Emiya Shirou doesn't want to work overtime

The brutal killing of the perpetrators and the rescue of the civilians covered in mud—these are all expressions of her indifference and concern.

She doesn't care about innocent people, but she cares about the Imperials.

The justice she always believed in was the justice of the empire. She was the demon of imperial justice.

Her standard for everything was the empire, not humanity.

If the Empire told her that those people had betrayed it, she would slaughter them all without asking any questions, because the Empire was righteous, and she was the executor of justice.

She was willing to give everything for the people of the empire, not for the people themselves.

However, Emiya was unaware that her sense of justice was not formed through Emiya's own experiences in life, but rather through being taught by others.

"It's time to go!"

Just as Emiya was deep in thought, Riva knocked on his door, informing him that they would be taking action again that night.

Esdeath will be returning to the capital in a few days, and their real operation should begin.

It would be naive to think that the three beastmen could only kill one minister in one night.

Yesterday was just a test for Emiya; today is the real combination of deception and reality.

They would travel throughout the empire, assassinating dozens of ministers.

Among them were some virtuous ministers wholeheartedly devoted to the empire, but many more were the scum of the empire.

Their mission tonight was so demanding that they kept Emiya busy and confused, preventing him from accurately determining who he shouldn't have killed.

No matter how talented Emiya is, he can't have three heads and six arms. He can only rely on the information they provide and rarely has the opportunity to make his own judgments.

Even if Emiya does find a few wise ministers, it won't be a big deal.

Esdeath doesn't care whether her subordinates serve the empire or not, as long as they serve her. She just wants to shift the blame to the empire's higher-ups.

Emiya couldn't possibly find all the wise retainers among them; some would inevitably die at his hands, or at the hands of the Three Beasts.

Moreover, they don't always act together; Riva, Niu, and Daidas are all capable of acting independently.

He was able to kill Emiya even when Emiya couldn't arrive in time or verify the situation.

Chapter 71 Daytime Mission

Emiya stood in front of the bookstore for a while, but no one came to open it, as if it had gone out of business.

He probably feared that someone like Seleu might suddenly appear and accidentally destroy his shop, threatening his own life.

Emiya sighed helplessly and left.

Now, there is one less place that can know information about the empire.

Emiya still quite likes Lubbock's attempts to insert his own agenda, as he can at least glean a lot of useful information from them.

Besides visiting this bookstore, Emiya has been to other places, but most people are more concerned about their own situation than about the Empire.

I can't get enough to eat, I can't sleep well, and I don't know when I'll die.

They understood the empire's decay, but they didn't want to talk to anyone about the country's corruption.

One wrong move and you might lose your head.

In the tavern, they only dared to discuss the brutality of the night raid.

In the Empire, praising the Night Raid's actions is like someone who thinks they've lived long enough.

Therefore, under the empire's brutal tyranny, Emiya did not receive any useful intelligence.

"A new mission has arrived!"

Riva skillfully walked into the streets of the Empire, patted Emiya on the shoulder, and whispered something in his ear.

The current Emiya could perhaps be called the fourth of the three beast warriors.

Esdeath's plan proceeded smoothly thanks to the three beastmen's framing of the virtuous ministers, the extremely urgent time, and Niu's flute playing that caused people to fall into a coma.

Emiya had neither the time nor the means to make the right judgment.

The residences of those virtuous ministers were filled with countless bloody and infuriating events.

These were all masterpieces completed by the Three Beast Warriors during the day.

In order to avoid being discovered by the Night Raid, the Three Beasts' assassinations are usually carried out at night.

The Empire's support won't arrive so quickly; by the time the Empire's people arrive, they'll probably only be able to collect their corpses.

Riva wasn't powerful enough to take on five opponents single-handedly. [Tatsumi and Lubbock were not on Night Raid's wanted list.]

Emiya could only obtain information about those targets from Riva; there was no other way to get information about them.

Could it be that as he walks down the street, someone tells Emiya Rie's mission objective is actually a loyal and patriotic minister who cares deeply for the people?

This is impossible.

Even though Emiya witnessed it with his own eyes, he was unable to verify it, because the person involved had fallen into a deep coma, simply because Neu had increased the output of the Imperial Arms' power to prevent any accidents.

Even if the person recovers from unconsciousness through pain, they will be completely weak and unable to speak, only able to watch helplessly.

Ordinary ministers generally lack combat capabilities, and once they become completely weak, they are almost unable to recover in a short period of time.

Moreover, the majority of them are truly scum, and Liva is extremely cautious about it.

Only a small portion of the actual mission targets were mixed in. Emiya could only do his utmost to ensure that everyone except the targets survived.

Liva wouldn't fabricate information about an entire manor just to kill everyone.

Even Daidas restrained his urge to go on a killing spree.

He can't beat Shirou Emiya, and even if he did make a move, Emiya would stop him.

Apart from the man from last night, Emiya has never personally taken action.

Emiya judged him to be a bloodthirsty person not through Riva's description, but through the images of the women who were about to die.

Their hateful eyes didn't lie.

But all Emiya could see here were dead bodies everywhere, and even with the veins bulging on his hands, he suppressed his anger.

He lacked the ability to so easily judge a person's morality.

Even virtuous ministers are not necessarily clean-handed or kind-hearted; for the sake of the empire, they may commit countless evil deeds.

Emiya never took anyone's side.

He can understand some things, but he won't agree with them.

Just like war, Emiya understands the cruelty of treating enemies on the battlefield, but he does not condone war.

As for the impact of killing those scum on the empire...

Ha! There are countless scumbags like this in the empire.

Therefore, the main targets of the night raids have always been the high-ranking officials of the Empire. Killing any number of these remnants of the Empire is futile.

On the contrary, it will give the empire's biggest behind-the-scenes manipulator more opportunities to consolidate power.

Each time Emiya left and returned to the inn to rest, the three beastmen would spread the news. The Empire controlled the lifeline of public opinion, something that Night Raid could not match at all.

Emiya was illiterate, and Riva never told him the name and address of their mission target.

So all Emiya could hear in the tavern was that Night Raid had killed so-and-so, that someone had actually killed so-and-so; he didn't know that it was Rival's target.

Before they took action, weren't there often discussions in the tavern about someone being killed in a night raid?

Even Emiya, who was involved in the operation, believed that these things were done by Night Raid, let alone the civilians.

Compared to the original plan to only kill loyal subjects, the actions of the Three Beasts made the masses accept more quickly that these things were the work of the Night Raid.

Because the Three Orcs not only killed the loyal subjects, but also the empire's necromancers.

Therefore, the people believed that this was a misjudgment of the powerful night attack, and they also felt some panic about the night attack.

This sudden accidental killing has made the subordinates hesitant to secretly assign night raid missions anymore.

"Why did you go out during the day today?"

Emiya asked Riva, "Going out at night has been the norm these days, and if it's an assassination, doing it in broad daylight is too blatant."

“He doesn’t usually go back to his own residence but stays in the palace. We can’t take action against the palace. Today is the first time he has left the palace in recent days. If we don’t seize this opportunity, it will be hard to have another chance.”

Riva can now lie so easily that even Emiya can't detect anything wrong with his reasons.

At least on the surface, Riva and his men have been working hard to eliminate the corrupt elements in the empire, but if they actually stormed into the palace to kill people, they would become a naked threat to the empire.

They dared to disregard and storm into the imperial palace; if they ever decided to kill the emperor, wouldn't they be able to do so easily as well?

Therefore, Emiya had no doubts about this reason.

"Then where is he now?"

"On the ship—"

Emiya felt a little uncomfortable wearing his own suit. Their mission target was on such a luxurious ship, so Riva helped Emiya put on a very formal outfit before he was allowed to enter.

"Such extravagance must have consumed an immeasurable amount of manpower and financial resources."

Emiya looked at the fact that even the edges of the windows were covered in gold and couldn't help but feel saddened. It was such a waste of resources and manpower to create such things for people's enjoyment.

Chapter Seventy-Two: The Invisible Man on the Deck

A blue-green wave rolled endlessly on the sea surface, but the large ship remained exceptionally stable.

Emiya and the three beastmen were sitting at the dining table on the ship.

They didn't hide their identities; in fact, apart from Emiya, the others who did hide their identities were unable to board the ship.

Most of the people on this ship are nobles; without sufficient status, they simply cannot board this ship.

Of course, boarding secretly is another matter, and their security for the ship was not particularly strict.

The guards only checked those who boarded the ship through proper channels; they didn't dare question those who were already on board.