---Night Raid's hideout---
Everyone was called inside the main hall by Najenda herself.
"Our new next targets just arrived. The first one is the oil merchant named Gamal and the second is Captain of the Imperial Police named Ogre." Najenda said while slamming the table in front of her with her palm.
"How are they?" Green asked with folded arms.
"Both guilty. We already had Leone scouting them out. Both of them know each other quite well and also work together. Usually, it is Gamal bribing Ogre to turn blind eye to his actions. However, there are also cases when Ogre needs to find perpetrators of the crime caused by Gamal, so he just finds some people and frames them for crimes they have never done." Najenda explained while Leone raised her hand and showed V sign with one of her eyes closed.
"Gamal is an easy target but Ogre is a different case, he is an experienced fighter and everyone fears him for his skill in swordsmanship but I have never personally witnessed it-" Najenda continued but the moment she finished, both Tatsumi and Ieyasu stepped forward at the same time.
"Leave that Ogre guy to us!" Both of them said in unison with a determined expression while confidently pointing their thumb at their heart but it was visible that they truly missed any other job than peeling potatoes and cleaning rooms.
"Huh? Hey!" Both of them looked at each other with a surprised expression when they heard each other say the same thing before they shouted at each other at the same time once again in unison.
"Stop acting like a monkey!" They grabbed each other's collar and it continued like this until Sayo stepped in and hit both of them into the head with a karate chop.
"Both of you stop!" Sayo shouted at her childhood friends who were kneeling down, rubbing the top of their heads.
'Why are there so many women here?' Tatsumi thought with an irritated and slightly stupid expression while looking at Ieyasu who understood him instantly.
'And they also have to be so damn violent.' Ieyasu thought and both of them nodded at each other in agreement.
"If you really want this mission, the 3 of you can go take care of Ogre, you should be fine since your strength rose quite quickly and since you are childhood friends, your teamwork should also be good." Najenda agreed without any problem which slightly surprised other members, mostly Mine...
"Wait, wait, wait! Why do those greens have the opportunity to go on a mission so early after joining in?" Mine asked while pointing at Tatsumi.
"Kuku, what is it shortie? You haven't been in the same situation as us by any chance, right? And by any chance, you haven't been forced to do odd jobs for whole months before performing missions, right?" Tatsumi decided to rub salt into the wound and said while covering his mouth with his hand while laughing at Mine.
*BANG!* There was absolutely no warning before the gunfire was heard.
"?!" Tatsumi quickly jumped out of the concentrated shockwave's way.
*gulp* He gulped down when he narrowly dodged and also after seeing how none reacted to her sudden attack in any way.
"Hm? AAAH!!" Tatsumi noticed smoke coming out of the top of his head and immediately screamed out while putting his hand on the damaged area of his hair.
"You stupid pink shortie! Now you have done it!" Tatsumi shouted while drawing his sword and pointing at her.
"You want a fight, you will get it!" Tatsumi rushed towards her.
"Haha, bring it on rookie!" Mine shouted while taunting him with her hand, waiting for him to come even closer to use the most of her Teigu's specialty.
Najenda just shook her head at Leone and she nodded while grabbing Tatsumi by his nape while Sheele went to calm Mine down.
---1 day later---
Akashi went to attend a so-called party organized by Honest in the evening.
"Haha, it's good to have you here, Akashi! Let me congratulate you to your 18th birthday!" Honest released hearty laugh that scared most of the people in the hall and extended his hand to Akashi for a handshake.
'Hmm, he is so close, without any bodyguards, how easy it would be to just envelop him in flames during that handshake...There would be great unrest among the army and most importantly Emperor would most likely issue an order to execute my entire family but if I can take care of the Emperor, there will be Great General Budo's army which will be quite troublesome. I guess I will have to focus more on gathering people before I strike but for now, I should just accept his fat hand'
"Why thank you! I am truly happy that I can be here." Akashi accepted his handshake and said with a polite smile.
They exchanged small pleasantries before Honest came up with the matter about Night Raid as Akashi expected. Akashi simply said that he has a lot of work to do in his own territory but if by any chance he sees them in the Capital, he will help the guards to apprehend them or kill them. Although Honest didn't look too pleased, he still accepted it as reasonable.
"Anyway, I know that you have just recently lost your fiancee but I was wondering if you are interested in anyone." Honest brought out another matter that Akashi was expecting.
'If I say that I have none in my mind, he will probably try to introduce me to some women but if I say that I am interested, I doubt he will let me keep it as secret. Still, it's better to say that I already have someone in mind but it has to be someone he can't control' Akashi thought while sipping on wine.
"To be honest, I indeed had someone in mind but since I was at that time still engaged, I have never really thought too much about it." Akashi replied with a stoic expression while looking at the red wine in his glass.
"...I see, may I know who it is?" Honest reply sounded complicated, it sounded like he was glad but also worried. He knew that Akashi wasn't socially meeting any woman from any noble family so there goes his worry about strong families forming an alliance.
"Do I have to tell you, Prime Minister?" Akashi asked with a slightly embarrassed smile to make his act more convincing.
"Don't be like that...We are both men and we shouldn't be embarrassed to reveal in whom are we interested in." Honest said with a smile while patting Akashi's shoulder.
'What a convenient way how to say 'I must know'. If I outrightly say it aloud, he will let me go without any spies constantly spying on me, if I won't, he will do whatever it takes to find it out. Plus, there is no demerit in telling him, that's the main reason why I even chose that person he can't control in the first place.' Akashi thought while inwardly smiling.
"If you put it like that...I have been interested in General Esdeath for some time already." Akashi casually said after gulping down all the wine remaining in his glass which served to show that he was "actually nervous" before saying it aloud. Honest was an old fat fox that was very clever and manipulative, he would be able to notice such small detail however such small things were only details to strengthen the trustworthiness of Akashi's words.
"Eh?!" Honest was slightly surprised but Akashi doubted it was due to his choice of a person. Maybe just name Esdeath made him feel uneasy.
"I-I see, may I know also why? Of course, I know that she is beautiful and has high status but she still isn't anyone from the Capital and she also doesn't have status of noble." Honest asked with a forced smile.
'Another convenient way how to ask 'Why her of all people? Are you after her power?'. Honest, you might be an old fat fox but I am not exactly 18 years old as you expect. And it's not like you aren't able to give her status of noble and it's not like you would even refuse if she wanted it anyway.' Akashi thought while letting the maid pour wine into his empty glass.
"I am not after her beauty, neither am I after her status of General and title of the Empire's Strongest. She is simply a woman that suits my tastes, she is strong and cold. To make such a woman fall in love with you, you need to conquer her in rough way instead of buttering her up. That's what I like about her, also, both of our Teigus are inside our bodies, inside our blood and DNA. I wonder if our baby would be able to use both of our powers...If that's so, the Empire would become truly absolute and none would dare to even think of rebelling." Akashi said with a smile while playing with his glass filled with wine. He said exactly what Honest wanted to hear.
'What a strange reason, to be honest, I prayed that it was just lust but this is good enough. If there really was such a child to be able to control both Ice and Fire...hehe, my Empire would become truly unstoppable. Probably the only one who can stop those two are themselves, just imagination of those 2 combining into one...Of course, there are some risks but I have some certain control over Esdeath even if it's not too firm. If she will be able to keep Akashi's family from rebelling, that would be the best outcome.' Honest thought after hearing Akashi's words before he woke up from his fantasies.
"Ah, that's truly a unique reason but I would say it is a lot of man-like reason. What man doesn't enjoy conquering, doesn't matter whether it is territories or women. General Esdeath was however off-limits for any men due to her immense power but I believe if anyone has a chance of conquering her, it is you, Akashi!" Honest encouraged Akashi with a light pat on his back.
Honest and Akashi talked for some time in puzzles and when it was finally time for the end of this party, Akashi left.
It was already night and almost no soul could have been seen on the streets however it was slightly different in Akashi's territory where security was much better than in other areas of the Capital. While he was walking home, when he was passing by the stall where he previously had a meal together with Seryu, he noticed the said person sitting there, sulking above the meal and ale. Akashi noticed her so he stopped walking.
'What is going on here? If I remember correctly, she said that she doesn't like alcohol ' Akashi thought and since he was hungry, he decided to go and sit next to her. He hasn't touched any single meal at that party since he was afraid of where the said meat came from since he had a suspicion that Honest is a cannibal. Just eating in the presence of such person would be sickening for Akashi even if that meat was alright.
When he sat down next to her, she didn't even react to his sudden appearance.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Akashi asked after ordering meal.
"Huh?" Only then, Seryu reacted and looked at Akashi, when she saw him, tears appeared in her eyes and they immediately began pouring down. She put both of her hands on his shoulders and buried her head into his chest which slightly surprised him.
'If something serious happened...doesn't she have any friends she can share this with?' Akashi thought with a weird expression but he still patted her head a few times without pushing her away.
After a while, Seryu calmed down and explained everything.
"So your captain died under Night Raid's attack? You have my condolences but why are you here of all places?" Akashi asked with a confused expression.
"I don't know...I kept walking mindlessly for some time and before I knew it, I ended up here." Seryu replied with an embarrassed smile.