Chapter 3: The Lion Seeks the Rabbit

"Looks like I'll need to be even more careful with my actions in the Imperial Capital from now on."

Standing on a rooftop, a woman let out a helpless sigh as she watched a flying Danger Beast heading toward the center of the Imperial Capital.

She had beautiful golden hair, but it appeared a bit messy from lack of care. Still, the disheveled look didn't take away from her charm—if anything, it enhanced her carefree personality, especially when paired with her rather revealing outfit.

Her name was Leone, a member of Night Raid, the Revolutionary Army's assassination squad.

As one of the few Night Raid members whose identity had yet to be exposed, she could roam the Imperial Capital openly without fear of capture.

Only after seeing the flying Danger Beast carrying Esdeath disappear as it landed in the capital's center did Leone finally retract her gaze.

With a leap, she dove into the alleyways between the buildings.

Glancing around and making sure no one was nearby or following her, she moved a trash bin that was resting against the wall, then pulled out a slightly misshapen brick embedded in the wall.

Reaching into the secret compartment behind the brick, her hand immediately felt the papers hidden inside.

"All bad news, huh…"

She frowned, skimming through the intelligence reports quickly, and stomped her foot in frustration.

Night Raid was the assassination unit, while intelligence gathering was left to others.

Though the Revolutionary Army had been suppressed by the Empire's forces for years, they had still managed to plant many informants within the capital, forming a relatively strong intelligence network.

The information gathered by these informants played a crucial role in Night Raid's assassination missions and other operations.

But making judgments based on the intel was the job of Night Raid's boss—not Leone—so she only flipped through the reports briefly.

Soon, she reached the last page.

"Still no trace…"

Staring at the four simple characters at the end—[Still Searching]—Leone scratched her head in frustration. "It's been missing for so long… If we still can't find her, there might really be no hope. Let's just hope that kid Tatsumi can handle it."

Over a month ago, after discovering that two of his companions had been brutally tortured and killed by Imperial nobles, Tatsumi—who had once placed his hopes in the Empire—joined Night Raid, vowing to cleanse the darkness of the Empire and avenge his friends.

Luckily, there were three people who had left their village together with him.

Ieyasu and Sayo were already dead. As for the third person, a girl named Yoshino, her whereabouts were still unknown.

So Tatsumi had pleaded with Night Raid's boss, Najenda, to activate the Revolutionary Army's intelligence network to help search for her.

To ease his pain, Najenda didn't refuse. She distributed Yoshino general appearance and features and instructed the informants to search for her as long as it didn't interfere with their main duties.

Although the task had been issued, no one truly believed Tatsumi could find his last missing companion.

So much time had passed without a single clue. From Leone perspective, Yoshino had either been targeted upon arriving in the capital and ended up imprisoned in some twisted noble's mansion—or worse, she never even made it to the capital and had died in some remote mountain pass.

"That kid really needs to start facing reality."

Muttering under her breath, Leone placed her operational funds back into the wall compartment, returned the brick and trash bin to their original positions, and walked out of the alley with the intelligence papers tucked in her pocket.

She exited from the north gate of the capital without any trouble. Just as she was preparing to return to Night Raid's base, her ears twitched slightly.

As a member of an elite assassination group, Leone was naturally a Teigu user.

She wielded the belt-type Teigu "Beast King Transformation: Lion King", which allowed her to undergo a beast transformation that drastically enhanced every physical attribute, granting her a body on par with top-tier Danger Beasts.

Even without activating the transformation, just wearing the Teigu passively improved her physical abilities—including her hearing.

Attracted by a conversation on the other side of the city gate, Leone turned her head curiously.

"Name?"

"Yoshino~ desu!"

"Where are you from?"

"Tam Village, in the north."

"What's your reason for coming to the capital?"

"To reunite with my lost companions and earn money to help rebuild my village."

Seeing the girl talking with the city guards at the gate, Leone froze in her tracks.

The girl's name was Yoshino, she was about 145 cm tall, and she wore a green bunny-eared outfit.

Though she couldn't see the girl's face clearly from this angle, Leone was already 80% certain this was the same Yoshino that Tatsumi had been searching for—the last of his missing companions.

"Well, finally some good news."

A smile spread across Leone face. Changing her direction, she quickly headed toward Yoshino while thinking, "Tatsumi owes me big for this. When I get back, he'd better cook me a huge feast—no, a whole month of feasts!"

The guards, likely judging Yoshino to be a harmless child, asked only a few routine questions before letting her through.

Seeing this, Leone quickened her pace.

Unfortunately, she still didn't catch up in time and could only watch as Yoshino walked into the city.

"Stop right there!"

Just as Leone tried to follow, the guards suddenly became alert. One of them shouted and pointed a long spear at her. "Don't come any closer! Stop immediately!"

A normal person would've panicked under such a loud command from a soldier.

But Leone, seasoned by countless battles, didn't even flinch. Instead, she walked forward with a bright smile.

"Hey there, soldier-boy~ The girl who just went in—I know her. Can't you let me follow her?"

"Nope. If you want to enter the city, get in line." The guard coldly pointed to the line that stretched more than a kilometer. "All those people are waiting to get in. Why should you get special treatment?"

"Okay, okay, I get it…"

Still smiling, Leone reached toward her waist, intending to bribe him with a gold coin.

But her hand came up empty—she'd just remembered she had left all her money behind at the hidden compartment to fund her mission. The smile froze on her face.

She couldn't exactly activate her Lion King Teigu and leap over the city wall in full view of everyone.

Letting out a deep sigh, she had no choice but to shuffle to the very end of the long line.

"Say… didn't that little girl look kinda familiar to you?"

After Leone walked off, another older guard casually brought it up.

"Now that you mention it… yeah, she did seem familiar." The other guard thought for a moment, then his eyes lit up. "Oh, right! She looks like the girl from that wanted poster!"

"Yeah yeah, that's it! Could she really be the girl from that missing person report?"

"No way. That poster's from years ago. Even if she was a little girl back then, she should be an adult by now."

"True, true…"

"Still, better report it, just in case."

"Mm. I'll do it after my shift."

After exchanging a few more words, the two guards returned to their inspection duties.