Aftermath 2

Zero suffered from a high fever for the entire night but the next morning he looked much better than yesterday.

'...I can't remember much from the last night, I only have blurry images in my head. I still have a slight headache but I guess it's just the aftermath. Akame...did she take care of me for the entire night?' Zero thought when he woke up and noticed Akame who just woke up not too far away from him.

"It looks like you are feeling better already. Poney, Tsukushi, and I took turns in taking care of you while the others were attending to Cornelia whose injuries were much more serious. Well, the most important thing is that she is alive." Akame explained when she noticed Zero's confused expression before getting up and stretching her arms.

'I should keep secret that he was occasionally talking in his sleep. I wonder who is the person he wants to kill so much that he even has nightmares about that person.' Akame even asked Poney and Tsukushi whether they heard him sleep talking during their turns but it looks like Akame was the only one.

It seemed like everyone else was already awake and Cornelia just regained her consciousness. Everyone immediately swarmed her in an affectionate way aside from Najasho and Gozuki. Zero could see that Najasho was just a big tsundere, however, he had no idea what Gozuki see these kids as. He had some background information from the others but in Zero eyes, it looked like they were just trying to raise them to be absolutely loyal to the Empire. Despite that, he noticed that Gozuki might not look at them only as weapons, still, it was too early for him to make and decisions and it wouldn't change the fact that Gozuki is tricking them to be loyal to him.

While Zero was thinking hard about these things, Cornelia slowly explained what exactly happened and before long Zero noticed stares directed at him which made him look up. Everyone was staring at him with surprised and maybe impressed expressions, Guy even decided to approach him and extend his hand to him.

"What?" Zero raised his eyebrow upon seeing the buff guy act this way.

"She might not have needed the saving but I respect that you didn't just run away or ignore her." Guy said with a solemn expression and Zero threw a last suspicious look at Guy's hand before shaking it.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that..." Gozuki added which caused everyone to look at him with confused expressions.

"There is a small crack on her Shingu" Gozuki said and only then did Cornelia notice it.

"But how...Did the enemy have a comparable weapon to Shingu?" Tsukushi asked and Poney nodded her head a few times, waiting for the explanation.

Gozuki looked towards Zero who caught on.

"...No matter how tough the armor is, if you strike it numerous times in the same spot, it will break. But to do that requires an absurd amount of skill...to be able to strike the same spot repeatedly while fighting for your life...Taeko was even more dangerous than I thought of her." Zero explained with a thoughtful expression while holding his chin and Najasho nodded his head to Zero's words.

"That's right...it looks like she was aiming to cut through your Pulverization King and cut off your arm. Without it, you would be just like a lamb to slaughter. It's not damaged too much but one or two more hits would break it completely. It's still repairable but the place where the crack is will forever be its weak spot even after being repaired." Hearing Gozuki's words sent Cornelia and others shiver down their spine before they looked towards Zero with mixed emotions, however, no one was feeling the same as Cornelia who only now realized that he might have saved her by interfering.

"Looks like you indeed brought us good luck, kid." Gozuki said with a wide smile which made the others finally sigh in relief and smile too.

'...I had no idea about that crack, if I were to move just a bit later, I would no longer be able to save her. Still, I managed to fight Taeko only thanks to being able to read all of her movements from seeing them used in action against Cornelia.' Zero indeed felt lucky with that gamble he did yesterday, still, he would have been put in a bad spot if Cornelia's weapon broke just before she was to deliver the final hit to Taeko.

"Umm, I know it probably can wait but I still want to ask...What are your plans with me?" Zero asked Gozuki, if it was before, he would just want to return to the Capital but now his mindset changed a little.

"Not only you didn't run away, you even possibly saved her life by interfering. Tell me, what do you want to do?" Gozuki asked with a smile which surprised everyone including Zero. While the others were surprised because they already thought Zero would be joining them, Zero himself was puzzled by Gozuki's "kindness". He also found suspicious the tone he used.

'Is this some kind of test? Maybe he has caught on to my motives. I doubt he knows what exactly I want and who exactly I want to kill, he still must have felt my desire for power. This fucker, making me say it aloud!' Zero was suspicious that Gozuki already had a feeling he would want to stay which made Zero stare at Gozuki with a contempt smile.

"Come with us build a better future for the Empire!" Poney encouraged him with a friendly smile and enthusiastic mood.

"As I mentioned before, I have no relatives so returning to the Capital would be just for the sake of it. If you think you can make use of my feeble skills, I won't mind traveling with you." Zero said and everyone smiled after hearing his words, including Najasho and Gozuki.

"Heh, feeble? You have mentioned it before but I would have never imagined feeble skills to look the way you have shown against Taeko. Welcome, this time officially" Cornelia said with a weak smile and Zero returned a miserable smile. He could be glad that Gozuki wasn't questioning him but fortunately he never truly lied to them about anything, he only slightly concealed his strength.

"GRrrr, just because you were at the right place at the right time doesn't make you eligible to flirt with Cornelia right in front of me!" Guy looked like wanted to murder him.

The moment Zero heard his words, a smile disappeared from his face and a blank expression appeared on his face.

"I take it back, I want to return to the Capital"

"Haha, too late!" Poney started laughing and soon Tsukushi, Akame, and Cornelia joined her.