Chapter 4

                                    

                                          
Running through a hallway, from the top floor of a mansion, 2 figures, easily recognizable by those who know Night raid at this point, a currently cat-eared woman, Leone, being followed by our protagonist Calin, moving at high speed yet remaining undetected
The two eventually make their way to their destination, standing hidden on either side of a doorframe, looking in on a pair of similar looking and similarly dressed individuals having dinner
These are the Kobore brothers, direct subordinates of the prime minister who carry out a large portion of his dirty work, they are also the targets of the pairs assassination
In seconds both are dispatched, Calin impaling one in the chest, shredding his heart, while Leone grabs the other, giving him a taste of heaven before sending him straight to hell with a quick twist of his neck
With the two dead at the table the assassins begin to make their way out
???:Daddy?
The two practically vanish as a young boy enters the room
Child:Just now...what were those sounds...?
The boy looks up and sees the pair of corpses
???:Daddy!
Sometime later, Calin sits by the edge of a river, thinking to himself about what happened, seeming conflicted, fortunately he's distracted by a familiar pair of pillows wrapped around his head as Leone comes up behind him
Leone:I got worried seeing how you reacted earlier, so I came to check on you
Calin:hey Leone, guess you're just not the type for that to hit as hard huh?
Leone:I guess I'm not
Calin:...How'd you get into this Leone, I don't think I've heard yet
Leone:There were some assholes I didn't like, beat them up, got scouted and that was about it
Calin:...seriously? that easy?
Leone:Yep
Calin:Where'd you get your teigu? Revolutionary army provide it?
Leone:Nah, saw it at a black market, asked the old man running the store for it, said I could have it cause I was hot
Calin:Bruh
Leone:Yeah, didn't seem like anybody realized it was a teigu cause nobody'd ever gotten it to activate
Calin:So why assassination then? How'd you get to doing this specifically?
Leone:Eh, earliest thing I can remember is this game some aristocrats were playing, trampling kids from the slums under horses, pissed me off so bad I killed them, from there, I started really enjoying offing evil bastards like that, so the prime minister? Who does whatever the hell he wants from his cushy political position? Would be the ultimate prey. So I'd love nothing more than to kill him in a way that makes everything he's done seem tame in comparison, so everyone can be happy
Calin:y'know, I probably should've expected something like that, I mean you did try and rob me when we first met
Leone:Can you really say I failed when I got the money in the end
Calin:yeah yeah
Leone:Anyways, these kinds of things just happen in our line of work, and we have to accept it, sometimes people get hurt when they don't deserve it as a consequence of what we do, it's not always clean, all we can do is move on knowing one day we'll have made a difference for everyone
Calin:thanks for the pep talk Leone
Leone smiles and pats him on the back
Elsewhere some people are having a much less pleasant time, in the depths of the imperial palace very large men wearing chains and iron masks are torturing likely innocent people, attacking them to wheels, whipping them, brutalizing them with spiked knuckles, making others watch, forcing them into spiked chairs, hacking off limbs and even straight up ripping their eyes out, and the main attraction in the middle, a giant tub of boiling water they're shoving people in, all while verbally abusing them and going on about the prime minister
???:What is this...? Looking at you all is pathetic
Torturer:What was that? You want to join-! Lady Esdeath! We didn't know you returned ma'am!
Torturer 2:We're terribly sorry
Esdeath:You guys are quite unskilled in the art of torture. Truly pathetic, for instance what's with the temperature of this cauldron? It it's too hot they die too quickly don't they?