MHA: ‘Serene’ Life in Another World.

"How do you know that I will come to you?" I asked her in complete bafflement. I only told my intention of Prison Break to La Brava and I don't think La Brava will distribute this information to others and betray us.

She had her normal face, without much change in her facial expressions.

"A Birdie came and told me about you. Why don't you open the ties first before asking the questions." She said with her cynical tone.

"You know your situation right? I kidnapped you out of the prison and you have no position to demand anything from me." I said in a threatening tone. But it seems it didn't work.

"Don't beat around the bush Night Slash, by acting like a mafia leader. You say 'you want my help' and I will say 'I will help you.' That's it. You are just stretching this for far too long." She said and tried to open the ties.

'How is she so well aware of my plans??!!'

I cut open the ties binding her. I did it because she is not a threat to me even with her skills as a trained assassin and a great one at that. What is the use of the bullet if it cannot kill the target?

She stood up from the chair and walked in front of me. She tried to peer into my helmet's visor to look at my face but it didn't work as the visor acts as a one-way window for me, I can see you but you can't see me through it. She then backed off a bit with her arms crossed under her chest.

"So what do you want to ask? I already said I will help you. And what's with the weird helmet?" She asked in her usual cynical tone.

"How do you know about me coming to you or about me asking for your help?" I ignored the helmet part as those things are irrelevant for me now. The most important thing is how she got the information and how many other people know about it.

"Well as I said 'A Birdie' came and told me about you... But it seems like the birdie is my junior at the HPSC. He is called Hawks. He gave me newspapers and some Books. The newspapers were related to your details and the books were reports of my missions. I was reading through the reports of my mission and what HPSC thought about it and then you 'kidnapped' me. It was interesting to see how they call me naive and foolish behind my back when I was doing those missions thinking I am doing for the 'Greater Good' of the Society.

He said, 'There is a Vigilante named Night Slash, who is against HPSC and he stole some reports from the database and will use as evidence against HSPC. He will come to you when he finds that the reports are vague and misleading. He will ask for your help in preparing the evidence against HPSC. So make your own decision on that.' So that's how I know about you... And Yeah he also told me to tell you that, 'Meet me at Yoritomi Restaurant in Fukuoka City. I will be waiting'." She elaborated on her meeting with Hawks.

I was shocked to hear that Hawks predicted I will go to Nagant. He also knows I took out the reports from the Database of HPSC and what about the invitation to meet him. But the most important thing is why he didn't resent Nagant for killing the Former HPSC President instead he gave her the information about me and asked her to make her own choice. I thought he will exact revenge or something on Nagant but he did the thing that I didn't expect.

'When they found I deleted Night Slash file from their database, then it was obvious I would have taken the files of their scandalous missions. And me telling Hawks about Nagant during our fight in Hero Ambush, indicates that I know about her existence and I will come to her for the evidence. And why he didn't resent Nagant, Is his loyalty to HPSC is not that much as I expected but the outburst when I threatened HPSC during our fight shows his loyalty to HPSC.'

Hawks is not that easy as I thought. I need to be careful of him. He may be not a problem in combat but he is still the No.3 hero and I should not underestimate my enemy.

'I think I will meet him for a small talk in the future.'

"You also said you expected me to come earlier. What did you mean by that?" I asked my second question.

She took a seat on the chair she was previously tied up to. She then put one of her legs above the other.

"Hawks said you will come in 2-3 days but you took a week to come. That's why I said you were late."

'He went to meet her right after Hero Ambush. His intellect and information gathering is really nothing to scoff at.'

"Last Question, Why are you accepting to help so easily? We even don't know each other well. How are you so trusting to people who you've never met?"

She was silent for a few moments but then she said,

"Look at me, I am at my lowest. I am a pro-hero who 'killed' her fellow hero; I am a dirty worker of the HPSC who cleared all of their shit; now I am a fugitive. Even if you stab me in the back, what will you gain from it? What will I lose from it? Nothing... I couldn't accomplish what I wanted and it is all because of the HPSC. Now if I get a chance to make... HPSC pay... I will take it." She said in her usual cynical tone but in the last lines, her voice faltered.

And this was my chance,

{SJMAHPE} - Recruit Anyone    [Cheat Activated]

{WORSHIPME} - Maximum Respect  [Cheat Activated]

"You wanted to become a hero right? And you were one If I remember correctly, then what more you wanted to achieve?" I asked Nagant. Even if I know the answer, I still asked. I wanted to make the crack in her emotions a bit bigger so the words laced with cheat could affect her more.

"I wanted to be a hero who always helped people and people admiring me for my work. I wanted to be a great hero but I was recruited by the HPSC under the illusion of becoming a hero but all they did was train me in assassination and marksmanship.

When my training was complete, they sent me to do missions under fake stories like 'Threatening Peace' for Peaceful Protestors, etc. I killed all who I was told to kill. But when I realized what was happening, it was too late. My hands were already soaked in the blood of innocents.

I didn't achieve what I wanted to, but I became something entirely opposite of that. I became a pawn that killed innocent people." Nagant said everything she had in her mind. It was not like she wanted to talk about her past to me, but it was the combined effect of {WORSHIPME} and {SJMAHPE} that made her do that.

{SJMAHPE} makes words more powerful and {WORSHIPME} increases my respect, which also makes the person feel a 'bit' of compulsion to say the truth, as they see me as a person above them. But these are ineffective against people with a strong will. So If there is some weak point that can put a crack in their Indomitable Will, I will exploit it and use the cheat to make the situation go in my favor, which is happening here.

"So now what? Always reminisce and grieve over your past or do something to atone for the past sins you have committed." I asked Nagant.

"Atone? How can I do that... I am a murder.." She looked down as she felt more and more shame from her past deeds.

If the thing I speak, is in line with her thoughts then the effect of cheat works and this is what is making her feel more shame. It's like getting scolded by your parents for doing something bad. Their words carry more impact on you, as you respect them. The same is happening here. 

"You can help people like you wanted to. It won't make everyone forget about your past misdeeds, but I think it is better than just sitting and doing nothing." I suggested her. I am trying to take the conversation in a very specific direction.

"But I don't know anything other than killing and assassination..."

"Then kill bad guys who endanger the life of normal citizens. That is what I do. This will be helpful for citizens too. You are basically killing criminals who are used to hurt people. You can kill these criminals without any remorse, right? If you still feel reluctant, You can join our team if you want to, We also do the same thing. You can help the team and we help the people, so ultimately you are helping the people." I indirectly slipped an invitation in the suggestion.

"But aren't you against HPSC and want to destroy it? Why are you trying to save people?" She asked with a confused face. It was obvious, Hawks presented the image of us like that to her.

"Well Yes but actually No. We are a group of vigilantes who created a team to help people and 'reduce' Villains from the streets, but the HPSC was not that happy with us, as we were more efficient than them and tried to poke us, so I punched back in response and threatened to destroy the HPSC if they pass certain limits that I and the current President of HPSC decided in our meeting." I explained the entire situation of HPSC and Night Raid to her.

The 'helping people' part is of Danjuro and the 'Reduce' part is carried by me and Knuckleduster.

"Can I join your team... even if my past is not.." She tried to say something but hesitated a lot.

"Don't worry about your past. There is a guy who used to be a small-time Criminal but now he is helping people. The Past doesn't matter, what you do now does." I interrupted her and spouted some random motivational lines to motivate her to go on the 'Right' Path. I interrupted her because if I left her to own her own thoughts then she will doubt more and more, therefore I am shaping the conversation through my cheat words (Words laced with {SJMAHPE} effect) and let her think about my words entirely not her internal thoughts.

When people are motivated or encouraged by others, They do things that they usually do not do or believe in. But when they introspect, they will refuse to do those things. And that is what I want to do here, I don't want her to introspect much.

"Then I will join." She said and stretched her hand for a handshake. I accepted her handshake and concluded the recruitment of a new member to Night Raid.

But I have to be sure. Even if I used cheats to recruit her, I don't want to leave any loose ends in this because if she has any ulterior motive or some ploy to join Night Raid, then the entire team will be doomed if I let her join. So I opened the Gang Members list from the System.

[Gang Members]

1. Danjuro Tobita (-)

2. Manami Aiba (-)

3. Iwao Oguro (-)

4. Kaina Tsutsumi (-)

She is now a genuine member of Night Raid. If there was some hesitation in her heart about joining or some plans to infiltrate the team, then her name wouldn't have even appeared on the list. The name appearing in the list means she accepts that she is a part of the team wholeheartedly.

That means,

"Assassin, Get!"