Dr. Stylish gritted his teeth so hard that blood appeared in his mouth.
That expression again!
For a moment, he felt as though he had returned to the day several years ago when he first met that "child."
Noah's eyes were exactly the same as they had been back then.
He had never considered Dr. Stylish worth his attention.
"Increase output, Focalor."
At Noah's command, the pressure inside the water blade rose more than tenfold.
A high-pressure stream erupted from the hilt, forming an enormous blade more than ten meters long.
Noah swept it horizontally.
Every tree standing near Dr. Stylish's height was sliced cleanly through.
The same cut passed through Dr. Stylish's body.
Focalor severed him at the waist, directly through the point where his human body connected to the giant Danger Beast.
His upper half fell from the air and crashed heavily onto the ground.
His eyes remained stretched wide, but there was no longer any life in them.
Noah looked coldly at the corpse before pulling Dr. Stylish's soul into his hand.
Pink thorny vines immediately grew from Noah's palm, penetrated the soul, and tore it apart.
A soul this twisted might teach Focalor unpleasant habits if he allowed it to be eaten.
Using condemned criminals for experiments was one thing.
Those people had already been sentenced to death and possessed no future.
Dr. Stylish, however, had also treated innocent civilians as disposable test material without a second thought.
That alone was enough to make Noah personally despise him.
More importantly, Dr. Stylish had joined forces with Syura and planned to eliminate every member of the Jaegers, including Noah.
There was no reason to leave him alive.
As for Syura, his father, Minister Honest, was still useful for the moment. Once that usefulness ended, Noah would send the son to join Dr. Stylish soon enough.
Only one thing in the Empire still truly interested him.
The Supreme Teigu.
Unless Noah was mistaken, Minister Honest currently controlled it.
Honest lacked direct royal blood and therefore could not activate it himself, but considering his personality, he had almost certainly tampered with both the Supreme Teigu and the young Emperor.
The time was approaching.
Soon, the Empire would have no choice but to use its greatest weapon.
Noah intended to witness it personally.
He had lived two lives and still had never seen a thousand-year empire collapse.
It would undoubtedly be a spectacle he could not afford to miss.
...
Several days later, Dr. Stylish's disappearance led Esdeath to conclude that he had probably been killed.
Night Raid immediately became her main suspect.
A brief investigation into his activities made it obvious that Dr. Stylish perfectly matched the type of target Night Raid preferred.
He had conducted human experiments on ordinary civilians.
If that information became public, it would cause considerable unrest within the Empire.
Esdeath found Seryu crying alone in the courtyard.
She did not mourn Dr. Stylish herself, but she still went over to comfort the girl serving beneath her.
Esdeath had known from the beginning that something was wrong with the man.
She simply had not cared.
The schemes of weak people did not interest her. The only thing she truly valued was war and battle.
At the moment, her thoughts were occupied by only one other matter.
When would she see the missing Tatsumi again?
"Damn you, Night Raid!"
Wave clenched his fist angrily.
Run stood nearby without speaking.
Noah looked toward Wave.
"What's wrong? Were you and that freak especially close? You aren't secretly the same kind of person, are you?"
"Huh?"
Wave reacted immediately.
"Of course not! This isn't about whether we were close!"
"Then why are you so upset?"
"Because those brutal murderers killed one of our companions!"
'A companion.'
Noah wondered whether Wave would still use that word after learning what Dr. Stylish had done.
Wave resembled Tatsumi in many ways.
Both were passionate idiots with strong senses of justice.
Wave was several years older and had military experience. He had also personally witnessed some of society's darker sides, so he was slightly more mature.
Only slightly.
He still knew very little about the Empire's true condition.
Its darkness could easily surpass anything he imagined.
"The death of a companion is certainly painful," Bols said quietly.
He placed freshly brewed tea in front of everyone, displaying the same gentle nature that seemed so mismatched with his intimidating appearance.
Noah picked up his cup and tasted it.
It felt somewhat unfair to Taeko, but Bols was genuinely better at brewing tea.
'Not bad.'
Looking at the Imperial Capital from the outside, no one would imagine how much darkness filled its buildings and even the ground beneath them.
"It seems there's nothing for us to do today. I'm heading home."
After finishing his tea, Noah stood and left.
For some reason, Run's eyes followed him for a long time.
Despite being called a special police unit, the Jaegers had been created specifically to fight Night Raid.
Matters unrelated to the assassins rarely fell under their authority, and they had no reason to deploy unless they were searching for Night Raid or investigating their activities.
Ordinary crimes were outside their jurisdiction.
More accurately, ordinary cases did not require such overwhelming military strength.
"Noah, where are you going?"
"Hm?"
Esdeath stopped him.
"If you have nothing else to do, come walk through the city with me."
Noah stared at her.
Walk with her?
Does Esdeath wanted to go shopping?
Seeing his surprised expression irritated her for some reason, though she still explained.
"I want to search the streets and see whether I can find Tatsumi."
"You won't find him."
Esdeath's eyes immediately sharpened.
"Why are you so certain? Do you know where Tatsumi went?"
Even when romance clouded her judgment, Esdeath was still Esdeath. Her instincts remained dangerous whenever something caught her attention.
This was slightly troublesome.
"How would I know? I simply think he has already left the Imperial Capital."
Esdeath frowned.
She believed the same thing, but for some reason she still could not bring herself to give up.
"This is an order! You're coming with me to search for Tatsumi."
"..."
Noah took a deep breath and reluctantly accepted his fate.
Fine. They could search.
Once she failed this time, there probably would not be another.
Noah and Esdeath changed into clothes that would attract less attention.
Even Esdeath, who almost never wore anything besides her military uniform, changed into ordinary clothing.
According to her, a small disguise was necessary to keep Tatsumi from noticing them and escaping, as well as to avoid causing a public disturbance.
The plan failed almost immediately.
Once they entered the street, Noah noticed people constantly looking their way.
The reason was obvious.
Both Noah and Esdeath were unusually tall, especially by the standards of the Empire.
Their appearances were equally striking, and even in plain clothes, both carried an air that separated them from everyone nearby.
More importantly, anyone seeing them together would naturally assume they were on a date.