"Promise! We will go to the Capital together, earn lots of money, and get rich!"
"To save our homeland!"
Those promises still echoed in Tatsumi's mind. Those memories were beautiful, but the happier the memory, the more pain it inflicted on the one left behind. He sighed, looking out the window, somewhat disheartened.
"We made a promise. But now, it's just me left..."
"Yo! Little Tatsumi is awake!"
Leone walked into the room. Seeing him standing by the window, she quickly approached, wrapping her arm around Tatsumi's head. The close proximity to her chest made him blush, his gaze darting away.
"No need to be shy. From now on, we'll live like a family."
"No family behaves like this..."
"Akame is preparing breakfast. Now, let's go call everyone, and you can get acquainted."
"Yes!"
Hearing this, he became excited. He had finally joined Night Raid.
"This clumsy girl is Sheele. She's one of the latest sleepers, so I always call her first."
Sheele was the purple-haired girl wearing the cheongsam-like dress. Her voice was gentle and quiet; she looked quite harmless. Of course, no assassin in Night Raid could be truly harmless. Tatsumi politely bowed.
"Hello, Sister Sheele! Please call me Tatsumi! I hope you can help me!"
"Nice to meet you, Tatsumi. But Leone, you don't need to bring that thing out just to introduce a new member."
The first introduction went smoothly, or at least Tatsumi thought so, until he saw the book, "Compilation of 100 Ways to Cure Stupidity." He didn't dare to look further and quickly slipped away with Leone.
Sheele was easy to talk to and friendly, which didn't mean everyone in Night Raid was the same. Especially this time, Tatsumi met a real challenge.
"Leone, is this the new servant? Hey, you! Why aren't you preparing breakfast instead of standing here?"
"This is Mine, Tatsumi. Don't worry about her; she treats everyone like that."
"You mean this is the new member? I haven't accepted him yet. He looks so naive it makes me sick."
Mine, who was even shorter than Tatsumi, had a somewhat childish face, long pink hair tied into pigtails past her waist, and wore a pink dress. Her voice sounded cute, but the content was anything but, causing a vein to pop on Tatsumi's forehead, his eyebrows twitching repeatedly.
She looked like this and dared to call him naive?
However, given his position as a new member relative to a long-time member, Tatsumi still greeted her politely.
"I'm Tatsumi..."
Slam!
His greeting was met with the sound of a door slamming shut.
"She'll get used to it in a few days. Let's go; there are others."
"Yes..."
Tatsumi's cheeks sank. He felt like the road ahead wouldn't be easy. He let out a sigh of frustration and continued to follow Leone.
"A new day begins! Today, I'm determined to get a look at Sister Leone's chest!!! If I change spots this time, she won't know."
The blue-haired young man was self-encouraging in his room, completely unaware that his words were heard by Tatsumi and Leone right outside the door, not missing a single syllable.
"Lubbock, I heard everything."
She flung the door open. Lubbock trembled violently, shrinking into the corner of the room. His face was devoid of color.
"Haha, I'm kidding, I'm kidding, Sister Leone... Aaaaaa! Don't twist it!!! I just fixed it a few days ago..."
Tatsumi stood silently outside the door, witnessing the brawl—or rather, the execution—that took place. Afterward, Leone exhaled, pointing to the bruised figure on the floor.
"This is Lubbock, a super pervert."
"Hi... I'm... Tatsumi..."
Tatsumi was dumbfounded. What kind of people did Night Raid gather?
Or did one have to possess such "special" qualities to become a good assassin?
If that were the case, Tatsumi worried that he wasn't suited for this profession. Because compared to them, he was too normal.
The next location was not inside the house but a hallway leading outside. According to Leone, the member they were about to meet trained very diligently, going out to the yard at the crack of dawn to practice.
"Look, that's Bulat."
Stepping out onto the training yard, Tatsumi saw a tall, extremely muscular, and firm young man practicing with a long wooden pole. He continuously performed high-speed movements, full of power. Even from a distance, Tatsumi could feel the enormous pressure from those strikes. This person was on a completely different level than Tatsumi.
Bulat swung the pole horizontally, creating a gust of wind that blew across the training yard, tousling Tatsumi's and Leone's hair.
"Oh, you're the kid from the other night, aren't you?"
Bulat breathed out and approached. Steam was still rising from the sweat on his body. Tatsumi now noticed the most prominent feature of Bulat's appearance: his hairstyle. It was slicked up into a tube shape with a heart-shaped tip, which looked quite funny.
"How did you know?"
"Ah, I was wearing full armor that night."
Tatsumi remembered. Indeed, there was a person in armor who looked very strong, used a spear, and was the same height as Bulat.
"I'm Tatsumi, the new member!"
"Bulat, nice to meet you."
The two shook hands. Tatsumi thought to himself that although the hairstyle was a bit odd, Bulat seemed to be the most normal of the group.
"Bulat is gay."
"Oi oi, don't say things that will make him misunderstand."
Leone suddenly blurted out, turning Tatsumi into stone. Bulat didn't even protest. That gesture gave him goosebumps.
The final location was the kitchen. Tatsumi saw the female assassin from the other night, her hair tied up, wearing an apron, arranging individual meals on a large table.
"Tatsumi, this is Akame. You two probably already know each other."
Akame merely glanced at him for a moment and continued cooking.
Honestly, Tatsumi didn't like Akame, or more accurately, he was scared of her, as she had nearly taken his life. Not just once, but twice. The memory was still fresh.
A little later, breakfast was complete, and everyone from Night Raid gathered in the dining room. At this point, Tatsumi finally met the Boss of Night Raid, a woman with short silver hair and a very large metal prosthetic arm.
"Welcome, Tatsumi. I am Najenda. You can call me 'Boss,' like everyone else here."
"Yes."
The new member's presentation was finally complete. After eating, everyone gathered in the meeting room. Najenda sat in a chair while the members stood in front, with Tatsumi as the focus this time.
"I see, I've grasped the situation. You joined us because you want to eliminate evil and bring justice, correct?"
"Yes. Initially, I came to the Capital to get rich and save my village. The Capital, in my impression before, was the richest, most prosperous place. But now, all I see is injustice and decay. It has also stolen my companion."
Tatsumi frowned, clenching his fist. Whenever he thought of Sayo's tortured body hanging there, his heart felt like it was being cut by a knife. And if it hadn't been for Asahi's help, he would have lost Ieyasu too.
"You said you wanted to save your village. What's its situation now?"
"Well... Mr. Asahi took care of that..."
Tatsumi recounted their conversation that night, about the chest of money and the intention to send Ieyasu back to the village.
"If there were no surprises, they might have left the Capital by now."
"An interesting person..."
Najenda murmured.
"Tatsumi, this country is shrouded in poverty and backwardness because the monarchy is too corrupt. Night Raid attacks the roots of this decay."
"Bulat was once a very skilled Imperial soldier. But then he discovered the Empire's rottenness and joined us."
Bulat spoke, and Najenda immediately added her opinion.
"Our mission is to remove the wicked elements from the Capital. This is much better than taking on lowly jobs."
"But... just doing that is like trimming the branches without pulling out the roots. It can't change the reality of the Empire."
This was Tatsumi's point of confusion. No matter how many rotten officials they killed, as long as the position remained, others would climb up. If this cycle continued, wasn't Night Raid's effort futile?
"I know what you're thinking, Tatsumi. Of course, we won't waste our strength."
"Far from the Capital, heading south, is the base of the Revolutionary Army. The force opposing the Empire."
"The Revolutionary Army?"
"In the beginning, it was just a small group, but now it has grown into a large organization. They established a special unit for clandestine actions like assassination and information gathering. That is Night Raid."
"Right now, we are just eliminating the maggots from the Capital. But once the time is right, we will strike the Imperial Palace, target the Prime Minister—the mastermind behind all the Empire's corruption—and kill him with our own hands."
"When that happens, this nation will change."
"Will it be a new nation?"
"Yes, Tatsumi. A righteous nation, where there will be no more starvation and war. Places like your village will no longer have to suffer those ridiculously high taxes."
"I see, I understand. It sounds like we are assassins for justice."
When Tatsumi said that, everyone burst into laughter. He shook his head with a wry smile. Now, he truly grasped Asahi's earlier statement. Regardless of whether it's for justice, for bestiality, for satisfaction, or for self-defense, killing is still killing. No matter the excuse, it remains the same. The only difference is the outcome it brings.
"Don't laugh anymore, everyone..."
Tatsumi scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"Alright, Tatsumi. It seems you've realized that truth. The person named Asahi spoke correctly: killing is a sin, regardless of the purpose. Everyone here has prepared themselves to die at any moment."
With the Boss speaking up to relieve the tension, no one laughed at Tatsumi anymore. Mine pouted, whispering softly.
"Hmph, turns out he's not completely stupid. But he's far from being able to fight with us."
"Tatsumi, having heard all this, do you still decide to join Night Raid? If you join, you won't be able to turn back."
Najenda looked directly at Tatsumi, reminding him of that night when Asahi asked him the same question.
"Boss, yesterday before I went to kill Orge, Mr. Asahi asked the same thing. I made my decision back then."
"Very good, Tatsumi. Welcome to Night Raid!"