Chapter 19

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Give me the stones.

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I lazily glanced around at the townspeople passing by below, searching for my target. Vernando Bryne, a wealthy landowner also involved in the drug trade and slave trade. From him, I needed little. Just his body and his money. I hadn't eaten in a while, so I thought I'd make some money.

It had been a week since I'd fully formed my squad, which I'd given the pathetic name "The Apostates". Dorothea pounced on me, demanding to tell and show me everything I know and can do. However, I promised that only after my meal would I tell her everything.

Esdes and Akame... they were at war. Sometimes, I even had to make them put down the weapons they'd taken up. Lately, though, they've been fighting less and less, just enjoying my presence.

The revolutionaries, as I learnt, are pushing the front line more and more towards the capital. The fighting is already 15 kilometres from the Capital, and every day, the revolutionary army moves a kilometre closer. At this rate, the assault on the capital will take place in about two weeks.

- The end is near. - I said quietly to myself. - Here comes the target. - I grinned, catching the eyes of the fatty with the guards around him. I looked again at the picture in my hands, I made sure that it was my target, and then I put on my mask and waited.

Just a moment later, the fatty's squad entered the deserted courtyard, intending to take a shortcut to the manor, however... I was ready.

Jump down, stab the humans with my rinkaku, and then proceed to the fatty himself.

- So..." I began in a terrifying voice, thanks to the magic on my mask. - I want your money.

- Z-z-z-z-get it... - the fat man, with trembling hands, took out a bulky bag from his jacket, which he threw under my feet.

I opened it with interest, and involuntarily whistled. It was a lot of money, though what else would you expect from a drug dealer.

- Well done. Now die. - without looking at the future corpse, I said, piercing it with my rinkaku. - And now, the meal. - I grinned, unzipping my mask.

Leaning over one of the soldiers, I instantly tore his armour, then ripped the skin off, ripped out his ribs, and began to eat the meat. After a couple of minutes, I got bored with the stares of a certain girl.

- What do you want? - I turned tiredly, looking at the girl standing on the roof.

I thought of the picture Main had shown me, the one with the four demons of the Rakshasa, or something like that. And I remember this girl was there.

- Hee hee... what an interesting one. - said the girl.

- I'm not in the mood to bother with you. - I waved my hand, tearing off another piece of meat. - Besides... you are a Rakshasa demon, aren't you?

- That's right. But don't underestimate me. - grinned the girl, landing lightly, jumping from a three-storey building.

- You're fighting for the Empire, which means there's no point in me killing you. - I shrugged.

- And who are you? I've never heard of anyone like you in the service of the Empire. - said the girl, coming closer and closer.

- I'm sick of you. - I sighed, releasing a rinkaku at her.

- Wow! - With a smile the girl exclaimed, jumping away from me.

- Get out before you kill her. - I said phlegmatically, pulling away from the corpse and heading for the street. - stupid. - I commented on the girl's attempt to stab me in the back.

At the moment, she was showing miracles of acrobatics, dodging my kagune. And then... the fool landed and tried to stop my rinkaku with her sharply grown fingernails. They instantly broke against my kagune, and the girl herself, got a huge cut on her right shoulder, barely managing to jump back.

- For the last time. Go away, or I'll kill you. - I said.

- I'm Suzuka. What's your name? - The girl asked without stopping smiling.

- Kaneki Ken. - I nodded, amused by the look on the girl's dazed face. - Now get out.

I shuddered as I followed Suzuka's gaze, wondering what the Empire had told me about me.

***

- I'm back! - I shouted across the base, throwing the bag of gold on the table.

- Did everything go okay? - I heard Akame's voice behind me.

- It was fine. Except that I met one of Rakshasa's demons. - I shrugged, throwing off my cloak. - I didn't kill her, just scared her off.

- She saw you. It's not rational to leave intelligence to the enemy like that... - Akame shook her head.

- Kaneki!!! - I heard Esdes' joyful shout, after which two soft... Anyway, okay... slammed into my back.

- Hi, Esdes. - I smiled, turning my head and kissing the girl on her open lips.

- Dorothea was looking for you. - Akame said immediately.

I pulled away from Esdes, causing her to shoot Mad-Eye eyes at Akame, then nodded.

- Yes, I promised her I'd tell her about the Ghouls. Where are the others?

- Who's where. Lubbock, Mein, Wade, Kurome, Leone, and Shelly are chatting in the living room. Balls is with his family. Dorothea is in her lab. - Akame replied.

- And how... are things with Kurome? - I raised an eyebrow.

- We made up. - Akame smiled sincerely.

- I'm glad. - I said with the same smile. - Now, I'm going to Dorothea's. Still, it's been a week, I promise.

- I'm coming with you. - said Esdes, continuing to hug me.

- Me too. - Akame abruptly jumped up.

- Oh, maybe I'll go alone after all. - I wrinkled my nose.

- No." Akame and Esdes said at the same time.

***

- Hey, Dorothea. - I waved as I entered the lab.

- Ohhhh!!! Kanekushka! - Dorothea exclaimed happily, running up to me with a notebook.

I sighed, hearing my name in such a strange form. She started calling me that after I promised her a story about my essence, about a week ago.

- I'm ready to tell you about myself. - I nodded, taking a seat on a chair in the corner of the room. Akame and Esdes, settled opposite, next to Dorothea, staring at me expectantly.

- Great. So, tell me in general about your race. - with a twinkle in her eye, Dorothea said.

- Mmm... I am a Ghoul. We possess an innate teigu, though it's not really a teigu, but an additional internal organ. It contains special cells from which we can create kagune. These cells are also used to strengthen the body. They are wasted, and as a result, they have to be restored. But, they are contained even in a normal human being, albeit in much smaller quantities. However, there is enough to replenish them. So, I'll continue with the topic of kagune. It's divided into ukaku, rinkaku, bikaku and koukaku. I possess the rinkaku, which is shaped like tentacles.

- What about the others? What shape do they have? - Akame asked.

- Ukaku is shaped like wings, and is capable of releasing crystals made up of RC cells, the same ones it is made of, at great speeds. Bikaku, the tail. And koukaku, a blade of various shapes around the arm. - I explained. - But, there is a fifth kind of kagune. The rarest. It's called kakuja, and it appears differently on each Ghoul. But, quite often, it is an armour that covers the entire body. When a Ghoul activates it, his physical stats all skyrocket.

- Why is it the rarest? - Dorothea asked, still scribbling in her notebook.

- It appears in Ghouls as the second kagune. For example, I have rinkaku, but I also have kakuja. The whole problem is the difficulty of awakening it. You have to devour the flesh of other Ghouls to get it, but in my case, somehow the fire teigu just disembodied and underwent evolution. But usually, Ghouls have an incomplete kakuja first, which they go mad with little by little. That's the problem. Most just don't live to see the process completed. For example, my incomplete kakuja would represent a single tail, no armour.

- So, what about physical abilities? - Dorothea asked impatiently.

- I can jump ten metres. I can run faster than a human. Strength... I can lift a hundred kilos without much effort. You've seen the senses in action yourself. - I waved my hand.

- Mm-hmm... And regeneration?

I silently released the kagune and made a small cut on my arm. A dozen seconds later, the cut was gone.

- What about creating offspring? - Esdes asked thoughtfully.

I don't know what to answer to that question. Throwing options in my head, I answered:

- The chance that a child from a Ghoul and a human, will be born normal, is very... small. The foetus just dies. Well, or there's a very small chance that a half-gul will be born. - I stammered, catching myself thinking, "How do I know that?"

Is this what Yuichiro was talking about? That I would remember something.

- That's how..." said Akame thoughtfully.

Meanwhile...

- The agent was killed? - A middle-aged man asked in surprise.

- That's right. Subject #4 eliminated her while trying to recruit her into the renegade squad. Apparently, he realised her purpose. - Najenda said clearly.

- Well, that's rather unfortunate. We had high hopes for her, after the war ended... Oh, and they deserted... And her teigu?

- Destroyed. - Najenda nodded again.

- Oh... I should have listened to you when you warned me about Object #1... In that case, Objects #2 and #3 will come under your command. We can't give you No. 1 because it's needed at the front. Also, we're giving you a couple of soldiers on top of the objects. Now, your primary objective is to eliminate the members of the renegade squad. Your secondary objective is to weaken the Empire. Is that clear?

- Yes, sir. - Najenda replied clearly.

- In that case, the report on the agent's operation, send it to the warehouse. - said the man, handing Najenda a clipboard with a single piece of paper:

Name: Chelsea Radrens

Class: Secret Agent

Status: Dead

Number of successful operations: 26

Number of failed operations: 1

Killed during operation: "Cleaner".

Primary objective of the operation: to eliminate the members of the Night Raid, after the end of the war.

Secondary objective of the operation: obtaining information about Object 4. Assisting the Night Raid in weakening the Empire.

Killed by Subject 4.

The next day.

- Not a bad place..." the black haired girl said sceptically.

She was wearing a green jacket, matching the colour of her eyes, and blue jeans, with a small cutout at the tailbone.

- So..." hummed the guy, dressed in camouflage trousers and a black T-shirt. Shaking his scarlet hair, he hummed again, muttering about the haircut.

- To tell you the truth, this is the third time we've changed bases. - Najenda said, looking around the small hut, which was said to have a huge basement.

Susano, meanwhile, eyed the two men warily, while keeping an eye on the other two, consisting of a girl with a huge, double-sided axe behind her back, and a short guy with a pipe on his belt.

- No wonder. Such weaklings are never capable of anything. - The girl hummed again.

Najenda gritted her teeth, but remained silent. Still, objects #2 and #3, even individually, could outlast her entire previous team. With Esdes, Akame, or Kaneki, they would certainly have to compete, but still, they were stronger. She's not sure about Kaneki, of course, since he has similar abilities, and he also controls fire, but still....

- Let's get settled in. - said the girl with the axe. - I want to go hunting for those guys as soon as possible.

- Pfft, you, unlike us, can't track them down anyway. - snorted the scarlet-haired man.

- You're comparing us to some ordinary human? - The girl asked mockingly, and then smiled dreamily. - But still, that white-haired boy is very nice. I might even have some fun with him before I kill him.

- He's the one you should be careful with. - Najenda said sharply. - He has powers similar to yours, and he has a fire teigue. So I wouldn't mess with him.

- Did someone yell something? - The girl looked around defiantly.

- 'Rrr...' Najenda growled softly.

Even though the woman knew that the Night Raid would have been slaughtered at the end of the war, she still found it much more pleasant to be in their company than with these...

- Yeah, really interesting. What kind of idiot does one have to be to run away after an operation from the Revolution? Where does he get the cell serum? - said the guy.

- He eats people's meat. Like he said, he can't eat regular food, but I've never seen serum on him. - said Najenda.

- Human meat? - The girl's face twisted.

- 'Yeah... even for me, it's savage. - The boy grumbled.

- Anyway, we need to kill it, and we will. - said the girl with the axe cheerfully.

- Mm-hmm, except they have the former general Esdes with them, and with her eight professional assassins with teigu. - The short man entered the conversation with a frown.

- Come on, Kieren. - The girl with the axe ruffled his hair.

- Let's get settled in. - Najenda frowned as Susano entered the house.

- I think the rubbish speaks for itself. - nodded the boy.

- And then let's go find the Apostates! - Exclaimed the black haired girl, heading into the house.

- By the way, did the boss say anything about their possible location? - The guy raised an eyebrow.

- It seems that object number 4 was seen in the Capital... We should start searching from there. - Najenda nodded to herself.

- Well, at least you're useful. - hummed the guy, heading into the house while Najenda gritted her teeth.