"War does not measure the strength of a man."
By our great Lord God Of War.
— Kratos
........
"Hypnotizing isn't something I could do, even if I tried it with a spell. But even if I created a strong illusion, I can feel that this woman will break through the illusion just by pure will or some nonsense like the power of friendship when I ask her about Night Raid.
The same goes for kidnapping or torture. And it's not like I can even torture.
I observed the woman for a while before I saw her almost staring at a shadow before walking away. That is one of my small beasts, and this woman felt something weird only by instinct.
I sighed as I was about to do something I'll definitely regret in his life.
I mentally prepared myself as my clothes changed before I walked out of the alleyway.
I walked in the street with my head down while he was mumbling things about how I wasn't able to get hired by the government and some other things. This made people look at me before ignoring me after a smile or a mocking look, as they had seen this scene a lot of times. But this made the leaving Leone look at me before following me from a distance.
Testing, huh…' I didn't turn my head as even though my senses were working at a minimum, I could feel the woman just by instinct and realized what she's doing.
.....
*POV Switch*
'A clear distance that would make normal people clueless, but it won't work for the wary ones... This is how she selects her targets.' Keeping his head down, Jinwoo gave his shadows a command, 'I'm getting bored, so I'll play with you for a while, and this is also a good opportunity to test out my acting skills.'
"Hm?" Leone was doing her usual information gathering in the capital. As something wasn't aware of, so information gathering got their influence. As she spotted a teenager with his head down.
Following him for a while, Leone smiled as she understood he was another guy from the countryside who came to this Empire looking for success.
So after confirming that he's just a clueless guy, Leone walked towards him and said, "Hi!"
The young man who was walking with his head down looked at Leone for a moment before a blush appeared on his face as he stared at her blankly.
'Hehe, he's just a horny clueless guy,' Leone was smiling before she said, "What's wrong?"
"N-nothing... Who are you?" the young man shook his head before asking Leone. She smiled and said, "It doesn't matter who I am... But it seems you're drawn to this capital with the dream of making it here."
"How do you know?!" The young man was surprised, but Leone kept her smile as she said, "After you live in the capital long enough, you can easily identify outsiders."
The young man looked suspiciously at Leone before she said, "I know a quick way to get hired by the government."
"Really?" the young man was shocked, but Leone nodded and said, "Do you want to know?"
"I see..." Leone looked at the nodding teenager before she said, "Then invite this lady to a meal."
Leone looked at the young man who thought about it before nodding as she smiled. 'Easy target for today, and I will also know who the insiders are.'
But she didn't know that beneath the happy, clueless young man's appearance, there was a suffering soul right now.
'I want to die' Jin was having a civil war inside of him, and his only comfort was how important this was to him.
Jin felt this was one of the stupidest things he had ever done in his entire life. He felt that his conscience was calling him with every passing second to bomb this Empire now. He wouldn't be able to keep up this act if it weren't for the fact that it was a crucial part of his overall army's strength. He was somehow controlling his body and facial expressions to trick this woman.
Jin walked with Leone as she introduced the Empire and tried to dominate the conversation. He was almost throwing up from blushing so much when he suddenly noticed something.
The belt she was wearing was emitting life signals, and they increased when Jin came near Leone. It was just like Incursio.
'Oh? A big cat,' Jin connected and saw a giant lion from the mana, before he activated his killer eyes when Leone wasn't looking and sent him a message, 'Shut up, or I'll make a carpet out of you!'
That message was sent with Jin's demonic aura, matching that of a demon. The lion instantly turned into a scarred cat and went into hiding inside the Teigu.
"Hm?" Leone felt something weird, and Jin asked, "Is there something wrong?"
"No, no, don't worry about it. The restaurant is over there," Leone said, appearing carefree. But she felt something from her Teigu, 'I feel like there is something watching me lately, just like the last encounter with that Bull Beast. Sigh. After this, maybe I should lay low from sights for a while.'
Jin was feeling sick from all this acting, and he sighed silently.
After walking for a while and enduring the torment in his soul and mind, Jin and Leone reached the restaurant and ordered food. Leone kept ordering wine and drinking non-stop.
'Wow, never seen a Japanese face drink so much,' Jin thought, but only his inner sarcasm reduced the burden on his mind. He said, "Didn't you have enough?"
"No! You can never get enough of this! Here, join me," Leone pushed the glass toward Jin. He moved her hand back and said, "Stop procrastinating and tell me how to join the government!"
"You're no fun..." Leone drank another glass before she said, "It's simple... You need connections and money."
"I know a guy working in the military..." Leone looked at Jin with a smile before she said, "If you give me enough cash, it'll be really quick."
'Wow!! Just wow. So original! I also know a guy who knows a guy, which is me, who can blow up this Empire and do all the work for you. Funny, isn't it?' Jin had a serious face before he nodded and reached for his back pocket.
Leone heard and saw a coin bag hitting the table.
"Is this enough?" Jin smiled as Leone nodded and grabbed the bag full of coins. She said, "Definitely enough!"
"Well, I was working with my friend hunting dangerous beasts, so I got them..." Jin smiled before he commanded his shadows to move towards her shadow. Since Leone was now drunk, her senses were working at a bare minimum, providing an excellent opportunity for his plan to work. After the shadow moved, he said, "I came from a poor village. I didn't have much, but those friends were the best thing I ever had."
Leone's smile stiffened for a moment before she smiled and said, "They must have been wonderful friends, huh?"
Jin nodded, but inside, he was smiling because his plan was working. Talking about poor conditions and friends would make someone feel guilty, and if he was thinking correctly, he could now ask the last question.
"Yeah... Those 6 were the best I've met in my life," Jin smiled as he said.
"*Sigh* I could say the same... Those 7 were the best thing that happened to me," Leone smiled as she remembered the Night Raid. Jin looked at her smile for a moment before he said, "Well, then, as two people cherishing their friends, I invite you for a drink."
"Oh? Are you perhaps... Hitting on me?" Leone smiled while Jin returned the same smile before he said, "Who knows... But didn't you tell me that connections are important?"
"You're really learning fast... Then cheers!" Leone raised her glass, but Jin stood up from his seat.
Leone saw Jin leaving and asked, "Where are you going?"
"The restroom," Jin answered before Leone smiled and said, "Oh? Do you want me to come with you?"
Jin gave Leone a smile before he quickened his footsteps, and Leone smiled as she said, "What a cute young man."
Leone drank a few more cups before deciding to leave. "Well, consider it a lesson, and you seem to be smart, so you'll be okay."
Leone stood up from her seat and reached for the coin bag, but she felt nothing. She saw that the bag had disappeared, and there was a note in its place.
Leone read the note and widened her eyes in surprise.
The note said, "Better luck next time, and if you want to know the reason, ask the waiter. Ps: check behind the note."
Leone flipped the paper and saw a drawing that she didn't recognize, but she felt the sarcasm and mockery coming from it—it was a troll face.
"Excuse me, my lady." Suddenly, a waiter came to Leone's table and said, "Your friend said you'll pay us after you finish."
"Huh?" Leone looked at the waiter before clenching her fist in anger as she understood what had happened. That guy tricked her and left her with the bill.
"He also told me to tell you this." The waiter cleared his throat before saying, "If you are bad, I'm your Dad."
Leone stood in her place speechless, and the waiter added, "Don't look at me like that. He paid me to say it."
Leone's anger increased as she clenched her fist tighter. 'Good, very good... Just don't let me catch you, or else.'
Leone sighed and considered running away from the restaurant, but she was also thinking about the strange scene of the bag disappearing.
Meanwhile, Jin was far away from the restaurant, changing into his casual clothes.
'This is the last time I do something like this!' Jin felt his stomach and mind hurting just from remembering what he had done. Either he needed to create a mind-reading spell or have a Shadow that could perform mind tricks like mind possession.
Thankfully, he knew someone like that in this world. But if he wasn't mistaken, that person was a very weak mind reader. However, he didn't have any other options now. He guessed he would have to see it with his own eyes.
And even if that person wasn't strong, it's not like Jin always had to keep them.
"..." Jin took a deep breath before he started thinking about his next move.
'It seems the plot hasn't started, and it doesn't matter to me. As the saying goes, "Fuck the plot." Jin achieved what he wanted from a single walk. Now his shadows were on Leone, and he would soon know their current location and, through them, the location of the Revolutionary Army, who also possessed some Teigu.
Even though he was unaware of most of them, they had around 12 known and around 8 unknown Teigu, which left 28. If he did the math, considering some were destroyed in previous clashes, there should be at least 10 unknown unclaimed Teigu in the Empire's vault.
He was also able to check on Night Raid without the protagonist, and Leone was just one of the seven members, which meant that there wasn't anything out of order with Night Raid.
'One less place to bomb, I guess... Now,' Jin raised his head and looked at the giant palace from afar.
'If they can't find me, then I have to go to the bigger source...' Jin looked at the palace before he picked up the katana.
Jin could enter and leave that palace at any moment and move around like he was in his own house. But now he needed his targets. Jin wanted to go after that prime minister, but even though Jin wasn't a fan of torturing, he wouldn't be satisfied if he didn't eliminate that guy. Esdeath wasn't in the Empire, so that left one target, or two if he counted what he was holding.
"This Empire has two generals, after all... My Pikachu is there." Jin nodded before he quickened his pace toward one of his shadows in the palace. It was time to become an assassin.
(Time skip: 7 minutes)
The guards were walking through the palace, going about their usual routine. They had serious expressions, knowing that this place was adjacent to General Budo's training ground. Unlike most guards, General Budo would punish them if they made any mistakes.
But today, the hallways were unusually silent. Two guards stationed in front of the training ground were waiting for the other guards to arrive, as their shifts were ending. However, they waited, and nothing happened. The hallways were eerily quiet, which was strange during the day.
Suddenly, the two guards felt their lungs lose all the air, and they were unable to breathe. They couldn't even scream or speak as they heard footsteps approaching from the front.
A man wearing a long black trench coat walked slowly toward the entrance, his face covered with an upper-face white mask adorned with golden lines and a hood.
The two guards were helpless, unable to do anything, when their heads were struck by an air bullet, killing them instantly.
Jin didn't care about the guards as he looked at Budo, who wasn't looking happy to see him.
Jin stared at Budo for a moment before he said, "Hands up! This is a robbery!"
*Awkward silence*
"What is the meaning of this?" Budo looked at Jin, his rage ready to explode.
"Robbery, hands up. What didn't you understand?" Jin gave Budo a stare that questioned his comprehension before he walked towards him.
"..." Budo gave Jin a silent gaze filled with anger. Budo understood that this guy was an assassin, and he actually dared to face him! And worse, he was inside the royal palace.
Budo couldn't describe the anger he was feeling as he watched this assassin walk casually, seemingly without a worry. This was an insult to him and the Empire, and it was unforgivable.
Jin didn't know what was going on in Budo's mind, but he raised his hand and ten wind blades appeared around him, aimed at Budo.
"So... Dodge?" Jin waved his hand, and the wind blades flew towards Budo with astonishing speed.
The blades surprised Budo. He hadn't seen any Teigu with this ability before, but he didn't have time to think.
Jumping to the side, Budo avoided four blades, but the others rushed towards him.
Budo looked at the blades and summoned thunder on his gauntlet, punching all the blades and breaking them to pieces.
"Is this all you've got? Someone like you dares to tarnish the palace?" Budo stared at Jin before walking towards him with thunder crackling all around his body.
"Hm? Well, I'll let you guess," Jin smiled at Budo before snapping his legs, and ran himself and Budo away from that place with astonishing speed.
Jin knew that the guards were coming to the training ground, so he used his speed to vanish from that place.
Outside the capital, in a nearby forest, the air punched as Budo was thrown through the air, thunder surrounding him. He landed and looked around vigilantly. But he didn't have to wait long before Jin stood in front of him.
"Who are you?" Budo finally started to take Jin seriously as he said, "There's no Teigu with this ability except one that you don't have. Identify yourself."
Unbeknownst to Budo, Jin had simply used his speed to carry him to this location.
Jin stared at Budo, surrounded by thunder and lightning, before he put his hand on his chin and said, "Who am I? Wait, I need a minute. I need to think of a speech."
"Huh?" Budo didn't understand what this guy was saying, but Jin was thinking about his speech before nodding and looking at Budo.
"We are the light that shines above the darkness but never yearns for the brightness." Jin took a step forward and continued, "We don't have personal gains or goals. So the shadows will never swallow us."
"We, who always walk in the light and hunt the shadows, are the Shadows ourselves." Jin raised his hand as he drew his katana from its scabbard.
"Darkness can never be overcome by darkness, so we will be the light that burns it to the ground... I am the light, and..." Jin looked at Budo, his eyes transforming into killer eyes, before he said, "We are... Day Raid!"
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If this week we got 500 power stones +1 bonus chapter) Remarks