The Minister sat at the seat of honor, viciously tearing off a chunk of meat from an enormous roast and quickly swallowing it. As he looked at the assassins led by Gozuki below, he seemed to be in an excellent mood.
"Gozuki has already told me about your performance. Not bad! Very good, I am satisfied... especially since you even killed one of the Assassination Society's big shots."
Gozuki had reported the assassins' performance to him long ago, and he could say he was extremely satisfied. They might have been somewhat weaker than the Immortal Blades trained by Rita, but they should not have been far behind.
Although quite a few had died along the way, those who died were worthless anyway. There was no need to care about them.
What pleased the Minister most was that, under Gozuki's leadership, they had achieved excellent results in their recent conflict with the Assassination Society. Gozuki himself had even slaughtered one or two elder-level figures.
"This is what we should do."
In response to the Minister's words, the assassins below answered in unison, their expressions utterly calm.
"Mm. You will not be denied your rewards. I summoned you back in such haste not only to reward you, but also because I have a new mission for you. Your mission is to eliminate Night Raid, the assassin organization active in the Imperial Capital!"
"My relatives have been repeatedly targeted by Night Raid's assassins recently. Those rats even killed my nephew. They have thoroughly enraged me, so they must pay the price—the price for provoking me."
Swallowing the remaining meat in his mouth in one gulp, the Minister slammed a hand against the armrest and stood up, looking utterly furious.
"Yes!"
Faced with the Minister's rage, everyone immediately lowered their heads, not daring to