Here is the fifty-fifth chapter in this story released in accordance with the release schedule. I know that this is later than usual and I apologize, Christmas and New Year is a hectic time for me but all that is over and I've got a new writing schedule for my stories so things should pick up though IRL commitments do come first so I can't promise anything beyond the fact that I will continue to get chapters out as soon as they are ready. Anyway, we've seen a snapshot of what Leone's been up to so it's time for the next snapshot in this arc looking at the lives of the other members of Night Raid and this time we're looking at what Lubbock and Najenda have been up to in the Green Praying Mantis. For context, this is set a little after the last chapter and the same day that Gueldre was exposed as a traitor and designed to tie into what was seen back in Ch. 38. Anyway, that is all the administrative stuff I have for y'all and there are no questions to answer or guest reviews that need a response so I will end this here. Do keep them coming as your support is the best motivation for me to keep producing chapters at this kind of rate. That is it for this pre-chapter note so it is time to sit back and enjoy the fifty-fifth chapter in Akame ga Clover.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to these two great animes.

Chapter 55: Manhunt

Around the time that Mereoleona was summoned to the Capital to take over for her brother while, as she put it, he napped, Jack was returning to his Squad's base with a specific mission from the Wizard King to give to his two new recruits and the Magic Knight who was training them. This was a mission that had come from the information that had been gleamed from the two captured Midnight Sun members thanks to Yami's loudmouth recruit with the swords and several of the Squads had been given missions tied to either that or what Gueldre had revealed under interrogation.

It was a standard mission really but would be a good one for the new members so Jack hadn't complained about it and as it came directly from the Wizard King it would look really good if they succeeded. Naturally, Jack fully expected that they'd pull it off seeing as Lub was a solid Magic Knight after all and he had done a good job training Najenda so this should be easy for them. The other new guy, who Jack kept forgetting about, well he had to go regardless so that was that as far as Jack was concerned.

Jack hadn't actually decided that he'd send the newbies on this, that had come directly from Julius himself after the Wizard King had given him the mission. That had surprised Jack as he didn't think that Julius knew much about his new recruits but he couldn't deny that it wasn't a bad idea to send them. After all, the mission was a standard one that was expected from Magic Knights so it would be good training for them.

Hopefully, they were all already at the base because he didn't want to have to track them down. That and it would just be easier for everyone if they were as Jack entered his base and looked around to see if at least Lub was present.

"Captain, you're back. How was the meeting?"

The voice that greeted him was soft and slow and Jack instantly recognized it as En's. He turned to one of his Senior Magic Knights as the man walked up to him his hand raised in a wave and one of his mushrooms happily walking by his side.

"It was…interesting." Jack said knowing that he couldn't divulge too much. "Usual banter, waiting, and some minor excitement that I didn't get to fully partake in which was a shame."

"I see, well there was the attack on the Capital recently, along with that business in Nean that you helped out with so makes sense for the Captains to be called." En said. "I take it that the meeting was tied to those events."

"The former as we finally got some information from that investigation." Jack said again keeping things vague given the sensitive nature that that had become ever since Gueldre's involvement had been revealed. "And on that note, are Lub and the newbies here? I have a mission for them."

"Yes, Lub and Najenda are over there." En said pointing to a corner where the pair were relaxing, the former with a drink, and just chatting. "Sekke is in his room I believe. He was on call last night so he's sleeping right now."

"Well get him up, he's on call again." Jack said not caring that the other newbie was asleep. "This is a mission from the Wizard King himself so he'd better be ready. He'll get some time off afterwards to make up for it."

"From the Wizard King himself?" En asked and Jack nodded. "Well can't refuse a mission like that now can we. One moment, I'll have one of my mushrooms wake him."

"Good, have him come down right away." Jack said as he began to walk over to the other two. "He can learn about any details that he misses from these two as there may be a time sensitive nature to this mission."

"Yes Captain." En said as he set to work while Jack walked.

Meanwhile, Lubbock and Najenda were just idly chatting as they enjoyed a little free time. They'd not had a mission for a bit, despite the recent attack on the Capital it was a slow period it seemed, so they'd mainly been doing general patrols, hunts to keep the beast population in check, and local guard duty. They didn't mind any of that though as it was just part of being a Magic Knight and it allowed them more time to focus on their personal mission, finding the other members of Night Raid that had been reborn and in particular tracking down the only one they hadn't been able to locate, Leone.

"At this point I think it's safe to say that if she is even in the Clover Kingdom then she's either not in a Squad or if she is she's on some kind of special duty." Najenda said softly as Lubbock took a drink. "Nor is she in the Capital or one of the other major settlements here."

"Agreed, there's no way she'd be able to resist the fighting pit or several of the bars there and we'd have heard of her antics if she'd shown up in a place like Nean recently seeing as she has a habit of standing out." Lubbock said as he put his drink down. "And we've checked the other Squads as best we can and nothing. It's odd, she can be sneaky but she's normally so lively that her not being noticeable is unusual."

"Which leads me to think that she's either on some kind of special duty or wasn't reborn here." Najenda said. "Talent wise that would explain the former. I can't speak for myself as my block was broken before I got my grimoire but there were things I could just do without understanding them and presumably that's the same for Leone. The latter is less likely seeing as everyone else was reborn here, including me and I died after she did, but it's not impossible either so if we still can't locate her by the time of the next Entrance Exam we may have to accept the fact that she's in one of the other nations here."

"Given that we've all been reborn here I'd say that she was and is on some kind of special duty as my skills transferred over so hers almost certainly…" Lubbock began before he trailed off. "Well we can circle back to this later as it would seem that the Captain has something for us."

Thanks to the various kinds of wires that Lubbock had set up all around the base he been aware of Captain Jack's return from the Royal Capital and so he'd kept a side eye on his Captain as he entered and chatted with En for a few moments. Now En was talking through one of the mushrooms he had stationed throughout the base, he had the look he got when that was the case, while Jack was making his bow legged way over to them.

That shut down their chat because while they knew they'd have to tell Jack about their past at some point, they weren't ready for it and wanted to at least know where the others were before they revealed something this huge to their Captain. Only then could they tell him but with one still missing they couldn't so they just turned and rose to greet their boss.

"Captain, was the trip productive?" Lubbock asked as Jack reached them.

"Personally no, that painter in the Aqua Deer prevented me from the chance of a lifetime." Jack said his tone clearly annoyed and both knew that that meant some form of combat had occurred where Jack had the chance to slice up someone strong but was prevented from doing so and as such they didn't ask about it. "But for us in general it was."

"That's good." Najenda said. "I presume that we have a mission then."

"That we do." Jack said. "It's too simple for me, no challenge, but perfect for you. That's probably why the Wizard King insisted that I give this to my new members and I agree with that."

"Sounds interesting." Lubbock said. "What is it? If it came directly from the Wizard King then it has to be important."

"A manhunt for a recently revealed terrorist so I'd say so." Jack said grinning, which got the pair's attention right away. "Yup, the meeting was to go over some intel that has been gathered in the wake of that terrorist attack on the Capital the other day and there was plenty to act on. The Wizard King gave us a specific mission, hunt down and capture, preferably alive but you are sanctioned to use lethal force if necessary, one of the identified members of this terror group known as the Eye of the Midnight Sun."

"We know who one of them is?" Najenda asked a little surprised though much of the information about the group that had attacked the Capital hadn't been shared with those not present at the time of the attack. "I was under the impression that we didn't know who they were beyond their name and a few faces."

"For the most part that is, unfortunately, true." Jack said. "Though after Nean we do know who their leader is, along with their three strongest, of whom I personally had the joy of facing one of them after they revealed themselves, but we did capture two of their grunts alive back when they attacked the Capital. That's all we need to get more information on their organization as there are interrogators who can get what we need out of their heads."

"Right, you were called to Nean thanks to Sekke getting the notification of the situation there." Lubbock said remembering Sekke complaining about it before he went to get some sleep though as it had helped Jack fight a strong opponent Sekke had probably earned at least a few good points in their Captain's book. "And I don't doubt that the Wizard King has interrogators who can get what we want, magic has a way of helping with that kinda stuff."

"Yes though it was only Memory Magic so no torture even if a few slices could be useful in loosening one's tongue." Jack said with a grin. "But alas this is easier and apparently foolproof once the magic blocking us was nullified so it is what it is. It's from this that we got an image and name for one of their members. We don't know his rank but we do know that while he's not worth my time, he is considered high enough in their organization that there may be some intel. That and he appears to have committed several crimes so needs to be captured regardless."

"Sounds like something for us then." Lubbock said understanding where this was going. "And I presume that it's also so that the new recruits understand this aspect of our work."

"Obviously and I want you to have them take point when the capture part occurs." Jack said. "Only use your wires after they've won or if you absolutely have to, let them do the fighting. Once they've neutralized the terrorist, then you can capture him as you're magic is better suited for that what with how hard it is to slice your wires."

"Makes sense." Lubbock said while Najenda just nodded in agreement at that, she may have lived a life prior to this but she understood how training worked and this was in essence a form of training. "So what are the particulars on the target? How will we know who he is?"

"Shouldn't be hard, the man is a muscle bound brute even more so than Yami is." Jack said as he recalled what he'd seen. "Easily taller than me with snow white hair that appears to be dyed black temples and a fair completion. Oh and he's missing his right eye with a scar running from the center of his forehead and over his empty socket before it then curving down his cheek to his jaw."

"That is rather descriptive." Najenda said. "And hard to miss."

"The interrogator does good work so we have an image and that scar is very distinctive." Jack said. "Oh and the man's name, at least what the prisoners know him as, is Troll. From what we've gathered, he's some kind of enforcer for them and a real sicko that gets off on torture and then hits the bar afterwards. He's the kinda person who sticks out hence why we have intel on him. If we catch him alive we can probably get more about the inner workings of this group, or at least have the next thing that we need to look into. Oh and he may have once been some kind of bodyguard in the Black Market, others are looking into that as his injury is hard to forget while his personality one that's hard to hide."

"Sounds like a real bastard then." Lubbock said while Najenda knew the type all too well. "Someone who needs to be locked up at the very least."

"I take it that he's still in the underbelly of the Capital." Najenda said her tone serious as she began to focus on the mission. "So we should begin there."

"Actually no he's not." Jack said surprising them. "He was sent by one of the people we captured from the Capital right before the attack, that's actually why we have such a fresh memory of him to go off, and ordered to head to the south. What he's doing there we don't know but we know that he's supposed to be in Raquey the night before the next full moon. However, with his personality and appearance he'd attract too much attention in a place like Raquey so he's probably hiding out elsewhere until then. You'll need to check the towns and villages that are between the Capital and Raquey to find him."

"Someone like him wouldn't be able to stay in a town or village for long, you can't turn off that kind of sadism." Lubbock said thinking on it, he was used to hunting humans so this wasn't an issue. "But at the same time that makes him easy to follow. We'll head out right away then and start with a few of the villages that are close enough to Raquey to get there quickly but far enough that the nobles down there wouldn't feel threatened enough by a sadist causing problems in the countryside to act."

"You been there before?" Najenda asked looking at Lubbock.

"A few times over the years." Lubbock admitted. "Missions mainly and I've not actually been to Raquey itself but I know the area north of it well enough to have a sense of where to begin."

"Well if you guys get this done before the full moon then you can stay in Raquey until the full moon and relax." Jack said. "It's right there and I get the feeling that if a member of this group is heading down there then having some of you in Raquey around then could potentially be useful."

"Of course, we're on it." Lubbock said as he saluted, Najenda doing the same a moment later. "Count on us boss."

"I expect success, I want to rub it in at the next meeting." Jack said as he turned and left just as Sekke arrived in the common room. "Get to it then or I'll slice you."

"Haha, did the Captain want something?" Sekke asked as he took a wide berth from the Captain and came up to them, he didn't really get along with most of the Squad but Lub was his superior who was training him and Najenda a fellow rookie so they were often paired together for missions and thus had a cordial relationship of sorts. "I hope…"

"Yup, grab your broom we're heading out." Lubbock said with a nod as he turned and began to walk towards the exit that led to the members' rooms. "Right away."

"Aw man but I'm…" Sekke began but a sharp look from Lubbock silenced him. "Fine, where are we going?"

"South of the Capital but north of Raquey." Lubbock said as Najenda joined Lubbock in making their way to their rooms where they kept their brooms with Lubbock grabbing Sekke's arm as he passed him. "And if we get this done quickly then we can spend up to a week there in the sun on the beach relaxing."

"Well why didn't you say so, haha!" Sekke said pulling out of Lubbock grasp before he hurried off. "Let's get moving, I need that break!"

"Well that's at least one way to motivate him." Lubbock said with a sigh as Sekke disappeared already contacting his boys to go there and sort out accommodation and swimsuits for them for the week and get his broom. "This might be over quickly if it means more time in Raquey and I for one do want to go to the beach."

"You just want to see me in my new bikini." Najenda teased causing Lubbock flush and look away. "Don't worry, I'll bring it."

"Yes, well, first we need to focus on the mission at hand." Lubbock said as he reached his floor. "I'll see you and Sekke out front in 10 minutes."

"Yes boss." Najenda said with a grin before she bounded off to the top floor.

Lubbock just groaned but as odd as it was, he was the older one and thus the superior now so he was the boss. Still, as he reached his room he grinned at the thought of seeing Najenda in a bikini and so he couldn't wait, that alone was enough to inspire him to get this mission done quickly and efficiently as he entered his room and sorted his things out for what should be a simple, straightforward, mission.

"So what exactly is the mission?"

The question came from Sekke as the trio flew south on their brooms and towards Raquey and the ocean. Lubbock was in the center with his juniors on either side so as Sekke asked the question he lowered his altitude to speak with them. This was because Lubbock was standing on his broom while Najenda was riding side saddle and Sekke sitting though Najenda could stand if she wanted to she just preferred it this way. As such Lubbock had to get down to easily talk to them as they flew.

"It's pretty simple." Lubbock said his voice loud enough to be heard over the wind. "I glanced at a map before we headed out to refamiliarize myself with the area and confirmed that there are a half dozen villages and two small towns that are south of the Capital and north of Raquey but only one of the towns and two of the villages would work for someone who's trying to not draw attention to himself so we'll start with the latter and go from there."

"The others are either too close to Raquey or the Capital or otherwise within a noble's domain I take it." Najenda said. "Otherwise they'd be worth searching."

"Pretty much." Lubbock said with a nod. "So while they are possibilities, they're less likely based on what we know so we'll go from most to least likely."

"Makes sense." Najenda said. "And when we get there? What's the plan?"

"Simple, due to the abilities that we all have, Sekke and I will go into the villages and gather intel while you stay outside and on the coms with us." Lubbock said to Najenda while Sekke tried to follow what was going on. "I expect we'll pick up the trail quickly. From there we'll follow it until we find our target. Then Sekke and I will keep an eye on him and try to flush him out into the open. Once he's open and away from civilians, you will wound him from range, Najenda, and then Sekke and I will move in to secure him."

"Got it." Najenda said with a nod. "That makes the most sense, it's how I'd do it if I was in charge."

"Er target?" Sekke asked confusion in his voice. "I don't get what's going on."

"Right, sorry, forgot you weren't with us for the mission brief." Lubbock said turning his head to look at Sekke again. "The mission is to hunt down and if possible capture alive a member of the Eye of the Midnight Sun that's been identified in the wake of their attack on the Capital. We have his name and particulars along with the rough area that he should be in so he won't be hard to find."

"I, um, see." Sekke said a little nervous and even let out a 'haha' at the end. "So what exactly is my role in this?"

"To tail him once we find him and either alert Najenda when he's in a spot that she can hit him from or at least put him in said spot and trust her to do her job." Lubbock said. "She'll be on a rooftop on the outskirts with her broom and grimoire ready to act while we go into town and find him. No Magic Knight robes though, we can't attract attention to ourselves on this mission."

"Er ok." Sekke said still unsure but there wasn't much that he could do about it. "I'll do that, haha."

"Should be easy." Najenda said. "Don't worry, I'll handle the fighting."

"I'm not worried about that, I've seen you in action." Sekke said. "That's fine with me I just don't like being near a wanted terrorist. That sounds dangerous, haha."

"Oh don't worry, he's only taller that Jack, more muscular than Yami and gets off on torturing people, it will be fine." Lubbock said grinning. "Nothing too bad so it won't be hard to subdue him."

"That's not bad!" Sekke exclaimed. "He sounds like a monster!"

"Don't worry, I've seen a lot worse in my time." Lubbock said dismissively. "This is just a small time sadist."

"That doesn't reassure me." Sekke said his voice down before he let out a low. "Haha."

Lubbock didn't bother responding to that as it was Sekke, he got like this when he had to deal with something serious. Lubbock had gathered that Sekke had become a Magic Knight because he was looking for an easy and relaxing life but was only now realizing that it was real work. Well that was fine, he'd either find a way to step up or he'd quit and Lubbock didn't mind either way.

However, despite his attitude, Lubbock did care about Sekke as a squadmate but he knew that this life wasn't for everyone and if Sekke left then Lubbock wouldn't hold it against him as he wouldn't be the first or last to quit the Magic Knights. Of course Najenda wasn't going anywhere so all was good there and this mission would give Lubbock the chance to see her bikini so he had to complete it as soon as possible.

As such they flew the rest of the way in silence each of them thinking their own thoughts on the mission as they flew. It didn't take too long; all were strong enough to fly fast and their base wasn't too far from Raquey as the crow flew so they easily reached the area that Lubbock had deduced that their target would be in and from there they flew to the first village and began their search for the thug known as Troll.

Just as Lubbock had expected, a man with his proclivities hadn't been hard to find the trail of. Almost as soon as they landed in the center of the first village, the least likely of the two that Troll would still be in, there was a wanted poster of a man with a distinctive scar on his face on it that Lubbock took off and asked the village chief about.

Given his Magic Knight robe, and Sekke's for that matter as he was with Lubbock while Najenda had remained high in the air and out of sight while they gathered information, the chief was very forthcoming about the man on the wanted poster. He told Lubbock that the man had showed up in their village about a week ago gotten drunk in the village's only bar and proceeded to lose all his money at poker. He then proceeded to beat his opponents unconscious, steal their money, and continue drinking though that was only after he beat up the bartender who refused to serve him and took the alcohol for himself.

That sounded exactly like what Lubbock was looking for and when he pressed for more information he learned that the man was deemed to be too strong or them so they just left him in the bar after he assaulted the bartender and hid out as he got plastered alone. The next day he was gone and they'd contacted other villages in the area and learned that he'd done similar things in a few of the ones to the north, and worse in a few cases, and so they'd reached out the Magic Knights about him but so far they'd heard nothing until now.

Lubbock used that information to lie and say that they were dispatched because of this trend and thanked the man before leaving with Sekke and regrouping with Najenda. From there they headed to the next village on his list as it wasn't one of the ones the chief had said that Troll had been in prior to arriving in the first one Lubbock had checked.

Alas the next village was a bust as well, at least in terms of finding Troll in it, but they did get more information there, information that was recent. Apparently Troll had appeared in the village only 2 days prior and checked into the local tavern where he proceeded to drink like a fish.

The first night there was only a few scuffles, nothing too bad but enough that it was clear to the villagers that the scarred traveler was trouble and so the village chief had sent out messages to the other local villages to see if they'd encountered the man as well. That had been when he'd learned about Troll's actions in them and knew that they had to do something about him.

So the next morning, the day before, the strongest person in the village who also served as their main law enforcement officer had gone to the tavern where Troll had resumed drinking pretty much the moment he woke up so as to kick him out. This was because they knew that the Magic Knights wouldn't listen to their plight over someone not causing the local nobles an issue so they had to do it themselves.

However that had been where things had gone horribly wrong. Troll was a lot stronger and easily overcame the man before blasting him out of the tavern via the wall and into the village square with just his raw mana. There he proceeded to viciously torture the man to death as the village looked on in horror but were unable to do anything about it because no one was strong enough to stop him. In fact the blood was still there when Lubbock and Sekke got there and there were details that really shock them.

This had been the act that had really gotten the attention of the local authorities and had led to the wanted posters that were now being distributed around the area but hadn't reached the small town yet and so Lubbock knew that he'd be there. He thanked the village chief, consoled him for his loss as the man who also happened to be his eldest son, and promised that as a Magic Knight he'd see to it that justice was served. The chief thanked him and from there Lubbock and a shaken Sekke left to regroup with Najenda again and head to the town.

"He'll be there, I don't doubt it, so it's time to change our robes." Lubbock said as they landed on the outskirts of the small town while the sun began to set. "And almost certainly in one of the taverns here."

"Haha, I'm worried." Sekke admitted still disturbed by what he'd learned in the last village as he took off his robe and put it away in his bag while Lubbock did the same and pulled out a pair of simple, dark green, hooded cloaks that wouldn't look out of place in an area like this. "This man seems dangerous and what he did, I'm going to have nightmares about that."

"It's nothing that we can't handle so we'll make sure that he pays for his crimes." Lubbock said his tone dark as he handed the cloak to Sekke while Najenda collected their brooms and took off to find a vantage point on one of the higher roofs while also scouting on ahead to get more info on the town. "Plus that defensive spell of yours is impressive Sekke so you will be fine."

"It is?" Sekke asked as he reluctantly put the cloak on. "I used to think so but now I'm not sure, haha. It's been broken twice recently so it may not be all that it seems."

"One of those two was that guy who can apparently nullify magic, right?" Lubbock asked and Sekke nodded. "So that doesn't count, no defensive spell could withstand that kind of power. Nullifying magic is unnatural here so don't feel bad about losing to something that until recently didn't exist. Hell, not even the guy who did it the second time and he's got some of the strongest defensive magic around."

"Wait, you know that armored freak?" Sekke asked as Lubbock put his own cloak and pulled the hood up. "I don't recall much from that night but you were there?"

"You were going on a mixer; I had to make sure that you wouldn't embarrass the Squad or make us look bad at it." Lubbock said as they moved out and into the town. "Which I failed at but I did no better getting tossed through the bar and then battered through a wall with a table so I can't really scold you for being an idiot. As for the guy who did that to us, yeah I recognized the armor, he's a friend from before my Magic Knight days. He's strong and his armor can adapt to any magic it encounters so there's no shame in your spell breaking against his power."

"Still, it broke easily so I'm worried now." Sekke said. "It's not good."

"Has anything else broken it?" Lubbock asked as they moved. "My wires can't unless I saw at it and that takes far too long while Najenda's magic so far hasn't worked either. Course she has one spell she's not tried yet that if it works like I think it does would work but that's a special spell that she saves for emergencies so doesn't really count. Of course Jack could slice it but, well, the Captain's a freak like that."

"You could say that again, haha." Sekke said with a sigh but he did feel a little better hearing support from his superior. "So you think that it will hold if I have to use it?"

"Based on what we've heard about this guy it should." Lubbock said his tone reassuring though he wasn't sure himself he just needed to put Sekke at ease. "But it likely won't reach that point. Even if you have to use it, trust Najenda to protect you before he can hurt you. That's the point of a team; we have each other's backs."

With that Lubbock patted Sekke on the back but Sekke didn't respond. He wasn't really a team player, obviously, and he'd joined the Magic Knights for an easy life not one of danger and potential death and in the bug Squad no less so he was worried by this. Still, this was better than being Captain Jack's errand boy and the chance to go to Raquey afterwards where Phat and Aphro should already be with everything that they'd need was too good to pass up so Sekke focused on that as he and Lubbock made their way into the town.

As they did they got word over the special communication device that Lubbock had in his ear and which was connected to one that Najenda carried on her that there was no less than 5 taverns in the town. This was based on her initial scouting from the air and she'd deduced that two were higher end ones that were located either in the town center or near it, 2 were mid-tier ones that clearly serviced merchants and tradesmen while the final one was on the outskirts and clearly the sketchy kind that was for cheap or less savory individuals. That last one sounded promising so Lubbock opted to check it out first.

The plan from this point on was simple. Lubbock and Sekke would go to the tavern, have a drink and maybe an appetizer if it was available while taking a table with a view of the bar and see if Troll was there. If he was already there then great they'd just wait until he left and Sekke would tail him from the ground and Lubbock followed behind Sekke from the rooftops and relayed things to Najenda. If not they'd wait for an hour and enjoy some food, another round, or a little gambling if it was available, and then leave to the next one. Hopefully, they got lucky the first time and this would be over soon.

Unfortunately for them they weren't lucky with the first place. There was some clearly recently broken furniture and the crowd was on the rougher side but Troll wasn't at the bar or in the main room. There was a backroom for gambling, which Lubbock had expected the moment he saw the tavern, so he checked that out as well and played a few hands of poker before 'losing' everything he had to avoid suspicion but the entire time Troll didn't show up in the room.

After that Lubbock went back to the bar while Sekke held the table that they'd gotten when they'd arrived and ate some food that Sekke had ordered and then drenched in squeezed lemon to see if Troll showed up. It was clearly a place he'd not be noticed at; a bar fight even broke out while Lubbock and Sekke were there, but he wasn't there and after an hour they left and headed to the lesser of the two mid-tier bars that catered to workers who could afford it but were a little too rough for the other mid-tier bar according to Najenda.

That had sounded promising and it was as they hit paydirt the moment that they entered. Troll was there, sitting at the bar near the entrance for all to see and pounding a beer with a grin on his face that made the scar Jack had described look even more sinister than Lubbock was expecting. Still, he wasn't a concern to Lubbock, he'd faced and killed tougher bastards in his life, so this was nothing to him as he and Sekke ignored Troll as they passed him and took a table along the back wall where they quickly ordered two drinks and a meal. From there it was just a waiting game.

It was a long wait. Troll was clearly a man who enjoyed the bottle and could hold his drink as he proceeded to down a good dozen beers and a half dozen shots from what Lubbock could tell, which meant that he had to nurse his way through half that in beers to so as to not look suspicious.

Thankfully ordering a full meal and going to the gambling area that was in a side room helped explain why they were spending a lot of time in the tavern. In addition, Sekke was able to play the underage card to avoid alcohol so they were able to explain away his lack of drinking as well. Lubbock even sent Sekke with some coins to the gambling area for a little bit after he returned from it to add to things though that didn't last long as he lost it all in a few hands.

Overall they just looked like weary travelers who'd shown up, found a cheap but not trashy or dangerous tavern, and were enjoying a good if unremarkable meal and a few drinks before seeing if there were any rooms available for the night. They weren't the only ones like that here so they blended in well and the entire time Lubbock kept an eye on Troll without anyone realizing that he was doing so.

Lubbock was experienced in scouting, spying, and stakeouts, something that Sekke had come to learn since joining, and that experience and the subsequent calm that came with it helped keep Sekke's nerves in check while also preventing him from giving away their mission as he could just leave the scouting to Lubbock. Instead, and because he was nervous, Sekke chatted with Lubbock that had the added bonus of coming off as idle chatter and thus further hid their true objects from their target as they watched and waited for Troll to make his move.

Yes, everything was going well and so when, well past midnight, Troll finally got up and left the tavern, Lubbock knew that it was time for them to make their move. He casually called over the waitress and settled their tab while Sekke excused himself and went to the bathroom. It helped that he actually did need it and so when he was done he was to slip out of the window there and then tail Troll while Lubbock sorted things out, flirted a little to establish his lingering presence, and then left himself.

Despite his worries, Sekke did as told and grumbled to himself as he did given how dirty the bathroom was. Still, he managed it and soon was behind the tavern. From there he quickly slipped out of the alleyway and into the main street just in time to see Troll finish pissing on the side of a building at the far end of the street from where Sekke was.

Still muttering complaints to himself, Sekke waited until Troll was done, zipped up, and had turned down a street to the right before he left his spot and hurried as fast as he could without drawing attention to himself down the street and reached a spot just past where Troll had pissed. From there Sekke glanced around the corner to see that Troll was casually walking along the center of the deserted street far ahead.

Sekke deemed that a good sign and moved in behind him to begin to tail Troll all while Lubbock slipped into the alleyway behind the tavern and then got onto its roof with his wires and moved to shadow Sekke as he did the same to Troll. As Lubbock did he relayed his position to Najenda and she noted that she needed to move and track from the air so as to find the right spot when Troll eventually came to a stop but would be there soon so that once Troll did stop she'd be able to quickly take him down from range. Lubbock agreed and carried on.

While all this was happening, Sekke was getting a bit more confident as he began to think that he was doing a good job sneaking behind Troll as he moved through the city. Naturally, this meant that he was, in fact, not doing a good job at all and unbeknownst to him he'd been noticed almost as soon as he made the second same turn as Troll and now the man was leading Sekke rather than Sekke tailing him.

However, this was all part of the general plan that Lubbock had cooked up so while they'd flown in silence earlier and it was all going well as Sekke was led to the outskirts of the town and into a quiet, run down, area that clearly didn't have many people in it. Only then did Sekke realize that he'd been led into a trap and by then it was too late because he rounded a corner and yelped to see Troll standing there several yards in front of him hand up and magic glowing in his hand, a sadistic grin on his face that his scar made even more terrifying to Sekke.

"I knew I had a tail and if I had to guess you're a Magic Knight even if you're not wearing one of their distinctive robes." Troll said his voice gruff and menacing. "Figured you assholes wouldn't approve of me exercising my right to have fun. No problem, soon I can do whatever I want when I want and without any assholes stopping me. Until then, though, I'm going to have a really pleasurable time killing a Magic Knight. Let's see what you got, entertain me a bit before I have my true fun with you."

With that a Magic Bullet was fired at Sekke but he had begun reacting instinctively upon seeing the raw magic and easily leapt out of the way. He may not be much of a fighter but he could evade well and knew how to protect himself, which was just what he did as his grimoire was open to the right page as he the Magic Bullet missed.

"Bronze Creation Magic: Sekke Magnum Cannonball!" Sekke said as he landed. "Haha! Get through this!"

Quickly, and before Troll could fire off another Magic Bullet, a transparent sphere formed around Sekke with an intricate pattern on its surface and several random peaks all over it. Sekke continued to laugh as he was protected by his spell. Even with his recent failures, the moment his cannonball went around him Sekke felt confident that he was protected so he laughed at Troll. That laugh increased as the wanted terrorist sent the Magic Bullet that he'd been preparing at it only for it to explode on the surface of the cannonball causing a small cloud of smoke but Sekke knew that he was safe.

"Haha! See, you can't hurt me when I'm in this!" Sekke laughed as the smoke cleared to reveal that there wasn't even a scratch on his spell. "Nothing can!"

"I doubt that but I like a challenge, it makes breaking you when I torture you all the more pleasurable because I'll have proven that you're weaker than me." Troll said with a smirk and Sekke gulped at the tone in the man's voice as Troll's grimoire rose and flipped open. "Try this on for…"

The man didn't finish before a flash of off white light shot from above and over the cannonball and slammed into, and then through, his right shoulder just above the joint so it took out a chunk of his collar bone in the process. Troll let out a howl of pain as he recoiled from the blow, spinning backwards as blood blossomed from the wound and sprayed the street.

"What the fuck was that!" Troll roared and Sekke noticed that his remaining eye was wide and wild as he looked around for his attacker. "Where did that…"

Again he didn't finish before a second beam of the same colored light shot down and struck him just above his left knee right as he came to a stop facing Sekke and scoring through the meat of his thigh before shooting into the ground below him leaving neat, smoking, holes in its wake. Again Troll roared in pain only this time he fell back, his two useless limbs limp as he hit the ground.

"Bastards!" Troll roared his left hand going to his knee in what Sekke presumed was an attempt to staunch the blood that was now flowing from it. "I'll kill you! The Master will let me…"

"Wire Creation Magic: Hogtie!"

Suddenly, and as Troll devolved into an expletive filled rant, thin gray wires appeared in the air and quickly formed around his ankles and wrists. They then lifted him into the air before they flipped him over so that his chest was facing the ground as they brought his legs up behind him, which caused him to scream as his ruined left leg was moved, and his arms behind his back before the wires connected and pulled taught in a complex not leaving his trust up and unmoving.

"Fuck you, you bastards!" Troll screamed. "You can't treat me like this! Magic Knights are…"

"True normally this would be overkill what with your wounds affecting your concentration and the relatively low threat rate that you pose us." Lubbock said as he landed in the street, his Green Praying Mantis robe back on and fluttering as wires danced around his fingers and hands. "But you're a member of a group that's been deemed a terrorist organization as well as someone who's committed several murders so we don't need to be gentle in restraining you."

"Ha like this will stop me!" Troll roared as he struggled causing blood to start to flow from where the wires were cutting into his skin in addition to where it was already flowing from his wounds. "I'll get out and when I do you will pay for this! I'm going to really get…"

"The thing about my wires is that they're made metal, like most wires though few here know what wires are in this sense, not rope or string, and that makes them sharp as fuck." Lubbock said as he slowly walked towards Troll while ignoring the man's disturbing rant about what he was going to do to Lubbock and Sekke when he got free and how much he was going to enjoy doing it. "So the only way you'll escape from them, at least from struggling against them the way that you are, would be if you used them to saw through your limbs, that is if you survive the blood loss from the arteries that you'll cut on the way to freedom."

"Fuck you, you bastard!" Troll roared as Lubbock reached him. "Just watch, my muscles will break these pitiful things."

"Of courses it's not like I'll let that happen anyway." Lubbock said as he continued to ignore the man. "See, I was ordered to bring you in alive and that's what I'm going to do."

Troll opened his mouth to unleash another stream of curses and threats at Lubbock but before he could Lubbock planted his left foot and kicked Troll as hard as he could in the face. There was a spray of blood and teeth as Troll's head snapped back and his eyes went white. A second later his face slammed into the ground and blood began to ooze out but his body was limp.

"Well done Sekke, we couldn't have done it without you." Lubbock said turning to his Squadmate and smiling at him as Sekke lowered his spell and blinked, he'd not seen this cold side of his superior before and it unnerved him a little and the blood on Lubbock's right boot didn't help things. "Call this in, we'll need a portal so just contact HQ."

"Er, y, yes." Sekke said as he pulled out his own communications device and opened it to call. "Hello?"

"Yes, what is the report?" A voice said right before a hooded figure of one of the generic Magic Knights that was stationed at HQ appeared. "Ah I see, you're part of the Green Praying Mantis team sent to apprehend a wanted terrorist that I was told would call in sometime this week. You work fast it seems. I take it that its done."

"Yes haha." Sekke said though his voice was still a little nervous after everything. "We, er, need a portal to this location. It's a small town near Raquey."

"We have your location based on this device, one moment." The Magic Knight said and he vanished before he reappeared. "The portal is coming, just needed to confirm that where you can be reached by the Spatial Mage on duty."

Sekke blinked at that but then an ornate set of large doors appeared before him and opened to reveal a swirling gray and white mass indicating that it was a portal. He'd never seen one this big though.

"Guess they only had Cob on call then, or the nature of this mission meant that only he could be used." Lubbock said as he magically took hold of his wires and lifted Troll up before throwing him through the portal. "Well whatever the case this is not our problem anymore."

"Suspect received." The Magic Knight said reminding Sekke that he was still there. "He will be given first aid and detained pending interrogation. Thank you for your service."

With that the call ended but Sekke didn't notice that as he blinked again at Lubbock's words before the doors closed and they were alone in the alleyway that Troll had led him into with only the wanted terrorist's blood as proof that he'd been there at all. Sekke was still a little thrown and that didn't go even when Najenda flew down on her broom while holding theirs in her hands.

"Thanks Sekke." Najenda said smiling at him as she got off, her voice managing to snap him out of his thoughts and get him to look at her. "You managed to hold him in one place long enough for me to get the shots off. That cannonball of yours is useful."

"Oh, right, er, haha yes it is good." Sekke said. "Glad to be of help. It is what we do as Magic Knights after all."

"Well the mission's over so I just need to call Jack to let him know." Lubbock said as he reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out a small communications device he kept there that was solely for contacting the Captain when the mission was completed. "Captain Jack, this is Lubbock reporting in."

"Ah Lub, I was just slicing up something fun so this better be important." Jack's voice said from the top of the device that flashed as he spoke while the sound of something being sliced could be heard over Jack's words. "I presume that this means that the mission is done."

"It is, suspect has been detained and sent to HQ unconscious." Lubbock said. "Though not uninjured as that couldn't be avoided."

"Not a concern for us nor was it a requirement anyway." Jack said his tone clearly unbothered by the fact that Troll had been injured in the process of detaining him. "Alright, take the week off and enjoy Raquey but if anything happens there you are to instantly act as Magic Knights would. Now go away, I'm busy. Severing Magic: Death Scythe."

"Well looks like we got some time off." Lubbock said as Jack ended the call and he turned to the others. "But it's late so we should stay here."

"If you don't mind, my boys should have found accommodation in Raquey for us by now as I told them to meet me there." Sekke said. "So I'm going to join them if that's ok."

"Same boys as the mixer?" Lubbock asked and Sekke nodded. "Alright then that's fine, we'll be there tomorrow morning but we won't get in your way unless it's absolutely necessary. You've earned this time off Sekke so go and enjoy it."

"Haha, thanks boss." Sekke said as Najenda tossed him his broom which he caught easily. "I may see you in Raquey then."

With that Sekke got on his broom and flew off. He knew where he had to go, just head south to the sea and he'd be there as the resort town wouldn't be hard to miss. Once there he'd contact Phat and Aphro and meet up with them wherever they'd rented for the week. Then he'd be back to his normal, carefree self as he enjoyed the beach and hit on the ladies there. Lub was right, he'd earned this.

"Did he seem a bit off to you?" Najenda asked looking at Lubbock as he came up to her. "Not his usual boisterous self and overexaggerating how much he did or the beat down version we see after he's been dealing with Jack for too long."

"Yeah I think he wasn't expecting me to be so blunt and cold with Troll about my bindings." Lubbock said as he joined her. "Or as violent with knocking him out as he's not seen the side of me that was forged in our old lives. Plush your shots were precise and caused a fair bit of damage which can be surprising if you're not used to seeing it."

"Mine would have been more precise than me, she'd have hit his knee and shoulder dead on even if he was moving and she was further away." Najenda said. "But yeah I can see that, until now Sekke's just been doing menial jobs or patrolling and from that all he's ever received was a minor foot wound from a thief in the Capital. This was a true mission so he's not used to this stuff."

"Technically it's your first true one as well." Lubbock pointed out. "And you executed it perfectly. So did Sekke really, well his role at least."

"Yes but I know this life a lot better than most do." Najenda said. "It will be good in the long run for him though, he'll get used to it and you are his superior so you need to mentor him and make sure he's ok when his needed time off in Raquey is over. Same with me by the way."

"You know I don't need to do that." Lubbock said. "Just because you're now a 15 year old girl doesn't meant that you're not the badass General who I would follow no matter what, even into another life."

"Why not? I'm just a rookie Magic Knight who needs her older, stronger, superior to show her the ropes." Najenda said blinking her eyelashes at him and giving him a sweet smile. "And right now I'm starving so take me to the best tavern here. Unlike you, I didn't get to eat as I waited to act so you're treating me. Oh and don't forget, you died and left me before you could say anything in our old life so it was I who followed you into another life not the other way around, boss."

"Yes well you are a good ranged fighter and your other spells would be overkill." Lubbock said with a sigh but then he smiled at Najenda's words. "But ok come on, let's check into the best tavern and have dinner. Tomorrow it's on to Raquey and some nice fun in the sun."

"Yup can't wait to show off without a missing arm." Najenda said as they turned and headed back into the center of the town. "And I know you can't wait to see that either."

"True, I can't." Lubbock admitted with a smile as they headed off to the tavern to enjoy themselves after a successful mission unaware of what awaited them in Raquey.

I think that's a good spot to end the Lubbock and Najenda focused chapter on. It's a pretty straightforward one set during the time Yami, Asta, Akame, and Tatsumi are getting the Underwater Temple mission and then the girls are getting bikinis to tie in how Lubbock, Najenda, and Sekke got to Raquey albeit in a non-canon and slightly roundabout way for the last one. I felt that a manhunt was the best way to do it and show off that aspect of being a Magic Knight so hopefully it worked and for those wondering, Troll was inspired by Ogre from Akame ga Kill but is not reborn or the same, just a similar situation to Venalia being inspired by Aria that's all. Other than that there really isn't much more to say about this, it's just a standard mission for them to show a bit of what they've been up to while the Black Bulls have been doing their thing. Next up is a look at the missions that were initiated by the findings of Tatsumi and Akame's investigation of the Highball family back in Ch. 16 and which were revealed in Ch. 18 starting with Sheele's mission so we can see what she's been up to as well. Anyway, that is all that I have for y'all so I will leave this chapter off here. If you liked this please favorite, follow, leave a review, or let me know in a PM and I will try to answer any questions posed in reviews and PMs as best I can. Until next time.

Stringdog