"The DiSatos, you say?" Honest, the Prime Minister of the Empire, and Regent to Celestial Emperor Taichi Makoto, styled Kotei, asked. The obese official was in his office, meeting with a few of his fellow ministers. The office, situated within the Palace of Everlasting Peace, right next to the throne room, was luxuriously furnished, having been decorated by his... less than thrifty predecessor, during the late emperor's reign.
"Yes," the man who had brought him the news affirmed. He was a short-statured, pale man, whose pose and nose made him resemble a rat. He wore a black cowl, with the hood over his head. This was Ling Peilin, Minister of Imperial Security - the Spymaster, if you will. "The DiSato family, as well as all of their hired guards and servants, were found dead in their mansion and on the surrounding estate. The Night Raid's seal was found on the scene."
"Hm?" Li Pu, Minister of Culture hummed, stroking his long white beard. "DiSato? Not really a major family, were they? They had plenty of... harmful pastimes. Good riddance, I say."
"And, they made quite a mess," the Spymaster continued. "They ruined several Imperial ancestral rugs."
Li Pu stiffened. "The savages! They need to be stopped! Desecration of our cultural heritage should not be tolerated!"
"Oh, settle down, Pu," the fourth minister in the room drawled. He was a large, muscular mountain of a man, who wore formal yellow robes. He was clean-shaven and quite intimidating. Despite his looks, Dashi Nong was the calm, non-violent Minister of Finance. "Getting agitated will get us nowhere. Remember what happened when you heard that the Revolutionaries burnt down that temple?"
"No, I don't!"
"Exactly."
"We're getting off track here," the Minister of Imperial Security stated. "The DiSatos held a major fortune, but, as Nong can probably attest, they contributed little to our economy."
"Quite right," the named minister affirmed. "Their money used to be in wine and tea, in the south, but with the droughts, they fired all workers and left the lands to rot, to turn their finances to illegal gambling activities in the Capital. It also seems that they have been evading paying their taxes for quite some time, since the previous generation even."
Honest hummed, stroking his beard. "This raises a major question."
"What might that be?" the Minister of Culture asked.
"Why did Night Raid assault their house? It doesn't further their agenda, as the DiSatos were more of a nuisance to the Empire anyway, it doesn't send any message that they haven't already sent and brings them nowhere closer to victory. They might have lived completely contrary to the ideals of the Revolution, or anyone decent, for that matter, but all those who are remotely wealthy are the targets of the Revolution. So, why?"
"A personal grudge, maybe?" Peilin offered.
"I don't think so," Pu stated. "Unless..."
"Unless someone hired them to do it," Nong finished for him. "Someone whose loved ones had suffered the DiSatos' sadism."
"You mean, they were bought," the Prime Minister concluded.
"Yes, in a way. Some unfortunate soul came into contact with them and requested an assassination."
The ministers sat silently for a few moments, contemplating this new development. Then, Honest chuckled. "It figures. The corruption that they are seeking to destroy has taken root within their organisation. I wonder..."
"What is it, brother Honest?"
The Prime Minister stood up, and walked to the window, gazing into the cityscape. "Do you remember, my brothers, when I became Prime Minister under the late Celestial Emperor Chong 'the Idle'? After over a century, the Empire had descended into corruption and decadence. I formed an anti-corruption committee, thinking that it would solve the problem. Only to realise that the corruption ran deeper than I thought. Then I remembered: we four, who swore a pact, are probably among the last patriots in the Empire. For years, we tried to find a way to root out corruption, to no avail. Now, the Revolutinaries are growing in numbers, correspondent to the rising public dissatisfaction. And, suddenly, an opportunity presents itself."
"What are you suggesting?" Pu asked.
"I'm saying we put your theory to the test. See if Night Raid truly is taking requests, in exchange for funds."
Ling Peilin grinned. "I'll contact NR then."
"Be quick about it, too," Pu said. "Who knows what evil schemes they're hatching."
'Tatsumi' woke up to the Sun shining onto his face. Groaning, he took his thumb out of his mouth and stretched his limbs. What happened last night? His head hurt and he was tired. Then he remembered. The group of assassins known as Night Raid had led him into their secret hideout, an old cliffside fortress in the middle of the woods outside the Capital. 'Is last time I accept invitation of strange girl giving me candy,' he decided. He yawned loudly, scratching his stomach as he slowly opened his eyes. And jumped, reflexively reaching for his sword, which lay next to the bed. There, at the foot of the bed stood the raven-haired girl from last night.
"Oof, pizda! Yuo skared me, AK. How long yuo been standing here?"
"A few minutes," she stated calmly. "I've been waiting for you to wake up. The boss wants to speak to you."
"Gud. First I have breakfast, den meet yuor poveljnitsa."
"She wanted to meet you before breakfast."
"Before breakfast? Did her mama not teach that breakfast is most important meal of day!" His stomach growled. "Man need his nutrients!"
The female assassin stared at him for a few moments, no expression gracing her face. "We will get along well," she stated.
Without further ado, she led him into the conference room, or the 'throne room', for it housed the throne upon which generals and warlords would sit when meeting with their council. There, the group he had met last night, already awaited them. There was the green-haired lad who spun wires with those strange devices he had, the violet-haired girl with glasses who wielded giant scisors, the blonde lioness that he had swindled into buying him lunch, one mountain of a man with his hair in a pompadour - he was wearing full armour the previous night, the foreigner noted - and one flat-chested, pink haired brat who had complained the whole way about 'recruiting a green newbie' - he decided to nickname her 'Her Highness, Princess Bitch'.
On the throne sat a middle-aged woman in black, with short white hair. She certainly looked like someone who had seen a lot in her life, with her eyepatch and mechanical right arm. As 'Tatsumi' stood in front of her, he could feel her assessing him, trying to evaluate his merit. The silence was broken by Princess Bitch.
"Before you decide anything, boss, let me say what I think. Just look at him! Look at the innocent look in his eyes! This isn't a killer, he'll die on his firs assignment!"
"I think you're being a bit harsh, Mine," the giant man stated. "You heard what Leone said."
"He killed Aria without flinching," the blonde in question repeated her report.
"After seeing what her family did to their guests!" 'Her Highness' countered. "If it were up to me, I'd send him back across the Ocean! We can handle our own Revolution!"
"Well, luckily, it's not up to you," the green-haired one said.
Finally, the leader spoke: "You are from the Voluntary Regiment, are you not?"
"Da, poveljnitsa!"
'Tatsumi' opened his rucksack and handed the general a letter. Najenda looked it over, noticing several stains upon it. The handwriting was attrocious, not something a scribe, trained solely for the task of writing letters, would write. When she held it close, she felt the distinct smell of alcohol eminating off it.
It read:
To general Najenda, commander of Night Raid.
By my authority as the commander of theVoluntary Regiment of the Revolutionary Army, I order for the transfer of the warrior who gave you this letter into your ranks, as he will prove a valuable ally.
Signed: Czertomir Ilyicz Horsky, poveljnik Prostovoljske Druzhine
Najenda, having read through the scribbles, filled with crossed out words, but surprisingly correct grammatical structures and spelling, nodded. Everything seemed to be in order. She had met this Czertomir briefly during her last visit to the Revolution's encampment. Despite his low military rank, the man wielded quite a bit of authority in the RA. But, it was to be expected. The easterners were, after all, the biggest backer of their revolution.
"So, Leone tells me you introduced yourself as 'Tatsumi' to her," Najenda stated.
"Da, poveljnitsa."
"Hm... You don't look like a 'Tatsumi'. What's your real name?"
"Grzegorz Brzęczyszczykiewicz Przemyslida."
"... What?"
"Brzęczyszczykiewicz. Grzegorz. Of Przemyslida"
"Gush... Guhshe... gosh... Bushe..."
"Brzęczyszczykiewicz."
"Fuck it, we'll stick with 'Tatsumi'!"
"Dat is gud with me."
"Anyway, welcome to Night Raid! The black-ops assassination squad of the Revolutionary Army! You already know my name. I'm general Najenda, the commander of the group. You'll be receiving your orders from me. You've already made acquaintances with Leone..."
"Heh, heh. I did." 'Gullible leetle Imperial.'
"... and Akame. I hear you held your own in a fight against her. That's very impressive."
"Oh, was noting! My arms weren't very shaking after when I had a leetle rakija."
"... Anyway, that's Lubbock..." The young man with green hair waved. "... that's Mine..." The girl just looked away, pretending not to be taking part in the conversation. "... over there's Shele... Shele? Shele? You still with us?"
"Uhhhhhh... Huh!" the girl with glasses snapped to attention. "Yes, boss! I'll fulfill these orders right away... Where are we going?"
"... And that's Bulat."
The buff man offered his hand "Just call me bro, my man!"
Tatsumi chuckled. "Da, I get it... Because... Yuor name, it is Bulat... Braht... Brat! Hahaha! Sure, bre!" He shook his hand, squeezing it firmly.
"Uh, Tatsumi," Leone chimed in. "One thing you shoud know about Bulat..."
"Hm?"
"He... He likes dudes."
"... Oh... Me too. I like plenty of dudes. My braders. My kazins. My dad. My uncle. My grandpa, may he rest in peace. His Majesty, the Tsar, Boris..."
"No, not that way. He likes to... You know, take them out to bars."
"I go to plenty bars with braders."
"No, I mean like... You know, out of the closet?"
"Uh, now yuo making no sense."
"He's gay," Akame stated.
"Oh..." Tatsumi withdrew his hand. "Why didn't yuo say then? Well, don't let it bother yuo, bre."
"Ow!" Akame yelped. She nibbled on her right hand a little bit, shooting a glare at the newest adition to their team, who had just hit her with a ladle.
"Is not ready yet!" Tatsumi chided. "See the beans? Dey skreaming: 'Just leetle longer!'"
The foreigner was assigned cooking duty by the team, due to the fact that none of them could cook well and Akame, apparently, wasted half their supply of meat for 'sampling'. He wondered how the team had survived this long, with their wasteful management of nutritional resources. 'Few weeks stuck in bunker on Kebabistani front in middle of winter would do them good,' he thought.
"I was just trying to taste some of the meat. Which, in my opinion, there should be more of."
"Meat is important in food, yes. But, is expensive. Yuo need to make most out of least, specially in our situation. Sides, Secret to perfect pasulj is in right ratios of meat, bean and onion. Spices and herbs important too, but, as my grandpa told, to build house, yuo need first foundations."
After a while, his stew was done and Night Raid sat down to eat. However, Tatsumi remained standing. "Anyone know where nearest holy grove is?"
"Holy grove?" Bulat asked.
"Holy grove. Garden. Wood. Any spiritual site. Need to give offering to Jarilo, for to tenk for fruits of land."
Lubbock hummed. "There is that meadow not far from the base. You could try there."
Mine scoffed. "You can do whatever you want, even if it's childish supperstition. But don't reveal our location to the enemy, rookie!"
Later that day, the assassins were called to a meeting by their Boss. Apparently, they had two targets to dispose of.
"Alright, listen up!" Najenda started. "We have two targets today. Gamal, an oil merchant, and captain Ogre of the Imperial Guard. According to intelligence reports. Gamal has been commiting murders and other heinous crimesand then paying off captain Ogre to frame an innocent civilian for them."
"The request today comes from a woman whose betrothed was executed for a crime he did not commit," Leone continued, presenting a purse. "The hit has been paid fully."
"That's a lot of money," Lubbock stated. "How would a common citizen come by such an ammount?"
"There are... many possibilities better not discussed."
It was decided that Leone and Akame would take care of Gamal the merchant while Tatsumi, the new guy, would prove himself by disposing of captain Ogre, nicknamed the Demon. The group warned him that he was and excellent swordsman and told him that he should be careful, but the foreign exchange assassin just waved them off. They thought nothing of it, untill the next morning when the guy still hadn't returned. As they silently waited for him, concern grew within them. What if he had failed?
"Am home!" suddnely came a shout through the door of the conference room. There stood Tatsumi, his clothes wrinkled and stained with... something that wasn't blood. The lad walked between the other assassins. "It was long night, but is done. Ogre is kill."
Najenda nodded. "I see. Did you receive any wounds."
"Uh, nie. Why would I get wounded?"
"Akame!"
The mentioned assassin walked to the foreigner and, in one swift motion, stripped him, revealing his chest. "Opa!" the guy jumped back. "What yuo doing?"
She scanned his skin for the simplest cuts, but sighed in relief, seeing none. "I'm glad. Rookies always make the mistake of being too proud to admit they were injured. Then they get infected and die in agony."
"Tenks for koncern, but why would I be wounded? I didn't get into fight recently!"
"Uh, Ogre?" Mine offered. "How did you kill him?"
"Like proper assassin. See, I found him and some guards in guesthouse, drinking. So, I walk up to him and say: 'Yuo look like yuo kan hold alcohol. How about drinking kontest.' And he akcept challenge. So, we drink and drink and drink..."
"But how did you kill him?"
"Am getting to dat. Anyway, we keep drinking, most of his koworkers left and it's getting past klosing time. He say: 'Boy, yuo good kid. I like yuo!' And I say: 'Let's drink until our hearts... uhh... bleh.' And we keep drinking. Rest is blur. I remember walking down street with him, singing some lokal drinking song, waking whole neighbourood..."
"And?"
"Uhh, then was his idea we go kicking bottles over kanal. So, we get to kanal and start downing bottles and kicking dem over kanal. Is almost starting to dawn when he misskick bottle and fall into water. He kan't swim, and armour is weighng down, so he sink. I wait few minutes, den leave Night Raid seal and return."
The group of assassins stared at him, mouths gaping. "So..." Lubbock started. "You killed an Imperial Guardsman, a skilled swordsman, by making him fall over?"
"Well, would've helped him if he didn't, but da!"
"Honest! Honest!"
The Prime Minister raised his gaze from his desk. "Hm? Oh, Peilin! Come in! Why the rush?"
The Spymaster took a few moments to catch his breath. "They've done it! They've done it!"
"Hm? Who's done what?"
"Night Raid! They killed Gamal and Ogre!"
Honest dropped his quill. He slowly rose from his chair. "It worked... I can't believe it worked! Heh. Heh. Do you realise what we've just done, Peilin? We just used one of our greatest enemies to eliminate corruption within our ranks. Hah. Hah. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
