Assassins make their move.

During the breakfast, Zero noticed that Cornelia's mood was strangely good, up to the point even he could notice it despite not spending a lot of time around her. After the girls asked her about it, he found out that she apparently made a friend in this inn which prompted him to ask...

"Cornelia, is that girl the one who arrived at this inn together with an older woman?"

"Hm? Yeah, I think that's her, she said that she is here with her grandmother. By the way, you can just call me Cora, everyone here does." Cornelia replied with a slightly confused expression before giving him a gentle smile.

'Damn...if it wasn't for the world setting, I would probably instantly fall for that smile. Anyway, should I warn them about those two? I have no proof to back up my hunch and I don't want to disclose the fact that I took a detour to the river where they have fought. I can just hope nothing bad happens or I might try to trail that girl since I am for sure not approaching that granny. After all, if I can stay hidden and trail her, I can't get ambushed by her.' Zero knew that if this group were to get slaughtered, he would be the next target for spending time around them so he had to at least help them out a little bit.

"Aren't you going a bit too fast...Cora?" Poney asked with a teasing smile while resting her head on her hand.

"Eh? Oh?! It's not like t-" Before Cornelia could retort, Guy popped out of nowhere with an angry expression.

"Where is that fucker?!" His question made the girls tilt their heads in confusion.

"The alarm just rang in my head that some fucker is flirting with my Cornelia!"

"Who the hell is flirting!" Zero instinctively grabbed a slice of bread and threw it at Guy's face.

"Who the hell is yours!" Cornelia kicked it up a notch by throwing the entire plate at Guy who was forced to catch it since he didn't want to pay for it later.

"Wow, what a great synergy..." Poney muttered while watching on with an amused look on her face.

"*sigh* Anyway, we should bring some food to the guys in the mountains. I feel sorry for them" Cornelia sighed and volunteered to do the job.

"A girl should be escorted by a man!" Guy said with a smirk which made Cornelia's left eye twitch a few times.

"If that's the case, Ze-" However before she could finish her sentence, Zero already interrupted her so he wouldn't have to refuse her later.

"In that case, I am going to investigate the town a bit more, that is, if you don't mind." If it was a dating sim game, Zero would probably lose a few of Cornelia's points but he already started Akame's route so he might as well finish it.

And as he expected, Akame volunteered to go with him. Thus, they split up into 3 groups, one going back to the mountains, one exploring the town, and the other lazying around inside the inn.

Akame and Zero continued from where they left yesterday, spending a good hour walking around before they strolled into a more crowded street. While they were walking, Zero noticed from the corner of his eye that Akame stopped walking and began staring at one stall with beef skewers while drooling.

'...' Zero decided to continue walking as if he hadn't noticed.

After Akame finally got what she ordered, she finally remembered Zero, making her abruptly turn around and when she couldn't see him anywhere, her eyes widened in horror.

'I messed up! What if something happens to him? I am responsible for looking after him yet I got distracted! He probably just got swept up in the crowd, I need to find him!' Akame thought before she began her search for Zero, of course, not without savoring the beef skewers which caused their separation in the first place.

.

.

Zero decided to go back towards the inn which caused Akame to look for him in the wrong direction. While he was nearing the inn, he noticed some people near the inn he definitely didn't expect to see.

'Shit it's that granny and girl...since when was there a third member? I don't remember that lollipop girl being around them. Why do I have such a bad feeling about it?!' Zero quickly blended in with the crowd and watched them from the distance. He slightly regretted running away from Akame. He isn't aware of how strong she is but at least he knows that she isn't aiming for his life.

He couldn't hear what they were discussing but from the lollipop girl's expression, it was anything but pleasant. Zero had to be extra careful therefore he was just occasionally glancing at them instead of blatantly staring.

After a while, he saw that the granny was walking away from the inn towards the town's gate while Cornelia's new friend just remained in the vicinity of the inn as if she was waiting for someone.

'Well, I sure as hell am not going to trail that granny which leaves Cornelia's "friend". The lollipop girl went back to the inn, why are they splitting up like that? More importantly, where did that granny go? Their actions are so suspicious.' Zero decided to watch the girl from a safe distance.

After a while of waiting, he noticed that Cornelia and Guy returned. Guy left after walking Cornelia back and Zero saw the girl approaching Cornelia. It looked like they were talking for a while before they left together.

Zero decided to trail them, although he might not have been trained for such things, growing up in slums taught him many things. He was practically jack of all trades and master of none. He was still slightly worried about the lollipop girl but there was nothing he could do about her.

Zero successfully followed the pair to some abandoned ruins of some buildings.

'If this is still the part of the town then it has been long abandoned. What would she want to talk about here, I wonder-' Zero sarcastically thought, and a few seconds later, the girl called Taeko tried to cut off Cornelia's head in one slash. Cornelia managed to dodge by jumping back at the last moment.

'?! Damn, what a speed and more importantly, what a reaction speed from Cornelia. She might have nicked her cheek but this result after such a surprise attack is very disappointing. Now that it is confirmed...did that granny go to the mountains to take care of Najasho and Green? Should I warn everyone back at the inn or should I scout both of their strengths? Akame should be looking for me so it is only a matter of time till she walks by and hears the sound of battle.' Zero thought while the two girls engaged in a life and death battle.