"Baskin... I... I truly regret it..."
At night, in a small cabin within the rebel settlement, after drinking a glass of cheap wine with a gloomy expression, the red-faced chubby man held 'Little Baskin's' neck, tears flowing down his face, and said,
"If you hadn't come to save me back then, maybe the injuries on my body could have been less, I could drink less after being laid off, and your family wouldn't be in its current state...
Boo hoo hoo... I... I really tried to scrape money together for you back then, not only the house and my wife's jewelry, but I even sold the reserved spot that wouldn't be cut by the military department, yet in the end, I couldn't even gather one-tenth of it.
I... I didn't not want to give you money, truly I didn't!
I really tried hard, even going to the relief bureau to beg... but your wife's illness was truly beyond saving, and if I had given you all the money to throw in, not only would your son not be taken care of, but you'd most likely starve, and so would my wife...
I... I wronged my wife, I wronged you, I wronged your wife, I wronged your son, I wronged your entire family!
I... I spent my whole life... I didn't do right by anyone!"
"I'm sorry... Owen mistook you for the old Baskin after drinking too much, making you watch a joke..."
Amidst the incoherent cries and howls of the drunken chubby man, a gentle-looking woman wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, with a slightly pleading expression said to 'Little Baskin,'
"I know I'm not suitable to say this... but... but could you not blame your Uncle Owen, he really did his best back then... could you?"
Looking at the woman in front of him, who was probably not even forty but appeared quite old, Leon couldn't help but nod, murmuring an "mm."
After understanding the past of these two families through the fragmented recollections after the chubby man drank, even though he didn't have the same experiences as the real Little Baskin, a heaviness seemed to settle in his chest, as if something was blocking it, and his breathing inexplicably became difficult, suddenly making him want to go out for some fresh air.
Seeing Leon, who hung his head silently, the gentle woman sighed and then said,
"You haven't been drinking, but it's already late, your home is still at the other end of the valley. Why don't you just stay and sleep in Owen's room today?"
Shaking his head to refuse the woman's kindness, Leon said softly,
"Aunt Fanny, I haven't tidied up at home yet, and... I want to go out for some fresh air."
"Fine... then button up your clothes, don't catch a cold."
After leaving through the door with the gentle reminder from the woman, Leon made his way quickly down the dark dirt road toward the other end of the valley.
As undercover missions went, this time's reconnaissance was rather a failure.
Apart from being a competent listener and hearing the chubby man talk about many past matters, he didn't gain much intelligence about the rebel higher-ups, nor did he even figure out where his own residence was.
But... it seemed it wasn't entirely fruitless.
At the very least, he confirmed that most of these rebels weren't power-hungry opportunists, but ordinary people who only wanted to live a peaceful life.
After finding a slightly elevated spot to sit, Leon observed the layout of the entire valley's buildings while seriously contemplating what he should do.
If he only considered it from the identity of a Purification Bureau Cleaner, he had already found the rebels' settlement, identified the rebel leader, and preliminarily secured a foothold.
Next, all he needed to do was showcase his "abnormal" and join those rebels who possessed anomalous objects to complete the mission, help the Princess regain her identity, and thoroughly destroy this organization.
But aside from those eight or nine anomalous object holders, the entire rebel group consisted of nearly a thousand people, and aside from their family members, quite a few even were under wanted and bounty lists.
They relied on that leader's strange 'door ability' to take refuge in this valley, and if they returned to the Capital City, they would likely be immediately captured and thrown into prison, and their families would once again lose the means to maintain their existence.
Although all of this seemed to have nothing to do with him, once he controlled those anomalous object holders, the rest would fall outside his work scope, but...
Looking at the coat that the gentle woman had draped over him before he went out, and the tear stains left by the chubby man crying on the lapel, Leon couldn't help but sigh deeply.
Replacing someone else's identity... didn't seem to be an easy task either...
As Leon let out a long sigh, a middle-aged man with graying hair silently emerged from the nearby shadows, frowned, and asked,
"What are you doing here?"
Finally willing to come out, huh? This man's guard was really up...
Having already detected his presence and deliberately approached him, Leon had equipped the Performer Badge in advance. Upon hearing the inquiry, he jolted his whole body and turned around with a look of surprise, feigning astonishment as he said,
"Leader Sir? What are you doing here?"
"This place isn't far from where I stay, I couldn't sleep and came out for a stroll."
Not minding Leon's counter-question, the middle-aged man first answered, his eyes flickering,
"What about you? Why are you not home so late?"
Leon fell silent for a moment upon hearing his words, then shook his head and said in a low voice,
"Where do I have a home?"
Hearing 'Little Baskin's' words, the middle-aged man couldn't help but frown, lifting his hand to point at a small dimly lit cabin in the distance.