Toushi town

As they were descending the mountain, the girls started discussing their last battle on the river which caught Zero's attention. He tried to subtly ask for details however before any of the girls could reply, Gozuki joined the conversation.

"The last boat was completely empty, with how I suddenly found portraits of Green and Najasho, I assume there were survivors who managed to flee. You wouldn't happen to know anything, right?"

"...I have no idea..." Zero replied while nonchalantly avoiding, Gozuki's cold stare.

"Hmm, alright."

'That abandoned shed by the river...Are there only 2 survivors? But to be able to flee this group, they must be quite skilled. By hanging around this group, I might get ambushed while exploring the town, I should be extra careful.' Zero's thoughts were soon enough interrupted by Cornelia's voice.

"Zero, shouldn't you throw some additional clothes on since most of your weapons are out in open?"

"Oh, right, thanks for reminding me. I almost forgot about it." 'I can't believe I forgot about such a simple thing' Zero replied to her with a small smile.

"It's not anything unusual for the travelers to carry a weapon, however, you carry a bit too much of them. In general, you don't look like a guard or traveler. You have very light armor, metal gauntlets, several daggers, one broadsword, one hand crossbow and I could even see a sharp wire wrapped around your wrist. Why would you need so many weapons?" Akame asked while curiously watching Zero.

"That's his "resourcefulness". In the slums, once you lose your knife, you also lose your life. If I were to take a guess, Zero is most likely a versatile fighter whose desire to live is so strong that he learned to use anything at his hand as a weapon. He is strong enough to not be burdened by those weapons but it still takes a bit away from your speed so it's not worth it as long as you have your Shingu." Gozuki said, while looking at Zero with an expectant smile as if he was waiting for his reply, however, Zero refrained from replying.

'Shingu?'

"Interesting...But what is that strong desire?" Poney asked curiously and a bit carelessly.

"Poney..." Cornelia unexpectedly called her out for it when she noticed Zero's face growing increasingly darker.

'Calm down...You have been suppressing it for over 9 years now. There is no reason to release your pent-up anger and hatred here' When Zero escaped from his village, he swore he would have his vengeance and he kept his hatred boiling up inside him each day without venting out. When he arrived at the Capital, he was forced to live in the slums where he has been tricked several times because he was at his wit's end however every time it seemed like he was going to die, he survived thanks to remembering his vow. Thanks to releasing a little bit of that hatred, he always survived with blood on his hands.

Zero himself was surprised how strong his emotions could make him and with how long he didn't release his hatred, he wouldn't be surprised if it even caused a strange phenomenon once he sees his targets face to face.

'I know that look very well, he is obsessed with something. I want to explore his skills a bit more but if he will show potential, I want to use his obsession to my advantage.' Gozuki secretly smiled when he noticed Zero's dark expression.

When they arrived in front of the inn, Zero was silently observing the girls' behavior and noticed that they were strangely "naive" for top-class assassins. They were strangely emotional after seeing more unfortunate starved people inside the town and by their words he came to understand that those girls were thinking that they were killing for the good of the Empire.

Zero was practically told the same bullshit when he was taking tests for the Imperial Guards but most of the people there knew those were just empty words, though, they decided to just keep their mouth shut. In those girls' case, he could see that they truly believed in those ideals.

As the girls were too impatient to eat good and warm food, they were standing in front of Gozuki, just waiting for his permission to storm in. Only Zero was standing behind him and noticed that he suddenly looked at 2 people approaching the inn.

'One older woman and one young woman? That older woman is giving me a creepier feeling than Gozuki and that's something to say. I know that most of the travelers are carrying weapons but why is that older woman wearing a similar gauntlet to mine?' Zero thought while looking at the pair and before he finished his thoughts, the older woman was already looking straight into his eyes which slightly startled him however he did his best to not show it on his face.

Zero just friendly smiled and gave her a wave, showing his gauntlet in the process before giving her the thumb up with a silly smile while looking at her gauntlet that looked similar.

"Oh..."

"Is something wrong?" The younger woman asked but the older woman quickly shook her head before entering the inn.

*sigh* 'That was close, those two are already on my list of potential enemies. I have to keep my distance from that granny. Gozuki already mentioned some possible survivors from the ambush on the river, added up with that abandoned shed which looked recently used...I guess I am in bigger danger by going with these girls.'

"What are you doing? Everyone is waiting for you, Zero" Poney called out from the inn's entrance which caused Zero to wake up from his thoughts. He quickly caught up with the group just to notice Akame dangerously glaring at him as if he was an obstacle in front of her food.

They entered the inn and ordered food. Gozuki deliberately made Zero sit next to him and while the girls were too busy eating like pigs, Gozuki gave Zero instructions.