---
'How is it possible for a flame to come out of his eyes?!' Akame thought with a shocked expression while Kurome had fascinated expression when she saw it.
---
"Why did you save me and big sis?" Kurome asked with a confused expression while keeping close to Akame.
"Calm down, I don't want to do anything to you or your sister." I said with a helpless smile when I saw how Kurome was afraid of me.
"...What's your name?" Akame asked still with a cautious expression but maybe she was starting to feel guilty, after all, I saved her sister yet she was treating me this way.
"Akashi, nice to meet you two." I said with a small smile and nod.
"...Kurome" Kurome introduce herself but kept on hiding behind Akame's arm. But it was visible that they were slowly dropping their guard down.
"Since you are fine, I think that I can go on." I said with a smile and began to leave the place.
"W-wait!" I heard Akame's voice so I stopped and turned back at them with a confused expression.
"...Can you lead Kurome out of here safely?" Akame asked me with an uncertain expression. She was hesitating whether to trust me or not.
"Wha-? What are you saying, big sis?!" Kurome immediately grabbed Akame's hand with a shocked expression.
"...I am sorry but I can't, however, don't worry. You two are strong, together, you will be able to leave this forest." I said with a regrettable expression but I still decided to walk up to them.
"I see...What is it?" Akame muttered with a sad expression but when she saw me approach them, she immediately took a step back and moved Kurome behind her.
"Don't worry, I don't want to do anything bad and even if I wanted to, I would have already done it." I said while putting my hands up.
"Then what are you trying to do?" Akame eased up a bit but she still asked with a suspicious expression.
"First of all, Kurome-chan, can you please stop hiding? I won't bite you." I crouched down a bit to match their height and asked with a gentle smile Kurome who was hiding behind Akame.
"...Big sis?" Kurome looked at her sister and Akame simply nodded her head after a few seconds of hesitation.
Kurome finally stopped hiding behind her sister and instead stood right next to her.
"Don't be shocked, alright?" I said and put my hand on their shoulder.
"?!" Akame immediately frowned when I did this without telling them anything, she tried to move away from me but she stopped after feeling a comfortable warmth coming from my hand.
"...What was that?" Akame asked me when I finally retracted my hands while Kurome was just staring at me with a puzzled expression.
"Nothing special but you should be much calmer right now. With rational thinking, you will be able to leave this forest no matter what." I said and patted their shoulder a few times before turning around to finally leave.
"W-wait! Will we meet again?!" This time it wasn't Akame's voice but Kurome's voice instead which slightly surprised even me.
"Kurome?" Even Akame was surprised by this.
"...Once you leave the forest we will be able to meet again but...I am not sure about the time afterward." I said with a forced smile since I knew that I could only take 1 person with me back to the Capital.
These sisters have a lot of potential, it's regrettable that I can't take both of them under my wings.
I thought with a regret in my eyes while I was looking at them.
"Anyway, I think you should really go. There are already a lot of Danger beasts around us, I will attract their attention so you just go ahead." I said while looking around us with my hands once again in my pockets.
"T-thank you!" Akame said with a grateful expression and started running while dragging Kurome behind her.
---When the sisters started to run away---
'I need to get Kurome out of this forest! That's the most important thing!' Akame thought but Kurome's thoughts weren't exactly the same.
"Big sis! Why are we leaving him there all alone?! He saved us and this time he is even attracting attention from those beasts just to buy us some time!" Kurome shouted at her sister with a pleading expression.
"?! We can't help him and he chose to do it himself plus he will be fine." Akame was shocked by Kurome's outburst but she still explained everything.
"How can you be so sure that he will be fine, big sis?! Didn't you see how many kids already died here?!" Kurome said with moist eyes when she remembered the sight of these dead kids.
"He didn't even have a speck of dirt or blood on his clothes, he will be fine! Trust me and just focus on getting out of here!" Akame said in a commanding tone and Kurome finally quieted down but she still had a skeptical expression.
'...' Kurome didn't know that to think about this encounter so she just kept running while glancing behind her from time to time.
----Akashi's POV----
...I am not sure if I was able to gain Akame's trust in such a short moment of talking with them but it seems that Kurome is a bit different. She seems to be shy and afraid of strangers but her trust is also easier to gain once you show her that she doesn't have to be afraid of you.
I hope this was enough to get that bonus reward.
Anyway...
[Class: Assassin (Lv. 9; +13 Agi, +7 Int, +4 Str, + 2 Cha) 960/2560 XP]
[Special Class: Fire Monarch (Lv. 6; +12 Cha, +10 Int, +9 Const) 204/320 BXP]
They really give me a small number of experiences. I should just run around for a few more minutes before leaving the forest, maybe I will see a few more interesting kids.
...
After a few more minutes of running around the forest, I found 1 particular girl.
Reddish-brown long hair and green eyes, huh? It looks like she is doing pretty good for a kid. Her main power should be in her legs. She is quite fast on her legs and her jumping power is also quite abnormal for a normal kid.
...It doesn't look like she will need any help so there is not a very big chance for me to make any contact with her if I don't want her to be suspicious of me. Anyway...I am really happy to finally see a kid with a flat chest, kids in this world are extremely weird so seeing her almost non-existant chest makes me nostalgically think of my old world.
-----The Empire's camp near the forest----
"There are many more kids than I anticipated" Gozuki muttered when he saw that there was quite a lot of kids alive.
"That kid still has yet to leave the forest...Should we start giving the results to the kids?" Uncle Bill asked with an annoyed expression.
"No, let's wait for him. He has to choose one of the kids, it would be bad if he chose the one with the potential to be my pupil. Therefore we can't give them their ranks yet." Gozuki shook his head and replied with a calm expression.
"How can you be so sure that he will come out when he is there for so long already." Uncle Bill asked with a skeptical expression.
"Just look at how at ease his guardian is. Do you think she would take this job lightly? It only shows that- Hm? Looks like he is here." Gozuki explained but when he noticed a figure walking out of the dense forest, he immediately stopped talking.
Uncle Bill looked towards the forest's entrance and saw Akashi walking out with a smile on his face while he was stretching his arms behind his head.
Kids also noticed Akashi and looked towards him with shocked expressions except for Akame who had complicated expression since she indeed abandoned him there, leaving him only 2 words "thank you". Kurome also had a shocked expression but that quickly changed to smile and she waved at Akashi.
----Akashi's POV----
...Is she waving at me?! This is bad.
And as I thought, Gozuki also noticed this and released a sly smile. I noticed him whispering something to the soldier near him and that soldier immediately run to the camp where the kids were waiting and observing us.
"How was it? Were you able to find new friends?" Gozuki asked me with a smile once I stopped in front of them.
"...I guess so" I said with a forced smile.
He already noticed how Kurome was waving at me...if I were to lie here, it would only create unnecessary tension between us. It's not like I am not confident in defeating him in a fight but he still has that strange weapon and not to mention that I can't deteriorate the relationship between my house and the Empire just because of this.
"Here they are." The soldier came back, bringing Akame and Kurome together with him.
Akame was glaring around with her strong determined eyes while hugging Kurome who was just confused about this situation but the smile she previously had already disappeared.
"I noticed that you already know Akame and Kurome. These two are extremely talented, they got out of the forest pretty fast so you can choose one of them since you already know them." Gozuki said with a smile and his words shocked both sisters.
"What?! I am not leaving Kurome!" Akame shouted while tightly hugging Kurome.
I couldn't help but grit my teeth.
"That's not very nice of you, mister Gozuki~" I said and started to glare at him while my eyes started to glow a bit.
Trying to use me as a medium to split those sisters apart...I really am underestimated here.
---
'This kid...Is he trying to pick a fight? Gozuki isn't someone who will let himself be ordered around by a kid.' Uncle Bill thought with an amused smile but when he saw Gozuki's reaction, he immediately had shocked expression.
---
"I don't know what you are talking about...They are both really talented." Gozuki said with closed eyes and a forced smile.
It seems like he doesn't want to back down from this. There is no need to agonize the entire Empire for one kid. I don't know Gozuki's connections but since he is also a former member of Rakshasa Demons which means that he must have some friends there. It would be really stupid to start a fight because of those girls.
"Fine, have it your way but don't forget. Phoenix never forgets!" I said with a threatening tone.
"Good! I knew that you would be smart enough not to turn this offer down. Split them up!" Gozuki nodded with a smile and snapped his fingers. The soldiers standing nearby approach the girls to split them up.
"No!!" Akame shouted while looking at the approaching men.
This fucking blondie!
"Stop!" I shouted in domineering tone at the soldiers and they stopped to look at me and then back at Gozuki.
Gozuki just waved his hand and they nodded before walking away from 2 sisters.
...What a tragic fate.
I couldn't help but look at them in pity.
I walked up to them but this time, Akame wasn't shouting and only cautiously watched me while hugging her sister.
I put on a gentlest smile I could muster up and extended my arm towards them with an open hand.
---
'...I wonder who will he choose, heh' Gozuki thought when he saw Akashi's gesture but he couldn't tell who will be chosen.
---
...Akame is definitely more talented at the first sight but Kurome can have a hidden potential inside her. But...the Empire won't bother with finding it out, they will probably make extremely cruel training for the kids with too little talent here. It seems that me running amok inside that forest also caused a lot more kids to survive...I don't know if I can even call it a good deed from my side.
If I will take Akame and something bad will happen to Kurome then she will most likely resent the Empire but she can also harbor hate towards me for splitting them up. If I will take Kurome...Akame probably won't be treated badly due to her visible talent.
Well, I don't need to care that much about talent with my "party" feature. I can even make a normal kid into a great warrior.
...I have decided.
"Kurome-chan, will you go with me back to the Capital?" I said with a gentle smile while calming staring into Kurome's shaking eyes.
My words surprised both Gozuki and Uncle Bill but they immediately smiled since I took the one who had less talent. I will make them regret that smile in the future.
"I-I, can't I stay with big sis?" She asked me with tears in her eyes.
Although Akame looked extremely angry, having to part with her but she didn't say anything to me.
---
'...Maybe she will be safer with him. I can't judge him because I don't know him but I definitely have a better feeling with him choosing Kurome instead of me.' Akame thought with a sad expression while glaring at Akashi but there was no hatred in her eyes.
---
"Unfortunately, you can't..." I said with a slightly sad smile.
I didn't push her and simply waited for her to take hold of my hand.
If I have to be the one splitting them, then I have to make it in a less forceful way.
Maybe she noticed my sad smile or maybe she felt my sincerity and slowly grabbed my own hand.
"Kurome?" Akame asked with a sad expression after seeing this.
"We will meet again, big sis!" Kurome said and slowly left Akame's side with tears pouring down her face.
"Let's go...Thank you for your "hospitality" mister Gozuki, Uncle Bill, see you later." I firmly hold Kurome's hand and said my goodbye before slowly leaving while Kurome was glancing back all the time.
----After Akashi left the camp----
"I actually thought that you are going to teach that kid a lesson. I never took you for a person who would get afraid of a kid with a background" Uncle Bill said with a teasing smile.
"I don't care about his background...You didn't feel the pressure I was feeling at that time." Gozuki replied with an absent-minded expression.
"What kind of pressure? Are you telling that kid is stronger than you?" Uncle Bill narrowed his eyes and asked with a serious expression.
"It wasn't kind of pressure you use during the battle. It felt more authoritative, domineering. It also felt as if that pressure was hinting me not to go too far or anger him." Gozuki explained with narrowed eyes.
'Thankfully, he didn't want to make a scene here so he accepted it but to think that he would be able to see through my plan so easily...He really is a monster, it's regrettable that he can't be in our units but it's no problem since his house is loyal to the Empire.' Gozuki thought with a forced smile while he was looking in the same direction, Akashi just felt.