A Difficult Mission

"Boss, B-Rank Mission Plot Points! They really are B-Rank Mission Plot Points!"

"You really can’t tell how difficult this mission was, hehe~"

"What the hell do you know? If the boss and I hadn’t wounded him together just now, there definitely wouldn’t have been any! Didn’t you see his marksmanship and moves? I never knew a pistol could be used like that. Too bad Little Six died."

"…"

The sudden gain of B-Rank Mission Plot Points nearly instantly washed away the grief of losing a teammate.

After all, the squad had only recently been formed. And in the Reincarnation Space, even teammates often put profit above all else.

If they had to choose between a teammate’s death and a B-Rank Mission Plot Point reward, most of them would probably wish everyone could be traded for B-Rank Mission Plot Points!

Meanwhile…

Xu Yue withdrew his knifehand and looked at the pathetic assassin before him, who had disguised himself as a tourist with a camera and been knocked unconscious. His face showed little expression.

He had only sensed the killing intent at the instant the man fired. He immediately realized that this guy likely possessed some skill that concealed killing intent. His disguise as an ordinary person had been fairly convincing.

Even Xu Yue had failed to sense anything in advance, so the man indeed had reason to be confident in his concealment abilities.

Unfortunately, he had still revealed a flaw. Euphemia was, after all, a great beauty. It would have been excessive to say one had to fall in love with her, but taking a few extra glances in appreciation, or looking away because of a shy personality, would have been the normal reactions.

In the end, he had not refined his act enough. He had behaved too naturally, too unwaveringly focused ahead. That in itself was the greatest unnaturalness…

"What… what happened to him? Why did he attack him?"

Euphemia, whose favorability Xu Yue had been working on, frowned as though troubled by the matter.

"He should be with the assassin from earlier, Miss Euphemia. They were probably targeting you. I think we should leave this area first."

Suzaku possessed considerable military training. Although he was startled by Xu Yue’s actions and had no idea how Xu Yue had identified the man, he could still understand Xu Yue’s reasoning.

He had managed to help Euphemia evade that initial sniper attack. Naturally, finding the culprit afterward was to be expected.

As for Xu Yue, he continued maintaining his image before Euphemia. Looking down at the unconscious Reincarnator, he said,

"What should we do with him? Hand him over to the police?"

Faced with kind-hearted Euphemia, Xu Yue had little interest in dealing with such a minor character. Capturing him alive had already counted as a B-Rank Mission, and there was not much more value to squeeze out of him anyway.

If he showed Euphemia how kind and gentle he was, only to turn around and kill someone right before her eyes, it would have the opposite effect.

As for whether this would leave behind any trouble, there was even less need to worry. He was a ninja. Taking down a gunman at close range while the other party knew nothing and was not paying attention was perfectly natural, especially when there was such an obvious gap in physical ability.

"Someone will come deal with him. Thank you again. I really don’t know what would have happened otherwise."

Having reached this point, Xu Yue stopped while he was ahead rather than continuing to press for favorability.

She was a Princess. Although she herself was a little naïve, she had a sister with a Sister Complex. Drawing that woman’s attention and suspicion would be somewhat troublesome, so it was better to take things step by step.

After watching the two of them leave, along with several black-clad men who emerged and took away the assassin, the members of Sun Lin’s Squad who had gone in pursuit returned as well.

Xu Yue sharply noticed that one person was missing. Only six remained.

So that was it. The assassin had eliminated a Reincarnator and fulfilled one requirement of the Promotion Mission before deciding to gamble everything on an assassination attempt. It had been a good idea, at least.

"You really got lucky this time. You didn’t lift a finger, yet you picked up a B-Rank Mission Plot Point for nothing. B-Rank Mission Plot Points! Do you know how hard those are to get?"

Wu Mo still found Xu Yue displeasing. With bandages wrapped around his injuries, he looked at Xu Yue with an unhappy expression.

Why did he have to get shot and nearly leave the mission early like short-lived Little Six?

Yet this guy was completely unharmed, and he had even managed to earn the favor of an important plot character.

The mission prompt had said Princess. That was far more important than some Suzaku!

"Xu Yue, did you not know about the Princess beforehand?"

Zhou Qiang, the steady and resolute soldier, asked Xu Yue.

"If even the captain didn’t know, do you think I would?"

Xu Yue replied with a question.

Sun Lin spoke at this moment.

"My gathered intelligence did include a little information about this Princess, but I never connected it to this. Who would have thought she would appear in this way? It was probably just a coincidence."

Wu Mo immediately took the opportunity to say,

"But this time, all of us put in so much effort, while the person who did nothing got the greatest reward. You need to find a way to introduce us to her. You should have gained some favorability by now, right? Even spending that favorability should let us make contact with her."

With Wu Mo taking the lead, the others added a few words in support.

Using someone else’s favorability to help themselves farm missions—of course they supported that!

At first, they had simply been too embarrassed to say it. But now that Wu Mo, that rascal, had laid it bare, they naturally followed along.

What?

Let him keep farming it, raising the favorability higher for greater rewards?

But what did that have to do with them?

Wouldn’t he take all the benefits for himself then?

It was better to split it evenly now, so everyone could feel balanced.

Only Sun Lin was too thin-skinned to put on such an ugly display.

"We’re all in the Resistance Army faction now. The group we’ve joined has a great deal of potential too—the predecessor of the Black Knights—so there’s no need to farm favorability with the Princess. According to my intelligence, she’s just a useless figurehead. Her relationships are poor, and she eventually massacred civilians. Her personality is terrible. Raising her favorability might even have side effects."

Since the boss had spoken, the squad members naturally had to give her face.

Still, two or three of them felt somewhat dissatisfied inside. You had a good brother who gave you everything, so you never had to worry about food or clothing. How could you understand their difficulties?

"Hehe, how about this? Since I saved her life, I still have a channel to keep in contact with her. I can go over there for now, infiltrate them, and provide you with information. What do you think?"

Xu Yue seemed to feel a little embarrassed as well, as though he had gained a huge advantage. As a gentle, good-natured person, of course he would feel awkward, so he tactfully made a suggestion.

The other members of Sun Lin’s Squad were all moved by this.

An undercover agent had the hardest life. It was easy to offend both sides, and once exposed, the risks were enormous.

Infiltrating them meant not only being wary of the local inhabitants of the Reincarnation Space, but also hostile Reincarnators!

This time, the opposing side included members from the first- and third-ranked legions. The Far East Governor’s Mansion and Wings of Freedom were not easy to deal with.

Honestly, if reliable intelligence could be sent back, it would indeed ease much of their pressure.

Then they could use the information supplied by their infiltrator, pass it to the predecessor of the Black Knights in their own names, and earn merit. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

It truly seemed like the way to maximize everyone’s benefits!

As for whether he might get any private missions, that would depend on his own ability.

Wu Mo hurriedly spoke up, agreeing while making a demand.

"No problem, but you have to sign an agreement. You must contact us at set intervals and tell us the information you know. Otherwise, it would be too unfair for you to use resources the team secured for you to farm missions on your own."

"No problem. Even if you hadn’t said it, I would have brought it up."

Xu Yue agreed exceptionally readily.

He had originally been worried about how to lend Lelouch a hand during the Saitama Defense Battle. Now someone had practically delivered themselves to him!

Once the originally failed battlefield achieved victory, he could strike Cornelia and give her a headache. Then, after the Black Knights’ founding declaration drew in popular support, a few more moves should create the necessary conditions for Euphemia to establish the Special Administrative Zone.

Hopefully, the main body’s progress would not be too fast…

There were only two updates today. I really could not understand why online shopping festivals and Singles’ Day had become so terrifying… sob sob~ I had to go out to the countryside, and I didn’t know whether I would have to stay there.

Sigh~ My leg injury still hadn’t healed. Boss, stop exploiting me all the time.