Chapter 406: Tatsumi: Can anyone save my companions!?

"This situation is different from all other Teigu, isn't it strange?"

Bulat frowned deeply and shared his doubts with the members of Night Raid.

Before anyone else could react,

Leone's expression changed slightly, and she said, "Being able to master two Teigu at the same time, and so effortlessly, it's just like the game merchant I ran into!"

Back then, Fang Yi had displayed two completely different abilities, and it looked very easy.

Now, Bulat's situation was particularly similar.

Bulat walked to Tatsumi's side, his expression serious as he asked, "Kid, where did this sword come from? Do you know?"

"It's a refined steel short sword that everyone in my village pooled their money together to have forged for me. Give it back now!"

Even Akame, who had nearly killed him, had been easily defeated by Bulat.

Tatsumi understood the other party's strength, but his gaze remained cold; like the Shrike impaled into the ground, he guarded the warehouse door with his life.

"Absolutely not."

Bulat shook his head and said, "A blessed short sword—this kind of special implement not only possesses the strength of a Teigu but can also bypass the side effects of a Teigu. How could it possibly be a weapon forged by an ordinary blacksmith?"

Looking at Tatsumi's attire, the village was likely not wealthy.

Let alone him, even the Minister of the Imperial Capital would find it difficult to forge such a special item, even by gathering the power of the entire nation.

After all, an Emperor had tried once before, and only managed to forge a Ministerial Tool.

Tatsumi said in a cold tone, "I am not a member of Night Raid who kills the innocent at will; I won't lie. This short sword cost nine gold coins in total—it's the money everyone saved up for half a year!"

Just as he finished speaking, he noticed the two words Bulat had mentioned.

Blessed?

He suddenly remembered when he parted ways with Mr. Fang Yi; the other party seemed to have picked up the short sword and said he was blessing him.

Immediately afterward, he felt his body seem to become stronger.

And the Sword Skill used to fight Akame, as well as the powerful strength that erupted when he broke free from the armored man who had ambushed Akame...

Clearly, the fact that this short sword attracted the attention of Night Raid was highly likely related to Mr. Fang Yi.

No,

he could not admit it, and even less could he implicate Mr. Fang Yi; otherwise, this group of bloodthirsty killers would surely kill him to silence him.

Thinking of this, Tatsumi turned his head away as if nothing was wrong, but,

the simple and naive village boy's "there is no silver buried here" expression was as if he were saying, "I've thought of key intelligence, come and torture me."

"If you won't talk, I'll kill you!"

Akame approached holding her cursed blade and held it against Tatsumi's neck.

Tatsumi's face turned pale; the cold sensation of the Blade against his skin made his breathing become rapid, yet even so, he remained silent.

Bulat grabbed Akame's arm and shook his head slightly, signaling her to put down the cursed blade and not to scare Tatsumi.

The cursed blade would seal one's throat upon drawing blood;

if she accidentally killed Tatsumi, this warm-hearted, foolish boy, she would truly have a heavy conscience.

"Young man, the darkness of the Imperial Capital is often draped in a glorious disguise."

Bulat's expression was grave; he grabbed the Shrike, gripped the spear shaft, leaned his body slightly backward, and then threw it with force.

Boom.

The warehouse door, built of thick steel plates and rivet structures, was pierced through by the thrown Shrike.

From inside the warehouse came Aria's panicked, distraught scream.

Before Tatsumi could react, Bulat walked to the hole pierced by the Shrike, gripped the curled edges of the steel plate with both arms, and like a brown bear tearing into a beehive, easily tore a gap in the steel door large enough for a person to pass through.

Gulp...

Tatsumi swallowed his saliva.

To be honest, the villagers would not have emptied their savings to forge a short sword without reason; the reason they were willing was that he was already a Swordsman rarely seen in the village in a hundred years.

He carried the hope of the villagers to escape poverty.

Tatsumi was also confident in his strength; along the way, he had easily hunted several Danger Beasts.

However, compared to the armored man who tore a steel door with his bare hands, he felt like an immature wolf pup encountering a wolf king.

With such strength, he chose to be a killer instead of thinking about serving the country.

What a pity.

Thinking of this, Bulat's impression in the bottom of Tatsumi's heart became even worse.

"Come in. Although I really don't want to say it, but... welcome to the real Imperial Capital!"

Bulat sighed, walked into the warehouse, and signaled for Tatsumi to follow.

Tatsumi could not figure out what the other party wanted to say, but looking at Akame's predatory gaze behind him, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and walk into the warehouse.

As soon as he stepped in, a foul, rotting stench rushed toward him.

In the stuffy, dim warehouse, one after another, blood-drenched Shadows were hanging upside down.

Tatsumi's first reaction was,

this was the warehouse where Aria's family stored meat, but after his eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, he suddenly froze.

"These are... humans?" Tatsumi's eyes widened, and he felt his mind spinning.

Hundreds of hanging Shadows were all people who had died in various miserable states; terrifying iron implements were placed on iron tables, clearly torture tools used to torment them.

"Aria's family appears to be kind-hearted wealthy people on the surface, but in reality, their hearts are twisted and dark; they often abduct young people who have just arrived at the Imperial Capital, lock them in the warehouse, and abuse them..."

Mine looked at Tatsumi with pity; if Night Raid hadn't acted early, Tatsumi would likely have become one of those on the hooks.

"Tatsumi, quickly... quickly stop them!"

Hiding in the corner, Aria's gaze was terrified as she kept looking for objects to shield herself.

Tatsumi did not speak, only staring blankly at the center of the warehouse, at the Shadow hanging from the ceiling with its hands shackled in wooden stocks.

It was a young girl of an age similar to Tatsumi,

now turned into a corpse, with knife wounds, burns, bruises from heavy hammer blows, and Dan limbs.

"Sayu?!"

Tatsumi's voice trembled, and he fell to his knees involuntarily.

The girl's corpse before his eyes was his companion from whom he had been separated for many days, his childhood sweetheart from the same village.

The black hair the girl had once been so proud of was covered in various filthy liquids, corroded until it was as wretched as a bird's nest, with large patches of scalp peeled away...

Mine said with disgust: "This is the object you wanted to protect? It's just a corner of the Imperial Capital's darkness, a family of sadists!"

"No... they are lying!"

Aria also knew that since all the guards had been wiped out and only Tatsumi remained, she could not let the other party discover the truth.

She put on a weak and pitiful expression and defended herself: "I have no idea about the situation here, it has nothing to do with me. Have you forgotten that I took you in, Brother Tatsumi?"

"Tatsumi..."

Inside the dark cage, a weak voice came out.

Tatsumi pushed open the steel door, and the moonlight spilled in, illuminating the figure who had spoken.

"Yas?!"

Tatsumi's throat tightened as he looked in disbelief at his companion locked in the cage.

Yas was covered in wounds; unlike Sayu's, his injuries looked more like some kind of viral infection, with skin festering and emitting waves of pungent, foul stench.

Yet Tatsumi felt not the slightest disgust; he kicked open the cell, carried Yas out into the moonlight, and let him breathe fresh air.

"It's Aria, she... she is a devil!"

"It was she who tortured Sayu, pulling out Sayu's hair one by one, cutting off Sayu's scalp..."

"I was also injected with the virus and treated like livestock, so they could observe the virus's reaction in my body."

"So painful..."

"It's good that you're okay, Tatsumi."

His companion gasped for air, breathing in the long-lost fresh air as the virus erupted completely within his body, constantly torturing his nerves.

Mine grabbed the devilish young lady by the collar, threw her outside the warehouse, and sneered: "Still want to lie?"

Seeing that things had come to this,

the desperate Aria tore off her disguise and said angrily: "I did nothing wrong! You commoners are just like livestock to begin with. I merely killed two head of livestock; even the officials of the Imperial Capital wouldn't punish me, so what right do you have?!"

Tatsumi remained silent, walked to Bulat's side, and took his own steel short sword.

Pfft! With one slash,

the blade mark started from the shoulder and extended all the way to the abdomen, cutting the still frantically cursing Aria in half at the waist.

Clang...

The steel short sword fell to the ground.

Tatsumi held his companion's palm, feeling the other's body temperature gradually turning cold and his body twitching constantly from the torture of the virus.

Tears rolled down like raindrops,

"Yas, don't die, Yas!"

"Who... who can save Yas?!"

Tatsumi hugged his companion and let out a hoarse, mournful cry.

The members of Night Raid stood silently to the side, no one making a sound.

There was simply no cure for the virus Aria had injected, and one would experience a very painful process before finally dying.

Healing-type Teigu were extremely rare,

and besides, in the current state of Tatsumi's companion, his bodily functions were completely necrotic, leaving only his final breath.

Even if there really were a healing-type Teigu, he certainly could not be saved.

Parting in life and death,

Night Raid had experienced too much of it and could only wish for the youth to be able to pull himself out of his grief soon.

"Tatsumi."

A voice suddenly rang out.

(End of chapter)