Chapter 2: Kill The Monsters

Archer looked at the guardsmen who surrounded him. To start, there were a dozen men holding tower shields serving as the first line of defense, no doubt armed with swords as well, though he couldn't see whether or not they were still in their sheaths. Then behind the shield-bearers was an equal number of spearmen followed by almost double their number in crossbowmen, loaded and ready, and then four more guards who were aiming rifles.

There were forty-nine in total, all pointing their weapons directly at him.

It amazed Archer just how far weaponry in this world had been developed. He'd seen guns such as those before, and thus he knew that they were capable of firing over twenty rounds before having to reload. Even though such weapons were expensive and difficult enough to produce that most folk – including the vast majority of the Imperial military and even some nobles – preferred to use more traditional arms such as swords and bows, Archer still found it ridiculous that firearms such as those existed in the first place given the state of this civilization.

Then again, weapons such as those existing in a place like this were hardly the most outlandish things he'd ever seen, even if he were to only count his experiences from this current life.

In the centre of the guards' formation, flanked by the rifleman was the one final guard bringing the number up to an even fifty. He was the one who had served as Aria's carriage driver earlier that night, but the bowman quickly deduced that his actual rank was more important than that. The fact that he was the only guard here with his face exposed, along with his prominent – or in Archer's mind, exposed – position, identified him as the captain of the Kalrenns' personal guard. His arms distinguished him from the rest as well, wielding a kite shield emblazoned with the noble family's sigil and a longsword that was a bit too ornate for a rank-and-file soldier to carry.

"Archer," the captain muttered as his men all stared at the bowman, ready to kill him as soon as their commander gave the word. "I'm afraid that we can't allow you to leave the premises now that you've seen what's in there."

"Tell me," Archer managed to say in spite of his clenched jaw as his grip on the Married Blades in his hand tightened. "How is it that you are all able to even stomach this insanity, let alone help those disgusting wastes of flesh commit it?"

In truth though, the former Guardian knew full well that these guards had done far more than merely stomach or support in the Kalrenns' madness; they had actively taken part in it.

Every one of these men had, at some point, held at least one of the instruments of pain in that wretched excuse for a storehouse, and used it to torture at least three people to death.

From what he'd been able to discern from the blades' history, it had been part of the guards' initiation. And furthermore, they were required to so again at least once every three years, to prove that they remained loyal.

The few who had not been able to do so had later become victims of those same tools.

The captain grimaced at Archer's words, and the wandering hero could see shame in many of the other guardsmen's eyes. Until eventually the captain declared, "Because in the Capital, one either abides by the system that is currently in place, or is consumed by it."

Archer sighed at the response, but not out of contempt or disappointment… not for these men at least. As much as he hated it, the captain's words merely reflected the reality that these people were forced to live in.

"My only target here is the Kalrenns, which is why I'm going to give you all a single chance," Archer declared. "Get out of here, go back to whatever family you have, and leave this wretched city behind; I'll even cover your escape. But if you instead choose to continue to stand by the Kalrenns, I will cut you down without hesitation."

"Don't listen to him, men," the captain shook his head. "You all know full well what his lordship will do to you if you even think about deserting. As for you Archer, while I can respect your bravado, the fact is you're completely surrounded. Surrender now, and I promise I'll give you a quick death instead of capturing you for the earl and his family to have their way with."

Archer narrowed his eyes, then placed his two blades on a holster he had on his back for when he needed to put the blades away while concealing his magic. The captain let a surprised look take over his face, having not expected that the young wanderer would actually listen to him. He silently pondered what to say, only for Archer to open his mouth.

"Anyone who's still holding a weapon by the time your captain here hits the ground, will join him."

The captain scowled. "Kill him!"

Every guard carrying a ranged weapon fired their ammunition, but Archer had moved before the Captain even shouted his orders. He jumped completely over the line of men to his right, and while in midair he brought out his bow and nocked an arrow before even reaching the apex of his jump.

The guards who had been able to see him avoid their crossbows didn't even have a full second to stare in awe before the bowman sighted his target, pulled back the string, and then loosed the arrow right into the centre of their captain's forehead.

Archer spun through the air to land on his feet, returning his bow to its resting place as he did so. As the wanderer's feet hit the ground he took a moment to survey the men who had just tried to kill him.

Beyond the line of men, he heard the metallic clang of the captain's body collapsing to the earth.

Every one of the guards was standing in the same position as they'd been before attacking him. Still armed.

Within the depths of his heart, Archer felt a deep pang of regret. But to the world his eyes merely hardened as he once again brought out Kanshou and Bakuya.

The crossbowmen had all just released their bolts and couldn't reload nearly fast enough, while the spearmen suddenly found themselves encumbered by their allies and were unable to turn around and point their weapons in the direction needed. As for the men carrying the heavy tower shields, the massive slabs of steel now only served to weigh them down.

The battle plan now in tatters and their captain dead, the guards quickly dissolved into an uncoordinated mess. Six of the crossbowmen fell to Archer's blades before they wizened up and abandoned their current weapons in order to reach for their swords, with another two dying before they could even draw them. As for the guards who were not in immediate range of the young yet undeniably lethal swordsman, they were busy trying to decide what to do next. The two officers still in the group – the lieutenant and sergeant-at-arms – tried to shout for order, telling their men to reposition themselves and to get their formation back, but amidst the panic and the clashes of steel less than a quarter of those still alive heard them.

As for Archer, he had become a whirlwind of blood and blades as he raced across the grounds, dealing out death left and right. Only after an additional eight men had fallen to him did he suddenly break off, running into the trees that were part of the earl's gardens. By this point the two officers were starting to rally their men again, only for two arrows to come streaking out of the darkness simultaneously, ending their lives in the exact same manner at their captain.

With all of their figures of authority on the battlefield along with over a third of their number now dead, the remaining guards were absolutely terrified. It hadn't even been a full minute, yet one combatant had reduced them to this?

The men didn't exactly have time to ponder their situation though, as their thoughts were interrupted by what sounded like something spinning through the air towards them. One man with a torch held it up to try and make out whatever the source of that sound was, only for the torch to be extinguished by a spray of his own blood. Six men behind him shared his fate as a razor sharp black disc carved a gruesome path through their ranks before it emerged from the crowd and continued onward, only stopping as a familiar figure stepped out from the darkness, and caught it in his left hand.

The remaining guards turned as one to see Archer as he swung the black blade to clear most of the blood off of it.

Half down, half to go.

Archer fired his sixteenth arrow for the night into the back of a retreating figure. He wished he could say that was the end of the battle right there, but he wasn't done yet.

He forced himself to advance toward the last remaining guard, a man who was already on the ground bleeding severely from his arm and chest from when Archer had thrown Bakuya at him and his comrades. All he was capable to doing was attempting to crawl backward with his one good arm as he whimpered for his life.

He was helpless, and Archer was going to kill him.

"P…please," the man begged as his arm collapsed from exhaustion. "Let me go. I won't cause no trouble fer ye or nothin'. Anyone asks and I'll tell 'em whatever you want me to, I swear!" But as Archer continued to come toward him, blades in hand again, all he could do was cry.

"I only served the earl because I didn't wanna go back to livin' in the slums! Plus it's not like, like I could leave once I knew their secret! They didn't give any of us a choice! Just let me go! Please!"

But Archer was unrelenting as his right arm blurred, and a red line appeared across the man's throat. Even as he died though, he continued gurgling on his own blood, pleading for some semblance of mercy.

Finally, Archer let out a sigh. 'I'm sorry, but you had your opportunity, just like they all did.' he thought as he turned his gaze toward the forty-nine other corpses strewn across the grounds. 'And there are some things in life, where you just don't get a second chance.'

"Damn, you do all this yourself, stud?"

Archer's head snapped up and to the left, and he saw a figure crouched on all fours on the roof of the mansion. 'I didn't hear her at all until she spoke up.' He frowned, chastising himself for his negligence. 'Then again, perhaps she's just that good when she wants to be.'

Whoever this woman was though, she didn't exactly seem to be the discreet type given how she'd just announced herself to him. Which begged the question, why would she do that, and why was she here in the first place?

But before that, Archer had to determine the level of threat she presented.

She'd thrown away the chance to ambush him, but he couldn't discount the possibility of her attempting a more seductive approach meant to lull him into lowering his guard.

The woman – almost certainly an assassin of some kind, stood up and casually hopped down, making it all the more easy for Archer to evaluate her.

The first thing he took note of was her lion features; her mane-like hair, her long canines, the tail swishing behind her, and of course those clawed hands. A beast-kin then. She had an undeniably beautiful face along with a body that few men would be able to ignore should she so much as pass by them. Combine that with the skimpy, tight black pieces of cloth she wore around her chest and waist, and Archer didn't doubt for a second that this woman was more than happy to take advantage of men's lust for her as she killed them.

It was all too easy for him to imagine her sauntering up to a target, their eyes almost instinctively drawn to either her twin lumps of heavenly flesh barely hidden by a single piece of fabric on her chest or her admittedly shapely rear, only to find a knife that could be easily concealed in those loose baggy sleeves she wore on her arms and legs stuck in their throat.

Then again, with those claws of hers and the muscles that could very well be hidden underneath said sleeves, she might not even need that much. He'd seen numerous women over the course of his existence that went into battle scantily clad in order to distract their male enemies with their own desires of the flesh, and it wouldn't surprise him in the slightest if she turned out to have a similar fighting style.

Of course when he noticed her belt, his opinion regarding the threat she might present could do nothing except skyrocket.

The King of Beasts: Lionelle

One of the forty-eight Imperial Arms, forged through alchemy using a combination of the remnants of slain Super Class Danger Beasts along with a rare, legendary ore called orichalcum on the orders of the first emperor himself. A Teigu.

Weapons that could only be wielded by the mightiest of warriors and had the potential to turn the tides of battles that decided the course of history. The closest things to Noble Phantasms he had seen in this new life.

Since their initial construction more than a thousand years ago, less than half of these weapons were still accounted for by the Empire today, with many having been either destroyed or gone missing over the course of the Empire's history.

And this woman had one.

Archer wasted no time in Structurally Analyzing the weapon she wore, delving into its history.

He saw that it had been forged from the essence a massive lion-like Danger Beast and bound together with orichalcum. The Danger Beast itself had been one that could devour seemingly anything. It had consumed men even if they were still wearing their armour, gobbled up meat without caring whether or not it was spoiled or even poisoned, and instead used all of this to nurture its growing strength.

Furthermore that ancient creature had even possessed the ability to regenerate. While it could not regrow severed limbs, it was enough to ensure that injuries that would normally have proven fatal would instead close up in a matter of minutes.

And of course the monster had proven itself to be a peerless hunter countless times throughout its life, possessing astounding senses that it used to track whatever prey caught its fancy, and the strength and speed to match.

To say the least, killing such a creature had proven to be a monumental task. When battling the men who had been tasked with slaying it, the monster had even bitten off the ends of the soldiers' weapons and used what little nourishment it had – somehow – been able to extract from the metal to fuel its regeneration.

And now as a Teigu in the form of a belt, this woman wearing it possessed the same abilities as that beast.

All this took place before the mysterious woman had even taken her first step toward Archer. But as she did so, Archer immediately raised his Married Blades into a ready stance.

"Whoa hey there! Easy now," she said while raising her hands. But Archer wasn't going to let a pretty face fool him into letting his guard down, especially not when she was wearing that belt. Even so, he still didn't know for a fact that she was his enemy. A confrontation with her might be unnecessary.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Serious type, are you? Well since you asked my name is Leone. As for why I'm here, rumour has it that the people who own this place are pretty nasty to put it lightly, so I came to check the place out and see if they were true." the now named Leone said while casually crossing her arms behind her head.

Archer's brow furrowed slightly, not having expected such an easy answer from her. 'Either she's lying and is attempting to trick me into seeing her as a potential ally so she'll have an easier time killing me, or this woman is awfully carefree – especially for an assassin.'

"So, since I was nice enough to tell you who I am, why not return the favour?"

Since she was keeping her distance for now, Archer lowered his blades, but didn't ease up his grip.

"You can call me Archer."

At that, Archer saw Leone's eyes widen briefly before narrowing as he suddenly had her full attention. He watched her carefully as she gave him a second look, examining him just the way he had with her a minute ago.

White hair

Tan skin

A pair of curved shortswords, one black, the other white

A long black bow fastened to his back

A white cloak and a black armoured vest

Eyes made of steel

Her eyes glanced at all of these, which when combined together matched what people said the Archer looked like. Leone carefully stared at him for another few seconds before her face broke into an easy smile again. "Well Archer, seems like you might actually be as good as the rumours make you out to be."

Archer ignored the compliment. "Assuming you're telling the truth about why you're here and you just happened to show up at this time, the building behind me should hold the answer to your questions regarding this place."

"You don't say?" Leone replied before crouching down and jumping over and past the young man in front of her. Archer made sure to never take his eyes off her as she gracefully landed on her feet and made her way over to the Kalrenns' torture chamber, where she took one look at what lay beyond the doors before making a disgusted sound.

"Yep, that definitely answers that question. No way the boss isn't gonna accept the contract for these pricks when they've got something like this hidden in their closet."

Archer slowly approached the Teigu wielder who had just confessed that she wasn't here simply to satisfy her own curiosity. Someone had sent her. "Who are you working for?"

"Huh?" Leone said as she turned back to him. "Oh, I can't really talk about that kind of stuff. Trade secret and all that. Anyway, I need to go make a-" Leone stopped as she just realized something.

"Hey… the nobles who live here… they're still alive, right?"

"For now."

"Hmm…" Leone turned to eye him again. "So what're you gonna do now?"

"I should think that's rather obvious given what they've done. I intend to kill them, along with anyone who tries to get in my way. Then I'm going to burn this place to the ground."

Leone couldn't help but frown at that. If this Archer dude killed the nobles here, she and her group wouldn't get paid – they couldn't very well accept an assassination request for someone who was already dead after all.

Then again she didn't exactly feel like fighting this guy over something like who got to kill a few assholes. Not only did he clearly not see eye to eye with the Empire's more corrupt officials and was even willing to do something about it, but the guy had basically painted this whole field red while dealing with the mansion's guards before she arrived, and he didn't even look like he'd broken a sweat while doing it! Even if he wasn't really the Archer, he was undoubtedly someone her organization would want to recruit. And if he was, then even more so.

Hmm, maybe I can use this as a sort of initiation for him. He obviously knows how to fight, but can he really kill someone in cold blood? Though if she was being honest with herself, Leone was already borderline certain that Archer would indeed see his word through – there wasn't a hint of hesitation in those eyes. But even with that, she still wanted to actually see it herself.

As for Archer, he was already making his way inside the mansion…

Valria Karenn yawned as she made her way down one of the mansion's many hallways to go and retrieve her personal journal from where she remembered last reading it. Normally for such a mundane task, she'd have been more than happy to have one her servants take care of it for her, but she made an exception when it came to her private journal. Not even her lord husband was allowed to touch that little book.

The lady of the house couldn't believe that she'd allowed herself to become so engrossed in her conversation with that vagabond who claimed to be the Archer that she'd forgotten to finish documenting the day' torments for all of her family's other "guests." She had to admit though, he had spoken rather eloquently for some bumpkin who supposedly spent most of his time in the wilds.

Thinking about it though, Valria figured that one way or the other, her family only stood to gain from hosting this Archer character. If he was indeed who he claimed to be, the Kalrenns would no doubt be greatly rewarded for having been the ones to find this warrior after so long. And if he was an imposter, then he would soon come to enjoy the full experience of her family's hospitality.

The sound of approaching footsteps snapped Lady Kalrenn out of her musing though, and she raised her head to met with the unexpected sight of her most recent guest.

She immediately put on the smile she often wore when greeting new people. "Oh, Archer, what are you doing up and about so late at night?"

"It appears that I've become far too used to being surrounded by danger even when I'm trying to rest. I figured that a stroll in the night might help to ease my nerves." was the reply she received. "If I may ask though, why are you awake, Lady Valria? I believe I recall your husband saying you needed your beauty sleep."

Valria let out what could be interpreted as an embarrassed giggle. "Oh, I was just going to grab my journal. I simply cannot rest peacefully until I've written down all the events that take place to bring joy to me and my family each and every day."

"I see. Would this be the journal in question?" Archer asked as he tossed a small book at her.

A surprised Valria fumbled a bit but managed to catch it, and with a glance she was able to confirm that it was indeed her private journal. In that instant, Valria felt several emotions wash through her.

Rage. Shock. Terror. Indignity. Defilement.

Had Archer read it?

She tore her gaze from her precious journal to meet Archer's eyes again, only to find that they were now less than an arm's length away, and brimming with the utmost contempt. As she saw this, Valria also heard a wet ripping sound, and felt a sudden ache in her stomach. On top of that, her entire body was suddenly trembling uncontrollably and feeling rather numb in some areas.

Valria found the look Archer was suddenly giving her to be one she did not like, and looked away to see why her body was now feeling this uncomfortable sensation. She looked down at the red fabric she was garbed in, and brought up her hands to see if she could feel what was wrong with herself.

Except her hands didn't obey her. They were hanging limply by her side. They'd even dropped her beloved journal. She certainly hadn't wanted that. Why wasn't her body doing what she told it to do?

Wait, hadn't she been wearing a white nightgown? And why was there what looked like the hilt of a sword attached to her stomach?

It took what felt like ten minutes to Valria to understand what had happened, but in reality was less than two seconds. She'd been stabbed. Archer had used the white blade he was holding in his right hand to impale her through her stomach.

Finally the pain registered, and Valria Kalrenn attempted to scream. Though whether it was out of horror, agony, disbelief, or some combination thereof would forever remain unknown, as the only thing that came out of her mouth in the final seconds of her life was blood.

Aria couldn't sleep tonight. She was far too excited about what the future might have in store for her!

Once Archer joined the Imperial military, Aria knew that it would only take a warrior of his calibre a handful of years at most to reach the rank of general. By that time whatever hints of unsophistication and savagery he'd acquired from his time in the outskirts of the Empire would've been groomed out of him, and she herself would be old enough for her father to start seriously considering marriage proposals for her. Archer was only about half a decade older than her after all, and her own father was almost twenty years older than her mother.

It was honestly perfect: Archer was strong, handsome, he would soon become a distinguished defender of the Empire, and to top it all off, if he really was originally from a noble family like he'd said, she wouldn't even have to worry about the prospect of mixing blood with someone inferior!

Of course she was worried that he may not enjoy the same hobbies as she did, given that he had a reputation for helping so many of those worthless peasants whereas she loved nothing more than watching them writhe in agony, but Aria figured that it couldn't hurt if she kept a few secrets. Plus she assumed that his duties would often call him away from the house for extended periods, giving her all the time she could want to indulge in her not-in-the-slightest-guilty pleasures.

Suddenly the door opened, and Aria found herself being forced to re-evaluate her opinion of Archer as he was currently stepping into her bedroom. Honestly, did he have absolutely zero sense of decorum? Entering a maiden's chambers, uninvited, unannounced, at this hour? Maybe he was more of a brute than she'd been led to believe.

Aria sat up so she could properly berate him for this gross violation of her dignity, but stopped when he spoke in a stern yet sorrowful tone.

"Aria, please… tell me you took no pleasure in what happened in the shed out back. Say that you never wanted anything to do with the atrocities that took place in there."

Aria's eyes progressively widened with shock at each word coming out of Archer's mouth. "How… how do you know about that?"

"Wrong answer."

Earl Maxwell Kalrenn was awoken from his sleep most abruptly when the door to his bedchamber slammed open.

In his sleep-addled mind, he registered the fact that he could not feel his wife's warmth next to him, and thus assumed that she must had stepped out for some reason and was now returning.

Except his beautiful, graceful wife would never do something so uncouth as to slam a door so loudly, not even when she was in her most private moments. Was something wrong? If this was one of his guards, whatever this was about had better be truly urgent or Maxwell would have them strapped onto the wheel. That instrument had always been one of his favourites. Slow. Excruciating. Just the way he liked it.

When he looked over to see who had seen fit to interrupt his sleep though, he slowly recognized the figure as that of his guest Archer.

Archer, who was gripping a black blade in his left hand. A blade pointed at him.

And now the younger man was advancing on him.

"Archer, wha-? Wh-wh-what are you doing?"

The black blade was now raised above the earl's head.

"Killing monsters."

Archer walked out of mansion's back entrance, having inscribed an Ansuz rune in one of the smaller rooms next to the main hall that would consume the entire building in flames after he'd eliminated the earl.

He stopped as he beheld a familiar figure in front of him.

"Hey! Nice work in there," Leone grinned at him as she now had two large sacks stuffed full of gold slung over her shoulders.

"I see you helped yourself while I was busy in there."

"You know it! Granted I wasn't able to grab everything of value they had, but I'm certainly not gonna complain about what I did get." she chuckled.

Archer remained silent, not caring in the slightest about Leone's thievery. Instead he walked past her toward the torture shack. He heard the jingle of coins as Leone shifted the bags she carried and began to follow him for some reason. "What do you want?" he asked.

"You still look like you're a man on a mission even though you've killed pretty much everyone here. So of course I'm curious about what you're gonna do now."

"You're curious? Am I supposed to believe that's all there is to you following me?"

"What can I say? You're an interesting guy. But hey, no skin off my back if you don't believe me." Leone shrugged.

Deciding that he didn't care about Leone so long as she didn't try to interfere, Archer went back into the small building filled with the corpses of those unfortunate enough to have been lured into the Kalrenns' trap, where he swiftly recovered the carcasses of a young man and woman who had each endured hell. He brought the remains of the two outside before inscribing another Ansuz rune into the walls, then Archer hoisted the two bodies onto a single shoulder.

He heard Leone speak again, although this time there was an uncharacteristically sombre and respectful tone to her voice.

"…Friends of yours?"

Archer shook his head. "No. The girl was dead before I ever laid eyes on her, and I only spoke to the boy once for a few minutes. Even so, I promised that I'd honour his final request, and bury them both together somewhere far away from this terrible place."

Leone remained rooted to the spot, not so much as blinking as she gave Archer a long, measuring stare.

"…I know a good place. It's a little bit of a trek to get there, but it has a good view. And there's no sign of the Capital anywhere you look."

Archer nodded. "I'd appreciate it if you showed it to me."

Archer stood up just in time to watch the very edge of the sun peak over the horizon as he finished carving the inscription on the admittedly improvised tombstones that Leone had been kind enough to find for the two graves.

Ieyasu

He who endured Hell,

yet always bore a smile worthy of Heaven

Sayo

Even when trapped by darkness and despair,

her bravery shined more brightly than any constellation

Archer sighed. Sayo. Ieyasu. The former had never given her tormentors the satisfaction of hearing her beg no matter what they put her through, while the latter died with an enviable smile on his face. This was really all he knew about the two of them.

But what Archer did know, was their stories. He could guess the stories of everyone he'd found in that chamber of horrors. All of them had been seeking something out there in the great big world that they had just never been able to find in their old lives. They'd dreamed of attaining it since they were children, and after waiting for so long they had finally decided to make that dream a reality.

But it didn't turn out the way they'd wanted. Instead the Kalrenns, and who knew how many like them, chose to crush that dream and then the dreamers themselves simply because doing so gave them some twisted thrill.

Hearing footsteps again, Archer turned to once again be met with the sight of Leone, only this time the woman had a far more human appearance – her animalistic attributes having vanished with Lionel no longer activated.

Seemed that he'd been wrong about her being a beast-kin.

Leone looked at the two graves, the inscriptions on the tombstones, and then finally at Archer.

"Everything you did at that mansion, killing the guards, the family, burning everything down, and burying these two… none of it was for your own sake, was it."

All Archer did was meet her gaze. There was no need for him to confirm what she already knew.

"When I first saw you I could instantly tell that you were a great fighter, and that you've got what it takes to be killer. But you're more than those things." Leone realized. "…You're also a good man."

Leone started to turn away, but stopped halfway into the motion. "Hey, uh… Listen, I know some people, and I honestly think you should come and meet them. It would mean another trek, but you seem like someone who's used to doing a lot of walking as it is. So, wha'dya say? Feel like comin'? I know they'll want to meet you. They're all great people, in case you were wondering."

…

"I suppose I should at least hear you out, seeing that you were kind enough to help me put these two to rest despite having no such obligation."

Was I mistaken about Leone being an assassin?

This was the single thought coursing through Archer's mind as he stared at their destination. To be fair, it was far out in the wilderness, and a good distance away from any settlements or paths. But all it would take for this location to be compromised was a single person who could've been in the area for… well, any number of reasons really. One look at this place, and it would be pretty damn obvious even to the biggest idiot in the Empire that the location Leone and her acquaintances lived was a secret base.

For whom Archer wasn't quite sure yet, but he had a few good guesses…

Upon entering the hideout, they were greeted by a small woman even younger than Archer, with pink hair fashioned into long pigtails… and an angry glare.

"About time you got back Leone, how long does a simple scouting mission take? And who's the weird guy following you? He'd better not be some useless idiot you grabbed off the streets of the Capital just 'cause you think he's cute or something."

Leone smiled good-naturedly before replying, an action that informed Archer that this was the kind of behaviour he should typically expect from Pinkie.

"Oh don't you worry Mine, once the gang sees what handsome here is made of, I don't think anyone's gonna have any complaints about him joining us."

"So he is a newbie," the newly named Mine growled before shifting her full attention to him. She then proceeded to stare at Archer for exactly one second before turning around. "Unsatisfactory," she declared. "It's obvious from the get-go that he's not cut from the same cloth as the rest of us professionals."

Archer merely raised an eyebrow at the obvious attempt to get a rise out of him. Unfortunately for Mine though, he'd thrown away his pride as a warrior a long time ago.

Which is why he instead turned to Leone. "So when do I meet with the person around here who's opinion actually matters?"

That earned him a laugh from the woman he was speaking to, and a squawk of indignation from the one he'd ignored.

"Very soon, if we're lucky. I'm gonna go give my report to the boss right now; you should be called in not too long after that. In the meantime, you two stay here and play nice with each other." Leone grinned before walking off to another part of the base.

As soon as she was out of sight, Mine walked right up to him and jabbed her finger into his chest. "Listen here you, you may have impressed the bimbo, but don't think that's gonna be enough to make you one of us! My word carries a lot of weight around here I'll have you know, so I'd advise you to start-" Her tirade was cut off when the door slammed open, and a small-framed woman walked in carrying the carcass of a bird-type Danger Beast at least five times her size.

This was a person that Archer recognized immediately. How could he have not, given the seemingly endless number of wanted posters the Empire had for her? The girl may have been young, but she was known to be the most notorious and deadly member of the elite assassination group known as Night Raid that, while unconfirmed, had long been suspected of having ties to the Revolutionary Army that sought to overthrow the current government of the Empire.

Archer remembered the posters stating that this girl, young as she may have been, had been trained since her early childhood to be an elite assassin by the Empire's finest, before going rogue a few years ago. Her body count was said to be in the quadruple-digits, and supposedly she carried a Teigu that could kill with a single touch.

Well, at least he now had confirmation as to who this hideout belonged to.

"Akame?" Mine blinked. "Ah, I see you're back from your morning hunting trip. But why are you bringing that thing inside the base?"

Akame shifted her red eyes over to the one who'd addressed her. "I forgot to grab the spice I wanted to cook it with for my breakfast."

Mine's eye twitched. "So, couldn't you have just put that thing on the spit and then come inside to grab your stupid spice?"

Akame blinked, her face expressionless. "If I left this unguarded, scavengers could have stolen it."

"You'd be leaving it out of your sight for a minute. At most."

Akame continued to stare at her friend, completely silent. After twenty seconds, her eyes shifted to Archer.

"Who are you?"

"Just some newbie who managed to fool Leone into thinking he's got what it takes to be an assassin." Mine interjected, not that Archer cared all that much as he was still deep in thought.

After all, if this place belonged to Night Raid, then that also meant…

Najenda, the leader of Night Raid sat upon her chair that really functioned as more of a throne as she stared down the operative in front of her.

"Finally back, Leone? Is there a reason you took longer getting back from your mission than I expected, or did you see fit to take a detour so that you could enjoy yourself again?"

Leone smiled, though it was a little forced this time. "Boss, I can personally assure you that the reasons for my being late are completely legitimate this time."

"I'll decide if that's really the case after you explain them to me. Now, your report."

Leone scratched the back of her head. "Right, the report. Okay, so there's the report itself, then a bit of what could be seen as bad news, but also what I call a lot of good news."

Najenda's single eye narrowed. "It was a simple scouting mission to determine whether not Earl Kalrenn and possibly his family needed to be designated as targets for our group. What could possibly have happened during a mere evaluation?"

With that, Leone began to weave her tale. "Okay, so I show up at the house – unspotted as always, mind you – when I hear something happening in the back behind their big mansion. I head up to the roof to get a look at what's happening, and there I see just, all of the guards dead and blood everywhere. And of course, there's the guy who did it all, busy taking care of the last survivor."

Najenda was beginning to look somewhat curious. "One man? Against how many guards?"

"Not sure exactly how many since I don't typically count enemies when they're already dead,"

'You never count them to begin with, Leone,' Najenda thought. 'Whenever there's a fight to be had you always just leap right into the centre of combat and go wild.'

"But we're talking a body count that's easily in the range of being several dozen, and the guy didn't even look like he exerted himself doing it."

If Leone hadn't had her attention before, she did now. There weren't that many combatants who could do something like that with such ease, assuming Leone wasn't exaggerating.

"Did he have a Teigu?"

"Not from what I could tell," Leone shrugged. "Anyway, so I go to say hi to this guy," Najenda wanted to facepalm when her operative admitted to blowing her own cover like that, but she refrained from doing so. "And after introducing myself, the guy says to call him Archer."

"Leone, you do realize that the Tournament of the Archer is barely two months away. Every year, at least a few morons who think they can fool the Imperial officials show up to try to claim the prize that's still waiting for the real one." And after failing the tests that had been put into place to determine whether or not they were the real deal, the copycats were quickly dragged off to the palace's torture chambers to live out the remainder of their days. Assuming they were still alive by that point. Najenda still remembered seeing over two hundred 'Archers' show up to the very first tournament, until a few examples of what fate would await those who failed to live up to the legend had scared away all but the most confident of pretenders. And before long they too had come to regret their own persistence.

"Well if this Archer is also a fake, then I gotta tell you he's a very good fake. Anyway, he was kind enough to point me in the direction of a shed that in reality was a torture chamber, which obviously confirmed that those noble pricks were guilty. …Buuuuut, then Archer goes into their house, 'cause apparently he's gonna kill them himself."

Najenda couldn't stop the left side of her mouth from twitching downward. While this supposed Archer had saved Night Raid the trouble of disposing of those pieces of human trash themselves, it also meant that, from a professional standpoint, they could not accept any form of payment for the job to kill them.

"That being said, you'll be happy to know that while he was busy killing the family, I took the time to rob the place. Brought back quite a bit of gold if I do say so. Good thing I did too, cause that Archer dude set the whole place on fire once he finished up."

Well, that took care of lost funds at least.

"Finally, I'm thinking to myself that there's no way I can afford to let a killer of this dude's calibre slip through my fingers. So I invited him back to the hideout, and luckily I seem to have made a good impression because he agreed! I left him in the main room with Mine, if you want to meet him."

'It appears that I'll have to have another chat with her regarding proper procedure for an assassin.' Najenda thought. Though she had to admit, if this Archer character – she was still sceptical that it was really the Archer – was even half as capable as Leone described, he could prove to be a very effective operative for her cause. Then again if this did turn out to be just another fake who'd come in search of the reward that the Tournament of the Archer offered, Najenda would almost certainly need to have him killed. After all, exposing the hideout of one of the Empire's most elusive and deadly enemies would go a long way to ingratiating himself to those corrupt bastards.

But before any of that could be decided, Najenda needed to judge his worth with her own eyes. "Bring him in, along with the others. If this Archer is going to be joining us, he should meet everyone right away." Plus if she decided he needed killing yet turned out to be dangerous, it was in her best interest to stack the deck in her favour as much as possible.

With an enthusiastic nod, Leone rushed off to gather the rest of Night Raid, along with their possible new recruit.

Archer was the last person to step into the large meeting room, with several people standing at each of his flanks and a woman seated at a solitary chair at the far end. Every battle instinct implored him to assess each of the threats and plan for contingencies, but the former Counter Guardian found himself incapable of doing any of that. All he could do right now, was stare at the person who's presence demanded his attention.

He really hadn't changed in the slightest from how he used to be. He was still a sentimental fool.

At that moment, Leone apparently saw fit to invade his personal space and start messing up his hair like he was some kid.

"What's gotten into you, Archer? You see a pretty face and you freeze up? In that case, I want to know why you didn't look at me like that the first time we met."

She stepped back and turned to face the rest of her group. "Sorry about that, I promise that he's not usually like… Boss?"

At that the rest of Night Raid looked over to their leader, only to see that Najenda had turned as pale as a ghost the instant Leone had removed her hand from Archer's head.

The whole team was about to erupt into a string of statements that consisted of either concern for their leader or accusations against the new arrival, but were stopped when the latter stepped forward.

For the first time in seven long years, Archer's face shifted into a genuine smile.

"Hey Big Sis. Long time no see."

And that right there is the cliffhanger I will be leaving you all on for the time being. I know, I know, I'm terrible.

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