CHAPTER 3: YOU'VE REALLY DONE IT

"Command... officers... Bastards! And these people called my sister a traitor? Damn them all! They are worse than the rebels! A cancerous tumor on the Empire's body!

"Crack!" The broken edge of the table cracked under my fingers

"I needed to calm down. The last thing I needed was to breach my number or wake up guys KI". I got up and began pacing from side to side.

"What bastards they are!" I wanted to grab my katana and go on a killing spree. It didn't matter who, as long as there was bloodshed. But no, that wasn't the way to go. At this rate, I might lose control and do something stupid.

Deciding that some fresh air might do me good, I opened the window and, grabbing an artifact blade, silently leaped onto the roof of the building across the street. Landing softly, I jumped from there to the roof of the next three-story building with pointed windows.

The cool night air helped clear my thoughts. Lying on the roof with my hands under my head, I gazed at the stars and let my mind wander to more philosophical matters. Who was to blame, and what should be done?

Identifying the culprit was relatively easy. The bald bastard and his former deputy, Marcus, who was now in charge, had caused so much trouble that in the Revolutionary Army, they'd be hailed as honorary rebels.

The mental picture made me chuckle grimly. To spectacularly flush eight years of training and the considerable amount of money spent down the toilet, you had to have a certain talent. And for what? To replace an elite unit with a bunch of drug addicts who'd likely die before reaching peak condition?

And how were we treated? Even an entitled brat would handle his soldiers with more care. Did they intentionally want to harm us? It seemed as though Bill and most of his deputy cronies were on some powerful substances. On the other hand, this intellectual dwarf is not by himself. Someone put the bald bastard in a high position. Someone approved of Marcus. Who did they answer? And if this "wonderful leader" has not yet received a strict reprimand and has not been kicked out in the ass, then everything is fine with everyone.

Thinking about all the dirt that we all had to do, it became clear that the current Empire had rotted to its core. All the way through. "Idiocy!" I mentally grimaced. No sane state would so blatantly terrorize its citizens. Not because politicians lacked moral considerations, but simply because, at some point, the cup of fear would overflow, and people would realize they had nothing left to lose. That's when things would get really ugly for everyone. Even a cornered rat would bite its tormentor.

Didn't the Prime Minister understand that? Or was he an ideological heir to Madame de Pompadour? After us, the deluge, perhaps?

"Maybe joining the Revolutionary Army is the best option?" The thought pricked my mind. "Among them, there must be competent doctors and alchemists who can either completely cure me or, at the very least, help me kick this addiction. And Akame took some of the documentation on the 'medicines' with her," I thought, dubiously snorting. "Yeah, but will they even do it? A leash is much more convenient for the owner. What's Akame now? Just another ordinary killer, like the rest of us. A strong individual fighter, a bearer of a rare and powerful artifact, yes. But without connections and a deserter. A turncoat. Who would listen to her? No, it's foolish to pin hopes on others," I concluded.

What would I become for the leaders of the revolutionaries? Just another piece on the chessboard? Not a pawn, perhaps a bishop or a rook, but would that prevent the player from sacrificing a piece for victory in the game? In the name of the greater good, of course.

Just as nothing would prevent purging everyone who goes from being useful to being dangerous after the victory. Who needs idealistic fighters for justice with superhuman powers who realize they've been had? Right, no one! There's a saying, "The revolution devours its own children."

And this is forgetting that no revolution on Earth has brought anything good to the country where it took place, at least in the short term. France, for example, took about fifty years after its "great" and "glorious" revolution to finally return to square one, just under a different label. Did it bring happiness to the people? In the USSR, they tried to create a better system, but in the end, the Union fell apart... from the top down. Just like MY Empire is rotting from the top down now! A social gangrene, damn it...

I exhaled, admiring the indifferent moon - wherever you look, it's a dead end!

Hide somewhere and keep a low profile?

Even if we leave aside that it would be a betrayal of everything I hold dear, how would I survive? Take a job in line with my skills? They'd identify me and send an elimination squad, both the Empire and the rebels. A Teigu in hand is never redundant.

"Aaah! Who am I kidding?! I can't escape! I can't abandon my sister! Betray my comrades and everything I believed in!" One thing is like Akame, switching sides, believing sincerely that you're fighting for a better future. And quite another - to abandon everyone and crawl into a hole like a rat.

Because I-Viktor, also grew up on my grandfather's tales of the Great Patriotic War, imagining myself as a brave Red Army soldier or a partisan who wouldn't give away the Military Secret even under torture. I never managed to bury that naive boy completely, no matter how maimed and disappointed in the world I became. Even though I saw mostly bad things in the Empire, who would I be if I surrendered without trying to do something?

But what can I do? Yes, I'm a good fighter: maybe not the strongest spirit warrior in the country, but with Teigu, I'm easily in the top hundred. With the new narcotic poison that I now have to take, I may even enter the top twenty or ten, especially if I manage to collect several suitable dead puppets. But what does that give me? You can't achieve much on your own. And without the stimulant, everything could turn out a bit worse...

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Or not a bit," a sarcastic voice sounded in my head. The drugs we had to take were not just stimulants; I suspected they were a means of control as well. Withdrawal was truly horrific. Who said there wouldn't be other consequences?

In any case, rejecting the drug was a foregone conclusion. Even if it weakened me, dying in battle was much better than gradually perishing from the poison, only to end up disposed of like garbage. So the choice between possible death on missions and a guaranteed miserable end from "miracle pills" was clear.

Besides, I hoped to make up for any potential setback in strength. Akame, like all members of the Elite Seven, never took stimulants, but she was stronger than me. (Well, she was older than me...) So, all I needed to do was train harder.

"I'll prove to my sister that I can surpass her. And I'll do it without any 'medicine'! And then... all the guilty parties will know my revenge! And Hell will seem like Heaven to them!!!"

A grimace of hatred and anticipation of someone else's pain suddenly distorted the girl's face, making her otherwise attractive features look like a demon's countenance. Her terrifying appearance was emphasized by an aura of pure, otherworldly malevolence, as if it had turned the moonlit night into impenetrable darkness. In her gray eyes, a dark purple gleam flickered for a moment, and someone else seemed to peek out from there: someone malevolent, filled with boundless hatred, and utterly alien to this world.

The homeowner, on whose roof the girl lay, abruptly woke up, clutching his chest, and began gasping for air, frantically searching for pills on his bedside table. His young lover watched in silent horror, unable to move. Downstairs, in the servant's quarters, a baby, the maid's son, woke up and started crying inconsolably, his cries gradually turning into a wail.

A peaceful slumber for ordinary, unsuspecting people had given way to nightmares.

The surge of emotions disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared, leaving behind a sense of emptiness and bewilderment.

"Phew! Almost lost it," I said, sitting up and absentmindedly scratching my cheek. I had never experienced such an all-consuming, furious feeling of hatred, even halfway.

And any other emotions, too. Apparently, memories of my past life and afterlife aren't as harmless as I thought. I need to keep an eye on myself and better control my emotions. It would be foolish to go through all these trials only to lose my mind in the end. Although, perhaps, it's all because of stress. "Yes, yes, it's all the fault of nerves, everything's fine," a calming voice sounded in my head. "Well, except for the existing problems, of course."

"And anyway, I plan to live long and happily, preferably forever, because I didn't quite like the afterlife. The atmosphere there is suffocating, and the company isn't great either, heh-heh," I tried to drown the emerging dread of the Abyss with humor. And even though I knew from somewhere that my appearance there was a monstrously rare and unfortunate coincidence, and returning there was not in the cards for me, I didn't want to test it on my own skin. Not at all.

"Yeah, I hope a year and a half of taking 'medicine' haven't done too much damage to my health, and my body hasn't used up all its reserves. Hopefully, it can still recover! Otherwise, I'm here making plans, and maybe my brain has melted or my liver is about to say its final goodbyes."

"Well, that's unlikely," I tried to be optimistically realistic. "My body is still young; it can handle it. And not much time has passed." Even the weakest among us had just started experiencing bad signs. Users of spiritual power, in general, were hardy, and Teigu owners even more so. So, most likely, even without someone else's help, I could deal with this problem by buying the right medicines and gradually reducing the dose. Luckily, the indifferent attitude of our new commander and senior officers toward us worked in my favor. No one monitored the drug intake; they only paid attention to combat effectiveness.

"Okay, that's settled," I continued in a lighter tone. "What other means of doing good and dispensing justice does the army named after me have at its disposal? And it does have one - Yatsufusa," I stroked the hilt of the artifact katana. It responded to my touch with a pleasant wave of coolness. My Teigu allowed me to create something like high-level undead creatures from those killed by its blade, preserving all their abilities from life. But no more than eight. If you think about it, it's quite powerful, especially when making puppets from other Teigu owners or high and out-of-category level monsters.

However, to turn someone into a puppet, you had to find and kill them first, and do so carefully without damaging the body.

I imagined trying to carefully kill a huge, mountain-sized monster capable of destroying armies and devastating cities, and mentally rolled my lip back. The local humanity was very lucky that mega-class monsters and their unclassifiable senior brethren rarely appeared from the depths of the Wild Lands.

Yes, the ability to create immortal servants is not bad at all. In some ways, it's even like cheating. The only problem is that even the strongest lone warrior, due to a lack of information and resources, would remain a figure, not a player... so what, I'm going to find my sister and, forming a squad, try to level up?

Funny. This isn't an anime or manga where a fourteen-year-old girl can lead a small army, having one of the forty-eight Great Teigu and the ability to compete with a small army herself. Although... the Empire isn't one of the countries of the past world, and the abilities of spirit warriors influence their thinking. Spirit warriors greatly respect strength and its possessors. And in this world, personal strength meant a lot. Why did a young girl who hadn't even lived a quarter of a century become one of the highest generals in the Imperial Army? Because General Esdeath was already considered the strongest in the country at her age. Well, and she supposedly wasn't lacking in tactical talent, but that's secondary.

Lacking strength herself, she wouldn't be able to command others.

A vague thought began to emerge on the edge of consciousness. Trying to catch it by the tail, I started to rehash my thoughts once more: Revolutionaries... Empire... General Esdeath... Akame... Teigu... Manga, anime...

"Akame ga Kill!"

Manga and anime about a group of superpowered assassins wielding Teigu artifacts and fighting against the corrupt government. Night Raid. And the special police force opposing them. Jaegers. That's where a cute but slightly insane girl with an obsessive desire to turn her older revolutionary sister into a dead puppet belonged.

"How about that?" my dry lips whispered. "Do all anime fans become isekai characters after death? Heh-heh-heh! Well, what kind of anime fan you are determines what kind of isekai character you become, heh!"

"Ha-ha-ha!" my laughter turned into maniacal giggles. "HEE-HEE-HEE! HA-HA-HA!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!" For several minutes, semi-mad laughter or crying echoed over the rooftops of nearby houses, adding to the horror of the nightmares that had woken the city's residents.

***

"Well, I finally snapped," I wiped away the tears that had formed, muttering to myself as I stood up and suppressed the lingering emotions with an effort of will. "I need to get out of here," a thought flashed in my mind as I noticed the lights coming on in the windows of nearby houses. If they notice me, I won't be able to get rid of Kay's jokes.

I quickly jumped onto the roof of the neighboring house, only to lock eyes with the bearded neighbor from below, his round eyes wide with fear.

"Aaaah! D-D-Demon!" he yelled, waving his arms and falling onto his backside.

I hurriedly jumped back into my own window and closed it. Hopefully, he wouldn't recognize me in the morning. That would be awkward. Although, judging by the screams, he saw something entirely different from what actually happened. I undressed, put the sword back in its place, drew the curtains, and listened. It seemed quiet now. At least, there were no more screams.

"Drunkards, they'll drink themselves silly, and then demons start appearing to them," I grumbled, remembering that I had seen this bearded face last at the hotel restaurant, surrounded by a battery of empty bottles.

After pacing around the room and taking a few sips of water straight from the pitcher, I climbed into bed and wrapped myself in the blanket. What was there to freak out about, after all? Finding out that you're living in a world described as the Japanese counterpart of George R. R. Martin's is not very pleasant. And the fate of my anime version could hardly be called inspiring, whether in the anime version, where it seemed like everyone died except for Akame, or in the more "optimistic" manga. Dying by my sister's blade seemed preferable to me now than dying from the consequences of taking drugs after defeating those damn rebels. At least, Kurumi's end in the anime seemed more honest to my current perspective. I would prefer that.

"But still, there's no reason to act like an exalted young girl! What a disgrace!"

In the end, I knew that drugs wouldn't lead to anything good and was planning to deal with this problem. It's just that now it was necessary to accelerate my plans. As for the possible future, there was even less reason to worry. I had no intention of following the path that was set for me. Knowing future events carried certain prospects, even if they weren't as good as I would have liked. Here, there was no room for hysteria; I should be happy. Some extra trump cards in the upcoming chaos...

Having calmed down, I stretched and glanced at the clock. "Not good! Half-past two! And I, by the way, have to get up early!" I slipped under the blanket and cleared my mind of all unnecessary thoughts.

A new day starts with the evening.