The trio from before were still walking to their destination. No doubt, it was the new enemies that Akame's and Akira's squad that they would soon encounter. On of the girls, Chelsea, starts to pant heavily and let out exhausted sighs.
Chelsea: "I'm sorry. My legs are about to give out, instructor."
???1: "I see. Tough it out."
Chelsea: "Have you forgotten how much we've already walked today?"
The old lady of the group, which was the instructor, had turned her head around and gave Chelsea a terrifying glare.
???1: "Don't take me for a fool. I still remember what I had for dinner a week ago."
Chelsea: (sweat drops) "That's because you never eat anything other than hamburgers."
???2: "I will give you a piggyback ride."
Chelsea: "Yaaay!"
???1: "Don't spoil her, Taeko. When I was young and beautiful, I--"
Chelsea: (thoughts) 'Oh no! She's about to start lecturing and boasting us at the same time...! I need to change the topic!' "So! Our mission this time is the assassination of the secret Imperial Unit, right? Are we going to draw them out?"
Taeko: "That's probably what we will have to do."
???1: "We've leaked false information that 'an international trade route used by the Revolutionary Army to obtain income was discovered.'"
Chelsea: "So we'll disguise ourselves as merchants in that trade route and ambush them, huh...hmm? Instructor, look."
???1: "Looks like we've arrived at the rendezvous point."
Up ahead was a group of men, weapons sheathed at their side. They became confused when they saw the trio of women.
Mercenary 1: "Hey, hey, we're teaming up with these women?"
Mercenary 2: "Are they really as good as they say you are?"
Mercenary 1: "Are those two girls the type that assassinate you in bed?~ Maybe we should try them out.~"
Chelsea: (thoughts) 'Such blatant stereotyping..."
Mercenary 1: "But why is that granny here? Are you the cook?"
???1: (smirk) "I'm not just any old granny. You can call me Barbara."
Mercenary 1: (shocked) "Wait...Barbara...? That Barbara Oarburgh?"
Mercenary 2: "From the assassin's guild..."
Barbara: "Yes, the great Oarburgh stands before you. Shall I kill someone to prove it?"
Mercenary 1: "N-No, your overwhelming bloodlust was more than enough...we apologize..."
Mercenary 2: "To think we'd see you in person..."
Barbara: "And Taeko over there is an assassin whom we Oarburghs have raised since she was a baby."
The girl with violet hair and lime eyes simply looked to the side. She wasn't much of a talker. In fact, she looked uninterested with the current situation at the moment.
Barbara: "You shouldn't provoke her lightly."
Chelsea: "And I'm granny's apprentice, Chelsea!"
Barbara: "Did you just call me, granny?"
Chelsea: "No I didn't!~"
Mercenary 1: "We're--"
Barbara: "You're Tengu Mercenaries, right? I can tell by your outfits."
Mercenary 1: (gulps) "Yeah."
Mercenary 2: "They hired not only us, but the legendary Oarburgh on top of that. The enemy must be really dangerous."
Barbara: "We should be very cautious."
Northeastern Area of the Empire, Near the border, Hakurou River
The Elite Seven and Gozuki were currently near Hakurou River. As usual, Najasho was reading his book. The others, however...
Cornelia: "Okay! Bring it on, Poney!"
Poney: "Today is the day I surpass you, Corey!"
The other kids of the Elite Seven were currently having fun, sparring in the river. The current match up was Cornelia and Poney, the two wrestling to get the upper hand. Poney had lunged forward, but it would seen be her mistake.
The blonde girl grabbed Poney's arm and yanked it downwards, lifting the auburn haired girl into the air. She then slams her down into the water, the impact making water splash everywhere and wetting the girls' clothing. From the side, Guy was currently clapping, and blushing with a grin.
Guy: "Okay, the winner is Cornelia! Amazing as always!"
Green: "The champion of the all-girls grappling contest is Corey!"
Poney: "Ugh...if only I could hit her."
Guy: (dashes over) "Alright then, Cornelia! Fight me, the guy's grappling champion!"
Akira: (side kicks Guy) "I'm sorry, who was the one who kicked your ass?"
Guy: "Arrgh, you!"
Akira: "But I must say, want to give it a shot, Corey? I'm got gonna do anything that Guy would."
Cornelia: "Bring it on then, Akira!"
Cracking his neck and his knuckles, the icy-blue eyed boy lunged forward, Cornelia doing so as well. As soon as they met, they grabbed each others hands and attempted to throw the other down, but they weren't able to. Their strength were nearly the same, albeit, Cornelia may be a little bit stronger.
As the two continued their struggle, Akira slips from something under the water. Causing both to look at each other in slight shock, the two plunge in to the water. A loud splash was heard and the two found themselves in an awkward position. Cornelia was on top of the boy with Akira under, the two having slight blushes on their faces. They struggled to say words, only stuttering.
Guy: (slides in) "So, what were you planning on doing now there, Akira?"
Akira: "Shut up, you damned idiot!"
Akira then begins to strangle the burly man, Guy surprisingly having trouble escaping Akira's grasp. Cornelia only looked away with a slight blush, but she was smiling. The children down in the river begin to enjoy themselves as they all begin to splash water on each other.
Over on the bridge, Najasho looked up from his book and looked on with confusion. He then looks to his adoptive father.
Najasho: "Are you sure we should be relaxing like this, Father? The targets are going to cross this river, right?"
Gozuki: "When they get close, we'll be notified. There's no point in getting impatient. But..."
The older man had glanced up over on the area that was higher ground. Men and some women had gathered around. The were too busy ogling the females while the women had set their sights on Akira and Najasho.
Gozuki: (sips wine) "We might be standing out too much."
Later that night...
The Elite Seven had been notified that their targets were getting close. So in turn, they left the river and went to hide. A few boats could then be seen heading down the river. One of them included Chelsea, Barbara, and Taeko.
Barbara: "This'd be a perfect spot for an ambush. Chelsea, reconnaissance."
Chelsea: "Okay!"
The auburn haired girl took out a makeup set, using it's tools as she prepared to transform. Everything seemed fine until one of the Tengu mercenaries called out to them.
Mercenary 1: "Hey! A boat's coming this way! Ready your guns."
They all prepared their weapons and waited for the boat to come closer. But once it did, it shocked them about what they found.
Mercenary 1: "It's...empty?"
And in a second, out from a hidden compartment in the boat was Najasho, him quickly drawing his Water Dragon Sword. The Tengu mercenaries were about to fire, but Najasho was faster, quickly cutting them down without any regrets. The blonde boy then turned his head to the boat.
Najasho: "Let's go, small fries."
Quickly, Cornelia, Akira, Guy, Green, and Poney jumped out of the boat as they begun their attack. Further down the river, Taeko was instantly alerted to the Tengu mercenaries ship.
Taeko: "That commotion...they're here already."
Barbara: "They attacked sooner than we anticipated."
With the others, Poney had dashed to her next victim with a grin. The Tengu mercenary didn't have time to react when she had kicked his face upwards, him dying from complete shock as he couldn't even comprehend of what happened.
Akira had quickly pulled out his gun and fired off a few shots, using it's aim to hit them in the legs. They fell to the boat's floor, Akira quickly getting up in their face with a grin as he slits their throats. They then tossed the bodies overboard, the bodies flowing down the river as they soon arrived at the Oarburgh's boat.
Barbara: "It's the opposite. We're fortunate that we were at the end of the line. The Tengu mercenaries are getting massacred at an incredible speed! We're retreating before the enemy notices us! We're diving!"
Taeko: "Understood."
The two had dove into the water before the Elite Seven could notice them. After getting away at a considerable distance, Barbara had looked back, noticing Chelsea wasn't with them. They could only leave it up to her to identify their opponents.
Back on the boat, Akira, Green, and Najasho had quickly ran up to the other boat that was coming up the river. Akira had then gotten an odd feeling, him grabbing a face mask that he stashed in the hidden compartment of the boat.
Green: "...Huh? No one's here...?"
Akira: "Think they dived underwater?"
Najasho: "Probably. Then that's a job for Akame, who's waiting in the water."
Akira: "Oi, Najasho. Look up there."
The blonde boy looked to where his black haired team member was looking. Above them was a bird, who was watching them intently.
Najasho: "Megafu Kurou. They're pretty common in this area, but they're supposed to naturally avoid people..."
Akira: "Is it...a messenger bird?"
Najasho doesn't respond and only glares at the bird as it begins to fly away. In a run down building, Taeko and Barbara were taking refuge there.
Barbara: "We should be fine if we're all the way out here."
Taeko: (squeezes water out of clothes) "To think they'd even be waiting to ambush us in the water..."
Barbara: "We were fortunate that there were others who dived into the water as well. We got away while they were being killed."
Taeko: "We've done a terrible thing to those Tengu mercenaries."
Barbara: "But they weren't exactly a group of weaklings, either."
Taeko: "So then, who exactly is are our enemies...?"
Barbara: (thoughts) 'If the Tengu mercenaries were so easily defeated, they must be Rakshasa Demon class...' "How did it go, Chelsea? Were you able to see their faces? If you didn't, I'm turning you into dinner."
The bird from before came through the window, Chelsea transforming back as she was panting heavily, exhausted.
Chelsea: "Being a bird is exhausting...I saw them!"
She then took out two pictures. They were pictures of Green and Najasho.
Barbara: "They're kids."
Taeko: "Probably just slightly younger than me."
Barbara: "What about the others? It can't be just the two of them."
Chelsea: "That's all I got. Because that one without the glasses had an overwhelming pressure about him. Even if I was using Gaia Foundation, I didn't want to stick my neck in any further."
Barbara: "You did well, heeding your instinct. Well, even just finding out the faces of our previously unknown foes is already very good."
Chelsea: "Alright then, I'm going to pass these off to our spies and see if they're in the towns around this area."
Taeko: "Now it's our turn to make a move."