One Soul: The Assassins War Arc

Chapter 25: The Sprung Trap

The next day in a town near the capital a group of people swarmed around a post with a decree from the capital. Two spied from the revolutionary army moved in as close as they could to see what all the ruckus was about when they saw the sign. "Wha... What?" said the female spy as she stared at the sign. "Public Execution of the insurgent Tatsumi...?" She then looked at her compatriot who nodded and looked back at the sign.

A slight panic ran over his face as he read the rest of it. "And the Destruction of Incursio, the symbol of Night Raid...? This is a trap draw out his comrades, no matter how you look at it!"

She nodded. "Yes, and a rescue is absolutely impossible because according to the public notice, the executioners are Esdeath and Budo!" She reached to her neck and grabbed the ruby necklace around her neck. "I'm sure this info reached Night Raid too, but don't come...! This is certain Death!" She said.

Near the Night Raid Base...

Mine sprinted through the forest with pumpkin around her shoulder. "Is it a trap? Does it matter!?" She said dashing through the trees. "Just wait for me Tatsumi! I'll save you, no matter what it takes!!" As she reached a clearing in the woods 5 figures stood waiting for her. "What!?" She yelled before halting to a stop.

A yellow headed woman stepped forward with a grin on her face. "Hello. Operation Get-Ahead-Of-You, success!" Leone said with a bit of a laugh to it.

Najenda held up a letter and showed it to Mine. "'I'm resigning from Night Raid'...?" She then looked back at the letter and looked it over closely. "To think you'd actually leave a note like this and charge into the capital. How very heroic of you." She said giving off a sigh before taking the cigarette out of her mouth and breathing out smoke.

Mine looking down slightly ashamed began to have an outburst. "So... so what!? Even if you try to stop me, I'm still going!" She yelled at them.

Akame took a step forward holding her sheathed sword behind her back. "Mine, do you remember what you said when Tatsumi was captured the first time?" Mine thought back to the first time when Tatsumi had gotten captured and slightly put her head down remembering. "Looks like you're stupider than I thought." Akame said with a small smile.

Mine gritted her teeth and shouted towards the ground. "Ugh... sh-shut up! I'm still going! I... I will save Tatsumi, no matter what it takes! And if Lubbock is there too, that's all the more reason to save them!" Mine said with tears starting to drain from her eyes.

Leone and Akame just looked at her for a few seconds before smiling. "Well, well. You've fallen for him that hard, huh."

Akame closed her eyes in agreement. "Tatsumi is lucky to have you." She said before looking back at Mine.

Mine looked back at Akame and Leone. "W-well if that's the case then move out of my way!" She yelled at them.

Najenda held up the letter again this time grabbing it with both hands. "Nope that won't do. A precious talent and teigu..." she began to rip to the letter into two as she spoke, "we can't just let things slip through our hands. So... we're going with you." She said throwing the letter away.

Mine looked at them speechless and before she could say anything Leone stepped forward. "If we lose Tatsumi and Lubbock, it'll be lonely. Boss gave the ok, too." She said with a smile.

Najenda crossed her arms as she took another puff of her cigarette. "If we stop the public execution, we can damage the morale of the empire as well. We'll give it a shot. However, if we are to succeed with the rescue operation, it'll require a resolve far greater than anything you've had before. You, together with pumpkin are the key, Mine!"