Talk About Bad Timing / Negotiating Terms ...

Koizumi spoke calmly, without the slightest hint of dissatisfaction in his tone. After all, he could understand their situation.

Besides, Koizumi had always had a good temper and was remarkably tolerant. He would not get angry over something so trivial.

Reimu curled her lips but said nothing. She had already guessed Koizumi would say that.

Besides, Reimu knew their situation was simply like that, and there was nothing they could do about it. But their situation was their situation—what did it have to do with her having little patience? Did she have to accommodate them? What a joke!

Hata no Kokoro appeared very calm. After all, she had always been this way, always the quietest one.

Suddenly, Reimu seemed to notice something, her brows knitting slightly. One mask after another appeared around Hata no Kokoro, while a blood-red gleam flashed through Koizumi's eyes—the gleam known as Bloodlust.

All three of them realized at the same time that something had surrounded the area.

Koizumi could not make out the finer details, but Reimu and Hata no Kokoro both saw it—it was something called threads.

The threads had wrapped around the entire area, as though forming a sealed-off space.

Moreover, the threads surrounding them were no ordinary threads. If Koizumi rammed his head into them, they would probably slice him to death on the spot.

Their opponent was some distance away, so Reimu and Hata no Kokoro had not noticed the setup immediately.

It was not aimed at them. The threads had been arranged as alarm bells; the moment someone approached, they would be triggered...

Reimu and Hata no Kokoro immediately understood what their opponent had intended.

Since someone had already set up a trap, then—

Slowly, Leone approached with a silver-haired woman who looked exceptionally valiant. The woman's right arm was mechanical; judging from the readings, it should have been replaced with a mechanical arm. She also wore an eyepatch over her right eye and was probably blind in that eye.

In truth, Koizumi noticed Leone first. The corner of his mouth twitched violently, and for once, anger rose within him.

"It's you!"

Enemies Meet on a Narrow Road

To be honest, Koizumi considered himself rather even-tempered and was rarely displeased. Even when Reimu acted without any moral restraint, he could usually remain calm. But when it came to the person before him, the one who had swindled away all his money, he was thoroughly annoyed.

Before Night Raid arrived, Koizumi had given the matter some thought.

What would his conversation with Night Raid's Boss be like? Would they suddenly start arguing, or would they choose to cooperate for a long time? Koizumi had considered all that, but he had truly never expected...

He had truly never expected that the person who had stolen all his money would actually be a member of Night Raid.

Come to think of it, did Night Raid members even do jobs like theft?

Koizumi had really broadened his horizons this time. It might not have been their Boss's order, but still...

Leone realized Koizumi had recognized her and immediately turned her head away with an awkward expression.

She should have known better than to come over. Honestly, she had not wanted to come in the first place, but she had been the one to find Koizumi and the others' location. No matter what, she had to take responsibility and bring them over. Leone was helpless too.

Even though she knew Koizumi would give her trouble if she came, Leone still had to come.

If she did not come, who would lead their Boss here? So this was simply unavoidable.

"Hm?" The silver-haired woman seemed to sense the strange atmosphere and turned her gaze toward Leone.

It seemed that the man beside the shrine maiden was very unhappy with Leone. Could he be someone Leone knew?

The silver-haired woman believed she had experienced quite a lot, so she had a certain grasp of people's personalities and displayed emotions. Just like now, it was obvious that this man was displeased with Leone.

"Um... my name is Najenda. I'm the Boss of Night Raid."

Najenda slowly stepped forward and introduced herself first, while her gaze swept over Koizumi and Leone.

"By the way... do you know Leone, sir? Did Leone do something?"

Though she asked the question aloud, Najenda, who knew her team members very well, had already roughly guessed what had happened.

After all, how could she, as Leone's Boss, possibly not know what sort of personality Leone had?

Normally, Najenda simply turned a blind eye. It was not a major issue, so she pretended not to see it and treated it as if she knew nothing. But this time, Leone seemed to have offended someone she should not have. It might have been a coincidence, but Najenda could not pretend she had noticed neither the situation nor Koizumi's displeasure. She could only brace herself and step in.

Leone could not help shooting her Boss a glare. Najenda had clearly guessed it, yet she still pretended not to know.

"I never expected it to be you, kid... Long time no see..."

Leone awkwardly greeted Koizumi. Who knew whether he was the kind of person who held grudges?

In any case, whether he held grudges or not, there was nothing wrong with saying hello.

It might even ease the awkwardness on her side a little. Leone had no choice; she could not pretend she had not seen him.

Reimu glanced at Koizumi, confusion appearing on her face. What? Was this someone Koizumi knew?

"An acquaintance of yours in the Imperial Capital?" Unable to suppress her curiosity, Reimu finally asked.

Koizumi rolled his eyes at Reimu and replied irritably.

"If you can pretend nothing happened after someone swindles you out of your money, then yes, I suppose she counts as an acquaintance."

"..." Reimu's mouth twitched violently. All right, she roughly knew who this person was.

After all, Koizumi, Hata no Kokoro, and she herself had spent less than two days in the Imperial Capital altogether. The only time anyone had been swindled out of money was when it happened to Koizumi. So... this was the person who had stolen all of Koizumi's money back then?

Even Reimu felt a little bitter when she thought of it. After all, the money Koizumi had carried had been earned by her.

If Reimu were expected to act as though nothing had happened, that would probably be impossible. Reimu was far too greedy for money.

"...So this woman is the one who stole your money."

As she spoke, Reimu's gaze toward Leone became somewhat unfriendly. It was not merely because Leone had stolen money, but also because one of Night Raid's assassins had such poor conduct. If she only assassinated high-ranking Imperial officials, that would be an issue between nations, and Reimu had no right to say anything. But stealing other people's property was no small matter.

Especially for someone who had just arrived in the Imperial Capital—if all their money were stolen because of this, they would have to sleep out in the wilderness. They might even get caught by the Imperial Guard and thrown in prison after being unable to pay for a meal.

This behavior might seem like nothing when viewed lightly, but taken seriously, it was no minor issue!

Because of this single act, Reimu and Koizumi's impression of Night Raid dropped considerably.

Hata no Kokoro, on the other hand, did not react much. As a pseudo-expressionless girl, she did not show things like favorability very clearly.

Najenda also realized the problem. They had not even begun negotiating, yet the other side's impression of them had already worsened.

Even Najenda could not help glaring at Leone. It seemed she needed to rein in her subordinates' behavior a little.

"I apologize for what Leone did to you. As the Boss of Night Raid, I apologize on her behalf. I will also promptly provide appropriate compensation... How about we discuss cooperation first?"

Najenda placed greater importance on the deal. Reimu's charms would be of tremendous help to both Night Raid and the Revolutionary Army. With Reimu's assistance, Night Raid and the Revolutionary Army would definitely grow far stronger.

Thus, Najenda felt it was necessary to discuss the deal first. If they kept dwelling on Leone stealing Koizumi's money, there would be no point negotiating at all—Reimu might simply refuse to cooperate.

After all, Reimu had not known at first that Leone was the person who stole Koizumi's money. Now that she knew, she had a reason to go back on her word.

Without a reason, they might still have grounds to criticize Reimu for backing out. But with a reason, they had no right to criticize her.

Reimu's gaze shifted to Koizumi. She had no interest in discussing deals.

"I'll leave it to you. I have no objections."

Koizumi nodded. Though he was still somewhat displeased, his gaze settled on Najenda.

"Then tell us. We can offer Reimu's charms as the terms of the deal, but what can you offer us in exchange?"

As he spoke, a sharp gleam flashed in Koizumi's eyes. They could cooperate with Night Raid and the Revolutionary Army, but agreeing too easily would make them seem overly compliant. Besides, he did not know how strong Night Raid was. What if their combat strength ended up dragging Koizumi's side down?

Without knowing anything about Night Raid, Koizumi had to be cautious.

Negotiating Terms

"Then tell us. We can offer Reimu's charms as the terms of the deal, but what can you offer us in exchange?"

Koizumi's question plunged Najenda into brief silence. She understood what he meant.

If Reimu's charms could truly serve a major purpose, then mere monetary compensation would not be equivalent.

What she needed to offer had to be compensation equal to that value. The only issue was...

Najenda did not know what Koizumi wanted, so she needed to ask him.

If Koizumi wanted something that Night Raid or the Revolutionary Army could not provide, they would need to make further plans. Perhaps they could use some other form of compensation as collateral.

"Then, could you tell me what compensation you desire? Since you specifically brought this up, I assume you are not seeking monetary compensation..." Najenda watched Koizumi and spoke slowly.

No monetary compensation! How could that be possible?! Reimu protested internally, only for Koizumi to seize her.

Normally, Koizumi rarely interfered with whatever Reimu wanted to do, but this was different...

They had finally encountered the Revolutionary Army and Night Raid, both of whom could provide intelligence. How could Koizumi give that up?

With intelligence, Koizumi could learn about the distortion within this Singularity at the fastest possible speed. Then he could quickly resolve it and return to Chaldea. He did not want to stay in a place like this for too long; it was completely wasting time.

Therefore, Koizumi could not let Reimu say that monetary compensation alone would be enough.

"By the authority of my Command Seal! Shut up, Reimu!"

One stroke of the crimson Command Seal erupted with dazzling light. Veins immediately bulged on Reimu's forehead, and her mouth snapped shut.

If you weren't my Master and we weren't discussing serious business, I'd kick you to death right now!

And Command Seals only have three strokes, yet you actually used one on something this pointless!

Of course, if Koizumi could hear Reimu's thoughts, he would probably point out that one stroke regenerated each day, so what was so important about them?

Other than being fairly powerful, strengthening Servants and allowing them to teleport through space... they did not seem to have much use. There was no battle to fight right now, and he still had two strokes left. Besides, Koizumi was not someone who would simply let others control him, so he did not care much about Command Seals. He had only used one stroke; the remaining two could be used once each on the other two.

"If possible, I would like detailed intelligence from the Revolutionary Army regarding this Empire and other countries. Furthermore, whenever there is any new intelligence, you must provide me with a copy. As long as we have that intelligence, we can continuously provide you with charms, and we absolutely guarantee their quality. What do you think?" Ignoring Reimu's dissatisfaction, Koizumi spoke with a faint smile.

Najenda was slightly stunned. Koizumi wanted intelligence, but what did he intend to do with it?

Najenda did not know much about Koizumi himself. As for the shrine maiden Reimu, she had only heard a little about her from Leone and the others. Apparently, Reimu was rather greedy for money and enjoyed living a leisurely life.

Hata no Kokoro, who had remained silent at the side, liked wearing masks. She had reportedly used the expressions on her masks to convey emotion.

Compared with the other two, Koizumi had a weaker presence, so fewer people knew much about him.

Leone, who had drunk with Koizumi, could roughly guess his personality. After all, people often said things while drunk that they would not normally say—didn't people always say that drunken words revealed the truth?

Thus, Najenda's understanding of Koizumi's personality came from Leone.

But Leone herself had only been guessing at Koizumi's personality, so it was all based on speculation.

Therefore, Najenda roughly concluded that Koizumi was not an ambitious man and cared greatly about Reimu and the others.

But why? Why did Koizumi want the Revolutionary Army to provide intelligence on other countries? Did he intend to do something to them? Or did he want to sell these charms across the entire world? That would certainly be a good opportunity to make money.

Still, that was only speculation. Najenda needed to ask him herself.

"Could you tell me why you need the Revolutionary Army to provide intelligence on other countries, including the Empire?"

Najenda's brows drew together slightly, and her tone was grave. If it were merely money, there would be no issue. But he wanted the Revolutionary Army to share intelligence with him. This concerned matters at the upper levels—how could she make such a decision casually?

Although Najenda was highly valued by the Revolutionary Army, she still did not dare make the decision herself.

If she could not get a clear answer here, she would probably have to return and report directly to the higher-ups.

It would originally have taken quite some time, but fortunately, the higher-ups had sent over an item that could be used to report directly to the Revolutionary Army headquarters. That saved the time originally needed to travel there.

"...I'm afraid I cannot tell you."

Koizumi had no choice. If possible, he would certainly have wanted to explain, but he could not determine whether the Revolutionary Army was the center of the distortion.

If the Revolutionary Army was the center of the distortion, would he not be walking straight into a wolf's den?

Therefore, no matter where he was, Koizumi had to keep something in reserve. At the very least, he could not let anyone know his objective.

Najenda could not help rubbing her forehead. All right, just as she had imagined, he did not intend to say.

If he acted this way, things would become somewhat difficult for her side.

It seemed she could only discuss it with the Revolutionary Army's higher-ups and do her best to make them agree.

Leone and the others had said that the shrine maiden's ability was genuine. She had even escaped unscathed from General Budou's attack, which made her strength obvious. If Reimu joined them, the Revolutionary Army's strength would definitely rise.

The Empire's two strongest figures were Esdeath and Budou, and the Revolutionary Army had difficulty dealing with either of them.

Budou was somewhat easier to handle. As long as they did not attack the Imperial Capital, they would not come into contact with him. But Esdeath was different.

With Reimu's assistance, they would have one more chance to defeat Esdeath or Budou.

Thus, Najenda believed she needed to fight for this with the Revolutionary Army's higher-ups. After all, no faction would reject the addition of such a powerful expert, even if they needed to pay a price to secure her help. In business terms, she was worth the price.

At that thought, a hint of determination appeared in Najenda's eyes.

Najenda's Dilemma

Najenda left, because she had never expected to persuade Koizumi, Reimu, and the others so easily from the start.

Najenda ignored Hata no Kokoro's opinion. After all, Hata no Kokoro did not seem to have any opinions of her own and followed Koizumi in everything.