Chapter 140 - #139 Aftermath (1/2)

”Because I am the one who killed Gai, your friend.” Akashi said with a serious expression with his hands folded.

”...What?” Poney looked even more confused than before and even Akashi was quite surprised how confused one person can get.

”It's the truth. Why would I lie about that?” Akashi confirmed it once again and waited for Poney to absorb this information.

”...B-But why? You have never met each other so why?” It was unknown if Poney no longer had any energy to raise her voice but she was taking this new information relatively easy.

'Maybe it wasn't the right moment to tell her that, it's hard to say what she is thinking under that a super confused expression' Akashi thought while closely watching Poney's expression and changes in her eyes.

”Wrong, we actually met each other and as for my reason...First, he endangered the life of someone I care about but the second and main reason is your rampage of ȧssassinations of powerful people supporting the Revolutionary Army. I am not with the Revolutionary Army that someone I care about was bound to help them and Gai was a price to pay for them to be free.” Akashi explained with his eyes closed and calm expression.

”...” Poney just listened in silence while looking down at the ground with a completely dumbfounded expression.

'What the hell is this situation?! Who can I even trust here?! Akame and Green who were my friends for so long just killed Tsukushi and father while Akashi killed Gai. Why is our group so unfortunate to be targeted from every side?! Was what we were doing really so wrong?' Poney thought while pressing her nails into her palm slowly turning her skin red without her even being aware of it.

”I am not trying to say that thanks to his death you were no longer targeted by that group and neither I am trying to say that it was for the greater good or something. Do you now understand why I don't want you to be close to me?” Akashi asked after waiting a few minutes for Poney to recover a bit.

”Mm...Can I still remain here through this night?” Poney nodded her head and asked with a tired expression.

”Be my guest. You can tell me what you want to do the next morning. I might be able to help you get to Akame and Green so think about it carefully.” Akashi said and called for one maid to take Poney to a free guest room.

'That group...Does Akashi mean the group that targeted Cornelia? Taeko and Katsura? What connection do they have? From his words, they must have been indebted to the Revolutionary army or something like that. This is getting more and more confusing and complicated, ugh!' Poney thought while she followed after the maid but before she could close the door behind her...

”IF you will want to remain here despite knowing what I have done, I also have no problem with that.”

Poney turned her head back at Akashi and released a small smile.

”Thank you for being honest with me...” She said before closing the door behind her.

Akashi's smile suddenly disappeared from his face when Poney closed the door.

'Go and watch her carefully' Akashi ordered to his Wrigglers and 2 of them flew out of his shadow, flying out of the room through the small gap between door and the frame.

For Akashi, her reaction was quite odd, not yelling at him or anything else was quite a surprise considering that he just told her that he killed one of her friends. But on the other hand, she lost so much today and even got to know the truth behind the Empire so she must have been so overwhelmed that she completely disregarded something that happened way back to the past.

Akashi also thought of her being just a spy but he couldn't really imagine her playing that role after what happened today. Not to mention, her confused expression was very genuine. Nevertheless, he still decided to watch over her with his Wrigglers. If she were to make any suspicious move, he would get to know that immediately.

'I should inform Kurome to keep an eye on her if Poney decides to remain here for the time being. But that comes in the morning since Kurome is sleeping right now.' Akashi thought and stood up from his seat. He was done for today with the reports, he went outside of the mansion to find the guards who had contact with Poney and told them to completely forget about her and never talk about it to anyone.

...That night, Poney couldn't get a wink of sleep due to her constantly thinking about what happened today. And before she knew it, she already noticed a light coming through the windows into her room.

'? It's already early-morning? How is that possible? I don't remember ever falling asleep...but at least I got a few things sorted out in my head.' Poney thought and decided to go out and ask someone where she can take a bath to freshen up herself.

----Outside of the Capital, at the same time----

*chirp* *chirp* The sounds of birds singing were resonating in the vicinity.

”...Huh?...?!” Akame slowly opened her eyes and noticed an unfamiliar wooden ceiling so she quickly sat up but she felt a short but sharp pain under her ribs so her expression distorted in pain. She put her hand on the location where she felt the pain while calmly observing her surroundings.

'Is this some kind of hut in the middle of the forest?' Akame thought and was slightly confused but she quickly began scanning the room for Green's presence.

”Oh?! You are finally awake, Akame!”

Akame snapped her head at the sound just to see Leone walking in the room and approaching her with a big smile.