Tatsumi made his return to the inn, greeted warmly by Vito, Gauri, and Genco. The children had already been sent home earlier, their bellies full from supper and their laughter still echoing faintly in the hallways. The harvest season for olives had finally drawn to a close, and the great stone press stood silent, its work complete for the season.
Despite being a modest, yet to be licenced operation nestled on the edge of the Capital, they had produced and carefully stored an impressive ten large containers of high-quality pressed olive oil—far more than any of them had initially expected. The air inside the inn still held the lingering, rich aroma of freshly milled olives, a quiet testament to their perseverance and the promise of things to come.
"So, how did it go?" Genco asked, looking up from a ledger as Tatsumi stepped through the doorway.
"I got us an investor on the way," Tatsumi said, his tone calm but unmistakably proud. He reached into his satchel and retrieved a parchment sealed with the official crest of the Empire.
He unfurled it and laid it on the table. "Well, get this," he added with a small smirk. "That lord was so stubborn, he flat-out refused to take twenty gold coins as payment."
Genco blinked, astonished. "And what did you do then?"
Tatsumi glanced over at Vito, who merely offered a faint smile and a silent nod of understanding.
"I brought a friend of mine," Tatsumi said with a wink. "Made him an offer he couldn't refuse."
Genco let out a long, groaning sigh and slapped a hand over his face. But a grin broke through almost immediately. "Seriously, keep doing that and you'll be looking more like Vito here with each passing day."
The room filled with laughter, warm and genuine—the kind that came only from those who had faced trials together and lived to tell the tale.
Gauri, already holding a bottle of aged red wine, popped the cork and began pouring into four waiting glasses. The wine shimmered in the golden glow of the lantern light, its scent bold and welcoming.
Vito raised his glass high, his voice steady and clear. "To our new venture," he declared.
Tatsumi, Gauri, and Genco followed in unison, their glasses meeting at the center of the table with a soft, satisfying clink. The moment felt bigger than all of them—as though they weren't just celebrating a permit or a product, but something greater: a shared vision, a chance to rewrite their place in the world.
At the mountainous Night Raid hideout, the cover of night blanketed everything in serene silence. One by one, its members succumbed to sleep, their bodies resting from the day's strain, their minds finding solace—if only briefly—from the violence that defined their lives.
Everyone, that is, except Leone.
The golden-haired woman sat quietly by the window of her modest room, bathed in the faint silver glow of moonlight. Her arms rested loosely on the windowsill, her eyes distant, yet troubled. She couldn't shake the thoughts circling in her mind. Today had changed something. She had just witnessed—perhaps even become entangled in—a power play orchestrated by someone she once assumed was just a naive country boy.
A sharp knock at the door broke the stillness.
"Come in," Leone called softly.
The door creaked open, revealing Sheele standing in the frame, dressed in her sleeping clothes. Her soft purple hair was slightly tousled, her expression curious but gentle.
"The light in your room was still on," Sheele said, stepping in with a thoughtful voice and a wry smile. "I figured you might've forgotten."
"Sorry, Sheele," Leone replied with a half-smile. "I'll tuck myself in soon."
But Sheele could see it—the distant look in Leone's eyes, the stiffness in her posture. Something was weighing her down.
"Leone," Sheele asked softly, her voice like a warm breeze, "are you okay?"
Leone hesitated, then gave the answer Sheele expected.
"Yeah... I'm good."
Sheele didn't even blink. "You're lying."
Leone let out a breath, the tension in her shoulders loosening slightly. There was no use pretending.
"A month ago," she began, her gaze never leaving the moonlit world outside, "I met this kid on the streets. Said he wanted to join the Imperial Army."
Sheele raised an eyebrow. "And what did you do?"
Leone chuckled dryly. "Took it as a joke. Took his money too."
Sheele sighed—not in anger, but with the kind of disappointment that came from understanding the bigger picture. Leone noticed it.
"I know, I know," she said before Sheele could respond. "That was low. Bulat told me that too. But a few days later, I ran into him again. He looked... different. Like he'd seen something that changed him. I tried to say sorry, but he brushed me off like I was a stranger."
"Maybe what changed him wasn't your fault," Sheele offered.
"Maybe," Leone murmured. "Maybe not. I mean... who knows?"
A long silence fell between them before Leone finally spoke again.
"A month went by, and I was blending into the Capital, just roaming around looking for a decent place to drink, like usual. And then I saw him again... only this time, his presence was different. He carried himself with weight, like someone who'd seen too much, too fast."
Sheele listened carefully, her expression soft yet alert—until a third voice cut through the moment.
"Looks like you're having a little girls' talk in the middle of the night."
It was Mine, her eyes half-lidded with sleep, a peeled orange lazily resting in her hand.
"Mine..."
"Don't bother explaining, Sheele. I came out for a glass of water and noticed the lights were still on."
She padded into the room and tilted her head curiously. "So, what's this all about?"
"Nothing serious, just some—"
"You might want to hear this," Leone interjected gently, her tone suddenly solemn. "It might involve all of us."
That made both Sheele and Mine straighten up. The way Leone said it left no room for jokes.
Mine raised an eyebrow and muttered, "Alright, Lady Boobs. I'm listening."
She flopped onto Leone's bed, passing the orange into Sheele, her gaze focused.
Sheele remained seated, attentive, idly taking a bite at the orange..
Leone drew a breath. "I saw that boy again. The one I conned before. He introduced himself as Tatsumi. I figured I'd apologize, try to make amends… but before I could say anything, he said something that stuck with me: if it wasn't for me, he would've never met Vito."
"Who's Vito?" Mine asked, eyes narrowing.
"I don't know much," Leone admitted, her voice quieter now. "But when I looked into his eyes, it wasn't just determination I saw. There was something else. Something cold. Calculating. It made my blood run cold."
Mine's usual disinterest shifted to something more serious. Sheele leaned forward slightly, concern etched into her features.
"He asked me to come with him to a noble's mansion. Said he needed help, and I agreed—partly because I felt guilty, and partly because I was curious. But I didn't realize I was walking into something way bigger."
"What happened?" Sheele asked.
"He was there to negotiate a trading permit for some high-quality olive oil. That's all. A simple permit. The noble laughed him off, told him to leave. Nothing unusual... until Tatsumi stood up. Then everything changed."
She pinched the bridge of her nose, clearly still processing what she had witnessed. Her posture tightened, as if recounting the memory triggered something visceral.
"What did he do?" Mine asked, her voice just above a whisper.
Leone looked at both girls, her expression dark.
"He told the noble... that if he didn't cooperate, he'd have him killed. By an Imperial officer—or by Night Raid."
The room fell into a deep, unsettling silence. It was as if the very air thickened, weighed down by the truth that had just been spoken. Even the faint creaks of the floorboards and the rustle of the drapes seemed to hush themselves in reverence to what had just been revealed.
Mine sat upright, her usual sarcasm replaced by a stunned expression. Sheele blinked in disbelief, her hands clenched on her lap, trying to process what she had just heard. The orange she had been peeling slipped from her fingers, landing with a dull thud on the wooden floor. She stared at it, as if its sudden fall mirrored her own grasp on understanding.
"He joked at first," Leone said, her voice low and steady, barely more than a murmur. "Just tossed it out like a harmless theory. But the more he talked, the more obvious it became—he wasn't joking. He was serious. Dead serious. He wasn't bluffing. He was navigating the Empire's corrupt system like he'd been born into it. Like he understood it better than most of us ever could."
Mine scoffed under her breath, but it lacked real heat. "So he's no different than a scumbag noble."
Leone shook her head slowly, her golden eyes narrowing. "Not exactly, Mine. That noble was preying on new merchants, exploiting them. Tatsumi didn't let himself get used. He made it clear he wasn't someone to be taken advantage of. He flipped the script—used the system against the people who built it."
Sheele leaned forward, her curiosity piqued and her brow furrowed. "So… did he actually get the permit?"
Leone nodded solemnly. "Yes. But what happened afterward… that's what unsettled me. It wasn't just about the permit. It was what he did to get it."
Both Mine and Sheele exchanged a nervous glance. The room seemed to grow colder again, anticipation swirling around them like a creeping fog.
"How?" Sheele asked quietly.
Leone hesitated, her voice almost trembling. "He knew I was part of Night Raid. That's when I realized—he didn't bring me along for company or backup. He deliberately used my presence… and my affiliation… to leverage the situation. He put me in that room for a reason."
The weight of that revelation made both girls uneasy. Tatsumi hadn't just gotten what he needed—he had used them, manipulated them without their knowledge or consent.
"He played me," Leone admitted, a note of reluctant respect mingling with bitterness in her voice. "Played all of us. And the worst part is—I didn't even see it coming."
Mine clenched her jaw. Her thoughts spiraled. "How did he even figure it out? How did he know who we were?"
Leone exhaled slowly. "Because he got to Janis before we did. Not out of some sense of justice or vengeance. He did it for a friend. For something personal. He wasn't following orders—he was making his own."
Mine's eyes widened. The memory resurfaced sharply. She remembered vividly what Akame had told them over a month ago—how someone else had reached Janis first. At the time, it had left all of Night Raid on high alert, scrambling to find the source of the kill.
Now, it all started to make sense.
Mine stood, pacing slowly across the room, her eyes unfocused but her mind razor-sharp. She began to piece it all together, her voice growing steadier as she unraveled the puzzle aloud.
"Maybe… maybe he spotted Akame. Her face is all over the wanted posters. If he's even half as observant as he seems, he must have recognized her. And as for you and Lubbock… maybe something about your posture or your behavior tipped him off. You two dumdums aren't exactly subtle, you know."
Leone gave a dry chuckle at the 'dumdum' remark, taking no offense, knowing it wasn't meant unkindly. Mine continued, undeterred.
"He probably used the crowd, the terrain… watched for blind spots. Took his time, figured out who was watching who. And once he saw his opening—he made the kill. Clean. Fast. Efficient."
A long pause followed. The words hung in the air, heavy with implication.
None of them said it aloud, but the truth was clear and chilling: Tatsumi had changed. He wasn't just some naïve village boy trying to do the right thing anymore.
He was calculating. Strategic. Dangerous.
And perhaps—just perhaps—he was becoming something the Empire should fear.
"So, do we tell Najenda in the morning?" Mine asked, breaking the silence.
"Absolutely. That boy already knew far too much about me and Akame. There's no telling if he knew more about the rest of us." Leone agreed firmly.
The three finally came to an agreement. They would share everything with the team—every detail Leone could remember about Tatsumi, every action, every word. They had to.
Perhaps they were a step closer to learning the presence—and the true identity—of Vito Corleone, the Godfather to one of the most powerful crime syndicates in his old world, and a man who now stood at the brink of becoming one in the Empire.
A storm was coming. And they needed to be ready.