Chapter 40: Chelsea, Go!

"The Minister's Mansion was infiltrated by an assassin?"

Imperial Capital, General's Mansion.

Chelsea had just gotten up and was preparing to meet Yoshino when she unintentionally overheard the conversation of a few other maids, immediately piquing her interest.

As a core member of the Revolutionary Army, she naturally knew that Honest was one of the biggest obstacles, on par with Esdeath.

However, the security around Honest was incredibly tight. Assassination was out of the question—getting close to him was already near-impossible.

Even with the help of Gaea Foundation, Chelsea couldn't guarantee she could approach Honest undetected.

That's precisely why, upon hearing someone had infiltrated the Minister's Mansion, she couldn't help but join the conversation.

"It happened last night. The entire inner city of the capital is abuzz about it now."

One of the maids nodded and explained briefly, "Last night, an unknown Teigu user infiltrated the Minister's Mansion, assassinated Minister Honest son and five other Teigu users, and stole their Teigu. It's unbelievable."

"What happened to the assassin?"

"Dead. Rumor has it that he was blasted to death by General Budo when he arrived on the scene."

"I see…"

Chelsea's expression didn't change, but she let out a sigh internally.

She was certain that the assassin couldn't be from Night Raid—nor from the Revolutionary Army.

Currently, all members of Night Raid were stationed outside the capital, caught in a standoff with Esdeath and the Jaegers, with no manpower to spare.

And as someone based in the Revolutionary Army's headquarters, she knew all too well the level of strength their Teigu users possessed.

While there were some strong individuals, none were powerful enough to infiltrate the Minister's Mansion and kill six Teigu users.

"It seems this unknown Teigu user was a lone righteous warrior with a grudge against the Empire, unaffiliated with any faction." Chelsea thought with great regret, "If only we could have recruited them into the Revolutionary Army… But now they're dead—it's too late for regrets."

Then, as if remembering something crucial, Chelsea asked, "What about the Teigu? Were they recovered by the Empire?"

"No," the maid replied. "They say the assassin didn't leave behind any Teigu upon death. The Teigu from Wild Hunt were not on her, not even her own."

"The Emperor suspects she had accomplices still in the capital, and has ordered a full-scale, carpet-style investigation throughout the city. No idea if they'll find anything."

Chelsea's heart instantly leapt to her throat.

She wasn't afraid of the so-called "carpet-style" investigation.

She had been at the General's Mansion for about a week now.

During that time, she'd perfectly impersonated another person's face and identity without revealing a single flaw.

Even if the investigation reached her, she wasn't worried about her cover being blown.

What she was truly worried about… was whether she could still complete her mission.

"If the Emperor suspects the assassin had accomplices in the capital, he might order a full lockdown of the city. If that happens, no one can leave until the investigation ends." A shadow of gloom passed over Chelsea's heart. "If that's the case, I'll be stuck in the capital indefinitely."

Her mission was to extract Yoshino.

However, Yoshino had been staying inside the General's Mansion these past few days, and Chelsea hadn't found a chance to act. It was vexing.

The longer she delayed, the more danger Night Raid faced.

If the Emperor decided to close the gates for one week, two weeks, or even a month, Night Raid might not be able to hold out and could suffer casualties.

"We must act now."

Chelsea made her decision without hesitation.

Even though this wasn't the best timing, she no longer had the luxury of waiting.

"By the way, do any of you know where Miss Yoshino is right now?"

Though anxious, Chelsea maintained her professional composure and asked calmly, "The head chef wants to know what Miss Yoshino would like for tomorrow's meals, and sent me to ask her."

"Oh, the young lady? She's in the garden right now," the maid answered. "But she said she wanted to be alone today, so the maids assigned to accompany her have all been dismissed. If you want to ask her, you'll have to wait until she returns."

Alone in the garden?

Upon hearing this, Chelsea's eyes instantly lit up.

The excitement in her eyes flashed and vanished, but on the surface, she remained calm as she said, "Understood. I'll ask her later then."

After bidding farewell to the maids, Chelsea walked back to her room.

Once inside her bedroom, she pulled out a jewelry box from under her bed, which looked like a cosmetics case, and placed her hand on top of it.

In the next moment, her body transformed into flowing light.

As the glow faded, Chelsea changed from a golden-haired, blue-eyed maid in uniform into a sunny and confident-looking young man dressed in casual clothes.

She checked her reflection in the mirror on the table to confirm the transformation was perfect, packed Gaea Foundation and a few other items into her backpack, and jumped out of the window.

After scanning her surroundings to make sure no one was nearby, she darted toward the garden.

Her appearance now was unmistakably that of Tatsumi.

Yoshino was cautious by nature, and after nearly two months, she had started to develop a bond of trust with Esdeath. Trying to persuade her to leave Esdeath and the capital by appealing to justice and ideals would almost certainly fail.

The only person who might convince Yoshino to leave was her fellow villager—Tatsumi.

However, the real Tatsumi had already left with Esdeath and was currently fighting alongside the Jaegers against Night Raid.

So the task of persuading Yoshino to leave the capital now fell solely on Chelsea's shoulders.

She had absolute confidence in her transformation skills.

After all, she had infiltrated the General's Mansion before Esdeath left and had coordinated directly with Tatsumi.

From appearance down to the muscle lines hidden beneath his clothes, she had reproduced everything flawlessly.

Moving stealthily and avoiding occasional maids along the way, she quickly arrived at the garden within the General's Mansion.

Taking a deep breath, she rubbed her face and suppressed the tension in her heart.

This time, she must succeed—failure is not an option.