount of dread and anxiety to course through his veins as when this woman approached. Perhaps he should have listened to his own selfishness and stayed home claiming that an old injury of his was acting up. Instead here he was, about to greet the biggest and most terrifying demon in all the Empire and let her into the Capital.