On the other side.
Over with the noble girl Aelia.
Because she had been drinking a soft drink while the Countess was drinking wine, and generally you take bigger gulps with soft drinks than with wine, Aelia didn't wake up until late at night, lifting her head in a daze…
Then she saw Akuto hugging Rosa in a "train bento" pose.
Seeing Aelia wake up, Akuto gave a slight smile.
"Rosa, I think Aelia still needs a certain amount of instruction. Don't you agree?"
The Countess chuckled softly and nodded.
"Yes, Master. Rosa will educate Aelia properly."
After a whole night of "education," the Countess had calmly accepted the form of address "Master."
Having heard Akuto's order, the Countess took out a white princess dress and a pair of high-quality white stockings.
"M-Mother… Mother-sama, what are you doing?"
Aelia stared at the Countess in disbelief.
She was just… listening to that man?
In a single night, it was like she had become a different person.
"Why, helping you change into appropriate clothing, of course, so that you can attend to Master. Aelia, don't you think wearing sleepwear is far too discourteous?" the Countess answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"But Mother-sama, aren't you also wearing sleepwear?"
Aelia's mind was already muddled; she actually asked something like that.
"Ah, you mean this~"
The Countess glanced at her own pink gauze nightdress.
"In fact, I've already changed several times. This is the last set I changed into."
"Huh?"
The blonde noble girl could not comprehend.
Although she wanted to struggle, she still ended up changing into the white dress and stockings under the Countess's insistence.
"Damn it, why is Mother-sama so strong?! What on earth did she take?"
"If I told you she took an elixir that strengthens muscles and bones, boosts physique, and even beautifies the skin and preserves youth… would you believe it?"
Akuto walked up to Aelia and looked her over with the eye of a discerning buyer.
Mm. Not bad.
Although she was indeed willful, even cruel, the temperament cultivated since childhood made her fit this outfit very well.
Even someone as slow on the uptake as Aelia knew that, right now, her fate was in Akuto's hands.
Without the slightest hesitation, Aelia ignored her tender knees and immediately dropped to the floor.
"Akuto-sama! I… I know I was wrong."
"Please— I'm begging you, please don't…"
The blonde noble girl sat kneeling on the floor, tears falling uncontrollably — truly a sight to wring the heart.
Akuto's answer to that was:
"Aelia, it's not that you 'know you were wrong'… it's that you simply know you've become the one being toyed with, unable to press others down anymore, isn't it?"
Watching her weeping daughter, the Countess smiled gently.
"Aelia, don't worry, I believe—"
"Eh? Mother-sama, what are you saying?"
Aelia noticed a strange scent on the Countess. If her guess was right, that should be…
"All right, Aelia. Be good. Sit."
The Countess, in the poised manner of an elegant noblewoman, addressed the golden-haired girl.
Under her arrangements, Akuto's hands wrapped around the noble girl Aelia's small, white-stockinged feet.
Holding her like a baby, Akuto lifted the golden-haired beauty into his arms — like cradling a cute, human-shaped doll.
Aelia's red lips parted; a thread of drool slipped free; her lovely blue eyes rolled up without stopping.
The Countess cupped the blonde girl's face with both hands, her smile calm and gentle.
"Rrrip—"
On a mischievous impulse, Akuto's hands, holding the girl's jade-white feet, slid lightly and tickled the soles through the white stockings.
Aelia's two stockinged feet kept shaking from the tickling attack.
If the touch of a young wife was like water — soft and moist —
then a girl's touch was like jelly — delicious and springy, the kind that makes you want to take a bite.
As for Akuto — he was someone who liked both drinking water and eating jelly.
While enjoying his rice bowl, two system chimes rang beside Akuto's ears.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations to the Host for completing the Main Story Quest — "The Noble Girl Aelia's Hospitality."]
[Quest Requirement: Deliver punishment to the noble girl Aelia and her household.]
[Quest Rank: Blue → Purple (punish mother and daughter together, and liberate the girls controlled by drugs in their home).]
[Congratulations to the Host for obtaining Reward: One Random Melee Skill Enhancement Chance.]
[Ding!]
["True Water Breathing (Blue)" has been upgraded to "True Water Breathing (Purple)."]
[Ding!]
[Congratulations to the Host for completing a Past-Life Objective — "Complete Collection of the Noble Mother and Daughter (Purple)."]
[Congratulations to the Host for obtaining Reward: Secret Sword Technique.]
[Secret Sword Technique: A secret sword art from Kurotetsu Ichigane, comprising seven major forms, each…]
[The Host's Secret Sword Technique is no longer bound to a sword; even without a blade — with only claws, or even just your own body — you can unleash the essence of the Secret Sword Technique.]
[If pushed to the limit, it can even grant power worthy of its native Purple evaluation.]
[Ding~]
["Secret Sword Technique" has successfully fused with "True Water Breathing"!]
[Congratulations to the Host for obtaining Sword Art: True Secret Sword (Water).]
[When the Host uses "True Secret Sword (Water)," you can add different Breathing techniques into the Secret Sword according to your needs. When using Breathing techniques, you can also deploy corresponding Secret Sword forms as the situation demands.]
"I picked up two Purple-ranked sword skills in a row, did I?"
"Indeed, as the enemies I face grow stronger, my original techniques are due for refinement."
At its limit, the Blue-ranked "True Water Breathing" could handle opponents at the Maō level.
But when confronting enemies beyond the Maō class, that Blue-rank ceiling was, after all, showing its limits.
"With two Purple-ranked creation techniques fused together, I shouldn't have to worry about close-quarters until the Lord-God level."
In excellent spirits, Akuto gave up on the plan of "educating" the mother and daughter for the entire night, and simply fell asleep with the two of them in his arms.
The next day.
The sun rose as usual.
Everything seemed unchanged, yet in truth, change had already quietly begun.
"Refreshed. Prep work complete."
After soaking in the golden-haired noble girl all night, Akuto finally got up in the morning light.
Just as he woke, he heard the system's prompt.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations to the Host for triggering the Main Story Quest — "First Encounter with Night Raid."]
[Quest Rank: Blue]
[Quest Description: The Countess's household used drugs to control many girls. Although these girls have been rescued by the Host, Night Raid clearly doesn't know this intel. Tomorrow, Night Raid will still carry out their original plan to attack Countess Rosa's mansion.]
[Quest Requirement: Complete your first meeting with Night Raid, and successfully survive at their hands.]
Looking at the suddenly triggered quest, Akuto nearly burst out laughing.
He suddenly had a feeling like, "I've already become the Great Emperor and now the system wakes up."
Survive at Night Raid's hands?
Clearly the opposite — it's not him pondering how to survive Night Raid, but Night Raid pondering how they'll survive him!
"Though… the timing being tomorrow — isn't that a bit too coincidental?"
"No… perhaps it isn't a coincidence."
Akuto didn't dwell on it. While continuing to arrange the development plans for Anvale City and Longxi State, he waited for the next night to fall.
Two days later.
After two full nights and two days of thorough instruction, the education of the noble girl Aelia reached its final stage.
By the end, she could call out "Master" and even "Papa" — forms of address she would absolutely never have used before — without the slightest burden.
[Ding~]
[Congratulations to the Host for completing Qi Luck Seizure.]
[Source of Qi Luck: Noble girl Aelia & Countess Rosa.]
[Blank Initial Ability Slots +2. Current total initial ability slots: 7.]
Facts proved Akuto's thoughts correct.
The reason Night Raid changed the time of their assault was precisely because of him!
The next day, at Night Raid HQ.
Najenda gathered all of Night Raid around the table.
A portrait was smacked down on the tabletop by Najenda.
"Boss! Who is this? Our assassination target this time?"
The blonde onee-san Leone was cracking her knuckles, all set for a hunt.
"No, not a target. He's the one we're going to rescue." Najenda shook her head.
"Rescue? Since when did we start offering that kind of service? Aren't we an assassin group?" Bulat asked as he fiddled with his pompadour.
"That's right, we are an assassin group — but the premise is that we're an assassin group supported and founded by the Revolutionary Army," Najenda reiterated.
"Getting this person out and persuading him to join the Revolutionary Army is our task."
"All other missions are put on hold. Tonight, we're deploying everyone!"
"Everyone? Is the person this strong?!"
Mine set down her hands that had been fussing with her pink twin tails, turning serious.
After all, every member of Night Raid was an Imperial Arms user!
Usually they went out in pairs, but to be honest, to complete an assassination, one person was enough in most cases.
"Mm? Boss, are you sure this person needs us to rescue him?"
At the table, a black-haired, straight-haired beauty in a JK uniform stared intently — because she knew the person in the portrait!
This man named "Akuto" had wiped out the Empire's elite assassination squad, the reinforced assassination squad, and—
Akame didn't understand why someone as top-tier as Akuto would need them to rescue him.
"That's right. The one we're rescuing is him, an old acquaintance of Akame's."
"As for why he needs rescuing…" Here, Najenda's expression turned complicated.
"Yesterday, our scout reported that he walked into a wicked noble household."
"Upon investigation, that noble house is vile to the extreme — often luring in women from outside, and then—"
"—using drugs on them."
"He's been inside for two days now. During these two days, he hasn't appeared in public again. The inn staff also say he hasn't returned."
"Although he's very strong, we cannot rule out the possibility that he was drugged."
"Based on the evidence we have, my only conclusion is that he capsized in the gutter."
Najenda didn't know that, during those two days of "disappearance," Akuto had been having the time of his life.
As for rice bowls — not only delicious but filling. What's not to love?
(End of Chapter)
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