Ren and Kurome returned to their room. The bed they lay on was meant for just one person.
"Are you mad?"
"Yeah, I am. The kind of mad even snacks can't fix." Kurome emphasized this.
Ren reached out, only to be slapped. He reached again, and was slapped again. This happened five times, until finally, Kurome curled into his arms. "I know I can't stop you. But... can I still act spoiled from now on?"
Hearing this, Ren spoke softly, "Of course. But as the head of the harem, you've got to have presence. Otherwise, how will you keep the others in line?"
"Hmph. No fooling around tonight. I'm still sore." Kurome said this, then closed her eyes and went to sleep.
"I'm not some sex-crazed maniac." Ren replied, holding her as he drifted off to sleep.
...
Over the next two months, Ren and Kurome tried everything they could to convince Akame to stay.
Chelsea, on the other hand, was constantly out and about—meeting nobles, the Inspection Bureau, and the Security Force.
Many people were assassinated by Night Raid during that time. The assassins were extremely active.
This threw the city into panic. People began harshly criticizing the uselessness of the Security Force and the Inspection Bureau, who only seemed good at hurting their own people.
"Ren, the rumors about us... is this really okay?" Chelsea looked at the intel in the newspaper, her tone filled with concern.
Ren smiled. "It's fine. Since we've started down this path, reaching this point is normal. Besides, we're losing people too. And most of the rumors are coming from the nobles. They think too highly of themselves to win over the commoners. The public will see through it eventually. Like I said before—let Night Raid do our dirty work."
"Got it." Chelsea hurried off. Until that legendary general returned, there was no way to stabilize the chaos. She didn't have time to chat with Ren.
Just then, a man walked in.
"Lord Ren, the minister has summoned you."
"You go on ahead. I'll go see him myself."
"Yes, sir." The man left.
"Finally can't hold back, huh?" Ren muttered. "Looks like that general is really coming back."
He gathered his things and set off for the palace with a large group of guards. After all, in the minister's eyes, he was just a weakling with a bit of brains.
Inside the palace, Ren met Prime Minister Honest.
The obese man lounged in the palace, two beautiful women in his arms. When he saw Ren, he looked annoyed.
"Those Night Raid bastards are getting more and more arrogant. You've got nothing to say about it?"
"Of course I do. We've lost a lot of people on our side too. But they're all Teigu users. I've got no way to deal with them." Ren first showed anger on his face, then followed it with a helpless expression.
"Hahaha, I don't blame you. General Esdeath will be back soon. It's about time this farce ends."
Honest laughed heartily. He had his suspicions at first, especially since almost all his people planted in the Inspection Bureau had been wiped out.
But the incriminating evidence against the nobles had all been found by those assassins. That gave him pause. Now, seeing Ren's reaction, his doubts faded.
"General Esdeath, huh? Ever since she went to the border, I haven't seen that powerful beauty in ages," Ren sighed.
"Haha, don't bother thinking about her. That woman's a lunatic. Someone, take good care of Ren." Honest waved his hand dismissively.
Two women came over and wrapped themselves around Ren, beginning to feed him.
Ren handled it with ease. He was used to this. To gain favors from ministers, you had to first let them profit, then cater to their desires.
That was why people accused him of building a harem. But now, his strength had surpassed theirs. Did he still need to please them? Ren began to ponder.
In the end, he decided to hold back. The Capital hadn't fallen into chaos yet. If he made a move now, he'd be labeled a traitor. That didn't match the righteous image he was building.
Besides, if he wanted to be king one day, he couldn't afford to have the people resent him. The Revolutionary Army made for a good blunt weapon.
"Prime Minister, let General Esdeath handle those assassins with Teigu. As for the disobedient nobles, it's time we made our move." Ren made a throat-slitting gesture.
"Haha, no rush. We need to keep those nobles alive—for now. They'll be useful as examples. When they die, it has to be meaningful. Eventually, all power will return to me." Honest was in high spirits, no longer bothered by the deaths of a few men.
"Looks like this empire belongs to you alone now," Ren flattered.
"Hahaha! Ren, you've done well. Thanks to that Inspection Bureau of yours, I've been able to reclaim the power I once let go." Honest was elated. As the saying went, people like him could never have too much power.
"Thank you, Minister, for the opportunity. From now on, the Inspection Bureau is your blade." Ren continued to flatter him.
After some indulgent pleasure, Ren left the palace, bought a few green oranges, and made his way toward the Inspection Bureau headquarters.
Honest watched Ren's back as he walked away, his expression slowly darkening.
"Ren… if you must blame someone, blame your own weakness."
He no longer had eyes within the Inspection Bureau. There was no way he would allow such an organization to exist unchecked.
Naturally, he had to bring it back under control. Ren's value was now gone. All that remained was to arrange an "accidental" death for him.
Honest slowly sipped his wine. As for Esdeath, she was very simple. Give her war and power, and the strength of the Empire would be enough to control her.
But Ren was different. He had no military strength, only his mind. That made him far harder to manipulate.
The Inspection Bureau.
"Ren, all the officials loyal to the Minister within the Bureau have been dealt with." Chelsea smiled.
Over the past two months, Ren had been living comfortably, but it had left her completely exhausted.
To maintain the illusion that nothing was wrong inside the Bureau, she had taken on countless disguises as the Thousand Faces Witch.
She forged evidence when needed. But truthfully, these people were so rotten to the core, she hardly had to fake anything to get the job done.
"From today onward, be careful. It's about to begin." Ren narrowed his eyes.
"The Minister will send someone?" Chelsea frowned deeply.
"Yeah." Ren nodded.
"We've been exposed?" Chelsea asked anxiously. She couldn't think of where she might have slipped up.
"You didn't expose anything. The Minister is just naturally suspicious." Ren didn't seem surprised at all.
"Of course he is... Then what we're doing…" Chelsea hesitated. Her original plan was to change things from the inside.
But the Minister didn't even tolerate a single grain of sand in his circle. That route was basically impossible.
She also started to wonder if blaming everything on Night Raid had been the right call.
"Just trust your future husband. This plan won't have any issues. We can be victims—but never perpetrators. At least, not on the surface." Ren smiled.
If he hadn't wanted to preserve the Empire in one piece, he would've flattened everything already.
"So, my future man, can you give me a proper reason?" Chelsea puffed her cheeks in mock anger.
Ren quickly explained the full story. With her heart at ease, Chelsea went back to work. Right after that, the handoff between the two sisters was seamless.
"Big sis, this is where Ren works." Kurome tugged Akame along into the Inspection Bureau building.
Akame kept stuffing food into her mouth nonstop, as if that could ease her frustrated mood.
These past few months, even someone as dense as her had realized she was under house arrest—and her sword had been confiscated.
She had tried to escape before and even met with the Boss.
Najenda had told her they'd reached a secret agreement with Ren and needed someone to deliver intel.
As Kurome's older sister, she was the perfect candidate.
What else could she say?
All she could do was keep mooching food here. If nothing else, the meals were excellent.
**********
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