𝐊𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐬 || [𝐀𝐤𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐠𝐚 𝐊𝐢𝐥𝐥! 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫]

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜰɪᴠᴇ

"So he was killed..." Najenda muttered. "Was there no other option?"

"Not really," Mine replied. "He'd already seen our faces, right? And he'd have definitely figured that we were from Night Raid. So we eliminated him."

Najenda fell into deep thought. "So that's how it is....."

"Is there something wrong, Miss Najenda?" Lubbock asked. "You're usually not this silent after a successful mission. Did we screw up somewhere?"

"..... I just wanted to ask him a few questions," Najenda replied. "You see, if your description of this man is what I should be going by..... you met (F/N). I had a lingering feeling that it would be him."

"(F/N)..... was that his name?"

"Yes."

"How do you know him, Boss?" Leone asked. "Is he famous around here of somethin'?"

"No, not really. But only those who personally knew him would understand," Najenda replied. "He used to work alongside Esdeath back in the day, when I was a General."

The room widened their eyes, and everyone started screaming and shouting all at once.

"Esdeath?! He used to work with Esdeath?!"

"It was a long time ago. But he was very close to her. Her right-hand man," Najenda replied. "Maybe I'm just curious. But I've always wanted to question him about his real motives, and why he worked for Esdeath, when he clearly did not want to."

Everyone seemed to be quite shocked after this revelation. Najenda clapped her hands twice, bringing the room out of the suddenly suspenseful gloom.

"But it seems that you have obtained the Temporal Dream Eater, which was the main mission," Najenda approved. "So that's done and dusted."

"Yup. He didn't put up much of a fight, really," Mine replied. "He almost had Leone, but the two of us were able to overpower him quite easily."

"Strange..."

"Hmm? What's so strange, Miss Najenda?" Lubbock asked curiously. The white-haired ex-General sighed.

"You see, the Temporal Dream Eater is a rare artifact, and it's abilities are almost limitless," Najenda said, as she slowly analyzed the pocketwatch in her hands. "According to legend, the person who owns this Teigu is said to be undefeatable."

"Is that so..."

"But we seemed to have defeated him so effortlessly!" Tatsumi fanboyed. "The Teigu in your hand is proof that the mission was a success, right?!"

"I guess so," Najenda said. "But somehow, I can't shake this uneasy feeling from my chest...."

The Night Raid Leader carefully analyzed the pocketwatch, as though she were trying to find out something special about it. The Teigu was quite well-designed, really. It had a slight plating of gold on it, and dark streaks of magic seemed to continuously course through its hands. The second's hand ticked by almost musically.

"Boss?" Leone spoke up. "Is everything alright?"

"I don't get it..." Najenda spoke suddenly. "This Teigu... I expected it to emit more magical aura. But it seems weak. Almost weaker than every other Teigu."

"Maybe it's like a hidden potential well, or something?" Bulat suggested. "That's probably why we're unable to witness it's true power."

"That could be the case," Najenda said. "But just for today, I want to observe the Teigu and try and find any anomalies associated with it. I wouldn't normally do this, but we're talking about the Dream Eater here."