The negotiations were very peculiar. If something had to be pointed out from the ordinary, then it was Merraid's accepting attitude.
"Stay out of the way and let us kill the Elite Seven."
"I can't promise such thing without meeting them."
"Weird. Would have thought people with Danger Beast blood wouldn't mind—guess you're not fully a beast."
For some odd reason, that brought a violent reaction from Haco. He snarled, "And you're a pest like most of your people."
She'd poked his achilleas heal and didn't know why. The intel Oarburgh had gathered seemed to be inefficient. His personality could be shortened to one sentence: a prideful and strong-willed man that likes to assist children.
'But what is this? Rather than offending me, it feels like he was implying more. It doesn't make sense…' Merraid was trying hard to figure out Haco's true character while not looking particularly surprised by the outburst.
She summoned a colorful butterfly while looking like she didn't think much about his outburst.
After putting it on Haco's side of the table, she said, "Then take this with you. Kill it if you accept the deal—"
"I'm not carrying any insects. Find another way to communicate." His attitude was very adamant. He'd learned his lesson with insects.
On the inside, Merraid was blowing a fuse. Cursing him for the disgusting man he was and whatnot. She even had a weird idea of throwing Haco in a room with another man after having drugged them with an aphrodisiac.
But on the outside, Haco only managed to notice a minuscule hand twitch.
"Then give me some of your blood."
"For what?" Questioned Haco. There's no way he'd accept without knowing the truth.
Merraid played a little with the butterfly and explained, "It can smell blood from far. If you give me a drop of your blood now, I will be able to know if you bleed in the future."
That explained a lot. If he accepts the deal after meeting the Elite Seven, all he has to do is draw some of his blood.
But there was also a disadvantage to this method. In the future, she would be able to know when he was wounded. The best chance to strike is when the enemy is at the lowest—and she would know if that ever came to happen…
The action of biting his finger showed his decision because the disadvantage was irrelevant when—
'I will just kill them after getting Mudi's location.' They might be possible allies for now. But when he gets what he wants, they're back to being enemies. He couldn't possibly fail the mission the Emperor had given.
After letting the butterfly drink some blood splattered on the table, the meeting adjourned.
He watched them leave and deduced something was wrong with the whole meeting.
Although a stranger, he knew nobody would leave a negotiation satisfied without getting a promise in return.
The sneer Merraid was trying hard to diminish was clearly spotted with his great sight. Was it just her disgust for men, or something else?
---
Days later, inside a little wooden hut in the mountains.
A middle-aged man was sitting on a chair, drinking. With three solemn children sitting around the floor.
"Gin's gone. And Ourburgh has taken Akame and her team. This is very, very bad." Pony addressed the elephant in the room. They just had their first collision with Oarburgh—and lost terribly.
Green was worried about Akame. Blaming his inability to protect her. Still, he was trained to think of solutions and not brood over the loss. So he asked his adopted father, "Shouldn't we request backup from the Empire's local militia?"
"No, that's no good," Denied Gozuki, "but help is coming."
"Who is it?" asked Green.
"Some local friends, and a rising newcomer from the Capital."
Pony sprung to her feet and argued, "A newcomer won't be of any help."
"Say that again when you see him. I once saw him smash a tree with a kick." From his tone and drinking, it was clear he was dismissing Pony's thinking.
"I can do that too!" Exclaimed Pony with a fighting spirit. It somewhat lessened the somber mood.
Gozuki continued ignoring her and leaned his head back to see the ceiling, thinking, 'Yeah, but can you smash one with a two-meter trunk?'
---
At the temporary Oarburgh hideout.
Chelsea was talking with Merraid after having successfully tricked Akame and Kurome of their teammate being alive. Her Teigu, Gaea Foundation, worked perfectly for the job. All she had to do was transform into their teammate and pretend to be imprisoned, but otherwise fine.
Only after Akame and Kurome left, did she undo her perfect disguise.
Merraid praised, "Good job. I couldn't let them see their teammate's state after being tortured by us."
"You're really serious about adding her to the team." Chelsea was talking about Akame.
"She will open her heart to me soon enough. And then she will give me her body without pause—and she will be mine completely."
'Sure Akame is cute but… She must be cuter up close—!' Chelsea just halted her thinking and realized her head had been poisoned from being in this homosexual sexist den. She couldn't help hitting the wall in frustration.
"Heh-heh. What's the matter, Chelsea? Jealous?" Teased Merraid before she seriously continued talking, "Besides, Akame might make this job a great deal easier if she joins us."
Chelsea was skeptical and asked, "Is the target really that difficult?"
"Even if Babra were still alive and fought together with Taeko, they would still lose."
A gasp left Chelsea. She was shocked. More so, because she couldn't fathom how strong someone had to be to do that. After all, she mostly used trickery and surprise to fight. Furthermore, she was still a young teenager and new to being an assassin. Currently, the newest member of Oarburgh
Merraid left Chelsea behind and intended to have some pre-skinship with her maids before the fight begins.
Now she was just waiting for Haco to give an affirmative response.