(Raymus' POV)
"This is it. No turning back now." I repeated to myself after hiding my horse and approaching the mansion.
After a few days of traveling, I finally made it to the house where Night Raid was scheduled to strike. Not only that, but I made it at the very day of the scheduled strike. That is, according to the Pariah's message.
With my metal hand, I have the front door a few knocks. In just a few moments, the door opened and a middle-aged man answered. He was dressed in a pricey suit in contrast to the country clothes that I wore to hide my nature, so I figured he was the man of the house.
"Hello." He greeted. "How can I help you?"
"Yes. Could you help me? I appear to be lost." I lied. "I'm looking for the Red Herring Tavern."
"The Red Herring Tavern?" the man asked. "That's not a place I've heard of. Are you sure it exists? It sounds made up."
"Well, I just paid somebody half of my fortune to tell me where I can find a place to live. He told me he knew a guy who frequently attended the Red Herring Tavern." I then feigned an expression that said I realized I was fooled. "I'm just now realizing that I was conned."
The wealthy man chuckled. "My, you're quite a curious fellow. Tell me, are you from the country?"
"A bit further, actually. I'm from just outside of the border just north of here." I was actually telling the truth on that one.
"Well, if you need a place to sleep, you can always stay here."
"I wouldn't want to impose."
"Not at all. My wife and daughter would be thrilled to have you join us."
I displayed a smile even though I was already informed of this man's true nature. "Thank you, kind sir."
After coming in, I was offered a meal. I accepted taking caution that I wouldn't be poisoned. We were later joined by two more kids. One was a little girl with a blue dress and blonde, kinked hair. The other was a teenage boy with country clothes, a sword over his shoulder, and brown hair. The two of them looked like they came back from a shopping trip.
"Oh, hi." The little girl greeted. "My name's Aria."
"Dear, Raymus here is from outside of the Empire." Aria's mother said.
"Really?" Aria asked. "What brings you here?"
"Funny you should ask." I answered. "I'm hoping to open up a business. The Capital seems like the best place to start one up. But shortly after I got here, I got conned out of my money."
The teen boy groaned. "Preaching to the choir. Sorry. I'm Tatsumi."
"Nice to meet you." I greeted. The Pariah's letter didn't say anything about his boy, so I was curious. "So you live here?"
"Just came in the other night." Tatsumi said. "I came from the country with my friends to enlist in the military. Unfortunately, I kinda got separated from them, and to make matters worse, some chick just tricked me into giving her all the money I had. I was lucky that Aria found me and invited me to stay here. Otherwise, I'd be sleeping in the gutter with no future. So I guess we have more in common than we thought."
That's when the realization hit me. This cruel family must have been planning to torture this poor guy later. I scanned the wealthy family with determination in my eyes.
"They die tonight."
Tatsumi and I were both fortunate that the family didn't decide to do any of us in tonight. Too bad for them, because I hadn't planned on giving them another chance.
I was given my own bedroom to spend the night in, but I didn't sleep. I didn't even lay on the bed. Instead, I changed into my Assassin robes, opened up the window, and walked right into the fresh night air. After walking a few yards into the clear fields, I turned back to the mansion and activated my special sense.
This sense (which my fellow Assassins have called Eagle Vision) allows me to see things from a completely different perspective. To me, everything looks darker except for living things. Most are blue, but those I target appear as gold to me. I was able to catch a glimpse of the lord of the house through his bedroom window on the top floor.
I returned to my normal vision just in time to feel something in the air. I recognized it as the presence of death. That's when I knew the time was now.
Night Raid was here.
I made my move my rushing over to the wall. I jumped up to latch onto the ledge and climb on up at a quick pace. Within a very short amount of time, I made it to the lord's window and opened it slowly. I peeked in seeing the lord staring frightened eyes at his bedroom door.
"Guess he's afraid someone might try to go through the door." I guessed in my head.
Without hesitation, I climbed on up to the ledge and jumped up toward the lord. By the time he saw me, I had already shot out my hidden blade from my metal wrist. With a hard thrust, I dug the blade straight into his throat. He fell onto his back as I dug the blade in further.
"W-Why?"
"I should be asking you that same question. What possessed you to torture innocent people to death?"
"What… I…"
"Don't try to talk your way out of it. You're already at death's door. You might as well tell me why."
"…Because it was my right. I'm one of the most powerful men in the upper class of the Capital. Anyone on the lower class means nothing, especially the countryfolk."
"They're innocent people."
"They're livestock! They exist only to die, so I might as well get something out of it." The lord gave his last breath before giving into his demise.
"You and your family are wolves in sheep's clothing, but that does not save you from the slaughter. Rest in peace."
With the lord dead, I stood up and wiped his blood from my blade. I turned just when a pair of lion-like paws shot toward me. I raised my hand, but I was too late. One paw grabbed me by the wrist and the other grabbed my neck. Both of them had me pinned to the wall and off my feet.
The one who had me up appeared mostly human, but she had blonde hair that made her look bestial. It was a young, curvaceous woman with lion ears, tail, and claws. She wore a black tape top, detachable sleeves, boots, and a scarf. She turned her golden eyes over at the man I just killed before looking at me curiously.
"Hey. Did you do that?" she asked.
"I take it you're with Night Raid?" I assumed as she let me back down to my feet.
"Something tells me you've got quite a story here." The lion-like girl said. "But first, let's regroup with the rest of my friends. The wife's already dead by now, and one my comrades is closing in on the girl. She should be just outside."
I nodded and prepared to follow. But before we took a step forward and smiled at me.
"By the way, the name's Leone."
"Raymus." I returned with my own name.
I followed Leone out the window and we both landed safely on the ground. That's when we both noticed two people fighting. One was Tatsumi. The other was a young girl with long, black hair, a black-and-red dress, and carried a katana.
"That's odd. It's not like Akame to not be finished yet." Leone said. That's when she took a good look at the boy and widened her eyes. "Oh, boy. That kid's got the worst luck."
"You know Tatsumi?" I asked.
"I… may have swindled him out of a bag full of cash the other day." Leone said.
Before I could say anything in response to that, Tatsumi and the girl called Akame clashed blades. It was a sight to see, but it was short. The girl proved to be too fast as she lunged her sword right into Tatsumi's chest. She pulled it out letting Tatsumi fall to the ground.
"TATSUMI!" Aria shouted revealing herself behind him.
Just then, Tatsumi groaned as she stood back up. He gave a slight chuckle as he reached into his jacket and revealed that it wasn't his chest that Akame stabbed. It was a small, wooden idol.
"Guess I should thank my friends at the village for this." Tatsumi said.
Leone perked herself up in surprised. "Wow. This guy's got some crazy luck, but not everyone can last this long against Akame. I wonder…"
Akame didn't deter. She ran straight toward Tatsumi ready to attack.
"WAIT! IT'S MONEY YOU GUYS ARE AFTER! LET THIS GIRL GO! YOU CAN'T KILL AN INNOCENT GIRL!" Tatsumi shouted, though nothing he said would stop her.
Realizing that Akame wasn't going to stop, I decided to step in. Leone tried to stop me, but I rushed right in. I shot my hidden blade out of my wrist and jumped right in front of Akame. Before she could hit Tatsumi, I used my blade to deflect her strike.
"Stop!" I shouted. "He clearly has no idea what's going on."
"He's right, Akame." Leone said getting her friend's attention. "He needs to know the truth before just jumping to conclusions. Besides, I kinda owe him."
Tatsumi took a long look at Leone before gasping in surprise. "YOU! YOU'RE THE BIG-BOOBED GIRL!"
Leone chuckled. "Yep. That's what they call me."
"Tatsumi," I said turning to him, "You don't know anything about Aria or her family."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tatsumi asked.
"I think it's best of you see for yourself." Leone said as she approached a nearby shack. She broke the lock with her bare hands and opened the door.
Tatsumi looked in and displayed a horrified look on his face. All over the dark room within, there were bloody torture devices covered with destroyed corpses. They all looked like they died knowing nothing but fear and pain. Tatsumi watched with devastation at what he was seeing.
"What… What the hell is this?" he asked.
"You thought Aria was innocent, but neither she nor her family are." I explained. "They bring in countryfolk into their home only to torture them to death."
"You know about that?" Leone asked me.
"Why do you think I came here. Well, that's half of why I came here, but I'll explain more later."
A loud gasp came from Tatsumi as he gave a frightened stare toward one of the hanging corpses. It was a naked girl with blood and bruises all over her body. Her right leg was missing.
"Sayo!"
I realized then what Tatsumi was so afraid of. This was one of his friends that he told me about. She must have been caught by this family before he came along.
"So one of them was your friend. I'm sorry for your loss." Leone said sympathetically. She then caught Aria trying to sneak off before she grabbed her by the back of her collar. "Don't think you're getting out of this."
"That family did this?" Tatsumi asked in disbelief.
"I'm afraid so." Leone said. "The guards kept quiet about it, so they were just as guilty."
"She's lying!" Aria denied. "I had no idea this place existed! I swear!"
"T-Tatsu… Tatsumi…"
Tatsumi followed the sound of someone calling out for him. He turned with a bigger expression of fright when he saw another boy about his age. He wore a bandana around his head.
"Ieyasu?" Tatsumi asked. That's when I realized that this kid was another friend of his.
"Tatsumi, thank the gods it's you." Ieyasu said weakly with tears flowing from his eyes. "That girl there. Aria. She approached me and Sayo and invited us into her home. She gave us a meal… and we passed out. When we woke up, we were here. And… THAT GIRL TORTURES SAYO TO DEATH!"
Tatsumi looked back at who he thought was an innocent girl who clenched her teeth. She threw herself free and revealed her true nature.
"AND WHAT'S SO WRONG WITH THAT?! YOU PEOPLE ARE NOTHING BUT COUNTRY BUMPKINS! I CAN TREAT YOU AS ANYONE WOULD TREAT LIVESTOCK! AND FOR A FARM ANIMAL, THAT BITCH HAD BEAUTIFUL STRAIGHT HAIR WHILE I WAS STUCK WITH MY KINKED HAIR! SO I MADE HER PAY FOR IT! YOU SHOULD BE THANKING ME FOR GIVING HER SO MUCH ATTENTION!"
I heard enough out of her. So I clenched my fist and delivered a punch straight across her face. That definitely shut her up.
"Those who treat living humans as farm animals are even less than farm animals." I said. "And tonight, it is your turn to get butchered."
"Well said." Leone said. "All right, Akame. You can kill her now." Akame raised her sword when suddenly…
"Wait." Tatsumi said. He approached Aria with a deadpan face.
"Don't tell me." Leone said. "After all that, you're still standing up for her?"
"No. I'll do it myself." Tatsumi suddenly swung his sword to deliver a finishing blow to Aria. The mad girl gasped her final breath before landing on the ground. Her blood splattered everywhere, even on her killer.
I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I knew the girl deserved what she got, but I didn't expect him to do her in without hesitation. I saw great promise in him after that.
I looked over to the cage where Ieyasu was. He gave a proud smile with all his strength. "Thank you, Tatsumi. It was good to see that happen." He coughed out a handful of blood before collapsing.
"Ieyasu!" Tatsumi said as he went to his friend. "What happened?"
"He's in the final stages of Rubola disease." Akame explained. "The lady of the house made a habit from giving her victims drugs and recording their symptoms in her journal."
Ieyasu gave a dying chuckle. "Tatsumi, you should have seen Sayo. No matter how much that bitch hurt her, she never gave in. I'm glad… that I was able to help you… now." He died then with a proud smile on his face.
Tatsumi knelt over his dead friend in total despair. Feeling sorry for him, I approached and placed my real hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry." I said.
"Did you know?" Tatsumi asked.
"I knew this family was torturing people," I answered, "But I didn't know your friends were here."
"Hey." Leone said. I looked back at her and Akame. "How would you two like to join with us? We
could always use another set of hands."
"I was actually here in the first place because of you guys." I answered. "I've got business to discuss."
"Sounds interesting." Leone said. She grabbed Tatsumi much to his chagrin and dragged him across the field. "Boss is going to be thrilled to meet you."
"Put me down!" Tatsumi protested as he was carried with the rest of Night Raid.
I looked onto the group in front of us, and other than Leone, Akame, Tatsumi, and myself, there were four people here. One was a girl with pink hair that matched her dress. Another was a green-haired boy with goggles on his head. There was also a large man in a suit of armor. Lastly, there was a purple-haired girl with a pair of glasses on.
"Where have you two been?" the pink-haired girl asked before seeing me and Tatsumi. "And what are they?"
"These guys?" Leone smiled. "They're part of our team now."
"What?" Tatsumi asked.
"That's right." Leone said. "Welcome to Night Raid."
"HANG ON!" Tatsumi protested. "I'M NOT INTERESTED IN BEING A DIRTY ASSASSIN!"
"I'm going to try not to take that personally." I said.
"Bulat, why don't you take Tatsumi here back to base?" Leone asked. "And Raymus, can you keep up with us?"
"I have some skills." I answered.
"Okay then." Akame said. "Mission complete, everyone. Return to base."
With my parkour skills, I followed Night Raid into the dead of night. I could hear Tatsumi's protests, but they didn't mean anything to me. I had a mission, and now, everything's falling into place.
