The country bumpkin had come to the city.
That was the first impression Esdeath and the native Akame had when they saw the capital.
After the banquet, Setsuna took them on a brief tour around the city.
Aside from Akame, Leone, and the rest of the Night Raid team, Kurome also followed along at a short distance.
She held a bag of snacks in her hands, munching while looking around curiously.
After being disciplined by Belfast, Kurome had become much more obedient. When she saw her most respected Esdeath surrender, she followed suit and surrendered cleanly.
However, Kurome still felt some distance toward Setsuna and Akame. She just quietly listened to everyone talk and never took the initiative to speak.
After leaving the administrative center, they followed the central axis toward the city's main thoroughfare.
The street was so wide it could park several large shuttles side by side.
Even at night, the entire city gleamed with golden brilliance.
Various familiar and unfamiliar buildings lined both sides of the road.
Thanks to anti-gravity technology, some houses were constructed in ways that defied the laws of physics.
"So dreamy—"
Along the way, Akame saw all sorts of incredible creatures.
She had seen shipgirls and the Bulins before. There were also mass-produced Sirens. When not in combat, Observer and Tester allowed them to roam freely.
They often strolled or patrolled the city outskirts.
In the sky circled universal angels, their white wings especially eye-catching in the night sky.
There were also some beautiful catgirls with ears on their heads and tails behind them.
Some of them were brought back earlier from the world of Nekopara, while others were engineered later by Muroto Sumire after acquiring the technology.
There weren't many catgirls. Their scientific and production capabilities were lacking, so their main role was to be cute companions.
"Master!"
A brown-haired twin-tailed catgirl and a silver-haired catgirl pounced on Setsuna, rubbing against him affectionately.
"Chocola and Vanilla, huh?"
Setsuna rubbed their heads and stroked their ears.
The catgirls purred contentedly.
"How's school going?"
"Umm, we think we can finish elementary school in about three more months. Belfast said we have to complete university-level courses before we can officially begin maid training..."
Chocola looked up at Setsuna with teary puppy eyes.
The Commander had entrusted them to the head maid for education, but the catgirls hadn't received any formal schooling before, relying only on instinct.
They struggled with self-care, let alone maid duties. So Belfast had enrolled them in school alongside the younger girls.
"We really want to be the Commander's maids too..."
Vanilla nuzzled against Setsuna's clothes.
"And we're already a year and a half old—we count as adult cats now. We can be the Commander's catgirl lovers too..."
"..."
"Nope. Grow up a bit more, then we'll talk."
Setsuna sent the two catgirls off, speechless.
He currently viewed the catgirls as pets.
If we're talking about beast-ear girls... well, the Sakura Empire fleet had plenty.
"Hm?..."
"I just realized—the whole city is full of girls?"
As they walked, Akame noticed something odd.
Along the way, the angels, shipgirls, Bulins, Heroic Spirits, Spirits, even the catgirls—they were all beautiful girls.
And not just average—they were all extremely good-looking.
From graceful older sisters to cute lolis, they were everywhere.
"Yeah, part of it is historical, part of it is due to practical factors."
Setsuna thought for a moment and casually explained.
Because the first ones he encountered were shipgirls, most of the development resources went into Azur Lane tech.
The Bulins and Manjuus handled nearly all the technological needs, so there was no need to recruit more immigrants.
Shipgirls don't accept anyone other than the Commander himself. He also didn't want others harboring inappropriate thoughts toward his shipgirls.
And so, this unspoken tradition was simply preserved.
"There's also another reason—the Commander wanted to build a giant ha... bonk!"
Before Gudako could finish her sentence, she got a flick to the forehead.
Clutching her head, she crouched in place.
"Spouting the truth recklessly—deserves a smack."
They continued walking into the residential district.
Next to the Demon Slayer team's villa, Setsuna assigned two adjoining townhouses to the Night Raid squad.
"From now on, you'll be living here. If you need anything, just let the universal angels know."
"There are a lot of kids in the city, so keep those lethal Teigu secured—especially you, Akame and Kurome. Don't cause trouble."
He gestured toward the two girls in sailor uniforms.
One-hit-killer Murasame was ineffective against shipgirls, Heroic Spirits, and Spirits—but for regular people, even grazing it could be disastrous.
Best case, they'd need hospitalization; worst case, Tohru or Mio would need to be called in to detox them.
"Understood. Please rest assured."
Akame bowed, then pressed Kurome down to bow as well.
Due to their past opposing positions, the sisters were still a bit distant.
Living together, Setsuna figured it was only a matter of time before they reconciled.
"Feels kind of bad to be freeloading here..."
"Commander, if there's anything we can help with, just let us know."
Beastgirl Leone scratched her ear.
Compared to their old Night Raid base, this luxurious home was overwhelming. It even came with housekeeping-type universal angels...
Getting all this for free made them feel a bit uneasy.
"Hmm... in the future, you can do some simple missions with the Demon Slayer team."
Setsuna thought for a moment.
"Take time to go to the Life Sciences Division and get a gene ascension—install a few superpower factors."
"Also, Akame, Kurome, Mine, and Chelsea... you're all going to school. I'll have Chen Hai enroll you."
For normal people joining the crew, a guaranteed benefit was genetic ascension—being able to select a few superpower modules.
Whether one wanted to boost strength and agility for a warrior route or load dolphin genes for research purposes, it was up to them.
"Huh?"
Akame and Kurome looked stunned.
"School? We're going to school?"
"Of course."
Setsuna patted her head.
"You probably didn't get much schooling in your world, right? Just fighting and training every day."
"That won't do here. The capital has such an advanced education system—we can't let you be illiterate."
Kanae and the others arrived earlier, and through diligent study, could already discuss advanced astronomy with the shipgirls.
The Night Raid team still went blank whenever electricity or gravity was mentioned.
"Huh?!"
"I thought all I needed was sword training..."
Akame pressed down on Murasame, confused.
"Sword training? Maybe if you could reach Excalibur level. Just swinging Murasame around won't cut it."
Setsuna chuckled.
"We also have combat support classes. Look at Kanae—she's already taking several magic electives. She can guide you."
"In the Magic Academy, you can study anything—whether it's Type-Moon's Fifth Magic, elf magic, or dragon magic."
"You used to be assassins, right? Train with some of the Type-Moon Assassins, pick up some stealth spells, and you can become a specialized infiltration squad."
As he spoke, Setsuna casually assigned the Night Raid team a future development path.
They had trained various assassination skills to take down Honest. Going forward, they could continue to specialize in this field as a special ops team.
"Whoa—"
Everyone was in awe.
They had thought school would be all formulas, essays, and poems.
But these classes were far more interesting. Whether tech-oriented or magic-focused, whether for research or combat, everything was available.
Akame genuinely felt a sense of admiration for the man before her—and for the city he had built.
"Commander, we look forward to serving you. The Night Raid squad is at your disposal."
...
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