#140 Situation on the other sides.

----Najasho's side----

"Najasho, we most likely picked up "their" trail. It's not exactly fresh but they should be only a few hours away from here." The member of Dark Squad reported to Najasho while crouching down, inspecting the ground.

They were currently in the forest some distance behind the Mount Hakuba.

Najasho opened his closed eyes and got up from the ground while saying. "I see, good job. Let's run, we need to catch up to them. We have an advantage since they don't know that they are being pursued."

*Rustle* *Whoosh*

Najasho narrowed his eyes when he felt quite an unusual wind against his back. He stopped and turned in a certain direction with his narrowed eyes.

"Najasho?" The rest of his members questioned him while looking at him with confused expressions, however, no one dared to say anything more so they simply waited for him.

*Rustle* *Rustle* *Rustle*

After not a whole minute, someone wearing a Dark Squad uniform ran out of the bush, revealing himself to everyone.

"?! I have finally caught up to you! I am bearing grievous news straight from the Capital!" The one who just ran out of the bush was quite surprised how everyone he who he was looking for was staring at him. Despite that, he quickly recovered and reported while making his way towards Najasho.

"Here!" He said and handed a sealed document into Najasho's hand.

"...Thank you" Najasho was slightly surprised by this but he accepted it with his stoic expression on.

'Hm?! What?! Akame and Green killed them?! "Cease the pursuit of your former comrade and immediately return to the Capital without any delays." Huh?' Najasho's expression finally took some changes when he opened the document and started reading the contents.

*tear* *swoosh* Najasho tore the document into a few pieces and then let the wind to disperse it into different directions.

"Wha-! What do you think you are doing?! This is a direct order right from our superior! Superior of your own leader! The messenger watched with a dumbfounded expression before he shouted at Najasho with an angered expression.

The members of Dark Squad who heard this frowned while watching Najasho's back.

"We are not canceling this searching mission." Najasho replied with his restored stoic expression.

"Do you think you have any say in this, Najasho?! Are you planning to become a traitor?!" The messenger asked with narrowed eyes, trying to pressure Najasho. The members of Dark Squad already took a few steps closer to Najasho's back in case he says anything wrong.

"Of course I won't become a traitor but neither will I cancel this mission." Najasho said while staring straight into the messenger's eyes.

"Hm? That's impossible to happen..." Everyone was confused by his words so they weren't sure if they should take him down or not.

"Not really if I tell the Empire that I haven't received any message. The only problem here are-" Najasho explained and before he finished what he wanted to say, he swung his broadsword behind him in quick motion with a quick spin, decapitating all remaining members who were in his team.

"-witnesses" Najasho finished as he finished his spin and faced the messenger once again with some blood on his face.

*Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* The bodies of the assassins have freely fallen down on the ground together with their separated heads.

"?! Najasho, you-!" The messenger who saw this widened his eyes before he quickly took something out of his pocket, trying to stuff it into his mouth but before he could do that, he stopped feeling his arm.

*Splash*

"? ...AGGH!!" It took him a while before he noticed his arm lying on the ground and before he finally felt the pain.

"This will never work out for you! T-They will see though your lie eventually!" The messenger shouted through his gritting teeth while kneeling on both of his knees and holding his arm at least the part that remained connected to his body.

"Maybe, who knows but I won't leave that shrimp all alone" Najasho replied and cut off messenger's head.

'I have to take care of the bodies if I want this lie to work out for me. Tch! How troublesome exactly at the moment when I already know where "they" are.' Najasho thought while looking at the corpses lying around him with narrowed eyes. It was visible that he was quite irritated.

'If what that message said is the truth, what will happen with me and Poney? We no longer have a group so we might be relocated to another unit. The question remains, why did Akame and Green betray us? I know that Green is an intelligent and very cautious fellow, he wouldn't do anything too dangerous if he didn't see a real reason behind it. Why would he risk betraying us if it was just for his feelings for Akame?' Najasho thought while holding his chin and looking at the ground.

'I have already seen a few reports about the Empire's corruption...Knowing Akame, if she saw them too, she definitely betrayed us and fled because of them. Maybe she and Green found more evidence and decided to join the Revolutionary army...Well, I should focus on Cornelia for now. However, I have no idea how to explain the situation to her if I am able to rescue her.' Najasho thought while waiting for the Danger beasts to arrive so he has a reassurance that bodies will truly "disappear".

----Leone's side----

That morning after Akame woke up and cried her heart out in Leone's embrace, both of them took a bath. Leone gave clothes to both Akame and Green.

Akame's clothes consisted of a dark sleeveless tank top with a white collar and a red tie. A red belt holding her pleated black skirt. Long black socks and black shoes together with red gauntlets and black gloves.

Green's clothes were also a full black, pants, shirt, and long trench coat, all black with a few red stripes on some locations like a belt, shoulders, and forearms.

The clothes themselves were made from the Danger Beast materials so they were very light but also strong at the same time. They didn't have any protection properties like heavy armor but they wouldn't get torn off by any ordinary attacks.

Akame and Green were currently getting ready to leave, each of them were still inside the hut while Leone waited for them outside.

"What do I do? What kind of excuse can I come up with? Maybe I don't have to tell anything to the boss, after all, it looks like he bears no real grudge against Akame..." Leone kept walking in circles in front of the door while muttering something and biting her nails with a slightly panicked expression.

While she was walking in circles, she suddenly felt someone resting their hand on her shoulder but that "hand" felt fairly heavy than any other hand.

"What excuse? What have you done this time Leone?"

Leone stopped herself from turning around once she heard that voice. She tensed up and only after a few seconds, she slowly turned her head at the person behind her.

"H-Hi, boss!" Leone exclaimed with a forced smile when she saw Najenda's widely smiling face up close.

*Creak* At the same same time

"Leone, we are rea-dy...?" Akame announced before she had a sight on what was going on so when she saw Najenda and felt the air around her, she stopped walking.

'...Is this our leader now? It feels weird to have her as a boss when she tried to kill us some time ago but I guess sometimes we can't choose what we want to do. At least she looks like she is a competent leader who knows what she is doing, judging from the aura around her.' Green also stopped since the way out of the hut was blocked by Akame and he just silently observed Najenda.

"Hello, Akame and you too, Green. Can you go ahead of us? I still have something to talk about with Leone, something personal." Najenda turned at Akame and Green and threw them a friendly smile while politely asking them to leave.

"S-Sure" Both Akame and Green replied with an awkward expression but before they went ahead, Akame threw a worried look at Leone. She noticed it so she just waved at her with a wide smile saying 'Don't worry' but in truth, the back of her black tube top was drenched in sweat. Upon seeing this, Akame just smiled and lead Green away from the hut.

When they finally left, Leone explained the situation and after she was done, she noticed one big vein that popped on Najenda's forehead.

"You-!" Najenda shouted while gritting her teeth and clenching her metallic hand with all strength.

"Eeek! Run while you can!" Leone exclaimed and started running away.

Green and Akame who were waiting for some distance away noticed Leone running towards them.

"What is going o-" When she was only a few meters away from them, they wanted to ask her while wearing confused expressions but before they could finish their question, Leone's shoulder was suddenly caught by a prosthetic arm that was connected to the wire rope.

"?" Both of them widened their eyes when they saw this.

"H-Help me, Akame!" Leone shouted when the wire rope started reeling back in while dragging Leone across the ground with it. She started waving her arms around, trying to find something solid to hold on.

"? Pff" Akame and Green looked at each other with dumbfounded expressions before they started chuckling quietly.

.

.

After the cat was punished, Najenda decided to have a small talk with Akame and Green.

"I might have information that could interest you. Maybe you are already aware but we have some spies inside the Capital and some of them are also on the high posts. Your friend that you described, named Poney, is currently missing." Najenda said.

"? Did she run away?" Akame asked with a confused expression but it was visible that she was still happy to hear that she won't have to fight with Poney.

"No...If she ran away, you wouldn't say 'missing', right?" Green asked Najenda with furrowed brows.

"Stop being so serious, will ya~?" Leone interrupted while she was rubbing the top of her head with a slightly pained expression.

*bam* Najenda's mechanical arm dropped down in form of the chop on the same spot Leone was previously rubbing.

"Ouch! Why?!" Leone exclaimed and started guarding the top of her head once again while cautiously looking at Najenda.

"Stop interrupting. As to answer your question, Green...Yes, none of our spies saw her actually leaving the Capital so she must be hiding somewhere inside but she was already branded as a traitor and deserter. Apparently she was ordered to go after you and Akame but instead of going after you, someone saw her entering the Capital that night but that was also the last time anyone has seen her." Najenda explained more thoroughly.

"I see...I only hope she can survive this." Akame said while looking down with a slightly sad expression.

"Don't worry, it's Poney we are talking about. She might appear to be airheaded and sometimes dumb but she is actually very resourceful!" Green said with an encouraging smile while putting his hand on Akame's shoulder.

"...Thank you, you are right, there is no need to worry about her now when I can't even do anything for her." Akame replied while returning Green a smile.

"Y-Yeah" Green who saw her smile was mesmerized by it for a small moment before he answered with an almost non-existent blush.

"Hmmm~?" Leone leaned closer to both Green and Akame while staring at Green with a knowing look in her face.

"W-What is it?" Green asked while taking a while to return to his serious expression.

"Heh, nothing~" Leone chuckled before replying and retreating, leaving their personal space with a teasing smile across her face.