Chapter 136: The Little Prince? This is the Little Princess!
"Hehe, Cornelia, you look quite miserable now!"
"Ugh..."
Under Mahiro's teasing, Cornelia let out a small whimper, her body trembling uncontrollably.
At this moment, she was completely immersed in the stream.
Letting the cold river water flow over her skin, washing away the bloodstains while continuously stimulating the girl's nerves.
Although her wounds had healed, the residual paralyzing toxin had not been dispelled.
Of course, the girl herself couldn't possess such terrifying recovery ability—it was Mahiro who had treated her.
Though treated, it wasn't completely treated; he only restored the wounds to their original state, leaving the paralyzing toxin as punishment for Cornelia's foolish behavior.
However, Cornelia wasn't concerned about this; she was well aware of how foolish her mistake had been.
What she cared about was that Lord Yotsuba's hands were continuously brushing over her body, helping her wash.
This couldn't be helped—after all, she had fallen into someone else's trap, leaving her entire body unable to move.
But that sensation... not only was it ticklish, but it also carried a strange palpitation, making her chest feel somewhat uncomfortable, as if some emotion was about to burst forth.
Even though the stream water was very cold, her face was inexplicably hot, and the desire rising from the depths of her heart made her want to seek more from Lord Yotsuba!
"Alright, you're all washed up."
"Ah... is it over already?" Cornelia's tone carried a hint of disappointment, as if she hadn't had enough.
"What, have you gotten addicted to this?" Mahiro teased the shy girl playfully.
"No!"
Cornelia quickly shook her head and explained in a small voice, "It's just that it felt very comfortable, this kind of feeling is a first for me... but Cornelia is already satisfied! Lord Yotsuba has done more than enough for me."
"And my body has recovered enough to move now."
Although Cornelia had always been the one other female members relied on, deep down, she also wished she could depend on someone else.
Coincidentally, Mahiro appeared—from their first meeting in the western border forest to now becoming her instructor, teaching her everything.
Amidst the bits of care and gentle attention, Cornelia had unknowingly come to rely on him.
"Then next, you can wash your clothes yourself. I'll take you back in a little while."
"Are you going to punish me?"
Cornelia asked quietly, but as soon as the words left her mouth, she felt she had asked a foolish question.
Falling for such a lowly, terrible trap and ending up severely injured—wasn't punishment inevitable?
"Lord Yotsuba, I wonder what kind of punishment I will receive?"
"Punishment? I never said anything about that."
Cornelia was taken aback.
Mahiro's words surprised her.
No punishment?
Seeing the girl's expression, Mahiro could roughly guess what she was thinking, so he smiled slightly and said:
"While my purpose in following you was partly to observe your actions, it was more importantly to ensure your safety. And do you remember what I said when the test first began?"
"...We need to intercept these prisoners before they escape the forest, then kill them."
After a brief recollection, Cornelia repeated the words.
"Exactly. My main focus is eliminating the targets. As for the methods used or what happens during the process, those are your own affairs and aren't part of the test assessment criteria."
"Ultimately, as long as you can kill the targets, you pass."
After all, this stage primarily tested whether the elite squad had the courage to kill.
If they didn't, he wouldn't do anything special—just send them to the mansion to serve as maids while the remaining members continued training.
However, this appeared completely different in Cornelia's eyes.
"Lord Yotsuba!"
She suddenly stood up naked from the stream and threw herself onto Mahiro.
Although Cornelia was the tallest among the girls, she was still nearly twenty centimeters shorter than Mahiro's over-180cm height, so when she hugged him, she hung from him like an accessory.
Her well-developed chest pressed perfectly against him.
The slight trembling of the girl's body and her unexpectedly high body temperature were fully transmitted to him.
But Cornelia paid no attention to these things, instead burying her face in his shoulder and sobbing softly:
"Thank you, Lord Yotsuba. Thank you for your kindness. Cornelia will absolutely never disappoint you again!"
Her tears weren't from being moved by this kindness.
Rather, she cried from shame—feeling unworthy of this kindness, weeping over her own inadequacy.
"There, there. Crying counts toward the time too. Let me remind you that there's very little time left until the deadline."
He patted Cornelia's back before finally detaching her. "Hurry and go wash your clothes."
"Yes, thank you, Lord Yotsuba."
Cornelia gently exhaled, then broke into a smile before returning to the stream to pick up her dirty clothes and wash them in the water.
Meanwhile, Mahiro, who had returned to the bank and leaned against a rock, dried his clothes while admiring her slender, jade-like back curves.
Not bad at all.
The lines were absolutely perfect!
The assessment had ended.
The cruel and dangerous death training had taught them how to kill properly, unlike Minister Bill's assassination department method of simply tying prisoners to torture racks and letting them be slaughtered.
Although it was somewhat challenging, everyone had completed it perfectly. Even Gin, who ranked lowest in strength, managed somewhat messily but successfully brought back two heads.
Only Cornelia had killed just one prisoner.
And nearly failed as a result.
When the others saw Cornelia returning with him, everyone was astonished.
The curious Gin and Poney kept asking what had happened.
After all, in their minds, Sister Cornelia was the strongest one!
Mahiro simply responded with a faint smile, casually fabricating an unexpected incident involving Cornelia that he happened to rescue her from, thus glossing over the matter.
"It seems you all performed excellently in this assessment. Well done," Mahiro praised.
A total of forty-one prisoners had been released for this assessment.
Without exception, all were eliminated by the elite squad.
"You've passed the test, especially Nahashu who exceeded expectations."
Nahashu's capabilities were truly extraordinary—he single-handedly eliminated ten prisoners, accounting for a full quarter of the total.
Each kill was delivered with a single fatal strike, executed with complete ruthlessness, exactly as instructed.
It appeared Mahiro hadn't misjudged him.
Perhaps in this entire squad, only Nahashu could be considered the most perfect assassin.
Following closely were Kurome and Akame, the sisters each eliminated seven prisoners.
While offering them some praise, Mahiro also cautioned that this training was merely the beginning, and future missions would be far more dangerous than this.
This warning was primarily directed at Cornelia, whose cheeks gradually flushed upon hearing it.
"However, given your outstanding performance, I've decided to give you two gifts."
"Hooray! Long live!!! We love you so much, long live Lord Yotsuba!!!"
Upon hearing about gifts, the girls erupted in cheers.
Even the most composed and indifferent Green couldn't help showing surprise.
Training was something they were expected to do, but receiving gifts afterward? Could things really be this good?
The gift Mahiro presented was naturally his Enhancement Drug and those Shingu.
At first, the girls were somewhat afraid of the syringe in his hand, as their memories of being taken to the research institute were still fresh.
They even wondered if they had done something wrong to make their instructor dislike them.
It wasn't until Kurome and Gin stepped forward first to receive his injection.
Among everyone, only they knew clearly that Mahiro wouldn't harm them—the injection would actually make them feel comfortable instead.
And after receiving the injection,
Just as they had thought, aside from a slight initial pain, a comfortable sensation followed, as if their entire souls had been elevated, even more pleasant than before.
Seeing this, the others followed suit one after another, including Nahashu and Green.
Next was the distribution of the Shingu.
The flaws in the Shingu had been fixed by him. For example, Cornelia's Smashing King could not only unleash more powerful force but also enhance recovery ability.
After her enhancement and with the Shingu's boost, it could be said that unless her head was cut off, even destroying her heart wouldn't kill her.
Poney's Yocto-bottoms was imbued with an acceleration formula, greatly strengthening leg strength and speed while improving her endurance.
Tsukushi's Prometheus Pistol no longer reduced accuracy; moreover, it could fire multiple bullets controlled by the user's mental energy, essentially an upgraded version of the "Magic Bullet Shooter."
Nahashu and Green, as in the original story, were assigned the Water Dragon Sword, which could temporarily boost strength, and the somewhat difficult-to-control Shingu, Sidewinder.
Gin was assigned the Thousand Layer Clothes, which could control not only soil but also rocks.
This ability was derived from his analysis of a Special-class Danger Beast and applied to it.
As for the sisters Kurome and Akame,
They were somewhat special.
Mahiro didn't assign the Kiriichimonji to Akame as in the original story but gave it to Kurome instead. After enhancement, Kiriichimonji could now release sword energy based on the user's strength.
As for Deadly Parade: Eight Coffins, he planned to retrieve it from the imperial treasury later for Kurome to use.
Akame, on the other hand, was assigned the reforged One-Cut Killer: Murasame.
After all, how could Akame still be called Akame without Murasame!
However, when Akame grasped the crimson sheath, though she loved it, she didn't accept it, feeling that her strength in the assassination unit didn't warrant receiving the only Teigu!
"Akame, since Lord Yotsuba has gifted it to you, it means he recognizes you. Besides, we've all seen how hard you've worked over the years, so just accept it."
"Yeah, yeah, if you don't want it, Poney will take it instead."
Under everyone's persuasion, Akame finally stopped refusing, accepted Murasame, and fastened it at her waist.
Thus concluded the training that had lasted over a year.
After handling matters, Mahiro took them back to the Imperial City, planning to give them a few days off.
Upon returning to the Imperial City, the girls couldn't help but exclaim in awe again, their attire making them look like naive country girls.
After so long, they were back, witnessing this prosperity once more.
They remembered how young they were the last time they stood here, only able to watch from afar.
Now they had matured—for instance, Cornelia had become the most beautiful woman in the team, while Akame and Kurome had grown into the adorable, expressionless beauties from the original story.
Tsukushi and Gin standing together looked like debut idols, especially with their noticeably larger chests.
Only Poney remained as childish as ever.
But this time, they could properly enjoy themselves.
As for accommodation, he naturally arranged for them to stay at his family's mansion. After all, the estate was so large with so many rooms that even if their numbers multiplied several times, there would still be space.
Meeting Womyn and Remus again made the girls very happy.
They never thought they'd have the chance to see each other again, so they pulled Mine along and chattered away together.
Meanwhile, Mahiro went to the assassination department.
"You're here. Is the assessment over?"
"It's over. Everyone passed, with Nahashu and the Akame-Kurome sisters performing the best."
Mahiro plopped down opposite Bill and reported truthfully.
"Hmm, that's quite good. In that case, Prime Minister Honest has a task specifically requesting you to lead the team. I was planning to assign it to you tomorrow, but now seems perfect."
"Prime Minister Honest?"
Mahiro frowned, took the letter, skimmed it briefly, then tossed it aside and said calmly:
"Look, I'm training assassins, not a security team, right? And I recall the assassination unit is prefixed with 'Imperial,' not the minister's personal guards, correct?"
"Heh, but Vice Minister, you were promoted by Prime Minister Honest himself. Besides, with His Majesty unwell, Prime Minister Honest is stepping up to stabilize the court, worried that some might act restlessly!" Bill smiled.
Yet his smile, paired with his fierce features, was uglier than crying.
"So, the old emperor doesn't have long?"
"Yeah, just a matter of time."
"And this little prince you want me to protect—he's the puppet the minister plans to put on the throne?"
"Now, now, Vice Minister Yotsuba, you shouldn't put it that way."
Bill crossed his hands and smiled faintly. "The palace hasn't been safe lately; several heirs have been assassinated, so the minister wants to tighten security. Though it's technically the imperial guards' duty, having your security team take over isn't overstepping—it's the first collaboration between the assassination unit and the Imperial City security force."
What a high-sounding excuse.
Even a fool would know most of those assassinations were orchestrated by Prime Minister Honest.
Having Mahiro lead the assassination team to protect the little prince was simply to prevent rival factions from eliminating the puppet Honest wanted to install.
Given the current situation, the struggle for the throne had intensified to the point where even General Budo couldn't suppress it.
To seize the final emperor's position, the princes would stop at nothing, even fratricide.
Coincidentally, Esdeath was campaigning against tribes on the southwestern border and couldn't return anytime soon, nor would she.
The undercurrents in the Imperial City were about to surface.
But for Mahiro, this felt rather novel.
So he agreed and accepted the mission.
Two days later.
"Pack up, we have a mission. After breakfast, I'll take you to the palace to meet the little prince."
"Lord Yotsuba, so... so sudden?"
The girls, who had been lively at the dining table, froze instantly.
They weren't surprised about a mission, but entering the palace to meet the little prince?
Such a big leap?
"The palace! The actual palace! This is amazing! We finally get to go on a mission!"
In the end, the idiot Poney broke the silence, shouting excitedly.
Everyone exchanged glances, smiling wryly at Poney's foolishness.
A mission to meet the little prince in the palace—could it be simple?
...
After breakfast, Mahiro led them to the assassination department. After a brief exchange with Bill, they followed him to a luxurious courtyard in the inner palace.
The two guards on duty, seeing the assassination minister's token, immediately lined up and saluted.
Typically, palace security fell under the imperial guards commanded by the general, but these two guards seemed specially assigned by Prime Minister Honest for protection!
"How's the situation?" the assassination minister asked gravely.
One guard replied respectfully, "Rest assured, sir, no issues so far, but His Highness keeps insisting on going out to play. We're struggling to hold him back!"
"Alright, I'll handle it."
Bill nodded slightly and led Mahiro's group into the courtyard, where the prince's daily residence—a pavilion—came into view, with a few clever and obedient maids occasionally seen.
It had to be said, Prime Minister Honest's ability to place his own guards deep in the palace showed how extensive his influence was.
Once the old emperor passed away, this fat pig could effortlessly install the little prince and fully control the situation!
But as they walked through the inner palace, while the girls were curious about their surroundings,
Suddenly, the pavilion's main door opened a small crack, and an extremely cute, delicate little head peeked out, looking left and right.
Finally, their gaze settled on Mahiro's group.
Similarly, Mahiro froze slightly upon seeing the child.
Wasn't this supposed to be the little prince?
Are you sure that's the little prince???