209. Akame Ga Kill : Empire Strategy Meeting and Kaito Relaxing Days in Paradise City. (2)

Since Kaito agreed to take care of Anna and Scorpion, the next day in morning, the two cursed children came to Kaito's residence in the Akame Ga Kill world. As soon as they saw Kaito open the door, the two little girls immediately jumped at him, giving him a big hug!

*DASH*

...!!!

"Kaito-sama...! Anna misses you!" (Anna)

"Kaito, big brother...!" (Scorpion)

"You guys... calm down... I also miss you two."

Seeing their enthusiasm, Kaito also feels the same and is looking forward to having more fun with them. Anyway, Kaito certainly wouldn't mind taking care of them in his vacation, and is willing to trust the rest of the chat group to collect the last Est soul fragment in this world.

"Kaito, you are very popular with the children, as usual. I hope you can accept me too here."

"Yuu-san? Why are you here, too? Aren't you just here to drop them off?"

Seeing Yuu (Eucliwood Hellscythe) coming with the two little girls, Kaito thought she just wanted to drop them off. However, Yuu's words indicated that she also planned to stay here with him.

"I'm here to watch over you to make sure you don't work behind us. All chat group members agreed to send me here last night to monitor you."

"Really?" Kaito expressed his surprise, "As one of the strongest members in the chat group, I thought you would be busy."

Yuu shook his head and replied calmly, "Just like in Black Bullet, our business in that world was also finished. We managed to find 1 more Est soul fragment in that world, and the system confirmed that there are no more Est soul fragments there."

After that, Yuu explained what happened 2 days ago what happened in HOTD. Thanks to Kayaba Akihiko's help, the chat group managed to hack the internet network of one HOTD world and found that another Est soul fragment was in the hands of the American government in that world, and was also treated the same as Japan-- which is subject to experimentation.

Although the defense of the base in the US was much stronger than Japan's, in a world with no supernatural element, Yuu and the other chat group members easily broke in and took the Est soul fragment from their hands.

With the Est soul fragment in two worlds collected, every chat group member can focus on Akame Ga Kill. Of course, there's still business in the HOTD world, like trying to bring every country under their control, but such a task can be easily handled by Miya and others.

In fact, what is actually happening is that Aika is also concerned with Yuu mental state and decides to send her to have a vacation with Kaito (although Yuu herself didn't realize that). Although current Yuu seems okay with killing, she's always been one of more peace-looking member and Aika wasn't going to risk it, whether she would have a mental issue or not.

...

After learning the news from Yuu, Kaito immediately jumped in surprise, "So everyone really don't want to tell me anymore, huh?"

"Because we didn't want to make you work at all," Yuu answered calmly, "Just trust everyone, don't you?"

"But... That Est soul fragment... is my fault..." 

"We know." Yuu patted Kaito's shoulder, "Leave everything to us. Kaito, you've done enough, and we want you to rest."

"But I feel bad for you guys, after all, I am the leader."

What makes it worse for Kaito, the system didn't even ping him. He just checked the progress of the task, and it was indeed progressing, but then he found out that Aika bribed the system with points not to notify Kaito about the progress of the group task.

If Kaito didn't know Aika better, with such meticulous method, he thought that Aika must have an idea to usurp his role as the leader of the chat group!

However, Kaito naturally believed in Aika and the chat group as a whole, to let them do what they wanted to. Unlike him in the past, the current Kaito won't have concerns about his role as leader of the chat group, and he is also never against any chat group member wanting to do as he knows each member has their own problem and goal.

Otherwise, there's no way Kaito agrees with Crocodile's idea to build his own "area" in the base world.

...

"Indeed. But in our opinion, you have done enough for us." Yuu looked at him with an apologetic look, "In fact, we were afraid that you would collapse if you were left to work all the time."

"...Well, I understand. I also trust you guys." Kaito was aware of what was going on and could only accept his family's direction. "But speaking of which, why did they send you to monitor me?"

"At first, the girls in your harem were fighting over a spot, but Aika and Manaka quickly made a deal and suggested that I watch over you since I was the most suitable."

"A deal?"

"However, after the group task is done, Aika hopes you are willing to at least spend some time dating each girl in your harem," Yuu smirked.

*Cough* *Cough* *Cough*

"Well... I understand. They all helped me so much yet I haven't spent any time with them..."

Considering how busy he was recently, Kaito admitted he doesn't spend so much time on the girls who are part of his 'harem', even though most of them are working hard on helping him. Now he has a lot of free time, Kaito felt guilty and was willing to make it up for them... although he wasn't sure whether he was ready to escalate the relationship progress to the next level.

"Anyway, there should be a lot of chat group members who could watch me... but why was it you?" Kaito asked curiously and guessed, "Is it because you can hold me back with your ability if I force myself to work?"

"Part of it, but mainly because I'm a white-haired girl and you like white-haired girls."

...!!!

*Cough* *Cough* *Cough*

"What the fuck?!"

Hearing Yuu's words, Kaito once again became shocked and choked. Aside from being a fan of little girls, Kaito knew that all the chat group members liked to joke around regarding him as a fan of blonde and white hair, but he didn't expect them to be serious and include him in such an important decision!

Seeing Kaito's over-the-top reaction, Yuu immediately covered her mouth to hold back her laughter, "Pffft... I was joking, Kaito."

"....Yuu, I didn't expect you to be capable of making a joke." Kaito sighed in relief, "Let me guess, Aika or Manaka?"

"Manaka-san." Yuu didn't refute him and then stated, "But you can't deny that, right?"

"Uhh..."

Kaito turned away, aware there was some truth in her sentence. With Est as his weapon (white hair girl), Kaguya as her subordinate (white hair girl), Ilya as his adopted sister (white hair girl), and now Midori as his Initiator (white hair girl). Kaito has no way to fight back at all with all the evidence that exists around him.

Naturally, looking at Kaito, doesn't even try to refute that, both Anna and Scorpion now also believe what Yuu said and also feel concerned. After all, neither of them has white hair and they are afraid that Kaito suddenly doesn't want to care with them anymore.

"Kaito-sama, do you want Anna to have white hair?"

"If big brother wanted to, Scorpion could also change her hair color to white."

"..."

Kaito has lost count of how many times he has been surprised this morning, but Kaito knows he shouldn't let both children stray by his "fetish"!

"Uhh! Anna, Scorpion, forget that!" Kaito quickly pulled them inside, directed their attention, "Have you three had breakfast? We plan to attend the UTA concert today, so let's be quick!"

"Yuu, you also come in! The breakfast was made by Erina!"

"Kaito-sama?!" (Anna)

"But brother..." (Scorpion)

"Pffft..." (Yuu)

After that, everyone had breakfast together in a happy mood, especially for Midori, who was happy to meet Anna and a new friend (Scorpion). Then, Kaito spent another relaxing and happy day without worry like yesterday, except there were more people following him.

Thanks to the pre-war situation, Uta has been holding concerts in Paradise City 3 times a week to lift the public mood, as an effort to minimize the citizens' fear of the threat of impending war. Today, Uta happens to be holding a public concert, and Kaito has already ordered 5 VIP tickets for today... making the former cursed children excited since they had heard the rumor of the best singer among Kaito's friends.

Kaito himself is also quite excited, because even though he has heard Uta's singing several times, he will never get tired of the voice of the number 1 diva in this chat group.

>>>>

While Kaito was enjoying his day, on the other side, at Esdeath's residence in the Imperial Capital, General Esdeath held a meeting at her residence today to discuss preparations for the war of the Empire against Paradise City forces. 

All Jaeger members in the Original plot were present at this meeting (minus Dr. Stylish): Syura, the son of the Prime Minister, and his followers, 5 Wild Hunt members, and several Teigu users from the Revolutionary Army. 

This included those who should have been in Night Raid, such as Chelsea and Susanoo, but because Night Raid had defected to Paradise City earlier, they did not even have the chance to meet and even become direct enemies with them... thanks to the collaboration between the Revolutionary Army and Empire.

"It seems that everyone is here."

Esdeath, sitting in the biggest seat at the table, looked at everyone seriously and stated, "You guys can get to know each other after the meeting, but for now, let's start talking about how to conquer that city as soon as possible."

""Yes, General Esdeath!""

"Do we need a strategy to fight against them? General Esdeath?

Syura, while a hair man with brown skin and an "x" scar on his face, quickly expressed his disdain, "Although they are a bit tricky with their defense, we have a number advantage and they only have a single place to protect without anywhere to run."

"I don't think we need to take this seriously at all."

As the son of the Prime Minister and a strong Teigu user, Syura didn't want to attend this meeting if not just because his father requested it. In his opinion, Esdeath and her army are more than enough to take that single city in a very short time.

...

Hearing his comment, Esdeath stared at him sharply and stated, "Let me remind you that one of the members from that city almost killed me in a single confrontation, and I am 100% he's not even seriously fighting with me."

"Are you saying that I am weak?"

...!!??!!

Hearing such a shocking statement, everyone in the meeting room now realizes how strong their opponent is, including Syura, who had made a fuss earlier. No matter how arrogant he is, Syura himself knows there's no way he would survive fighting against Esdeath head-on. 

"Alright, now let's continue."

Esdeath then explained her strategy to win this "war," with the main goal of the strategy being to infiltrate the city using Syura Teigu Shambhala, destroying it from inside, while the army of the Paradise city forces focuses its attention on the frontline. Their main purpose is naturally to kill the Teigu user who controlled the absolute wall of the city, disable it, and then proceed the destroy the whole city.

Since Empire has an overwhelming numerical advantage, Paradise City definitely will put all its defense on the frontline-- including all of its strong Teigu users (Kaito included). There are a few exceptions that should be included, the one who controlled the wall; there's no way Paradise City forces would let their Defender Teigu user go to the front line.

Thus, this creates a perfect strategy where,

1. If Paradise City didn't put enough Teigu users in the frontline, the frontline would be destroyed sooner or later, as the Imperial army has an absolute numerical advantage.
2. If Paradise City puts too many Teigu users in the frontline, Esdeath and her elite members will infiltrate from inside, destroy the Teigu user who controller the wall, which allows the Empire to destroy Paradise City from the inside out.

Although Esdeath does want to fight that man again (Kaito) fairly, as a general, she is not stupid. In front of a true, strong man that even stronger than herself, the number of the army probably doesn't matter, and at best can only be used to divert the attention of that strong man. 

Esdeath hopes Kaito would participate in the frontline, so she could destroy Paradise City from the inside and then lastly work together with all the Teigu users to take down Kaito, who should be overwhelmed with the situation.

Even though this strategy sounds really despicable, for Esdeath, who has faced Kaito desperately before, she believes this strategy is the only way for the Empire to win. Even then, there's always a big risk that Kaito is much stronger than she anticipated and they end up getting obliterated instead.

However, there's also a small hope that she was forced to face Kaito alone. After all, she's actually respected Kaito a lot for defeating her head-on and is even willing to spare her life.

...

Learning such a strategy from Esdeath, many members frowned upon hearing it. After all, this strategy will use thousands of Empire soldiers as a sacrifice to distract the strong Teigu user, which, for many "good" people here, is not acceptable. Normally, Esdeath herself can't accept using this strategy, but she genuinely thinks it is necessary to win this war.

However, while Esdeath herself hates her idea, some people really like Esdeath's ingenious plan, especially Syura and Wildhunt members, who never really cared about the soldiers of the Empire in the first place.

...

"Hahahaha! Such an ingenious plan, as expected of General Esdeath." Syura clapped his hands, sincerely admiring Esdeath's cunning plan, "Alright! I agree to work with you for once!"

"Since the boss already said so, I will also follow." (Izou)

"During the war, they usually leave children in the shelter. I will gladly partake in this plan as long as you guys leave the kids with me!" (Champ)

"Then, I will gladly take all the women!" (Enshin)

"You guys can take those, but leave Uta with me, because I am interested in singing with her in bed~" (Cosmina)

"Hmph. I don't care, but there's Dr. Stylish killer in that group. I want revenge." (Dorothea)

"..."

Hearing all wildhunt members, most of the Teigu users who attended this meeting feel disgusted, including Esdeath herself.

This Wildhunt group was famous for causing and relishing in carnage; doing vile acts wherever they went, and each member of it was also known for being extremely perverted. 

Champ, the black skin clown man with pedophilia; Cosmina, an extremely perverted idol-esque with sound ability to control others; Enshin, who is obsessed with women and loves to r*pe them; and then there's Dorothea, the perverted alchemist that absorbs people's blood and lifespan while also committing human experiments with dangerous beasts. 

The only relatively normal member of Wildhunt is Izou, an extremely skilled swordman who only cares to kill and feed his Teigu with blood.

Obviously, in normal times, none of Esdeath nor the Revolutionary army wanted to work with them (and even wanted to kill them), but in this situation, they were forced to work to fight against Paradise City forces.

...

"I don't have a complaint. I just want to kill my sister." (Kurome)

"I will make sure to do my best to establish justice!" (Seiryu)

"As long as it's the enemy of the empire, I will work hard!" (Wave)

"I will follow the arrangement." (Susanoo)

"The same here." (Chelsea)

"Me too." (Ran)

...

While pretty much all Jaeger members agree with Esdeath's plan, Syura suddenly raised his hand with a suggestion, "Anyway, there's one issue, General Esdeath!" 

"Oh, tell me... Prime Minister Son?"

"If you lead a team that stabs them in the back, are you sure the strong members of the enemy will still be provoked/distracted seeing you not leading the Empire troops on the front lines?!"

"Naturally, I have thought of that." Esdeath nodded calmly and then looked at the group of revolutionary army, "You, the girl with headphones."

"You are Chelsea from the Revolutionary Army, right?"

...?!!??!!

Getting called out of nowhere, Chelsea naturally became panicked and quickly answered, "Y-Yes, Esdeath-sama?"

"I have heard what your Teigu can do." Esdeath tapped her finger on the table repeatedly while seriously requesting, "During war, copy my appearance, impersonate me as the General, and lead the Empire army in the war to make sure strong people in enemy forces will focus their attention on the frontline."

"B-But... would that mean... I need to pretend to be you, General?"

"Yeah." Esdeath nodded and threatened. "If you don't want to, I will kill you right now, take your Teigu, and let someone else impersonate me."

*Gulp*

Under such threat, although she's very unwilling, the unlucky Chelsea agrees to pretend as Esdeath on the battlefield to attract the attention of the enemy Teigu user. After that, the meeting quickly ended and each Teigu user was told to prepare for the march to Paradise City in a few days alongside with Imperial Army.

...

Unfortunately for Esdeath, her plan to infiltrate and cause chaos inside the city was bound to fail no matter what, as the chat group members never play fair with them in the first place.

Their numerical advantage was never a problem for their enemy as Esdeath severely underestimated how strong "Teigu" users under Paradise City forces.

Not to mention, Kaito was banned from working, so Esdeath's hope for Kaito to go to the frontline was pretty much impossible to happen, and they were bound to meet.