They hoped Iori could give an explanation, but he still asked them to stay calm for the moment. After a short while, he actually summoned Esdeath as well.
At this point, everyone was certain that Iori must have something major to announce… it was just that each person had their own reservations.
Especially Chelsea. When she saw that the leader and ace of Night Raid were actually interacting closely with Iori in private, clearly following his lead, she immediately realized that she was in for bad luck today.
Judging by the situation, it was either forcibly joining them, or being silenced on the spot.
That said, she didn't think about resisting at all. Like a little white rabbit, she obediently stayed in the corner, hoping no one would notice her.
Not to mention monsters like Iori and Esdeath, not to mention a top-tier assassin like Akame, even Najenda's frontal combat power alone was enough to crush her. In a situation like this, what could she do besides leave it to fate?
But today she was destined to learn a lot of things she really shouldn't know. There was no way to avoid it.
"Everyone present is someone I trust the most, so there's no need for polite formalities. Bringing you all together naturally means there's something very important to arrange."
Iori's opening line immediately set the serious tone of this conversation.
Chelsea, trembling in the corner, desperately wanted to remind Iori that she was not one of the people he "trusted the most," and that she really didn't want to hear any "important matters." Unfortunately, Iori had already continued speaking on his own.
Even when the orange-haired girl covered her ears, his words still slipped through. And the very first sentence caught Chelsea's interest, making her forget her fear for a moment and start listening intently instead.
"Do you want to know why I always wear a mask?"
The four women present showed different expressions.
Chelsea was full of curiosity. Her main job was actually "spy work"; assassinating officials was just a way to pad her KPIs. What she valued most was intelligence.
So what was the most valuable, most talked-about piece of information on the black market right now?
Was it the secret behind the previous emperor's sudden "death by illness"? The strange origins of the Path of Peace's leader? Honest's hidden treasury?
No. None of those.
What people were most curious about right now was Iori's true face.
Not just what he looked like, but also his background, and where he obtained his strange abilities.
This man had appeared out of nowhere several years ago. No one knew his past, and no one had ever seen what lay beneath his mask. Some guessed he had been completely disfigured in an accident.
Others suspected he was a big shot who had faked his death and needed to change his appearance. Some even guessed that he might not look like a normal human at all… all kinds of theories were flying around.
When Iori was still just a bounty hunter, this question was nothing more than casual chatter after meals.
But after Iori publicly announced that "the Masked General is the faceless bounty hunter," everyone went crazy trying to uncover his true identity.
Even though ordinary people didn't know that Iori had already subjugated the Path of Peace, nor that Esdeath had lost to him, just the strength he had openly displayed, along with that elite squad of Imperial Arms users under his command, was already enough to influence the course of events.
If you made a ranking of imperial power, Iori would easily place in the top five. If you included hidden forces, he was unquestionably number one!
Every move such a person made would draw attention. If not for the fact that Iori was too strong and too elusive to be tracked, people would probably even pay a high price to buy information about when he went to the bathroom…
Everyone wanted to know who exactly was beneath Iori's mask, but no one had the ability to lift it.
As for background checks, there were simply no leads at all, after all, even Sherlock Holmes couldn't investigate a "past" that didn't exist.
Chelsea never would have dared to dream that she'd get such a precious opportunity, to personally witness Iori lay bare his secrets.
…At this moment, she even forgot the saying "the more you know, the more dangerous it is."
"I am indeed curious, but in the end this is your personal privacy. You have no obligation to explain or prove anything to anyone."
Najenda paused, then said very seriously, "My lord, I chose to cooperate with you, or rather, to pledge loyalty to you, not because of who you are, where you come from, or what you look like, but simply because I acknowledge your philosophy of governance."
"So at least to me, what lies beneath your mask… is not something important."
After hearing this, Iori gave her an approving look and then gently shook his head.
"No need to be nervous. I have no intention of testing you."
Najenda had made her meaning very clear, and Iori could hear the implication beneath her words.
She suspected that there might be something wrong with Iori's identity, perhaps he was of non-human origin, or connected to the royal family or great nobles, or even had dangerous non-human blood like the leader of the Path of Peace. So she thought Iori was laying his cards on the table here to test their loyalty.
And what Najenda had just said wasn't false. She truly didn't care what Iori was. As long as he could continue with his current ideals, prioritize the people's interests when governing, and allow ordinary folk to live in peace, then even if Iori were a demon disguised as a human, Najenda would not hesitate to offer up her soul.
Among the others, Akame was simply curious. She had rather subtle feelings toward Iori, and unlike Najenda, she hadn't thought through all the implications. Instead, she genuinely cared about what Iori actually looked like.
She didn't care about beauty or ugliness. It was just that looking at that mask made her feel as if there were a layer separating her from Iori, and it always bothered her a little.
As for Esdeath, she was completely indifferent.
'You called everyone here just for something this trivial?'
"I wear a mask at all times not just to maintain an air of mystery, but because I have no choice. Without this mask, I would have difficulty even communicating with you."
"Everyone, do you want to see my face? To see what it is that I've been hiding?"
"Then let us reveal the answer here and now. Beneath this mask..."
As Iori raised his hand to his face, the four women's gazes were drawn there involuntarily. Even Esdeath couldn't help but feel curious. Then Iori suddenly lifted it... Revealing white, thin leather.
"It's another mask! Ahahahaha!"
"..."
"..."
"..."
BOOM!
A massive ice pillar condensed out of thin air and crashed downward.
Chelsea was almost caught in it, but she only felt her vision blur and her body suddenly grow light. The next moment, she was transferred elsewhere, wrapped in solid, reliable arms. When she looked up, she realized it was Iori who had saved her.
"Th-thank you…"
"I should be the one apologizing."
Iori looked a little embarrassed. "I didn't scare you, did I? Esdeath, you're way too excitable. It was just a small joke."
As he said the latter half, he turned to look at the ice queen, whose face was frosted over.
"If you make such a fuss over something like this, wouldn't you have your eyes pop out when you see the 'true face'?"
The boy released Chelsea and chuckled at the dissatisfied crowd.
"To prevent accidents, I usually wear two layers of masks, one soft and one hard. Please don't mind it."
With that, he casually lifted his hand to his face again. The soft leather mask was removed and tossed aside, revealing his true appearance, nothing.
The four froze. Then they looked again more carefully, their expressions gradually turning to shock as their brains failed to process what they were seeing.
'Nothing! There's nothing at all!'
Beneath the mask was neither a disfigured face, nor any non-human, beast-like features, there wasn't even a normal human face. There was simply… nothingness.
What they saw was only a hooded cloak held up by empty space.
"Akame, that expression of yours is really interesting."
Even though no one could be seen, a familiar voice still came out, making the situation even more eerie and confusing.
However, Akame and the others quickly regained their composure. Najenda stroked her chin and muttered, "Is it a transparency ability like Demon's Extract? No… transparency doesn't mean true disappearance. At this distance, there should still be some trace…"
Esdeath narrowed her eyes and, with a thought, released a thick wave of cold air from her body. Floating frost soon appeared around Iori.
"He does exist physically… interesting. Does that mean he can't be observed with the naked eye, and needs other senses?"
She seemed to realize something. Akame suddenly did as well. The two of them closed their eyes at the same time. After a moment, they opened them again, wearing strange expressions.
Both were veterans of countless battles. Even without relying on the five senses, they could perceive presence on a spiritual level, killing intent, pressure, and the like. And they could indeed sense Iori's existence. That proved this wasn't a technological illusion or some trick of the eye…
'This man really is completely "transparent"!'
They had boldly imagined many possibilities, but the truth was even more outrageous than any of them.
"What is this… are you even human, Iori?"
"Of course I'm human. I just exist in a different 'realm' from the one you live in."
Iori explained seriously, "You are living people, existing in the realm of 'life,' while I am in the realm of 'death,' so you cannot observe me."
"To put it more simply… the living can't see souls. That's easy enough to understand, right?"
"Are you a ghost?!" Chelsea exclaimed, shocked and terrified.
"Not quite the same as what people usually mean by a 'ghost,' but I am indeed a pure spiritual being."
"A spiritual being? I've killed countless people. If spirits like ghosts truly existed in this world, I should have encountered plenty of them. Yet no dead person has ever appeared before me, not even in my dreams."
Esdeath was clearly unconvinced. "Even if you are a spirit, you couldn't have come into existence under normal circumstances… What exactly are you? Is this the price of gaining power?"
As she thought about the many unbelievable methods Iori had shown, the ice queen felt her heart stir.
She had a pathological obsession with strength. If dying once could make her become like Iori, she would make that choice without hesitation.
But she also understood that Iori was no ordinary ghost. If she couldn't unravel the secret behind him, dying would probably just mean dying for nothing.
"A spirit… I thought that was just legend… But thinking carefully, Kurome's Imperial Arm can manipulate corpses and even retain their combat instincts from life… so souls should indeed exist. The appearance of freely moving spirits doesn't seem impossible after all."
Akame let out a long breath, whether in relief or contemplation she didn't know. "But still… talking to you like this really feels strange."
"Oh? Then that's my oversight. In that case..."
Iori drew the Kusanagi Sword and softly recited its release command. A flash of light swept across the ground, and a scene that Esdeath found all too familiar appeared once more. In an instant, everyone was pulled into the Mirror World.
"Th-this is!"
"Don't panic. This should be Iori's ability. Nothing will happen."
"What are you trying to do?"
Esdeath frowned slightly. She had a bit of psychological trauma associated with this place.
Iori pointed at the ground beneath him. "You should be able to see it like this."
Everyone lowered their gaze and saw that the mirrored surface clearly reflected everyone present, including Iori.
More importantly, in the reflection on the ground, they could see Iori's facial features and appearance.
He lifted his cloak, revealing in the reflection a youthful boy with proper features, handsome and refined, completely different from what they had imagined.
Iori smiled slightly, looking a bit embarrassed. "Sorry. This face doesn't really match the image of an 'ambitious schemer,' a 'great general,' or a 'bounty hunter,' does it? I must have disappointed you."
"N-no… it's just not quite what I imagined. But rather than disappointment, it's more like… mm!"
Akame shut her mouth tightly, feeling an inexplicable trace of surprise and reassurance.
Najenda and Chelsea seemed momentarily dazzled, but quickly steadied themselves. After all, what Iori looked like wasn't important to them.
As for Esdeath, this woman who normally cared about nothing but battle, stared at the face in the mirror and, for some reason, fell into a daze…
The fact that Iori was not a living person was undoubtedly shocking. Everyone felt their hearts race, as if they had touched upon some earth-shattering secret.
And in truth, it really was. If this information were spread, it would definitely cause an uproar throughout the entire Empire.
Especially among the followers of the Path of Peace, who already tended to worship Iori as a divine incarnation, this would only make them believe even more firmly.
"I come from a place called the 'Soul Society.' You can understand it as the destination of souls after death."
Iori concealed part of the crucial information and spoke to them.
"The inhabitants of the Soul Society are divided into two types, ordinary souls, and 'Shinigami', those responsible for guiding the dead from the world of the living to the afterlife and managing them. People like me."
"Beings like us generally do not directly interfere in the affairs of the living world, but there are occasional exceptions."
"More specifically, there exists an invisible balance in this world. The realm of the living and the realm of the dead influence each other, and Shinigami are the maintainers of order."
"Whenever a major disaster occurs in the living world and the balance between life and death is broken, we step in to correct this twisted world!"
'It was real!'
Whether it was Najenda, Esdeath, Akame, or Chelsea, none of them were naive girls. They had seen countless lies and deceptions, and they could tell whether Iori was lying.
Their instincts told them that while Iori was probably hiding some details, the overall story was true, this was not something he had fabricated out of thin air.
And this shook their worldview.
"You're saying… you're a 'god'?" Najenda couldn't help asking.
"So the rumor spread by the Path of Peace was actually true? I thought it was just part of your propaganda…"
"That rumor does have some basis in reality, but it's also undeniably propaganda."
"Because it's nothing more than a 'Shinigami' fabricated based on my image!"
Iori smiled. "But don't be too nervous. Although my job title is 'Shinigami,' I'm not an omnipotent god. I'm just… a little stronger than ordinary people."
Those words left the four of them speechless. Esdeath's gaze even turned dangerous.
Was that a roundabout way of belittling her?
"Maintaining the balance of the world… that does make everything suddenly clear."
Akame murmured, "No one knows where you came from, or by what criteria you choose your targets… yes, if you're a 'Shinigami,' then everything makes sense!"
All the scattered clues from before finally connected into a complete line at this moment, unraveling Iori's many mysteries with the single word "Shinigami."