2 Chapter 1

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- Thank you very much, kind man! - With a look of village kindness on my face, I said.

- Oh, come on! It's a sin not to help someone in need! - A man with a small beard on a cart answered me in the same kindness. Uh-huh... kindness... And in the emotions all squeeze hope, mixed with triumph... Evil.

Jumping in, I sat down on the seat with pleasure, resting after such a tiring journey.

The horse couldn't take it... Died of fright... Crap. In the end, I had to walk with a rather weighty bag along the road on foot. It would have been very uncomfortable to fly on the Impulse with such an idiot. And the contents of the bag would be very useful to me, the same money, or a change of clothes.

However, there were some things I didn't need at all. A statuette of copper, a glance at which something stirred in my memory, but I could not continue the thought, throwing away the piece of metal. There was a sword, of fairly good quality, but unsuitable for me because it was too heavy. Although I could carry such weights, the inertia of such a weapon would be very difficult to hold.

A lighter sword for stabbing would be more suitable for me. Eh... Should I try a sword? Another item on my shopping list when I arrive in the capital, as the man explained to me.

- I'm new here, can you tell me what's going on? - I decided to start gathering information about the world.

- Oooh, we have a ten-year emperor ruling here, though I'll tell you in confidence that everything is actually ruled by the prime minister... Taxes have skyrocketed, many beggars have died... But I serve a rich family, so I'm not in danger of poverty. And the revolutionary army is getting stronger and stronger...

- Revolutionary army? - I was surprised. Something familiar...

- Yeah. It's basically a unit called the Night Raid. A group of assassins who are constantly killing nobles, weakening a country that's already struggling to stay afloat....

Whoa. Night Raid. I remember one of these being in one of my favourite anime of the time, Killer Akame. ...Right! That's where I'm going! There were so many girls around! I hope the reality is as good. But there are plenty of psychos out there, too.

Stop! That figure from the rucksack... it belonged to GG! And in general, the style of clothing also fits... Did I replace Tatsumi's body with my own? If so, that's pretty good, since I was planning on replacing him completely in the Night Raid.

- Why are you going to the capital? I'm going to enlist, aren't I? - smirked the man.

I thought hard about my answer. Should I answer positively? Yes, in principle, you can... Anyway, Leona met the anime GG near the local "military recruitment centre". And without meeting a metamorph, I will not be able to join the Night Raid... And they have a lot of interesting things in the story... And preventing their deaths is also vital. I can't lose such beauty willingly.

And by the way... How do I present my control of fire and kagune? Should I present myself as a human, with a teigu implanted from birth, and subsequently subjugated another one?

It would be possible to say that my mother at the time of birth was not accepted by the teigu, and after my birth she died, and I was already with the kagune. And subsequently the teigu who controlled the fire, the main treasure of the village, was compatible with me, which could not be compatible with anyone else.

And then, when I returned from another hunt, the village had been burned down, and my father was begging for survival in his last breath. And then I wandered around the surrounding villages for a while, killing monsters for a fee, and decided to head to the capital.

In principle, it might work... but there will be a lot of questions from my entourage, but it's already a small thing. Much more importantly, in the case of Esdes, of whom I'm going to do my best to mould into a normal person, and not only with her, will be quite difficult. After all, if I'm going to play on two sides at once, then everyone who sees me will have to kill me. After all, a simple mask will not help here ...

Then I remembered how I put on my Ghoul mask and my hair turned black... And when I took it off, it turned white again. Hmm... Where is it by the way?

I reached for my rucksack, with the bloody clothes, while answering the man:

- Yep... To the army....

In the inside pocket of my jacket was this very mask. I felt a wild pleasure when I took it. My magic. The mask is enchanted with my magic... So that's what it is... Changes the colour of your hair when you wear it? Interesting.

- I see... Hey, what have you got there? - The man tried to look over my shoulder, but I quickly closed the backpack with bloody clothes, secretly shoving the mask into the inner pocket of my jacket.

- No, it's nothing. - I smiled good-naturedly. - And who do you work for? - I tried to disrupt my interlocutor's interest in my rucksack.

The man smirked, and in his emotions, he squawked malicious anticipation.

- The Maus family is rich. It consists of only three people. An older couple and their young daughter. I think she's 16 now.

Well, I don't like this at all. I have to remember that there's something wrong with this family.

At this pace, we entered the capital.

- Listen, Kaneki! - Dorald Gren called out to me, as I recognised him. - and let's go to my masters! They always help travellers, they will give you a room to stay in, and they can help you to join the army as a commander or something else....

I decided to keep my name, as it was my habit to keep it the same when travelling between worlds.

I immediately gave my answer. I don't like this family, oh, I don't like it... From Dorald's emotions, they are obviously doing something dark. Although every rich family here seems to be doing something dark.

Hmmm... It's possible that this is the same family that killed Tatsumi's friends in canon... I think there was a girl... Aria, I think... Who brought GG to their mansion.

- Thanks for the offer, but I have something to do here, so... - I spread my hands, in parallel stepping back.

- I see, well, see you then! - waved his hand at me, the man who had become very sad.

I nodded to him and headed deep into the city. It's noon now, so I have enough time... First of all, I went to the military enlistment office. Since I'm probably late, because of my... lunch.

Having learnt my way from passers-by, I reached my destination. Opposite, him, stood a blonde girl, with downright huge si... breasts, wrapped in a black stripe. The girl was also wearing a grey cloak, practically not covering her black panties and a belt with a rather interesting magically interesting stone.

After looking at Leone for a while, I decided to approach her with some left excuse.

- Excuse me, beautiful, can you tell me where they accept soldiers into the army here? - Trying to smile as rustic as possible, I asked the girl, approaching from the side.

Leone gave me a playful glance, and her eyes sparkled even more as she looked at me.

- Oh, thanks for the compliment. - she giggled. - Do you want to join the army? I can help you! Buy me a drink and I'll tell you how to get straight to a good rank! - Like a machine gun, the girl began to broadcast. Her fast speech, a little knocked me out of the rut, and only after a couple of seconds I realised what all these words meant.

- Mm-hmm... -I said. - All right, let's go. - I decided to give in to persuasion.

Leone got even more cheerful from my answer, pulling me along with her.

***

The room was quite well maintained... and made a good impression... would. It would have. If it weren't for the 'labouring' people roaring here and there, it would have been fine.

Leone, meanwhile, was downing her third full bottle of wine. And I'm only savouring my second glass, more admiring the girl than drinking.

- So woot... about the army... - Leone started to say drunkenly, fighting with her tongue.

- Mm-hmm..." I said, mimicking the girl's voice.

Leone giggled at my answer, but continued.

- I have... IK! An acquaintance... in the army... IR! Ooh, something I've been talking about... So, if you give him money, he'll take you in warmly, make you comfortable and all that. - almost instantly recovered from the intoxication of the girl. Metamorph being... convenient.

- Yeah, and you'd be happy to deliver that money to him? - I snorted sceptically, smiling cheerfully at the same time.

Leone instantly saw the situation, and realising that I had guessed everything, tried to tactfully retreat.

- I... I think I'll go. - Leone tried to get up.

- Calm down, you! - I intervened. - I knew from the very beginning that you would try to get me into a fight like this. Let's have another drink, if you have nothing to do. - I suggested, pouring wine from the fifth bottle into my glass and the girl's glass.

Leone's emotions clearly showed apprehension, but she sat back down.

- By the way, what can you tell me about the revolutionary army? - I asked already more quietly.

From my question the girl became even more wary, and was about to finally run away, as I continued:

- In fact, I've only been in the capital for a few hours, but I already have a desire to overthrow the local monarch. - I fake grimaced. - The country is slipping, people are suffering, and all he does is to raise taxes or something like that... - I drank a glass of wine, pouring myself a new one. - and then I heard about the revolutionary army. - and I started thinking about joining. On the one hand, a normal army, with earnings, but on the other hand... And I hope you're not from the army? Just so you know, such thoughts, I understand, has almost every resident of the capital! - I feigned apprehension.

- No, no, no! No, no, no! - Leone waved her hands. - You know, personally, I would go to the army of the revolution! - she murmured enthusiastically, leaning closer to me.

- That's how... - I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. - I will think... In any case, I need to find a job at least for the first time.

- Heh... what's your name, by the way? - The girl smirked at me.

- Kaneki Ken. What's yours?

- Just Leone. - Waved her hand at the metamorph.

***

We sat there until the evening, and said goodbye to the girl almost like childhood friends. She promised that we'd meet again for a drink, and I just confirmed it. Really...I only had a little money left.....

What am I supposed to do now? Go to that bridge and have Aria pick me up? Or just walk past her estate the next night by accident? Although, I don't know where the manor is, and I have only a guess about Aria's surname. It's decided! I'll go to the bridge closest to here!

When I reached my destination, I sat down at the stone fence and waited. After a couple of minutes, a carriage stopped not far from me, and a blonde girl of about sixteen, but with a rather low height, started to get out of it.

- Is there no place for this man to stay? What a misfortune..." Aria said, a little too loudly for the usual address to the guard.

- Are you at it again, Madam?! - The guard was indignant. And he was seriously indignant....

- I can't help it! That's my character. - smiled the girl, heading towards me.

I, on the other hand, had been dozing off all this time, leaving only small slits in my eyes to keep an eye on the situation. And if the darkness didn't bother me in the slightest, it would seem to anyone else as if I were really asleep.

Aria, meanwhile, had already come up to me and was about to kick my leg with a look of disgust in her eyes. I opened my eyes sharply, moving my limb slightly out of the path of her kick.

The girl's emophone flashed with anger, but there was pure concern on her face. Oh... Would she know what I am, and how inhumane I can become....

- Oh, I'm so sorry! I just thought you were asleep. Did you come from the village? - the girl said quickly, playing her charming self.

- Mm-hmm. - I nodded.

- If you don't have a place to stay, you could come to my house. - The girl turned a little pink... Yep... Still, a true master of the face... - then you wouldn't have to sleep here.

- Lady Aria doesn't abandon people like you! - Shouted the guard with obvious regret in his emophone.

- Just take her up on her offer. - echoed the other.

- So what have you decided? - The girl stood up to her full height, smiling sweetly.

- It's better than sleeping outside...' I said slowly.

- Then the matter is settled. - Aria smiled even more brightly. But now you could see a bit of triumph in her smile.

I was seated in the carriage, opposite Aria, and in a minute we were on our way. A moment later, Aria immediately started asking me questions:

- What's your name?

- Kaneki. Kaneki Ken. - I forced myself to smile.

- It's a nice name. Kaneki. - Aria rolled the name around on her tongue. - Tell me about yourself.

- Most of my life, I lived in a village, however, a couple of years ago, when I returned after a hunting trip, the village was burned down. After that, I wandered around the neighbourhood killing monsters for the pay of the people living there. A week ago, I decided to go to the capital to join the army for a proper income. - I gave a short version.

- That's how... - Aria said with a look of pity on her face. - I'm Aria Mouse. The heiress of one of the rich families.

I nodded internally to myself. So my hunch was right....

- It must be nice to live like this. - I remarked.

- Yeah..." Aria smiled genuinely. Except... it was more of a grin than a smile. - Are you good with a sword? - she suddenly asked.

- One of the masters. - I grinned sincerely.

- Yeah? - Aria said, not holding back her scepticism at the sight of my figure. - Then I guess you won't mind if tomorrow after you rest, I'll give you a training fight with another master? - She also smirked.

Lazily weighing things up, I came to the conclusion "why not?"

- Why not? And if you don't mind, I'd like a new weapon. My last sword was destroyed and I have to walk around with this one temporarily. - I pointed with a nod of my head to the sword handle sticking out of my rucksack.

By the way, all this time, the second guard had been sitting on the roof, eyeing me in constant tension and watching my every move through a small window. If I had to kill her, however, that guard could do nothing to me. I could take them down with my bare hands.

- We'll let you choose. - Aria nodded her head. - And if you win, you can have her for good.

Meanwhile, we were already approaching a huge estate. This must be the home of the maniacs here. It looked very grand. There were various patterns and statues on the walls, and the manor itself was surrounded by gardens with flowers in full bloom. Yeah, you wouldn't think that this house was a haven for maniacs, where they could... do some pretty different things to you.

- Here we are! - Aria squealed with genuine joy as she jumped out of the carriage. I followed her.

Inside, the building also looked very beautiful. Various vases, statues, stuffed animals on the walls... I was particularly attracted to the latter. More precisely, the monsters unknown to me here. Unfortunately, they were ordinary stuffed animals, which did not allow me to study them better, but the general view was enough for me.

Aria, meanwhile, had already rushed up the stairs. Upstairs, her parents were having dinner, I gather. A fully grey-haired old man with a kind, sincere smile, and in contrast a rather young girl. Blonde, beautiful. Similarly with a kind and sincere smile. Both parents at the moment were chatting with Aria about something, throwing rather strange glances at me.

I didn't bother with that, so I'll scatter the guards and run away, and tomorrow night I'll attack Reid and try to cross Akame and Leone to kill Aria. And then I'll finish her off myself.

I'm on to something much more interesting. One of the more menacing looking guards was carrying a sword with some interesting properties. As far as I could understand, the sword had a lightning generator. That's what you can use to shoot electrical discharges. And the energy was probably taken from the environment... So that's what they are... Teigu.

- Aria, you brought someone else. - I heard a louder voice from the old man.

- What a habit. - the older blonde also spoke in a raised tone.

What a mediocre performance... However, it is worth falling for it. I turned my attention to the trio of masters of the manor. Aria beckoned me to her, and I headed up the stairs towards them. As I came up, I made a small bow and began to sing.

- Thank you so much for taking me in! You...

- Don't mention it, make yourself at home. - Aria interrupted me with a fake-kind smile.

- If we help people, one day they'll help us, right? - smiled at the eldest, Aria.

Mm-hmm. With their moans, their agony, their screams. Of course they'll help you have fun, mm-hmm.

- Mum! That's not why I'm doing this! - Aria fake outraged again. - By the way, Kaneki wants to join the army!

Two questioning looks were directed at me. After a couple of seconds of silence, the old man turned to me:

- Sit down, Kaneki. We'd like to know more about you.

I obediently sat down on one of the available couches, beginning my story.

- Most of my life, I lived in a village, however, a couple of years ago, when I returned from a hunting trip, the village had been burned down. After that, I wandered around the neighbourhood killing monsters for the pay of the people living there. A week ago, I decided to go to the capital to join the army for a proper income. - I repeated my made-up story.

- That's how..." the old man smiled. - You want to succeed in the service so that you don't risk your life and fulfil the promise you made to your father.

Oooh... How he understood everything strangely.....

- What a wonderful dream! - exclaimed Aria.

- Yes. - nodded the eldest.

- But know this. - continued the old man. - There may be peace and quiet in the capital, but our country is surrounded on three sides by different peoples. You may be sent to the border to fight them.

- I'm ready! - I shouted selflessly. Mm-hmm... ready he is... I can only participate in the war if my girlfriend wants me to.

- I see, your spirit is strong! That's how young people should be! - exclaimed the old man.

- Did you come alone, Kaneki? - Aria suddenly asked.

After thinking for a while, I answered:

- No. I came with a friend. She disappeared a couple of days ago when she went grocery shopping with all the money. - I said with a look of grief. - Name is... Akemi. - without thinking about the name, I said the first thing that came to mind. When I came to my senses, I started describing it hastily, making it up as I went along. - Black, long hair, bright red eyes, size three breasts, prefers... light, dark clothes.

- Well, I'll recommend you to a serviceman I know, and I'll find out about your girlfriend. - taking a sip of tea, said the old man, who had clearly missed my whole story.

- Thank you very much. - I squeezed out a smile.

- That's good... Why don't we call it a day...? - the old man continued.

- Oh! And become my bodyguard with the others for the time you're here! - exclaimed Aria.

To be honest, I wasn't very happy about that. As far as I remembered, they'd been shopping for clothes, which to me was just... not the same. Before I could say a word, it was all decided for me.

- Good idea. Gauri take care of it! - the old man addressed one of the guards.

- Understood. - He nodded.

***

The next morning, I woke up in a surprisingly good mood. Perhaps it was the imminent test of my skills on the local 'master' that had put me in that mood.

By the way, as Aria told me yesterday, we'll be picking up some new clothes for me from the rich tailor's shop today, which I spent about half an hour yesterday describing to the maid, who was taking notes. I doubt, of course, that it was really ordered, but what if....

By the way, during the water procedures, I managed to figure out how to control the kakugan's awakening. And by the way, I really only had the left one. After playing with my newfound third form of vision, I headed to the courtyard where Aria was.

As I entered the courtyard, I saw a small group of guards laughing all the time, and standing next to Aria was a special guard with battle paint on his armour.

- Oh, Kaneki! - Aria waved her hand at me. - And Rufus is ready! - she shouted again.

- Rufus? - I asked perplexed, moving closer and looking at the painted man.

- So you're the one who calls yourself a master swordsman? - He grinned.

- Choose a weapon for yourself, and then take a training one and fight! - Aria chirped cheerfully, opening a rather large box with all sorts of swords, maces, axes and the like.

I stepped closer, carefully picking through the weapons. And then I saw a sword that was quite strange in my magical vision. It was completely white, with a black hilt, and no engravings, like many of the other swords here.

Hell, it's like a mini-space pocket of sorts! Only... sort of sealed? It's roughly the kind of magic that was on Lullaby's flute, or on the same Ur ice that Deliora kept in it.

And I have a rough idea of how to awaken it... Oh, the possibilities! A hidden blade that's undetectable. Take it.

- This one! - I instantly picked up the sword.

- Good. - Rufus nodded, a look of approval in his eyes. Then he looked into another chest, pulling out a scabbard and tossing it to me.

***

- Here we go! - Aria shouted, watching us with excitement.

Okay, here we go. Rufus and I, who was fighting with a universal sword, started circling, taking our time to attack, looking for chances to attack. And that chance came to me. It was morning, so the sun wasn't very high, and as we circled, we stood so that Rufus had to look directly at him. The man squinted a little, which I immediately took advantage of. The point of the wooden sword went for Rufus's stomach, but was swiftly deflected by the man's sword.

He rushed to attack, but I bounced away. The sword is much less useful than the sword when close to an opponent, as it is designed more for stabbing.

After exchanging a couple of blows, I came to the conclusion that the best way out would be to start approaching sharply, and taking advantage of the surprise to get closer and deliver a prepared blow.

With an inward nod, I made a sharp dash at my opponent, and noticing his surprised face, jumped close to the sword, blocking it with my right hand with the sword, while simultaneously making a left-hand uppercut on his elbow with the sword.

Rufus's arm swings upwards, and the man is pushed back, exposing his chest for me to strike. Which I promptly take advantage of. Victory. There's a reason I've always favoured speed.

Still, for a master swordsman... he's a little weak. Or are they all like that?

- Victory. - I said coldly.

- Cool, cool, cool!!! - Aria screamed.

I went to the table, where my new blade was lying in its scabbard, and picked it up and put it on my belt, promising myself to play with it later.

- Now let's go shopping! - Aria shouted, rushing off to a carriage nearby.

After a moment's thought, I glanced at Rufus, who was already up, nodded lightly, and headed after the maniac.