Chapter 4: Mascot Actually Suits Me Pretty Well

"Anyway, I should find a place to stay first."

Carrying her belongings on her back, Yoshino stepped into the Imperial Capital without much interest in admiring the exotic scenery, blending into the crowd.

Looking around here and there, she soon found a street lined with inns nearby.

After all, this was the Imperial Capital—the heart of the nation—constantly attracting people from other cities and villages.

Naturally, a city like this couldn't possibly lack places for travelers to rest.

Among the many inns, Yoshino picked a fairly ordinary and reasonably priced one and walked inside.

At the front desk, Yoshino stood on her tiptoes and, through ventriloquism using Yoshinon, said,

"Excuse me, we'd like to book a room. Do you have any vacancies?"

The innkeeper put down his newspaper and looked up, but saw nothing in front of him.

Only when he caught sight of two bunny ears swaying at the counter edge did he realize where the guest was.

"Where did this little kid come from?" the innkeeper asked with a puzzled look. "Where are your parents?"

"About that... I'd like to know the answer myself, actually."

Yoshinon spread his hands and said helplessly,

"Mister, don't tell me your inn doesn't accept children?"

"No, no, I was just curious. It's not every day you see a kid traveling alone at your age," the innkeeper said, eyeing Yoshino closely.

"And it's even rarer for someone to reach the capital safely from another city, especially in these times. Seems like you've got some tricks up your sleeve."

"You flatter us. But mister, when you talk to someone, you should look them in the eye. Otherwise, I won't know who you're talking to."

"Huh? But I am talking to you..."

Confused by the girl's strange words, the innkeeper didn't immediately get what she meant.

But he quickly realized—this girl hadn't moved her lips the entire time, and instead, the rabbit puppet on her hand had been waving around animatedly.

"Ohh, so that's how it is."

A well-traveled man, the innkeeper quickly understood, and shifted his gaze to the rabbit hand puppet.

"So, I should be talking to you, huh?"

"Oh! Mister, you're pretty sharp!" Yoshinon said cheerfully.

"It might be hard for others to get it, but lucky for you, I've met someone with this kind of hobby before... in a circus."

"Hey! Don't lump Yoshinon in with some circus prop, got it?"

Yoshinon crossed his arms. Despite the puppet's face being permanently fixed in a wide grin, for some reason it felt like it was really angry.

"Sorry, sorry."

Although he didn't take Yoshinon words too seriously, the innkeeper wasn't about to bicker with a kid either.

Business was steady at the moment, so after a bit of small talk, the innkeeper moved on to the lodging matters.

Yoshino took out a few silver and copper coins from her pouch, paid for three nights along with a deposit, and then took her key and headed to her room.

Locking the door and setting down her pack, she collapsed onto the slightly worn-out bed.

So far, everything had gone smoothly.

Even though she'd gotten lost in the forest for a few days, she was lucky enough to run into a merchant caravan also heading to the capital, which gave her a ride.

Now that she had a place to stay in the capital, even without working, she could live for a while on the money she'd brought from the village.

"Next, I should probably go find Tatsumi... or maybe let him come find me?"

Lying on the bed, Yoshino pondered her next move.

In this world, the system's main quest tasked her with becoming the shadow behind the empire's transformation.

From the wording, it was clear that joining the Revolutionary Army's assassination squad was the intended path.

The system had made her Tatsumi fellow villager—probably as a hint that she should act alongside him.

Although joining an assassination squad didn't suit Yoshino character at all, it didn't necessarily mean she had to be an assassin.

With her connection to Tatsumi, she could simply be Night Raid's mascot.

And sticking with Night Raid would also help advance side quests 1 to 3.

At the moment, this seemed to be her only, and best, option.

"The Revolutionary Army has plenty of eyes and ears in the capital, and they're directly connected with Night Raid."

Lying on the bed, Yoshino had already laid out her plan for tomorrow.

"If I just show my face around a bit, they should find me soon enough."

Late at night—ten kilometers north of the capital.

In the dense forest and mountains, the base of Night Raid was nestled within.

Najenda, the boss of Night Raid, reached out and caught a messenger pigeon, frowning as she opened the satchel on its back.

"Leone, you better really have an emergency that kept you from leaving the capital."

As she pulled out the intelligence inside, Najenda muttered,

"If I find out you stayed because of some stupid party or something, you're going to regret using the pigeon when you get back."

Normally, messages between the capital and Night Raid's base wouldn't be delivered by pigeon.

It was too dangerous and unreliable—if intercepted by the Empire, depending on the content, the Revolutionary Army could suffer serious losses.

As she unfolded the scrolls and read the string of bad news, Najenda frown deepened.

She silently lit a cigarette. The nicotine helped relieve a bit of the pressure, but couldn't change the terrible situation that Night Raid and the Revolutionary Army were in.

Then again, bad news had become the norm.

Ever since she betrayed the Empire and joined the Revolutionary Army, Najenda had rarely received any good news.

Just as she was about to send the pigeon back, she noticed there was still a note left in the satchel.

Taking it out, she saw Leone handwriting—and finally, a faint smile appeared on Najenda face.

"So you stayed because you ran into someone from Tatsumi hometown, huh? That's... actually good news for him."

As she unconsciously flipped the note over, she quickly found another line of text written on the back.

"You also want to see if there's a chance to assassinate Esdeath because she happened to return to the capital?"

Reading the line and the doodled smiley face at the end, Najenda couldn't help but hold her head in her hand.

She knew Leone was bold—but she didn't expect her to be this reckless, thinking of assassinating the Empire's strongest general all by herself.

That was pure suicide.

Based on what Najenda knew about both Esdeath and Leone, even ten Leones wouldn't be enough to take down Esdeath alone.

Still, Najenda also knew that despite her rowdy personality, Leone had a keen mind beneath it all.

If she didn't have absolute confidence, she'd never make a move.

"Anyway, first I need to let Tatsumi know we've found Yoshino."

Crushing the cigarette underfoot, Najenda extinguished the embers and turned toward the Night Raid members' quarters.

"As for Leone... let's just wait for that woman to come crawling back with her tail between her legs."