"Uggg..." Akame opened her eyes, and her entire body screamed in pain. In addition, she felt unusually heavy, significantly more than usual. Using all her strength, she sat up and checked her surroundings. She was inside a cave. The last thing she remembered was meeting Garou and using her trump card to fight him.
She looked down at her arms and noticed leaves covering them like bandages. The red markings from her transformation were still visible but had noticeably faded.
A short distance away, she saw her sword leaning against the cave wall. She wanted to grab it, but the pain immobilized her.
"You're finally awake," Garou's voice drifted from the cave entrance.
Akame momentarily forgot the pain and turned toward him in shock. He stood before her, carrying a huge fish over his shoulder. Her eyes darted to her sword, and she attempted to move toward it, but despite her will, her body gave out, and she collapsed, wincing in pain.
"You're still wounded. I don't suggest moving around, let alone trying to fight," Garou said.
Akame looked at him helplessly, understanding she had no chance to escape or resist. She was entirely at the mercy of this... monster standing before her. The thought of suicide crossed her mind, but for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to do it.
"I treated your wounds. It's not perfect, and it may leave a scar, but it will ease the pain a little and help you recover faster. I'm no doctor, but I can tell when someone is incapable of moving due to injuries. I have first-hand experience, after all," Garou said.
Akame remained silent, watching as he stepped closer. She was powerless, unable even to move. He dropped the fish on the ground beside him and started a fire using stones and broken branches. Akame assumed he had gathered them earlier while she was unconscious.
Garou began grilling the fish while Akame kept staring at him in bewilderment.
"It seems your monsterization was temporary. You're back to normal, except for the faint red marks," Garou commented lightly while tending to the fish.
Akame didn't reply. She simply kept watching him in silence. Garou didn't seem to mind and continued grilling without another word.
Some time later, Garou handed Akame a portion of the grilled fish before eating his own. Her eyes darted between the food in front of her and Garou, who was wolfing down his portion.
"What are you doing?" Akame finally asked.
"Helping you recover faster," Garou replied with a bored look, his eyes showing a hint of disdain as if the answer were obvious.
"Why are you helping me? If you want information about my friends, then kill me. I won't tell you anything, no matter what you do—even if you torture me," Akame said, doubting his motives. In her eyes, a monster like him was no better than Esdeath.
Garou ignored her accusation and said, "I didn't take you for the talkative type. And why does it seem like everyone is obsessed with torture? Anyway, shut it and focus on eating."
Akame was unsatisfied with his response, but for now, she could do nothing. She was weak and barely able to move. Hopefully, she would recover and get a chance to kill him—she refused to give up.
She ate her food silently, but her speed in devouring the meal caught Garou's attention. He found her appetite more impressive than her combat ability.
Once they finished eating, Akame spoke again. "Why are you helping me?"
"Two reasons," Garou finally answered. "First, I didn't defeat you. Leaving you to die like that would leave a bad taste in my mouth. Second, I told your sister I'd leave you to her. So I'm not letting you die—at least not because of me."
His answer only agitated Akame further. In her mind, he was a monster with no honor, no different from Esdeath. She had already labeled those who worked under the minister as evil monsters, just like Esdeath and Seryu.
"Do you expect me to believe that? After what you did? After killing my friends? Acting like you have honor and pride? You're scum! A lowly, filthy animal!" Akame exploded in his face.
Normally, she wouldn't speak to an enemy like this, but the pain of losing her friends was still fresh. She lacked the strength to do anything more than talk. If she was going to die here, she might as well spend her last moments cursing him.
Garou initially didn't want to talk much with her, but hearing her words irritated him slightly. Narrowing his eyes, he said, "Don't put your mistakes on me. I didn't kill your friends. The water guy went kamikaze, while the axe guy was killed by your pink-haired friend. If anything, I took revenge for him. I was only going to give you fools a beating, but you idiots decided to start killing yourselves."
Akame didn't back down and replied, "Do you expect me to believe you? You killed Susanoo!"
"Susanoo? The horned doll? Are you an idiot? If I broke your sword, would you say I killed it? No, you wouldn't. So why would you say that about a human-shaped doll?" Garou retorted.
Akame clenched her fists in anger upon hearing him call Susanoo a doll. She wanted nothing more than to kill the monster in front of her.
"Besides, if I wanted to kill you, do you really think I would have let you leave? For starters, I could have embedded the axe into that bitch's head instead of her chest," Garou added.
Akame stared into his cold golden eyes but found no trace of deception. Still in disbelief, she asked again, "Then why did you join the Jaegers in hunting us?"
"I didn't join them. I tagged along to see what kind of interesting weapons your group had. I don't care about your war, and catching you isn't my problem," Garou shrugged.
"Then why are you training with them?" Akame asked.
"Who else would I be able to spar against?" Garou replied matter-of-factly. He paused for a moment, then continued, "I believe we already had this conversation that day. I don't like repeating myself."
Akame fell silent, reflecting on her previous encounters with Garou, what she knew about him, and everything he had just said. If he had been truthful all along, didn't that mean he wasn't really their mortal enemy? Had they fought and died for no reason? The man himself never intended to kill or capture them.
She stared at him, then suddenly remembered Chelsea. "A friend of ours went missing yesterday after the battle. She's around my age and has orange hair," she said.
"Oh, the one with the shape-shifting makeup box. I met her yesterday," Garou answered.
Akame tensed at his words and asked in a worried tone, "What happened to her? Where is she?"
"Beats me. I left her near the battle location after I crushed that stupid makeup box. No clue where she went after that. But I bet she stood there for quite some time—she didn't believe me, just like you," Garou said indifferently.
Akame felt slightly relieved that Chelsea was alive, but a stronger wave of despair soon followed. Had everything they had done—all the lives lost—been for nothing? No one needed to die. The entire battle had been meaningless.
She lowered her head and remained silent, unsure of what to do or think. She hated him. She wanted to kill him. But she felt an even greater despair—knowing she couldn't do anything against him, knowing he never even cared about them in the first place, and knowing their own mistakes had led to their friends' deaths. They had even killed one of their own.
Garou watched her sink into silence but didn't bother speaking to her again. He simply sat down and began meditating to pass the time. He figured she wouldn't take too long to recover, as her injuries weren't that severe to begin with.
After a long silence, Akame raised her head and looked at Garou. He was still meditating, paying her no attention. She turned to look at her sword. The first thought that came to mind was to try and kill him here, but she quickly shook her head. She looked at him again and asked, "Garou, you're not on the Empire's side, are you?"
Garou opened his eyes and looked at her. "No," he answered plainly.
"Then why don't you join us? You could use your strength for a greater cause," she suggested. If he wasn't with the Empire, maybe she had a chance to convince him to join them.
"I have no interest in joining your stupid group," Garou replied.
Akame clenched her fists and pressed further. "Why? Don't you see how wrong this world is? People suffer because of the minister and his people. The Empire has become corrupt to its very core. You're strong—too strong. You could bring change. You could make the world a better place!"
Garou looked at her, considering her words, then asked, "Kurome told me you betrayed her and joined the enemy. Why?"
Akame's expression turned somber. She looked down and said, "When I realized the evil hidden in the Empire, I decided to leave it for good. I tried to get her to leave with me, but I couldn't. She…"
"So you left because the Empire was full of evil. What did they make you do?" Garou interrupted.
"They lied to me. They told me I was cleansing evil, but it turned out I was killing innocents for their benefit," Akame admitted.
"So at some point, you realized things weren't as they seemed, and you decided to leave?" Garou asked.
Akame nodded.
"Then tell me, what are you doing with the Revolutionary Army now?" Garou continued.
"I'm assassinating corrupt and evil officials to weaken the Empire's forces," Akame answered.
"So you're doing the exact same job under the exact same pretense—only with a different employer," Garou pointed out.
"No, this time I'm fighting against the corrupt and evil," Akame argued.
"And who told you they were evil? All I see is history repeating itself, and you're just a tool in someone else's hands," Garou said.
Akame felt anger rising within her, but before she could respond, Garou continued.
"Let's say you kill the evil officials—what about the innocent guards? What about the servants you've killed just because they worked under some corrupt master? What about the families of those people? Your so-called 'slaying evil' has brought misery to many innocents. You say you're fighting against the minister and his people, but why are you waging war against the entire Empire? If you truly wanted to end his evil reign, you could just attempt to kill him, instead of starting a civil war to dethrone a clueless little brat. That war will hurt far more people than if you simply let the minister do his bidding.
"Finally, if you had an army, how would you sustain it? I'm no expert in warfare, but I know a massive army needs food and supplies to survive. If the people are as sick and suffering as you claim, where is your army getting its money and resources?"
Garou's questions hit like a hammer, each one leaving Akame with no answer. She had never considered these things before. She remained silent, unable to respond.
Garou waited for a moment, then spoke coldly. "You don't even know how your own army survives. I bet your friends don't either. That's why you're nothing but tools—following orders without question."
Hearing his words, Akame felt a surge of anger, but she couldn't refute him. She didn't know how to answer any of his questions. She clenched her fists as tightly as she could and maintained her silence. Since childhood, the only thing she had learned was how to carry out missions and kill.
Garou snorted seeing her silence and closed his eyes.