Chapter 14
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Gimme the stones.
Enjoy reading.
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- Fucking hell. - I briefly characterised my condition.
It had been about twenty-four hours since my disclosure. During this time, I had managed to get drunk twice already, and successfully. The alcohol, this time, was working as intended, allowing me to not think about how fucked up I was.
- Well... it's not that bad," Myne said confused.
The girl tried to calm me down, however... to no avail.
- Stop sulking! - Chelsea jumped over to me, pissed off. - You said yourself that Ghouls are strangers to everything human, so why the fuck are you so sour?
- I said I'm not familiar with a lot of human stereotypes. Don't confuse the two. - I shook my head.
Chelsea exhaled angrily, then quickly headed out of the room.
- You're in love, aren't you? - Maine sighed.
- Yeah," I nodded, not lying.
- I wish Akame were here... she could calm you down. - Maine chuckled weakly.
- Yeah..." I allowed myself a smile.
Footsteps sounded from the entrance to the room. Chelsea was back. I wonder where she went?
- Chelsea, what are you..." I heard from Myne's side as suddenly....
***
I looked sadly at the soaking wet couch I had, until recently, been lying on. Yeah, Chelsea had poured a bucket of water on me.
- Cheer up? - smirked the hellcat.
Hmm... I did. It was like the water had washed away all the sadness. Ahem... Although, that's just the way it is....
- Yeah, thanks. - I grinned. - I'm going to eat, and then we'll go fulfil the order.
Without listening further, I jumped out the window, landing right in the middle of the street. The passing townspeople began to grumble and oohing and aahing, but I paid no attention to them. I was in a great mood, and it was a sin not to take advantage of it.
Glancing at the setting sun, I tuned in to the emophones around me, looking for a squad. And I found it pretty quickly! A group of five, moving down an alley nearby. Abruptly skimming across the rooftops in their direction, I was about to set up for dinner when suddenly....
They caught my eye. The creatures, with little dirty rags on... no, wait... they were pieces of skin... Yeah, well... that's what I got.
As I turned the acceleration to maximum, I was surprised to notice that my speed had increased by about 2 times, which was quite unexpected. I guess it's true what they say about evolving at the edge of death. In that battle with the Ghoul that had come from nowhere, I really had a good chance of dying. Still, a chopped off head, I can not restore... And he could cut it off for me.
But I'm distracted. Two-metre tall, overpumped, monsters with strange iron in their hands... Hmm... Are they not the creations of our doctor? They could be.
Behind my thoughts, I didn't notice how I finished them, but I didn't eat them. Purely out of squeamishness and fear of poisoning.
A week later.
I have to admit, the monsters did turn out to be Staelish. Najenda's "inside sources" confirmed it. By the way, that drug lord, Chelsea, Mein, and I did kill him.
Anyway, now I was glumly surveying our next base. Yes, because of the distance between that shack and the Capital, Najenda had decided to change to a closer base.
And it turned out to be an almost complete copy of the one before last. Except a little smaller. Otherwise, it was the same. Under a rock, huge, the Night Raid flag in the most prominent position. Except it was not 10 kilometres away, but 15 from the Capital.
At the same time, Najenda began to give out orders, despite the fact that it was already late at night. It's also raining a little bit.
- ...Lubbock and Kaneki, you're going to set up a defence system around the base. Also, kill all the monsters of Stileish and clean up the neighbourhood. Kaneki will be in charge.
- Understood. - I nodded. Let's go, Labb. - I waved, pulling on my hood. The rain was starting to really get in the way.
***
- Are you sure the soldiers aren't camped out here? - Lubbock asked, gawking in all directions, walking behind me on one of the roads in these ridged cliffs.
- According to our information, they leave places near the capital at night. Don't be a coward. - I snorted, throwing off my hood. The rain had stopped, and there was no need for it.
- You know... Cowardice is necessary for a killer to survive. Even Najenda said so. Remember that, okay?
- Cowardice is needed for victims, not hunters. - I smirked, activating the kakugan and turning to Lubbock with the left side of my face, where the eye was located.
- Brrr..." Lubbock shuddered.
- Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!! - I laughed, removing the kakugan.
- Have you had it all your life? - Lubbock asked after a few moments of silence.
- Kakugan? No, when my father was burned alive, that's when my left eye awakened. - I smirked, kicking another pebble.
- Must have been a terrible life, huh? - The puppeteer asked sadly.
- You can get used to it. - I shrugged. - That's the first rule of life: for one thing, you have to give up something else.
- Like what? - Lubbock asked.
- There are plenty of examples. Your love for Najenda, for example. You have to give a lot of time, suffering and labour to have her love. I'm another. For being born a Ghoul, my humanity was given up. For the awakening of my kagune and kakugan, my father was put to the fire. And so it goes on and on. - I hummed, increasingly amazed at the faithfulness of my thought, which had arisen literally on the fly.
- Thank you for teaching me..." Lubbock said thoughtfully, not even reacting to my first comparison.
- Listen... I have to tell you something that you will have to keep a deep secret from Chelsea, Susano and Najenda. Especially from her. - I began seriously, remembering that I was about to tell the right people about my plans.
- Okay..." Lubbock nodded slowly.
- The point is that at the end of the war... the top of the revolutionary army will be in charge of the country... Now think about it, what kind of ruler needs professional killers who can kill them?
Lubbock stopped abruptly and his face became confused.
- They'll get rid of us as soon as we're no longer needed. So we should leave the revolutionary army when the turning point comes, or better yet, form our own group that will simply stay out of the war. How do you feel about that?
- Are you suggesting... betraying Najenda and running away? - Lubbock asked, but I didn't feel even the rudiments of displeasure.
- Kill the main figures of the Imperial army, then run away, leaving the final carnage between the armies to the armies themselves.
But then I caught a glimpse of some magical manipulation at the top of the cliff, and I began to get curious.
- Listen, Lubbock, I sense something strange up there. I'll check it out and you wait, okay? - I asked, looking up.
- Just make it quick. - The guy mumbled, heading towards a small forest nearby. - I'll be in the trees.
- Ok. - I smiled, turning on the Impulse.
When I landed on the top, I instantly noticed a huge magical seal, hidden from plain sight. I didn't know the weave of the seal... It must be some kind of Teigu or something similar... But no! The Runes on the edges are for teleportation! Teleport? But such an enormous size... Or maybe it serves to....
Suddenly, there was an explosion behind me, and I instantly rolled over, summoning a kagune and pulling out a Blutege. If it's the owner of the seal, he's clearly not a timid person. But...
- I'm your opponent! I'll try out a new method of dust on you... - sounded from a huge club of raised dust... And as soon as it dissipated, Esdes and I met each other's gazes.
- Esdes!???
- Kaneki!????
The girl and I exclaimed at the same time. I instantly lowered my sword down and also withdrew my kagune, so as not to stress the girl. Still, if she's alone, under the full moon, being alone, we may well be able to explain ourselves to each other.
But... here on my right, from several caves, the very monsters of Stileish came out. And Esdes and I came to the same conclusion. All of them, were instantly killed by an all-destroying mixture of fire and ice.
And after a dozen seconds, there was silence again.
- I'm surprised to see you here. - I said with a smile. Blutege, however, I was in no hurry to call off. Who knows what she thinks of me.....
- KANEKI!!!!! - Esdes squealed happily, instantly coming to my side and pressing her to my chest.
Yeah...I underestimated Esdes' feelings for my carcass....
- It's really you... The real you... Why did you run away then? I was so lonely..." Esdes mumbled, breathing in the scent of my hair. Hmmm, they must smell like rain... after all, I wet them under it just recently.....
- What are you doing here? - I asked again.
- I'm exterminating dangerous beasts that are terrifying the citizens around the capital. Night patrol. What are you doing here? - I instantly felt her body tense up, but I wasn't going to lie.
- I'm just cleaning up the area on Najenda's orders. Pretty much what you're doing. - I shrugged out of her embrace.
- Oh, yeah... you're a member of the Night Raid, aren't you?" she looked down at Esdes.
- Preventing your entreaties, no, I'm not going to leave it. - I shook my head. - Or rather... I'm not going to join the Imperial Army.
- That's how..." said Esdes.
- But that doesn't apply to you. We're on opposite sides of the barricades, but... that's no reason to hate each other. - I shrugged.
Meanwhile, I noticed a happy smile appearing on Esdes' face.
- But still... I have to ask. - I got serious. - how do you feel about me? Considering that you know I'm from Night Raid, so also a Tokyo kuroken, coupled with a non-human?
And here's the answer... Esdes lunged forwards, and I was about to deflect her blow.... when suddenly, instead of the punch I expected, she kissed me. On automatic, my arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her even closer, and among my hair on the back of my neck, I felt the girl's fingers walking around. We're almost the same height, except that I'm a little shorter, but not so much that you can't tell the difference.
After hugging for about a minute, the girl was short of breath, and I had to let her go.
- That... was..." Esdes said, smiling happily through her attempts to catch her breath, but was interrupted.
- The strongest man in the Empire, making out with some nigger. I thought better of you, General Esdes. But, I'll rise in my father's eyes when I report to him about his chief general's love affair with a member of the Night Raid..." said a hooded man standing at the other end of the platform.
- Who are you? It doesn't matter though, you'll answer for your words! - Esdes was instantly enraged. - I will torture you to your dying requests!
- Shambhala! Activation! - screamed the man with the cross scar on his face.
And Esdes and I were flooded with light from the manifested seal.
***
I slowly looked round the beach where Esdes and I were standing, then looked at the jungle in the middle of the island.
- Teleported..." I said thoughtfully. - Esdes, do you happen to have a swimming costume?
- Huh? - the girl blushed a little.
- Yes so... we'll swim in case of what... - I smirked.
- Ohhh... so that's how sincere you are... - Esdes smiled dreamily and brought her hands together.
- Mm-hmm. - I nodded. - we should find out where we are first.....
- Oh, really. - Esdes nodded, and a second later, a kilometre-long column of ice rose beneath us.
- It's convenient... - I sighed tragically, once again remembering the shadow creation. - And there's a very nice view...
- Yes... It's like we're on a date..." said Esdes.
- By the way, where were we? - I suddenly remembered. It's not hard for me to get out of here, although teleportation has always worked poorly for me, but I think I'm enough to get to the Capital.
And then there was this inhuman scream. And it was coming from a huge monster... Hmm, I think, according to the canon, about the same, should have been during the attack of Stailish... It's true, after the attack, I do not remember the canon at all, because of what, and got here... Well, I should not have forgotten it....
- You dare to interfere with us!?? - Esdes literally roared next to me.
- Calm down. - I said. - Aim for that thing on his forehead, it's probably his weak point.
- Did you notice it too? - Esdes smirked, creating a huge ice spear.
But... she missed.
- How stubborn..." the girl grinned again.
- You're really starting to bore me. - I said glumly, sending out a single fire spell, from the "homing" section. A dense bird of fire slammed into Stileish's monster, which fell to the ground a second later.
- Well done. - Esdes marvelled, but to our right, another giant suddenly appeared.
- It's yours. - I waved my hand.
Esdes didn't mess around with that, sending a huge ice sphere towards him. Hmmm... But it's probably not as strong as a spear....
However, for a giant, the sphere was more than enough.
- So... what did you say about the continuation? - Esdes said, while I had already started to take off my cloak.