Kill the hero

The sun shone its gentle light over the vast and crowded capital of the Empire and its majestic, pristine palace towering above it. Among those plastered and bustling streets protected by the massive walls spreading around the whole magnificent city, three fearless warriors marched on their path to destiny.

"Don't fuck this up, alright?" A young woman's voice lectured the two boys, who followed behind her. She stared the two of them down with both of her hands at her hips; one was just showing off his usual bright, stupid grin and the other was going through the back of his brown, spiky hair with a sweaty smile.

"Ok, ok Sayo…I got it by now." Tatsumi gave in and put his hands on her shoulders.

"No, repeat after me! 'Let Sayo do the talking'! Don't show off and don't complain." Sayo repeated at a snail's pace so even the stupidest of people -namely their other companion- could catch what she was saying for the last 72 hours.

"And if they don't give us a spot, we're just gonna show 'em what we're made of!" Ieaysu chuckled into his hand, earning a hiss and a hard punch in his arm from Sayo.

"Ouch!"

"Ieyasu isn't entirely wrong either…I mean…we just killed this huge earth dragon thing on the way here… those bandits too…I'm sure they'd at least give us the spot of Captain for that or something." He reasoned, glancing at the long queue of people mostly around their age that went on far past the wooden door to the recruitment center.

"No…You killed that huge thing by yourself…and it's not like we have any proof of that so don't count on it… Many other families from the villages probably sent their kids to the army to get money in. At this rate…we'd probably be lucky to get a spot as an average rank-and-file foot soldier and possibly climb up the ladder at some point if we're lucky." Sayo sighed, slowly rubbing both of her temples, after their arduous journey up to this point. What she would give for a tub filled with steaming hot water…

"And that's why we gotta show 'em that we're stronger than most guys! That way they can't deny us!" Ieyasu insisted with a clenched fist raised into the air only to be met with another punch. This time on his noggin.

"Ouch…" The poor boy rubbed the top of his head and took several steps away from Sayo.

"No, they don't care about that. They just want to get their jobs done. To them we're just like any other stranger, so we should not embarrass ourselves." Sayo added, now calm again as the steam from her left fist slowly evaporated. At first, she was against using force on this blockhead for the fear that the miniscule amount of brain cells he perhaps had somewhere deep down in the corners of his thick, hollow skull would be erased entirely, making him painstakingly stupider than he already was, but at this point…that was the only method reigning in said idiocy. It couldn't get much worse now, could it?

"That's why we gotta leave a good impression!" Ieyasu nearly shouted, again with that carefree grin of his that spanned across his entire face.

"You stupid…" Sayo groaned through razor-sharp teeth with her fist already cocked back and aimed at Ieyasu again.

Tatsumi quickly interjected with a nervous smile and a drop of sweat on his brow as he went between them, creating some distance before Sayo could let out her frustrations. "Regardless… we'll do it Sayo's way. And if they want to see something, we'll show them."

I swear…breaking up their fights gets harder and harder by the day…

"At least you have some sense left in you…" Sayo breathed out and let her fist relax.

"I guess it's fine by me...I got a good feeling about this. I'm sure they'll take us." Ieyasu giggled again with his hands behind his head that already had a big fat bump on it. "Still think my way is better though…" Sayo's eye only twitched at that, but she made no further move.

Tatsumi could make out some of the gibberish that people around them were talking, while the queue in front of them became shorter and shorter at a rapid pace.

"I gotta tell ya, that city is huge…like how are we supposed to check out all the places around here in our off-time?" One of the boys ahead of them, his stature at least one head smaller than the other.

"Pretty sure, we get to do that on guard duty…If you know what I mean…" A series of laughs sounded between their group.

"I've been told the traditional district is a good place to go to after work and apparently it's nice to live there and not even that expensive."

"Not really, unless you like your home ransacked."

"You gotta live somewhere… unless you want to settle for the red light district?"

"I'll take prostitutes over organized gangs any day of the week. They sleep at night. At least somewhat."

"Pick your poison, I guess…Wait a minute…shouldn't prostitution be illegal?"

"And who's gonna take care of all the bored, married men of the city or the battle worn soldiers? There've been lots of riots these days, so it's only natural that they…"

"Yeah, I got it by now! Degenerate…"

It felt like they spent an eternity under the scorching sun before they finally arrived at the end of the line. There sat a middle aged woman inside a small booth, clad in a worn-out white shirt, her green coat loosely hanging over her shoulder, sitting alongside a pile of papers to her left and a stamp to her right. Her hands were dirty with ink, covered in blisters from holding onto the wooden stamp for too long. The glasses on her nose did little to cover up the many wrinkles around her brow and cheekbones.

"Next…" She called from the small booth that was formerly a tavern hall that -unlike in its previous days- was now filled to the brim with countless other applicants. Either they babbled on and on about their approval and how they were going to make it big in the capital or they wallowed in a corner of the room because they were rejected. Her voice was monotone and utterly devoid of anything that came remotely close to caring, let alone interest.

Tatsumi nodded at Sayo from behind and then the young woman turned her attention towards Ieyasu for several moments and pressed her index finger against his chest.

"Let me do the talking." She said one last time to Tatsumi's best friend, before they stepped forward, her voice cold enough to put fear of death into God, let alone a boy like Ieyasu.

"Papers." The office woman demanded with a stretched out hand as she took a slight glance at the trio. And just like her faint shout moments prior, her small brown eyes with several rings under them reflected her mood. The woman moved a strand of her long, gray hair out of her face, while she quickly skimmed through the documents.

"That village, huh?"

"Is that a problem, miss?"

She ignored the question. "You're approved for basic training. Report to the local garrison at noon. Here is the address." She passed them a small piece of paper with the street name stamped on.

"Hey! Shouldn't…ouch!" Ieyasu was about to shout, but Sayo very deliberately stomped on his left foot, while keeping a small smile towards the secretary. Thankfully, the noise inside the room was loud enough for the woman to not pick up Ieyasu's concerns. Not that she would be likely to care either way.

The office woman snatched three papers from the pile like she had probably done thousands of times today, hammered her stamp on each of them with mechanical efficiency and handed them over to Sayo.

"Thank you, miss. We appreciate your kindness." The girl said with a polite bow, trying her hardest to suppress a scowl.

"Next…" The woman called again, already looking through the three as if they dissipated into nothing. Tatsumi and company left the jammed place and headed outside as soon as possible.

If this is how all office workers end up, she had to make sure to never touch the profession. "Your kindness my ass..." Sayo grunted and rolled her eyes, gazing down on the recruitment papers in her hand. But it did not matter. All that mattered was what each of them held in her hand. "Thank god… you almost blew it, you blockhead!" Sayo yelled, gritting her razor sharp teeth, resisting the urge to smack Ieyasu in the face with the set of papers and shake him violently, almost content with the idea of doing it until even the last surviving brain cell inside him was gone. During all their bickering, Tatsumi sighed, snatching his paper from Sayo and gazing at the approval seal of the Empire, a cute grin spreading across his face.

"Now we just have to serve for a while and then everything will be alright." He chuckled and went in between the two again.

"Yeah! We're gonna make it big, we're gonna be Captains in no time and then Generals!" Ieyasu declared loud enough with his arms up in the blue sky, so that almost the entire city couldn't miss it.

"If I were you, I'd be happy if they didn't make me a janitor…" Sayo pushed his paper right into the boy's chest, calming herself with a deep breath.

"Hey…it's been quite a walk until now. Why not celebrate a bit before we start serving?" Tatsumi suggested with a small smile.

"Yeah and I'm starving!" Ieyasu admitted, his belly already grumbling for quite a while.

"I'm sure there's somewhere where you can get something to eat nearby. Don't worry, it's on me." Smiling, Tstsumi started juggling the bag of coins he got for killing the earth dragon and helping out in the village with one hand.

"Sweet! You're a lifesaver, bro!"

"We shouldn't get ahead of ourselves. We still need to pay for a place for the night, so we don't have to sleep on the street." Sayo pointed out, while they were already on their way to a well-deserved meal and a mug or two of beer.

Suddenly Tatsumi stopped on the spot next to the gray brick wall of the alley they were passing through. "Hey… look at this… those wanted posters…"

Ieyasu's eyes quickly fell on the numbers on each poster. "Yooooo! Have you ever seen a number like this? So many zeros! Do you know how much this is? Does someone even have that much gold?" Ieyasu asked, his eyes all but popping out of their sockets in surprise at the ludicrous reward. "What do you even have to do for someone to be willing to pay so much just to have you killed? The bandits we got on the way only fetched like, what? A hundred coins? All of them." He recounted wide-eyed, when he too studied the drawn posters.

Tatsumi pondered, rubbing his chin. "Hm, if we caught just one, we wouldn't even have to do any of this. Our families would be taken care of for the rest of their lives for sure." His eyes slowly drafted towards the faces of the wanted people. One in particular caught his interest.

"If it was easy to catch them, someone would have done it by now. I doubt we're just gonna bump into one of those people and they'll turn themselves over to us, because we ask them nicely." Sayo stated and shrugged, already intent on walking away before Tatsumi spoke up again.

"One hundred man-slayer Bulat…Dead or alive. Ten…no, 100 000 no that's not it, there's six more zeros…a million pieces of gold!" Tatsumi slowly read the poster of the assassin out loud, whose number below the name was the highest.

The images ranged from a smiling and fierce young man, exuding an aura of confidence, pride and most of all unshakeable strength to a stern looking woman with an eyepatch over her left eye, short hair and a cigar stuck in the right corner of her mouth. Certainly the kind that would make him go to bed on time and only eat vegetables.

"Does your katana also have a badass name like that?" Ieyasu snickered and gave him a light shove with his elbow.

Tatsumi's hand reached down to his sheathed blade, pushing it out with his thumb just enough to watch light reflect from the silver surface. The village's Elder gave it to him before they left. It used to belong to its creator and served to protect it from danger ever since. Now that they had to earn money for the village to survive, it was bestowed upon him so it 'would lead them back home one day and illuminate the dark tunnel that is life, protecting them from danger lurking in the darkness' as the elder put it. The sword itself was… quite something to say the least. The blade was extremely durable, even as it cut through the earth dragon's scales and bones it did not dull in the slightest, there wasn't even a scratch on it. Its sharpness was something to behold too. Sometimes he wasn't even sure where the tip of the blade even was in the first place.

There was also something oddly calming about it. Whenever he looked at it, even amidst the fight, something would help him stay focused, at peace. "I don't know yet." He returned the blade back into the sheath. "The Elder hadn't exactly told me much about it before we left. I thought of naming it myself but I don't know if the previous wielder would appreciate me naming his katana…Can't think of a good name anyways… 'Serenity' maybe? Maybe a word from some foreign language, I don't know.

"This is a really beautiful sword, you know…" Sayo said, looking at the hilt, covered by a gray leather strap and beautiful engravings. "…I'm sure we could have made a killing, if we sold it on the market back then…" Sayo sighed.

"I'm never going to sell it! Never! Not in a million years!" Its owner tightly clung to the blade in its sheath.

She shrugged. "Either way…it seems like they're wanted criminals…"

"Doesn't that mean they're our enemies?" Tatsumi questioned, still staring at the picture of the assassin he just mentioned.

"I guess so…this Najenda was a General apparently…"

"Hehe…so we have to be as strong as those people, if we wanna make it to the top." Ieyasu smiled across both his cheeks and cracked his knuckles.

"Don't even think about it, blockhead. We'll make sure that we do our job for now."

"Sayo has a point. We need to focus on the here and now. We can deal with whoever those people are later, if they cause a problem. Then we get the biggest paycheck of our lives, return to our families and have a good life. It's a big opportunity as Ieayasu said. I'm sure they'd also give us a higher position too." Tatsumi offered, giving both of his friends the world's most innocent smile.

"Maybe the refined women of the city will thank us in person." The other boy giggled.

"Dream on, blockhead." Sayo shot back immediately and walked past him, patting him on his shoulder twice.

"Woaaaah! So huge!" Tatsumi screamed with wide eyes, hands on both of his cheeks as the imperial palace throned above the entire Capital, looking down on its servants from the high hill it was built on. The gigantic construction protected by its massive walls with its several sky-high pillars around the ornate main building easily defied the entire size of their village.

This city could have been carved out of stone or taken straight out of one of those fairytales that his mother told him when he was still a child. The elder of their village did not lie when he said that this city in its overwhelming entirety was the pinnacle of this country's civilization, the crown jewel of this entire nation. However, this surpassed even his wildest expectations tenfold.

So many people were going about what appeared to be their daily lives and children were playing in the streets instead of helping out their parents on the fields. Armored guards would occasionally pass them as they trudged through the mesmerizing streets at a snail's pace as if they were animals having their eyes set on something shiny. Never has he seen this many people in one place, let alone people who weren't wearing self-made rags.

"This is so different…they don't even have paper doors…everything is made of bricks." Sayo added, looking left and right at the countless buildings to the side of the road built closely together, leaving tight alleys at best.

"Everything looks so much bigger…How the hell are you supposed to not get lost?!" Ieyasu shouted with his hands over his head, straining his neck to look up multi floor houses. And all of them had a facade with full paint on it!

"Do you smell that, guys? Is it just the air or is there a fire somewhere near?" Sayo questioned.

"The scent of freedom! This is our big chance!" Ieyasu giggled and deeply inhaled the air of the place, which could only be compared to an Utopia to those who never had the privilege of living in it, only heard of its imposing magnificence but never actually witnessed it. Those who were the outsiders looking in from their tiny villages, which still had to deal with their mere mortal concerns such as survival, starvation and sickness.

"So many people…and so many stores?!" Sayo exclaimed. Inside her mind, the girl already put on the beautiful pink spaghetti dress that she saw through the glass window of the boutique they just passed and she would have snatched it from the mannequin, if their finances didn't demand otherwise.

"A blacksmith even?! Yo, Tatsumi. Maybe you can get a job there, if we're done soldiering."

"Wow…where do you even start with this place…"

"Alright, let's focus. We need to find a place to sleep for the night first."

In the back, a few groups of people were apparently mumbling over some sort of tragic accident having happened one year ago and the economy being on the decline, as well as some sort of assassin guild called Night Raid terrorizing the capital at night and its citizens, befitting to their namesake.

The three teenagers didn't pay much attention to the chatter though and looked for the next best inn. Again, they found themselves walking through tight corridors and alleys to avoid the crowded streets.

"Weren't we here just a few minutes ago?" Tatsumi sighed, glancing at the posters of Night Raid again for possibly the third or fourth time.

"My legs are killing me…" Ieyasu moaned and crumbled on the marble street.

"You're right, Tatsumi. This ain't going anywhere. We should split up and look for a place. When you've found one. We'll meet here, alright?" Sayo announced.

"You guys can go without me. Wake me up when you're done."

"Stop whining, blockhead. If you can't cover a bit of ground, you should have stayed at home and figured out how to wash my yukatas and cook some meals." She chuckled.

"Like hell I will! That's women's work! I'm a warrior!" Ieyasu proclaimed loud and proud already back on his feet, pressing his thick forehead against Sayo's.

"Oh hey…you can walk again, Ieyasu…" Tatsumi, who planned to help him up, pointed out although he was aware that they were way too absorbed in their bickering to care. He was afraid that he already knew where this was going.

"Say that again, you lazy, inept pig!" Sayo retorted and pushed his thick and empty skull off of her.

"You heard me right! I won't be your housemaid…men belong in the fight. Women can do that."

"Shut up, blockhead. You suck at cleaning and fighting, you imbecile!"

In the back, Tatsumi's eyes were twitching ever so slightly without his control. He was used to them going back and forth at times. But today they've gotten into it quite often, even for their standards. So much so, that the poor young man was at the end of his wits with them.

"Both of you shut up!" Tatsumi shouted and smashed his fist into the wall, leaving a small dent in it, but his knuckles bloodied and skin shredded in the process. "I'm sick and tired of your arguing. Sit down, while I ask someone for directions. Am I understood?"

"Understood!" The other two gulped and did as they were told. Tatsumi was further heading down the alley, too wrapped up in his grunts over Ieyasu's occasional idiocy and Sayo's hothead until he bumped into something…soft.

"Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to…" He apologized and rubbed his head, until the person came into his view. A blonde, tomboyish woman considerably taller than him, wearing…skimpy attire, to put it mildly. A simple black push up bra covered her perky breasts and her beige baggy pants did nothing to hide her shamelessly displayed black underwear. The way it looked she could very well be a hooker, seeking a client. At least if her clothing was anything to go by.

"Ah, no big deal! I take it you're new here and you got lost?" She chuckled. The tomboy stood in the middle of the tiny yard in front of a small building, the sun putting an odd emphasis on her curves. She stared at the young man below her with her vibrant yellow eyes and hands on her hips, adorned by beige sleeves.

"Yeah…how did you know?" The perplexed teenager returned with a question, letting his eyes quickly scan the place he now found himself in.

"Ah, I was just guessing by your looks. That said, you do look quite cute." The woman responded with a contagious smile and went through her short blond hair.

"Oh? You think so?" Immediately, a visible blush crept on Tatsumi's face, given such flattery from such a woman. Maybe she was just being nice and a bit of a flirt but it still felt good to get complemented by her. Or perhaps she was doing her job as a hooker. It could have been either. In the back at least, people passed them by and ignored them as if this was something completely normal. Is she actually a hooker? Should he even ask? Back in his village, he would receive all kinds of bewildered stares by now, at best.

Before he could further ponder on this she stepped in close to his side. "Hell yeah, I do. I could eat ya up right on the spot." She purred into his ear like a cat, hooking her arm around him.

"Hehehe…that's flattering, but speaking of which… I wanted to ask whether you happen to know a good inn closeby? Someplace where we could stay for the night?" A drop of sweat ran down his forehead so painstakingly slowly when their bodies made contact, coupled up with his hormones waking a certain body part of his. There was almost no way she wasn't trying to get some reaction out of him.

"We? You're not alone?" She raised an eyebrow and slowly broke away from him.

"No, my two friends came here with me. I just needed a break from them. It's been a long trip…" He sighed and stood up again, slightly massaging his legs aching and pulsing with pain for the better part of the day.

"Ah, so you and ya friends came here to make it big here in the Capital by serving as soldiers?" She assumed correctly, much to his surprise. Was this woman a psychic or did she perhaps overhear one of their conversations? It's not like Ieyasu or Sayo for that matter haven't shouted through the entire city at this point, doing their absolute best at making their presence known for better or worse.

"Yeah…how do you know all that?"

"I'm good at reading people, that's all." She snickered with a wink and blinked at him. "So, luckily for ya, I know just the place! But ya gotta treat me to a meal, sunshine."

That makes much more sense now! She needs someone to rip off for her meal. But she's been nice, so I guess that's alright. Maybe we can be friends and she could show us around another day.

"Fine by me…You sure have a radiant personality." Tatsumi giggled and it seemed that her smile was a bit less bright but at the same time it felt more genuine to him for some inexplicable reason.

"Aw, thanks. I get that a lot. So let's grab ya friends and get goin'." The woman without a name said and already grabbed him by his hand, dragging him along straight through the alley, still keeping her arm around him.

"Hey, wait!" He ducked his head, slipping away from her grasp. She looked back at him, sulking slightly as she placed her hands on her hips. "We haven't introduced ourselves yet." Tatsumi pointed out with that same blush still on his face.

Her expression quickly turned into a radiant smile. "Oh, you're right. My name's Leone. Yours, sweetie?"

"Tatsumi. Please call me that."

"Hehe, nice name you got there." She was quick to pull him back to her, this time placing her arm around him more firmly than before. He gulped, when he could feel her soft breasts make contact with his arm that she was hugging like a little girl would cling to a teddy bear.

"Thanks…" Sayo and Ieyasu are going to have questions…

Later…

"Nom…that's some really good stuff right there." Ieyasu stated with his mouth full with everything that was on his plate, ranging from a steak to noodles and salad, while his companions had just a bit of rice or some noodles with vegetables. Leone didn't share their moderation though and ordered pretty much the same as Ieayasu alongside plenty of mugs filled with beer, much to the suffering of Tatsumi's purse.

"So… you bumped into her in this alley and she led us here, but you have to pay for her lunch?" Sayo slowly inquired, not able to take her eyes off the disgusting sight of 'blockhead' choking down his food. Sure, it was alright to be hungry, but did he have to eat like an uncivilized peasant? Well, technically the three of them were all peasants.

"That's it!" Leone blurted out, after she emptied her fifth mug of beer. How much could she drink? Tatsumi was praying to the gods that she may reach her limit soon, so his pocket of gold won't be degraded to an air container. It can't be that much, right? The saying that a box or in this case a pocket is most useful when it's empty was the only solace he could grasp after counting the mugs. As long as it's enough to sleep there for the night, he couldn't care less. After all it was their money for which they worked their asses off.

Will I have a stroke when I see the bill? Will Sayo have a stroke?

"Leone, right? You seem to know quite a bit about this whole city." Sayo brought up to the blonde, who was casually leaning on her wooden stool against the wall behind her, one hand at the back of her head, the other holding her sixth mug. She took a deep sip and shook her head.

"Nah not really, but I happen to know a bunch of places. Happens when ya live here for some time. It's refreshing to see new faces here though." Leone replied with an innocent and also slightly buzzed grin. She sure drank a lot. Hopefully, she will make it back home. And it wasn't even past noon. "So did ya get those soldier jobs of yours already?"

"Ya bet we did!" Ieyasu tried to express yet nothing but unintelligible noise came out of his hole he used as vacuum cleaner for food, due to it being filled with meat and noodles.

"Learn to fucking chew, goddamnit! You're embarrassing us!" Sayo hissed. The other boy agreed with her on that one. The sight was…gross to say the least. Usually he'd never eat like a pig, but perhaps it's just the fatigue of the journey that brought out some of Ieayasu's less…savory traits. Leone didn't seem to pay it too much thought though. Maybe most people in this city eat like this…with all the food they probably have. One would have to hurry to finish a plate in time. Tatsumi himself did only eat a few noodles and a bit of fried chicken in a relatively small bowl with some vegetables and it was already one of the biggest meals he's ever had in his short and simple life. And finishing said meal was one of the hardest fights in his life.

"Yeah, we just got that done. Then we walked around a bit, looking for an inn and then I bumped into you. You know the rest." Tatsumi reproduced.

"Huh…it's not the kind of job I'd like to do. It's bloody, dangerous and ain't nobody gonna thank ya for doin' it. But someone's gotta do it, I suppose." Leone shrugged and for a moment Tatsumi could see Sayo glance down into her hands pressed together inside her lap.

Sayo exhaled a sigh. "It's not like we really want to do that. Our village is in terrible need of money, so we were sent to do soldiering for the imperial army. If we don't, we're not able to pay the taxes."

"Yeah, makes sense. Heard stories of what happens when that's the case…Ain't pretty to say the least." Sayo and Tatsumi fell silent all of a sudden and only Ieyasu's munching could be heard around their table in the corner of the restaurant. "Allegedly, they raze entire villages." Leone added and took another long sip from her mug. Sayo's gaze wandered to the floor again as if gravity had tripled all of a sudden.

Tatsumi on the other hand, gritted his teeth and his right eye twitched without his control. The young man clutched the hilt of his katana only to let go of it when he took a glance at it next to his hip and just a moment later his body was calm again. If the Empire really did something this despicable…murdering countless people, innocent or not. Simply over the inability to pay those ludicrously high taxes set by the government, which only reinforced said inability for as long as he could remember. Is there even a point in destroying your own source of income?

Tatsumi himself was not sure what he should make of Leone's statement. His own village and the neighboring ones for that matter have never been threatened with the prospect of erasure, only with stern warnings should it occur again or confiscations, but not outright pillaging. But if that really was to happen…Tatsumi's loyalty belonged to his family and loved ones above all else and then his community. Would he raise his sword against the Empire's soldiers?

After all, one could say this katana was their village's treasure or some sort of guardian angel. At least that's what they were told. Repeatedly. However, carrying this blade let alone wielding it to battle, delivering death to others, perhaps even innocents did not give him the sensation that it was one of his precious companions. Brothers and sisters in arms. Much rather an honor and at the same time a burden that he wasn't worthy of nor ready for. Intimidating. Their relationship could be likened to the slightly curved steel of its blade. Frosty. But even so, he would still wield it against the Empire if they dared burning down his village.

"I never heard of that! I don't think they really do that! We're their people after all!" Ieyasu blurted out after he finally gorged down the last bit of his plate. "I want to capture these Night Raid assassins everyone's so terrified of and then I'll be this country's hero. They'll make me a General and give us tons of gold, just for one of those. Imagine, if we got all of them!" Ieyasu boasted loud and proud.

"Is that so? Ya wanna go straight for the jackpot, huh?" Leone giggled as if the boy had just made a funny joke. And perhaps it was, given that these Night Raid people were most likely too much for the entire police force of the capital to handle. If they weren't, they'd be dealt with by now, as Sayo pointed out. How would three teenagers from the countryside accomplish what countless others have failed to pull off? At the very least, Ieyasu wasn't one to aim too low. He never was. But perhaps he should be careful what he wished for. He just might get it. Even the bartender rolled his eyes at Ieyasu's announcement and proceeded to do his mundane duties.

"Of course! If we capture them, we don't need to do any of this! And if they're criminals, then they need to be brought to justice! The refined wom-"

Sayo too rolled her eyes and interrupted his blabber. "Pipe down, blockhead. But he does have a point…if I was living here, I'd sleep a lot easier, if I knew there weren't criminals roaming the streets, terrorizing anyone of their choosing. And the bounty…it would make our lives so much easier. But we need to do our job right now."

"Yeah, I heard stuff like that the last few weeks. Apparently, their targets are big shots high up the command chain and other officials, who are lying in bed with the government. Rumor has it they're all corrupt from one to another. Like up the neck in dirt. So I guess, it's not really terrorizing the common man, if ya view it like that."

"Hm, interesting point to make. But at the end of the day they're still criminals, so they're bad people. I would want the place I live in to be safe. The people deserve that much. If there are bad people in government, shouldn't that be up to the capital's police to take care of that?" Tatsumi conceded and folded his arms together.

"I guess so…but ya know the saying. One man's villain is another man's hero." The blonde shrugged. When they passed the countless other civilians, it didn't sound like these assassins were heroes, rather an average group of terrorists, intent on making their presence known to intimidate the common folk and cause chaos for chaos' sake. So it was incredibly hard to believe that these criminals were the public's heroes. Or frankly, anyone's heroes.

"Do you think they're evil people?" Sayo asked without hesitation. Her untouched bowl of rice still stood there next to her, ever since the conversation began. "Because it seems to me that you don't think so."

"Well…evil's a big word…ya could say that, but I'd stick to bad people, since they're murderers and causing unrest. But…what would happen if the guys they're killing were even bigger scumbags?"

Tatsumi reared up and leaned over, making direct eye contact with Leone. "Hm…I guess that would make some people root for them…but murder can't be a solution. We'd just replace evil with evil." He emptied his one mug of beer and returned his gaze back to his new acquaintance. If there really were a few corrupt people in commanding positions, wouldn't it be the police's job instead of a group of murderers to get them out of power and put them on trial?

"Ya gotta break a few eggs to make an omelet, they say." Leone shrugged.

What does she mean by that?

Before Tatsumi could decipher that statement, his comrade spoke up. "Either way, we're gonna work ourselves up the ladder quickly. And I'll do everything I can so that we get there safe and sound." Ieyasu said with that big fat grin of his and raised his mug before he downed it in one go. Sayo smiled at that.

"Sounds like ya got things figured out. I'll be rooting for y'all. But I really gotta be somewhere in a bit. And…" The tall blonde almost tripped over herself, her step very indicative of her current condition, if one would disregard the red cheeks. But she did manage to walk straight at the very least.

"Hey, Leone. Will we meet again?" Tatsumi asked, before she could walk through the door.

"Sure. Soon enough." She chuckled and left with a wink. And for some strange reason, he shared that sentiment.

"And she's gone…" Sayo sighed after the wooden door made a creaking noise when it fell closed.

"Hey, are you still eating that?" Ieyasu asked, eyeballing that bowl of rice and Tatsumi's half consumed meal.

"Yes, I am! I paid for it!" She answered and moved the bowl to the other end of the table where that blockhead could not touch it. Technically though, Tatsumi was still the one to pay the entire bill with his money…all those roofs he had to fix…all these days on which he not only worked on his father's fields for hours but also for others…all this back pain. All gone for a single meal…Hopefully, someone would cook for them in the army, because if not…either Sayo vastly improves her rudimentary cooking or the young man himself would be tasked with that after the daily shift, as he has been for the entire duration of their journey. As for Ieyasu…he was hopeless in that regard. He could hunt somewhat decently but that was it. But if it's all for them, Tatsumi wouldn't mind doing it.

"So…what do you guys think of her?" Tatsumi asked and returned to eating his meal again. The entire conversation just replayed itself within his mind as if his brain was trying to solve some sort of riddle. At the very least, they found out more about their living place for the foreseeable future.

Sayo chewed on her salad for a few moments, before she answered. "Our group could use another civilized woman." Perhaps that was just her wishful thinking. At least her tone, accompanied by a sigh indicated as much.

"Yeah, what she said and she looks really cute. I wouldn't mind getting to know her a bit more." The other boy snickered.

"You just had the time to do that…" Tatsumi pointed out with a blank stare. He knew he himself was not the brightest light in the world, but Ieyasu was…dense as a rock at times to put it bluntly.

"I was eating!" Said boy half shouted and half chuckled as he slowly stroked his inflated belly. Probably the first time Tatsumi ever saw a fat peasant. "All this walking has me tired anyway. How about we all just take a nap afterwards?" A loud, drawn out yawn followed.

"You meant all that eating." Tatsumi snickered. "But maybe we should walk around a bit and get familiar with this city, since it's way too huge. It might come in handy on the job."

Sayo moved her empty bowl to the side and cleaned her mouth with a handkerchief. "I agree with Ieyasu for once. We should just take a breather for now. If you think it's necessary, we can do it later or some other day." For several moments the young woman closed her eyes and only then it appeared to Tatsumi that Sayo was pretty much drained, despite or most likely because of her constant bickering with 'blockhead' as she has referred to him ever since the beginning of their journey.

"Yeah…sounds good." A yawn escaped Tatsumi as well, his body telling him that he too should follow his comrade's proposal. And they weren't wrong. No point in showing up to the new job utterly exhausted. He forced the last spoon of noodles down his throat, no matter how tasty they were, because it really was, but it was still way too much and so he leaned back after he finished the fight with his meal.

"Are you done?" The waitress, who served them earlier, inquired.

"Yeah." Ieyasu responded. Without a word the waitress tossed the bill on the table and started taking their empty plates off the table. And not really to his surprise, the bill amounted to a number he has rarely seen, if ever. Sayo's eyes were torn wide open and her left hand rushed up to her chest…perhaps the prediction that she might have a stroke upon seeing the price tag wasn't that far off…

"Deep breaths, Sayo." Ieyasu slowly spoke and wrapped an arm around her.

"I'm not dying! I'm alright." She exhaled and put the boy's arm back where it belonged. "That's still a hefty amount of gold…Living doesn't seem cheap here."

"No…not at all. At least back home, you can just grow some rice or vegetables and live off of that." Tatsumi added as he looked into his bag filled to the brim with gold. "We should have enough though…hopefully…" He whispered the last word rather to himself as the waitress returned with a decent sized brown leather bag, looking expectantly at him. After all, she didn't have all day to get this over with.

"That's enough. Thank you for your patronage." The middle aged woman said and took, almost snatched the gold ounces out of Tatsumi's hand. Only moments later she was already at another table with what appeared to be an elderly couple, repeating the same process all over again.

"So much for that…Now we need a place to sleep…Let's just hope that's enough for the night." Tatsumi said and went through his brown, spiky mane. The worst they could do was say no and kick them out eventually. He approached the counter alongside his friends and spoke to the receptionist. His white shirt was way too big for his thin and lengthy stature. He was cleaning a mug of beer, noticing the group only moments after. The man clearly needed a vacation, if the big, fat rings under his heavy eyes weren't enough of giveaway. "Excuse me, we would like to stay here for the night."

"All in one room?" He asked, his tone seemed rehearsed and predetermined like some sort of machine rattling off a command for the 1000th time.

"If that lowers the price…" Sayo answered. The entire place didn't scream luxury upon entry, so perhaps they could get away with a decent offer and maybe preserve some gold.

"That makes 10 pieces of gold for each." The three of them looked at each other in telling silence and so Tatsumi handed over his entire bag. The receptionist took out all of the gold with movements akin to mechanical limbs in desperate need of oil. He returned the empty bag to Tatsumi. "Remain quiet at night, we're still sleeping down here. You may go outside at night, however we advise against it given the current situation. Don't make a mess and don't steal anything from here, alright?"

If the goal was to sound intimidating to make the three abide by the rules, then he utterly missed the mark just by mumbling the latter half instead of clearly speaking. But none of them were keen on receiving an earful of complaints from the staff so they would just do as he said. They had plenty of that back in their village. Either for getting up to some mischief or due to some of the people that hired them not being entirely satisfied.

"Alright. Thanks." Tatsumi said and went up the wooden stairs, each step making a cracking noise that was impossible to overhear. As if an entire step just broke through.

"I said quiet!" The receptionist yelled from the back and returned to his work with a hiss. Ieyasu only shook his head in response and glanced back with the intent to grimace with an outstretched tongue at the grumpy stick they use as a sore excuse for a human being, but Sayo shut it down, grabbed him by his shoulder and pushed him forward.

The three of them entered their apartment for the night. The somewhat huge glass fenster overlooking the still vivid streets and the slowly setting sun, painting the entire city in a majestic shade of fiery orange, immediately fell into their view. Next to it were two black, worn down, dusty curtains, their color rather washed up and already bridging into the territory of gray.

"Interesting…they don't have futon mattresses, it seems…" Sayo muttered as she went to the queen sized bed with white sheets and sat down. The frame creaked a bit as she did so and even more when she pressed against the bed. Tatsumi and Ieyasu both exchanged gazes and already knew what the other had to say, given the size of the bed.

"I think Sayo should sleep in bed" Ieyasu started not taking his gaze off his 'bro'. A nod followed. "Do you want to sleep on the bed?" He asked bluntly, seeing as there was no reason to dance around the matter.

"We could all sleep there, if…" Sayo was about to propose, but then Tatsumi cut her off.

"Yeah, no. Ieyasu is going to stretch across half of the bed anyway. I'll just…sleep on the floor." The young man exhaled a sigh and lazily tossed his bag as well as his long white coat into the closest corner of the room. The other young male followed his example, while Sayo stood up from the bed and opened the door at the other side of the room.

"Look at this, guys. They even gave us a bathroom!" She turned one of the wheels on that huge, white tub and suddenly water poured out of it. And it was hot water for crying out loud! "That's amazing! We could all take a relaxing bath before we go to bed."

Immediately, Ieyasu's face adopted a treacherous shade of red. "It does seem a bit small for three people. Maybe we can bathe together…"

"Errrr…or Ieyasu and I can bathe together. You can have it for yourself." Tatsumi scrambled to add to his friend's statement. No more bickering please…

"Alright." Sayo hummed, letting hot water pour into the spacious bathtub. During all of this, a sweet scent, similar to honey streamed out of the bathroom coupled up with barely visible clouds of steam and gently straddled his nose. A bath would really work wonders for his sore muscles at this moment.

"Can we at least go first?" Ieyasu sighed, almost moaned, as his eyes followed each of her movements from her pile of clothes to change back to the bathroom.

"Nope. Ladies first." The woman responded with a bright, innocent smile and slammed the door shut. At first, the poor boy rubbed his eyes, jaw agape and just glanced back at this comrade sitting by the bedside, then back at the closed door and then back towards him again. He fell back on the bed with his arms behind his head.

"Did she just…" Ieyasu mumbled.

"Are you surprised?" Tatsumi returned and laid down beside him, closing his eyes for several moments straight. Would Sayo throw a fit if they fell asleep in what they collectively deemed 'her' bed? Most likely, she'd kick one or possibly both of them off the bed and then move on to sleep peacefully herself.

"Not really, I guess…She's always been like this, but otherwise it'd be hella boring." A chuckle escaped his lips. "Don't ya dare doze off on me now."

Tatsumi slowly opened his heavy emerald-green eyes again. "Yeah, sorry. Before she throws another fit. I wouldn't hear the end of it." He went down from the bed and used his coat as a mattress. The floor wasn't comfortable by any stretch of the imagination but it would have to do for the night. Next to him in his curled up form, rested his, no that katana in its sapphire blue sheath.

"Yeah, before the house dragon roars." Ieyasu giggled. "You know…now that we're gonna be soldiers…We need to keep Sayo safe, no matter what. It's our duty as men to protect her." His tone was untypically serious for once and his straight gaze did not waver.

"We promised this much to each other before our journey. But maybe…don't say this out loud, if she's near. She might take it the wrong way."

"Probably…" Sigh exhaled. "What do ya think they're gonna have us do?"

"I don't know…pretty much the same as what the guards close to the villages do. Probably some mandatory training first."

"We should be able to skip it with our skills. Team Ieyasu is invincible after all!" Ieyasu nearly shouted and risked having that grumpy old stick coming up the stairs to berate some peasants for making too much noise. And since when was it HIS team?! If anything, he's done the least since their journey…but perhaps this was a leader's privile- what the hell was Tatsumi thinking. At the very least, his comrade was blessed with endless amounts of self-confidence. Hopefully, it wouldn't degenerate into arrogance.

"I don't know…Sayo might have a point. Maybe they just love their papers on their desks so they might feel offended if you suggest that you can just ignore their procedures, because I agree with you on that. If we show that we're stronger than everyone, we should get a rank reflecting that. And I'm sure we're stronger than most of them. I don't know…maybe the people here are just different than back home."

"That's so stupid though! And it's also dumb…Then all we can do is our absolute best to show 'em what we're made of and climb the ranks in no time, if they're so hung up on their damned papers." Ieyasu snarled with pursed lips and rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. For a few moments there was just this awkward silence between the two, until Tatsumi took the word again.

"Hey, you still remember when we 'fixed' old man Botan's roof?" A mischievous but at the same time cute grin spread across his face. Almost instantly, the other broke out in laughter.

"How could I forget the stupid face that old geezer made when ya almost dropped the hammer down on him."

"I couldn't help it…He didn't stop moaning and complaining. I already hit myself on the thumb because he just wouldn't shut up."

"I'll have yer young chickens know that fixin' me roof can't be rushed. If I see only one nail off, I'll hang yer butts over me fireplace, am I understood? Ah! What's that about?! Are ye tryin' to kill me too now? Hah! I survived the western tribes! Ya bloody freshlings are a hundred years too early for that! Oh, dear lord, why didn't you take me old soul back instead…" Ieyasu stood up and lisped, in an attempt to imitate the old man but it looked more like a monkey, if anything else. Most likely because there was no difference between the two in his view. "And then you fell off the roof!"

"You could have held the ladder at least!"

"Sorry, I was just having too much fun." Ieyasu couldn't stop rolling in bed and held his stomach as he was slowly running out of breath.

"Screw you, bro! My back hurt like hell for the next few days." Tatsumi half yelled with razor-sharp teeth and clenched fists flailing around in the air. Eventually though, his hothead cooled down. "Looking back, I don't think he really hated us. Rather the opposite."

Ieyasu's eyes widened and he rolled over to make contact with his eyes. "Ya really think so? That grumpy sack of sh-"

Before he could finish, the other young man interjected. "Sure, he was grumpy and maybe even bitter, but if I remember correctly, back in the day he just lost his wife to the flu and his first son died in the line of duty. The other one starved to death, when he was still a child."

"Poor guy…I almost forgot. But I guess that makes sense…when the old man did finally bite the dust, no one came to his funeral except us."

"May he rest in peace." Tatsumi let out a forced sigh and closed his eyes for a few moments. Again silence befell the room, however much more of the uncomfortable kind this time. "I don't want our people to starve anymore. I don't want them to die because of curable diseases. Neither you nor Sayo, nor my family, nor anyone at home." His eyes returned to the katana in its sheath for a brief moment.

"Then we've gotta step it up and fight for our people. At the end of the day, they placed their trust in us. They don't deserve anything less than sweet victory! They'll be swimming in gold by the time we're done." There it was again. That bright, optimistic and carefree grin of his, which bordered on outright stupidity and naivety. But it was contagious nonetheless. In the back, the water stopped pouring into the tub and an elated sigh of utter relaxation could be heard coming from the bathroom. At least someone was happy…

It wasn't long until they would get their well-deserved turn for a steaming hot bath with herbal scent. Once they exited the bathroom, the two young men would both lay down at their respective spots next to Sayo, who had already fallen asleep. Soon, all the noise inside the room was reduced to Sayo's small breaths drowned out by Ieyasu's sporadic, deep snores that could have led one to believe that a massive square of forest was hacked to pieces by a chainsaw.

Fortunately though, these were pretty dulled in his ears and did not prevent Tatsumi from falling asleep quickly in his curled up fetus position as the sun over the capital was setting ever so slowly. The last thing Tatsumi could perceive with his heavy eyes was how a petite blonde girl stepped out of her carriage and took in a middle–aged man in his torn clothes sleeping on the street into her carriage. He could only muster a sleepy smile at this act of kindness that reminded him very much of the people back home, before he ultimately dozed off…

This city is kind. It's all gonna be smooth sailing…

Author's note: Next chapter "Kill the recruits"

Little heads up!

I'm back, people^^ Many thanks go out to Omega6047. He's an amazing dude and a tremendous writer. He helped me fix most of the garbage I was writing so most of the credit goes to him. Please make sure to check out his page and his works, I'll link it below, so please send him some love^^.

Please don't expect chapter 2 anytime soon, due to my law school exams in july, but I have plans to continue this work, no matter what. I just ask you all to be patient, so please stay with me^^. (I'll likely be able to write in the beginning of august, so expect chapter 2 around mid to end of august, should I not be able to deliver, I'll let you know.) If you want to get in touch with me just send me a friend request on Discord.^^

Ashura#3359

Link to Omega's ff.net page: https://www.fanfiction.net/u/10282078/Omega6047

With that out of the way, I hope it was not too much of a pain to read and see you next time around when Tatsumi and co. start their military service. Night Raid will not be focused on for now, as I have to build up this plot line. I should shut up before I say too much. Until next time.^^