"That's my judgment. I wonder, Mr. Night Raid, are you going to keep playing dumb?"
The moment he heard that, Lubbock knew his identity was exposed.
"How did you know who I am?"
*Haha, 'cause I've read the script*—Aaron definitely wouldn't say something so cryptic.
"That level of killing technique, instantly murdering so many people... that's not something just any joe-shmoe can do. Anyway, the only famous assassination group I know of is Night Raid. It was just a random guess. No loss if I was wrong."
Releasing Kiana again, Aaron looked at Lubbock indifferently, repeating a line that sounded vaguely familiar to Lubbock.
"Ha, no denial. Looks like you're admitting to it then, buddy."
Lubbock was starting to get a headache.
From just these few minutes of conversation, he had figured out a few things.
And unfortunately, none of them were good.
First, ignoring the white-haired girl, this black-haired young man had a brain.
People with brains are hard to fool.
People with brains are more rational.
And what Night Raid does, in the end, is a business that gets you beheaded. To get others to join, it's obvious you can't do it without a little... persuasion.
But this man... he was bad news.
*While I was probing him, he was probing me.*
*And not just probing. When he just mocked me with 'Ha, no denial. Looks like you're admitting to it then, buddy,' he probably had another motive.*
*He was mimicking the tone I used when I probed him... Ha, this guy is trying to piss me off.*
*Troublesome. So troublesome.*
*But I can't blame them. From a third-party perspective, a suspicious member of an assassination group, crouching in the dark watching an ambush, and only appearing after the fight is over...*
*Wow, even I think I'm super suspicious.*
*For a suspicious person like me, their attitude is perfectly normal.*
*But unfortunately, I can't just keep putting myself in their shoes.*
*Sigh, looks like I can't recruit them.*
*Doesn't seem like I can trick them into handing over the Teigu either... If we fight, we should have the advantage.*
*But on one hand, I really don't want to be this ruthless. On the other hand, the power they showed when they fought earlier... tch, it was just a stomp. I couldn't get any real intel.*
*I'll see if I can get some information through conversation first. If possible, even if I can't recruit them, it would be best to at least become allies.*
As for Aaron's mockery—Lubbock, of course, didn't take it to heart.
As an assassin who put his life on the line for a living, if he were hot-headed, he would have died on a mission long ago.
"Well, I am indeed a member of Night Raid. As for Night Raid—"
"You kill corrupt officials and the wicked of the Imperial Capital to earn money, all with the ultimate goal of taking down Minister Honest."
"Good idea. Too bad the Revolutionary Army backing you has a lot of bastards in its high command."
*?*
*??*
*???*
*Wait, he even investigated *that*?*
A bead of cold sweat trickled down Lubbock's temple. He felt a genuine sense of panic.
If the other party had only seen him with his mask on, he wouldn't have cared if they left—his identity wasn't exposed, nothing to fear.
But now, his identity was irrelevant. The problem was—the fact that the Revolutionary Army was Night Raid's backer had been found out.
Once those maggots in the Imperial Capital learned this, Night Raid wouldn't just be facing rabble anymore.
Right now, they were, at most, an assassination group threatening the lives of a few officials.
But if their identity was exposed, they would be a threat to the nation's entire system.
The former is just minor trouble, but the latter is treason.
In any country, treason is a capital offense, one that could get your whole family killed.
The seven members of Night Raid weren't afraid of death, but Lubbock didn't want the connection between Night Raid and the Revolutionary Army to be exposed so soon.
"Ah, this is bad."
Watching Lubbock fall silent, Aaron said helplessly, "Sorry, sorry. I wasn't targeting you guys in Night Raid. In fact, I quite like you guys, killers who punish bad people."
"When I was a kid, I used to dream about punishing those bad guys who did terrible things but never got punished. In a way, you're doing what I couldn't. In other words, you should be the heroes I admired in my youth."
"Ha, heroes you admired in your youth... You've got a hidden meaning in there, don't you, buddy? 'Heroes I admired in my youth' means that now that you're grown up, you see us for what we really are, right?"
"Even after seeing you for what you are, I still don't hate you—sigh, to be honest, that fat pig is far more disgusting than you. But..."
"But?"
"For... personal reasons, I personally despise collaborators. For me, people who act as collaborators for a foreign power are the kind of trash I hate the most."
"...You know far, far more than I thought, my friend."
At this moment, looking at Aaron's incredibly sincere expression, Lubbock's desire to recruit him actually grew.
This man's eyes were incredibly clear. Lubbock could tell he was no villain.
Even as a killer, he didn't like fighting people like this.
*And if I don't recruit him into Night Raid, and all this information leaks out... tch, the impact on us will be too great.*
"Really, you won't consider joining us? If we add your and this young lady's strength, maybe we won't need to join forces with a foreign power to successfully save this country."
"Give me a break. You don't really think a few assassins, just by recruiting one more fighter, can shake one of the military high command's fundamental policies, do you?"
"We're just strangers who met by chance. After this chat, let's just pretend we never saw each other. If there's nothing else..."
Just as Aaron was about to pull Kiana away, he suddenly threw her backward.
Even in that sudden moment, Kiana, who roughly knew Aaron's intentions through their Perfect Attunement, cooperated, retreating a distance and landing smoothly on her feet.
As Aaron completed this action, he himself leaped backward.
The instant they both moved, the ground where they had been standing was struck by an attack.
As the dust cleared, an armored man in silver armor, holding a red spear, walked out of the dust cloud.
"Lubbock, that's enough. It seems these two have no intention of becoming our comrades. In that case..."
"––My apologies, you two. After learning so much information, we can't possibly let you leave just like this."
"If you would, please come to our base as guests. If you refuse, I can only say I'm sorry."
...............................