The Longsword Of The Renmant Flame

[The next day, evening]

Billy's usual training with the weights started again, he continued to swim and swim until he reached the end of the river under the black sky.

Then he got out from the water and panted while Sheele smiled at him.

Sheele: That's it for long distance armor swimming! Good job, Billy!

Billy: Heh, thanks… Where are we?

Sheele placed a finger near her mouth and thought.

Sheele: We're close to a village near the capital… Ummmm, ummm… Sorry, I forgot the name of the village.

Yet, with that cute and clueless face of hers, Billy just can't get angry with her and sighed. He removed the weights and said while sitting down on the ground.

Billy: Either way, we have to go back soon, since they already know who you are.

Sheele: Let's head back once you're done resting. I thought you'd get hungry from all that swimming, so I brought some bread.

Billy: Thanks, I am ok with that.

Sheele: Umph!

Then Sheele took some bread from the c.h.e.s.t beside her and split it in two, even if one was bigger than the other.

Sheele: Oh…

She got incredibly sad while she gave Billy the bigger piece.

Sheele: ..Here, take the bigger half. This tiny piece is good enough for someone like me.

Billy: ...You don't have to be so sad about it.

Then Billy started to eat his piece of bread with greed as Sheele looked at him with a smile on her face.

Sheele: You don't have to eat so fast! And even while you're eating, you still need to pay at least a little attention to your surrounding-

And so, a bird passed by and picked up Sheele's piece of bread. She got depressed and her body started to tremble while she finished to talk.

Sheele: ...Otherwise, something like that will happen…

Billy looked at his own piece and offered it to Sheele.

Billy: I already bit off part of it, but do you want my bread?

After they finished to eat, they started to travel back to the hideout, walking in a rocky road.

Sheele: Even though we have a full moon, the road is dangerous at night, so please be careful.

Billy: And here is another flag…

Sheele: Huh? 

She stumbled on a rock…

Sheele: Wah…

But before she could fall down, Billy caught her.

Sheele: I… I'm sorry that you have such a clumsy instructor.

Billy: It's okay girlie, you still didn't kill me so it is alrig-

?: GYAAAAAAAAAH!!

Someone screamed, alerting Billy an Sheele

Sheele: A voice!!

Billy: Yeah, yeah, let's go…

Then the two of them took out their weapons and rushed towards the place where they heard the scream from. Nearby, there was a little girl, around 10 or 11 years, sitting against a tree, surrounded from some brutes.

She has black hair braided into pigtails and she wore a brightly colored headband. A scarf is tied around her neck, and she wore a plain, lightly colored outfit. She wore thick boots. And her pupils are slightly faded.

Girl: I… I thought you were going to take me to the capital.

Brute 1: Of course we'll take you there… Right?

Brute 2: Yeah… But not for free.

Brute 1: We're so kind, aren't we? We're even teaching you not to trust anyone before you reach the capital.

Brute 2: That's right. You country hicks should be thankful tha-

*Fwooosh*

A tree flew against him, sending him fly away. The first brute got in alert and turned around.

Brute 1: You bast-Huh?!

He turned around and saw Billy lifting a thick tree with a single hand, glaring him down.

Brute 1: U… Um… Can I leave?

Billy just shook his head, and threw the tree at him, knocking him down.

Billy: Idiots…

Then he walked to the girl, who continued to look in the void.

Billy: Are you alright?

Girl: Um… What's going on?

Billy raised an eyebrow and saw that her pupils were a bit faded away, the girl was blind.

[Later]

It was late night, Billy and Sheele were standing in front of an enraged Najenda.

Najenda: WHY DID YOU TAKE THAT GIRL BACK TO OUR HIDEOUT, YOU IDIOT!?

Billy: Well, I can't just leave her in the middle of nothing.

Najenda: Sheesh, do you really think of yourself as an assassin?

Billy: Should I make a list about the reasons I took her here?

Najenda: Tch, humor me.

Billy: She's blind, we plugged her ears the entire time, Leone didn't found any suspicious scent on her, no one was tailing us, I couldn't just say no to Sheele, and let's be honest, do you really trust me on taking a blind girl somewhere safe?

Najenda facepalmed and let out a long sigh.

Najenda: Goddammit… Just this time I will close an eye.

Billy: The only one remaining...Oof!

Najenda punched Billy with her mechanical arm.

Najenda: What was that?!

Billy: I guess I asked for it...

Najenda: '*Sigh* Well, if she's blind, we can just have Akame monitor her closely and hide our true identity, We'll be fine this time, but…'

And then, they started to eat dinner with the blind girl, who was called Nea. They were on the table when they started to talk.

Nea: Not only did you save me, but… You even gave me this delicious meal… Thank you so much.

Lubbock: So, we're hunters, but where did you come from, Nea?

Nea: I'm originally from Enn Village.

Billy: Hmm, if I remember correctly it should be much further south from here.

Nea: Yes… I wanted to visit my father, who left the village to earn money…

Sheele: And who were those men bothering you? 

Nea: They said they were going to take me the capital, but their attitude suddenly changed on the way…

Mine: That's terrible.

Lubbock: But you shouldn't have tried to do this on your own with your physical condition in the first place.

Nea: But… My father is the only family I have left…

There was a moment of silence, before Leone spoke.

Leone: Well, if he's in the capital, then it's simple. Tell us your father's name and what he looks like later.

Nea: Ummm...

Billy: Asking a blind girl how her father looks like, good job Leone!

Everyone: Pfft…

Leone blushed in embarrassment from that statement.

Leone: I-I'm sorry Nea, I forgot about it…

Nea: Don't worry, I wasn't blind the entire time.

Lubbock: Well then, I'm going to the capital tomorrow, so I'll help you look for him then.

Nea: No… You don't have to.. If you take me there, I'll…

Sheele: That's not a good idea.

She interrupted after taking a sip on a cup of tea.

Lubbock: She's right. Nea is really cute, so people like those men from earlier might take advantage of her again.

Leone: Either way, you're tired from your journey, right? You can rest up here.

Nea: Is this really okay…? I don't have any money on me…

Bulat: We don't need any. We just want to help.

Nea hesitated before she yelled.

Nea: Tha… Thank you so much! Thank you so much…

Lubbock: 'Either way, now that she's here in the hideout, we can't let her go until we're absolutely certain that she's innocent…'

Bulat: Well then, you'll probably want someone to play with while you're here, right? Aka-

?: Me! I'll do it!

Bulat smiled and turned towards the person who called out.

Bulat: Oh? You seem eager.

The one who spoke was Sheele, who held a raised arm.

Sheele: Billy and I were the ones who brought Nea here, and I have more or less nothing else to do while we're in the hideout.

Mine was a bit stunned before she replied with a slightly tsundere behavior.

Mine: If that's what you want, Sheele, that's fine with me.

Sheele: Mine…

Leone: Hehe, you're so nice to Sheele.

Like the fur of a cat, Mine's twintails comically stood up while she hissed at Leone.

Akame: I'll provide backup support if you need me to!

Bulat: Yeah, now that I've actually thought about it, it would've been really hard on Nea if you were her playmate.

Billy: Hmm… I have some fairy tales I could tell if you want.

Sheele grabbed Nea's arm and gently made her stand up.

Sheele: You'll probably be here for a while, so let me show you around!

Nea: Ye… Yes. Um, if there's anything I can do to help, I'll do it!

Sheele smiled and headpatted her.

Sheele: Let's just take it nice and easy, okay?

Nea calmed down and smiled too.

Nea: ...Okay. But really, if there is anything, please let me know. I can do simple cooking, and laundry too…

Sheele got shocked and said in amazement.

Sheele: What!? Yo-You're more skilled than I am…

Billy: And that's how you defeat Sheele…

Then he saw her taking Nea around the hideout, hiding the fact that they were assassins.