Akashi and kids prepared for the long journey in front of them since they would have to walk all the way to the nearest town.
They made a few stops along their way before they finally came across the first town.
*Huff* *Huff* "This...is a bit hard" Tetsu muttered while holding onto his knees. However, he was better off than others who were already sitting on the ground, catching their breath.
"Stop complaining, we were just walking through some small mountains. The terrain wasn't that bad. Even your sister isn't complaining, she is more manly than you" Akashi said while turning around to look at everyone.
'? Is that supposed to be a compliment for me or is he trying to insult both of us at the same time...?' Kana thought while catching her breath in silence, she didn't even have the strength and energy to ask aloud.
"Easy for you to say...you are already used to this." Tetsu grumbled while looking to the side.
"Alright, all of you will wait for me here. I can't risk you getting recognized by anyone in that town so I will be going alone to buy a few things for you." Akashi said with his hands in his pockets.
"There is no way anyone would recognize us, only a few merchants might be able to do that. And are we even safe here?" Tetsu asked while looking around just to see some boulders and a few trees, it wasn't the best location in case they would get attacked but it was definitely well hidden from the main road.
"No, but this is the nearest town from the Hakuba town, therefore some of the attackers who burned your town might still be here. They also can have records of residents, anyway, there is no need for you to come with me if there is some risk of you getting recognized. I will also leave these 3 with you to protect all of you" Akashi explained and summoned Kiyomi, Isuku, and Orochi.
Kids' eyes widened in horror when they saw 3 large Danger Beasts appear out of nowhere. They wanted to run but their legs were already weak and were shaking from the exhaustion, not to mention that they were now shaking in fear.
"Don't show such expressions towards them, you owe all of them your lives, they were the ones who were helping me with rescuing you." Akashi calmly said while Kiyomi approached him and he started to pat her head.
*Chirp* *Chirp*
*Hiss*
When they heard Kiyomi singing like a normal bird, they eased up but they once again tensed up when they heard Python-like Danger Beast.
"Alright Orochi, I know you mean well but your voice is a bit creepy. At least Isuku played it safe and rather didn't produce any sound not to scare them." Akashi said with a helpless smile while looking at Orochi. upon hearing Akashi's words, Orochi could only keep his head down with sad air enveloping him.
Akashi introduced 3 of his Danger Beasts and explained that unless they will try to hurt them, they won't make a move against them. He also let braver kids like Kana and Tetsu mount Kiyomi and play together with her.
After an hour, Akashi came back together with a few horses and a quite big carriage. Enough to hold more than half of the kids inside while the rest could sit next to the driver position.
"Ufff, I thought you were intending for us to walk all the way to the Capital on our feet." Tetsu sighed in relief with a small smile.
"I wanted to but your stops every few minutes are quite annoying. With such speed, it would take a few years for us to get there." Akashi replied and threw a few bags with supplies inside the carriage. He could store the supplies inside his inventory but letting these kids see some supplies of food and water is better than have them keep worrying and asking about it.
----3 Days later, Akame's group----
Akame and others already arrived at the Capital a day ago and they spent rest of the yesterday resting. It was currently morning and they have a meeting inside the palace.
"Najasho" Gozuki called out while reading a few reports.
"Yes" Najasho replied and got up from the chair and approached Gozuki.
"I know it's abrupt and might even seem like a waste of time but your mission is to go back and track down Cornelia and those 2 guys with her. A few people from Bill's unit will be going with you, they are fast, strong and have high stamina, they won't drag you down. You are their new leader, they are at your disposal." Gozuki explained with a slightly annoyed expression before handing a few papers to Najasho with more details about his mission.
"Understood, I will read through everything and prepare myself to be ready to move out right after the lunch."
"Can't even one of us go with the leader?" Tsukushi asked with a worried tone.
"No, I already told you that everyone will have separate missions. Najasho is more than enough for this, he already fought this enemy once so he won't fail, right?" Gozuki replied before asking while looking at Najasho.
"Last time, I was focusing on getting others to the safety due to the number disadvantage, if I will be able to focus solely on killing my enemies, there won't be any failure" Najasho replied while nodding at Tsukushi who finally dropped the matter with a small sigh.
"Akame" Gozuki called out.
"Yes" She replied but there was visibly less enthusiasm in her voice.
"Your mission is to assassinate this woman, she is a dangerous asset to Rebels and she is also a traitor. Used to belong to us." Gozuki said and handed Akame the drawing of the said woman.
When Akame saw the drawing, her eyes widened a bit in surprise, and Green who also saw the drawing was similarly surprised but he didn't let it be seen on his face.
"What is it? Do you already know former General Najenda?" Gozuki asked with narrowed eyes which made Green tense up as he slowly moved his hand towards his weapon.
"No, I am just surprised that she is a deserter and was able to live on for so long." Akame shook her head and replied completely naturally.
'...She really used to be a general...The things she had said must have been true, I need to talk to her more! I don't see the reason why would she desert Empire from such a high position if she truly didn't have a good reason like for example what she was previously telling us.' Akame thought and while looking at the drawing attentively.
"Don't underestimate her, she wasn't the General just for show. Even if she is now in a weakened state, she is still strong." Gozuki warned her when he saw how she was looking at the drawing suspiciously too long.
"...I am going to bury her!" Akame deformed the drawing by clenching her hand and said with dull eyes devoid of any emotions.
'...Looks like I was worrying over nothing.' Gozuki thought with a smile when he saw Akame switching into her "killer" mode without any problem.
'Ufff, for a moment I thought a fight will break out right here right now...Thankfully, I still got some time to live. Anyway, Akame was able to shake off Gozuki's suspicion.' Green thought with closed eyes and wiped his sweaty hand that was ready to grab his weapon just a few seconds ago.
Gozuki gave others their mission and everyone parted ways after lunch inside the palace.
.
.
.
Akame with help of horse got to the location where she was supposed to meet with Imperial spies. The spies told her that Najenda was usually within the fortress among the Rebel army but there were times when she went into mountains with only 1 bodyguard.
The entrance to the mountains was guarded but that wouldn't pose a problem for Akame.
She got near the entrance and then jumped out of her hiding, surprising two soldiers guarding the entrance. They didn't have any time to react to her surprise attack, however, when Akame was about to draw her Kiriichimonji from the sheath and cut their heads off, she stopped and only hit their necks with her sheath, successfully knocking them out.
'...I didn't come here to kill, I came here for answers! I will no longer blindly abide by the Empire's orders!' Akame thought while looking at two unconscious guards before she turned around, entering the mountains filled with trees.
.
.
"So you came...I am a little surprised at how early you decided to come considering our encounter happened only a few days ago." Najenda said with a light cigar in her mouth while sitting near the campfire in front of a little wooden cottage.
"My mission is to kill you so I didn't exactly come here out of my own free will." Akame replied while approaching Najenda and a cloaked figure sitting next to her.
"Oh? That's quite a good coincidence...So? What are you going to do?" Najenda asked with a smile while enjoying her cigar.
"I came here seeking answers. I don't want to fight anymore unless I truly know what I am fighting for." Akame replied but her guard never eased up since she still didn't trust them.
"You say all that while looking like you are ready to fight at any moment. Come here and sit opposite to us, we can talk if that's what you truly want. Also..." Najenda said with a smile and pointed with her hand at free space near the campfire and then also gestured to a cloaked figure next to her to get rid of the cloak.
"By the way, this is Bulat. You have already met him and clashed weapons with him." Najenda introduced her companion to Akame and she just nodded with a cautious expression.
'Bulat...100 Man Slayer Bulat. If we clashed weapons together, he must have been the one in that armor, he has an almost identical physique to that armored man from before. No wonder I had such a hard time fighting him while evading Najenda's shots from her own weapon.' Akame thought with furrowed brows and sat down near the campfire while keeping her weapon on her thighs.
----Around 50 kilometers away from the Capital, on the main road----
"Elder brother Akashi! Are we planning to stop at the inn or are we planning to travel through the entire night? Most of the girls would like to take a bath already, it has been 2 days..." Kana's head peeked out of carriage's cover on the driver's side and she asked while hugging Akashi's neck with her small arms and resting her chin on Akashi's shoulder.
"...*sigh* Kana, aren't you acting a bit intimate, considering that we know each other only a few days?" Akashi didn't answer her question and instead asked his own question with a slightly tired expression.
"I don't think so...You have protected us so many times that I already forgot the number, therefore I trust you." Kana said with an innocent voice and a beaming smile.
"...We can stay overnight in one town that's only a few kilometers away from here. However! This time, I won't be keeping watch over you or help you in any way neither will I do any of your strange requests! I am not your nanny." Akashi said with a stern tone while pressing his index finger to Kana's forehead.
"But that wasn't my idea and it was because we had to clean ourselves in the river, the girls didn't want boys to peek so they requested your presence." Kana protested while putting her all strength to push Akashi's index finger back.
"Whatever, I don't care whose idea it was, just relay what I just said to all girls." Akashi replied.
'Who would have ever thought that 13 years old girls are afraid of boys peeking on them... the biggest irony is that they wanted ME to stand on watch, even when I offered to summon Kiyomi, they said that they aren't sure if she would be able to comprehend what's her task. I hate kids...I guess I shouldn't say that when I have a daughter of my own. I just hope none of them will talk about it since many people could misunderstand.' Akashi thought and if he didn't have his blindfold on, his eyes would be completely dull and lifeless.