With new members joining, Esdeath held a banquet as was customary to welcome the newcomers.
Only then did everyone discover that despite Bruce wearing a gas mask, covered in muscle, and looking like someone not to be messed with, he was an excellent cook and surprisingly gentle.
Will, who had spent the first half of his life living by the sea, was so shocked his jaw nearly dropped.
Once the banquet began, Kurome did not hold back at all, eating to her heart's content. In that regard, she was very much like her sister.
As for Will, he was a simple, kind-hearted good person.
That was not Lilith's evaluation, but Leona's.
As for Run, in Leona's words, she always felt that he was hiding something.
Leona had always been keen on gathering and digging up information on the people within the Hunters.
It seemed she intended to send that intelligence back to Night Raid.
And Run was far more wary of Leona than of the others.
Aside from the Hunters receiving new members, what Lilith heard most often was which family's daughter Shira's Wild Hunt had victimized again, or whom they had killed.
Gradually, as time passed.
What Lilith heard most often lately was news concerning Anning Dao, the Western Foreigners, and the Rebel Army.
Not long ago, Anning Dao finally launched an armed uprising in the eastern Empire.
Almost at the same time, the Western Foreigners, as if they had coordinated beforehand, attacked the Empire's western border.
The Rebel Army, having rested and recovered for several months, also began to make its move.
For a time, aside from the south, guarded by Esdeath's subordinates and still relatively stable, the entire Empire fell into turmoil.
West, south, north.
Three directions, three forces, tying down nearly all of the Empire's strength.