Chapter 310

Chapter 310: Chapter 310

"Wait."

Just as Esdeath’s blade was about to cut through Syura’s neck, Kiriya suddenly spoke.

"Hm? What is it?"

Esdeath turned toward him in confusion.

"Don’t tell me you’re afraid of that shitty Prime Minister or something."

"That’s right! Let me go!"

Syura immediately shouted.

"I can guarantee nobody will pursue what happened here today!"

Nobody paid him any attention.

As far as they were concerned, he might as well have been barking.

Kiriya shook his head and smiled.

"That’s not what I mean. This guy has a lot of valuable information in his head."

He paused meaningfully.

"For example... Imperial Arms."

"You mean... that thing?"

Esdeath’s eyes immediately lit up as she remembered the ice-type Imperial Arms she had been thinking about for the past six months.

"So Imperial Arms are what you’re after."

Syura’s heart leaped when he heard Kiriya speak.

Thinking he had finally gained something he could bargain with, he hurriedly said,

"I can tell you everything, but you have to guarantee my safe—"

Kiriya had no intention of negotiating.

He simply grabbed Syura by the chin and forced the man to look directly into his eyes.

"Look at me."

His dark pupils instantly transformed into the pattern of the Mangekyō Sharingan.

"Tell me where the Imperial Arms collected by the Empire are stored."

"They’re kept in an underground treasury beside the Emperor’s private chambers..."

Syura immediately began talking.

He revealed everything he knew—the location of the treasury, its security, the Imperial Arms stored inside, and every other confidential detail Kiriya asked about.

As the son of Prime Minister Honest, Syura had naturally been allowed inside before to choose an Imperial Arms for himself.

Unfortunately, compatibility mattered when it came to Imperial Arms, and none of the weapons inside had suited him particularly well.

He had therefore never secretly taken one.

That did mean, however, that he knew the treasury extremely well.

And among the Imperial Arms stored there was precisely the one Kiriya cared about—Demon God Manifestation: Demon’s Extract.

"Excellent."

Once he had obtained the information he needed, Kiriya released Syura in an excellent mood.

Then he gestured to Esdeath.

"Go ahead. Finish him."

And so Syura—the son of the Prime Minister, a man who dreamed of surpassing his father and climbing to the very pinnacle of the Empire—had his ambitions permanently cut short in the middle of the street before he ever truly began putting them into practice.

It was an extraordinarily pathetic end.

"What do we do now?"

Ryuu walked over.

"Head straight for the palace?"

The white-haired corpse lying at their feet had clearly belonged to the son of an extremely powerful official.

Killing someone like that openly in the middle of the Imperial Capital was guaranteed to shake the entire government.

Their original plan of enjoying a nice meal and casually exploring the city was obviously dead.

"Let’s wait until tonight."

Under Esdeath’s expectant gaze, Kiriya thought for a moment before making his decision.

He was not worried that the Empire could send anyone strong enough to stop them.

With the four of them together, they could practically walk sideways through the Imperial Capital.

But charging directly into the palace in broad daylight would attract far too much attention.

If the Empire realized what they were after and decided to hide or relocate the Imperial Arms, they would only create unnecessary trouble for themselves.

Better to wait a little.

Once night fell, moving around discreetly would be much easier.

After hearing his reasoning, all three women nodded without objection.

They gathered up the Imperial Arms left behind by Syura’s group, then naturally placed their hands on Kiriya’s shoulders.

A moment later, Kiriya activated the Flying Thunder God Technique.

The four vanished from the street.

...

"They... disappeared?"

Inside the nearby restaurant, Najenda had just been preparing to follow them and find somewhere private to establish contact.

Prime Minister Honest had not held power for very long, but his reckless abuses had already destroyed countless families and ruined innumerable lives.

There were people everywhere who wished they could tear him apart with their bare hands.

The entire Empire had suffered under Honest for far too long.

Unfortunately, the current Emperor had been placed on the throne largely through Honest’s efforts and trusted him almost completely.

The boy relied on the Prime Minister almost as though Honest were his own father.

That made him practically untouchable within the official political system.

No matter how much evidence other ministers submitted regarding Honest’s crimes or interference in state affairs, the Emperor refused to believe it.

Eventually, some people reached the same conclusion:

If Honest was ever going to be removed, legitimate political methods were no longer enough.

They would have to resort to something outside the rules.

But even that was extremely difficult.

Honest was not stupid.

He knew perfectly well just how many people hated him, so he took his personal security very seriously.

The Four Rakshasa Demons alone served as powerful bodyguards around him, while numerous Imperial Arms users operated both openly and in secret.

And if everything else failed, he could simply retreat into the Imperial Palace and seek the Emperor’s protection.

Unless someone could kill him in a single decisive strike, attempting anything would only invite endless retaliation.

That was precisely why Kiriya’s group had caught Najenda’s attention.

They had displayed overwhelming strength.

If she could recruit them and use their power to eliminate Honest, then capable and upright officials might finally rise again, the court could be filled with decent people, and perhaps the Empire could begin recovering.

Najenda genuinely believed that.

Unfortunately, her plan died before it even began.

Who could have guessed that these people didn’t need their legs to leave?

They simply vanished with a whoosh.

"What kind of ability was that?"

Lubbock stared at the empty street in astonishment.

"Some kind of spatial Imperial Arms?"

"Probably."

Najenda rubbed her chin thoughtfully before turning toward the others.

"Lubbock. Take the others and find some reliable people."

"Keep a close watch on everything happening inside the Imperial Capital."

Lubbock immediately understood.

He gathered several companions and headed out.

’Just who are you?’

Najenda stared at the place where Kiriya had disappeared for another moment before leaving the restaurant herself.

Only after they were gone did the Imperial Capital Guard finally arrive.

The soldiers took one look at the street full of corpses and nearly collapsed from despair.

All they could do was recover Syura’s body while simultaneously sending someone to report the news to the Prime Minister.

...

Prime Minister Honest’s estate.

Upon receiving the report, Honest squeezed out two crocodile tears.

"Ah... how could you die like this?"

His grief lasted less than a heartbeat.

Then it vanished so completely that it might never have existed.

"Oh well. He’s already dead."

Honest shrugged.

"I can always have a few more sons. Hopefully the next ones won’t be so useless."

The servants and subordinates around him remained expressionless.

Clearly, this was nothing unusual to them.

This was Prime Minister Honest.

A cold, ruthless creature of power whose entire world revolved around himself.

"Do we have any information about the people who killed Syura?"

Honest asked.

"How did the conflict begin? Was anyone else present?"

"According to nearby witnesses, Young Master Syura attempted to invite the women to accompany him. That was what caused the confrontation..."

"Tch. Useless fool."

Honest snorted.

Charging in before investigating his targets properly?

What a pig.

He really should never have expected anything from a son like that.

"..."

The subordinate showed no reaction and continued reporting everything they had learned about Kiriya and the three women.

Once Honest heard that every member of the group possessed extraordinary strength and had effortlessly crushed Syura and his companions, his expression finally became serious.

There were very few people in the entire Imperial military capable of displaying that level of power.

That meant these strangers could potentially threaten even him.

"There is one more thing."

The subordinate hesitated.

"According to our investigation, General Najenda happened to be dining at a restaurant nearby when the fighting began."

A sharp gleam flashed through Honest’s eyes.

"Dining?"

He chuckled coldly.

"What remarkable timing."

"She just happened to be eating at that exact place at that exact moment?"

His mind immediately began searching for political enemies who might have arranged the entire situation.

"Yes. According to General Najenda, she even used Pumpkin in an attempt to save Young Master Syura, but her shot missed."

The subordinate continued.

"The enemy was too powerful, so she and her companions chose to withdraw and reconsider their approach."

"Heh."

Honest scoffed.

"Save him?"

Najenda despised Honest.

In that situation, he would have been more inclined to believe she had fired an extra shot at Syura herself.

Save him?

Who was supposed to believe that?

And yet—that very detail caused Honest to reconsider his original suspicion.

If Najenda had orchestrated the attack, there would have been no reason for her to appear at exactly that moment, much less visibly participate.

Could it really have been a coincidence?

"Issue wanted notices first."

Honest finally made his decision.

"Set the bounty at the highest possible level."

He thought for another moment.

"And contact the assassination unit. Tell them to send their best people."

"I remember there’s a girl there who uses the one-hit-kill Imperial Arms, Murasame."

"Send her."

"Yes, sir."

Coincidence or not, those people had killed Syura.

And after learning about Syura’s relationship with him, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t decide to strike first and eliminate future trouble at the source.

So Honest needed to prepare in advance.

More importantly, his own estate no longer felt particularly safe.

It would be better to temporarily move into the Imperial Palace.

And so—

"Your Majesty!"

The moment Honest entered the throne room, he raised his voice dramatically.

"This servant has arrived too late to protect you! Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

The young Emperor stared at him.

"???"