Reuniting with the Alia Family, and a Perplexing Lie / An Outrageous Mission; The Seryu Squad Sets Out

The two of them took seats by the window.

Sayo familiarly introduced Yorii Tsugikuni to the ramen flavors she thought were good.

"Then I'll have tonkotsu ramen."

"Where are we going after we eat?"

Yorii Tsugikuni had no particular preferences when it came to food.

He naturally accepted Sayo's recommendation, but his mind remained fixed on the purpose of their outing today.

After spending the day together, he had gained some understanding of his new colleague.

"After we eat, of course we'll go home."

"But if there's somewhere you want to go, Yorii, I can take you there."

After hearing Sayo's words, Yorii Tsugikuni froze for several seconds.

Sayo seemed to have forgotten the main thing they were supposed to do today again.

"Weren't we here to track down criminals?"

"Did you forget, Sayo?"

After thinking for a moment, Yorii Tsugikuni looked at Sayo as she ate her ramen and reminded her.

"Oh no, I almost forgot."

"Don't worry this time, Yorii. I definitely won't forget again."

Reminded by Yorii Tsugikuni, Sayo slapped her forehead as though she had remembered something terribly important.

She patted Yorii Tsugikuni on the shoulder and began making promises.

"Come to think of it, I haven't introduced those people to you yet."

"Their organization is called Night Raid. They only appeared in the Imperial Capital not long ago."

She added some vinegar to her ramen.

Sayo slowly began telling Yorii Tsugikuni about the people they were tracking. "They specifically target wealthy people and officials in the Imperial Capital. They're utterly wicked villains."

Reuniting with Aria's Family, a Puzzling Lie

"Wicked villains?"

Listening to Sayo's explanation, Yorii Tsugikuni pondered slightly.

He had once lived in an era filled with demons and criminals.

Because of that, he had long formed his own views on good and evil. When Sayo said that everyone in Night Raid was a group of wicked villains, he did not immediately define them as such.

He merely became curious about them.

As for whether they were truly good or evil, Yorii Tsugikuni trusted what he saw and sensed for himself more.

Rather than making a judgment based on someone else's descriptions.

This was the wisdom he had distilled from his own experiences over the course of his long life.

"Of course they're wicked villains. My master said that everyone in Night Raid should be killed."

"The Empire has become this chaotic largely because of them."

Sayo ate her ramen as she voiced her views to Yorii Tsugikuni. He could clearly feel the deep disgust in her tone whenever she mentioned Night Raid.

There should be some story between Sayo and Night Raid that I don't know about.

Yorii Tsugikuni listened calmly and seriously as Sayo spoke.

He had met many people.

He had also experienced many things, and those experiences had taught him many truths.

So even though Sayo had not provided many details, Yorii Tsugikuni could infer some things.

"Sayo, you hate those people, don't you?"

"I can feel how desperately you want to erase them."

As Yorii Tsugikuni watched Sayo's emotions gradually shift from impassioned anger to gloom and sorrow, he softly comforted her. "I once hated someone like that too. I just don't know whether I'll ever have the chance to catch that person."

"Woof, woof, woof..."

Sensing Sayo's sudden sadness, Korou rubbed against her from the ground.

As Sayo's most loyal companion, it could clearly sense her emotional fluctuations.

"Those people killed my family."

"I will never forgive them."

Sayo clenched her fists tightly. Overwhelmed with emotion, she rose from her seat.

Her fist slammed onto the table, nearly overturning the ramen bowls on it.

"Sorry, I got a little emotional. That was rude of me."

"Your soup spilled."

After venting, Sayo quickly calmed down considerably.

Seeing the spilled soup in front of Yorii Tsugikuni, she felt somewhat guilty.

"It's fine. It's only spilled soup. We can wipe it up."

"Everything will pass. I hope you can be happy again soon, Sayo."

Yorii Tsugikuni gently shook his head, not caring about the messy table Sayo had made.

He had also broken down for a long time after losing his loved ones.

Even now, after so much time had passed, thinking about it still made his heart ache in waves.

Therefore, he did not think there was anything strange about Sayo's current behavior.

"Thank you for listening to all my nonsense."

"Come to think of it, it's been a long time since I talked to anyone about these things."

Seeing Yorii Tsugikuni's unchanged expression and the warm smile still resting on his lips, Sayo suddenly found him much more pleasant to look at than before.

Yorii Tsugikuni's attentive manner made people want to talk.

After the two of them finished their ramen.

Night had fallen completely. Lights began appearing in the homes lining the streets.

The lights were like beans, scattered here and there, flickering faintly.

Since they needed to search for clues about Night Raid, the two officially began their patrol after eating.

They walked slowly, moving from one street to another.

"This place is very similar to my hometown."

"There's hardly anyone out at night."

Yorii Tsugikuni walked slowly behind Sayo. Even after walking for a long time, they did not encounter anyone.

It reminded him of the place where he had once lived.

At night, people would hide inside their homes to avoid the demons that came out after dark.

"Since nighttime is dangerous, the Imperial Capital is indeed rather deserted at night."

"But there are still plenty of people around the streets closer to the center."

Sayo looked around as she kept an eye on her Teigu, hoping Korou would pick up the scent of criminals.

"There seems to be a carriage over there."

"Let's go take a look."

After they walked on for a while longer, Sayo suddenly noticed something.

She grabbed Yorii Tsugikuni's hand and ran quickly toward the suspicious carriage.

"Who are you people?"

"Why are you wandering around outside so late?"

Sayo moved with incredible agility, directly forcing the carriage on the street to stop.

Standing before the carriage, she assumed a combat stance.

"Big Brother Yorii, we meet again."

"We just came back from the countryside and entered the city a little late."

Aria and her father poked their heads out of the carriage. Seeing Yorii Tsugikuni, Aria happily greeted him.

Meanwhile, Aria's father explained to Sayo why they were still out on the streets so late.

"You know them?"

Hearing Aria's words, Sayo turned to look at Yorii Tsugikuni.

When she saw Yorii Tsugikuni nod, Sayo's originally cold expression relaxed considerably. She looked at the two of them and warned, "Remember to stay home once it gets dark."

"Thank you for the reminder. We'll head home now."

"Big Brother Yorii, remember to come play with Aria when you have time."

Aria's family carriage quickly disappeared around the corner of the alley.

Along with it vanished Aria's innocent smile as she warmly bid Yorii Tsugikuni farewell.

Why did they lie?

The carriage wheels were clearly so clean.

Yorii Tsugikuni frowned slightly. In his mind, the spotless wheels of Aria's family carriage rolled over and over again.

The countryside was covered in dirt everywhere.

Everything indicated that Aria's family had been lying.

This left Yorii Tsugikuni confused. He could not understand why Aria's family would lie to them.

"What are you spacing out for?"

"Let's head back too. It looks like we won't get anything out of tonight."

Sayo dejectedly picked Korou up from the ground.

It was already deep into the night. They had patrolled most of the city, yet made no progress.

After being busy all day, even Sayo, who was always overflowing with energy, had become somewhat tired.

"I was thinking about something."

"Don't be discouraged. We'll find something eventually."

Hearing Sayo call him, Yorii Tsugikuni withdrew from his thoughts.

Seeing Sayo looking dispirited, he imitated the way Sayo had once encouraged Tatsumi and clenched his fist at her.

An Absurd Mission, Sayo's Squad Sets Out

"That was close. We almost got found out."

"Looks like we can't come out too late in the future."

Caven patted his chest and let out a long breath.

When they had encountered Sayo on the street just now, the sight of that mechanical dog had nearly scared his heart out of his chest.

He had heard of Sayo's reputation. More than half the criminals caught by the Imperial Capital Security Force had been captured by her, and she was Ogre Ouka's most favored disciple.