Chapter 119 - #118 Kurome vs "Mysterious" Teigu wielder 1 (1/2)

”* Thanks, Kurome. But what about Natala and Gin?*” Green whispered when he came back to Kurome and Akame's side, still with sore hands from the strings.

”*...They lost too much of blood, judging from the size of a puddle under them...*” Akame replied while warily watching the opposite group.

”*They won't make it...*” Kurome added a sentence that neither Akame or Green wanted to say.

Green was thinking about their offer but he couldn't bring himself to accept it right after 2 people from his group got killed. Despite not being big friends with them since they joined only recently, it would leave a bad taste in his mouth, however, if Akame wanted to, he wouldn't hesitate at all.

”*I wanted to take the signal gun from that guy's hand but there wasn't any opportunity to do it.*” Green whispered while gritting himself as if he was blaming himself for his incompetence.

”So? Are we doing it? The match...” The armored guy interrupted their talk once they reassured themselves that Najenda was fine. He stepped forward and his friends took a few steps back to create enough space.

”...I guess we can only trust your word that you will let us go once I win, right?” Kurome also stepped forward with a confident smile but her hand was grabbed by Akame who only looked worriedly at her without saying anything.

”*I have a plan, don't worry about me, just don't do anything stupid in case it will look like I am about to lose. It's not lost until I am truly dead.*” Kurome whispered back to Akame and put Akame's hand that was holding her own hand away.

”About that...” The armored guy instead of replying looked behind him at Najenda.

”You have my word but it's really nice to see how confident you are. I remember the first time we have met, you were also looking confident and strong while standing beside Akashi. However, on the first look, I immediately knew that you were looking so confident and strong only because you were standing beside him. This time...you look the same but for a whole different reason.” Najenda said with a small smile.

”...” Kurome didn't reply to her words since she was aware that she was General which isn't the post that just anyone can obtain. Maybe even now she was trying to discover if Akashi isn't anywhere near so she was trying to make her talk about him and let some information slip by.

Kurome's, perhaps biggest weapon and reassurance was their ignorance of Akashi's presence. They weren't sure if he is here or not. Najenda might be even thinking that this is just Kurome's training but she is still being watched by Akashi.

”You know, I didn't have any chance to talk to Akashi ever since I deflected from the Empire. I made an offer to them, I know that all of you aren't happy with the current state of the Empire. Why don't you help us reform this Empire?” Najenda asked with a slightly sad smile while extending her hand towards them. This question was more intended for Kurome than Akame and Green but it also served to say that they can still join.

”Why do you think that we are unhappy with the current Empire? And do you seriously expect us to join you right after killing our comrades?” Kurome deemed that it wouldn't hurt to answer her questions.

”I know it from their eyes...there is so much doubt inside them, I was the same. Although I can't say the same for you, Kurome, I am sure that you aren't a bad person. And I can understand that expecting you to just join after seeing your comrades getting killed by us is just a pipe dream, I still don't want to kill someone who isn't happy with the current Empire and could help us instead.” Najenda said her honest thoughts. She truly didn't want to kill someone like Akame who seemed to be growing stronger at an extreme pace. She also didn't want to kill strategist like Green, there aren't many people of his type out there. She was also aware that if both of them had Teigu, they would actually be able to hold their own against 3 of them.

You can't just find strong people who are recruitable every day.

”I don't know, how about them but if you want to talk about politics, it would be better to go talk with Akashi Nii-sama.” Kurome said while glancing into the dense forest which didn't go unnoticed by Najenda.

'Is he really here? If yes, why didn't he show up? What's the game he is playing?' Najenda thought for a while before arriving at her answer to this situation.

'Let's just go along with the duel, those two will have enough time to think it through, no need to rush them or we will appear to be forcing them to join us. If Kurome asked for the duel, let's give it to her. However I am still not sure about Akashi's presence...I would actually like to talk to him, we weren't exactly close but he struck me as a reasonable fellow, unlike Esdeath.' Najenda thought while looking down at her metallic arm.

”Alright, let's forget it, for now, you wanted the duel, right? You will have it!” Najenda said with a strong voice and furrowed brows.

”Finally...” Kurome muttered as if she was getting bored by this talk and put her hand on the handle of her sheathed katana.

”Najenda, should I...?” The armored guy turned back at Najenda to ask something.

”No need to hold back, she wanted fair duel, she will have it!” Najenda immediately replied since she knew what he wanted to ask just from his hesitant tone.

'...”no need to hold back”, huh? That's not the same as the order ”Don't hold back”. Does it mean that it's up to me? Haaa...' The armored guy thought with a complicated expression under his helmet.