Chapter 12: Reunion of Sisters

"Hey hey, big sis, I don't think Yoshino ever agreed to leave with you guys, right?"

As the beast-transformed Leone fled toward the city gates with the Three Beasts in hot pursuit, a rather speechless Yoshinon muttered, "Even though those three just now didn't look like good people, you're just outright planning to kidnap Yoshino!"

"Sorry, special circumstances call for special measures."

Leone, knowing she was in the wrong, grinned awkwardly and said, "Tatsumi not far ahead — once we get there, you'll see we're the good guys."

Dodging enemy pursuit coming from all directions, the group raced forward. As they passed an alleyway, a man in heavy white armor wielding a sharp spear suddenly burst out.

With ease, the man took down the pursuing soldiers behind them with a single thrust. With a flourish of his spear, blood sprayed from several Imperial Guard soldiers.

"Where's Tatsumi?"

Seeing that only Bulat had shown up, Leone couldn't help but ask, "Wasn't he with you?"

"When I heard the alarm, I had him leave the city ahead of me."

After taking out a few pursuers, Bulat immediately caught up with his two companions and explained, "That kid is strong, sure, but under these circumstances, sticking with us would only make things harder. If we brought him along, escaping would be nearly impossible."

"So in the end, you guys are liars!"

Feeling deceived, a wave of weak spirit power suddenly burst from Yoshino. It knocked Leone arm away and allowed her to nimbly escape from her grasp.

"You just said we'd meet Tatsumi here, and now you're saying we have to leave the city to see him. You're obviously trying to trick innocent little Yoshino out of the city to sell her somewhere else!"

"We…"

Leone tried to explain.

But under the current circumstances, even her usual silver tongue couldn't come up with a decent excuse.

She'd thought that as long as they could get Yoshino to meet Tatsumi, they'd win her trust.

But what she hadn't expected was that, for the sake of safety, Bulat had Tatsumi leave immediately after the alarm sounded.

It wasn't the wrong move. They were currently facing the full pursuit force of the outer Imperial City — not just the Three Beasts, but also Imperial Arms users arriving from all corners of the Empire. Bringing Tatsumi along would've made escape even harder.

"No need to worry. Tatsumi already guessed something like this might happen, so he told me a secret that only he and Yoshino would know."

Just as Bulat was about to relay Tatsumi message, he suddenly raised his head sharply, the words stuck in his throat.

In the moonlight, he saw a graceful figure in a white military uniform gliding over on ice.

With each step she took, a patch of ice crystals appeared beneath her feet to support her, granting her the ability to walk through the air.

The other two members of Night Raid followed Bulat's gaze. Upon seeing Esdeath figure, their expressions instantly changed.

At this time of night, Esdeath was supposed to be resting at the general's estate in the inner city — how could she appear here, dozens of kilometers away, within just a couple of minutes since the alarm was raised?!

"Mission failed. Retreat!"

Gritting his teeth, Bulat immediately declared the operation a failure.

Esdeath was already on the scene — even if they handed over Tatsumi message now, it wouldn't matter anymore.

Trying to take Yoshino with them at this point might mean they'd all be stuck here forever.

Leone and Lubbock clearly realized this as well. Their faces turned grim, but they didn't argue.

"Next time, we'll have Tatsumi come take you with him!"

Leaving those words behind, the three members of Night Raid stopped trying to take Yoshino and sprinted at full speed toward the western gate.

"They always escape pretty quickly."

Esdeath watched the three fleeing figures with icy eyes.

If she hadn't been nearby just now, perhaps tonight her sister really would've been taken away by those thieves.

Though she had already dispatched the Three Beasts to search for Yoshino earlier that day, she had nothing else to do at the estate and felt restless. So she returned to the street where she had previously encountered Yoshino and joined the search herself, albeit alone.

When Liver blew the alarm whistle, she happened to be nearby gathering intel — which was why she could respond so quickly.

But she soon stopped paying attention to the three fleeing Night Raid members.

Her gaze shifted to the girl now surrounded by the Imperial Guards on the roadside. The coldness in her eyes quickly faded.

Nostalgia, joy, hesitation…

A storm of complicated emotions surged in her heart, leaving her momentarily unsure of what to do.

"Hey, hey! Calm down, soldiers! We're not with those people — both Yoshino and Yoshino are just civilians!"

The summoned Imperial Guard soldiers had no idea what was going on.

Seeing Yoshino left behind alone, they assumed the intruders had abandoned their comrade to cover their retreat and began tightening the encirclement with spears raised.

"Stand down! Everyone, stand down!"

Liver aged but booming voice rang out. Standing atop his water dragon, he leapt into the encirclement, shielding Yoshino behind him and stopping the advancing guards.

"Alright, alright, disperse — nothing more for you guys to do here."

"Return to your posts. We'll take it from here."

With such a commotion, there was no hope of continuing the operation in secret. So Nyau and Daidara pulled out the identity badges proving their status and dismissed the surrounding Imperial Guards.

The guards didn't question the trio's identities either.

After all, they had also seen the figure floating in the sky — the renowned general whose name echoed through the Imperial City.

And so, the hastily gathered Imperial Guard squads soon led their men away.

"Miss Yoshino, we deeply apologize for frightening you."

Liver gave a slight bow, his tone apologetic. "Had we seen through those scoundrels' tricks sooner, we could've protected you earlier."

"It's fine. I didn't get hurt anyway," Yoshino replied casually with a wave of her hand. "That said, now that everything's over, can we go back now?"

"I'm afraid... not yet."

Liver coughed twice and looked up at Esdeath floating in the sky.

Now that the main authority had arrived, the rest was out of his hands.

In the air above, Esdeath had composed herself. She descended in front of Yoshino.

"Long time no see, Yoshino."

At that moment, there wasn't a trace of hostility or coldness left in Esdeath. A gentle smile curled at her lips — a smile the Three Beasts had never seen from her before.

Reunited with family, the touching scene stirred emotions even in the hearts of the Three Beasts.

The one who had been with Esdeath the shortest among them had still followed her for over two or three years. As her trusted subordinates, they knew better than anyone how deeply this general — so often viewed by outsiders as cold and ruthless — actually cherished her loved ones.

"Uh…"

However, faced with this emotional reunion, Yoshino looked Esdeath up and down a few times and asked hesitantly:

"Who are you?"