"A day? No, no, no, that's the volume of a single deal!"
"A single deal?"
At the ugly man's words, Ogre's eyes widened into something of a blank stare.
Then he, too, revealed a wicked smile.
"With your business on this scale now, you're putting me in a difficult position."
"We can work something out! Hehe..."
The man handed Ogre a bag of gold coins.
"We'll split it forty-sixty. Forty for me, sixty for you. Make sure you prepare a few more scapegoats for me this time!"
"That's easy enough! As long as you keep making more money, I've got plenty of ways to sort things out for you!"
Hearing this, the man laughed with delight.
"I knew it! With you around, I've got nothing to worry about! Hahahaha!"
With that, their conversation ended. The man tied up his gold coins, tucked them away, and left, his hunched figure resembling a wizard.
Ogre also looked thoroughly satisfied, having completely forgotten the rustling he had heard earlier.
Once Ogre left, the shadows gathered, taking Lin Feng's form.
Lin Feng had more or less figured out what was happening.
As captain of the Imperial Guard, Ogre was not permitted to engage in this sort of private business activity in the first place,
and judging by the volume of that man's transactions, it was most likely some shady business.
Taking into account the particularly sensitive keywords they had used as well,
the merchant probably conducted illegal trade, after which Ogre found scapegoats to clear his name and took a share of the profits.
Still, the matter could not yet be called fully resolved.
At the very least, he still needed to gather crucial evidence before he could determine just how far Ogre's conduct went!
Night Raid headquarters.
Night Raid-an assassin organization that had recently emerged.
Because its founder, Najenda, had once held a fairly high position in the Imperial Army, the Empire paid considerable attention to the organization.
But Najenda was certainly no ordinary figure. Under her shrewd management, Night Raid's strength continued to grow, and its membership expanded rapidly.
Despite that rapid expansion, it currently had only six members.
However, all these members possessed the greatest military weapons in this world-Teigu-and so every one of them was immensely powerful.
Night Raid employed precisely this sort of elite management system, prioritizing the quality of its members over their numbers.
"This mission should be relatively straightforward... As far as I know, the opponent isn't some powerful Teigu user, but he does have a certain amount of strength. Everyone, please be careful."
Her silvery-white hair looked crisp and sharp. Her black suit could hardly conceal the graceful curves of her body, yet it gave her a powerful, unapproachable air.
With a black eyepatch over her right eye and a modified mechanical right arm, this woman was none other than Night Raid's leader, Najenda.
Najenda stood in an elevated position, issuing orders to her team.
"Akame, you'll carry out the assassination this time. You've already had a long rest, and with your abilities, you'll have no trouble."
"Yes."
A calm female voice answered from the shadows.
"Everyone has already seen the photograph, so we won't go over the target's identity again."
Every Night Raid member looked at the photograph in front of them on the table. They recognized the man in it at a glance.
"That man from the thirteenth district..."
"'Ogre the Demon'... right?"
"It would be stranger not to recognize him."
Bracing both hands on the tabletop, Najenda cast an icy gleam from her eyes into the boundless emptiness.
"This time... just how much farther do we still have to go to reach that woman?"
The night had ended, and dawn was approaching.
Having finished last night's patrol, Lin Feng and Sheele enjoyed a rare day off today.
Although Lin Feng had only asked Sheele to deliver his meals, her cooking was so poor that she had spent the past few days wearily traveling back and forth between the restaurant and the guard station. Now she lay fast asleep in bed.
Lin Feng, however, had risen early because his body had long since grown accustomed to its internal clock.
This was also one of the few times Lin Feng could see Sheele's sleeping face.
Back at the restaurant, Sheele usually wore her purple, rectangular glasses all day so she could concentrate,
and only took them off during these rare moments of leisure.
I still prefer how you look without glasses...
Lin Feng had no desire to disturb Sheele and would rather let her stay home and get some proper rest.
"So, where should I go next...?"
To be honest, Lin Feng was very unused to the feeling of being away from the restaurant.
Without his usual task of gathering Danger Beast ingredients, he kept feeling as though something was missing.
"Whatever happens, I'll head out first... I won't know what'll happen until I get outside!"
Lin Feng waved his hand a few times in front of Sheele, but she showed no reaction at all.
After writing a note saying, "I'm heading out. I'll be back at noon," Lin Feng still felt something wasn't quite right.
Right, it's still missing this...
Lin Feng added three little words at the bottom.
"Don't cook anything!"
Only then did Lin Feng feel at ease, gently closing the door as he stepped into the north wind and warm sunshine.
Though going out appeared to be an idle stroll, Lin Feng was actually fulfilling his duties as a member of the Imperial Guard.
After all, public safety in the Empire's towns was truly terrible, and petty theft was commonplace,
so going out with his Imperial Guard identification was another way of maintaining public order in the Empire.
Before he had gone more than a few steps, Lin Feng heard a shrill female voice.
"My purse! Give me back my purse!"
Beside the shouting woman, a masked man raced away with a cloth purse clutched against his chest.
I really did pick the right time to go out...
The [Alucard Template System] poured powerful blood energy into Lin Feng's legs.
Soon, Lin Feng's feet, which had felt somewhat weak from the cold, became incomparably light, as though he could run like the wind.
In a flash, Lin Feng caught the hem of the masked man's clothes from behind,
and with just a light kick to the calf, sent him crashing to the ground. The agonizing pain of a fractured bone left him unable to get up for some time.
"You bastard..."
The man turned back to roar at Lin Feng, only to see him produce an "Imperial Guard member" identification card. Instantly losing all courage to resist, he could only lower his head and submit to punishment.
"Thank you... Thank you so much..."
"It's nothing. This is what a guard should do."
After returning the purse in the man's hand to the woman he had robbed, Lin Feng escorted him to the guard station.
On the way, Lin Feng suddenly remembered something.
Last night, when Captain Ogre had been making his deal with that ugly merchant, he seemed to have mentioned finding "fall guys."
Then who would those "fall guys" be?
In any case, they wouldn't be officially enlisted Imperial soldiers like Wave and Seryu.