To keep Esdeath from blaming him afterward, Noah appeared in front of Wave and Seryu at an appropriate moment and treated their injuries.
At the same time, he ordered Oranides, which was still inside the ship, to shrink and escape.
By the time Esdeath realized what had happened, the little creature had already disappeared without a trace.
"Now... distant song of the forest..."
Noah was using heal on Wave when the young sailor suddenly laughed.
"Hahaha! What are you chanting? Is that supposed to be some kind of spell? You sound like a wizard."
The movement pulled at his injuries, and his laughter immediately turned into a grimace.
"Ow...!"
In a way, his guess was not entirely wrong.
Noah gave him a mysterious smile.
"Perhaps I really am a wizard."
Strictly speaking, Noah did not know how to cast a single true spell.
He merely used spellweaver to reproduce the effects of magic.
Still, his knowledge of magic had already advanced far beyond that of an apprentice, so calling him a capable wizard was not completely unreasonable.
Wave felt the pain throughout his body rapidly fading and became serious.
"This ability is amazing. You can actually heal injuries! Doesn't that make you better than almost any doctor?"
"Not really." Noah shook his head. "This particular technique can only treat external injuries, such as cuts, bruises, and damaged tissue. It can't repair broken bones, and it's mostly useless against viruses."
He denied Wave's praise aloud, though he was already thinking that he could simply use a different formula whenever those situations arose.
...
Elsewhere, Tatsumi was carrying Bulat through the forest on the way back to Night Raid's base, with Akame walking beside him.
Leone and Mine guarded their flanks.
All four of them wore grim expressions.
Bulat had already lost consciousness, and pain remained clearly visible on his face.
"Even Bulat ended up like this..." Leone glanced at his missing right arm and lower left leg. "What exactly happened aboard that ship?"
Neither she nor Mine could easily accept that someone as strong as Bulat had been wounded so badly.
He would probably have to retire from active combat.
He had been one of Night Raid's most dependable fighters, yet Esdeath had crippled him before he had the chance to contribute much to their cause.
Tatsumi could not stop blaming himself.
If possible, he wanted to trade places with Bulat.
He was still weak.
Even if he lost an arm or a leg...
Bulat's limbs were worth far more than his.
'Big Bro could have saved countless people with that strength.'
He was supposed to be capable of doing that much.
Tatsumi gritted his teeth and quickened his pace.
"Tatsumi, you're moving too quickly," Akame warned him. "Your body won't be able to handle this for long."
"I'm fine! I can keep going!"
Leone and Mine exchanged a glance before speaking together.
"Hey, don't force yourself."
"If you collapse too, we'll have an even bigger problem."
Tatsumi said nothing.
His thoughts remained tangled with frustration.
'If I were strong enough, I wouldn't always be the one everyone had to protect. All I ever do is hold them back. I'm nothing but a burden.'
...
Two days later, Esdeath stood before the remaining Jaegers with an expression colder than ice.
"We still haven't found Tatsumi."
Since the battle aboard the Dragon Ship, she had searched throughout the Imperial Capital without finding any trace of him.
Even if the situation had been chaotic, she believed he should have returned to her on his own.
But he had not.
"Why did he run away instead of coming back?" she murmured. "Could it be that Tatsumi doesn't feel anything for me?"
The question sounded ridiculous enough to make everyone want to laugh, but none of them dared do so in front of her.
"Night Raid has made no progress either. Nothing has gone well lately."
Dr. Stylish felt strangely refreshed by the sight of Esdeath struggling.
He had long since lost patience with a captain whose judgment disappeared whenever romance was involved.
That was why he had secretly chosen a more reliable partner.
...
"So you found Night Raid's base?"
In another location, Dr. Stylish stood before Syura with a proud smile.
"That boy Tatsumi smelled suspicious from the very beginning, so I marked him without his knowledge."
"I see." Syura gave a cold laugh. "That sadistic freak chose a stupid-looking brat like him over me."
He found the entire situation hilarious.
"And now it turns out that brat is a member of Night Raid. What a joke. Hahahaha!"
He leaned back with a pleased expression.
"In any case, my plan requires Esdeath's Jaegers to be weakened. It would be even better if every last member were killed. After that, I'll deal with Esdeath herself."
A trace of sweat appeared on Dr. Stylish's face.
"You genuinely intend to take that sadistic queen for yourself?"
He considered himself rather eccentric, but compared with Esdeath, he felt almost ordinary.
She certainly possessed every attractive quality imaginable. Her position, appearance, figure, and personal strength were all at the highest level.
Unfortunately, her personality made her a terrible choice for a lover.
As Minister Honest's son, Syura must have received similar warnings from his father.
With his status, he had no shortage of women either. He could obtain someone even more beautiful than Esdeath if that was all he wanted.
If he desired her strength instead, then his plan made even less sense.
The more one understood Esdeath's power, the clearer it became that she would never submit to someone weaker than herself.
Her personality allowed only one kind of relationship: she controlled the other person.
Syura was reasonably strong, but he was not arrogant enough to believe he could defeat her through ordinary means.
"Hmph. Don't worry. I have a secret method." Excitement shone in Syura's eyes. "Even Esdeath will submit to me. I'll turn her into an obedient bitch!"
Through an unusual opportunity, he had obtained a power unlike anything he had ever seen before.
If he used it properly, no one would be able to defy him.
Dr. Stylish remained doubtful, but his expression showed only admiration.
"A secret method? In that case, allow me to offer you an early gift to celebrate your success."
He pushed his glasses higher on his nose.
"That gift will be the destruction of Night Raid."