He took his time to really observe the guy's features. Curly hair, grey eyes, a bit shorter than him. Really likes black. He took mental note of everything before he addressed him again.

"...I didn't say that. I said that we can't put our trust in a crew and their brand of justice who doesn't want to show their faces."

"Yeah, well now is your chance. I'll show my face to just you though. You need to keep it a secret though." he said as he put a finger to his lips as he smile devilishly.

It was tempting, very tempting to find out this person's identity. While he was only promised a face, he could always use his agency to narrow down who the person is. Akechi already knows that the guy has a personal grievance against Kamoshida Suguru. So he either has to go to that school where the coach was abusing his power or was related to one of the victims. It wouldn't be too difficult to find this person and arrest him officially in Tokyo. However, Shido hasn't told Akechi to take action against this group yet and Akechi himself doesn't care enough for their actions. His end goal was to crush Shido afterall. Anything else was just small inconveniences unless it benefited towards his goal.

"Not really, consider this payment for your assistance. I won't bother capturing you tonight. Now leave before I change my mind." Akechi waved his hand as if dismissing him.

"Hmm, I didn't expect that kind of reaction to be honest. I thought you would try to know my identity and capture me to prove your justice or something. You interest me more and more detective."

"There's no point in bothering to capture you when you're just collecting bounties. That's perfectly legal on all islands. However, if you still try to pursue your justice on other Persona-wielders, then I will take action and only then." Akechi does not need the public to criticize him when it's revealed that he capture the leader when he was fighting monsters and Shadows.

"Sooo, that means that we should meet up when either one of us is hunting monsters? I would love to see how you fight and how well we can work together." The person tilts his head as his smirk never faded.

"...no thank you. Just meeting you here was plenty enough for me." Akechi tried to hid his grimace at the thought of him working alongside this guy. While he did save him, Akechi didn't like his personality. It was very...flirty. He might not have his expression well enough or it could be his words, but the stranger just laughed in reply.

"I have never properly introduce myself have I? My code name is Joker, do you have a name too or should I just continue to call you detective?"

"...it's Crow" He decided it off the bat. He never had to use a code name before. He only worked by himself and was always stayed hidden in the shadows, there was never a need to have a code name.

"Crow eh? Not bad. It was a pleasure to meet you." Joker walked a few steps towards him, grabbed Akechi's right hand, gave a bow as he pressed a kiss on the back of his gloved hand.

Akechi flushed hotly at that action while Joker took a peek at his face as he back away.

"...y-you! W-What?!" Akechi couldn't speak in complete sentences at the moment. He was flabbergasted. This was flirting taken to a whole new level and he was not use to it! His hand that was taken from Joker was still frozen in mid-air at the same location where Joker kissed it. KISSED . What?

"Ha ha ha! Well I hope to see you soon!" Joker said joyously as he continued stepping back.

Akechi immediately snapped out of it with those words and he quickly took out his gun and aimed at the black figure.

Joker threw a smoke screen, concealing his presence from Akechi's vision.

"Damnit, that curly haired bastard! I'll shoot him the next time I see him!" Akechi was angry. This night didn't go the way he wanted. This reconnaissance mission was overall a failure, but at least he managed to learn something about his enemy. Tomorrow morning with a fresh mind, he will write down all his observations from both the Shadow and Joker. While the Phantom Thieves might not be his enemy, he can't disregard them just yet. If they keep taking on stronger Persona wielders, Shido will definitely take an interest in them. Most likely, he would make Akechi eliminate them.

Akechi sighed, so much work to do, so little time. He release his Robin Hood transformation and walked back to the city while glaring at the forest floor while wiping his gloved hand against his pants. His body involuntarily shivered at the recent memory and he knew he wasn't going to have a great time sleeping.

The next morning after he ate a small breakfast, Akechi took out his notebook and wrote down his observations from the previous night. It really helped writing everything down with a clear head. He noticed that Ca Ong seems to use really strong water magic attacks, but it takes a while charging up. Using this information, it shouldn't be too difficult to take down Ca Ong as long as he manage to paralyze it. Using charm or blind wasn't going to do the job, the chances of the spell working was random. It would not the best time to rely on chances and use it against such a strong opponent. Sleep would only work for one attack. He would have to use his strongest attack after using that spell and it would be unfortunate if that attack didn't destroy the Shadow.

As he mulls over this, Akechi tied his hair into a low ponytail and wore thin black non-prescription glasses. He wore a plain light green tunic with brown pants and comfortable boots. He debated for a minute but decided to only wear his arm bracers. He also brought knee guards and body armor, but didn't feel the need to wear them.

He put his sword and scabbard on his right hip. His belt had his potions in the front and his gun holster in the back, carefully hidden from sight. Akechi threw on a cloak for good measure and looked at himself in the mirror to make sure everything was perfect before he left his room.

Perhaps he needs to visit Sierokarte's Knickknack Shack to see what she has in stock. Usually he only needs to buy potions and he can buy that from any shop, but since what he needs this time is a little more specialize, going to her would be his best bet. Her prices are reasonable, but local shops usually have better deals for certain items that are produced there. For example, Auguste Isles, is known for their mana recovery items and water elemental weaponry. While buying and using water elemental weapons would be ineffective against Ca Ong, he might decide to buy it as a future investment if he ever plans on visiting Valtz Duchy.

'Decisions, decisions.' He thought as he walked through the marketplace. Siero's shop well noticeable compared to the surrounding shops. It had weapons, potions, monster remains, and other various items.

"Hello hello! Welcome to Siero's shop! How may I assist you?" A dirty blonde harvin carrying a green bird greeted him.

She had a backpack full of rolled up papers (probably maps) and compasses hanging from the shoulder straps of the bag. Her clothes look light, perfect for the weather of the island.

"Gotle, come say hello to our new customer!"

"H-hello!" the bird chirped.

Akechi's eyes widen in surprise.

'That creature was able to mimic the common language.' He thought astonished as he was tempted to pet the animal. He had a small affection for soft fluffy animals.

"Good morning Sierokarte-san. I came today hoping to buy bullets made for pistols." Akechi said politely.

"Ah! Yes I have some stock and please call me Siero!" She grinned as she led him to where the bullets were placed.

"May I ask what kind of bird Gotle is? I was surprised that he was able to talk." he asked, making small talk.

"Ha ha! He's a parrot. They are natives to this island. He's been with me since he was a young one." She laughs as she recalls the day she found him.

"You guys must be very close then eh?" Akechi said softly as he watched her reaction. They were walking slowly towards their goal but he didn't mind. He needs to be on good terms with her if he was planning on visiting her shops more often in the future.

"Yup! I take him everywhere with me. We visit all of our shops, inns and bars together."

' Holy crap that's a lot of places that she owns!' Akechi knew that she owns shops that benefit travelers on many islands, but inns and bars too? Wow, how does she manage to oversee all of that? His respect for her rose as he heard this. ' Well I know who to visit if I want advice on how to open a business.'

"Well here we are! Unfortunately we don't have that much on stock at the moment. You need bullets for pistols right? You would be able to use parabellum and aetherial bullets." She points to the bullet display cases. The cases were separated by bullet types. There seems to be four cases and he was only able to use two. Akechi guesses that the other two were made for the long-barreled firearms.

"Parabellum bullets are normal and for debuff usage. Aetherial bullets are a bit more interesting though. Depending on the bullet, you can actually hit your teammate or their weapons to increase their magic attack! Hitting their weapon also gives it elemental abilities even if they can't normally use that power. For example, your friend's element is fire, if you hit his weapon with Titan point, then his weapon temporarily has earth properties too! Unfortunately you can't stack elements on top of each other, you might end up just destroying the weapon so your friend has to be careful not to infuse their weapon with their own element after you shoot them. You also can't shoot your friend and they would suddenly gain the ability to use earth attacks." She lectures him as she opens both cases.

"Well that should be the basic information about those bullets. You should buy a few different kind and play around to see what kind of fighting style you prefer more. Please let me know if you have any questions!" She smiled widely as she looks at him, her ears twitching in happiness at a potential big sale.

"Excuse me! Siero, are you here?" a person yelled out in front of the store.

"Yes I am~ I'll be right there!" She nods at him as she and Gotle left to serve the other customer.

He never seen so many different type of bullets before. The names of each bullet and the basic descriptions were in pretty little labels next to them. Tokyo was much more simple. There was no elemental or debuffs bullets, just simple iron ones. Akechi felt kind of giddy seeing so many different types at his disposal. He did enjoy fighting, but never had the time to hunt down bounties due to Shido. Everything Shido demands of him are just basic detective work and later staking-out those specific people.

He just needs to know the suspect's schedule and use Loki on them at nighttime from the shadows when there was no one else around. To be honest, it was getting kind of boring. It would be more fun if he was able to fight them and their Personas, but it would be weird when they get capture by the police and have unknown injuries. Akechi doesn't need the police who weren't in Shido's pocket to think that the victim's psychotic breakdown might be caused by a third-party and start digging for answers. It was unfortunate, but he has to remain careful not to leave any evidence even if it makes his work dull.

While him challenging Ca Ong might not have been the best idea, Akechi doesn't really regret it. He prefers thinking on his feet and this feels like a breath of fresh air before he has to go back to Tokyo. It was annoying, but he managed to convince Shido to let him go on this quest by promising that he would be able to do all the assignments Shido gave him and finish them quickly.

He picked up a few bullets that caught his interest: Vohu Manah Point, Shield, Poison. He also wants to stock up on regular iron bullets too. Sadly, he couldn't find any bullets that would help him lower the debuff resistance of his enemies. There also wasn't any bullets that was able to paralyze either. Akechi hopes that Siero was able to procure some other kind of items that would help him with these issues. He put the bullets back, memorizing their names and went looking for Siero.

Akechi found her still talking to her customer. He walked up to her and waited patiently for her to finish talking while ringing up her customer.

"Excuse me, Siero? I am interested in buying some bullets. I also had a question for you."

"Yes?"

"I was wondering if you had any items that could lower the debuff resistance of my enemies and any bullets that could paralyze them too."

"Hmm, sorry we don't have those kind of items." She said apologetically.

Akechi's face dropped and she hastily explained herself.

"The thing is, we rarely encounter monsters with those kind of abilities. We use their remains to make weapons. Of course we also use plants and other items too, but there are no known plants or animals at the moment that have instant effect paralysing toxins. People aren't interested in buying the fast-acting toxins so we don't bother making them."

Akechi was confused, how slow was a fast-acting paralysing toxin that people wouldn't be interested in getting it?

"How fast are we talking about?" he questions her.

"Well it all depends on the species, the most rapid-acting venom that we know at the moment comes from a snake species called the black mamba. They are more commonly found in Lumacie Archipelago. If they bite a human, the effect would take a few minutes. Since people like hunting big monsters, their venom will take longer to take effect. What kind of creature are you planning on taking down mister?"

Akechi glanced around, making sure that there was no other customers in the store. He was confident that she wouldn't spread rumors that he was here since everyone seems to praise her for her professionalism and customers' privacy.

"I'm hoping to take down Ca Ong." he said softly, but clearly.

"Ah~ So you're Akechi-san eh? I see it now! How exciting!" her eyes glittered as she grinned at him.

"Hm judging by the size of that Shadow, one bullet can might take up to 3 hours to take effect? One snake can make 6 bullets, so that might be around 30 minutes?" Siero taps her finger to her chin as she calculates.

' Ugh, I would have to hunt 3 snakes for the effect to be in 10 minutes and that is the minimum time for it to be effective. I don't think retrieving the venom is worth the effort for fighting such a big Shadow. Maybe I'll get it in the future just in case I fight smaller creatures.

"Ah, well thank you for your input. I'll keep it in mind. On another topic, I would like to purchase a few bullets if you don't mind."

"It's not a problem at all! Which one are you interested in and how much would you like?"

"I would like 1 cartridge for Shield and Poison bullets, 3 for Vohu Manah Point and 5 for Iron bullets."

"Let me get them for you Akechi-san!" She went to the back to grab the items that he requested.

He looked around to see if anything else caught his eye. He should stock up on hp potions since he was here, but it might be smarter to look around the marketplace first just in case there was a better deal somewhere else.

"Here they are!" She came back with a box. She opened it at the cash register and there were 10 cartridges, all of them were labeled on the side too.

'That's pretty neat.' he thought.

"Your total will be 15,000 rupies! Iron bullets cost 1,000 per cartridge and everything else costs 2,000 rupies."

Akechi mentally winced at the total. He did order a lot of cartridges just in case something unexpected would happen but the price put a small dent into his wallet. He sighed as he pulled the correct amount out of his wallet and handed it to her.

"Thank you!" She counted the money and puts it into the cash register.

"Oh by the way, you are able to upgrade these bullets."

"Really? That's interesting."

"Yup! These are just the basic bullets. You would have to get specific items though to make these guys stronger though. The Vohu Manah Point items that you need would come from Lumacie Archipelago. The items you would need for shield and poison bullets would come from various islands though. Upgrades are free as long as you bring in extra goodies for us to upgrade our stuff too. Would you more details regarding this? I have the paper of what monster you need to fight and what island you can find them on."

"Sure if you would be so kind." He bows his head.

"Ha ha it's not a problem!" While she looked underneath the counter, Gotle left her side and landed on top of the cash register. He looked at Akechi while whistling.

"H-how are you? Feel good?" the parrot said.

"I feel great. Thank you for asking Gotle-san."

"Gotle!" he chirped as while opening his wings.

"...ah, Gotle it is." It was strange calling someone without a honorific even though it's a bird, but he isn't familiar with bird behaviors. What if Gotle gets mad that Akechi doesn't call him correctly and starts pecking him? It would be embarrassing to have to defend himself against a bird; he can't even attack it without looking like a bully. Siero would probably get mad at him too. Best to just do what he wants.

"Aha! There it is!" Siero's head appeared from the countertop. She was holding a small booklet in her hands. She handed him the book as she wishes him good luck hunting.

He packed his items carefully into his bag as he left the store.

' Time to explore the rest of the marketplace.'

Author's Notes: I'm using the term mana instead of sp since everyone can use magic. Persona users are able to summon stronger magic attacks and they usually are able to use more magic compared to a normal person.

Vohu Manah Point will give the user earth elemental attack. It will also increase their magic attack if they are also earth elementals. The other rotating showdown primal beasts are the same thing. He didn't bother getting Titan Point because that's used to hit your teammates and gives them earth elemental attacks.

I'm using the gunslinger's crafting bullets as a base. /Gunslinger#Table in case anyone is curious

This is what Akechi's outfit look like for this chapter
art/Akechi-s-Adventure-Outfit-744722683