Sneaking in

"Shouldn't you stop them now? It seems like there is a misunderstanding between them" The black-haired girl asked with a dull expression while watching Valdis and Tatsumi exchanging blows.

"Why should I? Don't you find this amusing? Besides, we still have some time before the guards arrive, Akame-chan~!"

"I don't mind, it will be you who the boss will be scolding later, Leone. Plus didn't you mention something about owing that boy a favor?" Akame asked, wondering if Leone truly meant her words considering how much she enjoyed watching them fight.

"Crap!" Leone's expression changed to the one of horror as if she imagined their boss' face and immediately jumped between Valdis and Tatsumi who both were now panting covered in bruises, though, Tatsumi was definitely in worse condition since Valdis had an immense advantage in fistfights.

"Alright, both of you stop! There seems to be a misunderstanding between you so stop fighting like children...Aaand you stop right here!" Leone stopped them before grabbing Aria's head, stopping her from sneaking away.

"Wait, you are that boob-!" Tatsumi shouted while pointing his finger at Leone.

"Yep, the beautiful onee-san from that time~ Though, before I get to explaining things...who are you?" Leone replied in a playful tone before turning a bit more serious when she turned towards Valdis who was still covering his face with a hood.

"...It's you?" Valdis muttered with a surprised tone and reluctantly took off his hood but not before deactivating his Sharingan.

"Huh?! The handsome young lad from yesterday?! Ugh, what kind of a coincidence is this?!" Leone facepalmed when she saw Valdis's face.

"How come you are connected to everyone involved here, Leone?" Akame quietly appeared next to Leone and questioned her with a suspicious expression as if she was suspecting her of playing around too much.

'Huh, they aren't together?' Tatsumi thought while rubbing his bruised cheek and observing Valdis's face.

"Uhh...Anyway! Young lad, the reason why you protect this girl is that you think we are only after their wealth, right? Come with me, I will show you just what kind of person you are trying to protect here!" Leone ignored Akame's question with a panicked expression before changing the subject. She approached the shed while dragging Aria behind her before kicking the large double door open, revealing a horrors Tatsumi has never seen before.

'Seeing it in the reality certainly hits different, haha. Still, they could have at least used air freshener here.' Valdis covered his nose with a disgusted expression on his face. Seeing all the torturing devices covered in human blood and flesh didn't horrify him as much as Tatsumi since he was already expecting this sight.

Valdis narrowed his dark eyes at the immeasurable number of defiled bodies of both men and women.

'As I thought...I still don't feel any pity for them'

While Tatsumi was talking to his friend who was being tortured in this shed for the past few days, Valdis walked inside the shed, looking around.

"What are you doing?" Leone asked Valdis with a suspicious tone, after seeing him here, she became much more suspicious of his identity.

"...Looking for someone." Valdis turned at her with dull eyes before he returned to looking around and answered her question.

"Oh..." Leone's suspicious attitude slightly softened when she saw his eyes filled with sorrow.

'I really am a psychopath, ain't I?' Valdis grinned when his back was facing everyone.

While Valdis was looking around, everything else happened just like it should have in the show until the moment Tatsumi cut Aria in two.

"...That was a swing with true conviction, if you were to fight me in that state, I highly doubt I would be able to stand my ground." Valdis muttered, leaving the shed and giving up on finding whoever he was looking for.

Hearing his words, Tatsumi looked down without saying anything.

'Tatsumi has a plausible raw strength, skills and talent however he lacks the experience fighting other humans. On the other hand...that guy named Valdis lacks raw strength and experience yet his ability to make important decisions amidst the battle within the minuscule frame of time is exquisite. To be honest, I am a bit suspicious about how can someone be so skillful while visibly lacking experience in battles, it might be better to take them with us.' Leone thought while observing two of them. While she wasn't much suspicious of Tatsumi, she had her reserves regarding Valdis and his reasons for being here. Valdis also knew her face so it would make it harder for her to just walk around the Capital if he were to report this to the Imperial police and she certainly liked her freedom.

"Let's take both of them with us" Leone decided and grabbed both Valdis and Tatsumi by the shirt collars.

"Huh?!" Valdis acted surprised by this development while feeling happy that everything till now happened according to his plan.

[You have met the main character] [You have exchanged blows with the main character] [Your words have caused a little character development for the main character]...

Valdis watched the several messages flashing in front of his eyes as he was being carried by Leone and Tatsumi shouting some nonsense next to him.

[Reward: 500 Villain Points]

Valdis couldn't help but lick his lips when he saw the reward for the entire show tonight, not to mention, he hadn't met the rest of the group yet.

.

.

The next day, early in the morning...

"Why did you suddenly take two people inside our hideout, Leone?! I don't trust either of them." Mine questioned Leone when all of them were gathered in one room.

"Hm, I don't know about that brown-haired boy but the other one is...suspicious. I apologize, I can't properly describe it since he just makes me feel that way..." A woman with purple hair commented quietly.

"See?! Even our Sheele thinks that way and that tells something about that guy." Mine agreed while nodding her head.

"Hmm, I agree that his identity seems strange but I am already investigating him plus he is already here so let's just keep an eye on him. It's not even confirmed whether he will want to join us or not. Plus his talent was too much to just pass on" Leone explained with a relaxed expression, winking at Mine which infuriated her a bit.

Inside the separated room, Tatsumi and Valdis were sitting on the chairs, staring at each other with dull expressions while waiting for someone to walk in and break the awkward atmosphere.

"Tatsumi" Tatsumi momentarily broke the silence by "introducing" himself.

'So weird being inside the same room when we just recently aimed for each other's necks. Please someone, anyone, come in!'

"Valdis" Valdis responded in kind while also having his own thoughts about the situation.

'I have to kill this idiot? Hard to believe someone like him will become so strong in the future.'

[The system would like to inform the candidate that killing the main protagonist at his strongest state will earn him much bigger rewards. The system also calculated that the candidate should refrain from killing the main protagonist until he reaches the point in the story where he receives a great power-up.]

'What if I let him get to his strongest form and kill him when he has exhausted most of his stamina?'

[In that case, the candidate will still obtain full rewards. The candidate can even help train the main protagonist and then team up with the villains of this world to take him down and obtain the rewards corresponding to the peak of the main protagonist's strength]