"Here you go, please don't expect much..." Spear come back and put 3 plates full of food on the dining table. It was visible that she was extremely nervous.
"Thanks, I am sure it's great judging just by its smell." I replied with a small smile to reassure her.
It was a steak from those Snow Wolves we hunted together with rice and a mixture of herbs.
"Thank you, Spear" Chouri also thanked with a warm smile while accepting the meal.
All of us were about to take the first bite but I noticed Spear waiting while glancing at me with an extremely nervous expression. I decided to ignore it and just took the first bite.
"So...? Is it good enough?" She asked with a low voice.
"It is good de-" Chouri was the first to answer but he was interrupted by Spear.
"Shh!" She gestured for him to be quiet while she was waiting for my answer.
"It's splendid, very rich in flavor and combination of herbs is also incredible. Overall this is a very tasty and healthy meal, I am more than satisfied. I am glad that I chose this reward for saving you" I said while slowly nodding with a satisfied smile. I wasn't even lying because the meal is truly good and satisfying, it is apparent that she was raised in the Capital and in a higher social class.
"T-Thank you!" She finally relaxed when she heard my answer and thanked me with a strong voice.
---
'...' Chouri kept glancing from his daughter and Akashi without any stop.
'Is my daughter interested in this man or are they just friends? Well, through that small talk, I was able to discover his personality and it definitely isn't bad. Also, his bearing doesn't exactly match just normal hunter...I have no way how to describe it. He really acts like one but something tells me the opposite. It's like he is shrouded in an impenetrable mysterious mist.' Chouri thought to himself, he was also scouting Akashi's character.
'...I also can't get rid of feeling that I already knew him before...what a strange feeling.' Chouri was slightly annoyed that he couldn't recall where he could have met Akashi in the past.
---
We kept on talking happily while devouring the food prepared by Spear before I deemed that it was the right time to dig into a more sensitive subject.
"mister Chouri, may I ask you one question?" I asked while making it look like I was looking down but I was just hiding my expression behind my bangs.
"No need for mister thing! And ask anything you want, haha" He answered with a hearty laugh.
Spear sitting between us could only glance between us with a nervous expression, most likely wondering what I was going to ask.
"You have said that you want to fight the current Prime Minister of the Empire, right? If that's the case, why won't you ally with the Revolutionary army? I believe that they would welcome someone of high position like you." I asked with tone devoid of any emotions.
"?! You know...I don't think what they are doing is right for the good of the Empire. I could be mistaken but that's my belief. They aren't strong enough to oppose the entire Empire and only cause more suffering to people due to creating more wars and battlefields. Armies need money and food, and where will they take it from? Of course from the poor." Even Chouri sensed that atmosphere changed a bit but he quickly disregarded it before explaining with a slightly angered and sad expression.
"But I am not saying that it's their fault that the Empire is taking from the poor...however, they still play some role in it. Not to mention that other countries that will be eyeing the Empire after it will be truly weakened by this civil war. I want to win this from within while preserving some of the Empire's military strength." He continued his explanation and Spear by the time he finished looked slightly worried by this entire atmosphere in the room.
"..." I didn't reply to him for a good 5 seconds and both of them were only watching me warily.
"Pfff"
"Huh?" Both of them looked at me with a surprised expression when they heard my low chuckling.
"Hahaha, finally someone who is using their brain. Thank you for this conversation, previous Prime Minister Chouri." I laughed while wiping away a few tears from the corner of my eyes.
"?! W-Who are you?" By this time, Chouri finally realized that previously I was only acting. He seemed to be cautious but he didn't order his daughter to call guards or anyone which means that he can sense that I have no hostile intentions.
"My apologies for late introductions! My full name is Akashi Phoenix." I took off a long coat that I bought on my way here in one of the villages just to reveal my black neat military attire, a very typical style of clothing for the Empire. I put my right hand to my heart and then performed a low bow with an amused smile.
"...?!! Wait! You are from that family which must mean that you are..." Chouri spent a few seconds looking at me while browsing his mind before he exclaimed with a completely shocked expression.
"?! Father? What is going on?" Spear was completely confused, she was also no longer sitting and just kept glancing at me and her father.
"Relax a bit Spear, there is no need to be as shocked as your father, just let him absorb the information." I said with a small smile while looking at Spear.
"...Alright" She looked at her father's shocked expression before answering me.
"Y-You are that famous Red Devil. Despite my retirement, I still heard a few news about your feats...W-Why are you here?" After a few more seconds, Chouri finally recovered and asked me with a confused expression.
"You aren't afraid despite hearing about my "feats"? Interesting..." I muttered while holding my chin with an interested smile.
"Well...if you wanted to kill me, you would have already done it, no?" He replied with a forced smile.
"?!" Spear was shocked by her father's words as she looked at me with a questioning gaze.
"...Maybe but as you have guessed, I am not here to kill you. I want to cooperate with you, I also don't want Honest on the post of Prime Minister." I said while resting my right leg on my left thigh.
"...Spear, please give us some time" Chouri said while looking at my reaction so I just closed my eyes to tell him that I don't mind.
"But father..." Spear wanted to say something but she had no idea what to say since she was too confused about how this situation even escalated.
"Please, it will take a few minutes at most." Chouri tried to convince her and she looked at me just to see me sending her a small harmless smile. In the end, she nodded her head and obediently left the room.
"...Why do you want my cooperation? I am just an old man who got overthrown by Honest. What do you gain from this?" He asked me with a serious expression when Spear finally left us alone.
"I will be completely honest with you...I am not a kind person or type of person who will go out of my way just to help someone as if I felt it was the right thing to do. I am a selfish person who does things whatever I want. I kill when I want to kill, I save when I am in a mood to save someone. However, one thing that I can't ignore is this country. The country is made of its people, happy people usually means prospering country. Each day passing by, the Empire is slowly losing its former glory. Even if I am someone who doesn't really care much about masses, as one of the most prominent houses in the Capital, it is my duty to ensure this country's future." I explained with a stoic face and then took a sip of tea previously prepared by Spear.
---
'I can't detect any lies in his words, however, it could be also due to his perfectly stoic face concealing his true intentions' Chouri thought to himself while observing Akashi.
---
"I am glad that you are so honest with me and not telling me something like "because it's the right thing to do" since I wouldn't be able to believe someone like you if those words left your mouth. Your family must have done a lot of bad things to be allowed to keep standing next to the Honest." He nodded his head with a serious expression.
"In this world, everyone's hands are dirtied no matter what side they stand on. One is only looking at how much dirtied they are. People can even wash their dirtied hands but most people don't bother to do that once they see how much effort they have to give in." I nodded with closed eyes and agreed with his statement of our family doing "bad" things.
"...Then what do you even want from me? And how do I know that you aren't just making up those words to persuade me?" He thought for a while about my words before asking me with a confused expression.
"First of all, the country needs someone capable of leading it and you are someone who cares about the country's people because they are making the country we are talking about. One person alone can't lead it so I am gathering as many qualified people as I can." I replied with a smile.
"As for the reassurance that I am not lying...I have nothing but if you will ever travel to the Capital, you can visit my family's territory and you will see the real order." I continued while shrugging my shoulders.
"A real order you say? What exactly do you mean by that?" He nodded at my reasoning for wanting his cooperation with understanding expression and then asked me with an interested expression after hearing my "reassurance".
"In my territory, one can eat a full meal that will satisfy his hunger as long as that person will work on some civil projects or perform some community services. So no one can die there out of hunger as long as he doesn't want to die. And even small markets are letting their goods on display while they are closed or their owners are away..." I said with an amused smile just thinking about his reaction.
"What?!" And as I thought he stood up just from the shock but it should be about those markets instead of public meals.
"How is it possible that people just let their goods on display? Aren't they afraid that someone will steal them?" He quickly sat down and asked me with a curious and impatient expression since he was aware that I was teasing him on purpose by not saying everything in one go.
"You are quite energetic for "old man", heh. Thievery? In my territory rules IRON LAW, no one can steal in my territory, NOT EVEN THE EMPEROR HIMSELF!" I chuckled at seeing his impatient expression before saying with a strong and cold voice and narrowed eyes.
He opened his eyes wide but I didn't let him say anything and continued talking.
"Any thief will be punished according to the severity of their crime. The same with murder, no one will get away by killing anyone in my territory as long as the ones killed are registered as citizens of my territory. Even if that person will hide inside someone's else territory, I will see to it that he receives his punishment." I said with a cold smile while staring at Chouri's shocked face.
"...How are the thieves punished?" He suddenly asked and I instantly knew why.
"Nah, they aren't crucified nor killed, they are to do forced labor and perform community services until they pay off what they have stolen plus a little bit more for the offense. Although murderers are a different matter...I don't want to explain everything here, it's too complex to explain it within a few minutes. For example, stolen goods are also returned and if not found, my house will provide money according to the damage to its owner. Some merchants even wanted to exploit it...unfortunately they were found out and their punishment was even more severe than of that thief who was cooperating with them." I waved my hand to deny any "cruel" punishments but that forced labor can sometimes be even crueler than death but I don't give a shit about that since for honest people and people afraid of death it is purely best kind of punishment.
"...Are you perhaps planning on taking the throne?" He suddenly asked me after a few seconds of processing my words.