"Mr. Noah."
Nahashu called out just as Noah was preparing to leave.
Although he had stopped him, he did not immediately explain why. Hesitation showed clearly on his face.
Poney looked at him with concern, as though she also had something she wanted to say.
"What is it?"
Noah turned back toward them.
Nahashu remained silent for a long moment before finally asking, "Mr. Noah, did you already know? About Father deceiving us all this time... and why Akame killed him. You knew the truth, didn't you?"
"I wouldn't say I knew everything, but I understood most of it."
"Then I—no, we want to know the truth." Nahashu took a deep breath. "The purpose of the mission you assigned us was to let us judge the Empire for ourselves. Am I right?"
He did not know what assignments the others had received, but by chance, he had once seen Gin working at a forge.
Naturally, they had not spoken.
They were both still carrying out separate missions. Since Noah had assigned them individually, it meant the tasks did not require cooperation.
Contacting each other in private might have interfered with whatever Noah intended them to learn.
However, as this so-called mission continued, Nahashu gradually began to understand Noah's purpose.
Both his and Poney's assignment and Gin's work required them to interact with many people, most of whom were ordinary citizens.
Customers often came to the café in groups to drink coffee or eat desserts, and they naturally talked among themselves.
With the abilities of the selection group's elites, Nahashu and Poney could collect information even while the café was overwhelmingly busy.
Besides, running a business involved far more than remaining inside the shop.
They needed to purchase ingredients, arrange deliveries, and study how other establishments operated.
Through that work, they had quickly become familiar with the Imperial Capital—a city that had once been completely unknown to them.
Everything they previously knew about it had come from Gozuki.
According to him, the capital was the most prosperous city in the Empire. It possessed the nation's strongest economy and stood at the forefront of culture and art.
Its citizens lived peacefully and comfortably, and everyone across the country dreamed of moving there.
After all, it was the city beneath the Emperor's feet.
They had once believed every word their father told them and dreamed of seeing the capital for themselves.
Reality was nothing like that.
Most of Gozuki's stories had been carefully prepared lies intended to ensure their absolute loyalty to the Empire.
Their entire lives had been built on deception.
The Empire was brutal, oppressive, and dangerous.
There were not many visibly impoverished people inside the capital, but that was largely because the poor had already become servants or slaves to nobles and wealthy merchants.
Even the villages surrounding the Imperial Capital suffered terrible poverty.
It was difficult to believe that villages less than thirty kilometers away could lose more than two hundred people to the cold each year, while thousands more starved or died from illness.
Enormous taxes crushed the population.
Those who could not pay had their land and homes seized. Sometimes even their sons and daughters were taken away.
If their debts grew too large, the debtors themselves could be sold into slavery and forced to live in conditions unfit for human beings.
The café appeared successful on the surface, but every month, they had to pay taxes, bribe the Imperial Guard, and hand protection money to criminal gangs.
After everyone had taken their share, what should have been a healthy income was barely enough to keep the café operating.
Nahashu and Poney had always known that darkness existed in the world.
They had never imagined that the organization they once protected was part of that darkness.
The capital was filled with scum and corrupt officials.
There were so many that Nahashu and the others could never kill them all, even if the criminals politely lined up and waited their turn.
Worse still, the root of it all was said to be none other than the Emperor himself and his most trusted minister.
Gozuki had rarely spoken about Minister Honest.
However, after putting together everything he had learned, Nahashu suspected that Gozuki had served the Minister directly.
Half the people they had assassinated in the past were either Honest's political enemies or people who had offended him.
Upright officials were falsely branded as traitors or corrupt criminals, then eliminated one after another by the Imperial Assassination Unit.
Nahashu and the others had taken part in those murders.
They had been deceived, but that did not change the fact that they had killed good people.
They were executioners with innocent blood on their hands.
If the others had received similar assignments, then combined with what Noah had said today, Nahashu believed he had finally guessed the truth.
"Yes," Noah admitted. "I wanted you to understand this world and the Empire through your own experiences rather than simply accepting someone else's explanation."
"So Akame killed Father—killed Gozuki—because that was the path she chose, wasn't it?"
Almost everything the children had possessed was based on lies.
The feelings between them, however, had been real.
They had eaten together, studied together, slept beneath the same roof, played together, and carried out missions side by side.
Those memories belonged to them, even if lies had originally brought them together.
As the oldest of the group, Nahashu cared deeply about the others.
Akame had worried him most of all.
After Gozuki's death, he had assumed their next mission would be to hunt her down.
They would be forced to fight, someone would inevitably pay a terrible price, and the bond between them would be destroyed forever.
They might even become enemies who could only settle things through death.
But Nahashu understood Akame.
She would never have killed Gozuki merely out of anger over being deceived.
She had respected their father. Even after discovering all his lies, she would not have sought revenge for that alone.
However, if Akame had chosen a path of bloodshed, she would cut down anyone who stood in her way without hesitation.
Even the father who had raised her.
Nahashu's conclusion was almost entirely correct.
Perhaps that was only possible because of the unusual bond they shared.
Noah thought for a moment before explaining, "Akame carries an extraordinary fate. Sooner or later, her existence will have an enormous influence on this era. She may still be young, but she's already made a difficult choice for the sake of creating a better future."
She had chosen a path of carnage.
For what she believed was right, she would cut through everything.
Even if the people standing in her way were her adoptive father, her friends, innocent strangers, or perhaps even her own family, she would bury them with the cursed blade in her hands.
Perhaps that was why Murasame had accepted her.
She had already begun severing the emotions and attachments that ordinary people could never abandon.
From the moment she killed her father with her own hands, she had become much like the cursed blade itself.
Killing a father, killing friends, and perhaps one day even cutting down her own family—only someone capable of walking such an inhuman path could earn Murasame's complete recognition.
Gozuki had once spoken privately with Noah.
Of all the children, he believed Akame resembled him most.
She had not been the most talented member of the selection group, yet he had still placed the greatest expectations on her.
A child of carnage would eventually follow the same path.
He had not been wrong.
"I think the others have probably understood what you intended too," Nahashu said. "But I'm still worried about Tsukushi."
"Tsukushi?"
"Yes. She's different from the rest of us."
"Different in what way?"
"Tsukushi may have been raised as one of Father's children like all of us, but she desperately wanted his affection from the time she was very young. She believed every order he gave her and eventually lost nearly all sense of herself."
Nahashu frowned.
"Even if someone told her the whole truth, she would still see Akame as the enemy who murdered her father."
In other words, Tsukushi's desperate need for paternal affection, combined with years of deep conditioning, had damaged her ability to make ordinary judgments.
"It's become that serious?"
After hearing Nahashu's explanation, Noah realized that he might have made a significant mistake in the assignment he gave Tsukushi.
Her dependence on Gozuki had warped her mind in a way even Noah had failed to notice.
She probably already regarded Noah as someone she needed to be cautious of.
Otherwise, she would have asked him at least once about what truly happened to Gozuki.
Instead, she seemed to be acting secretly.
Her goal was almost certainly to kill Akame.
However, Tsukushi also understood that defeating Akame with her current strength was nearly impossible.
That meant she must be planning something.
She probably did not care about the truth of the Empire at all.
As long as she could carry out her father's command and earn his praise, she would have been satisfied.
That had been her entire source of happiness.
Now her closest friend had taken it away from her.
In that sense, Tsukushi and Akame were complete opposites.
Tsukushi was utterly self-centered. No matter what happened to anyone else, the only thing she ultimately cared about was securing her own happiness.
Akame, by contrast, was willing to sacrifice everything for a greater cause, including her own life.
If it could help create an Empire where everyone had the chance to live happily, she would sacrifice anyone—even herself.
They represented two opposing extremes.
From the very beginning, their paths had led in different directions.
"I understand. I'll pay closer attention to Tsukushi." Noah then looked at Nahashu. "And since you're so concerned about the others, you're allowed to contact them privately. Just remember to behave naturally and avoid drawing attention."
Nahashu's eyes brightened.
Behind him, Poney looked so happy that she almost jumped in place.
"Thank you very much."
Nahashu had never imagined he would one day live such a peaceful life.
All of them possessed exceptional talent for assassination, but the main reason they had continued taking missions was to repay the father who raised them.
Now Gozuki was dead, and his lies no longer bound them.
They were finally free.
"Truly... thank you. Without your help, we wouldn't have known how to continue living." Nahashu hesitated.
"But what about the Empire? Won't you be held responsible?"
Gozuki had spent years training them.
As combat assets, Nahashu knew that their value was considerable.
That was not arrogance, merely fact.
Now that Gozuki was dead, the Empire should have needed skilled assassins more than ever.
Noah had unilaterally allowed them to pursue lives of their own, something the Empire might not tolerate.
"Don't worry. The Empire poses no threat to me." Noah spoke casually. "Besides, it probably won't be long before the Revolutionary Army destroys it. Close the café before the fighting reaches the capital, then reopen after the war ends."
"The Empire is going to lose?"
"The Revolutionary Army won't stop. Even if the Empire began changing today, the rebellion couldn't stop anymore. It has already gone too far. I'll warn you when the time approaches, so don't worry. Ordinary civilians like us should be able to avoid getting caught in the worst of it."
Nahashu felt somewhat reassured, but he still could not resist asking, "Mr. Noah, are you really not going to do anything?"
"Me?" Noah looked puzzled. "What am I supposed to do?"
Nahashu nodded and answered seriously.
"You often speak about fate. I don't understand much about that, but someone as powerful as you could surely change this world in an enormous way. That's what I believe."
"Nahashu..."
Noah stared at the boy, surprised that Nahashu thought so highly of him.
Doing something...
For some reason, it reminded him of Tatsumi.
Nahashu and Tatsumi were entirely different people, yet the words that passionate boy had spoken aboard the Dragon Ship had left a deep impression.
'If I had power like yours, I wouldn't hide from responsibility the way you do. I'd use it to fight for what's right.'
That was what Tatsumi had said.
Noah paused.
Perhaps he really could give events a slight push.
He could grant Tatsumi the power he wanted and see what the boy would encounter, as well as how he might change his own fate.
The moment that idea appeared, countless possibilities began forming in Noah's mind.
Even several plans he had previously abandoned for various reasons resurfaced.
At that moment, Noah realized that his interest in Tatsumi might not be any weaker than Esdeath's.
Something inside his breast pocket suddenly vibrated.
He took out a device resembling a small communicator.
The word EMERGENCY was flashing across its front.
"Hm?"
It had actually been activated.
At Esdeath's request, Noah had equipped every member of the Jaegers with one of these devices.
Unlike the "smartphone" he had once made for Gozuki, this one functioned more like a pager.
Its only purpose was to summon every Jaeger during an emergency.
For Esdeath to use it, something serious must have happened.
"I have to go. Nahashu, Poney, I'll visit again."
Before leaving, Noah still remembered to place the money for his blended coffee on the table.