Instead of a fight, however, I received a reply.
"You are perceptive." the shadow settled into the shape of a male [Nocturne].
"So? What do you want?"
"Greeting, ojou-samas. My name is Martis. I belong to an organisation that detests the slavery that goes on in this nation. I am aware that you are not from the Empire. May I ask for your nation of origin?"
"None of your business. Get to the main point."
"Ahahaha, the lady is direct. I shall. As you have just seen, there are scum like this targeting children and young adults everywhere in the Empire. And as you can see, [Vallen] like you are particularly vulnerable as the rarity of your race in the [Main Dimension] fetches a high price in the slavery industry. I have seen some of your strength. May I ask for your assistance in stamping out the slave trade?"
I thought for a moment, my [Thought Super-Acceleration] running at maximum speed. If he was meeting us out here, it wasn't a coincidence. That meant that he was already aware of us from...perhaps the Adventurer's Guild? As adventurers couldn't participate in the local politics, it made sense to speak with us away from the Guild, but...he could have spoken to us at any time in the city. Did he become aware of us from the first day that we were here? It seemed that he was waiting for a moment like this, when we were away from the city itself. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen any [Nocturne] in the capital city...
Taking a gamble, I responded, "sorry, I'm not interested in getting into a fight with the Empire before I know what I'm up against."
I responded this way on a guess. I hypothesised that since I hadn't seen any bandit subjugation requests in the guild, and that slavery was clearly an open secret in the Empire, that it was tacitly permitted by the upper echelons of the Empire. I didn't want to go into something without my eyes open. I had enough of that in the [Labyrinth].
Reassuringly, his expression crumbled, asking "this ojou-sama...how much do you know?"
I ignored his question and told him directly, "if you want me to involve myself and Rea in anything, you'd better give me a full and complete explanation. Otherwise, please excuse us."
I made a motion as if to leave, prompting Rea to turn her heels and follow me.
"Ah, wait, ojou-samas! Please hear me out!" a cry came from behind us. While I had turned my back, I had not let my guard down. If he were to vanish at any point, I would teleport us away in the next instant. If he were to attack us, I would use my new
Without turning, I stopped instead and said simply, "talk".
"Esteemed ojou-samas, I have lied to you earlier. Or rather, not told you the whole truth. My organisation is in fact attempting to stamp out slavery, but our larger goal is the elimination of corruption in this nation. This is the wish of Her Majesty Freya dis Rodania. We are in fact a rebellion against the nation itself. This is the whole truth."
"And why go so far to tell us all this in an effort to recruit us?"
"Ojou-samas, when you have been alive for as long as I have...you gain a sense about people. I can tell that you both are young, but terrifyingly strong. If I were to fight against that ojou-sama who just killed the bandits, I might win, but at a large cost to myself. Rather, if I were to fight against you and did not attempt to immediately escape...I suspect that I would find myself dead before I knew it."
I nodded my head, saying "you're right. If you had moved from your spot earlier, you would have lost an arm at best."
My wires were already waiting to strike with [Void Assault], which would have made it unavoidable for damage to be taken by Martis. I did not want to kill him who hadn't threatened us at all, but I would have sent a message by forcing him to lose an arm, perhaps two, should he make any move at all.
Hearing this, cold sweat began to bead on his forehead, and he continued speaking, "a-also, as the two of you are not from the Empire, I judged that you would not feel any loyalty towards it. Furthermore, both of you seem to prefer staying out of things like this, and thus, even in the worst case, would simply keep out of the situation without reporting it to the government officials."
"Ah, so you gambled on piquing our interest, huh? And even if we didn't care, we'd just leave the Empire and let you guys settle things by yourselves?"
"I am ashamed to say so, but that is correct, ojou-sama."
"Nn, well judged."
"And so... may I hear your response?"
I glanced over at the silent Rea, then opened my mouth, "I have a few questions. If you can answer them in the right way, I will say yes to your request."
"Please do ask, ojou-sama."
"First. I am aware that there is an S-ranked squad in the Empire. I presume the reason that you have not already toppled the existing government is due to this squad. Do you expect us to fight against them?"
"Ah...about that...while it is regrettable that we do not have existing talent that matches their power, we are putting together as many strong individuals as possible to fight them. Ojou-sama, depending on whether you wish to, will be one of them."
"I see. Second. Do you have a guarantee that should this S-rank squad fall, the rest of your plans for overthrowing the government and replacing it with a better one will be successful?"
"Ojou-sama, this Martis has worked for over ten years to see that come to fruition. Our organisation has many plans, failsafes, and preparations in place to ensure the common person's best interests are met."
"Nn. Third. Should we succeed, will you guarantee a position for Rea and I to live our lives as we desire?"
"A-ah? Well, as long as you do not break any of our laws, we can arrange something for you both such that you will not be bothered..."
"Will you?"
"If we succeed, I shall certainly make sure that happens with all my might."
"Fourth. How do you intend to make the lives of the people better?"
"Ojou-sama may not know this, but the nobles, merchants, officials, and even top guild officials are involved in a massive conspiracy of corruption. They are enslaving people, hoarding wealth, forcibly conscripting people, and causing the common people to suffer even further. I myself was a slave once. We intend to remove all of these officials, merchants, and nobles, and use their hoarded wealth and resources to enrich the many cities, towns, and villages in the Empire so that they may once again thrive."
"Nn. I see. I'm in."
"E-eh?? Um, I mean, thank you very much, ojou-sama. Although if I may ask...why did you agree?"
"Three reasons. I can get stronger, you're willing to give Rea and I the ability to protect our way of life, and you care about the people. That means the Empire will only become a better place to live, right? It's not that I hate how it is now, but as I thought, slavery and corruption still doesn't sit right with me."
"Ahahaha, although ojou-sama is so strong, she still has a heart of justice."
I dropped my [Presence Suppression], turning my [Killing Intent] with full force onto Martis, and smiled wickedly, "Ma-ru-ti-su-boya~ please don't say things that irritate me, okay?"
"Y-yes!" Martis squeaked, his face ashen and pale, his hands and legs trembling like a leaf in the wind.
I reactivated [Presence Suppression] and smiled at the weakly trembling Martis, saying, "alright then. Meet me again in two days at the Oris Inn. At that time, bring me a map with the location of a proper meeting place, and an imaging crystal that has records of the meeting place's exterior and interior."
"Y-yes, ojou-sama. May I ask-"
"No. You may leave. We have other things to do today."
Having said that, I turned to leave with Rea. After confirming that Martis' presence had faded, Rea turned to me and asked, "ano...Ava-sama...why were you so harsh with him? He was very respectful to us, wasn't he?"
"He was indeed. However, my guard is still sky-high against him. Not only is he attempting to rebel, he's also an A-ranker. That's two things I'm extremely on guard against. The first part of that could get us into a lot of trouble. Although, I agreed because I think we can get stronger and protect ourselves better, it's still a huge risk. Furthermore, that was a test. If he can still come and meet us later and introduce us to others, I'll be nicer to him. I need to know that he and the rebellion has the backbone for this. It's our lives on the line, after all."
"Ah, so Ava-sama has thought that far, huh..."
"If he can't even face the force of my pressure, how will the rebellion beat a squad of S-ranks? It's a pipe dream."
"Eh, but Ava-sama's pressure might be scarier than an S-rank though..."
As we talked and flew, we found the edge of the forest that bordered the road leading away from the city. After that, it was a simple exercise to locate the pack of [Hydra Wolves], activate my [Predation] skill, and retrieve their [Mana Cores]. Having finished our mission for the day, we headed back to the city