"No matter what, we must find the criminals who assassinated Iokal-sama. If they escape, we will definitely be executed by the Prime Minister!"
"They shouldn't have gotten far." The group of guards spoke nervously.
However, waiting for them were Leone, Akame, and the others, who were already somewhat eager.
"They're here, they're here! This time, I can really show off. What a pity, if only Takeru were here to see my majestic side!" Leone looked at the guards, speaking with a cold smile.
As for Takeru, he and Mine headed towards the rendezvous point. The path along the way wasn't easy to walk, especially for Mine, who is carrying her Pumpkin.
It could be said that apart from her Teigu allowing her to unleash terrifying destructive power, Mine's actual combat ability was quite ordinary. Although much stronger than ordinary people, compared to other Night Raid's members, she was definitely very weak.
Seeing Mine having trouble with a steep slope, Takeru didn't hesitate, directly picking her up, then lightly jumping to the top.
"Hey, hey, what are you doing?" Because it happened too suddenly, Mine, after reacting, looked at Takeru with a red face and spoke loudly.
"Well, isn't this a faster way to reach the destination?" Facing Mine's shyness, Takeru smiled and spoke as if it were perfectly natural.
"Idiot!" Hearing Takeru's words, Mine said with a blushing face again, then turned her head away, not daring to look at Takeru anymore.
"Hey, Mine, tell me about your past. Ever since I saw your attitude towards that girl today, I've been curious." Walking towards the destination, Takeru suddenly spoke to Mine.
"Hmph, since you're begging me, I'll specially tell you the story of my past. I was born near the western border, a mixed blood with a different ethnic group. In the city, I always suffered discrimination. No one acknowledged me. My childhood was very tragic!"
"But, the Revolutionary Army has also formed an alliance with the western ethnic group. Once a new nation is established, the two countries will establish diplomatic relations, and there will be no more barriers between nations. That way, no child will have to suffer the same situation I did. I won't let anyone suffer discrimination again!"
"And then, as a revolutionary army's meritorious servant, I'll receive a huge bonus and live a high-society life. Ahaha!" The originally very inspiring words took a turn as Mine said happily.
"Is that so?" Seeing her most genuine side, Takeru revealed a faint smile. Having both noble ideals and selfish desires… that was the most normal.
Soon, Takeru, carrying Mine, arrived under a cherry blossom tree in the forest.
"Alright, we're at the rendezvous point. Hurry up and put me down!" Seeing they had reached the destination, Mine said to Takeru with a red face.
"Okay." Hearing Mine, Takeru didn't refuse, because in his perception, a figure was already less than two hundred meters away from them.
Based on the perception, it was the strongest among the five guards.
As for Mine, she didn't detect the pursuer's traces. Instead, after leaving Takeru's embrace, she felt a faint sense of loss...
Takeru also didn't act rashly, just continued chatting and laughing normally with Mine.
"Takeru, careful!" Suddenly, while talking, Mine caught sight of the guard's arrival from the corner of her eye. He had already leapt high, his fist ready to slam down on Takeru's head.
"Don't worry, I'll definitely protect you." Hearing Mine's words, Takeru smiled faintly. Simultaneously, he turned around and threw a punch towards the guard's fist.
The guard, initially noticing Takeru's move, was about to mock him. After all, he was a martial artist from the Imperial Fist Temple, and his fists were his most confident weapons. Seeing Takeru foolishly matching fists with him...
However, after their fists collided, his expression changed drastically. It felt like punching steel. Then, the force erupting from Takeru's side directly sent him flying, crashing heavily into a large tree, instantly vomiting blood.
"Why? I was once the acting master of the Imperial Fist Temple. How can your fist be stronger than mine?" Feeling the pain from his shattered hand bones, the man looked at Takeru in shock...
"Is that so? Doesn't that mean your Imperial Fist Temple is just a garbage place? After all, it raised trash like you." Takeru walked towards him with a mocking expression.
"Damn you...!" Hearing Takeru's words, the man prepared to attack Takeru with his relatively intact left fist. But Takeru directly took out his staff and easily killed him.
Then, Takeru didn't forget to collect the coins on his body. After all, leaving them there was a waste. Like today, the expenses for Mine's shopping were basically paid by Takeru. The main source of money, apart from the mission shares, was from looting Ogre.
"Hey, Takeru, we're a team, so split it half-half, okay?" Seeing Takeru actually loot a bag of gold coins, Mine's eyes lit up, and she spoke excitedly.
"Sure." Hearing this, Takeru revealed a smile and began dividing the spoils with her...
After dividing the spoils, Mine excitedly rubbed her face against her bag of gold coins, enjoying the delightful sound of coins clinking.
Seeing this, Takeru found it amusing. He hadn't expected Mine to have a miserly side.
Mine, hearing Takeru's laughter, blushed. "What's so funny? Don't you know the most wonderful thing in this world is money?"
"Yes, yes, yes." Seeing Mine's face red as if dripping blood, Takeru couldn't stop smiling.
"You nasty guy!" Seeing Takeru's expression, Mine felt furious. In a moment of heated impulse, she pounced on Takeru, aiming to bite his shoulder.
Takeru, sensing Mine's action and worried about her falling, didn't dodge, letting her pounce on him.
However, when she bit down on Takeru's shoulder, her expression changed. She felt as if she had bitten steel, only feeling pain in her teeth.
This was largely thanks to her only wanting to teach Takeru a lesson, not using full force. Otherwise, she might have shattered all her teeth.
"Takeru! Mine! What are you doing?" The others, who had rushed over worried about Takeru and Mine, stared blankly at Mine and Takeru's current state.
Because at that moment, Mine was pouncing on Takeru, and her head, because she had tried to bite Takeru, seemed shyly buried in Takeru's chest, appearing extremely intimate.
"Mine, have you also awakened? But you're really open!" Leone quickly came to the two and teased Mine.
Hearing Leone's words, Mine, who was still in pain from her teeth, was stunned. After reacting, she nervously left Takeru's embrace, constantly waving her hands.
"N-No! It's not what you think!"
"Oh, really? Then what is it?" Hearing Mine's words, Leone pressed on relentlessly.
"It's... Anyway, it's not what you think!" Mine was momentarily speechless, not knowing how to explain.
Akame, seeing everyone getting along harmoniously, unconsciously revealed a happy smile.
...
Soon, as time passed, two more days went by in the blink of an eye. During these two days, Takeru was still technically under Mine's tutelage, but with no missions, they enjoyed rare leisure. Takeru also trained himself under Bulat's guidance.
Although Takeru's strength far surpassed Bulat's, his foundation was practically non-existent. After all, most of Takeru's power came from the Reincarnation Space.
Although some were the result of Takeru's own hard training, it was much less compared to what was directly manifested. This result meant Takeru could easily defeat weaker opponents, but when facing evenly matched foes, without relying on special means, Takeru might not be able to overcome them.
Now, in just two days, Takeru found that although his strength hadn't changed much, the power he could exert had increased significantly.
Like force application techniques, combat skills… over these two days, Takeru, like a sponge, rapidly absorbed Bulat's experience and quickly mastered it.
Because Takeru's learning speed was so fast, Bulat was shocked. The skills he had painstakingly practiced since childhood, Takeru had almost completely learned in just two days.
The reasons for this were Takeru's inherently high attributes, especially his high Spirit, which greatly enhanced learning. Besides that, it was the Aptitude Potion Takeru had taken before.
That potion had transformed Takeru in many ways, particularly the brain domain transformation. Takeru even suspected it was still strengthening him to this day.
Shaking his head, Takeru stopped overthinking and continued training hard!
That night, Najenda brought a new mission to everyone!