Chapter 15 - Reactionary Actions

Imperial Palace, Prime Minister's Office - Akame Ga Kill World - That Same Morning during the end of the previous chapter

(General P.O.V)

"YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT THE EMPEROR HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED?!" Shouts out a fat, bearded man with grey hair who is eating a stick of roasted chicken wing to try to keep himself calm.

This is Prime Minister Honest, he is the man who is responsible for managing the empire as regent while the boy emperor was growing up. It was his dirty tactics during a prior succession crisis when the boy emperor's parents died that allowed said boy emperor to take the throne with Honest truly being the one in charge due to the boy's youth.

However, in order to ensure his control over the empire, Honest needed the boy Emperor tightly under his thumb and blindly trusting him and his council, which is why he spent several years exiling members who could influence the boy emperor away from his desired policies while executing others for trumped up charges, all while said boy emperor thinks of Honest as a sort of Uncle…

Unfortunately for Honest though, while he was asleep last night the boy emperor he had been working so hard to continue manipulating and controlling had been taken last night by a quite literally shadowy figure, a woman perhaps if the keen eyes of Budo were anything to go by.

But that's the only real hint to the identity of the woman, although Honest is inclined to believe this was the work of the Infamous Night Raid, despite the fact they've never been this bold. However, if it were just the fact the emperor was kidnapped then he would have immediately assigned Esdeath herself to spearhead the search for the kidnappers….

What really has Honest worried, however, is the fact that during the kidnapping, Esdeath had actually caught the Kidanpper in the act and had fought to capture the shadowy figure that took the Emperor.

During that said fight, General Budo got involved directly and was a prime witness to the fight between the spear-wielding kidnapper being able to directly match Esdeath in power and skill. It is not long after General Budo got involved that the fight soon took a very sharp turn as the Shadow figure killed Esdeath herself.

This is what made this entire situation go from bad to worse as he had been intending to count on Esdeath to Pacify the Northern Tribes, meaning that it was going to be much harder for him to have them dealt with.

"FIND THEM, THE EMPEROR MUST BE RETRIEVED AT ALL COSTS!" Honest Roars out as the Palace guards scramble out of the office to relay his orders, leaving him alone in his office to continue his stress eating…

As he continues eating, he calms himself and begins to think of how to make use of the current dire situation. He goes from frowning to grinning sinisterly as he begins to hatch a plan to salvage the situation and potentially lead to him gaining even more power in the long run if he is very careful with how he handles the next few months…

"Hmmm….I think I shall pin the blame for the kidnapping on Night Raid themselves, that way if it is them then all the better as killing lesser nobles is one thing, but kidnapping the young emperor from his own home is another!" Honest says as he begins to play with his beard using his meaty fingers as he continues to formulate the plan in his head.

"And if it's not, then I can use them as a scapegoat for the kidnapping anyway which may more than likely lead to those revolutionary fools demanding Night Raid to kill the boy out of zeal for their precious revolution…" Honest says aloud as he gets up from his seat and heads to the window, hands behind his back as his sinister grin continues to grow wider.

"And when they inevitably respond by saying the boy isn't in their possession, they'll either be forced to search for the kidnappers themselves in order to do away with the boy while he's vulnerable and away from the palace, or be called liars and be ousted from the revolution, pariahs on BOTH sides of the war!" Honest says while beginning to let out a sinister chuckle as he can see what will happen next…

"Either way, they'd be forced to find the boy regardless, which will lead to the inevitable confrontation between the actual kidnappers and Night Raid, all we would have to do is wait for the obvious clash to occur and ambush both the Kidnappers and night raid in one go!" Honest says to himself, with a downright malevolent look on his face soon forming…

"Of course, should the boy emperor be caught in the crossfire and killed, all we would need to do is spin a story about how Night Raid Murdered the Boy Emperor in cold blood as we were rescuing him, thus making him a martyr for the Imperial cause!" Honest says as the plan finishes forming in his mind as he knows what the final move would be.

"During this time, the Boy Emperor's last will shall be miraculously found where with no clear successors, the Boy Emperor will name his Beloved Uncle Honest, the New Emperor!" Honest says as he lets out a downright evil bout of laughter before he forces himself to calm…

"Of course, there will be intermediary steps to take first to ensure that everything is set up just right, starting with those pesky northern tribes…" Honest says as he once more begins to contemplate how to handle those tribes, knowing that Esdeath is no longer an option due to her death at the shadowy figure's hands.

It's right then that Honest remembers that while Esdeath herself is dead, she has fanatically loyal subordinates he believes that he could convince to take up the duties themselves out of a sense of duty to their dearly departed leader….

However, there is one major flaw to his plan to become emperor, Two actually if Honest thinks about it more closely. The first issue is the Royal Family's dedicated Teigu, the Shikoutazer being effectively useless to him as it would only work with the Boy Emperor himself due to having the correct bloodline.

But the second and most pressing issue is that there are many variables that can alter the plan in both scope and time frame, with the one that is closest to him right now in terms of distance being General Budo himself.

Before the Kidnapping, he could rest easy knowing that the Boy Emperor would have him to protect him. However, after the Kidnapping and away from his Influence, the Boy Emperor could cause General Budo to leave in search of said Emperor.

Unfortunately, Honest doubts that he can convince the Grand General to abandon the search for the Boy Emperor and this means he'll need to have him on a wild goose chase elsewhere while he gets the actual search handled by those he knows will perform the task without hesitation…

Right now though, Honest knows he needs to get the ball rolling on pinning the blame of the Kidnapping on Night Raid as soon as he can. Perhaps while he's at it, he can embellish some details to tarnish the reputation of Night Raid further, he's already pinning the blame for the Incident on them after all!

Night Raid Hideout, Somewhere outside of the capital - Later that same morning

(General P.O.V)

In the spacious hideout of the Infamous Night Raid currently exists six people who are, at this very moment, processing the latest news from the Imperial Captial. None are more shocked by the sudden turn of events that happened the prior night than the leader of Night raid, Najenda…

"To think that Her of all people would fall to the hands of a Kidnapper, it's almost too good to be true in a way…" Najenda says, the white-haired woman's sole eye glancing over the report from the 7th member of Night Raid currently still in the capital right now to get further details.

Najenda's expression is filled with a sort of dark amusement at the thought of some Kidnapper getting the best of Esdeath and killing her, having lost both her right eye and right arm because of Esdeath herself.

"Kidnapper must not have been a slouch either, and most certainly had a Teigu of their own to compete with her…" says a man with black hair in a combed over, heart-shaped pompadour hairstyle, wearing green armor underneath a black shirt and white pants.

This is Bulat, the current Wielder of the Teigu [Demon Armor: Incuriso], formerly a part of the Imperial Army, he is now one of the assassins that make up the group called Night Raid. Najenda nods in affirmation of Bulat's Analysis of the situation regarding Esdeath's demise at the hands of the Kidnapper.

"I wonder what sort of person would be able to get into the Imperial Palace undetected until after the Emperor has been taken…?" says a slender yet curvaceous young woman with purple hair, wearing a sleeveless lilac-colored cheongsam, eyes the same shade of purple as her hair.

This is Sheele, the current Wielder of the Teigu [Cutter of Creation: Extase], a former resident of the lower districts of the Imperial Capital. Sheele can best be described as an airhead by her friends, however, when it comes time to perform her assassinations, she becomes cold and Impassive.

"I dunno Sheele, but whoever it is, they've done us a huge favor getting rid of that bitch!" Says a grinning, busty blonde woman with golden eyes, the woman wears a black tube top with detached sleeves, long pants with boots, and a scarf wrapped around her neck.

This is Leone, the current Wielder of the Teigu [The King Of Beasts Transformation: Lionelle], having grown up in the slums of the Imperial Capital, Leone can be described as lacking any lady-like traits, with a habit to get too into fighting during any assassinations, much to the chagrin of Najenda.

She is also one of the most upbeat, cheerful members of the core Night Raid group, although she does tend to indulge herself in various forms of alcoholic drinks such as Sake and other similar beverages.

"Hmph, I'm surprised they went through the effort of kidnapping the emperor rather than killing that fat pig Honest…" says a rather short young woman with pink hair tied in twin tails, wearing a pink outfit, consisting of a tied shawl with a high collar that covers a pink long-sleeved shirt, a gown, and black stockings with pink shoes.

This is Mine, the current Wielder of the Teigu [Roman Artillery: Pumpkin], she was born and raised on the borders of the Empire's Western Borders and is of mixed heritage due to being half-foreign blooded

Due to being half-foreign blood, however, she faced a lot of suffering and discrimination growing up because of that same mixed heritage. This has led to her being slow to open up to others and being cold as a result, but to those to who she opens up, she is truly warm and kind towards those few people.

"Yea, that kind of does strike me as odd….Najenda, did Lubbocks report say anything about the method of entry..?" Bulat asks, but as he expected, Najenda shakes her head before simply responding by saying…

"Unfortunately not, Lubbock wanted to stay in the capital a bit longer to gather further details before returning for a full verbal report…" Bulat nods, content to wait for further information that comes with Lubbock's return.

Leone smirks and turns to the sole remaining person who hasn't spoken up yet and soon says… "Say Akame, what do you think about all this with the Kidnapping of the Emperor and the death of Esdeath…?"

Akame is a young woman with long black hair that goes tight down to her knees, with red eyes. She wears a dark sleeveless top with a white collar and a red tie, with her wearing a red belt that has a red side skirt covering over a black, pleated skirt.

Not to mention Akame is the current Wielder of the Teigu [One-Cut Killer: Murasame], she was sold to the empire alongside her sister, Kurome who she does not know the current location of, and was made a part of the Empire's Elite Assassin Squad.

After some time, Akame grew discontent with her time with the Empire for various reasons, with the tipping point coming when she was sent to assassinate Najenda who instead swayed her to defect instead.

Akame can be considered a serious and cold-hearted person at first glance, however in truth she is in many ways socially awkward due to her time of spending much of her early years as a child assassin.

"I'm not sure what to think Leone, too little information to go off on.." Akame says, shaking her head as she isn't she how to take this big piece of news from the capital. As such, much like Bulat is right now, she intends to get further details from Lubbock directly.

Thankfully, however, both she and Bulat would not have to wait long as the door into the room all six assassins are in slams open to reveal a young man with shoulder-length green hair with eyes a similar shade of green as his hair.

He wore a long green jacket with a fur-trimmed hood over a white and red shirt and blue jeans, his current expression a mix of exhaustion and obvious distress. This is Lubbock, the one who sent the earlier report and is the current Wielder of the Teigu [Infinite Uses: Cross Tail]

Normally Lubbock is the easy-going sort of person with slightly perverted tendencies, as he has been known to try and peep on Leone when she's taking a bath, keyword being try of course. However, he harbors secret affections for Najenda and has previously gone to great lengths to aid her in the past…

But right now none of that matters, as the other members of Night Raid stare at Lubbock who had returned in a hurry from his place in the capital. As Lubock catches his breath, he looks at the gathered members of Night Raid before he delivers what may be the most shocking news of the day even more than the fact the Emperor was kidnapped.

"Najenda, the Kidnapping….they are putting the blame on Night Raid for the Emperor's Kidnapping!" Lubbock exclaims, shocking everyone present as Najenda's eyes narrow at this sudden turn of events.

"What exactly is their evidence in this case…?" Najenda asks, curious as to how the Empire, or rather, Prime Minister Honest, plans to pin the blame on Night Raid for the Kidnapping. Lubbock briefly glances at Bulat, before he then says…

"The Kidnapper brandished a spear-like Teigu, and the only Teigu that has something akin to a spear that isn't in the empire's grasp is the extension of Incuriso, the weapon Neuntote, meaning…." Bulat and Najenda immediately catch onto what is being implied here as Bulat then finishes by saying…

"They think that I did it specifically, and because of my affiliation with Night Raid, they are claiming that Night Raid itself now has hold of the Emperor…" Once Bulat finished speaking, there is a sense of anxiety amongst the entire group as while they know they weren't responsible, they can't disprove that they don't have the Emperor.

And what makes this worse is that the announcement makes too much sense, they've become the Infamous band of assassins striking at the corrupt nobility, so it wouldn't be too much of a leap in logic to think that Night Raid had the capability to kidnap the Emperor.

"Najenda, if the Revolutionary Army hears about this…." Leone says concerned, making Najenda hold up her mechanical right hand to stop Leone from speaking further as she nods before saying…

"We'll be forced to give up an Emperor we don't have….which at best would result in the Revolutionary Army having us look into the actual kidnappers, but at worst we will be considered traitors to the cause for not wanting to give up the Emperor despite truly not having them…" Najenda's words cause a sense of dread from everyone in the room as if they're unable to convince the Revolutionary Army it truly wasn't them, then they will have enemies on both sides of the war…

With that in mind, Najenda decides to try and preempt the news getting to the Revolutionary Army and try to make sure they know that they never actually attempted the Kidnapping, although in her heart she knows that it won't get sent to the higher-ups in time before direct news from the capital does…

In the end, Najenda can only hope that when they finally get their own report over to the Revolutionary Army's higher-ups, they'll believe them when they say Night Raid did not conduct the kidnapping…

Pocket Dimension of Scáthach - Akame Ga Kill World - At that the same time Lubbock arrived at the Night Raid Hideout

(Scáthach's P.O.V)

There is a sort of Awkward feeling in the air as the Boy Emperor sits at my table, slowly eating the pancakes that I've got him for breakfast. The Green-Haired Youth has been looking at me with a sort of unsure expression for the last hour or two.

Which is at least far better than the sheer panic and fear that was on his face when he woke up in my guestroom bed this morning and I was there to greet him. It did admittedly take some time to calm him down as he slowly realized that he was not in danger despite no longer being in the Palace.

Although it does help that Esdeath is Ironically the one to vouch for me in this case, which is strange to even think of in the first place. Speaking of Esdeath, I glance at the sky-bluenette happily eating her Pancakes with Maple Syrup, which to many in this world, would probably be surprising sight but since I know that she tends to enjoy Icecream, it shouldn't really isn't a surprise to me.

I soon sigh however as the silence has grown tiresome as I decide to speak to the Boy Emperor, soon saying… "You can speak your mind you know your Majesty, I'm not going to hurt you after all…"

The Emperor looks startled to be addressed without warning but calms himself before he soon speaks up in a calmer tone ever since he woke up in my home and asks… "Why did you take me away from the palace Miss, why is General Esdeath here with you…I just…why..?"

It's clear that the young boy just looks out of his depth for the first time, especially without Honest around to Guide him. I think for a moment about how to answer that question before responding by saying…

"To answer your questions in order, first I took you from your home in the Palace in order to Teach you how to be a better ruler, as well as show you the truth of what your empire has become…" My words seem to make the Boy Emperor confused as he seems to immediately respond by saying…

"But Uncle Honest tells me I'm ruling just fine as I am…" Upon Hearing this, Esdeath bursts out laughing as if she heard a hilarious joke. At the same time, Alissa, who had just woke up and had just entered the living room to eat Bacon and eggs for breakfast, just looks at the Boy Emperor with a strange sort of empathy due to having been used as the tool of another man herself prior to her inclusion into my retinue.

"Tell me something, Your Majesty, do you call actively suppressing rebellion after rebellion, corruption rife among your own military, and being called a puppet ruler behind your own back, the definition of being a good Ruler..?" Esdeath says with a dark, amused smirk on her face as The Emperor looks shocked at Esdeath's words before he softly yet shakily responds…

"T-that can't be true, Uncle Honest himself would never allow it…" I just sigh and shake my head, seeing that Honest has most definitely ingrained himself into the kid's mind as the one man he should trust above all else.

Part of me feels bad for wanting to force him to see the horrifying truth, simply due to the sheer pain and betrayal he'd feel once it sets in. However, I add to Esdeath's words by soon saying… "Unfortunately Kiddo, the source of the corruption is Prime Minister Honest himself, he's the corrupt core of your decaying empire.."

However, the Boy Emperor shakes his head as if he doesn't want to believe our words, considering his immense trust in Prime Minister Honest, considering that for most of his life, Honest acted as a parental guardian and father figure when his own parents died…

"You're wrong….Uncle Honest isn't like that, he helps me…helps me with the empire…" The Emperor says, a look of distress clear on his face as he begins to shake with anxiety. Judging from his reaction he probably had suspicions himself but naively deluded himself to believe otherwise.

"And if I could fundamentally prove without question that Honest truly is the source of the empire's true problems, what then…?" I ask while raising a single eyebrow, wanting to test the Boy Emperor to see if he is willing to be reasoned with…

The Emperor is silent for several seconds as I slowly begin to worry that I might have pushed too far too quickly, but then the Emperor slowly lets out a shaky breath before looking me directly in the eye and saying…

"I-if you can...t-truly p-prove it…t-then I w-will h-have no choice…t-then to d-declare P-prime M-minister H-honest…..g-guilty of h-high treason…." It seems that the Kid fought with himself to even say this much, but it's clear he truly desires the best for his Empire.

I smile at that and turn to Alisa who had, in the meantime, finished her breakfast, and ask… "Can you grab the Blu-Ray complete collection for Akame Ga Kill From the Anime Library in the manor Alissa dear..?"

Alisa soon nods before getting up to grab the Blu-ray set from the Anime Library room, before I gesture to both Esdeath and the hesitant Boy Emperor to follow along. As the two follow, with Esdeath showing curiosity while The Emperor looking unsure of what I have planned, we come to a room that houses a full home theater with a DVD/Blu-Ray Player.

"Now then your Majesty, we will be watching something that I do believe you should see for yourself, we will be watching one Play so to speak a day, so please do pay attention to what you see…" I say while offering The Emperor a seat on the admittedly very comfy couch.

In my opinion, while kids like him really shouldn't be watching this, in this scenario I really don't have much of a choice if I want to force the Emperor to truly see what's going on outside of his Palace rather than whatever Honest tells him.

Seeing is believing after all, and during his stay he will be seeing a fair bit about his world indeed….

Author's Notes

Hoo boy, this took way longer to make than I had anticipated, it was one thing to have a rough plot-line to follow along with using the canon story as a way to make my MCs make their moves…

This is something I've not really done before yet to my knowledge, the complete destruction of the canon plot-line, and due to that it left me with absolutely the bare minimum to go off in order to make this work.

Thankfully, I am not without a plan for this world so I must thank you all for waiting patiently for this chapter to come out.

Now then, plot discussion time!

Honest's Reaction and New Plan

I strangely enjoyed writing him coming up with a brand new master plan on the fly as this, in my mind, is the perfect reaction of someone who has been able to manipulate the emperor without fail for years now seeing his puppet be dragged out of his grasp.

So what would a man this manipulative and morally bankrupt do in this scenario?

Why simply conjure up a plan to not only turn Scáthach and Night Raid against each other but also use the opportunity to off the emperor as a sort of Martyr while setting up things behind the scene to install himself as the new Emperor!

Of course, he's not dumb and knows that the plan isn't what its flaws, multiple of them even, but he is trying to account for them and will be working to the best of his ability to ensure those problems will not hinder his ultimate goal.

Well, all except one that is, the Royal Family's own Teigu.

Regardless he's already made the first move to set Scáthach and Night Raid in opposition, now he simply needs to wait to see what happens.

Night Raid's Reactions

This was both to try and properly introduce Night Raid into the story for those who might not have seen the original anime/manga. I will admit I had to grab the descriptions from the Akame Ga Kill Wiki in order to flesh them out more accurately.

Plus with Lubbock's role as the one who usually has a bookstore in the capital, I thought it would work best if he was the one funneling information straight from the capital.

As for the worries about how the Revolutionary Army will react, I'll leave that for a later Chapter.

Breakfast Discussions

This is but the first real look at how deep the trust the Emperor has for Prime Minister Honest, especially since he did take care of the kid even if it's just to use him as a Puppet Ruler.

It's gonna take some time before the Emperor is able to come to terms with the knowledge that his own Uncle Honest is nothing more than a manipulative, greedy, and controlling man who is more than willing to get rid of anyone who opposes him.

Of course, watching the Anime regarding his own world will help with that but it will not be as simple as you will see over time. It will at least be a starting point for Scáthach to break the Emperor free of years of conditioning by Honest.

Now then, Next time on Wrapped In Shadows: The Boy Emperor witnesses his own world, Scáthach gets new companions and Budo's Search begins!

See you all on the 22nd Hopefully, stay safe everyone!