In the morning, Tatsumi performed cleaning duties. He was used to these tasks from his village, so he was skilled and quick. Since the café didn't have many customers, Asahi didn't need Tatsumi to wait tables, giving him time to go outside to gather news about his companions and look for a way to join the military.
Asahi also advanced him a day's wages just in case, for which Tatsumi was profusely grateful.
With money in his pocket, Tatsumi felt much more confident going out. As he was walking down the street, he saw a person in the distance struggling to carry a large, stacked pile of gifts that looked like they were about to collapse. He quickly ran over to help and realized the person was one of the soldiers who had been with Lady Aria the day before.
"Oh, it's the young man from yesterday."
"That's me. What are you doing?"
"Lady Aria is shopping. Look over there."
Tatsumi glanced over, seeing two other guards carrying stacks of gifts even larger than themselves, with the gentle young lady from yesterday walking behind them.
"Wait... wait, milady!"
Crash!
The mountain-high pile of gifts was set down with a loud thud. Tatsumi looked at the purchases, thinking that being rich must be great, able to buy whatever one wanted. If he were that rich, his village wouldn't have to worry about starvation.
"Don't be so surprised. It's not just the milady; most girls are like this."
"Is that so."
Aria only now noticed Tatsumi and approached him.
"You are the young man from last night."
"Please call me Tatsumi, milady. Thank you for your invitation yesterday."
"It was nothing, just a small matter."
The two chatted while the gifts were being loaded onto the carriage. He also told Aria about his situation and his two traveling companions.
"Is that right? I will make a note of your two friends. As for joining the military, my father has connections with some people there. If I ask him, he can recommend you."
"Really... really? But won't that be too much trouble?"
"Not at all. My father will only recommend you. To truly enter, Tatsumi must still prove his own capability."
"Thank you, Aria."
"You're welcome. Tatsumi, would you like to visit my mansion? It's not far from here."
"I apologize, Aria, but I have things to do..."
The gifts were all loaded. Aria stepped into the carriage and left. Before departing, one of the soldiers leaned toward Tatsumi's ear and whispered.
"Mr. Tatsumi, yesterday milady wanted to bring you home partly because she didn't want you to sleep in the cold wind, and partly because if you were alone on the street, it could be very dangerous."
"Dangerous?"
"Yes, an assassin group called Night Raid specializes in hunting people at night. They are the terror of the entire Capital and have not yet been caught."
With that, the soldier pointed to a nearby wall. Wanted posters were plastered there, all for Night Raid, with extremely high reward prices, far more than the monsters Tatsumi had ever defeated.
"Be careful."
The soldier patted his shoulder, then climbed into the carriage and drove away.
Tatsumi sighed, returning to the café with a strange mix of emotions. He looked up at the towering Imperial Palace, feeling a heavy pressure on his chest.
Yesterday, Asahi had told him that the current Emperor was a child, and the Minister manipulated the entire monarchy, which was why the country had become so rotten, and it was the main reason his village was too poor to eat.
Meanwhile, while the shop was empty, Asahi went into a back room. The room was ordinary, except for one wall covered with many drawings and sticky notes. The most dense area was pictures of the Night Raid assassin group's wanted posters.
While researching information, these individuals were the first to catch his attention. After a preliminary check, Asahi realized that all the victims killed were wealthy individuals or part of the imperial bureaucracy.
He circled Night Raid in red, then left a question mark. He couldn't yet determine if this group was truly eliminating evildoers and tyranny or merely a gang of robbers who assassinated the wealthy and powerful.
"Needs further investigation."
The sound of the front door opening signaled a customer. Asahi stepped out, closing the room door behind him.
It was now night.
Asahi suddenly opened his eyes, regaining consciousness in just three seconds.
"This flow... is this killing intent?"
He murmured.
Sensing the flow of this killing intent, Asahi decided to go investigate. What if this was a breakthrough?
He wasn't the only one woken up; Tatsumi was too. Not because he sensed anything, but because Asahi had made a noise that woke him.
"Where is Mr. Asahi going this late?"
Watching Asahi's figure leave the café and go further and further away, Tatsumi hesitated for a moment, then decided to follow.
He thought about the wanted posters for Night Raid this morning and felt worried for Asahi. In Tatsumi's mind, Asahi was just an ordinary person; if he met those assassins, his life would surely be in danger.
The flow of killing intent drew closer. In front of Asahi was a vast, magnificent mansion. Tatsumi, following at a great distance, was also astonished. Isn't this Lady Aria's mansion?
"Why is Mr. Asahi coming here at this hour? Could he be... no, no, he's a good person, how could he be one of those assassins?"
While he was internally conflicted, Asahi had already climbed over the fence and infiltrated the front yard. Strangely, in such a large place, there wasn't a single guard in sight.
Tatsumi sighed, deciding to trust Asahi. He didn't believe he was an assassin, but he still had to follow to find out the reason.
...
Inside the mansion, a woman walked slowly down the hallway, holding something that looked like a notebook.
"Now I should write in my diary for today. It's hard to stop this habit."
The woman smiled to herself, unaware that something sliced across from behind. The moonlight from the window reflected off a smooth metallic surface, flashing for an instant.
Slice!
"Eh..."
Fresh blood sprayed. The last thing the woman saw were her two severed arms, while her lower body was still standing there. Because her upper body was already flying in the air.
Her upper body hit the ground, and her lower body also fell, leaving a corpse split into two halves along with a pool of blood.
The person who had just committed the murder was a girl with purple hair and glasses, wearing a one-piece dress that looked like a cheongsam (or Qipao) in a color similar to her hair, but with a large section exposed near her neck and chest.
The murder weapon was a pair of scissors, but its size was enormous, nearly the height of the girl herself. The purple-haired girl flicked the residual blood off the blade, her face emotionless as she bowed.
"My apologies..."